Off to see Dr Robert on Saturday.

Him of Blow Monkeys fame.

Bloody hell. Is he still going?

Apparently he has been doing solo stuff all along. It was supposed to be The Blow Monkeys as they have a new album out but it is just going to be him now. It is at one of the local pubs I go too. Not a normal gig place.

For the youngsters out there the Blow monkeys were quite big in the 80's.

Some stuff.

Digging your scene.

I thought it was going to be Digging your scene.......

Opps.

That is: It doesn't have to be that way.

Rodney!

To be fair I posted both but it only put one up. Can you only have one youtube per post?

No. Have you seen how many I put on in the album section? You have to keep editing and adding one at a time. Sometimes [youtube] [/youtube] works with the url address too.

Hmmmmm.

How was it then?

It has been a while since I have been the the Donkey to see a band. In fact it was about a year ago to see the band who support tonight.

Northern Kind.

Northern Kind are a male knob twidler and female singer 2 piece. There is no denying the influences here. The 80's, more to the point Vince Clarke. (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure) This is pure pop that has been through a pop filter leaving us with condensed essence of pop, super heated. You get the picture. As with the last time they don't miss a note or a beat. The new songs blend seamlessly with the songs from the last album that have been melded in to a 20 min mega mix.

As I said last time, this band has a future, and it has both feet firmly planted in the past.

The Main act. Dr Robert.

This was a birthday present for my other half who has said she won't be happy if he does not play the two she knows. I don't really care, I was there for Northern Kind (don't tell here that).

As Dr Robert takes the small stage I am confused. Surely this is a printing error as it is Dr Fitzgerald from the TV show Cracker (Robbie Coltraine) who has taken the stage. Yes, Dr Robert has filled out and aged. But I have to remind myself I am watching a bloke that last had a hit in 1987 and is now 47.

Straight away he is joking with the crowd and he is at eased and relaxed. As he launches in to his first song the other half bounces with excitement. It is Digging your scene. His first hit and one of the ones she knows. He is doing an acoustic set and I have to say he is very good. Better than I expected, but will he keep my interest with stuff I don't know? In short, yes. Quite, loud, at peace with the world yet angry at parts. These are songs of his life, his loves and his losses.

It is about half way through that two couples behind me start making a bit of noise. "what is this shite?" "we paid a tenner for this?" It turns out they thought they were here to see a UB40 tribute band! They soon leave and Dr Fitzgerald carries on regardless.

As the set comes to a close we are owed the other song we know. Luckily Dr Fitz has been doing this long enough to give the crowd what they want and he finishes with It doesn't have to be that way. The other half is now satisfied.

Overall a very enjoyable night.

The couple thought they were there to see a UB40 tribute band? How did they make that mistake? Lol

I don't know. I think the more important question should be why would you pay a tenner for a UB40 tribute band?

True....

Unless they were doing a gig of early stuff I would not pay £10 for the real UB40.

Never liked them myself.