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10.03.18 - The Hold Steady at Electric Ballroom, Camden

For the past five years (with the exception of 2021 due to the pandemic) The Hold Steady have been playing an annual ‘Weekender’ of shows in London, with Friday and Saturday night at Electric Ballroom and a smaller Sunday set elsewhere in the city. It was born out of them doing a similar thing in the US as an alternative to going out on month long tours. 

The whole concept works very well and there is a feeling when you’re at these shows that you’re surrounded by hardcore THS fans. To many friends, Ed and I, would appear to be on that level with this band, in truth, these shows do make me feel more of a casual observer, but a welcome one at that. 

The great thing is you don’t get people drifting to look at their phones or wondering whether they’ll play a big hit next. There’s plenty of other bands I love who I’d like to get a similar quality of experience with. 

A memory from right before this show in 2018 that we still laugh about now, is how, in our mad rush to get dinner, we ended up crashing someone’s birthday party. Camden was busy and a table in the corner of a bar set aside for the private event was all we could find that would ensure we’d be able to eat and get to the venue in time for the band’s set.

In an attempt not to be found out (and thrown out) we’d occasionally raise a glass to other people in the same vicinity, nod and smile. Eventually we caught someone giving us a suspicious eye. This person was sat alone at an adjacent table. As it turns out, they were also a party imposter! 

In 2022 we were sat in the same bar and noticed staff putting up reserved signs for the exact area. Given the dates, there must be a chance it was the same group?

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

10.03.13 - Bouncing Souls at Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

I didn’t get into Bouncing Souls in their early years. It wasn’t until 2006 and The Gold Record album cycle when that they finally arrived on my radar. I got to see them at Reading Festival that same year, then didn’t get chance again for another six years, Between 2012 and 2013 I saw them a total of four times, but haven’t since. That may change this Summer when they play a co-headline show with Anti-Flag in Southampton.

I don’t have much I remember about this particular show. I would’ve been living with Stu Lauriston at this time, who was big into punk rock and probably played a part in me revisiting the band during those years. I actually have two anecdotes from the other Bouncing Souls shows I went to around this time. I don’t have tickets for either of those to post, so fuck it, I’m going to tell them now.

The first is from Groezrock Festival in Belgium. I got to watch the band from the side of the stage for an acoustic set they played. Between a couple of the songs I heard two ladies chatting behind me about the frontman Greg Attonito. The conversation went a bit like this.

“I really like Greg’s hair at the mo”

“Yeah it’s really nice what Janice has done with it”

I have no idea who Janice is, but I loved this behind the curtains reveal into the very normal life of the punk rock star on stage in front of me.

The second is from The Joiners in Southampton. The venue was packed. You can understand why they decided to play Wedgewood Rooms the following year, even though I’d say I preferred the show in the smaller room (and not just because that was a Friday rather than a Sunday).

It was so busy that Stu and I spotted two people getting a little too close for comfort. Nothing saucy, just a man in front of another, slowly encroaching on the other’s personal space. We tried not to laugh as it got so bad the man behind’s beard was sat completely in the space invader in front’s hood.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

09.03.09 - Polar Bear Club at The Joiners, Southampton

The other morning I woke up with an idea for a podcast. The title would be ‘I’ve Never Seen..’ or something along those lines. For each episode someone would talk about a major pop culture property that they’ve just totally managed to skip. My list is endless, Game Of Thrones, Lost, Breaking Bad.. you name it, I’ve probably not seen (or heard) it.

During the podcast they’d talk about what’s kept them from the film, show, etc, what was going on in their life when it debuted, if they have any reference points that would draw them to it (they like an actor that’s in it for example). The episode would finish with a quiz to test what small pieces of information about that thing, whatever the thing might be, the guest has managed to pick up without realising.

The reason I’m sharing this with you in a post about memories of seeing New York’s post hardcore five piece Polar Bear Club at The Joiners Arms on a Monday night in early March 2009 is.. I have never listened to an album by this band in my life. 

I came mightily close to owning one. I picked it up on vinyl in a London branch of HMV, but the sleeve began to fall apart and I gave up on it. You have to remember that this was pre-Spotify and post downloads being easily accessible without completely frazzling your computer.

So this gig is the most exposure to this band I’ve ever had. Thank God I didn’t buy a t-shirt because if someone were to be an arsehole and ask me to name five songs I’m not sure I could. I’d give it a bloody good go, but I think two of the five might be the same one. 

Why on earth did I go to see them then? Because in 2009 I was a single man, with very little commitments and was quite able to jump in a car with two friends (who did know and like the band), head to Southampton for the evening and not think much of it. Also. £6.60. What a time to be alive that was.

I’ve had a lot of conversation of late about the price of gig tickets having risen exponentially. Factor in this. £10 for the fact almost nobody buys a bands records. Another £10 for cost of living, particularly fuel. This gig today would probably cost £26.60.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

09.03.04 - Reel Big Fish at Southampton Guildhall

This was an absolutely massive bill at the time. I’m probably exaggerating but I’m pretty sure all of my friends went to this. It was my first time seeing Zebrahead, and the only time seeing them with original vocalist Justin Mauriello, who left the band in 2004. It was also my introduction to The Matches. I remember seeing frontman Shawn Harris selling copies of their debut album, without jewel cases, in the foyer.

Then there was Goldfinger, first time seeing them too. That was a big deal and everyone I knew was excited about this. Toward the end of their set they invited the audience up on stage, as they often do. There was an inevitable crush of people pushing forward to make it over or past the barrier.

In all the mayhem my friend Phil got hit on the head by a security guard, so hard that it cut him above his eyebrow. On the side of the stage someone spotted what had happened, jumped down and dragged me and Phil through a door and into a stairwell. That person was none other than Reel Big Fish’s Dan Regan.

Dan, or someone else back there managed to get first aid help for Phil and we were back out in the crowd in time for the headline set. Back in these days Dan Regan dressed up as a bumble bee on stage. IN my memory of this event, he was in this outfit when he came to Phil’s rescue. Unfortunately I neither have evidence of this, or anything to prove otherwise, so let’s just say he was yeah?

I already had a Reel Big Fish t-shirt so my merchandise budget went to Goldfinger on this occasion, and what an odd purchase it was. Three grey skulls on a black long sleeve t-shirt with Goldfinger in a gothic font on the arms. Not really my style at all and I probably only wore it a handful of times. 

Thinking of this gig also reminded me how big a thing it used to be to see absolute chancers selling bootleg t-shirts outside the gig. Some bands used to encourage people to steal these and on this night a friend of ours obliged. He successfully stole about 10 of the same extra small RBF t-shirts that didn’t fit any of us.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

06.03.17 - Sum 41 at O2 Guildhall, Southampton

This was my second time to date seeing Sum 41, the first was a decade earlier in 2007, that itself being a long while after they entered the UK charts at number 8 with their single Fat Lip in October 2001.

In the ten years that had passed since the show in 2007, the band had veered to a more metal inspired sound. This wasn’t an entirely new direction for the band, they’d always had moments that leaned that way (incl. the 2004 album Chuck), it’s just that nowadays the balance has shifted with a track like In Too Deep sounding more the wildcard in the set.

During this decade, Deryck Whibley suffered with alcoholism issues. In 2014 he was hospitalised with severe liver and kidney damage. I reference this because by the show in 2017, you’d have no idea that the poor guy was in such a bad way just three years earlier that he had to learn to walk again.

It was great to see Deryck back up on stage, looking totally re-energised and playing with the enthusiasm of a band on their first tour rather than one in their 18th year. Also returning for this tour was Dave Baksh (a.k.a Brownsound) who had left Sum 41 about a year before I first saw the band in 2006, which was a welcome return, particularly following the departure of another founding member Steve Jocz in 2013.

The production for this tour was fantastic and included a full 3D giant skeleton as the band’s backdrop with red glowing eyes, the sort of thing you might see at an Iron Maiden show. During the first part of the band’s encore Deryck was escorted through the crowd and appeared on a second stage in the the sound desk area. He passed where we were stood in the crowd and I can confirm, he is a very short bloke.

All in all, a good fun show and despite a lot of heavier material, I think it may be my favourite of the two times I’ve seen them.

No memories of the support for this one, I don’t even recognise the name I’m afraid.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

05.03.11 - Reel Big Fish at University of Southampton Student Union

My memories of this gig are as much about the day as the show itself. Ed and I had long lost touch with our friend from school Darren, known to most as Smiler. We’d seen him a year earlier when we played with Canada Water in Cardiff, where Darren was at University and I guess that was the beginning of us becoming back in contact with him.

Darren’s degree was in Sound Production, as such he had a lot of the gear. We asked him if he would record Ed and I doing a tongue in cheek audio commentary for our Trigger Happy and Jackass lite home videos from back in 2003 (many of which Darren actually filmed). 

Before Darren arrived, we took a trip into Poole to have a root through the second hand stock at Red Records, just as we used to years earlier. Someone had just dropped off a collection of 7” singles that spanned the past decade and we fought, not as aggressively as we might have done when we were younger, for the ones we wanted.

The whole day felt like a page out of our childhood, making Reel Big Fish the perfect band for the three of us to go and see in the evening. It was actually Darren who introduced us to the band, he had a copy of Cheer Up!, which he allowed us to both make a CD-R copy of. Ed got very good back in those days at recreating the band logos and artwork using the pens that would work on the top side of the disc.

As much as you might try to perfectly recreate a point in time, it’s unlikely all the pieces will ever be exact. This was the first time seeing Reel Big Fish following the departure of Scott Klopfenstein. I’ve never quite gotten over this. Whenever I listen to RBF I always (attempt) to sing Scott’s harmonies and despite Matt Appleton doing the best possible job anyone could to fill those shoes, it was a bit jarring to see the band without Scott.

The support was a band who’ve had a great decade or so since, The Skints. I’d heard of them at this point, but not actually heard them, so this was my first introduction. Darren was already a fan and I trusted his judgement. I enjoyed their set and ended up buying a 7” vinyl from the merch table.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

I’ve updated my Spotify playlist for March with 11 new and recent tracks:

01. Liily - Applause

02. Coach Party - Micro Aggression

03. DE'WAYNE - GOOD MOON (feat. grandson)

04. Dazy - Choose Yr Ramone

05. White Reaper - Pink Slip

06. flor - Gotta Do Something

07. Ally Evenson - SINISTER

08. crushed - waterlily

09. Paramore - Running Out Of Time

10. Dylan Fraser - 2030 Revolution

11. CHVRCHES - Over

Listen on Spotify (updates monthly)

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

🚀 WikiJump challenge: Disneyland to Evanescence

⁉️ "What on earth is WikiJumping?" - The challenge is to start on one page of Wikipedia and navigate to another unrelated topic, using only the in-page hyperlinks. You win by completing this in as few clicks ('jumps') as possible. (Learn more here)

This month's challenge is to get from Disneyland to Evanescence.

Resident WikiJump champion Sam and I each picked one of the subjects for this one, so we'll both give the challenge a go too.

Message me if you manage to complete it!

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

21.02.11 - Frank Turner at The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth

At the time of writing Frank Turner is number one in the UK album charts with his ninth studio album, FTHC. Not only is this a fantastic achievement for any artist, but also a very unique one for someone this far into their career. Well deserved either way and a great album regardless of the chart position. 

Back in February 2011, Frank was a few months out from the release of his fourth studio album, England Keep My Bones. This too was an important album for Frank, with singles that helped garner a wider audience and a touring cycle that included his appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

You’ll notice the ticket only lists 'Frank Turner’, which these days would usually suggest a solo acoustic show, but this was full band, with four musicians that would soon come to be known as The Sleeping Souls. Frank’s ‘band’ had been playing with him as far back as the Sleep Is For The Week tour in February 2007. The introduction of the name in 2011 gave them more formal acknowledgement and offered a distinction between different types of Frank Turner shows. I haven’t done an official calculation but I think I’ve probably seen a fairly even split between full band and acoustic sets since.

It may seem trivial but it was also around this time that Frank and the band all started wearing the white shirt and black trousers stage uniform. This show was definitely my first time seeing this and was a shock (perhaps more than it ought to have been honestly) having seen them all so many times before then in less formal attire. 

The support for this show was Jim Lockey and The Solemn Sun (later known as just ’Solemn Sun’) who featured on the very first release for Saint November Records, which I’d launched a few weeks earlier. The Passion Burns Deep was a compilation fundraiser in the spirit of lots of labels from years gone by. The band kindly contributed an exclusive version of their track Boat Song.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

Record Box - Your first chart singles

I messaged the subscribers to The Last Days of Analogue on LinkedIn to ask what the first single they bought was.

This response comes from Jackie Goddard

"You sent me down a rabbit hole with this question. I remember going to Woolworths and buying a David Bowie single. I thought it was John, I’m Only Dancing, but when I checked out the release date that would have been too early so it must have been Boys Keep Swinging which came out when I got my 1st Saturday job." - Jackie

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

Record Box - Your first chart singles

I messaged the subscribers to The Last Days of Analogue on LinkedIn to ask what the first single they bought was.

This is no ordinary edition. This is the first time someone I've asked has been able to provide evidence of their purchase. A round of applause please for Gordon Fong! 👏

"Centrefold by The J. Geils Band. I'd love to say Secret Affair - Time for Action,that would have been the same time. I'm pretty sure it was purchased from Woolworths in Newton Aycliffe. As a teenager it was probably the video and the cover, rather than musicality that prompted the purchase." - Gordon

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

13.02.08 - The Good To Go Tour w/ MxPx at Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

The Good To Go Tour was an annual package tour of punk and ska bands. 2008 would have been the third, possibly fourth year that it ran. It must have been considered a success to have made it to this point and the previous years’ local dates that I went to were well attended. Which is why it’s a bit of a mystery that this show was the lowest turnout I’ve ever seen at the Wedgewood Rooms.

Yes it was February, yes it was midweek, but I can remember this day being unseasonably warm for the time of year. You might have thought that would encouraged people on the fence to decide to attend last minute rather than put them off.

The headline band was MxPx. A little over two years before they’d played the next size up in Portsmouth venues, the Pyramids Centre on the ‘versus’ tour with The Starting Line. I wrote in my post about the show that pairing those two was essentially pulling two audiences to collectively fill a bigger room. If I’d had to guess I’d have said it was a fairly even split between the two, but having seen The Starting Line pack out the Wedge, did this Good To Go outing reveal how MxPx had more of a cult than mass following in the UK?

Frontman Mike Herrera did acknowledge this on stage. Any disappointment on the band’s part had little effect on the quality of their set, which was as faultless as it had been in 2006, the atmosphere in the audience was undeniably flat though.

Also on the tour were Punchline, a personal favourite of mine from the heydays of the Fueled By Ramen Records roster. They’d played in 2007 as well, which was my first time seeing them. It was great to get another chance to see a band that sadly hasn’t been back to the UK since.

The opener were The Get Go, a name almost too appropriate for this tour. This was the new outfit from the frontman of Showoff, a band I know little about other than that they were on the same soundtrack (Digimon: The Movie) that introduced me to Less Than Jake, Bosstones and others. Unfortunately, this show at least, was not the big exposure opportunity the band might have hoped for.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

12.02.19 - CHVRCHES at O2 Academy Bournemouth

It’s crazy that it took 6 years for me to see my favourite band of the 2010’s, and when the opportunity finally worked out, it was on my own doorstep.

I could write this whole post about why I love CHVRCHES so much, but I’m going to attempt to reign it in and focus on the gig as much as possible. So I’ll just say one thing. Have you ever heard a band and felt as if it’s a sound you’ve been unknowingly searching for through everything you’ve listened to until now? This three piece from Glasgow are that band for me. I think a more logical explanation is that they take lots of things that I like and created a combination that’s the perfect blend to my ears.

Ok, the gig.

A Tuesday night in February is a tough night to muster up the energy for, even when it’s an artist you’ve been waiting forever to see. The O2 Academy in Bournemouth is an absolutely stunning venue and I’m not sure that many rival it in terms of sound for me. That said, even the most rowdy of Less Than Jake shows in this venue (of which we’ve been treated to many), always leaves me feeling slightly constrained by how fancy this venue is. Like getting shitfaced then becoming painfully aware you’re at your Grandparents’ house.

The combination of early week in Winter and a grade II listed building has the potential to dampen any show, nobody is immune to that risk in my opinion. How did CHVRCHES fair? Pretty well. The majority of energy in the room was on stage and the front ten or so rows though. I was enjoying this show most when I was able to focus on the people in front of me losing their minds and shut out those behind me stood wondering whether they put enough time on their car par ticket.

I loved it from start to finish regardless.

Speaking of Grandparents. I don’t think Sam and I got there in time for the support Let’s Eat Grandma, which I’m kicking myself for now because I’ve started listening to them more recently!

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

12.02.14 - Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish at Portsmouth Guildhall

And so we reach the first of many Less Than Jake entries. To be precise this is number 21 of 36 (so far). In almost 19 years of going to LTJ shows, there have only been 6 without. 2013 was one of those years, making this gig 14 months since I'd last seen them (not long at all by recent standards!).

This was also the first time seeing the band after the release of ‘See The Light’. It had been 6 years since their previous album and 2008 felt like a lifetime ago. The band opened their set on this tour with track 1, Good Enough. setlist.fm reliably informs me that they also played Do The Math, John the Baptist Bones and My Money’s On The Long Shot across the dates. There’s no setlist entry for this show though so I can’t say for sure which we got in Portsmouth.

The ticket lists the venue as having been at Portsmouth Pyramids, known at this time as ‘Pyramids Live - The Plaza’. That really does make it sound much grander than it is, but you already know my feelings on the venue. I shouldn't whinge though, because this show was moved due to flooding at The Plaza to Portsmouth Guildhall. Better for sound (IMO) but also for the few rows of seating at the back I've often made use of when I’ve got tired mid gig, or even turned up tired on a weeknight in my mid 20’s.

On this night I wasn’t so much fatigued as pre-occupied. A few days earlier I’d received a track via email called ‘I Hit The Wall’ by the band Greenhorn. There was a possibility that our label may handle the UK release of their debut EP. Some of you will know the connection between this band and LTJ is Roger Lima, who sent me the song as strictly confidential. Not wanting to jinx the opportunity I didn’t tell anyone, and enjoyed this gig in the knowledge that someday soon, I might be getting to work with one of my favourite musicians up on the stage.

I believe this was actually billed as co-headline tour with Reel Big Fish, along with Zebrahead opening. I’ll be honest and say I had fallen behind on both of these bands by 2014 but don’t doubt that they both put on a great show as always. 

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

Record Box - Your first chart singles

I messaged the subscribers to The Last Days of Analogue on LinkedIn to ask what the first single they bought was.

This response comes from Samantha James

"My first single was Melanie C - I Turn To You on CD. This was purchased at Woolworths on Worcester High Street. £3.99! had £1 left from my fiver for a pack of Haribo Star Mix" - Sam

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

10.02.07 - Gym Class Heroes in Yeovil

There’s been quite a few gigs from this week in February throughout the years, and I’ll be honest, the wheels are starting to fall off a bit. I was missing the +44 ticket yesterday (full story to follow) and now I’m without all the correct facts for today’s post. I’ll do my best for this and promise that my usual impeccable memory will resume by this weekend’s entries.

I mean, it’s a bloody mystery really. Why would a rural town like Yeovil in south Somerset have so many live music venues that it’s a struggle to remember which one this show took place in. The truth is, Yeovil had a thriving scene in the 2000’s. It attracted big names more consistently than Bournemouth and almost gave Southampton a run for it’s money. Perhaps the two best known venues were The Orange Box and The Ski Lodge, neither of which hosted this event (despite what the ticket says).

I THINK the place was called Dukes, but there’s little online to confirm this. It was the first and only time I went there, and I get the sense it was more often used for club nights than live music. This definitely had an influence on the gig. I can recall seeing GCH frontman Travis McCoy dancing to their label mates Panic! At The Disco as one of their hits from this era blared out between bands.

I watched the majority of the headline set, along with Ed and Greg, balancing on the edge of raised platform to the side of the stage. It was too small for the band and crew and 'front of house’ was pretty packed too.

The venue name I may well have guessed correctly, but there’s no chance of me remembering the support. All I’ve got to to go on is that one of their songs had them repeating “baking soda, baking soda, baking soda..” over and over.

[thelastdaysofanalogue]

09.02.08 - New Found Glory at Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

After their UK mega tour with Paramore in early 2008, New Found Glory played a handful of their own headline shows. One of which was this packed Saturday night at the Wedgewood Rooms. 

It’s worth a little context for where New Found Glory were ‘at’ in 2008. In late 2006 they released a mid tempo album (Coming Home) which was a vast departure from what came directly before it, which was their heaviest to date (Catalyst). The fan response was, mixed. Exactly a year later they released the second collection of their movie soundtrack covers. On this, with a couple of exceptions, the band were playing in a style more akin to their earlier records. 

Not long after this gig a Greatest Hits album would be released by their label Geffen. Two months later the band put out a ‘hardcore’ record on reputable label for the genre, Bridge Nine. I say all this because it felt like the band had made a quick reverse out of a particular creative avenue they’d headed down, albeit one that lots of people I knew did actually like.

SO. There was an excitement for this show. As often is the case, it would likely have been billed as an ‘intimate’ tour, given that the venues were smaller than the band would usually play (and were playing in the UK a week earlier). Now intimate can mean so quiet you’d hear a penny drop, or so packed in your face is in someone’s arm pit the whole gig. This was the latter (though not literally, thankfully). 

A standout memory from this gig is from something that happened prior to it. I was speaking with Mark Davis (who I’d met a few months earlier when I crashed on the floor of his student halls, using a book as a pillow) and he said he would be going so crazy at this show he’d be "running up the walls and tearing down posters". As I’ve alluded to already, it was a busy crowd, I did not see whether he achieved his objective.

The opening band Conditions were also on the NFG / Paramore tour, as well as headlining their own dates in between. We played with them at what was also our first of many shows at iBar in Bournemouth.