To chime quickly like a tiny Swiss bell, last Saturday's gig in Oxford at the Jericho with Stornoway was fab, gear and gearfab. I mean, those guys are just gonna pop soon - too much good greatness crammed into one magic band. A sold-out show, the room was crammmmmmed with folks. Except my opening set, with Jon, Ollie and Rob from Storn was hardly folk, I guess! Somehow we became Monstuh uv Rawk. Well, by some gentle standard! Much, much fun on stage and I think the crowd was pleased, maybe. Good, clean sloppy/tight rock and roll. No more rehearsal than a ten-minute soundcheck, but we managed new songs like "On a Sunny Day" and "Swindon." I think there was some serious pent-up dog crawling 'round my soul, and the gig was of the catharthis variety. Did I mention it was fun, too?

And Stornoway, as ever, were pitch-perfect. This was the first Storn gig since Brian returned from Ecuador. They only write great songs, they only play beautifully. They are nothing but inspiration and the sound of life. A good band is what I'm trying to say, a really, really good band. As in magic and transcendant. Highlight was them unplugged, standing on tables across from each other in the midst of the huge room of people, singing "We Are The Battery Human." There are certain moments in life, and this was one of them.