26/5/2013 - Part one. Shush @ Surya

26/5/2013 - Part one.

Sunday, and there are two gigs I want to go to. Neither are in Camden for once, or particularly close together. One venue has an overpriced bar that doesn't stock anything I like to drink, the other stocks Newcastle Brown but has dramatically increased it's prices this year - going from reasonable pub prices to West End club prices. Enough is enough. The weather is summery (at last) and I have a motorcycle at my disposal - the rules have changed. I get to the gig much quicker (and cheaper) than by using public transport and the first venue isn't that close to a tube station anyway. A crucial part of the Northern Line is out of action for engineering work so getting to the gigs by train would have been a problem today. I manage to park right outside with no trouble at all - which I couldn't have done with a car, and going without a beer is starting to look like a small sacrifice to make - not to mention all the money I'm saving.

The first gig is an early one as it's an 'all day' mini-festival at Surya - not a bad little venue apart from the aforementioned bar issues and the fact that the bar is on the ground floor while the bands play in the basement. The event doesn't seem to be particularly well promoted as there is hardly anybody there to see Shush when they take to the stage around 5.00. I seem to know most of the ten or so people in the room.

The band aren't phased by the low turnout and turn in an excellent performance as they usually do. The sound mix is quite decent in spite of the smallish house PA. The also smallish crowd contains some little kids their parents have brought to this daytime show - which means singer Milena is worried about the language in one of the band's biggest crowd pleasing songs. She asks the audience if it's OK to swear? The parents seem unconcerned and give the go-ahead - so Shush launch into their 'audience participation' number 'Fuck You!'

This goes down surprisingly well with the 'family' audience, as does the rest of the band's storming pop/rock set. I always enjoy seeing this band, but this gig is a bit special compared to most as it sees the return of Milena's former AntiProduct bandmate Simon the legendary 'Gonk'. This guy is a formidable heavy metal powerhouse of a drummer, and although Shush aren't a 'metal' band he really drives things along and adds a great deal of punch to the sound.

Unfortunately Shush only play for about 25 minutes, but hopefully it won't be long before the next chance to see them as their gigs look like becoming a more regular thing again. I stick around for a little while to see what the next act are like, but it turns out to be a 3 piece all girl pop act singing along to a recorded backing track. Time to leave.

I'm off on the bike and it only takes about ten minutes to get to the next gig...