I made it to both gigs at the weekend, but Mrs B had to drive on Sunday, as I was bolloxed by then. I can heartily recommend Transmission and The Pogue Traders. Both were stunningly accurate musically. The Joy Division tribute singer was also very accurate vocally. They concentrated on 'Closer'in the first half and 'Unknown Pleasures' in the second, with Ceremony, LWTUA and Atmosphere. Unfortunately, that made for quite a heavy going first half (much like Spurs of late). I saw JD twice and so strong was the likeness of the tribute band's performance 45 years later, that I had a bit of a moment at half time (I went to both JD gigs with my recently departed brother). The second half was livelier, dancier and more rousing. If you're a JD fan, they are fantastic. Personally, I'd go for Peter Hook & The Light as a preference, but I liked a lot of New Order's stuff in the 80's. The Pogue Traders were huge fun. There were 8/9 on stage with all instruments accounted for. A lady mandolin player with the sweetest of voices for FoNY and A Man You Don't Meet Everyday. The guitarist held the crowd in his hand with a stunningly beautiful version of The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Other than that, Lou (a Phil Jupitus looky-likey) guided us through everything you'd hoped to hear (except Navigator and London Lullabye) and a few you'd probably not expect. The crowd were well up for it and by the time of the encores, everyone was jigging around like it was Shane and the boys on stage. Played more for laughs than The Pogues, but that felt just right and a nice toast of 'Absent friends!' to start things off. If you've any live for the music of The Pogues, you should definitely go and see them. They were great.
