I can recall quite well the feeling of uncertainty moving to busy bustling London at the age of 21, and initially struggling to establish a life in the city. Not an original thought I know, but it was truly difficult to stop a sense of loneliness pervading, despite being surrounded by so many people and so many opportunities.
But so what; well a strange October evening with the nights drawing in on the fringes of Dalston took me immediately back nearly 20 years. Travelling on the Essex Road bus for a highly anticipated gig, barely concerned about going solo on this occasion. Old stomping grounds, a lively evening atmosphere and what turned out to be a charming little pub with ubiquitous IPA cans, brightly coloured, good flavours, but beat me if I can remember the brand on this occasion.
Surreal start to the music with the wannabe Jagger vocalist duo Faux Real, who'd half-filled out the small back gig room with a bunch of mates for some reasonable tunes, and some OTT dance moves.
Pause for a bit of context here: tickets bought on day of release, literally couldn't wait to see the main act. Cost refunded a week in advance, no reason given, but oh well, no complaints. Guardian article ups the ante in the week before the gig making this Dutch group one of ones to watch...
So where was everyone? The room emptied for the interval and practically remained that way until the curfew. I reckon there were 20 people there to see the headliners, who must have wondered where the London scene was hanging out that night. First night in the UK and all. I hope the rest of the provinces turned up to hear some of the tunes.
They're a great band and I for one wasn't disappointed with the set, a mix of familiar songs from debut album Youth Hunt, and a few new ones, which didn't quite have the same resonance, but were still pretty good. One downside was absence of St Boniface and Eater of Meat, my two personal faves, but perhaps only brought out when there's more of a crowd to please.
So a good night, if bit lonely all round. Overall left a strange feeling that it's difficult to quite put my finger on, but you know what, it's The Homesick I think.
Epilogue: clearly no one gets live music recommendations from the Guardian these days. Shame.
Simple Minds
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