Near Mrs @ Rough Trade, Nottingham - Gig Review

Cracking night at the Scruff of the neck event at Rough Trade, Nottingham on Friday night attending Near Mrs and special guests. I'd booked a half-day off work so was out at noon, got myself some lunch and headed home. Got my stuff sorted and made my way to Nottingham via the frontman Ryan’s mum who was very kind to offer me a lift there. She and Ryan's nan were staying at a hotel in the city centre whilst I was doing a bit of sofa surfing at Ryan's flat. To anyone who has read my previous Near Mrs blogs, you won't know that I'm actually very good friends with Ryan, hence why I follow them. Anyway, I bought some last-minute booze from an offy for after the gig and made my way to Rough Trade where I met Ryan. We did a little browsing in the record shop and I managed to get a 'Straight Outta Compton' record for £13, lovely stuff. The time was getting on so we made our way upstairs to the venue and got some drinks. Beavertown were the ales on tap that night which was music to my ears. Near Mrs had finally created some merchandise so I got myself a top and a CD from them. Finally, it was time for the gig to begin, first band on 'Segarra.'

To be honest music-wise they were very good and gave a very strong and confident performance. A good band to start the night off with. However, there was something that I wasn't particularly impressed with for instance them going over their allocated set time (not very fair on the other 2 bands). But as I said, in terms of musical ability I thought they were very good just not the most courteous of bands that I've seen. The second band on were 'the Bagatelles' whom again like the first band were really good. Very talented and very much my sort of music, recommend giving them a listen. I’ve seen various bloggers online speak very highly of this band and now having seen them I understand why. Both bands very enjoyable and I recommend listening to them both. Finally, the time was getting on a bit and Near Mrs were entering the stage ready for their set. Unfortunately, they were forced to drop my favourite song ‘Crooked’ as a result of the first band taking so long to finish but it did not hinder their performance at all.

Near Mrs kicked off their set with an unreleased track ‘Headlights’ which was very good and a quality tune to kick off the night with. In typical Near Mrs fashion, it was very strong and had a high tempo throughout its duration. Next on the list was another unreleased track called ‘Tourist’ which was lit, followed by the band’s first-ever single ‘She Goes’, which I never get tired of hearing. The song for me is an 8 out of 10 banger, it was nice to hear the audience reaction to the song. Ryan the lead singer at one point cut out as the lyric ‘Oh oh spaghettio’ came up and the entire venue sang it instead, really nice touch on a very well-constructed song. Next was a new unreleased song called ‘B52’, a song about government surveillance which again was very good. Just to emphasise how good this band are some of the audience around me knew the lyrics to songs that haven’t been released yet, clearly showing how many times these individuals have been to see the band. It was at this point in the night that mosh pits began to grow and we know I’m never the one to shy away from a mosh. Throughout the gig the band had massive grins on their faces, Ryan absolutely loved every minute of it, him and Taig were complete show-offs. Toby on the drums had a big following in the crowd. Next song was the bands newly released single ‘Catch of the Day’ which stole the show for me, everyone loved it. The place was bouncing after that finished. ‘Cheeky Mare’ followed and was electrifying from start to finish. For me, that was the song of the night, and created the biggest reaction from the crowd. An unreleased track but a fucking insane one none the least. It was getting a bit late now and Near Mrs were coming dangerously close to being cut off (as the venue did have a curfew) but they remained vigilant and carried on with two more songs. Even when the lights started to come on the band ignored and continued their set in style. ‘That Much I know’ and ‘Face the Wall’ capped off a truly incredible night for the band and a very enjoyable gig for the 190 fans in attendance. I recon this gig was a massive gig for Near Mrs as it cemented them as being one of the top up and coming bands in the area. I think it also showed how good this band really are with the number of people who attended and the talent in their music.

A very enjoyable night for me, especially the after party at Ryan’s or should I say drinking and playing GTA 5 haha. I hope you guys enjoyed this blog, make sure to check out all the bands mentioned especially Near Mrs. Make sure to drop a like on this blog as I would appreciate it muchly. Peace.