Blog: The Lovely Brothers

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I headed out to Camden on Saturday night to see The Lovely Brothers at The Bull & Gate, and had a LOVELY night of it. They'd only just arrived, as there were no trains from Brighton to London running (of course not! Who'd want to travel from Brighton to London on a SATURDAY for heaven's sake?!? Well done, once again, railway companies, for improving the network in such a sensible fashion!) so they were still soundchecking when I arrived. We sat down shortly afterwards for a BUSINESS CHAT, and after the financial and work function ASPECTS of them releasing their new album on AAS were dealt with they leapt straight to the VITAL Question that all bands on AAS ask: "Can we do a signing please? And can we have our photograph taken doing so?"

A band that doesn't want to do this is, in my opinion, NOT a band fit to be on the label. Being more concerned about getting your photograph taken sitting at a table GRINNING like a gigantic Wazzock, possibly whilst smoking a CIGAR, signing a totally NOT legally binding document just because it looks like FUN, than about unit shifting, advertising revenues, and market throughput, THAT is what makes an AAS band an AAS band, and I was filled with a warm glow.

This carried on through the evening. Later on I wandered into the PUB for a sit down for a bit, and realised that i MUST be getting well entrenched into adulthood and Looking Grown-Up, because the blokes behind the bar were PERFECTLY CIVIL to me, and even exchanged brief conversation. I didn't know whether to be pleased or distraught at a youth nearly lost. I sat there for a while and thought of all the other times I'd been to The Bull & Gate, whether to see bands, play a gig myself or, the first time I ever went there, quite by accident on a day trip to London, not realising what an important place it would become in my later life. I love the Bull & Gate, I don't think I've EVER had ANYTHING but fun and good times in there.

Gentle TIP for increasing happiness of bar staff in there though: put up a SIGN telling people where the venue is. I was sat there for fifteen minutes, during which at least FIVE groups of people came up to the bar and asked where the bands were. The Friendly Man With White Hair said "Outside and through the next door" and then, if he liked the look of them, "Or, to be honest, you can just cut through the toilets". He didn't seem to MIND, but THINK of how much hassle they could cut out if they just put up a sign!

ANYWAY, I wandered around a bit more, was pleased to find She Who Must Not Be Named and The Boy Malloy from KOOBA had arrived, and then we went in to watch The Lovely Brothers. They were, as ever, BLOODY GRATE, and it was especially nice to see them going down so well with all the people who'd hung around after seeing the other bands. It was PACKED in there, and they ROCKED the room.

It was thus a happy Hibbett who strode home, and my Exciting Futuristic Nano IPod seemed to sense this, playing me a great deal of The Frightened Prisoners Of The Kraken, Johnny Domino, Lovely Brothers, and WINGS on the way home. "Venus And Mars" - hey! Now THERE'S an album we could have put out!

posted 6/2/2006 by MJ Hibbett

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