First of all thanks to everyone that contributed to last week's blog, especially Brian Jones who suceeded in making himself look a complete idiot (or possibly the world's worst wind-up artist). I expect he'll be first in line for The Troubleshooter's big Xmas gig at The District in place of Racing Cars.

We knew very little about Shifting Gear until they arrived at the club on Friday night. Although they tried very hard to be nonchalant about the facilities that we have at the club it soon became obvious that they were not used to playing on a stage as big as ours and were in awe of the PA and new monitoring system that's in place. After their soundcheck we had time for a quick chat with the band and it turned out that we were lucky to have their lead singer with us at all. Earlier that day he'd been the passenger on a bus that had been involved in quite a serious crash somewhere in Cross Keys. Apart from having developed a very worrying facial tick, he'd thankfully managed to escape virtually unscathed.

The band's performance passed off in an inoffensive haze. They certainly weren't the best band that have ever graced the District stage, but they definitely weren't the worst. The lead guitarist appears to have an unhealthy Hank Marvin obsession persisting as he did for most of the night with a clean sound , dripping in reverb. Neither did the lead singer have a particularly powerful voice but to be fair he was in tune for most of the night and they even managed to coax a few people onto the dancefloor in the end. The bass and drums chugged away adequately in the background all night through a selection of classic and original rock tracks and to be fair the band were given a pretty good reception at the end of their performance.

On a personal note, I managed to wake up on Saturday morning with what I'm told is called a "hangover". Since making the change from lager to Guinness a few years ago hangovers have largely become a thing of the past for me. The worst side-effects I usually get  after a Friday night is a bad taste in my mouth and a feeling of lethargy. I felt decidedly rough on Saturday morning and couldn't even manage a piece of toast or cup of coffee until well after lunchtime. Must have been a bad pint.

I didn't like them - No I wasn't there, I was undergoing gender reassignment at the time and now I'm pleased to announce that I'm almost a man

I prefered you as you were Bri. Now I just don't know which way to turn!

Well, compared to the Peashooters the week before, they were awesome

SHIFTING GEAR definitely came across as a little out of their comfort zone with the size of the venue - their sound came across as more used to a smaller place, but that didn't stop them playing their hearts out especially in light of the bus accident the singer had been involved in earlier that day. A nice mix of songs, although the 'Comfortably Numb' cover was a lot more urgent than the original - and definitely needs some work - but the first of their own songs (the name once again escapes me) was excellent having an almost Alternative/Indie Rock edge - a fantastic original... Hangover, Mike!? You sure Brian didn't slip something in your drink... Supposedly he's got amazing powers ...

By the sounds of it, Brian had more private places than a drink to slip something into.

Boys, your wit is about as talentless as your music

All this fuss over 1&1/2 hours of music be it good or bad i can only say everyones a critic.But could the critics get up on the stage and do any better so i say put up or shut up.its about time some of you realised how hard it is to consistantly book (GOOD BANDS) week after week I twould take my hat of to the team "If I had one" for all their hard work every week

I agree with Terry that a lot of recent listings are immature and at the end of the day THE MUSIC IS KING regardless who is performing it, but I don't agree that if you can't play an instrument or sing you should be discouraged in portraying your point of view

Yes there have been quite a lot of immature postings on the district blog recently, but it has to said there has been run of very poor bands at the club over the last few months.

Daemon asked recently in one of his posts what actually defines a good band, well Daemon obviously an individuals liking of a particular genre of music will influence their decision on what is a good band, but I also think the majority of the district crowd know when the club has booked a good or bad band, they can tell compare one band to another as they go to watch bands at the club on a regular basis.

Recently Stormcrow played two Thin Lizzy covers really badly, the following week The Guzzards did the same songs and played them superbly well, that’s the difference and the District crowd knows when a good band plays the club and appreciates their musical ability.

No one has said that they think the District Committee are doing a bad job, but the fact remains that attendances are down and people do check out who is on the bill before deciding to come up to the club, so Nick you really should not throw your toys out of the pram when a comment is made about a poor band choice, there are many times when you get it right, the recent excellent performance of The Guzzards was an awesome booking also Slowburner, Journeymen. Tuna Kings, Pipedream were superb choices too, but on the other hand the gigs by Strangers of a kind, Bluestrain, Troubleshooters and Shifting Gear were particularly bad, and I think you all know this.

Remember your logo ‘The Valleys Premier Music Venue’ as recently it’s not been.

I didn't know that!

Exactly what don’t you know?