The Deans were coming off the back of a Tour that had taken in vast tracts of  mainland Europe that they covered in a beaten up Transit. Quite frankly by the time they arrived at the club on Friday for their penultimate gig of the tour they looked knackered. Maybe the travelling had taken it out of them and as a result they were a bit tetchy and seemed as though they’d have rather have been anywhere else except a small club in Wales. Maybe that’s their modus operandi , but we exchanged no more than a handful of words all night ( and those we did were to deal with their dissatisfaction with one thing or another). Nevertheless, as showtime approached the club filled up nicely and there was a definite air of anticipation in the audience.

Here’s a few observations on the band’s performance.

1. The band wear their Rory Gallagher influences firmly on their sleeves.
2. Gavin the guitarist is an exceptionally talented young musician who will doubtless earn a good living out of playing his instrument.
3. Their songwriting is not quite yet the finished article. Most of their material on first listening was pretty forgettable if I’m perfectly honest and only really took off during the guitar breaks.
4. The band were incredibly tight and well rehearsed especially given their refusal to use the on-stage monitors that were offered to them.
5. They should try to look as if they are enjoying their performance and communicate with the audience.
6.  Both bass player and drummer need space in the set to showcase their own   talents.

The Deans are walking a tightrope at the moment and really need to distance themselves from the Gallagher comparisons that threaten to drag them into “tribute band” territory.

Nevertheless the District audience gave the band a tremendous reception that hopefully send them on their way in a better mood than when the arrived.

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR REGULAR READERS:

In future you’ll be able to find all my blogs on the District Myspace site.(www.myspace.com/districtclub) .

It’s a real effort keeping one site up to date, let alone two, so in future your first port of call for all things District Club related should be the Myspace site.

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Another great turn out for Larry Miller last Friday and an audience that really got into the vibe that the band created.

The merchandising stall seemed to be doing good business at the end of the night and that's always a good indicator of how the band has gone down.

Larry and the band once again confirmed their reputation as one of the UK's leading exponents of rhythm and blues with some outstanding original material and some well chosen cover versions. Larry's playing was as slick as usual with his backing musicians providing a solid backdrop for Larry's exemplary guitaring.

We look forward to Larry's next annual visit. 

Before going into print this week I decided to take a look at the review I posted of The Thornz' last gig at the club just before Xmas. Maybe it was down to hitting the sherry early but I could hardly remember a thing about the gig. The review didn't really help either it simply said something along the lines of "nice to see the Thornz back at the club" ... I can only surmise that the gig was not up to their usual high standard.

Thankfully there's no danger of me forgetting last Friday's performance, by some considerable distance this was the best gig that the band have given at The District. The new tracks have breathed new  life into the band and thankfully the sound coming over the PA did full justice to the re-invigorated set list.

Stand out tracks ? I think that the two Kings of Leon songs went down particularly well and you can't go wrong with dropping some Sex Pistols in at the end of the night. All in all a cracking night and good to see so many people back at the club after our weekend off.

It's no great secret that The Journeymen are big favourites at The District and it was pleasing to see another decent crowd turn out for the band.

Once again the boys reaffirmed their reputation as one of Wales's most talented covers bands with two blistering sets of power, peerless musicianship and raw blues which this time included an acoustic introduction to the second half - Gallows Pole by the mighty Zepp.

I'm pleased to say that my memory gets a little hazy after that ( well I'm allowed to enjoy myself too !) but I know that Leighton performed a rousing version of Sabre Dance as well as  featuring Phil's magnum opus (or is that magnificent octopus ?) The Immigrant Song. While I'm waxing lyrical about the band it would be a bit remiss of me if I didn't mention the rythym section who hold the whole shebang together with consummate skill and no little style.

I know that the band love playing our little club and I'm sure it won't be too long before our paths cross again. Watch this space.

Once again I'm indebted to Glow from the South Wales Bands website for allowing me to nick a few photos from her excellent website. Most of the images seem to be in focus this week , so I would imagine that our Rum sales are down.

Also great to see Tony Carpenter putting in an appearance after his recent "pull". Take it easy for a little while buddy and you'll soon be back to your boisterous best.

Another consummately professional performance by Big Mac's once again to a packed house.

There are plenty of fans of this band around but quite why they're so popular is a mystery to me. If you like your soul bands safe and souless then this is the band for you. Only the bass player stood out for me as someone trying to inject some life into proceedings.

The sound was far better for this performance than the last one, maybe because the hall wasn't quite so full, but it was certainly crisper this time around.

Mac and the girls sang pleasantly all night and the dancefloor remained pretty full until the end.

As I've stated on many previous ocassions I'm a big fan of Soul and Motown but regrettably Friday night's gig left me feeling uninspired and rather empty. Shame !

Best wishes before I forget to one of our longest standing regulars Tony Carpenter (Carpy) who's not been too well lately. However, I'm told that he's on the road to recovery after a real scare and we look forward to seeing him back rocking and rolling in the near future.

Every so often we get a turn-out that really takes us by surprise. OK, ACDC have just released a new album and they're out on tour this year but we weren't expecting anything like the crowd that descended on the club for this gig.

Thankfully the band were up to the challenge and delivered an excellent performance of Bon Scott era classics that went down a treat with the hairy masses. Problem child, Hell ain't a bad place to be and Bad Boy Boogie stood out in a set that thankfully never dragged. Inevitably tribute bands live or die by the quality of the main players and High Voltage had a singer with the range to do Bon's original delivery full justice and a lead guitarist practically note-perfect in replicating Angus's thunderous SG driven sound.

The dancefloor was predictably packed for the whole of the second half of the show and by the end both audience and band left the building in a sweaty heap.

A cracking local tribute band - well worth checking out.  TIDY !

First of all apologies for not posting for a while , the problem has been with the crappy Bravenet utility that I use. It's been unavailable until today - that's what you get for doing things on the cheap eh ?

Broken Heroes attracted a decent crowd for their gig a week ago. They played a well received set of covers in their own inimitable style and for my money are a better band than they've ever been. What they do , they do very well. Nice one boys !

Saturday brought with it a District mini-tour to Bristol to attend the first ever UK gig of James McMurtry. OK , he's not a household name yet but he's a multi-award winner in the US and for his first gig this side of the pond he chose The Polish Club in Bristol. After being stung for £3.75 for a pint of Guinness in the pub across the road it was a relief to see the doors to the club open up and get inside.

The Polish Club was tucked away in a sidestreet of Clifton and was a bugger to find. The "club" part of the building was effectively the cellar of a converted Victorian house ( no doubt originally funded by proceeds of the slave trade) , it had a bar and a small stage - perfect. The gig itself was a stormer , James and "The Heartless Bastard" who included ex-Faces keyboard player Ian Maclagan played a 2 hour set that was lapped up by the sell-out crowd. One of the gigs of the year for me.

Another Friday, another gig at The District. In a break from the norm we'd been tipped off about a local soul band making a big impression on the local scene. Both Gaynor and myself are huge fans of Motown and had wondered what our regulars would make of a night of soul. Thanks to the quality of Supernatural we had nothing to worry about, from the moment the lead singer open his mouth I could tell that we were in for a good night.

I didn't enjoy all the songs that the band included but it was easy to get swept away with the vibe that the band created. Regrettably I even troubled the dancefloor at one stage - apologies to all who witnessed this badly judged public display of rhythm.

It's nice to shake things up a bit with the type of bands we're attracting to the club from time to time. Reggae's next on the agenda. Now that will be interesting.

Really enjoyed this band.

Modern classics with some older stuff thrown in for us geriatrics.  Faultless musicianship and Karl's trademark full-blooded vocal delivery and a nice tight and punchy sound.

Not the biggest turn out we've ever had but healthy enough.

They will definitely be returning later in the year.

Two reviews for the price of one this week.

The Worried Men - as professional and tight as usual. Christ they'd be a great band if they had a singer.

The Kytes - Nice bunch of blokes. They'd have been great if they'd had a lead guitarist (who was apparently stuck in London).

Bit of bass chat ..... what the fuck was going through the Kytes' bass player's head in deciding to play a "travel" bass especially while still carting around an Ashdown stack. For a guy who could so obviously play a bit it was not only the thinnest looking bass I've ever seen but it sounded positively anorexic.

Well that was Christmas and a very happy 2009 to you all.

Let’s go right back to 19^th December and The Thornz. Really nice to see them back in action. A bit quiet on the audience front but things perked up as the night went on.

Thirty Year Itch put in their usual quality performance on Boxing Night but unfortunately didn’t pull anywhere near the turn out that we’d hoped for. Disappointing for ourselves and the band.

Racing Cars and The Iguanas on the following Monday was even more manic than previous years. With the band mixing the sound from the stage  (anyone notice the difference ?) I elected to spend most of the night down in the bar . Every year we feel extremely guilty that our friends and regulars are forced to endure the hoards that put in one appearance a year at the club but the financial benefits  are far too good to overlook unfortunately. Were the band any good ? ….don’t ask me !

More top photos from Glow at this link

http://www.freewebs.com/southwalesbands/photosfromthegigs.htm

The Alliance thankfully brought things back to normal on the 2^nd with a cracking night of  heavy rock. The band  put their own stamp on some familiar and not so familiar material and impressed a crowd that are maybe a touch jaded with the classic rock genre. A rock solid rhythm section , twin lead guitars and a singer blessed with a huge voice The Alliance will certainly be a band that we’ll see again in 2009.

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