A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in June 2025

This monthly series is probably as much for my benefit as yours. I go to a lot of gigs and it is nice to have a way to remember them all. Maybe your interest will be piqued by one of the reviews. Maybe you’ll scroll straight past. Maybe you’ll unsubscribe thinking what did I see in this blog in the first place? You can find all of my one-line gig reviews here.

Absolutely no idea who this band was, Ye Olde Rose & Crown, Walthamstow, 6 Jun – I was having a chaos goblin evening. 70’s soft rock styles, but may have been covers and I was being too chaotic to recognise anything?

Nastazia Basil, Windmill, Brixton, 9 Jun – Genuinely think this is the first time I’ve ever seen anybody make hummus in front of me as part of their stage act. She is Lebanese and finished with a song about hoping for a future for Lebanon without bombs. Amen to that.

[Nastazia Basil making hummus at Windmill, Brixton]

The Umlauts, Windmill, Brixton, 9 Jun – This is about my 1,057th attempt at seeing them for a second time, and I really like the energy they bring to it. A nine-piece with multiple vocalists singing in multiple languages and sounding a bit like they should have been on DFA Records in 2005, which is a great thing to sound like in my book.

[The Umlauts at Windmill, Brixton]

An Evening with the Fall, Trades Hall, Walthamstow, 10 Jun – I helped put this on and supplied all the video projections, with all the money raised going to a local food bank. And we said the worst case scenario is it was just the three of us drinking beer and listening to the Fall all night but it was packed and people danced and we are going to do it again next year.

[Your fiftysomething DJ with two laptops and a projector, as Beck didn’t quite sing]

You can donate to Eat or Heat in Walthamstow here.

LCD Soundsystem, O2 Academy, Brixton, 13 Jun – In 2005 I went to see LCD Soundsystem at the old Astoria on Charing Cross Rd and it was one of the very best gigs I have ever seen in my life.

In 2025 I went to see LCD Soundsystem at the Brixton Academy and it was one of the very best gigs I have ever seen in my life. I’m 53. I was down the front. IDGAF.

There was a bit at the end as they played All My Friends as the last song in an absolutely sweat-drenched Brixton Academy where I just had to stop dancing, step back, and look all around and just take in the sheer exhilaration and joy of a capacity crowd in absolute rapture. Where are your friends tonight? It was all of us there. Live music is the best. Go to gigs.

Pulp, O2 Arena, London, 14 Jun – I stood behind the monitor desk in the O2 which maybe wasn’t the best view but it meant I had space to dance and emote and didn’t feel hemmed him by crowds of people. A brilliant night, but LCD Soundsystem were a tough gig for anybody to try to follow after I’d had such a great time on the Friday.

Sparks, Eventim Apollo, London, 18 Jun – HOW DOES RUSSELL MAEL HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY AGED 76? Had a brilliant time at the show with my uncle, danced all night, and they played a couple of things I’ve always wanted to hear them do live but had never seen before.

Sparks, Eventim Apollo, London, 19 Jun – And of course I did it all again the next day too, where tube fuckage meant I arrived at 8.25pm and had exactly five minutes to hit the merch stall, buy a beer, nip to the loo, and get into my spot for them coming on stage at 8.30pm, which I managed. Hilariously the couple next to me dancing the night away were the exact same couple who had danced the night away next to me the day before – all three of us had gone both nights and stood in the same spots each time :-)

Then I went to the Forever Now festival which I reviewed separately, where I saw among other things Theatre Of Hate, John McKay’s Reactor, The Chameleons, She Wants Revenge, Johnny Marr, Billy Idol, The The and Kraftwerk.

[Martin Belam in a freshly purchased The The t-shirt at Forever Now]

[Kraftwerk at Forever Now, Milton Keynes Bowl]

Richard Norris, Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea, 23 Jun – Him off of the Grid doing nice enough reggae-tinged house/techno etc

[Richard Norris at Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea]

The The, Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea, 23 Jun – I had expected this to be the same as the show I had already seen on the Ensouled tour but actually it was a different set that leaned more heavily into older stuff and only played a smattering of the newer songs. So weird/depressing hearing the Beat(en) Generation and Armageddon Days (Are Here Again) and Sweet Bird Of Truth and 30+ years later they still are 100% accurate depictions of the world we live in. And The Sinking Feeling still summing up how I feel about myself 30+ years later.

[The The at Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea]

As a sidenote, in the space of six days I saw Sparks for the ninth and tenth times (if you count FFS as well), Kraftwerk for the eleventh time, and the The for the sixth and seventh times, but given the ages of the people involved and the intermittent nature of Matt Johnson wanting to tour, I couldn’t help feeling it might have been the last time I saw all of them.

Still, eight years on from his death, I miss going and seeing Mark E Smith and the Fall so much live. I guess I have to get used to more and more bands and artists coming to the end of their touring days when I am still very much up for seeing them again and again :-(

I really wanted to check out The Last Dinner Party and Olivia Rodrigo – both at the beginning of their touring days – at British Summer Time in Hyde Park on the 27 Jun but it was too fucking expensive.

But I did check out this …

Iron Maiden, London Stadium, 28 Jun – I’m not a fan but 1) I know what Iron Maiden sound like 2) they have a reputation for putting on incredible staging 3) it was their biggest ever UK show 4) it was just a 97 bus ride from my flat, so seemed churlish not to go and 5) I had a great time.

Find all of my one-line gig reviews here.