Looking forward to tonight's extended "Later". Tuesday's show was great. Kicked off with Stereophonics, who I've not paid much attention to since 1999's "Performance and Cocktails" - I've found them a bit ordinary and plodding since then - but they were on fire playing "Catacomb", making a fairly unmelodic track seem fresh and vibrant.
Then there were 3 new acts I hadn't heard before, all really good. I'd heard of John Grant (only recently), but was impressed - the track grew on me second time around. I'd never heard of Low and they've been around for 20 years apparently, reminded me a bit of Alt-J, and I definitely want to check out more of their stuff.
Lee Thompson (from Madness) was on with his Ska Orchestra, really good too, with a great vocalist.
Stereophonics closed the show with a strong song, the title track from their new album, "Graffiti on the train". Won't win any awards for its lyrics, but musically really good, and a fantastic performance. They've really raised their game to the extent I'd go and see them live, whereas I wouldn't have ever considered that before.
The switch to Maidstone studios has possibly even given the show a new lease of life. I was worried it was going to get harder to book acts once they moved from London, but not on this evidence.
