Spiked had a major personel change in the autumn. This is their first gig with the new line-up with LJ on guitar and Sian taking on the Bass as well as vocals. It is in a sense a secret warm up gig (although I don't think it was very secret).  The bass ties Sian down a bit but she's stillquite active. Spiked have introduced a cover version of 'this charming man' which gives me an opportunity (as if one were needed) to tell the story of how I have been hearing the opening line as 'Tortured bicycle on a hillside' for many years. Only with the coming of the internet and the ready availability of written lyrics that I realised that Morrisey had been more mundane than I supposed and the real lyric was 'Punctured bicycle on a hillside'. Tortured Bicycle conjured up images of someone trying to ride up the hill....

Spiked are followed by Out of Embers, an all girl rock band who are quite enjoyable, but apart from probably being prettier don't really offer much differnt to the typical all boy rock band. Personally this genre is not a particular favourite of mine so maybe I shouldn't comment...but whats the point of doing a blog if you don't comment.