Gig Time. Frank Turner at The Victoria Warehouse 25th January 2019

Frank Turner

Never been to a gig at the Victoria Warehouse before, and I don’t think it’s been open as a venue very long.

At 3,500, it nicely fills a gap for a standing venue that is bigger than the Academy (about 2300) and smaller the Arena (upto about 21,000 depending on the setup).

There were three acts on the bill, with Frank headlining, Jimmy Eat World second, and Grace Petrie openning up.

Don’t like missing support bands. The number of gigs I go to for bands I saw supporting someone else… Well, we got to see about half of Grace Petrie’s set because parking isn’t easy around the Victoria Warehouse. Never like “event parking” where you get parked in completely and have to wait until the people in the cars blocking you in have gone, before you go home. Ended up parking a few tram stops away and getting in that way. We’ll know in future I suppose 🙂

What I heard of Grace Petrie I enjoyed though. Might have to look at seeing her when she plays near here again.

Jimmy Eat World

I wouldn’t claim to know anything by Jimmy Eat World, but there were lots of people who evidently did. The atmosphere was bouncy, and I realised I did recognise a couple of tunes towards the end. Added them to my subscribed artists on youtube music, and The Middle has turned up a few times on my mix tape.

Frank was performing his 2301 gig with his band The Sleeping Souls. I left the place with a sore throat, a grin on my face, and wondering why I hadn’t seen Frank Turner before… The audience was a good mix of ages, and the atmosphere was friendly and LOUD 😀

Gig Time. Martyn Joseph at Band on the Wall 16th January 2019

The best Welsh songwriter you’ve probably never heard of.

Martyn Joseph

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been entertained by this man. He’s been touring for decades, and has quite a back catalogue. The set was a nice balance between old favourites (like Dic Penderyn and Cardiff Bay) and new material like Here Come The Young.

This was the second time seeing him at one of my favourite venues, the Band on the Wall in Manchester.

Gig Time. Edwina Hayes at Bury Met 11th January 2019

First concert of the year was the lovely Edwina Hayes at Bury Met.

Edwina Hayes

I’ve seen this very talented singer / song writer several times at festivals, but this was the first time seeing her in a gig of her own.

She tells random stories between songs, and I don’t think she’s fully aware of how funny she can be. A very entertaining evening with a number of her own songs interspersed with a few covers.

If you’re new to this lady’s work, check out her ‘Pour Me A Drink’ album. The title track is a veritable ear worm, and is the track you’re likely to find first in a YouTube search.