We had a bit of a treat on Friday evening when one of Orynthia's cousins came over and made us a huge sushi meal. The four of munched our way through an enormous amount of the stuff and very nice it was to. After the meal, we went down to The Tube club for a reggae evening with John Stapleton and the venerable DJ Derek. A nice relaxed crowd swayed their way through a collection of laid back reggae gems. Nice night all round.

On Saturday evening we went to The Louisiana, it was a busy night for our friend Rich. Firstly he was playing drums for his band Aspen Woods, then later he was drumming with headlining band Secret Shine. It's a strange coincidence that whilst we are in New York Secret Shine will be playing their first ever gig the USA. We are hoping to go along to see the show, so thought that we should check them out first. It was a roasting hot evening in The Louie, but what a treat we had. It's been a while since I've seen Aspen Woods playing as a complete band, they were just great. Very much in the Spacemen 3/Spiritualised mode they get locked into some wonderful groves, the sound was great as were Lee's vocals. At long last they have started selling their demo CD, this was recorded back in 2004 and I can't help thinking that it should have seen the light of day a long time ago. I enjoyed my first sighting of Secret Shine, strnage to think that their next gig will be in New York and that we will be in the crowd for that one as well.

I was kicking myself last week, when I found out that this weeks Sparklehorse gig at The Fleece had sold out. Luckily one of my Grumpy Man DJ friends has come up trumps with a spare ticket, so I shall go to the ball after all!