Peckham Cowboys, Brijitte West, Gasoline Queens - Saturday 22nd September - Unicorn, Kentish Town




 

Brijitte West at the Unicorn

A trip to North London and a bit of Kentish Town we'd not visited before. A visit to a couple of pubs on the way was variable - one fairly hideous (The Gloucester Arms - full of flies!), one not bad (Torriano) - and one very nice (The Admiral Mann). A game of darts in the latter produced some very good scoring and even attracted an audience at one stage. Slightly annoyed I missed a double for a 14 dart leg which would have equalled my PB.

Anyway, the show was in the Unicorn - an imposing building with a number of stern looking doorstaff.  Once inside though, it seemed all that is good about a decent Rock Pub. Good stage and viewing area, reasonably priced drinks and a friendly crowd. The bill for the show was similar to the one we saw a few months ago and there was no admission charge - hurray!

In spite of our darts delay we were still in time to see the Gasoline Queens whose rock and roll set included the Stone's "Dead Flowers". In fact the set was very similar to last time, but sound quality a bit better. All in all, quite enjoyable.

Brijitte West was next - and playing an electric set for the first time we've seen her. Catchy songs, excellent vocals and a decent backing band. Really enjoyed her set and were able to tell her so afterwards during a brief chat.

The Peckham Cowboys were on last and despite the biggest crowd, were probably the weakest of the 3 acts on the night. Songs were OK despite a few technical difficulties, but another really short show (35 mins?) left us wondering if they simply don't have much material to play or just can't be bothered. It's hard to see how they will grow their fan base pursuing this strategy - indeed nearly all of the audience we recognised from previous shows at the 12 Bar Club and Catscratch Fever.

A quick pint of Estrella on the way back for the last southbound Northern Line concluded a good night.

Peckham Cowboys - Wednesday 20th June - 12 Bar Club, Soho

Supported by Brijitte West and the Gasoline Queens

Brijitte West - Excellent
Gasoline Queens - Pretty good (with Texas Terri)
Peckham Cowboys - Good, but way too short (20 minute set - taking the P... as headliners.)

Details to follow

Catscratch Fever - Saturday 31st March - White Lion, Streatham

Tyla J Pallas

An unusual one this. An unprecedented trip to Streatham for a show in aid of a local cats charity and a children's charity. A lengthy "all day" event, we decided to get there a bit later to concentrate on the 3 headline acts.

First, a quick check out of the pubs Streatham High Street had to offer. Most were absolutely fine (despite a £5 pint, yep really, of Moretti in our first stop). Gastropub prices gone mad! The backstreet option we found was a little more weird. I can only assume the "all-day bender" is alive and well in some parts of town!

Into the White Lion, which is a decent enough old fashioned pub with the gig surprisingly in the front area overlooked by massive windows. By no means full, but a healthy enough crowd was in by the time we turned up, checked our names were on the list (always nice when they are!) and handed over our catfood donation!

Our first act was Brijitte West who I'd never heard of, doing an acoustic set. Turns out she is the singer from NY Loose and was really good. Despite not knowing any of the songs, her half hour set flew by. After quite a long gap, the band we'd really come for, The Peckham Cowboys, were on. Featuring ex-Quireboy Guy Bailey on guitar, this is not a photogenic band! That matters not, when they play some good quality bar room blues and rock though. A solid show, but only about 25 mins worth which was a shame. Hopefully they'll do some of their own shows soon.

Headline act was Tyla from Dogs D'Amour. For me, this was the surprise of the evening. In his 90 minute acoustic set, I didn't know any of the songs (unfortunately no "Satellite Kid"!), but it was enthralling. A mixture of soft heartfelt ballads and some punchy rock numbers all played expertly whilst sipping on various drinks (Guinness, Red Wine etc) between songs. As Richard and I left, we commented how that will be tough to beat as the value gig of the year!