29/6/2011 Patchwork Grace @ The Bull & Gate

Subject	Patchwork Grace @ The Bull & Gate
DateCreated	7/8/2011 3:02:00 PM
	Midweek finds me at Kentish Town's Bull & Gate. Real ale in the front bar, and reasonably priced Newcastle Brown too - this is more like it!  Much to my surprise the back room is packed - on a Wednesday night too! I'm here to see Patchwork Grace and I've never heard of either of the other bands.  However, it turns out that one of them is called Evaline and they've just played at the Download festival - hence the biggest crowd I've ever seen in this venue. They sound like fairly standard alt/indie fare to me so I retreat to the front bar where some of my friends are, along with the band we've actually come to see. As I suspected, the usual thing happens; After the 'headline' band (who aren't actually on last) finish playing nearly all their fans bugger off to the bar or go home - leaving Patchwork Grace to play to a much depleted crowd.  However, there are still a lot more people left watching the band than they normally get at their London gigs so it's not bad. I think this is a noticably better show than Patchwork Grace's recent gig at The Enterprise in Camden - partly because there are a lot more people watching them, and also because the Bull & Gate is a much better venue. The band play pretty good tonight and they seem to go down well with the crowd - most of whom I suspect have never heard of Patchwork Grace. Well they have now! The setlist is mostly taken from the band's recent second album. I miss some of the songs from their excellent debut 'Milk Teeth', but as half the band has changed since the first album and they also need to promote the new one the lack of older songs is understandable. Patchwork Grace seem to be moving away from their earlier more Queen Adreena sound, although Karen O is still an obvious influence on singer Tori Trash. I think the current band are better musicians though, and they have a solid foundation to build on to try and take things to the next level... All in all another good value for money night out - only £6 on the door for 3 bands, plus decent quality beer at fair prices. Unlike some, this is a venue I am happy to return to.

PS: This venue closed for live music in 2013.