The landmark gig 2000, and it proved an unusually memorable one! We bopped down windy and winding roads to Trowbridge and, having located and scoped out the venue (an indie night in Stargazers nightclub), snuck in the back entrance before the doors opened to hear The Belltower soundcheck! A Psychic Pig person then mistook us for the support band and led us through to the venue, giving us "Pig Passes" to get back in free - although her confusion wasn't helped by Beef immediately replying to her enquiry of how many there were in the band, "just us 3"!
However we were sussed out after a couple of beers in the pub opposite; said Pig person, now the door-person, realised her error and made us pay to get in! Bah! We got in just as the support band, a derivative but not bad dancey rock combo with a godawful name, were starting off their set. We'd have probably been better, though!
I met an old gigging friend from Bristol and caught up during the looong wait for the main event. The Belltower eventually took the stage just before 11, and played another searing set of high-octane guitar tunes, ringing melodies and sinister, spooky pop with that undefinable "edge" that separates the great bands from the merely quite good. The Belltower have it, and if there's any justice they're going to get bigger. An American version of The Parachute Men, let's hope they aren't as criminally ignored as The Paras were...
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