SIX TOES & THE BICYCLE THIEVES & KING CREOSOTE @ BARDENS BOUDOIR, LONDON, LATE 2006

Bardens Boudoir is one of the more peculiar venues I've been to in London. It sits underneath a row of shops on Stoke Newington Road. To gain entrance, one has to follow the signs down and under, wherein one finds a large low ceilened basement. It's very red and when I'd established I'd only missed one band of four, I felt complete.

You see, just 15 minutes earlier, I'd awoken, feeling really rather warm and blissfully content, only to find I was lying naked in a room – a room that was populated by 5 other people, all of whom were studying me with concentrated eyes….

Now in the world of Life Modelling, falling asleep in the middle of a pose is unprofessional in the extreme, but I'd been lulled by lack of recent practise, the hum of the fan heater, together with a heavy days ligging and the below stairs rumble of Are You Experienced…

Worse than this minor Faux Pas, was that the time was 9.10pm and I was late for my first live review. So grabbing full consciousness by the bollocks, I put mine away, made my excuses, got paid and cycled up Kingsland Road at Mach 4…

On this occasion I was lucky, there was no blood bandits on the streets and by the time I settled with a beer, band number 2 of 4 was on…

Six Toes are a 4 piece folk outfit fronted by a voice that would make Tom Waitts feel like a smoking cowboy. Indeed add a little bass and a few less fags and you’ve got Waitts in one.

This sort of rare distinction is obviously an acquired taste and when accompanied by both the drummer and Double Bassmans vocals the complete sound was a swirling cocktail that only just about held itself together…I however liked it and if you like your folk with a twist, then check them out…

Next were The Bicycle Thieves

Now, The Bicycle Thieves are one of the prettiest bands I’ve ever seen. Fronted by a man who looks every bit as cuddly as a Teddy Bear, a drummer one joint off San Francisco, another fine young man to the right and two very charming ladies who know the value of smiles, they’re a true picture of charm. When they announced they were about fun, I felt my cold heart melt more than it did the last time I saw a tiny kitten and the first song promised a great deal …

From that point on though, I stayed at aroundabout that very same point of appreciation and anticipation. You see, though the glockenspiel chimed like a dolcet chng and the ladies smiled their harmonies, the set didn’t quite reach the heights I thought it might. There were certainly acres of promise and intent and some very good melodic moments, but I felt the songs had the tendency to drift away in the middle and on occasion, the crowds attention went with them…

With time on their side, The Thieves can do something about this, no problem, and if they choose too, can go down the kind of pop corridor frequented by The Magic Numbers… I wish them well

Last to grace the stage was King Creosote

The King, as the audience certainly seemed to perceive him, presented an acoustic set backed with strong songs, a stronger voice and good repartie betwixt and between. To be honest, such a set isn’t the sort of thing that sets me ablaze. Indeed, I’m of the rather blinkered opinion that the future is everything and guitars should be ditched, the page turned etc, but what do I know??

Well, I know The King pulled off an accomplished performance and if that’s your bag, you will or you do already love him…

So, a good night then!