The Command House, Chatham, May 5th 2006

I have just had a wonderful weekend! Took a spur-of-the-moment type trip down to London again (I seem to be doing that a lot these days), and did I have fun!

The trip gave me the chance to get another double dose of The Indelicates; first at Catch in Shoreditch, which was great, and then at the lovely riverside pub The Command House in Chatham (Medway, Kent... and I had to check the atlas when I got home to find out where that actually is), which was a happening.

First on a bill of three (actually four, but I'll leave the headliners for others to bother about), The Indelicates were received as the stars they so much deserve to be. In fact are. Here was a wildly enthusiastic crowd of real fans, singing along and genuinely loving what they heard, much to the delight (and surprise it seems) of the band, who subsequently shone!

Then came a brief set from local 4-piece The Scopes, sounding to me a bit like New York noise/no wave/post punk from 1978 or thereabouts, but as done by English teenagers with indiepop sensibilities. And that really must be good. Raw, abrasive and cool as it comes! I've lived with a handful of their demo tracks for a while; check this one out:

The Scopes | Kings Of Climax

Last up were The Space Peacocks (also from Medway), a demented I'm sure but no less fab bunch of punky glam rockers (or glammy punk rockers) with a perfect sense of bargain bin theatricality and a set of songs to kill for. Quirky melodies and excellent boy-girl call-response speak-singing were the order of the night, a guest appearance from someone I maybe should know of but don't on the brilliantly titled 'Why The Fuck Did You Spend 20 Quid On A Lighter?', a jubilating home crowd, and you have, as my friend Redmond predicted for the whole triple bill, a seminal event.

The Space Peacocks' 'EP Phone Home' is still available for download via their website I think. On it is the lovely 'Romanticide', and this:

The Space Peacocks | Do The Neo Dada

So to conclude; a perfect evening, and a great trip down from Oslo. (I did other stuff as well, but more on that later. Maybe). The fact that summer arrived at approximately the same time as I (a coincidence I suspect) did nothing but enhance the two days I spent. And did I mention how wonderful The Indelicates are?