Look Alive

I was sweating heavily as I tried to open my work locker with a paperclip. I'd done four laps of the floor trying to find my keys. I looked in the toilet where I'd changed into my gig clothes but no keys. Fuck bollocks where were my shitting keys. Without the keys I couldn't unlock my bike and without my bike I couldn't get across town to see Titus Andronicus in the Gwidihu. Fuck, could I have locked my keys in the locker? Could that have happened? Which is why I trying to open my locker with a paperclip. The one rational part of my mind followed a possible chain of events. Perhaps I left my keys in the locker, perhaps someone handed the keys into reception which is absoloutely what had happened. So, relieved I jumped on my bike and tore across town.

I'd bought two tickets for the gig with little thought of who'd go with me, so I wrote a post on Facebook asking if anyone wanted a ticket, someone replied and I got there to see the gezza outside just before the band were going on. So result. I've never seen the Gwidihu so rammed. I got in as far as i could to the venue and I wasn't going any further so I was pretty close. It was a hot sweaty fun gig, even if the music wasn't really my cup of java. I'd taken a punt on the band cause I saw a lot of my friends - who's opinions I trust - were going, and I'm glad I went. Yet i could shake the feeling that this is what a mobile phone's marketing department think a gig is like.

My gig cup runneth over as the next day I found myself cycling down the Bay to see John Grant at the Millennium centre. The gig was part of Cardiff's Festival of Voice, which has been a bit of a strange fish. On one hand it has brought a lot of singer/songwriter talent to the city, but on the other hand it takes more than just calling a number of gigs spread out over different venues a festival to make it one.

Still it was good to see John Grant, the first time I saw him was when he was fronting the band the Czars at the much missed Barfly, I have no memory of the gig (maybe a vague one of John Grant being nervous, but I'm probably making that up) and so just a ticket stub jogs my memory. then I saw him at Greenman and he was definately nervous there, and it's gratifying to see him so confident now that he's very much centre stage. He's got some new thrusting moves. The WMC looked pretty much sold out which is a hell of an achievement Each of his solo albums have been different from each other and if I'm honest I haven't got the last one as I haven't been too fussed on teh songs I've heard, but they really came alive when he played them. Loved the tracks from 'Pale Green Ghosts' and 'Queen of Denmark' but I was gutted he didn't play Sigourney Weaver.

Then it time to tumble out of the venue and bathe in the otherwordly glow of WNohNo's 'Field' digital installation.