The Dawn Chorus / The Retrospective Soundtrack Players - Blogging all over the World

Friday 15th December 2006
Portsmouth Havana

Rivers of Sound
The Dawn Chorus
The Gun Show

I think I can speak for all 5 of us when i say this was bloody good fun. It was the third time we've played the Havana, but by far the most enjoyable. It was Paul's first proper gig with us, not including acoustic sets, and he did particularly well considering there were no onstage monitors, so he was practically playing deaf. Some of the good things about the gig were:

1) The Gun Show have come on a long way since I last saw them and started the night off well.

2) Amazing rice krispie cake made by my girlfriend for Matt's birthday. Buttery brilliance.

3) Singing Happy Birthday to Matt onstage and not feeling too cheesy.

4) Playing 'Last day of April' for the first time. I can't decide if my hoarse lost voice added to the performance or not, but it was an awesome set closer and we'll probably play it last quite a lot in future.

We also gave out the first 30 of our new 2-track cd. I'll be making the other 70 when I have the time, hopefully they;ll be available by our next gig.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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here are my top albums of the year. i couldn't manage a top 10 so i went for a top 30. i am so indie it's painful. maybe next year it will be a bit more varied.

1) two gallants - what the toll tells
2) midlake - the trials of van occupanther
3) joanna newsom - ys
4) yeah yeah yeahs - show your bones
5) the young knives - voices of animals and men
6) The Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done
7) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
8) Decemberists - The Crane Wife
9) Howling Bells - Howling Bells
10) Be Your Own Pet
11) The Veils - Nux Vomica
12) My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
13) Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
14) Forward Russia - Give me a Wall
15) Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang Derdang
16) The Killers - Sam's Town
17) CSS - CSS
18) The Long Blondes - Somebody to Drive you Home
19) Band of Horses - Everything all the Time
20) Metric - Live it Out
21) Broken Social Scene
22) Ed Harcourt - The Beautiful Lie
23) Bright Eyes - Noise Floor
24) Brakes - Beatific Visions
25) Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
26) M Ward - Post War
27) Guillemots - Through the Windowpane
28) arctic monkeys - whatever people say i am
29) Micah P Hinson - Opera Circuit
30) The Dears - Gang of Losers

16 from the US, 8 from the UK, 3 Canadians, 2 Antipodean, 1 Brazilian.

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Sunday 10th December 2006

Jo McCafferty
Mrs Poopars Automobiles
The Dawn Chorus

We are now officially a 5-piece and it feels very good. It's given us a little kick up the arse. This was a very different Wedge show to the ones we've played in the past. Candle-lit tables! Silence requested during performances! A prize draw! Lots of Mums and Dads! Oh actually that's quite usual. It was great fun to do the songs a little more intimately, even though the only difference about our actual setup was that Simps used a snare instead of a whole kit. We played 'The Celebration' for the first time, it should be amazing in the full set. Whilst on the subject, it looks like our new EP should be out in January/February. Currently it will be called the Town/City EP and will run: The Town and The City/Lobster Telephone/End of the World Party/The Celebration/A Drop in the Ocean/The Last Day of April. Also, we have a 2-track cd thing coming out with our Winchester recordings, which are Stay Sober/Same Feeling. Exciting! x

Portsmouth Edge of the Wedge
Tuesday 5th December 2006

The Dawn Chorus
Unknown

I suppose this was our first full show with Paul B as a proper member on keys and trumpet, and it was a nice little warm up for Sunday. That's all there is to it really x