There's No Fight We Can't Both Win

Monday saw my 48th birthday and to celebrate the fact I went to see Mammoth Penguins. I am still in the limbo of not having a job so it’s a weird state to be in, but I’m a bit more insulated this time round than I have been when I’ve hit other stretches of unemployment. So Monday was a night of Mexican food and music.

It was a happy accident that the Penguins were playing Cardiff on my birthday and I knew that a gaggle of my mates would be turning out to see the band, so it was a nice, low-fi shindig and i didn’t have to get up for work the next day, result. There were two support acts Oh Peas! doing a charming solo set while the rest of her band watched from the audience. The other band (The Jelus?) were great wonky chaotic indie where the band members weren’t quite sure when each of them were going to stop.

…and then the Penguins started singing happy birthday to me…

It was great to have an opportunity to yap to our mates and a few were kind enough to buy me some drinks which added to my general feeling of well being and drunkenness. The Penguins new album ‘There’s No Fight We Can’t Win’ is a brilliant slice of confessional indie rock. I’d Spotified it but I’ve only really grown to appreciate it since hearing the songs give the live treatment and having bought the vinyl at the gig. It was at the Moon, which has to be one of my favourite venues in Cardiff simply by the fact that it’s one of the few still standing, but they have spruced it up a bit. The stage is a lot better since they increased the size and the gents toilets no longer look like something out of ‘Threads’.

Ah yeah, the toilets. So while the Penguins waited to go into the next song I decided to go for a slash. I could hear Emma Cooper talking from the stage and walked out to hear her say “Where is he?” and all eyes on me, and then the Penguins started singing happy birthday to me.It was incredibly sweet but I became uncharacteristically shy and retreated into the shadows. My gig amigo Steve Dixon had arranged it was a lovely thing for him to do. I picked up the album and headed into the night after having had a very happy birthday indeed.