Bit late to be writing this, as both gigs where a while back.

I’ve never heard to Simple Kid but Dan suggested the gig, bought the tickets and then found that he couldn’t go. Which was a pity because it was a great gig. Simple Kid looks like a hippie Bjorn Borg. He writes catch songs with driving drums underneath; he’s actually a pretty good guitarist as well, playing some fine solos. The obvious comparison is Beck, but you need to throw in a slice of Glen Tilbrook and Jimmy Page as well. His show is solo, with a laptop playing backing tracks, images, and sometimes lyrics. Strange set up, but it worked well. He has a great sense of humour as well, which really made the night.

Groove Armada on the other hand, I’ve written about before. They were great live, excellent music, funky light show. If I were to make on criticism, it was that the didn’t turn it into much of a live experience. Even one "hello, Newcastle, let me hear you!" would have been good.

The crowd was a bit brusque. to be honest, and it was full sardine time inside the venue. It’s good for music to be a shared experience, but this was a little too much. So a good gig, but sort of a once a year experience.

Originally published on my old blog site.