Pavement @ Brixton Acadamy 10/5/10

Surrounded by devoted Pavement fans this was a looooong evening. A full 2 hour set which I must admit, I ducked out of before the encores at 90 mins. Still - they sounded great - even though the lasting memories I have of them are of tedious festival shows. I think they really need a "venue" instead of a festival to carry the sound. Mind you, I had to stand right at the back as the bass drum was ear drum perforatingly loud. All your favourite songs were there - as were some less favourites. Trigger Cut - brilliant... Shady lane.. Zzzz... These guys still look cool too - I think you can still rock if you still have all your hair.

Not a sell out by any means - if you want to see 'em this week just pitch up at Brixton and snap up a touted ticket for peanuts. (4/5)

Or buy Pavement tickets online - if you like the idea of ticket in hand - from www.gigsniffer.com

Deerhunter @ Heaven 6/5/10

Another band that are not that exciting on record... but live.. well I was reminded of shoe-gazing moments of the early 90's for a few songs. Long drawn out repetetive noise - which is a good thing. A long 90 mins set was perhaps pushing it a bit, but well worth seeing. (3/5)

Deerhunter tickets the second they go on sale on www.gigsniffer.com

Drugstore @ ICA 5/5/10

A great gig build up provided by Isabel's tweets over the last few months.. gathering the new band.. rehearsals..the late bar...the Tap-esque rider.. and I think the nerves were on show a little. For some reason "the band" had instructed her to drink less and speak less on stage.. which is a real shame as half the fun of a Drugstore gig these days is the Monteiro banter and ranting. In a band which is, I suspect, a full-on dictatorship, the Monterio needs to stamp her authority pretty quick on these new guys. It's her voice and wit after all that keep Drugstore burning after all these years.

The new band was slightly shaky in places we thought, but in an endearing kind of way. A few more live shows should settle everything down to the Drugstore of old. And the new songs? As melancholic as ever....thank god. (4/5)

Drugstore tickets snapped up through wegottickets via www.gigsniffer.com

Bear in Heaven @ Lexington 20/4/10

First time at the Lexington - what a great venue! Great sound.. good view, nice cosy size. I've listened to a bit of Bear in Heaven and found it quite, well, un-exciting, so wasn't expecting to be thrilled here tonight. These guys are a better live prospect than their records suggest though - a bigger sound and so much more engaging. Worth the journey for me, but I think once is enough. (3/5)

We snapped our Bear in Heaven tickets up smartly through www.gigsniffer.com as ever.

Antlers @ Union Chapel 3/3/10

Another quiet one at the church. Holy hell my phone went off and that wasn't good. I've listened to Antler's Hospice LP a fair few times and it makes for interesting listening... a cross between Belle and Sebastian and Anthony and the Johnsons. But does it work live? Well - its ok but its not rock n roll that's for sure. It's like watching a film score played live with no film. If only there had been some visuals or a bit more stage presence as I hate to say it guys it did just become a bit, well, .... boring. Sorry guys. Maybe I'm just getting a bit impatient in my old age, but I couldn't just help but feel when does this actually start? I know it's serious subject matter boys but lighten up a bit! (3/5)

Dum Dum Girls, Veronica Falls @ Madame Jojos

First time here in a while that the place is actually packed. Of course being such a great venue you can still slip stright down the front for a great viwe of the loft stage - first up Veronica Falls, who soundpretty good for such young bunch - a demonic sounding Shop Assistants. The reverb on the vocals though is so fierce it sounds like shes singing in a oil drum in a cave. Presumably to cover up a rather flat voice...shame. Here's a video to have a little listen... (3/5)

Dum Dum Girls - well there's a lot of leg on display. A lot of long leg. But is that enough to carry it off? Well post gig on XFM she was being interviewed by John Kennedy and was just a bit giggly, saying she just started writing a few songs to fill in some hours while her old man was away. And I think it shows... they won't be progressing out of these small venues but are fun to watch. Check out those legs in the video (3/5)

Ok two 3/5's, but a great night out....

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Hoxton Kitchen 24/2/10

Some else who insists on a slow and deliberate tuning of all 6 strings before every song. I wouldn't mind but at this volume no one is ever going to tell - 'cos ear splitting loud is the order of the day in the here. He also does an awful lot of shouting - to the point that his neck's about to explode. (2/5)