All in All

As a 16 or17 year old I never went to gigs (aprtly because living in the sticks of Watford there wasn't a nearby venue, and partly because no-one liked what I liked and I wasn't prepared to go it alone), but how I wished I could have seen my top acts of the day. In time, maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. No chance ever of seeing Abba, and that's probably for the best now. I caught the Blondie reunion tour in 1999 and it wasn't bad. Hazel O'Connor did a pa at GAY once and, well, at least I was pleased to say I had finally seen her. But finally last night I saw the best of all (circa 1978), Lene Lovich.

I think she's mid 50s nowand she came across slightly like the dotty old lady in tie-dye at a village fair running the fortune telling stall, but she was wonderfully weird, entertaining the goths (and me in my cyan 'Music is my boyfriend' Hidden Cameras t-shirt, standing out like a sore thumb as usual). A short set, covering old stuff (Yay!) and new ('The Insect Eater', an odd little ditty about the adventures of Dracula's assistant Renfield where she really weirded out and long-time partner Les Chappell shouted 'earwigs' a lot was cringingly embarrassing, but who cares). It was real back to basics stuff, Lene, accompanied only by Les on either a guitar or a Bontempi organ (near enough) I really had to admire her because it would have been so easy to perform to backing tracks (which was no doubt what Hazel O'Connor did at the Duckie 10th anniversary on Saturday, not that I'd have gone to find out due to our relationship with certain Duckie regulars).

Anyway, she did a cracking version of 'Bird Song', and that's all that matters. It's not going to win any awards for gig of the year, but it was a fun night out with a bit of nostalgia thrown in for good measure.