Nine Feet Underground

It's been more than 14 months since I last wrote a blog. Admittedly this was hardly the Piccadilly Circus of blogs, but this is probably the longest gap in it's history.  There is an explanation, of course there is, but that'll have to wait for another day.  This wouldn't have been the place for the explanation but I'm gradually going to change what I write here. In the past it was just about music, what I liked and why, along with my attempts to capture in words the experience of seeing bands I like perform live. There will still be room for that and the focus on music will not have changed entirely either. Books and life might creep in a bit more but music will still be at the heart of it... At the very least I plan to use this blog as a diary, with my entries inextricably linked with a piece of music that encapsulates or relates to the day in question. If the entries are to be daily, then they will be short - so little time and too much to do! Let...

Back to SUB89 and also to Dreadzone after a semi-enforced break, on a Friday night and accompanied by my sons - "Dreadzone virgins" in the words of MC Spee: sounds like the setting for a great night out... ...and so it proved to be! There was no support act though Greg Dread (Greg Roberts, drummer) played a DJ set prior to Dreadzone taking to the stage - a gentle warm up for what was to follow.  The band took to the stage to cheers and applause and launched straight into 'Rootsman' from the new album, a great reggae-based opener that led neatly into MC Spee's intro for 'Return of the Dread' - and already the "bouncing crew" was in full sway. Dreadzone are a joyous band live - it's impossible not to dance - and I for one had a grin from ear to ear whilst dancing for the entire two hour set. There was a good mix of old and new songs though a definite bias towards their most "successful" album, Second Light. S...