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