We've got photographs of men on the moon

Something old and something new...

Back in the mists of time (forty years ago!) a small band from Hull released a very fine single indeed - I think I might have paid full price for Red Guitars' "Good Technology" and they even got the video played on The Tube as part of their Hull music special (ah - I miss The Tube).  I also picked up their second album in the Our Price bargain bin and remember quite enjoying it - although Wikipedia tells me I really should have brought their debut album.

And that, I very much suspected, was that - until their name came up on the "anyone want free tickets?" list at work and they were playing The 100 Club, which I'd always fancied going to (it's been hosting live music since 1942, so I really should have made it there by now).  Hence I found myself heading into London on a Sunday evening (very much against the crowds) on somewhat of a magical mystery tour - unsure what I might experience both in terms of the venue and the music.

Well the first impression you get of the venue (once you get past the very understated entrance, box office and security) is that it's small. 

Actually, it's not so much that it's small - it's more that it's very shallow (the picture above was taken from the back wall).  The room extends a reasonable way each side of the stage (accommodating two bars) but the distance from the stage to the back wall is pretty tiny (I think it's less than The Horn in St Albans, which is basically a shoe box!).  It's also, as you can probably tell from the picture above, extremely red.  

There was a support act - The Room who I'd never heard of but Wikipedia tells me they're also from way back in the day and released five albums from '80-'86.  On stage, they had a Joy Division-ish sound which I didn’t mind at all, but unfortunately the vocalist didn’t have Ian Curtis’s vocal command or range - which is really saying something.  People were nice enough about them, but it's fair to say the room wasn't packed for The Room.

A few more people arrived for Red Guitars - it wasn't exactly bursting at the seams when they turned up on stage but they all looked very pleased to see us when they filed on stage (and you definitely got the impression there were a few hard-core fans in the audience who got special greetings).  The music was actually pretty good although, despite having one of their two albums, I didn't recognise any of it except for "Good Technology" and its b-side - cross-checking the setlist and the album tracklist later, this was possibly because they didn't play any of that album (the singer had left by then but he's back for the tour, so he probably just refused to sing them).  Somewhat surprisingly for an 80s band, I would say that (with the exception of "Good Technology") Vampire Weekend is probably the closest touchpoint I have for them - there was a lot of "clean" guitar sounds and complex rhythms (and some nice familiar riffs snuck in there, including "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Ticket To Ride").

The band may look like a collection of elderly sociology lecturers and pub landlords (except for the female bass player, who looks about twenty years younger than the guys) and they were very un-rock'n'roll but they were obviously having a good time on stage and the audience appreciated them warmly.  A couple more observations about the venue - the sound was pretty good everywhere in the room and the beer was actually pretty reasonably priced (for the location anyway) although I'm not sure that having Lucky Saint (the non-alcoholic option) at the same price or more as the other beers is entirely reasonable.

Overall, it's not going to go down as my best night out ever but it was fun and I was pleased to experience the 100 Club.  Which really is very red.