The Blinders at The Globe - 1 down 59 to go!
- Jeff Jones
- Aug 19, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 20, 2021
So here it is…….at 21:32 on Saturday 14th Aug, 60atSixty officially started.
THE BLINDERS, how did I get here? Well, The Globe is only a couple of miles away so that ticked box 2 on the criteria list - see previous post. Boxes 4 & 5 were also engaged and the tickets were booked,
I put the gig out on a WhatsApp gig group I’m part of and Rob, one of my Beer & Vinyl wingmen was straight back with a yes. Tickets purchased and only a week to wait for our first live gig in over 18 months when disaster struck. The night before the gig, Rob contacted me to say they had a case of Covid-19 in the house (Rob’s youngest daughter) and he was going to have to miss the gig. Worse still for Rob, their ten days family isolation took in the whole of their planned weekend at The Greenman Festival, they haven’t missed one for years. The happy ending is a rolled over family ticket for Greenman 2022 and a music junkies festival fix with tickets booked for the End of the Road Festival (check out the festival here https://endoftheroadfestival.com/ what a line up) for early Sept…
The next day, I pondered over Rob’s now spare ticket. I didn’t want to go to the first gig alone, especially if I was leaving my lovely wife Nikki at home alone, so why not see if she wants to come, I thought. And do you know, I only had to agree to a pre-gig pizza at Anatonis pizzeria (just around the corner from The Globe) to seal the deal. Gorgeous pizza by the way.
On to the band….the gig….The Blinders. Coming out of Manchester, the band are essentially, a writing duo, Thomas Haywood (guitar/vocals) and Charlie McGough (Bass) who augment themselves with drums and guitar for recording and live performances. Formed in 2014, they are now several albums in and are a familiar band on the festival circuit. They started the show with a ton of pomp and style and and as the gig went on backed it up with a lot of substance. They’re big on driving rhythm, big swinging arm power chords and heart on sleeve left wing themes……what’s not to like about that? There’s a hint of 70’s Glam rock in some of Haywoods vocal delivery and anthemic chorus’s while the bass and drums are dirty enough to be straight out of an early album from The Birthday Party. There’s also subtlety and atmosphere in their songs and they played with supreme confidence. They had the hard core of fans (probably 25 out of the hundred or so there) singing along with every song and for a band that has enjoyed the Leftfield Stage at Glastonbury, they played with admirable intensity at this small Cardiff venue. Obviously a band that love the live forum, with the gigging scene opening back up I expect to see more of The Blinders
OK, to go back to my opening statement…..there are the support acts to consider and not wishing to belittle Bristol three piece 'Grandma's House', I didn't buy the ticket on the basis that they were playing. Having personally been in that position, supported The Blow Monkeys, Latin Quarter, The Alarm, support is a thankless task, one that you do for many reasons. But kicking off my 60atSixty year is not one of them.
A shame to miss this one, but this prompted me to discover a band I hadn’t come across and I’m pleased I did. The Green Man weather forecast has partly mitigated our disappointment and we’ll be back at full strength for EoTR. Maybe Jeff will get me a pizza at the next gig!