Plane Stupid

I did a mix cd with a train theme last week, before heading off to Indietracks Christmas Twee. One of the songs on it was Anita Harris' lovely "Trains and Boats and Planes" (find it on Here Come the Girls Vol. 8), which was also given a love rendition by Eva Luna as a matter of fact. Now, if Saturday was not exactly that, it was at least a long-drawn story of Trains and Buses and Planes. It was a struggle reaching Butterley on time, since (once again) someone decided to end their life further along the line. 300+ passengers were seemingly stranded in Wellingborough, which you may or may not know where it is. In the end I got on a train to Nottingham instead of Derby, walked through the city centre to the Victoria bus station, got the (very slow) Rainbow One to Ripley and then a cab to Butterley station. As I stepped into the impressively decorated marquee, Dan grabbed my bag and rushed me over to steam train where I fumbled to cue up a track by Girl of My Best Friend before the train took off. Dancing on the train seemed like fun and I got to try it out myself, later on when Stuart took over. I don't think there's a list of what he played anywhere, but my playlist is over there. I'd planned a third set that I never played, so I'll put that up here instead whenever.

That about 20 of my 30 pics from the trip are of Vivian Girls unfortunately says less about how much I love them or their photogenicity than the fact that my camera died after the first three shots at Christmas Twee. So the photo above is one of Emma's - you can check out the rest here (the scary Stuart one is the best). The next day we had Sunday roast with Horowitz in the Fellows Morton and Clayton Ltd and then went to the oldest pub in England for a bit. But if that tapestry behind Ian and Pete is anything to go by, it is more likely from 1996.

Opting for Vivian Girls' White Heat gig rather than trying to catch them in Nottingham turned out to be a smart move though, since I now got to see them twice! The morning of the gig I found out about an instore at Rough Trade East which was completely free and a good option for those who didn't manage to get a ticket for the evening gig. Even if the setlist is a bit hard to decipher, it is at least clear that they played a lot of songs. (Including one of my favourites, "No", which they skipped at the next one). I talked to them for a bit before the soundcheck and found out that a) they had no idea who else where playing White Heat that night b) they're planning to go to both Sweden and Australia next year and c) they didn't have copies of the Surf's Up 7" with them.

Me and Trev then went into Soho to meet up with Marianthi, Ian and Christos. Sexy Kids were meant to be playing White Heat as well, but they'd cancelled! Say what you want about the venue Madame Jojos, but at least I got to see a really good band with the easily questionable name Wetdog. The three girls, who surely listen to Delta 5 more that anything else, were tight, loud and played really well. Don't let the name withhold you. Their first LP Enterprise Reversal came out on Angular (who've now also licensed the Je Suis Animal album) in the summer. There's a new single as well, called "Zah Und Zaheet", but as this is digital only I wouldn't really call it a single. Oh well, worth the money anyway! I had a great time at the gig since TAF were playing records and I also ran into Erik from Wake the President. Vivian Girls played a brilliant set and broke a guitar string for the second time that day, and were lent a Bo Diddley style guitar by Wetdog.