19/11/2008 Men & Gods @ The Dublin Castle

Subject	Men & Gods @ The Dublin Castle
PostedDate	11/19/2008
Body	Men & Gods are back at the Dublin Castle - one of Camden's better venues.  As usual it's an interesting show from this band - every one is different to the last and there is never a setlist. As ever, the standard of musicianship is high, and Marc the band's flamboyant frontman is on good form. The sound mix is unusually clear tonight and the band certainly benefit from this. As if keyboard queen Nadia didn't already add enough glamour, there is something else which adds to this and makes tonight's show even more different: We are introduced to Miss Kitty Bang Bang. She adds a burlesque element to the show - something similar happened at the band's recent gig at Madam JoJo's. Her performance seems to go down well with the audience, but I feel it distracts somewhat from the music - which is surely what a rock show should be about? Suddenly everyone is looking as the slowly disrobing girl on the stage, and no one is taking any notice of the band.  I discovered something else at the Dublin Castle tonight which pleased me.  I noticed that one of the real ale pumps was dispensing something rather unusual for a London pub: This makes the usual Strongbow served in pubs look very tame indeed. If you buy Strongbow in an off licence it's strength is 7.5%, but the Strongbow that's served in pubs and clubs is only 4.5% - what's all that about?  This stuff is 7.3% - what else can you buy a pint of in a pub that's as strong as that?