My bass or yours?

Impending fatherhood and mountains of marking have made the Badger a bit slack on the blogging front once again of late, so here, better late than never, are the last two Saturdays. Pub Pop at the Miller was a cornucopia of remarkable bassists, with Georgie from Plug playing the casio with her feet in a most impressive display of multi-tasking. Not to be outdone, Rose Kemp's bass player opted for the over-arm approach to his instrument, to very good effect, it must be said. T-Lo and I were on the brand new wheels of steel, with Ugly Pop not being killed, but unceremoniously resurrected.Ye Gods: Life in a Northern Town, anyone?
Left With Pictures and the Soft were live and direct on last Saturday's show. The Soft are something of a super group, featuring not only the lovely Rich Nuvo once of the Teens but also ex-Bibster, Chris Kaos, now splendidly renamed Chris Kiosk. Champion!

Spring Forward

Astrakan and Captain Blood Blood and the Sea Dogs played live on the show. Third time for the Sea Dogs, resplendently in costume for the radio, though for one song only. Still, it's not every day you see a bassist wearing a tricorn hat, is it? Last night T-Lo and I were on the Music for Punks wheels of steel at the Grosvenor in Stockwell. Duncan, our old Suffolk mate from back in the day, was playing a rare acoustic set along with an entertainingly sozzled Frankie Stubbs and fellow punk rock legend TV Smith, who played an epic set. Good to give the old punk vinyl an airing - we would have been happy playing to an empty room but ended up extending our set into the small hours for a select but enthusiastic group of dancers. Not feeling very punk rock today though - I'm missing that hour we were robbed of last night. Curse you British Summer Time!

Charing Cross Road Uber Alles

Busy day for the Badger yesterday. Cycled up to Olympia after the resonance show to see English teaching guru Jeremy Harmer talk, then got the bus to Brixton for Michael's birthday shenanigans at the Windmill, which featured an excellent set from James III. Then back in to town to spin some discs with T-Lo at the Mean Fiddler. Last time I was there it was still called the LA2 and we were onstage with Heave (supporting Salad!) in 1994. Yikes! Last night most of our DJ set coincided with a band playing downstairs, so we were mostly putting the wax on the tracks to an almost empty room. Luckily Keith, Sandra and Tommo were on hand to lend moral support and to savour the delights of the UK Subs, Dead Kennedys and Dead Boys heard on scratchy vinyl at full volume. Mind you, that didn't stop Keith berating us through the chicken wire of the DJ booth for occasionally straying from the punk rock remit.