Whilst I am in Berlin, Claude has volunteered to catch Vanilla Ride tonight. Vanilla Ride are playing tonight and tomorrow. No Cars played yesterday. Sachi plays bass in both bands so I am disappointed to miss all three gigs.

I have seen Vanilla Ride several times lately and have little to add to my previous blogs. This does not make them any less enjoyable. Brett says that this is his last gig with the band.. If this is true it will be a pity.

Vanilla Ride are supporting Electric Six again. This time I give them a lift as I am driving to Oxford and know where the venue is. We arrive in good time for the soundcheck; at this point things begin to look like "Bad News" (Comic Strip, 1982) The man with 'crew' on his T-shirt says there are only 2 bands on the bill and neither of them are Vanilla Ride. This is not what we wanted to hear. After 40 minutes or maybe an hour, higher up people have managed to resolve the situation and new copies of the running order appear, now featuring Vanilla Ride. Travelling with the band has the advantage of an all areas pass, but the disadvantageof hanging around alot. Actually time passes fairly quickly and they are soon playing to a good crowd of early arrivals. Interestingly one of the crowd that I talked to, was expecting Vanilla Ride to play and had looked them up on myspace. It was just the venue that didn't know then. Overall the Academy in Oxford is much more pleasant and relaxed than the one in Islington. I'm not really familiar with Electric Six but the crowd seemed to enjoy them alot.

Playing your first big gig must be a bit scary, but Vanilla Ride seem relaxed; and they have taken the time to make sure that not only can I get in but have a photopass. In the excitement it could easily get overlooked, so I'm grateful. It's a nice assured performance from Vanilla Ride and they get a good audience reaction. I think they could have emphasised who they are a bit more, as this sell out audience for Electric Six may not remember tomorrow.

Sunday at the Dublin Castle. I arrive around 8, but the doors are not open yet. As there are supposed to be 5 bands on tonight this is a bit unsettling. It turns out 2 of the 5 bands have pulled out. This might have something to do with the drums; Vanilla Ride are drumless tonight as there is some problem with sharing drums (knowledgable people talk about 'backline' but I'm not sure what that means).The first band do have drums (they may belong to the second band, or the second band may use the drums of the first band, I think there is only one set of drums anyway). They are an all girl punky/grungey outfit from Hitchin called Spiked. They have dressed up and brought a fair crowd. They are all 16 according to their myspace and are lively.  Their live show is pretty good.

Spiked

After a brief break for a pint of London Pride, during which I miss the middle band (they sound rather heavy metal from the safety of the front bar) Vanilla Ride start their set with a slight stutter. The absence of drums must surely be responsible for the guitar and bass starting out of time. I've seen Vanilla Ride in several guises: Veronica on her own at the Bull & Gate, Veronica and Brett (Drums) at several venues, and now Veronica and Sachiko (Bass). I've also seen two versions of the 3 piece (Sachiko replaced Corinne in November 2007). Whilst I think they are best as a three piece the simplicity of Veronica's songs means they can be enjoyable in all these permutations. They seem to get a particularly good response from tonight's audience.

Vanilla Ride

A bit of an adventure as the Candy Bar is normally restricted to women, but for this Sunday night gig, men are allowed enrty. This is a good thing; much as I like Vanilla Ride I draw the line at female impersonation.

Vanilla Ride have a new bass player. I make a quick stop at Bar Monsta on the way to the Bull & Gate. Fortunately they play at the advertised time so I have plenty of time to make it. Sachiko has learnt all the songs in a a very short time. I recognise her from the (small) audience at the Bullet Bar

Expecting an early appearence by Vanilla Ride I was disappointed to find an array of accoustic offerings. These were largely drowned by the talkative audience, and hidden from view by the strange lights. The fast disappearing range of draught beers added to my ill temper..

I just wasted half an hour writing an enthralling piece on the merits of making stage announcements in norwegien and generally decrying this venue for not offering any lighting to AlicebanD who had dressed up for their creditable performance and for putting on Vanilla Ride so late that most people had gone home. [Unfortunately this blog site crashed before I had saved it and lost my words of wit and wisdom. Overall it looks like time to find a reliable provider. This site is beginning to make Myspace look reliable.] And I enjoyed Vanilla Ride....

Well actually Vanilla Ride tonight is just Veronica. The absence of 2/3rds of the band is not explained. It is a pity they are not here to be photographed in this (pretty much uniquely) well lit venue.

Veronica looks rather small and lonely as she climbs the big stage, and perhaps a little nervous. This may not be helped by the apparent lack of an audience. Initially there is just me and the soundman, but as she starts a decent crowd arrive (I realised later that the Bull and Gate have TVs in the bar showing the stage).

Vanilla Ride and Veronica have songs which sound charming and fragile, the lyrics are mostly sad and rather bitter; but the performance is sweet.

It's only a couple of weeks since I was last here, but the lights have changed. Instead of one good light and pitch blackness elsewhere we now have a blanket mediocracy which seems to involve some sort of hippy projection. Very poor for taking photos. Vanilla Ride are good though.