The Belgrave Scandal - Jamm, London - Friday 11th May 2007

Belgrave Scandal gigs are obviously like London buses - you wait ages (in this case about 3 months) for one, then a couple come along one after another. Fresh off the plane from Budapest, it was off to the Jamm bar in Brixton for a pretty big gig by Scandal standards - at a club night where Bonehead, formerly of Oasis, was to be DJ-ing. This helped to ensure a good turnout, of Scandal fans, and of Bonehead/Oasis fans that came along to see the bands as well.

By the time the band took the stage at about 10:15, the venue was nicely packed, probably just under a hundred people there. The Scandal came on and played probably the best set I have ever seen them play. The Barfly gig on Monday showed that they have been practising, improving the vocals, and getting more inventive with the way they play. Tonight's gig took all of that, added a sizeable and appreciative crowd, a sense of excitement and occasion, and a band on pretty top form musically. That meant everything was in place for a great set, and a great set it was.

The crowd were supportive, being made up in large part of friends of the band, which meant that there was good banter between band and audience. When there were technical problems, they improvised and played a short burst of Ring Of Fire, whilst the problems were fixed - this got a great reaction. The sound in the venue was excellent, helped by a decent setup, and somebody there that knew how to work it all properly. And, of course, the tunes are definitely in place, are very good, and getting better when played live.

This was one of those gigs where it all seemed to come together - the quality of the songs, a band that played them well, but looked like they were having a great time at the same time, and a decent sized audience there to enjoy it all. It was a pleasure to watch - I felt that the band definitely moved up a level tonight - lets hope that this is the first of many memorable gigs like it.