CATTLE AND CANE, THE LAKE POETS AND THE BLUEBUDS @ THE WESTGARTH SOCIAL CLUB IN MIDDLESBROUGH ON FRIDAY THE 1st of APRIL.

Cattle And Cane, The Lake Poets And The Bluebuds @ The Westgarth Social Club In Middlesbrough On Friday The 1st Of April.

“They came, they saw, they conquered.”

U2 supporting The Police at Gateshead Stadium 1982. Aztec Camera at Dingwalls, Newcastle 1983. The Smiths at Carlisle Market Hall 1984. New Order at the Mayfair in Sunderland 1984. Wedding Present at The Outlook in Middlesbrough 1987. House of Love supporting Felt at the Riverside, Newcastle 1987. My Bloody Valentine, The Broken Doll, Newcastle 1988. Morrissey’s first gig in Wolverhampton 1988. Stone Roses at Ally Pally 1989 and Spike Island 1990. Suede at Middlesbrough Poly 1992. Echo & The Bunnymens first gig after they’d reformed, the V Festival 1997. Coldplay at the Cornerhouse in Middlesbrough 2000. The Strokes at Leeds University 2002. The Libertines at Middlesbrough Arena 2004. Arctic Monkeys at various venues in the summer of 2005 (Fibbers in York, Empire in Boro, Leadmill in Sheffield and the Cluny in Newcastle) Mumford & Sons at Mohans in 2009. The Vaccines at the Westgarth and the Cluny in 2010. Bands I saw at venues that were tiny or at a time when no one knew how big they were going to be or just legendary gigs that I have attended!!! Well, add to that list Cattle & Cane at the Westgarth Social Club in 2011.

How good are Cattle & Cane? Well, on the Saturday morning after this gig I was too hungover to drive to Leeds. So a friend drove up from Thirsk to collect me. As a way of payment I gave him a copy of the Sold my Soul EP. We put it on in the car. Within 2 songs he was happy he’d had to travel to get me. Such is the power of Cattle & Cane my hangover was no more. The journey to Leeds a mere blur of wonderful noise. Friday night was a celebration of the end of one era and the begining of another. We’ve been following these boys and girls for over a year. Playing support, building a reputation, crafting new tunes and being the next big thing. Tonight this ended. They finally released their debut EP.Over 200 people packed the Westgarth. I doubt they will be at this level for much longer. I stood within a few feet of them as I always do. This surely will change in the coming months. Barriers, the weight of the crowds, the size of the arenas will mean nights like tonight will be no more. This is sad but also a joy. They deserve to be huge. They deserve to have individual dressing rooms. They deserve to be number one in the charts instead of just in our hearts. Do I love them? You bet.

First up tonight was a new band to me The Bluebuds. A few beatles covers, the voice of Lee Mavers and a very nice introduction we had. Who did we conclude they reminded us of? Well almost every band from Liverpool really but we settled on The Bandits. Those long forgotten scallys with tunes, wit and probably a bit more had the record industry not swallowed them up and spat them out. What ever did become of The Bandits? I should almost add The Bandits at the Cornerhouse 2002?, I think, to my list of great gigs.

Next up is Sunderlands own one man band; Martin Longstaff AKA The Lake Poets. It was my third time of seeing him but he just gets better and better. The tracks from his demo are already firm favourites but Edinburgh and City by the Sea are proving to be just as good. The crowd loved him. His easy going rapport, his love of parmos and the fact you could put him in your pocket and take him home means he, like Cattle & Cane, are destined for better things. Despite having forgotten how to play It ain’t me babe he still went down a storm. We could indeed send letters.

THE LAKE POETS SET LIST:

Rain

Bluebell

Edinburgh

Friends

Windowsill

Shipyards

City by the Sea

Finally tonights stars. A packed venue full of family, friends and those in the know, welcomed Thornaby’s favourite sons (and daughters) like all conquering heroes. Their video for Sold my Soul has been all over the web. The buzz about tonight has been amazing. Tickets have been sold out for weeks. And this for a local band who hadn’t released anything. Now if you’ve been a regular on our site you will know I’ve been bigging them up for over a year now. And I have warned you on more than one occasion that they will be huge. Tonight it finally looks to becoming true. But this is just the start.

As headliners they play a longer set, they have special guests, 9 on stage at one point. The crowd lap it up. They’ve pressed 300 copies of the EP and its probably sold out as we speak. The buzz around them is like a very large fridge. Like the gigs listed above this will be one that everyone claims to have been at. See the pictures, read the set list, watch my own video (not as good as theirs but hey I tried. The link is in the set list) Catch them while you can. They’re at Stockton Calling on Saturday the 22nd of April. Might be the last chance we get to see the whites of their eyes.

CATTLE & CANE SET LIST:

Belle

Falling over you

How did we get here?

Blue

This is where we go from

Try to forget

Folk Song

Joe Solo

We were children

Long way down

Sold my Soul http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-VB3JF6vDM

The Poacher

You may recall we ran a competition for this gig. The question was to do with Orange Juice and Cattle & Cane and what connects them. The answer was that the Go Betweens and Orange Juice both released records on the legendary Postcard label. Also when the Go Betweens released Cattle & Cane as a single in 1983 Edwyn Collins was the guest reviewer on the , now defunked, Melody Maker. He said the release was “magnificent” which it was and todays Cattle & Cane are worthy holders of the name. Winners were Anthony Barber and sisters; Jenny and Adele Bancroft. The girls are pictured below with their autographed EPS. Well done to all 3.

MORE PHOTOS @ THE NORTHERN LINE FACEBOOK PAGE:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=539542291#!/album.php?fbid=10150139529746640&id=153421781639&aid=285131

LINKS:

CATTLE & CANE http://www.myspace.com/cattleandcanemusic