TMMP’s Top Gigs Of 2014

2014 has been a difficult time for underground live music in the UK. With small venues across the country facing all manner of issues, it was heartening to see the team behind Guildford’s Boileroom make it through an emotionally trying licence review process and move on to host some incredible gigs and community-oriented events. With any luck, 2015 will see a change in fortunes for venues like the Boileroom.

From intimate showings from ska legends to inhumanly tight math-pop sets via beatboxing virtuosity and an audience with the professor of punk, here are TMMP’s top gigs of 2014. Read more…

Posted on 21 December 2014

The Jellycats – ‘Home’ [Review]

Here in the UK, we’re all making the most of a late summer – and with Home, the Jellycats have the perfect soundtrack for anyone intent on staying out past their bedtime and celebrating our nation’s weather-based good fortunes. Upbeat ska grooves, snotty and tongue-in-cheek vocals, and a bit of additional pisstaking bookending a fun song that’s as infectious as chlamydia; everything you need to chuck your worldly cares away for three and a half minutes is in here. Head downscreen to hear Home while I go delete all the chlamydia-related Google searches I just did from my internet history. Read more…

Posted on 01 October 2014

The Jellycats – ‘When I Do’ [Review]

the jellycats when i doLast Friday night was pretty damn special. As I said before, it was the best gig I’ve ever been to. It even beat Mötley Crue – something I’d always assumed was impossible. In short, Reel Big Fish killed it.

However, the greatest headliners are usually made so by being forced to raise the bar by their support acts. If the supports suck, headlining bands often suffer for it. The Jellycats, then, were the perfect opening act – and this album contains many of the songs that made the start of my night absolutely perfect. Read more…

Posted on 21 July 2014

Reel Big Fish / The Magnus Puto / The Jellycats [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 11/7/14]

reel big fish boileroomWhen viewed from the outside, alternative music venues can be easily misunderstood. Judging by the expressions of mainstream Friday night revellers heading toward Casino or Dusk or wherever, the queue of kids snaking around The Boileroom might as well have been the aliens from Mars Attacks. Some people don’t seem to understand that it’s not necessary to spray yourself orange and wear clothes so tight that you look like one of the X-Men after a Topshop makeover in order to have a good time.

Good times were definitely on the agenda last night, fastidiously trendy clothing or not. With jelly babies waiting in bowls behind the door and a mood-setting ska soundtrack engulfing those heading bar-ward, thoughts of the affluenza-ridden masses outside were quickly forgotten. Then a few bands played, and they were a bit good… Read more…

Posted on 12 July 2014

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