The Dublin Castle in Camden is one of my favourite London venues. I love the dim grottyness of it with the weight of its musical significance practically dripping down the red walls.
Summer drinks in the garden of the Edinboro Castle followed by a gig in the Dublin Castle is an absolute winner of a night. You can't go wrong.
On Friday 21 August it was Ben Larson's Night: Headlining were Dead on TV with Audio.Video.Disco, Ash Node and Ray Dar Vees supporting.
Now if I was a bit more of an edgy type I might have been into Dead on TV but they didn't really grab me when I was doing my homework listening to my space pages. Their sound is way too avant-guarde for me! Also, by the time they came on I was a wee bit too worse for wear to pay attention if you get my meaning. (An excellent journalist - always on the ball!) I also somehow managed to miss Ray Dar Vees who sounded absolutely class on their my space but there's plenty more time to get to know them in future.
Audio.Video.Disco have an strong background of gigs behind them, having played alongside Alphabeat at the Clapham Grand and headlining at the Astoria 2. They are unashamedly poppy, and "not afraid of writing catchy melodies". They're the sort of band that many journalists would turn their noses up at for not being cool enough. I think that they're an extremely marketable band with a tight sound. However, the music industry is saturated with bands with a similar sound so they would have to do something else to grab our attention.
But for the unsigned circuit they put on a damn good show. I loved their set (yes I was buzzing on a vodka induced high) and found it especially good music to bounce up and down to - always a good sign in my books! The rest of the audience were rather more restrained, athough I could tell they were enjoying the music. It was the time of night before people are loose enough to dance and there was a big gap in front of the stage that the audience were too tentative to enter.
Richard Berkshire's vocals are sweet - he's got good pitch and tone and there's a gorgeous clarity to his voice. The band make a great team and their song writing skills are excellent. I think there could be big things ahead if they just evolve that little bit further.
