Last night we went to Northampton Soundhaus to see Snow Patrol, who really rocked. A friend of U’s had got the tickets and is a big fan, but up till then I’d never heard of them. Bel thought she had, and said she thought they were an ambient dancy type group; U said they were like Gomez; U’s friend described them as ” ‘…a triumph of powerful ballads, pop, and the skewered [skewered?!] lo-fi’ [according to this Drowned in Sound article]. I predict that a) Chelsea Girl will like them, and b) I will be disappointed because my expectations are too high.”

And I did, and he wasn’t.

For the first two or three tracks I wasn’t impressed – they didn’t seem anything special, and there are so many guitar indie rock groups around at the mo. But I quickly warmed to them and was bouncy along by the end. Their new (third) album The Final Straw is out now and there are some samples on their website … definitely one to watch. They were supported by Terra Diablo and Teer – both not bad but nothing to get excited about.

Tonight we are off to Winchester to see The Sad Song Company. This is a solo project by Nigel Powell, who was in The Unbelievable Truth (an early nineties band that U was very keen on, he ran the official website and followed them all over the place. The singer was Andy Yorke, younger brother of a certain Thom “Radiohead” Yorke, both of whom U went to school with) and is the drummer with Dive Dive, who I’ve seen a couple of times and they are really great. I’ve no idea what his solo stuff is like, but apparently the songs reflect the name of the project and are rather sad. Will let you know!

We’re staying at my place tonight so I can top up the cat’s food and water, and hopefully find her alive and well. I’ve had all sorts of problems getting her to use the catflaps because she is just terrified of them, especially of the noise they make when they open. I left them propped up, one on a wellie boot and one on a wine bottle, and she did actually go through both of them into the garden before I came over here. I’m just hoping that she hasn’t knocked over the supports and got stuck in the bit between the two doors – our “conservatory” – because it gets so hot out there. I really don’t want to go home to find a mummified moggy!