"You and me / We are / Blood Brothers" - errrr, perhaps not weirdo!

There are two ‘X’s before the ‘L’ if you are a man with a 46” chest. That explains why the Cardiacs t-shirt I bought at the Astoria last December is a little tight (and the ‘Roots Controller’ one ordered from the Real World website back in March is too, come to that). Both were purchased as one ‘X’ too few. Previously the last t-shirts I bought were in California last year, where chest sizes are larger because the people are. Oh dear. ‘XXL’. I had a mini-crisis a few years ago when I had to buy jeans which were size 40 (but, thankfully, my wait soon eased its way back to 38” – although I feel it has crept up again as all of my suit trousers now hang below my gut).

I mention this because I was perusing the t-shirt stall at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire last Wednesday when I went to see The Mission. Yes, before you ask, they are still going although watching them was a little like seeing their own tribute band, chiefly because there is only one of the original members left. So I found myself thinking ‘the Wayne Hussey is very good. Looks and sounds just like him. However, I bet the guitarist also doubles as Trent Reznor in a Nine Inch Nails act. No idea who the other two are supposed to be but I’m sure the original bassist wasn’t ginger and frizzy’. The Mish (as we used to refer to them twenty years back) remain a very enjoyable turn. They may only have the one song, and it isn’t even their own (Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’) but they have managed to forge a lengthy career out of endlessly re-writing it. Sometimes they excel themselves and produce works that are almost as good as the original (‘Tower of Strength’ being the obvious example), but chiefly they are average to middling versions. However four pints of Guinness before I arrived and the chance to gawp at a crowd of predominantly middle-aged Goths (not a look that looks good on a forty-something I feel) meant a hearty evening was had. I must go and see some modern bands though. The last new group I saw were Tiny Dancers back in March (and very jolly they were too). The other week was my friend Bob’s 50^th birthday party and for a present I bought him a Cream DVD and the new Arcade Fire album. He was pleased as punch with the former but looked completely bewildered by the latter. “It’s a great album and I thought he should still be listening to new music. I did choose it with his tastes in mind; it wasn’t just a random selection” I explained to his wife. She looked at my doubtfully. Oh well.