POLE Club
POLE Club, the New Cross Inn, London, 8th November 2005:
After a bit of venue roulette, the marvellously hospitable Caffy got us in at POLE at the New Cross Inn, bottom of the bill supporting The Sines and Lost Sunday. As expected, New Cross is nice and easy to reach from the wilds of Kent (M2, A2, Blackheath, down the hill, double back via Sainsbury’s and hey presto!), although as we shall see, not so easy to leave…
My trusty D-reg Polo, fired up with a new battery and thirst quenched with unleaded, got us there without mishap this time (despite the indignity of being overtaken by an Allegro near Bexleyheath!). We could even park outside, which is by no means commonplace.
The New Cross Inn is a good venue: stage hemmed in with railings (for protection? If so, whose?), good sound, sofas to sprawl all over, and coffee available by the bucket (essential if you’re driving and playing). With only half an hour and a WEM Westminster to blitzkrieg the metropolis, we had to work fast: hit and run, stick to the poppier songs and the “New Victor”, our mid-set, throat-resting, go-for-a-walk-with-a-long-lead calling card! Apart from a couple of minor transgressions, this went to plan and all of the set seemed to be well received, “New Victor” and “Small Town” especially so. Due to the need to escape back to Kent, we couldn’t stay for much of the night, but judging by what we caught of The Sines and heard of Lost Sunday’s soundcheck (including their repertoire of impromptu covers), there was definitely some strong music on offer — live bands up until midnight and then DJing from The Fairies thereafter (or until 2AM, whichever comes first), who also spun tunes between the bands (I was quite chuffed that our set was followed by a double bill of The Ramones and The Stooges!).
Then we just had the minor problem of the London end of the A2 being shut, the random signposting, lack of lighting, and arbitrary distribution of cats-eyes whilst we battled against the rain! But don’t panic folks, we got home eventually… just…
Set list:
- Dance of the Midwich Cuckoos
- Force of Nature
- Buried Alive
- The Medway Crab Fisherman
- New Victor
- Cocoon
- It’s A Small Town
- What’s Under The Stairs?