The Arches, Glasgow, with Neville Staple 07/09/06

Short notice one, this. The promoter, big Pete, had phoned up to say that he had booked ex-Special Neville, and could I put the word around the scooterboys that it was happening? In return, he said he'd put the meanies on the guestlist. As we had nothing else to do in September, I suggested that, if we were all going to be there, we might as well play too. "Deal", said Pete.

Now, last time we played the Arches it was for the Blitzkrieg Bop girls, and it was dead late at night, so we were all a bit bleary, but we left with the impression that the sound wasn't too good, though it might well just have been us being rubbish. We can now definitely confirm that, whether we were rubbish or not, the sound at The Arches is ehhh challenging. Basically, the place is a series of high, bare brick tunnels. When its empty, you could stand on the stage and fart, and still be listening to the echoes a minute later.

Put nine people on the stage, blowing, hitting and twanging stuff, amplify it through several thousands watts of PA, and it sounds a lot like what you'd imagine it sounds like for a cat trapped in a washing machine set to "heavy soiling". Despite that, it was actually a good fun gig, and the crowd must get credit for remaining cheerful throughout the racket, and picking out the right beats to dance to (though I bet the guy who was giving his mates piggy-backs across the dancefloor woke up today with a serious dose of spinal curvature).

Highlight: Pointing out to Neville Staple's band that we have a much better looking trombonist than them.
Lowlight: Sounding like a cement mixer full of pots and pans