Musical Serendipity

I have often written about my love of seredipity, the instances when you unexpectedly chance upon something good or interesting. It happened again last night so I thought I would share it.

My wife and daughter, sister-in-law and niece all wanted to go and support the band in which the girls ex-headmaster and now friend of their mothers sings. He was due to play the Dublin Castle in Camden, a pretty well known music venue that can claim Madness, Amy Winehouse, Blur and Travis as past performers.

Last night the names were less well known and having arrived about 8 my "girls" settled in the front bar with drinks and Facebook, waiting for David and the band to turn up.

Around 8:40pm the music started in the back room and I decided to go an listen, leaving the ladies to their "social networking".

The first band up was called MoRo . A four piece with the sound cranked up too loud for the small room, but then I am over 50 so I am probably biased. That said I did like them. I am not sure if I should but I would liken the sounds I heard to Runrig, a Scottish Rock band of the past that I liked. On their site you can listen to some of their work. For me they were the best to the night, and well worth a listen. To me the stand out aspects were the singer's voice and the work of the bassist.

The second band/act was Madame So. I confess that I did not take to their set, again too loud and unintelligible for me, but I have to say that their/her Youtube piece is better. The standout here was the diminutive female drummer, Mari Mardou who I thought provided a strong and energetic foundation for the two guitars.

Last up was Random Patrols, the band the girls had come to see. Lo and behold this is when they came into the room having missed the other two acts. The band has a number of videos on Youtube that you might care to look at.

Let's just say they have been doing this longer than the other two acts, all holding primary careers that are not music. The volume was lower, reflecting the band and its audience and the three guitars worked well together.

To me MoRo was probably the best/most interesting. I would not have seen them or even known of them without going to see Random Patrols. Indeed I may never see them again, but for at least one night they were my bonus.



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