cybertect

Ex-Vöid being magnificent at The Victoria in Dalston on Sunday night with a drummer borrowed from The Tubs. 😎 In Love Again has been one of my favourite albums of the year. I'd not had a chance to see them since its release in January and they lived up to my expectations. worthy support from Bloody Death, who were a new discovery to me; I'm going to be exploring their back catalogue...

Thoroughly enjoyed Fairground Attraction at the Royal Festival Hall last year I am seeing Eddi at a one day festival in South London in August; I will be over the moon if Boo is in the band for that gig!

On the heels of The Tubs a couple of weeks ago, I’m seeing Ex-Voïd at The Victoria in Dalston tomorrow night in Love Again has been one of my favourite albums of 2025, so I’m looking forward to this

Last night at my most local venue, The Sound Lounge in Sutton, about 120 of us were treated to an hour and a half of improvisation by The Pete Roth Trio, plus a Q&A session at the start. The trio is Pete Roth on guitar, Mike Pratt on bass and the legend that is Bill Bruford drumming, persuaded out of 15 years of retirement by an overwhelming urge to play drums again.

Friday evening, after a few months' absence, Robbie McIntosh returned to my favourite local venue, The Sound Lounge, in Sutton, south London. Superb as always \

Not exactly live music, but musically related... on Friday evening I attended an event at my local venue, The Sound Lounge in Sutton, where veteran DJ Nicky Horne was talking about his encounters with The Beatles and David Bowie. He recently found the original tapes of his interviews with them that he thought had been lost and played some exclusive clips throughout the show. I used to listen to Nicky's Your Mother Wouldn't Like It and Six of the Best shows on Capital in the 1970s, when I was very young and Capital was quite a decent station. Some great stories. Worth catching if you have the chance.

I live in a small terrace house so usually it’s an NUX Mighty Plug Pro + a pair of headphone (closed back FIIO FT1 if Mrs C has the telly on or open back Sennheiser HD660S otherwise)

I was sure GAK in Brighton used carry a limited range of Sire basses, but they seem to have stopped. Andertons have been showing most Sire P basses as out of stock for many months now, even when they have been getting new models in. I was wanting to try a natural finish P7 since early Spring but they never had any. They have one white P8 and a couple of P10s right now and I think that’s it for right hander basses. Thomann appeared to have fewer supply issues over the summer (or perhaps just larger stock in their warehouse) but that has changed a bit when I look now. Same with BAX in the Netherlands and musique-shop in France that I had been keeping an eye on. I’ve a suspicion that anything up to 14 weeks availability may be why the OP is looking here, in part at least.

I have considered this myself on previous occasions, but I figured the latency would be a killer for VPN applications 🥸

Off with Mrs C to the Forum in Kentish Town tomorrow night to see The Lightning Seeds, which will be the second time we have seen them this year No idea who/if any support might be; it appears to be a closely guarded secret

Last night I saw Soft Machine at my local venue, The Sound Lounge in Sutton, south London Great show, great crowd, amongst whom I bumped into Tom who runs the bass dept at Wunjo on Denmark Street, which was a pleasant surprise. Fred Thelonious Baker on bass

Also, import duty from the EU for stringed musical instruments such as bass guitars is 2%, not 4% Commodity Code 920290 https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/subheadings/9202900000-80?day=25&month=11&year=2024

Just to be picky about the sequencing, you need to add VAT after calculating duty and shipping. e.g. (ignoring any separate charge for handling customs paperwork) Bass: £1000 Shipping: £50 Duty: £40 Ex VAT total £1090 VAT @ 20%: £218 Total inc VAT: £1308

Saturday night was Nada Surf at Islington Assembly Hall (not Islington Academy as listed on the tour T-Shirt I purchased 🙃) Support was provided ably by a Norwich band named Other Half. Apparently, Matthew Caws had been out shopping in Norwich for a present for one of his young kids, got talking to the person at the counter in the shop, discovered they were in a band... So, now he's made an appearance on a track on their new album and booked them as the support act for Nada Surf on this tour. As their lead singer said in front of the crowd 'We're used to playing to thirty people!' I'm now investigating their back catalogue on Bandcamp. 🙂 Nada Surf were excellent as I have come to expect. A good mix of songs from the new album and older favourites. At the end of the encore, Matthew went completely unplugged with an acoustic guitar and no amplification, and engaged the whole auditorium to sing along gently to The Blizzard of '77 from their 2002 album, Let Go. It was a beautiful way to finish a gig.

So following Phil Manzanera on Thursday, on Friday night Mrs C and headed up the Northern Line to Camden to see Squeeze at The Roundhouse They were totally on the top of their game. Glenn Tilbrook appeared to be having the time of his life and in conversation with them afterward, even the ShowSec staff really enjoyed the gig!