20/11/2008 Queen Adreena @ The 100 Club

Subject	Queen Adreena @ The 100 Club
PostedDate	11/20/2008
	Queen Adreena shows are always quite an event - and this is no exception. I arrive at the 100 Club to find it quite busy. I'm looking forward to sampling the real ale this venue usually has on tap (a rarity in London music venues) but find they are all off!  Not a good start to the evening, but at least I can be sure the band will put on a good show. The amazing Katie Jane Garside is (barely) dressed in a very different style to her usual one - more of a sparkly Vegas Showgirl look than her usual tattered and torn fairy princess look. Katie still manages to look amazing though! It's a bit of a cliche saying someone would still look great in a bin liner, but she actually would - and tonight she demonstrates a variation on the 'bin liner' theme by using some plastic sheeting which the more observant people at another recent gig recognised as a large Argos carrier bag! Nomi is the most visually interesting of the several bassists the band have had, and also the one who seems to put the most into her performance onstage. Unlike most before her, Nomi actually looks like she belongs in the band instead of just being there to make up the numbers. Katie sounds as amazing as she looks and is as enchanting as ever - while Crispin grinds out the jagged metallic riffs that give this band it's distinctive sound. Oddly, there is no sign of the band's usual drummer ex-Clash man Pete Howard.  This is the second gig he has been missing from, with no explanation being forthcoming from the band - although this isn't surprising as Queen Adreena have a history of keeping things to themselves when it comes to internal matters within the band... It's a shame if he is no longer in the band though, as he is an excellent and very under-rated drummer. His place was taken by an underehearsed guy called 'Stuffy' - who looked rather out of place but was competent and did a decent job in the circumstances. The setlist is a good mixture of old and new - with quite a bit of stuff from their new album 'Djin'. Katie is looking unusually healthy and is bearing traces of a tan - as if she's actually been out in the sun! I must have been at most of Queen Adreena's London shows over the past seven or eight years, and I'm sure this is the longest set I've ever seen them play - about 19 songs! Katie did her usual short solo piece at the end, and the show seemed to be over as the band never do encores. A lot of people started to leave, and I headed for the toilet before making my way home. As I emerged, I was surprised to see the band were back on the stage! They played another three songs, which certainly made this show a bit more special than usual.