Quite apt, as upon being left awe struck at their mesmerising performance, I am sticking my neck out to say they will soon become very timely and very momentous; words I fear Jools Holland will utter before announcing them on Later.  Made up of members from popular Orange County band Cavil At Rest, this 5 piece utilise 1.5 drumkits, 0.75 keyboards, 3 guitars, 4 harmonic voices plus a broken cymbal that creates a live sound that has energy unbound that takes there agile and cascading recorded sound to another level. Nothing smacks of the usual folky bandwagon loveliness, there is blood, sweat and full on rock’n'roll all over the stage. Stand out tracks ‘Airplanes’ and ‘Sun Hands’ showcase everything I’m getting excited about. I don’t want to, but I keep thinking of comparing them to Arcade Fire meets Simon and Garfunkel, but in a good way.

Local Natives – Sun Hands

[See post to listen to audio]

Support for this outstanding, and apparently quite regular, Rockfeedback evening came from YourTwenties, a fresh and melodic pop band from Devon fronted by ex-Metronomy man Gabriel Stebbing. The very much deserve a praise worthy mention, especially for the much hyped track ‘Billionaire’

Your Twenties – Billionaire

[See post to listen to audio]

More after the jump…

And the obligatory 4:30 am video; sunrise was not a particularly welcome thing inside the club, though most of us did slacken the pace of dancing a little to have a look.

Get involved with the ETA scene, anyway; particularly strong tunes…the remix of Sister Nancy – Bam Bamat the start of the night blew my mind,

And Blackalicious’s Alphabet Aerobics getting dropped at approximately 6am could have been made for me…

You’ll also ge tthe chance to see international rugby stars consuming small mountains of controlled substances and, potentially, at least one of the Irregulars dancing like Suggs for 5 hours solid. Win!

The event is held in Shoreditch Park (head North from Old Street towards Essex Road junction with New North Road and you’ll see it on the right hand side before Gainsborough Studios/Gainsborough wanky flats).

Thanks to 1234shoreditch.com for the photo of their scenester-fest of 2007.

25th July is the date and with early bird tickets still worth a peck at £15 (including entry to 10 afterparties – obviously all running concurrently so not as ideal as it sounds) – so what you waiting for?

With the Horrors and Final Fantasy both at Field Day this year, I might be going for the East London high-jinx hattrick of Lovebox, Field Day and 1234.

This will eventually be a permanent link somewhere on the site.

Best Bars & Clubs in North & East London

East London, not wanting to be outdone by it’s well-heeled neighbours, has come up with an alternative.

Thanks to the excellent Made In England blog for putting us on to the Oxford & Cambridge Goat Race and for the image above. The event which is in aid of the worthy cause of Spitalfields City Farm, needs no dressing up, it is a race between two goats, one named Oxford and one named Cambridge. My money is on Cambridge as my friend’s sister’s hairdresser is casually dating Oxford (he doesn’t believe in commitment) and apparently he’s partying like it’s 1945 this Saturday at The Blitz Party in the railway arches near Shoreditch High Street.

Aside from mass paranoia, I doubt ravers have a stringent review process of their raving. It’s hardly like they sit down with their boss and rate their glow stick waving, evaluate their gurning and pour over their shit-talking abilities. Maybe that’s all going to change with “How’s My Raving?” this Friday at Cargo. Cargo continue to deliver the freebie Friday frolics, which has seen it soar up the infamous Irregulars ‘respect’ chart (which may or may not exist and may or may not have something to do with me dressing up as a cat and pretending to be George Galloway). This Friday expect madhead dubstep, old school rave, a side portion of that Shoreditch staple Electro and more confused looking preppies than you can shake a big stick at.

Having checked out Girl Talk at La Scala last week, I’m intrigued by the “WeAreLive” night this Friday which sees a load of live acts (including Trash Fashion – remember them of nu rave demi-fame?) with Cagedbaby and Meat Katie doing some live sets. If they manage to attract the herds, this could be a real goer, especially with it finishing up at 6am…fingers crossed as there is a real dirth of decent late, late nights at the moment.

The crazy kids over at Cliche are throwing another sublime party at the Horse & Groom this weekend. We went to their first about a year ago (maybe longer!) with a Nerds theme and it was off the hook. A really great party vibe with the DJ hitting the revellers relentlessly with golden dancefloor bullets like some kind of warped disco sniper. As regular readers will know, the Horse & Groom used to be the Irregular Local, so props to the Landlord Charles who, according to urban legend, is what one might call a sound geezer. There is a theme for Friday night’s session, I’ll update you as soon as I’m updated…UPDATE…it’s a Wild West theme, so bust out those chaps and pistols…ooh er!

Another thing going on over this packed weekend is a party this Saturday via the guys at Greco Roman, which we stumbled across on the consistantly sublime, Pinglewood. Another chance to see Drums of Death, who’ll you remember we reviewed a little while ago. We were going to be interviewing him but turns out his PR people are tards.

You can catch the man in the flesh at the Troxy on Commercial Road (Whitechapel) this Sunday – expect it to be mobbed. In other related news, Graham Coxon will be playing with Doherty on his upcoming tour, which really takes it to the next level.

As a huge admirer of the songwriting abilities of Mr Doherty, I won’t say anything further about his new single but instead leave you to do a little compare and contrast below.

Libertines – “France”

Peter Doherty – “Last of the English Roses”

Now we must hat-tip to one of our eagle-eyed readers who has pointed out the similarities between the article we wrote just before the New Year about the ever-rising soiree-stock of Dalston and the recent article along the same lines (albeit suitably weaker in terms of vibe, vocabulary and structure) published on the “This is London” website here.

Whilst you’re checking out, have a look at the author’s photo and ask yourself, does he actually look like someone who has or indeed should be partying in Dalston? The photo below sum up my sentiments…

Thanks go to OPEN Dalston for providing what seems like a perfect image.

According to their website; “OPEN Dalston is the trading name for Organisation for Promotion of Environmental Needs Limited, a not for profit membership company limited by guarantee. OPEN’s objects are to promote excellence in the quality of the built environment, the provision of transportation and the provision of amenities, and to ensure that changes to these have proper regard to the needs of residents and businesses and the maintenance of a sustainable residential and business community”. Please check their site out if you’re not au fait with the planned re-development of Dalston (massive residential development called Dalston Square, c.300 flats and associated Tescos/Starbucks/Rent-a-Brain) and their sister site, OPEN Shoreditch which is linked somewhere on our sidebar.

Thanks to Art of the State for the image of Dragon Bar, as was on Leonard Street.

Whilst the arrival of more South West London remedials won’t warm the cockles of the ditch’s faithful, the return of an old friend should more than counteract the negative vibes.

Dragon bar is like a brother that was sent away as a shabbily dressed yet lovable rogue during an unnamed war to an unnamed land (read the old Dragon Bar was demolished in March last year to facilitate the redevelopment near Old Street roundabout). Just as the memories and heartache began to fade, in jaunts said toerag having undergone a spivish makeover. Whilst the red, perma pulled-closed curtains give the impression that the seedy allure of the original Dragon Bar remains, a sharp yank on the curtain shows that the new interior is more Oliver Letwin than Oliver Reed. As per the review of “local” Fred here (Fred appears to be a hot blonde (who’s reviewed pretty much everywhere in East London) rather than a rotund 50yr old, as the name may conjure), the DIY, “fuck you” attitude of the Dragon’s residency on Leonard Street seems to have been replaced by that oft-replicated, never convincing, high-end yet “eccentric” look which the Grand Union chain has officially raped, pillaged and killed over the last 5 years or so. However, out of respect and love for the old Dragon Bar, I’m willing to put my neck out and say that this place will, over time, have ditch-doers carving “I heart Dragon Bar” in trees around Hackney once again. The original Dragon Bar evolved around those that frequented it, Darwin would have been proud. The new Dragon Bar may have that “shiny new shoes” feel at the moment, but if they can ward of the cunts and find the magicians and miscreants that formally called it home, they’ll be staving St. George off for a fair while yet.

The London Astoria is no longer. London’s best gig venue closed its doors late last week after years of “will they? won’t they? Oh just fucking shit or get of the fucking pot”.  It will be felled and replaced by a new over-priced and 20 years too late transport link, and in a typically retarded TFL style, the place didn’t even get to party into oblivion on it’s final night standing due to a mix-up in dates on when the ‘dozers were booked to roll in.

After a truly appalling line up was cobbled together for Wednesday’s Demolition Ball (the last ever event in the main gig venue) hopes were higher for Thursday, which represented last orders in the awesome subterranean Astoria 2 . The highly-rated indie bopper night PUSH took up opportunity to have one last dance before moving to a new regular venue. Anticipation of a nostalgia night filled with revellers wanting to see the old girl off in style and bemoan the failed efforts to save the venue in equal measure was dispelled with the evening quickly descending into an indie pop culture farce. The DJ policy was lacking any hint of respect – blending Dr Dre’s worst pop drivel (California Love) with classics from the Clash, Pulp and suitable new and old luminaries.  “Not Happy” was the call from the back of the room. Even the live elements were disappointing. Cajun Dance Party made their tuneful and usually hope-filled repertoire sound lacklustre with the front man fully immersed in his self indulgent X-Factor style Robert Smith impersonation which was obviously making the rest of the band feel like a gaggle of stage cunts. Good Shoes should have saved the night, but an over-crowded, highly-charged stage bar meant the band had to battle thorough their own failing new material against the backdrop of a non-informed student crowd trying to physically over power them resulting in a poor set with only the occasional highlight of the band’s immense debut material.

[See post to listen to audio]

Maybe it was all for the best that the last show was a fall from grace for a problematic old friend whose fate is already decided. It wasn’t a night that will live long in the memory, and now the appreciation of truly great gigs at the fabled venue is stronger and will be stuff of legend. R.I.P