Friend suggested this gig, which I was already umming about as the support was Toby Jepson's band Wayward Sons. Due to this, I decided to take the plunge and book. Brixton is the nearest big venue to me and can always choose a decent area for pre-gig drinks. This time we decide on Balham.
We meet in the Exhibit. It has had a fish tank in here for over a decade which does not disappoint. A bit pretentious (but it always was), it is a bar for the beautiful people of South London.
Next door (well just past Sainsburys on the opposite side of the crossroads) is the Bedford. This was closed for a good while recently but the refurb has done no harm. Lots of music posters around, a big dining area, a nice function room and a busy bar area where we ended up standing by the water dispenser.
The Balham Bowls Club is next. No open to the public, and is a trendy place that serves a bingo brunch. Nice clientele and a decent Estrella.
Final stop is a place called the cyclist. This used to be a dire wetherspoons, but a dramatic refurb and change of ownership meant treble the prices, with a nice young crowd though veering food based. We sit by the bar and admire the transformation though not sure what the cycle theme is about.
Wayward Sons were on at 8pm and play a ten song 45 minute set evenly split between their two excellent albums. As always with Brixton it takes two songs before the sound is anything like good, but once it is sorted then you have a good show.
Nice to see a fairly busy crowd for the support and Toby does his normal stich of getting us all clapping and singing even though most don;t know the material. Best song was from the new album called Jokes On You, which everyone should check out.
Not seen Steel Panther before, and I quite enjoy some of the non-PC songs. However after a promising start and some inital jokes with the bass players hair spray and hand mirror, it got thin very quickly. You do not want the guitarist speaking for 10 minutes between songs when people around are talking amongst them selves. Towards the end, a part of their show was getting as many girls on stage with them for one of their hits (which was good) and the encore moved fairly swiftly afterwards, However, for 90 minutes set, you could have been just as entertained in half that time.
# posted by Rich @ 11:43 AM
