It is Sunday and I’m reminiscing my trip to Europe.

It was a different sort of vacation to the ones I’m used to. Traveling with a toddler has changed everything. Where to go, where to eat, are things that have to be planned and have to be toddler-friendly. Also traveling times are something to consider. So I didn’t explore much. Mostly stayed close to our accommodation.

But I was lucky to get a night off. To go to Bush Hall in London and see Heavenly. That was a dream come true. I am sure many of you reading me will understand that feeling. Seeing a legendary band, one you never thought you’d see, a band that you know all of their songs, that you can sing along as you know them by heart, is quite something special.

I bought the gig ticket as soon as they were announced many months ago, not even thinking that I was going to make it. It was a shot in the dark. I just knew they were going to sell out quickly and maybe there was going to be a miracle and I would be in London on that particular date.

It happened. It is true that Heavenly later added a show on the Friday (originally they were just going to play on Saturday), and even added some matinée show with the Would-Be-Goods that I would have loved to attend, but I at least managed to see Heavenly. In previous trips I wouldn’t have missed anything, not a minute, and would have been in the front, close to the stage. Things have changed for me.

I missed the opening act, Panic Pocket, because I wanted to spend a little more time with my friends, friends I haven’t seen in almost 10 years. That made me arrive to the gig just about when Heavenly was about to start, so getting closer to the stage was difficult, though I managed to get sort of close. Not close enough though to get a setlist (which is a shame really).

Heavenly as expected were solid, amazing, dreamy, punky, fun, catchy, it was just a perfect gig. They played almost all my favourite songs (sans “Lemonhead Boy”) and I was just so happy. Some people were probably happier than me, as they were crying. Impressive what music can do.

The other important part about this reunion gig was the fact that I saw many friends I haven’t seen in years. I may have missed some that went to the Friday gig, or that were at the Saturday gig but we didn’t see each other (some people just left the venue immediately! I wonder why!).

Seeing Jennifer, Miguel, Cristóbal, Carlos & María, Elisabeth, Patrik, Joanny, Emilie, María, Colm, Manolo & Rafa, Antonio & Elena, Leonardo and Jerv was ace. Some I talked for a long time, some for just a brief moment. It all went so quickly. It wasn’t like at a Popfest or Indietracks. This was an instant, an instant of happiness. An instant that I hope gets repeated soon.

UXB: an explosive weapon that did not explode when it was employed and still poses a risk of detonation

Some time ago I wrote about a band called Blue Velvet from Aldershot, UK. According to the great WokingSoundscene pages, before there was a Blue Velvet there was The UXBs.

I just found out about this fact, so yeah, The UXBs are not mentioned in my previous post. The UXBs were around from 1987 to 1989 and featured Graham Judd on vocals and guitar, Mark Davis on lead guitar, Ady Evans on bass and John Metcalfe on drums. Graham, Ady and John were in Blue Velvet.

Interesting enough we know that The UXBs were formed from the ashes of a band called Too Much Talk. I don’t know who was in Too Much Talk, maybe the same band members?

We also know that The UXBs recorded one demo with three songs, “High and Mighty”, “Always the Same” and “Face Down Knife.”

And this is actually all the info there is about them. Not terrible, but not great. Hopefully someone can shed some light about this band.

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Listen
The UXBs – High and Mighty