I’ve always known that moving to London would be an entirely new beginning. As much as it is intimidating, I’ve always loved the challenge of starting over and creating an entirely new life far from home. My plans to immerse myself in the UK music scene seem to be going ahead nicely… even if my budget limits the number of shows I can attend. On Friday the 24^th of April I attended a show that took me back to my Cape Town days. I’d arranged to meet up with an old friend for a drink, unaware that I’d really agreed to go watch a new band… bonus!

So Friday evening rolled around and I took off with my standard travel plans: get lost! I missed my bus stop (because it was closed) and went on an interesting tour of West London before walking 2 miles (I miss kilometres) back to where I was supposed to be.

The first band of the evening was already playing when we arrived. I was very impressed with iMMa. They had a great energy and the vocalist’s voice was incredibly powerful. Sadly I didn’t get any photos of them.

The second act was the one I’d been invited to watch. Awkward Arm is a new band formed by members of The Wires. Despite being their first show as Awkward Arm, the band’s stage experience was evident. I’m looking forward to seeing them on a bigger stage when they’ve had time to gel as a band.

Sinner in the Mirror didn’t blow me away. Apparently they organised the show and it was clear in the way they’d dressed up for the Harajuku theme. Unfortunately they just didn’t strike a chord with me. My mates all enjoyed them, so perhaps they gained a few fans from that lot.

The final act of the evening was a wonderful mess of female fronted, punk-styled noise. The Mighty Roars lived up to their name… although I do mean noise in a good way. Their stage presence could do with a little more fuel from their frantic songs, but all in all I was very impressed.

I seem to complain about the lighting at every gig I go to but that’s what you get in small clubs. The opportunity to discover new bands always makes up for it.