corals0ft

Loved my year in Belfast, which revitalised enthusiasm for seeing local live gigs. You forgot the Belfast Empire Music Hall, which was my local in Botanic. Nightly quality bands down in the bar plus bigger tribute bands and minor big-name bands for paying concerts upstairs. I was amazed also that so many pubs had live acts on, with many forms of music, in addition to the bigger venues with big names. Saw some excellent acts from The Unholy Gospel Band to Muse over the course of the year. A mate of mine came over for a weekend and I saw 8 bands over the course of 2 days. I'd seriously consider moving back there for the music scene. But my town of Horsham is similar. Despite losing the REC Rooms 18 months back, we still have pubs with bands on in the town and several surrounding villages. Plus open mic nights. And during the summer, there are bands on at the town centre bandstand. A thriving music scene in West Sussex/Surrey means no shortage of bands of brilliant musicians. Last weekend I saw 4 and could have done a couple more if I didn't run out of steam.