Skip to main content

Bring me Sunshine...

Does absence make the heart grow fonder? in relation to Barfly anyway.... M and I headed to Cardiff Barfly last night after a very long break, to see The Sunshine Underground ( see also previous post Au quatrieme fois). Some bits of the cellar venue looked a bit smarter, others as scummy as ever!!! Say no more.... but crowd control barriers??

We were treated to 2 support bands, so no complaints on value! First up (breath in), Shut Your Eyes & You'll Burst Into Flames, were, sorry to say, an obvious rip off of TSU but not in a good way! On a positive note, they didn't hurt the ear drums, but mostly samey and easily forgettable, except maybe the bouffant hair and energy levels! Next up Foreign Islands (I think this is their myspace) who were much better, although I was a bit bemused by the singer's face mask for first track.

By the time The Sunshine Underground took the stage, Barfly was pretty much full and with a very enthusiastic audience! Perhaps the venue suited them better or maybe it was just quieter, but my ears didn't hurt anywhere near as much compared to their Coal Exchange show. Set list of course made up of material from their current album Raise The Alarm. Bargain for fans - there were flyers around advertising all 3 formats for forthcoming single Commercial Breakdown for £3! Get down to HMV or Virgin on 30th October. Thoroughly enjoyed the set, anyway, although there was no encore. The crowd barriers did start to make sense for TSU's set, though, as they in effect made the stage bigger (and for those of you not familiar with Cardiff Barfly it is very, very small indeed). I would definitely recommend their show!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Au quatrieme fois..

A jaunt en masse down to the Coal Exchange last night (23rd) to see The Subways excel again. For once we weren't massively early (in some ways to avoid the queues of teenagers) so arrived part way through the first support band. They are called Wry, from Brazil even! They were decent and will probably merit listening to further. Best option the ubiquitous myspace . Eagerly anticipated the main support, The Sunshine Underground, of whom I'd heard good words... They more than lived up to their expectations, with my only real niggle about their sound... whether it was the singer's style or sound mix I'm not sure but their show was at parts ear-splitting - explains my slight deafness today! Otherwise excellent, not an easy band to categorise, but my impressions were somewhere between Alabama 3 and the Killers' Hot Fuss album; dancing music too. Well worth going to see - just take earplugs! (or in my case, actually go out and buy some). I believe one can listen to the...

4 and 5

Busy weekend. Number 4 was the 2nd Innercity Pirates night at Clwb Ifor Bach, spread the word to another friend so a highly successful evening! Again, Red City were the (only) support, who were still underwhelming and may even have got worse! Luckily a short set. The main Pirates set was much more polished than the last one, they have been practicing!! Only mishap this time when an overenthusiastic fan accidentally stood on a connector! Quite a different set, this time almost totally from the 3 recent EPs with the only oldies Whisper The Fear, and 'that song' from last time - which is called The Little Pills We Love. For the set list, simply check out the track listings for the 3 EPs on their website ! Number 5 entailed a visit to Coal Exchange to see Mogwai . Luckily the buses were back to normal - well normal for a Sunday ie nothing late at night! Slightly more interesting support band, The Magnificents (sound: a mix between Mogwai, Syntax and The Killers ), although I did ...

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...