The George Lite Zone

I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crepe eating crowd, A host, of narcotic daffodils. L'amuse Gueule crêperie, a strange venue for music, but in psychedelia strange is good. The last pancakes were munched, the diners departed and the strains of a sitar filled the air. Cue guitar, bass & drums and some hypnotic, pulsating music from The Narcotic Daffodils . At times reminiscent of Hawkwind in their prime, the band produced a wall of sound that had me in head banging heaven. They did however vary their sound quite a bit, with two covers thrown into the mix for good measure. Personally I'd like to hear them do more psychedelic material, but speaking to keyboardist and Sitar maestro Simon Rigot after the show, they want to keep their music varied. But hey, a heady cocktail of rock and mind expanding melodies is OK by me. I'd also like to hear more Sitar, but as Simon also plays keyboards that would be a tad ...

I think I'm gonna be sad, think it's today... Well I was a bit on Friday night when I failed in my attempt to get a ticket to see the excellent Yo La Tengo at Botanique. Not wanting to maintain a maudlin mood for too long, and to avoid future disapointments of a giggish nature, I decided to get one step ahead of the game and purchase some concert tickets. First up next Tuesday is Chester French . I noticed they were playing Botanique, checked them out on-line and having discovered they have a good rep, decided to check them out. I came across The Dirty Projectors listening to their collaboration with David Byrne on the indie compilation Dark Was The Night . Any band favoured by Mr Psycho Killer has got to be worth a punt, as is the aforementioned compilation, which is most excellent by the way. Rounding off this little trilogy of musical delight is a subtle harmonic band from blighty. Quiet, introspective music from the godfathers of folk... Only kidding, I'm sure Motörhe...

It's not often I go to a gig on spec and end up seeing a great band. A last minute decision to descend on Botanique for Les Nuits festival resulted in an even rarer event, the discovery of two great bands I'd not heard before. The festival was spread across 4 sound stages with a new band playing on each every hour between 8:00 and 12:00. Cool. With so many acts to choose from I had a quick scan of the merchandise tables before taking my pick. In so doing I spotted two CD's with some decent reviews. Official Secrets Act - Understanding Electricity - "Excellent", "hugely energetic, needle sharp" NME; "ThunderouslyExciting" The Guardian and "This Band are ready." Zane Lowe. Breaks - Give Blood - "It's original, it's quirky and it rocks" The Sunday Telegraph; "Lunacy has seldom sounded more exhilerating" Q; "Pretty Much Perfect " Time Out; Full of fraught frivolous fun." NME 8/10; The melodic me...

Last year I enjoyed some excellent concerts at AB in Brussels. John Mayall , Dave Holland , Joan as Police Woman , Motörhead and the Fleet Foxes all came and turned in stunning performances. Literally in the case of Motörhead who hit you like a jet propelled sledgehammer. 2008 was going to be a tough act to follow in terms of quality, but a spot of Seasickness brought on by a grizzled American blues man called Steve opened this years account nicely. Steve Wold has been around for a long time, born in 1941 he's known the likes of Janice Joplin. In 2007 he won the Mojo award for best breakthrough act. At the age of 66 thats got to be some kind of record. His first UK TV appearance was on Jools Hollands new year's eve Hootenany in 2006. Unfortunately for me the gig was a sell out and my Brussels mobile remained depressingly silent with regard to the waiting list call I hoped would come. Cometh the hour, cometh the ticket touts however, and after a period of haggling I joined Big...

Quel surprise, the band return for an encore of Whorehouse Blues , Ace Of Spades and a cracking version of Overkill , Mickey Dee's drumming on this was superb. Cue more serious head banging and the obligtory Lemmy machine gun base playing, mowing down ranks of Belgian body serfers carried by their peers into the arms of the waiting security team. The tremendous trio bow take a final bow as Lemmy's base blasts out feedback from its resting position propped against an amp. The base fades, as does the crowd melting out into a Brussels night like the weekend snow. Ears still ringing I head for the 63 bus and back to the flat. Another perfect gig.

The main part of the gig ends with Danko Jones coming on stage to clown along to Killed by Death followed by a rousing version of Bomber . Firestorm coming closer, napalm to the bone... More moshing, more head banging and the band leave the stage to the chant of Motorhead, Motorhead. Will they return? Will my ears stop ringing? Will Tom Baker return as Dr Who? Tune in for my next post, same bat time, same bat channel. Down the Line

Opening up with a blistering rendition of Iron Fist segueing seamlessly into Stay Clean , Motorhead strut the boards at Ancienne Belgique Brussels and the crowd go wild, including yours truly. It's been 27 years since I first saw Motorhead and some things never change, Lemmy till has more charisma in his little finger and he plays base like some mad god of rock while messrs Campbell and Mickey Dee just get better every year. There follow Be My Baby and Rock Out . A special prize for anyone who can identify yours truly in the following footage. The angle I took the above picture at and the fact I was in the front row are a clue, as is my arm that periodically stabs the air with the intensity of Norman Bates on speed. Back to a couple of golden oldies Metropolis and Over The Top , followed by One Night Stand , I Got Mine and the second song off the new album, Thousand Names Of God . Civil War and Another Perfect Day, are then followed by a nice little guitar solo from Phil ...

I've always loved a good blast of harmony from a band, CSNY, The Grateful Dead, Spirit. Vocals that soar like an eagle and lift you up to a higher plain. Into this illustrious group I can now add The Fleet Foxes. I learnt the band was playing AB when I spotted a poster when picking up my tickets to see Dave Holland. I'd never heard of thm at the time, but the rave reviews by such illustrious tomes as the Guardian and the Times, on the aforementioned flyer persuaded me to get tickets. Oh woe was me when told that they'd sold out, but an addition to a waiting list and a call a few weeks later to say that tickets were available saw me and Big Phil sitting at the back of AB waiting forth the band to come. First off the support act, J. Tillman came on, wisecracking and strumming his way through an acoustic set to rapturous applause. Then the Foxes appeared with our erstwhile support act guitarist transforming into the bands drummer. J. Tillman Foxes in Disguise... The music fro...

What better to come back to after Novacon than a superb performance by that group from New York, Joan As Police Woman . Joan's vocals soared as the band played a selection of great tracks from Real Life and their latest album To Survive (both highly recommended). After the show Joan signed copies of her albums and I added a copy of their self titled debut to my collection. I must try to get tickets to catch them again on December 13th at the Liquid rooms in Edinburgh.

After a pre-concert beer at the Bizon, we made our way to that most venerable 0f venues Ancienne Belgique. Dave Holland and has cats came on stage and let loose a barrage of top drawer fusion jazz. Riffs interchanged, diverged and converged with Dave's base providing a permanent axis the others could play off. Moments of playfulness with the drummer dropping beats with the others filling in the aural gaps. Moments of melancholy, moments of joy and moments of beauty filled the quintet's soundscape. Listening to this band was like taking a walk in a strange land. Strange, but somehow familiar shapes move through the aural murk, opening doors of perception on a sonic world that it was a pleasure to share, if only for a little while. After the gig it was off to Bizon for more Rochefort 8 and an encounter with another Dave, who may be jamming their next Monday night. Groovy !!!

One last thing to before I sign off blogging for the night and hit the sack. The support band for Mr Mayall tonight were The Pack A.D. and they were excellent. It's a difficult job supporting a legend, but this all female twosome from Canada did so to a standing ovation. We were already standing anyway, but hey they were goood. Raw, in your face blues rock, these girls are a band to watch out for in the future. I'm looking forwards to giving their latest shiny slver disc, Funeral Mixtape, a spin tomorrow. Give them a try and check out their Myspace account for some video footage of them in action.

After a blistering stint with the Bluesbreakers, Buddy Whittington takes some time out for a signing session. I was impressed with the way he rifted his way through a plethora of tracks at one point, in a fabulous solo, picking his way through, amongst others Zeppelin and Clapton with consummate ease. A master of his craft.