Worcester Music Forum

It was midsummer day but you wouldn't have thought so as I trudged damply down to the Marrs Bar in Worcester hoping that Holland v Russia wouldn't go into extra time. Luckily Flo Rowland lifted the spirits quickly with her thoughtful melodic Buffy SaintMarie-ish ditties - always a pleasure to see and hear Flo who can make even songs like 'Hangover Blues' sound quite uplifting!

Haven't seen the cosmopolitan Gamble Gamble for a while so a little treat to catch the 'noisy disjointed humourists' who threw in a touch of 30's café-bar to their original and different set. Trump card for this band though has to be the very distinctive vocals of frontman Dom on guitar and bass - yes this is the outfit who swap instruments around a bit!

Another outfit with their own unique sound and feel is the always watchable And What Will Be Left Of Them? paying a quick home call in between gigs in London, Manchester and Darlington. (?) You can always tell when frontman Pete Adams is in non-Girls-on-Film mode - no tie you see! A run-through in upcoming album-order of local classics like 'Dance Damn You Dance', 'L'Amour Violent', 'Calling All Cars' and 'Kids In America' (no not THAT one) - and probably the best AWWBLOT gig I've seen

- well since the last one anyway

Abdoujaparov (yes I thought my spell checker would fail that) is the new incarnation of Les Carter aka DJ Fruitbat but probably better known as 90's quirky 'only living boy in New Cross' Carter USM. If you're into Half Man Half Biscuit with a dash of Ivor Cutler then Les is your man. Tons of fun ditties like 'Ultracool', 'Do It Myself' and 'Monster In My Garden' were bopped away with enthusiasm - my guess is he'll be back again soon!

Only time for a brief visit to the Jailhouse in Hereford for another always excellent Bullocks promotion - so apologies to Common Orange, YR Vancouver and Dandelion Killers for missing your sets - but be assured I will catch you again soon! Great though to get a full and unexpurgated set from the always-confrontational and usually controversial Tastyhead. I'm getting a feel that they're settling into a blend combining the best bits of Ramones, Stooges and dare I say Hawkwind as they floor the pedal with oldies like 'Frustration' and 'Trailer Trash' while pounding out driving numbers like 'Daddy's Eyes' and 'Surgery'. Highlight for me though was 'Boring Girls' - a deliberately one-chord song - and a little Tastyhead wonder to boot!

Great to see Holly of Ladybird and Mike of We Do Kung Fu - no doubt checking out an old favourite of the Hereford scene. If you were seeing Thyrd Eye for the first time then you'd probably rate them as a relatively OK goth/emo outfit - perhaps a bit moody in the most part but with the occasional major chord to relieve the gloom and misery in numbers like 'After Death' (I kid you not!). Trouble is that most of us remember this three-piece in their previous incarnation as the sparkly, quirky and uplifting Bitchpups - who a year ago had a Road To Damascus moment when they felt they had to 'mature' as a band. Take it from me guys - you don't have to grow old gracefully!

You see a few 'moments' as a gigger but possibly the weirdest and disturbing incident I've seen for a while was at the Kays Club last night when Blue Coma and seemingly cursed local newbies We Do Kung Fu's gig was cancelled at the very last minute - apparently because they were too loud at the sound check! This is the third cancellation for WDKF who've yet to play their debut gig - now probably at the Marrs Bar mid-July. Not only does this send out a bad sign to gig-goers (always best to phone and check anyway) but troubling for the great Hereford music scene - which is struggling with a lack of available and affordable venues. Well let's all hope it improves real soon