A common theme of gigs at @bedfordesquires.bsky.social is the quality of the whole bill. Outstanding support from #KateGoreAndTheScreamers and #UglyOzo last Saturday, before an excellent headline set by @ttssfu.bsky.social. The reaction to “Upstairs” felt like the start of something big.

Waiting for this year’s 2nd gig to start reminds me to reflect on the 1st: @publicimageltd.bsky.social, last week, at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social. Lydon the frontman is still Lydon. Still spits the lyrics. Still harnesses the anger. Still raises goosebumps when the opening bars of Rise ring out.

My musical 2025 in one image. 52 shows, on stages in Cambridge, London, Bedford, and - for one night only - Cologne. See the alt text for details! Thanks to the artists, venues, technicians, and promoters represented here; and to the others doing similar work all over the country. Roll on, 2026! ❤️

Finally - finally! - got to see a #ThePopguns gig, at @thelexingtonlondon.bsky.social on Saturday night. I’ve been hooked since hearing Still Waiting For The Winter on the Indietracks 2014 compilation. That they played it just made the night better still.

For one still early in her career, Jojo Orme - #Heartworms - has remarkable control over the stage, the crowd, and the space she performs in. Utterly compelling at Scala on Monday night. Style and substance, and songs that stay with you.

My Christmas cards by @happytoast.co.uk arrived and I could not be more delighted by them.

I really appreciate it when bands like @young-knives.bsky.social bring the things you associate with a big venue - custom lighting, banners, huge flags - to a place like #ThePortlandArms. It makes everything else about the show bigger too. Just like it did last night.

It was good to catch up with #LowGirl touring their new album at #ThePortlandArms in Cambridge last night. Two years since they played the Blue Moon, the bigger room really suits their sound: inventive, melodic indie with sharp production.

If Vanessa from Virgin Records had been at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social last night, she’d have seen exactly why the #LotteryWinners sold it out weeks ago. A great show, an easy affinity with the crowd, and a touch of class as they paused their set to play Sally Cinnamon in tribute to #Mani.

When @dublonde.bsky.social played Scala back in February, I said how much I’d enjoyed it despite them not being fully fit. Well, on Wednesday night they came to Cambridge’s #PortlandArms, firing on all cylinders. Great show - and candid stories - to a packed house.

Last night’s @diymag.com showcase at @thelexingtonlondon.bsky.social was a genuine double-header, with the room full long before the music started. I enjoyed #ShesInParties when they played Cambridge back in October, and they were every bit as good here. (1/2)

Is there already a term for a gig that you took a bit of a chance on, but it turned out to be great? If not, I’m calling it a “Betty Taylor”, after #BettyTaylor, who were just that at #TheGrace in London last night. They’ve come a long way to play! Go and see them. You will not regret it.

A very welcome Tuesday night visit to #TheBlueMoon in Cambridge by #lilo (pron. lee-lo), who brought along their full band as well as their songs and harmonies. Folk, indie, a dash of country, and good humour despite a broken-down tour van! Nice evening, that.

From note 1 of song 1 to the last strains of the not-an-encore, @despjournalist.bsky.social were on superb form at a very full, very warm @thelexingtonlondon.bsky.social last night. A band - a voice - that I could never tire of hearing.

It does not feel like nine days since the triumphant return of #JohnGrant to @cambridgejunction.bsky.social - immediately preceded by the equally triumphant return of #Lynks. In different ways, both outstanding at what they do. I’d see either again in a heartbeat.

The second instalment of #ShinyNewModel festival at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social last Saturday. Great addition to the local live music scene. Kudos to @greenmindgigs.bsky.social and all the acts who took part. Highlights for me? #BlueCinema, #PanicShack, #HomeCounties, and #ShesInParties.

I part ways from the @allodarlin.bsky.social tour at this point, but #EartHHackney was a great place to leave it. Different production (and loads of different songs) from Tuesday. Special guests! But the same joy. And they still played Capricornia. ❤️ Glasgow; Manchester - look after them, yeah?

Tonight’s @allodarlin.bsky.social gig at Nottingham #OldColdStore was full of the joy that keeps me - and so many others - coming back for more. Some very welcome surprises on the set list, too. Anticipation already building for Thursday…

A really lovely gig by @kathrynwilliamsuk.bsky.social at @cambridgejunction.bsky.social last night. A new album and a huge catalogue of songs to draw from makes for shows that are as fresh and engaging and charming as ever.

Without a doubt, the hottest ticket in London last night was the UK debut of #ErikaVikman at #TheGarage. Language is no barrier when you - and your band - perform like that. Fantastic, friendly crowd and a show that I’ll remember for a long time.

We are _so_ ready. ❤️

Especially after missing out first time round, I remember the euphoria of the first #Sleeper reunion shows. Eight years on, their live sets incorporate new songs and revisit old ones with the same vitality. A quality gig at Camden #ElectricBallroom last night.

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.

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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.