This was the one I'd been waiting for ever since I got the album "Desire" from Sean and was instantly blown away by its Husker sound-a-like guitar attacks. As a three piece though I didn't know whether they would be as good because there's definitely more than one guitar on the record. I was hopeful anyway. Me and Bob went down in a transit van with the Blocko boys and Blocko girl Kerry! :) It was a bit of a squeeze already so I did wonder how we would carry the extra people we were taking back with us. It all worked out ok in the end though... well, mostly. The predictable beer was drunk and bets were made on when we would arrive.. well, at 5:30 we pulled into Brighton and it was absolutely chucking it down. We ran down to the Punker Bunker, drenched on arrival, only to find that Buz had already closed up! Maybe next time...

Back at the Hobgoblin we indulged in a few Hoegaardens and met up with Jono and a rather strange acquaintance of his. He seemed ok but waxed rhapsodical about the Stereo MCs and shouted Surfer Rosa loudly when the Pixies was mentioned..I think Bob said he'd disagreed with just about everything he'd said. Don't quote me though - that would get me (and him!) in trouble ;-) Once up in the venue, many moons later, Scuttle were the first band on and were their usual selves... having seen them so many times now it's hard to say anything new. I like them quite a bit and they have some songs with a hard punch but I find myself making the same complaint every single time. The singing is basically out of tune. It's fine when Steve shouts but as soon as he tries to sing, things fuck up. I don't mean to be harsh but it really puts me off and can make me cringe.

Nice to see Danny and Jayne in the venue along with Buz and a few other faces I recognised. There was a bloke selling t-shirts near the door with a sign that said something like "3 designs, 5 colours, only £15 each!!!". I didn't look too closely but I'd previously been told that they were Manifesto Jukebox shirts. That seemed like an insanely high price to me, especially when you consider Manifesto Jukebox's political lyrics and obvious DIY ethic. It just didn't sit right with me. After the gig Mates came out wearing a hoodie which he'd bought directly from the band and Bob had a t-shirt which he'd bought for 3 quid. Apparently, the band didn't know who that guy was and said they had merch for sale themselves. The tale was finally resolved earlier today when Jayne said that the shirts were actually some art thing called "Consumed" and were nothing to do with Manifesto Jukebox at all! Fair enough.. but then we had some tosser on the Fracture Forum calling us chumps for slagging off the band (which we weren't) and not getting our facts straight. Of course, he didn't leave his name, or even a nickname. "and you, sir, are a coward!"

Second band on Friday night were the mighty Blocko and another great set from them. I stood at the side holding a pint with my head resting against the amp, as advertised by Buz! :) I turned to see Bob almost headbanging during the set several times - I guess he was enjoying it! I can remember little of the set but it undoubtedly contained much of the excellent Oimo EP. You should know how good this lot are already...

Manifesto Jukebox were last and I was getting pretty wasted by this point I have to admit. They started playing and I started to dance and moved to the side at which point a 'certain someone' came and stood an inch right in front of me, meaning I had to stop, exactly the same as when Scuttle played. I asked her to please not stand in front of me and she looked blankly at me. I asked her to move and got the same nothing reaction. I then told her to go away and fuck off. Harsh, yes, but I'd had enough of the touchy-feeliness to be perfectly honest. At this she looked at me shocked and then bolted for the door. Fine, fuck it. I enjoyed the rest of the set a selfish cunt. Manifesto Jukebox were utterly magnificent. I don't know what you thought of it if you were there but it's probably one of the best sets I've ever seen. It didn't matter at all that there was only one guitar. It was a wall of noise with all the songs that I knew, a couple that I didn't and the majestic new single "Trails" (on the Snuffy Smile split with I Excuse) which was fucking unbelievable. This trio have come out of nowhere and shocked everyone - hard to believe that they could be better than the album but they were. Louder, harder, more aggressive, and just what I needed. Can't wait for the Swan.

Afterwards, me and Bob carried some equipment down the stairs. She was waiting at the bottom and said "Chris, can I have a word?" (or something like that). I said "yes" at which point she turned around and smacked me in the face. It was so quick I didn't have time to be shocked but then she burst into tears and said "why why why" etc etc etc. You know the score. I was half saddened and sorry and half pissed off because I was the enemy to everyone it seemed. Snide comments about being a "fat, ginger bastard" on the way home - well fucking done. How very observant of you I must say. I promised to talk to her the next day about it all and we made a nervous truce. I was genuinely sorry about what I'd said but the next day when I woke up I felt more pissed off than ever. I couldn't stop thinking about what had gone on and when I made it to the pub we inevitably didn't say a word to each other. At the moment I really don't know what to think. I still am sorry about what happened but never fucking slap me. You can call me what you like, you can tell me to go to hell, but if you hit me, that's taking it one step too far. At the moment I really don't care about being friendly again. If that's it, then that's fine.

A marred end to one of the best gigs of the year. Next stop the Swan.

--Chris