Twas the Heartyeah (www.myspace.com/heartyeah) album launch gig last night at the Grapes. The guys are right: when they play the Grapes they have no technical problems at all, and sound really great. Anywhere else, however, and their set is riddled with electronic difficulties.

They were excellent last night, and so were Calf by Calf, who I'd neither heard of or seen before. The other band were complete pants, to use old skool terminology. I feel a sort of pity for bands who are investing time in playing music which had its day in grotty 16+ clubs seveal years ago. They had a crap name to boot.

Anyway, there was supposed to be an aftershow party at the Runaway Girl, but for some reason the guy playing music there (singing guitar, harmonica, loops) stayed on stage for absolutely ages. He was fairly atrocious by that stage and had started doing lame covers, which his friends found hilarious. The reason I mention this place is not because of aftershow plans going awry (we went home after one drink there), but because being in that place was like stepping into a David Lynch film. I particularly had this sensation when I came out of the ladies' toilet into a sort of antechamber with busy red wallpaper and about 5 doors. I was stood there for a few seconds before I worked out which door led back downstairs, and then when I went back into the bar I realised the whole place was quite surreal: velvet curtains, red and blue lighting, low ceiling, strange convex mirrors on the back wall. Freaky.

No backwards speaking dwarves though.*


*Which is what Ian instantly asked when I told him of the Lynchian bar.