This triple header was actually the headliners’ postponed album launch gig from goodness knows how long ago!
First up however were the always mighty Girobabies, with Jo D’Arc on bass for the first time since her enforced medical absence. It was great to see her back with a rejuvenated band. Mark McGhee as always roamed the stage, spitting out lyrics aplenty. They played a selection from their releases over the years including the sinister ‘Equinox’, the ecstatic ‘Bring Me My Potions’ and the sublime ‘Late Night Sketchy’. Supremely daft but deadly serious at the same time, Mark’s wonkily pitched but wise take on various subjects makes this band a glorious one-off, both musically and lyrically – and long may they continue to tread their unique path…
Big Fat Panda are from the East and play pumped up, funked up ska and soul music. A great brass section, superb drum and bass and a generally infectious backbeat got the by now pretty large crowd up and dancing (not that the Giros hadn’t, but the many ska afficionados in the audience started to really go for it).
Esperanza got even more people dancing as they raced through cuts from the new album plus some old favourites. All great musicians (especially that throbbing bass which almost controls the rest of the sound) and clearly relishing the audience reaction, they topped off a great night (actually it wasn’t quite over as Mark McGhee had arranged an afterparty, so by the time BM left around midnight Jo Jive and the Beehive Five (who under the wig and sunglasses looked faintly familiar and you never see Jo D’Arc and Jo Jive in the same room, have you notice that readers?) was spinning soul classics to a very willing dancefloor…