Ever hear voices in your head? Not the one telling you that the blonde at the bar wants you. That's actually your own voice telling you lies (as usual). No, other voices. Like God or Julius Caesar. Or the Devil. Or Alan McGee. The sort of voices that get you put away in a secure mental solution without limit of time or possibility of parole. The point of this little aside? Well, after narrowly avoiding a collision with a drunk transvestite in the west end, this dreadfully polite voice in my head said "Escape from this zone of culture and trendiness and proceed to Cosmopol in the safety of the city centre". Then it finished off with "…get yourself a beer too for you deserve it". Ok, that one was actually my voice.
Finding Cosmopol in Hope Street wasn't too difficult. As it turns out, there was live music on offer tonight from The Jigawotts, Sugar Crisis, The Arguments and Crawford vs. Outi. There was also beer. Mission accomplished.
First on was Crawford vs. Outi. That would be Crawford Smith and Outi Karhula, by the way. Crawford is a seriously earnest songwriter and Outi is altogether more ethereal making for an interesting combination. They also have that rare thing - charm. Now that I think of it, they'd make excellent hosts for an evening of live music like this.
Sugar Crisis consisted of one girl with a guitar, one guy on keyboards and a CD player. They played these manic twee pop songs with the persistent chanting just adding to their retro appeal. Last time I saw them, I ended up humming "Stuck in Traffic" in the kebab shop on the way home. This time it was medley of "Stuck in Traffic" and "Electrotonic". No wonder people think I'm sad.
The Arguments were a more conventional offering being a four piece rock band. As a band, they provided little in the way of musical surprises but of particular merit was the interplay between Alan on bass and young David on lead guitar. They managed to bring sparkle to what would otherwise have been rather ordinary songs.
The Jigawotts were the last act. Again a four piece rock band but this time of a distinctly commercial variety with Steven Miller's confident vocals being a definite selling point. As a band, they hung together well and songs like "Jessica" will surely win them friends. They had also brought along their own blonde support team to fill out the audience. You've got to respect that!
Game over. It's time to go back out into the rain.