Blowout Day 4: Over already?

If not for the memory of Amy Gore and Her Valentines, saying goodbye to the Blowout for another whole twelve months would just be too painful. It seems that one minute we’re celebrating opening night at the Stick, the next it’s Sunday and we’re too exhausted to get out of bed for breakfast. But Gore was so good last night that everything was put into perspective. “Don’t worry,” Jackson Smith’s guitar said, with a hard yet soothing tone. “Most of these bands play all year round anyway.”

This is a band that really does seem to grow in direct proportion to Smith’s moustache. The tunes are fantastic, they all look great, and tonight they reigned supreme for me.

Elsewhere, Dutch Pink has evolved into a super-tight unit of blues-rock troubadours, with dual female vocals that add genuine class and clout to what was a fairly conventional set-up.

Other highlights this evening included Robin Goodfellow (Not sure which of the two guys on stage was Goodfellow, but they were both making impressive electronic / guitar noises), the Q (very jangly Monkees influenced retro pop-rock) and the Beekeepers (that Pink Zappa, or Frank Floyd, noise is an acquired taste but I’m fast acquiring it).

There were impressive sets from the Dirtbombs, the Hentchmen and Black Jake & the Carnies, and then it was over. At least Summer’s coming.