Ballroom Of Romance

Before a single note is plucked at the ninth Ballroom of Romance, the house is stuffed. One of the new breed of value for your euro events with a free CD-R for the first 100 punters, this is the ultimate anecdote to the rip off of spiralling ticket costs.

Gregor57 return to the live arena after a quiet couple of years with new member Peter Maybury and more refined vocal-driven sound in contrast to their Sonic Youthy noisefests of yore. There are still plenty of quirky tunings and freeform guitar workouts in evidence, and it’s a fine, slightly understated return to business as abnormal.

The somewhat elusive and mysterious Rollers/Sparkers launch a bout of increased live activity in the wake of the first hotpress single of the fortnight of 2003, the Geography For The Leaving EP. It’s all very Mogwai, which is hunky dory in my book, and ‘Smallfoot’ has turned into an oddball anthem of sorts.

Tonight really could only belong to The Chalets, probably the best Friday night pop band an indie kid could wish for. They are confident, assured and most importantly, appear to be having a ball onstage. Their quick fire arsenal of catchy songs take no time at all in latching onto our brains, which is great for entertainment value but it remains to be seen if the gloss wears off on their still-to-be-released studio recordings. For the moment, though, who cares? Because it’s a slow weekend in January and they’ve made me smile.