The Dandy Warhols at Islington Academy

So last Wednesday night Andy and I braved the driving rain and headed up to Islington to see The Dandy Warhols. The Academy was smaller than I'd imagined, only a 800 capacity venue so nice and intimate and afforded a great view of the stage. Support came from The Morning After Girls who sounded a lot like the Dandys and were pretty solid although their sound mix wasn't perfect. Only one girl in the band though, so that name's a bit of a misnomer. The Dandys came on at 9pm and played for nearly two hours without a break - although Zia had to dash off stage twice, allowing the rest of the band to improvise in her absence. With nothing more than the download-only single Have A Kick-Ass Summer (Me & My Friends) to promote, the band were able to pepper their set with whatever they liked - and some of their choices were inspired, especially cool album cuts like Lou Weed, Cool As Kim Deal and Solid mixing it up with favourites like Boys Better and Bohemian Like You. An effortless performance and quite simply the best two hours of live music I've experienced this year.