Four albums in, @thebeths.bsky.social are at the point where, if they played everyone’s favourite song, they’d be on stage for three hours or more. It also means that the normal-length set they played at the Roundhouse last night was full of everything that’s great about them. I love that band.

There is something very special about a big room full of people falling completely silent to listen to _that_ moment of a show. It happened more than once during Black Country, New Road’s hometown gig at Cambridge Corn Exchange on Wednesday night. Emotional, that one.

Not for the first time, my immediate thought after going to a @nerinapallot.bsky.social gig is that I’d quite like to go to another Nerina Pallot gig. Two excellent sets at a sold-out @storeysfieldcentre.bsky.social last Saturday. She’s the kind of artist that room was made for.

Last night’s @bambaranyc.bsky.social gig at #ThePortlandArms - a masterclass in taking advantage of a small venue to interact with the crowd and bring them into the show. Loud, and sweaty, and dynamic in all the right ways.

It is always a pleasure when @thisisthekit.bsky.social visit Cambridge. Fab show at @storeysfieldcentre.bsky.social on Sunday night. Could just be me, but I thought they rocked a little harder than usual. Kate Stables channeling her inner Ian Anderson, perhaps?

Some bands struggle with where to place their big songs in the setlist. @men-without-hats.bsky.social have a neat solution. Play it at the start. Play a longer version at the end. And play the power ballad version in the encore. Tonight, at The Garage, we could dance, and we did want to. Safely.

Just before the end of his set at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social last night, #AlanSparhawk had some words for the crowd: “We made a life and a family out of what you gave us. Thank you.” A fitting close for a show that had by turns been soft, and surprising, and loud, and intimate, and emotional.

We know how hard it is for touring musicians at the moment, so big respect to @joanaspolicewoman.bsky.social and her outstanding players - Will Graefe and Jeremy Gustin - for coming to the UK and playing @cambridgejunction.bsky.social on Tuesday night. It was a really, really good one.

Really lovely atmosphere at #ThePortlandArms in Cambridge last night for @nellmescal.bsky.social’s gig - friendly and supportive and inclusive. And not only did the crowd know all the words, but they sang along _in tune_! A pleasure to be there.

Andrew Castle said that the King Of Spain is watching from the Royal Box, which can’t be right because Ashley Giles is nowhere to be seen. #Wimbledon

A rare full-band outing and a headline set for #PaulGoodwin at The Blue Moon in Cambridge last Tuesday night: more songs and richer arrangements. And there’s something about his voice that makes you believe every word he sings.

I got home late tonight. Found this waiting for me. For the first @allodarlin.bsky.social album in over a decade, sleep can wait. #BrightNights

I first saw #TheBoyLeastLikelyTo at #Cornbury back in 2008. It was an absolute pleasure to be at #BushHall last night for a celebration of The Best Party Ever. Balloons! Prizes! BC Camplight anecdotes!

I’ve kicked myself for missing a couple of London shows, so I was very pleased to see the #PortlandArms on C Duncan’s itinerary for his latest tour. A solo set with a clever mix of the electronic with the acoustic. A thoroughly lovely evening.

No better way of spending a Bank Holiday evening than being in the crowd for #PrimaQueen at the #PortlandArms in Cambridge last night. Musical and joyful and thoughtful in equal measure. Everything that a gig in a grassroots venue should be.

Watching and listening to a group of musicians who obviously enjoy playing together never gets old. That’s what made last night’s gig by #OiVaVoi at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social so good.

Fabulous set at the #BlueMoon in Cambridge on Saturday by the multilingual, multi-instrumental, multitalented #AmeliaCoburn and her band. One of the best things I’ve heard this year.

Singer, songwriter, musician, poet, artist… #JeffreyLewis is one of a kind. And on the evidence of last night’s show at @storeysfieldcentre.bsky.social, he’s what two or three hundred people in Cambridge really like.

Saturday night’s gig in J3 at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social was really a kind of “Evening with…” @kateybrooks.bsky.social, featuring her songs, the stories behind them, chats with the audience, camomile tea, and _that_ voice. And it was all rather lovely.

Good crowd in at @bedfordesquires.bsky.social last night for the welcome return to the road of #CoachParty. Decent bunch. Excellent noise.

I don’t know for sure that @morganway.bsky.social is their handle on here, but either way… Saturday’s #Morganway gig at #Omeara to close the tour for their new album was joyful and emotional and really very good indeed. “I Feel The Rain” is a tour de force.

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No amount of cancelled trains, late hotel rooms, or replacement bus services can dim the majesty of @selfesteem.music-social.com.ap.brid.gy at #DukeOfYorks last night. Confident, vulnerable, powerful, sensitive… complicated.

Before tonight’s entertainment starts, a quick salute to #BaxterDury for his show at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social last Thursday night. He might sound laid back on his recordings, but he never keeps still on stage!

Skin from #SkunkAnansie is a force of nature. It blows my mind that she can sing like that, and put in a performance like that, night after night. A powerful, cathartic set at #CambridgeCornExchange on Tuesday.

A wonderful Saturday night in a city that grew on me the longer I stayed. @allodarlin.bsky.social closed the show at Cologne Popfest and then stayed for the party afterwards. Indiepop people are the best.

It starts at 56 minutes in. And it’s so good to have them back. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It was so good to have #LittleComets back in Cambridge on Thursday night. Two great sets, a packed #PortlandArms… and maybe it’s just my memory, but I don’t recall their vocal harmonies being so strong, last time around. A properly good live band.

Just for once, no gig photo, because those are the rules… but #ABBAVoyage is a remarkable bit of engineering and technology. It’s also a most excellent way to spend a Saturday night. Kudos to the live band, who play a huge role in making the experience work. I had a blast. 🪩🕺🎉

The songs of @annaerhard.bsky.social are well-observed, quirky vignettes. Played live, I wasn’t expecting them to have quite such a funky bass line! Really fun show at #MASHCambridge last night.

Sometimes fate serves you up the gig you needed. I have never heard a band sound better at @storeysfieldcentre.bsky.social than #SubmotionOrchestra sounded last night. Great playing. Soaring vocals. Took me somewhere else for a while.

It’s not every day that a US singer-songwriter brings his five-piece Cumbia band to #ThePortlandArms. But on Thursday night, that’s exactly what @chuckprophet.bsky.social did. It’s a very good show indeed. And there can never be too much cowbell.

All round to Louisa’s place - complete with carpet and standard lamp - at @bedfordesquires.bsky.social last Wednesday night for #SheDrewTheGun. Great to hear songs from Howl played live, as well as the pieces in between that flip from chat to poetry before you’ve realised what’s going on!

Drums that are sometimes jazz, guitars that are sometimes post-punk, and vocals that are sometimes Sprechgesang - all making for a gig that was never less than excellent at #ThePortlandArms on Tuesday night. #Honeyglaze really know how to do the quiet-loud thing, and their latest album is so good!

I’ve started a run of 4 gigs in 4 nights. If they’re all as good as #WHLung were at #ThePortlandArms yesterday, I’m going to be (a) very happy, and (b) exhausted. Drums, synths, two guitars, frontman: a classic lineup lifted by the playing, the harmony, and the irresistible rhythm. Loved that.

I enjoyed the inevitable onslaught (his words) of @lukesitalsingh.bsky.social at the #PortlandArms in Cambridge tonight. “Santa Fe” and “Nearly Morning” were my highlights of an emotional one-man set full of new songs and old.

Such a good show by @hamishhawk.bsky.social in London last night. He and his band get bigger and better with every tour, and #KOKO felt like the perfect venue. Sounded fantastic. Looked pretty great too!

Final show of the tour for @dublonde.bsky.social at Scala last night, and she made it a really good one despite not being fully fit. In fact, that brought her, and the band, and the crowd closer together. A great atmosphere and a celebration of her new songs.

Outstanding lineup and a great day at @bedfordesquires.bsky.social on Saturday. I knew how good #Divorce are, but fab sets also from #Congratulations who got the crowd jumping, #Kynsy who’s grown since she supported NewDad, and #Heartworms who will be playing some very big stages very soon!

I think we’re still just about in #IndependentVenueWeek, aren’t we? Which makes it a good day to visit one of my favourites - @bedfordesquires.bsky.social - for their one-day Ceremony festival.

I have to be a bit selective about the gigs I go to London for, or I’d never be away. But I would always make the trip for @despjournalist.bsky.social, who were superb at The Garage on Thursday night. Incredible energy and huge songs. There’s no one quite like them!

As things stand, @thejohnotwayband.bsky.social has played over 5200 gigs. But I hadn’t caught one before last night at #ThePortlandArms in Cambridge, which was also my first for 2025. Funny, and self-deprecating, and then - when you’re least expecting it - really quite poignant. Very glad I went.

My musical 2024 in one image. 52 shows, on stages in Cambridge, Bedford, London, and - for one night only - Oslo. See the alt text for details! Thanks once again to all the artists, venues, technicians, and promoters represented here. ❤️

Just setting up my BlueSky