Bit late to be writing this, as both gigs where a while back.

I've never heard to Simple Kid but Dan suggested the gig, bought the tickets and then found that he couldn't go. Which was a pity because it was a great gig. Simple Kid looks like a hippie Bjorn Borg. He writes catch songs with driving drums underneath; he's actually a pretty good guitarist as well, playing some fine solos. The obvious comparison is Beck, but you need to throw in a slice of Glen Tilbrook and Jimmy Page as well. His show is solo, with a laptop playing backing tracks, images, and sometimes lyrics. Strange set up, but it worked well. He has a great sense of humour as well, which really made the night.

Groove Armada on the other hand, I've written about before. They were great live, excellent music, funky light show. If I were to make on criticism, it was that the didn't turn it into much of a live experience. Even one "hello, Newcastle, let me hear you!" would have been good.

The crowd was a bit brusque. to be honest, and it was full sardine time inside the venue. It's good for music to be a shared experience, but this was a little too much. So a good gig, but sort of a once a year experience.

Last night was James Burton at the Cluny. It was one of those "last chance to see" experiences, as he's getting on a bit now. So I was not sure what to expect.

The support band were dreadful — acoustic, electric and double bass. The bass player slapped his fingerboard a lot, with the resultant dull thud being all you could hear. The other two were more tuneful, but didn't appear to listen to each other. Rock-and-roll has to be in time or it's nothing but awful.

The second band were much better. Tight, together and with a sense of performance. By this stage, though, I was getting a bit nervous. Where was James Burton? Well, eventually he came on. Not that the flames on the telecaster work that well now to be honest, but James himself is still a strong player. Flash when he needs to be, tasteful when not. Above all, he is a side-man — he is not there to attact attention, but to support the song, to reinforce the rest of the band and to entertain the audience, which he did all evening. The support should take notice.

Of course, I paid a price. I got home at 11:30 — I've been up since 5 and am in an airport. I feel terrible. I guess it all boils down to what Gerry said — most of the audience didn't have to get up to go to work the next day, having retired some years before.