March Live

After a very quiet January/February the calendar is now bursting with dates as a whole heap of bands and musicians are booking shows in our city. March is going to be pretty hectic around here... have a look at some of this month's highlights:

01/03 - If I'd posted this earlier today I would have told you to dash down to Resident Records at 6:30pm to catch an exclusive acoustic set from The Hold Steady. I was there and will post a photo or two on here in the next few days.

03/03 - Ahh, I remember seeing The Killers at the Zap Club not so long ago... now on the back of their underwhelming second album Sam's Town, they're firmly on the arena circuit and are playing at Brighton Centre. Instead I will be checking out Switches at the Pressure Point - their ELO/Dandys sounding single Drama Queen hints at great things.

07/03 - I can't remember if I ever saw the Inspiral Carpets first time around at the height of their success, but now they're back on the circuit and roll up at the Concorde. Always a good singles band, this should be an evening of fond 'baggy' nostalgia.

08/03 - Not a favourite of mine, but just a quick mention for James Morrison who's appearing at the Dome. Andy & I saw him support Corinne Bailey Rae at the Concorde early last year and said he'd go far... how right we were. Please, enough, no more of these sensitive blokes with their guitars!

14/03 - Gig of the month, albeit not in Brighton. After missing out on tickets for their low key London dates in January I'm delighted to have got tickets to see Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy. Funeral is one of my favourite albums of the past couple of years, and I've just got a copy of Neon Bible which sounds equally compelling. I'm just hoping they're half as good live as everyone says they are.

19/03 - My favourite band of the moment is The Sounds, purveyors of Swedish electro-rock. Their Dying To Say This To You album is a cracker and they're playing at the Pressure Point, so this should be a great small venue to catch them in before they explode.

20/03 - The last time I saw Thea Gilmore at the Komedia I got told off for talking during her set... Yeah, I was a little drunk, but her songs didn't grab me like a lot of female singer/songwriters do. However, this time Erin McKeown supports and her last album We Will Become Like Birds was terrific, so maybe. Alternatively there's the suave sounds of Bryan Ferry over at the Dome.

24/03 - I haven't heard much of her stuff yet but there's a certain buzz around Kate Nash at the moment, so I'm going to take a chance and see her intimate gig at Red Roaster. She could be the next KT Tunstall... or she could just be the new Sandi Thom. Let's see.

29/03 - Another London gig, and another band of the moment as I'm going to check out The Shins at The Forum. Their current album Wincing The Night Away is my favourite of 2007 so far, so I definitely want to see them while I can.

31/03 - Rounding off the month we've got The Fall at the Pavilion Theatre for the second of two shows in Brighton (the other one is at The Old Market) in March. Always a bit wayward, who knows what will happen when Mark E. Smith takes to the stage with his latest incarnation of the band. If he turns up at all, of course.