Friday night and my fourth gig in four days. The previous three nights had been really good – would The Cardiacs continue the run? Well, having Dream City Film Club (one of my favourite bands at the time) as opening act was certainly a very promising way to kick off the evening…

Dream City Film Club’s Michael Sheehy made any venue seem seedier with his tortured lyrics and back alley ballards of worlds gone wrong. They were a great band – both live and on record – and one that I still listen to 25+ years later. This evening was no exception and they were brilliant – casting a concern about how the rest of the acts on the bill would cope.

I’d never heard Melanie Garside before, but she became one of my most listened to female artists after this gig through the years to even today. Melanie was a real eye-opener, her music and voice was stunning, and I immediately brought her album ‘Fossil’ in the days following this gig.

To say I’d not “heard” of Melanie Garside before is technically true, although she had been in a few bands that I knew (I just didn’t know it was her at the time) – such as Tabitha Zu and Medieval Babes. Her sister was Katie Jane Garside (Daisy Chainsaw) whom she later joined and toured with in Queenadreena. Melanie Garside only released one album under her name, but went on to release five (so far) brilliant albums under the name Maple Bee as well as a number under other projects (such as Huski).

So, two brilliant opening acts. Now for The Cardiacs whom I’m seen a few times over the years. They were a band I had initially enjoyed live, although the last time I saw them (GIG 223) I felt they were a bit flat. Whilst this evenings performance was better than the previous occasion they still didn’t wow me, and unfortunately were the third best band of the evenings trio. That said, even if they had impressed they’d have had a hard job beating the fantastic Dream City Film Club or Melanie Garside.

I’m also deviating away from playing a video of the main band on this occasion. There are three Cardiacs videos already on the blog under their previous entries and considering this was the only time I ever managed to see Melanie Garside I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to share one of her vids here. Hope you enjoy!