Three Gigs (attended, not played)

With OD still not in residence, I have been having a reasonable break from the young Madam and using that time get out of the house a little more. On Monday before last (12th) Matron travelled up from the wilds of Southampton to join myself and Pete at the Hammersmith Apollo to see The Flaming Lips, and what a fine evening's entertainment they provided. Fifteen people dressed as Santa one side of the stage; fifteen dressed as aliens the other. Wayne Coyne entering encased in a Zorb (a giant inflatable transparent ball), which he then rolled over the heads and hands of the audience. There were giant balloons, confetti cannons, projection screens Nun hand-puppets, and roadies dressed as superheroes to give the whole thing the atmosphere of a millennium eve party as organised by acid casualties. They encored with a cover of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the words flashing-up on screen behind them so that it became like a giant karaoke booth. Tremendous.

My next gig came on Thursday (16th) when FM and I nipped down to Spitz to see two very different acts in a double-headliner as part of the London Jazz Festival. Troy Miller is currently tipped as Britain's hottest young drummer. Despite dressing like a hoodie-wearing ASBO kid who would seem more at home smoking crack and stealing your car stereo, he plays like a youthful Billy Cobham and his band - all of whom were both older - were all crack musicians too, especially his rather top notch double bassist. After him came Julia Biel. Whilst Miller's set was geared to show of the musicianship of both him and his outfit, Biel's were there to create a setting for her laidback, sultry vocal style. With nylon-stringed acoustic guitar, clarinet and cello to the fore, her music was hypnotic and lulling as she created a unique and sultry mood. I will confess that by the time she reached the conclusion of her set, I was finding myself nodding off (although the volume of Guinness I'd consumed by this point was a contributory factor). She is clearly one of those acts who, like Corinne Bailey Rae, only needs one appearance on 'Later…' for demand to sore through the roof. Interesting to see where she'll be five years down the line.

And on Saturday, for the second time this year, it was the joy that is The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Myself, the Wing-Commander, Kev and Gary hoofed down to a packed-to-the-gills Shepherd’s Bush Empire for the final night of their two-week tour of the UK and they were, as per last time, quite marvellous. They were also considerably slicker too and their three guest members - Ade Edmondson, Phil Jupitus and David Catlin-Birch (‘Paul’ from the Bootleg Beatles, although he plays with Robbie Williams too so I shouldn’t be too harsh) – flittered on and off the stage throughout. Bill Bailey sang ‘Keynsham’ and Paul Merton turned-up again, although thankfully they confined him to spoken word parts and didn’t make the mistake of letting him providing lead vocal on ‘Monster Mash’ again (‘Legs’ Larry Smith handled that). The highlights were, once again, Sam Spoons (pictured) and incredible jumping spoon solo (not pictured) and the household saw playing of Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell in ‘Lily Marlene’, although seeing all six original members muck-up the Head Ballet for the first encore was a treat in itself. A sure sign of the advanced age of the audience were the lengthy lines for the Gents at intermission (five minutes queuing to get out of the toilet, let alone in!).

So, with Cardiacs, the Flaming Lips and the Bonzos all within eight days of each other – and with each playing an absolute blinder of a show – I feel as if I’ve had a rare treat of a time. Nothing in the diary now till Willie Nelson at the end of January, but I’m sure something will crop up before then.