I think I’ve played Bodega maybe three or four times now? Dan Booth suggested it first when The Railway in Oakham closed, ending our annual “Legends of the Railway” gigs. I say annual—we only did it twice before Dan took his sabbatical from music, so we never actually played the Bodega together.

Happily, Hannah from The Leylines hopped on stage that 1st Bodega Legends night, and we had a thoroughly splendid evening.

I say splendid… from the middle of the third song onwards I was in agony. I’d stuffed myself with a rice box from the rice and noodle shop three doors up the hill and as the rice put its pressure on my insides I thought I was going to die on stage.

Anyway… this time I was playing Bodega with the band, as part of a high-jinks-packed evening sandwiched between Darwin’s Rejects and Shanghai Treason.

Before all that though, I met my mate Mikko in a supermarket car park for a properly dodgy handover of a recently procured guitar pedal. This show felt a bit ceremonious for me: The pedal I got from Mikko marked the last time I planned to use an amp on stage. The amp and pedalboard combo — The bane of my life for the last couple of years—was finally being replaced by a fabulous new setup going direct to the PA. First, though, I had to get it, set it up, and make some sweet sounds on it and name them so I can remember what does what. That’s a story for another time, for now, let’s put on a show.

The night was organised by Lee Garrett for his Both Eyes Open promotions. Lee works super hard and has passed on some real pearls of wisdom to me personally over the years and I love playing his shows. He got into promotion by accident — starting out helping a DJ mate in the early ’80s, spinning punk records at shows and loving it. A few trips up to Nottingham later, and he found himself promoting punk shows with Hendrix Deadboy. Taking a break when interest waned, he came back to it when a young Brad Dear formed an emo band with his schoolmates. Brad’s Dad asked Lee to put on a gig, and he’s been doing it ever since. Extremely well.

Lee’s most memorable moment? Meeting Steve Ignorant from Crass after a show. Lee went to shake his hand, but Steve knocked it away, pulled him in for a big hug, and introduced himself—like Lee didn’t already know who he was!

Needless to say, Lee is an unassuming, hardworking stalwart of the scene, and his shows are always well thought-out and worth attending—this one especially obviously. 

This show was up against it ticket-wise with loads of other events on in Nottingham the same night. But hard graft pays off, and the place filled up nicely. Financially it could’ve done with a few more through the door, but the lovely, loyal folk who did show up were in for a treat.

After a fraught soundcheck for all—thanks to a motorway fire, closed roads, traffic chaos, and even herds of cattle loose in the city (joke) the doors opened, and Darwin’s Rejects kicked things off in proper fashion. They’ve got an album coming out soon, which I’m sure will go down well with the festival family. Honestly, they were on fire. I’m looking forward to hearing the album.

It’s a sad part of playing shows that even though I’m often in the building while other bands are playing, my brain isn’t really listening. I’m either thinking about what I’m about to do, or reflecting on what I just did. I miss that about music—just being there, properly listening, watching what bands do, hearing them. And if I do make it to a gig, I’m usually wishing I was on stage instead, thinking “How did they get so lucky?” Haha.

I’m obviously not going to review my own band’s set, but needless to say we were quite incredible, a musical pinicle achieved in our 30 minutes of madness—ending with a cover of Frightened Rabbit’s “Keep Yourself Warm.”

I wonder sometimes—does every band have that song that totally sums them up? Many would say “Teen Spirit” for Nirvana, but I’d argue it’s “Aneurysm.” That track says more about Nirvana than the ultra-commercial “big” song. Radiohead and “Creep”? No way. As great as it is, it’s not “Street Spirit.” Or The Proclaimers — are they really just “500 Miles”? What about “Sunshine on Leith”? I tell you what, let’s not go down that rabbit hole just yet. We’ll save it for a rainy day.

We hustled ourselves off, and Shanghai Treason hustled themselves on to the small Bodega stage, tearing the roof off for an hour and a bit with their blend of Northern Banjo Punk and relentless energy. A bloody good night was had by all capped off by one of the best kebabs I’ve had in a very long time, with Wibbo and Rob.

Everyone got.on the road home, and I did five trips back and forth to the van with guitars, merch, and oodles of the usual load-out chaos. A downside of Bodega gigs is the late-night slalom around Nottingham’s drunk and disorderly, carrying awkward, pointy and sometimes painful gear through crowds of partygoers and alcohol soaked revelling.

Ah, the joys.

I think everyone had a good time, I hope they did — I know I did. A massive thank you to all who chose us and thank you for supporting the bands and the likes of Lee.

Tom keys did a video thing, link below

Thank you