15/8/2008 The Cut Outs & Trash Monroe

Subject	The Cut Outs & Trash Monroe
PostedDate	8/15/2008
	Yet again, there are two gigs I want to get to in one night. Fortunately they are quite close together - one in Camden and one in Kentish Town. My first port of call is the Barfly to see the Cut Outs. Unfortunately, there has been a change at this venue since my last visit - a change very much for the worse. There is now a massive and highly obtrusive metal barrier in front of the stage!  This might be justified when the venue is packed, but on a night like this all it does is ruin the view and kill the atmosphere.  The barrier is the reason I didn't bother taking many pictures. I only had my phone to take pictures with anyway so the quality was never going to be very good. Fortunately the band were excellent as usual, so it was well worth the trip - but the Barfly has gone from being one of my favourite venues to one of my least favourite ones.  The Cut Outs are always fun though!  As soon as the band finish their half hour set I have to rush off to Kentish Town... Fortunately the Bull & Gate is only a ten minute walk from the Barfly, and I arrive in time to see Trash Monroe. They turn in a polished and atmospheric performance, as they have every time I've seen them. Fortunately the sound is a lot better tonight than when I saw them at 333 in Old Street recently. Less fortunately, their drummer is leaving - so it might be a while before they play in London again. The night is still young, so I stick around to check out the other bands. All I can remember about the first one is that they were really bad and I nearly left. The next band get off to a shakey start, but improve quite a bit as they get warmed up. They seem rather weird at first, but turn out to be quite a good Japanese rock 'n' roll band called The Electric Red Drive - worth sticking around for.

PS: The Bull & Gate closed as a live music venue in 2013.