Monday, October 30, 2006


The C86 bash at the ICA was great fun, sometimes nostalgia can be a good thing.

In the bar area the people from Rough Trade had set up a small shop area selling CD's from some of the more obscure bands of the era, as well as a few more contemporary things. The walls were covered by a slideshow of pictures of bands, record sleeves, fanzines and anything else that would bring the memories flooding back.

I must admit that I didn't know much about The Wolfhounds, I bought one single from them back in the day, so I was pleasantly surprised by their powerful and punchy set. They were much more akin to someone like The Gang of Four than most of the bands linked with the C86 sound. Before Phil Wilson and Big John from The June Brides took to the stage we were shown an extract from a forthcoming film documenting the indie scene of the 1980's. It featured some amusing footage of The Jesus & Mary Chain, including the tumultuous climax of one of their gigs when the crowd decided that would like to rearrange the PA system!

Phil and John breezed their way through a series of classics from The June Brides, cue big grins all-round. We did have a strange moment mid way through the set, we have been corresponding with Phil over recent months and he kindly dedicated a song to us, for next minute we were caught up in a strange minor celebratory world! Someone dashed up and asked to take our picture, then I heard someone else in the crowd say "Tom and Orynthia, they're from Bristol"! What was going on? The person taking picture was Phil Wilson's wife and the person who mentioned was a friend of a friend who we have seen on a couple of occasions.

There was another documentary interlude before Roddy Frame took to the stage. Roddy picked up on the feel of the event and entertained us with several amusing anecdotes about his pre C86 days on Postcard records. His set was peppered with gems from the early days of Aztec Camera, he also managed to throw an Orange Juice song into the mix as well.

Then it was back to the bar area, stopping only for a quick hug with Phil, where Steve and Katrina of The Pastels were playing a few tunes. we hung around for an hour or so, chatting to a few nice people including Roddy Frame before heading back to Bristol

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