30/1/2020 Girlschool @ The Underworld

First gig of the year, and it's a good one! The Underworld isn't the best venue when it's packed, but a Girlschool gig is always great fun - if sometimes a little chaotic!

With many albums under their studded belts this band have a large back catalogue of great songs to draw from when putting a setlist together. The first couple of albums probably have the most well known 'crowd pleasers', but their most recent albums have plenty of quality material as well - even though today's 'rock' radio stations refuse to ever play anything from them, but that's another story...

There has been a lineup change since I last saw the band - original bassist Enid has gone (again) and Tracey Lamb from Rock Goddess is back in Girlschool. Again. There seems to have been quite a game of musical chairs with bass players in female hard rock bands recently with bassists from Syteria (guitarist Jackie from Girlschool's other band), JoanOvArc, Rock Goddess, and Girlschool all moving - often between the same four bands! Tracey fits in perfectly though - as she was in the band for a while before she already knows most the songs, and she obviously gets on well with the rest of the band.

There are newer songs in tonight's set, but mostly it's the 'hits' that get played and not much from the middle period of the band's career. Probably the best choice. The band still play really well and are obviously really enjoying themselves - not just 'going through the motions' like some bands from the NWOBHM era do.

4/1/2020 A night at the Dublin Castle: The storm before the calm...

Pretending to be a bass player on this occasion - I think I got away with it. We were worried not many people would come out for a gig so early in the New Year, but actually between all the bands we got a really good crowd in. Not sold out, but the venue was surprisingly full - we thought we'd only be playing to a handful of people, but in the event we got quite a few people in specifically to see us. It was great to play this legendary Camden venue - and on a Saturday night too!

The promoter was pleased and had since talked about getting us back for another gig in the summer, but little did we know what the future held. Covid-19 ensured that by March there would be no gigs for anyone - for the rest of the year. So that was my last gig with any band for the next 18 months or so...