A live session for the download program (6pm-7pm); you can listen on-line at radio oxford (and should be available on line for the next week)

It's just 40 minutes drive to Oxford on a pleasant Summer evening. From somewhere a little rain rushes across the M40. My windscreen wiper goes plop and refuses to wipe anymore. Fortunately I am able to continue and there is no further sign of rain for days.

The Port Mahon is a pleasant pub with a sweaty room upstairs. There is a band playing who would be at home at the Klinker. Quite interesting experimentally stuff. I think they would have been better if their 'songs' had been shorter and maybe had vocals to give them a more captivating structure.

Little Fish do not shy away from sweat and by the end of a storming set both the fish are as damp as I've seen them at any gig. Well worth the little drive to Oxford.

The combination of heat and no lights makes me sparing with the photos, but a good evening.

Back again at the Bull and Gate, back again at Little Fish. Both splendid. My practice yesterday leaves me relaxed (in a restless and pacing sort of way). As this is such a well lit venue and I will not be able to see les poissons petits until the middle of August I do get a little carried away. At one point I switched to 5 frames per second in case JuJu jumps. Although it is difficult to imagine (as their performances always seem to give 100%) I think tonight's show has a slight edge, a hint of anger, and in the heat of the lights the passion turns to sweat. Later, going through over 1000 pictures I found some wild results including a jump. A very good evening with an enthusiastic crowd.

ps good news on the gig front, since this gig LF have dates on 2nd and 9th August booked in Oxford and West London respectively.

I was lucky enough to attend this private gig. Apparently Radio Oxford were searching unsuccessfully for the whereabouts of little fish tonight. The idea of a secret gig gripping their imagination. I can reveal that the  entertainment was excellent. To reveal more would break my oath of secrecy.

If you're quick you could go to bbc radio oxford website and listen to the Download show.

14.7.07 20:00, comment

Another new venue to me, strange as lots of bands I know have played here, but somehow I've never been down to Bethnal Green. Its convienently near the central line and quite a nice size. After my recent comments about everywhere being clean since the smoking ban, I can report that the Pleasure Unit manages to retain enough sweat and grime to feel like a proper rock venue - a sense of danger ? (I didn't get where I am today without plagerising a few song lyrics). The place is fairly quiet when I arrive, I think a number of the prospective crowd are outside in the street, possibly smoking. Just as I arrive a band doing their first gig, Vanilla Ride, start up. Their music is a little minamalist but there is something quite charming about them. I have to admit that the lead singer's wayfarers and doc martens are worn with a delightful style. It is no surprise to find they come from camden. Unfortunately the light at this venue is just that, a single light. So Veronica is beautifully lit, but Corinne is in pitch darkness.

Luckily when Little Fish play one light is enough. Although this is the third time in 10 days that I have seen the band their appeal is undeminished; I am however running out of new words to describe their wonderfulness, I may have to learn a new language to find some. maravilloso, wundervoll, meraviglioso, maravilhoso etc.

 
a snare drum rises up and throws itself into the audience as juju watches

The Cobden Club is sort of posh, it's a members only club near the Harrow Road. "We have an eclectic mix of members - bohemian Notting Hillbillies, musicians, artists, aristos and trustafarians." says their website. Membership cost £250 a year, but those of us who have sent our names can get in for the night. Apparently this is a showcase evening, what does that mean? Isn't every gig a showcase ? Reactions to the venue vary, JuJu says it reminds her of a school play, and I think the stage does indeed look a bit like a school hall. The lighting is very high and seems more suitable for a play than live music. It all seems very clean, but everywhere seems clean since 1st July.

For this 'showcase' each of the 4 bands is supposed to do 3 songs before a break, and another 3 songs after. This format doen't sound very appealing to me nor to Little Fish who negotiate doing 5 songs in a set before the break. As there is some delay while Little Fish set up and the sound is perfected, the eventual effect is that Little Fish become the centrepiece of this Showcase (which they were in my eyes anyway, whenever they played). Whilst more songs from Little Fish would have been welcome, in some ways a short set concentrates the experience.

As we are leaving Damon Albarn is spotted entering the private party on the floor below. I didn't see him myself but in this age of celebrity I thought a little name-dropping would increase my circulation. The person who did see him thought him less attractive in the flesh; I don't know what to make of that as I didn't think he was notably attractive in any other medium. Well that's enough celebrity gossip, now a few fashion tips......

warm odd lights hot maybe nice lights guiness hotter cool people nice floor to slide on with knees good songs sweat lights floor more floor photos venice cricket water on shoes songs on mind error encore great anarchists climbing lamp posts asleep on tube ready for something don't know what bed bed bed time sunrise soon

We apologise for any interference with your reception - normal service will be resumed shortly

Its 3.40am and I am just returned from another wonderful evening with Little Fish and their lovely friends. I'm a bit tired, but quite sober after 3 night buses (and a half hour walk to pass the time when I just missed one of them). At 2.50 am I was at a bus stop in the hayes area where a dubious youth offered to sell me a dress that he had in a bag and asked to borrow my phone. I thought it prudent not to show too much interest in the dress he had for sale, so i didn't see it or even find out what size it was. Fortunately his mate came and suggested he try selling a leather jacket to a man in a bob marley t-shirt. Whilst he was away the bus came and whisked me home. All very odd. Previously I was walking along the bus route in the (fairly) leafy suburbs when I came upon a pub which was open and seemed to have 20 or 30 people in it as if it was 2.30 in the afternoon, not 2.30 at night; it wasn't like a club or anything just a suburban pub full of people. So the journey home was quite exciting and I felt better for the walk, so much so that I loaded this picture before going to bed.

Previously at the Lark on the park: When I met JuJu and Nez around 9 JuJu announced she was exhausted, and in truth she did look a little weary, but her eyes just showed a steel determination. Nez is looking and sounding fresh and relaxed (apart from concerns about the set up on the stage). The venue itself seems to have been done up since I was last here, and sports expensively mediocre lighting rather than the effective but red lights of my previous visit. When I meet several friends of the band I am not surprised to find an absolute faith in the band and their destiny. Rare indeed.
There is quite a wait until Little Fish top the bill, so I get through several pints of Guiness. Having decided that the lights are not going to be good enough for any great shots i thought I might as well relax and enjoy the show (although I can never resist taking a few shots ).
A little exhaustion doesn't prevent the band putting out another great set including an encore which envolved a certain amout of shuffleing of guitars ending back with the original (the other would have taken too long to tune). JuJu speaks of these guitars with the love that I reserve for cameras. All I know is that they say fender on them, anything else is too technical, but I think I feel the spirit.

Anyone who knows me will have spotted that I am not really a festival person. Whilst many year's ago I used to enjoy various camping weekends with the Scouts, as I have grown older I have decided that I don't need my character building any further. Well I may have become a soft southerner; A little further confession: I treat visiting venues that are not near  tube stations as expeditions of Livingstonian proportions (thats Dr not Ken).

But in 2007 I have decided that adventures are good for the soul and a source of endless discovery. So came about my third adventure in 2 months. After the success of my last expedition to see Little Fish in Oxford, it seemed a natural progression to journey into the wilds of Oxfordshire to this free festival (well its only 200 meters from the Paddington to Hereford mainline rail station, so wilds may be a bit of an exaggeration, but its wild in spirit, just like the blanket).

The ticket office person looked slightly bemused when I offered him cash and didn't have any travelcard, but he recovered quickly, and I just caught the train. It was lunchtime on a Sunday and I was lucky to find some standing room in front of the toilet. Well it was only £20 for a cheap day return. Fortunately lots of people de-trained at Reading, so I got a seat for the last hour of the journey. The trip has been  pretty exciting so far, I'm sure you'd agree.

Arriving at the site it occurred to me that my preparations for the trip had been at best optimistic; dark clouds swept across the afternoon sky, threatening to re-inact the imagined downpour of the previous day. As I had not been here yesterday I could only imagine what had ensued but the excitement of my trip had fuelled my imagination. OK to cut to the quick it looked like the weather forecast of DRY with sunny intervals could be WRONG. Being British I hardly spared a thought for the waterproof jacket which was still at home (as it is bright yellow one could not wear it at a hip gathering of cool people, although in this field in oxfordshire I may have been mistaken for a steward) and set out to find a cup of tea and some organic festival fare. In this mission I was very successful and thoughts of torrential rain soon faded like a tescos till receipt shown to the sun. When I took my sunglasses off the clouds weren't really threatening at all, more like a boisterous uncle playing a joke which isn't quite funny. I had a couple of cameras, a bag to keep them dry, sunglasses and some cash and a return train ticket ....actually it sounds like I had everything I needed, perhaps I should just delete this paragraph, ahhh but you've read it now so there wouldn't be any point.

Better wizz on a bit, you've probably got better thing to do than this, really if you come back later you will find there is  a sort of review of Little Fish's show. After a couple of pictures of me hobnobbing with the stars of the show and their entourage. Actually I had a pleasant afternoon with several people taking pics with my cameras and their own, whilst several bands played in the background. All the bands were good and if I had been less 'chilled' I would have taken some pictures and been able to share the names of the bands with you. But wait I have found a picture of The Black Hats, so there's the name of a band too.

Seriously the black hats and the other bands whose names I really don't remember did set a high standard.

This picture includes me, so look quickly as if people in the office are too unkind I might remove it - you can guess that I didn't take the picture, as even by myspace standards of self-portraits it would be an awesome achievement; instead photography was by juju of little fish, I think she must indeed be a great photographer as I look kind of normal (usually pictures of me mysteriously disappear)

And below, Little Fish look like experienced festival goers, all they need for Glastonbury is the wellies.

Just as Little Fish were taking the stage there was a rumour that it was starting to rain. I was already at the front so can not testify as to the truth or otherwise of the rumour. The effect was to draw the crowd near to the stage undercover. This immediately gave little fish a proper crowd. Whilst the listeners may have been creeping forward like the tide at Blackpool, it must be said that the earlier bands had performed to a far-flung crowd, thus providing plenty of space to lie down for a Sunday afternoon snooze. (just to be clear it was the audience not the bands who were taking a nap).

JuJu has prepared a little surprise for us followers of fashion. She is sporting trend-setting braces. It a nice little touch. She has been suffering with a throat infection but songs are sung with their usual gusto and the beat goes on.... There is a surprise for me when JuJu jumps in the air ! I had not seen this at previous gigs and was intially caught out with the wrong lens, but was more prepared when she launched herself a second time later in the set.

I'm lucky enough to know several good bands who have the potential to be great. Little Fish are already stars, just waiting for the audience to catch them. I think you know I like them so I won't go on, but their performance didn't disappoint.

This blog has taken several days to write and has been crafted with the care of a ghostwriter for a premiership footballer. I like to think it may be a bit more reflective of the truth, but there are times where it looks like I'm being paid by the word.

Ah well just in case you've skipped to the punchline, or maybe dozed off in the middle somewhere let me end by quoting JuJu's review of the day: "we had a real great day out". That just about sums it up.

17.6.07 18:00, comment

As I have already said Little Fish are not only an amazingly good band, but really nice people. I have been meaning to go to see a band in Oxford for a while, but it's never quite happened. Little Fish were good enough to put me on the guestlist, so it would have been rude to have not gone. As it turned out getting there in the car was really easy (quicker than the tube to Camden or Hoxton). The only possible downside of driving to Oxford is that I can't drink. The venue was very nice, as I said somewhereelse (I think it was a text to someone) it was like the Barfly with a proper lighting person. It was a nicely filled room above a pub, with an appreciative crowd. I have to say that Little Fish stood out amongst the bands playing; the other bands were pleasant enough but both music and image were not distinctive. (I have a real phobia about bunches of boys who wear jeans and horizontally striped t-shirts in dull colours, they look like they've just been dragged away from their playstations and must surely rush home to catch some star trek re-runs). *

Having rambled on about clothes and image, Little Fish would be stars whatever they wear. From the the first drumbeat their show has an overwhelming intensity and a passion which is quite irresistable. So much so that I feel impelled to try to capture the experience in words (you will notice that I don't normally write much in this blog  about the music - I'm a photographer, what would I know about music or writing!).

Over the years I have seen many very good bands, particularly around 1979/80 such as the Clash, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Slits, The Jam, The Specials, Madness.... ok that enough for now, if that doesn't make you jealous then you won't be impressed by the others either :-) I vaguely remember fainting at an Iggy Pop gig at the Electric Ballroom or was it the Music Machine ? During one quiet august when all their photographers had run away to the sun I turned up at the Hammersmith Palais, on the guestlist as the NME photograher and photographed the Skids - I think they've just released a DVD of that concert, how odd ! Of all these bands I think the greatest were the Clash. If I had a time machine and could return to see any band in their heyday it would be the Clash. Technically their gigs were often a bit shambolic, I remember one gig where Mick Jones had to do all the vocals because Joe Strummer 'had a cold' but everyone said he'd just done so much amphetemine his voice had gone. But it didn't matter, the passion of a Clash performance was  without compromise. How many bands would carry on if the lead vocalist lost his voice ?

Anyway this was supposed to be a review of Little Fish; What I'm really trying to say is I've been around, seen a few bands and I think that for the same reasons that 25 years later I still love the Clash, after 2 weeks I love 'Little Fish'.  There are several other very good bands that I'm enjoying at the moment and I would urge you to check all the top friends on my myspace, but if you are the shallow type of person who is only interested in the winner (to avoid you having to miss tonight's episode of big brother I have done the research and can tell you) the winner is  LITTLE FISH (http://www.myspace.com/littlefishmusic) . This summer you have the chance to see this band at intimate venues, so do it and you'll be able to tell your childen you bought Little Fish a drink at the Bull & Gate (your childern might be impressed if you bought Wildblanket a drink as well) . AND go and see the Joe Strummer film 'the future is unwritten'

One 'rock n roll' anecdote  I missed out earlier was that I once met Siouxsie and Severine at the Nashville rooms, not sure who was playing (note to myself, check through thousands of negatives and find out) I think it might have been Penetration, but whilst I managed to ask them to do a photo, I was too starstruck to put 2 words together, it was just so embarassing, cos they were like famous.

* Just in case you should think my concerns about t-shirts with lines may be aimed at anyone I know, I'd just like to emphasise that you can get away with crimes against fashion if your band is really good (and probably if you only play in dark venues). Also having at least one member of the band who looks like they're playing in a band can buy the rest of the band considerable latitude