Had a jolly good run down to Cardiff with a packed carload in less than 1 1/2 hours (new note - it's Junction 29 for Cardiff, sez lorry driver Ady!). I decided to go to this gig despite still being ill from a particularly unfriendly flu bug which had put me in bed for over a week prior to tonight! One suffers for one's rock'n'roll, one really does...
Circumvented the large queue and got in just in time for Magnapop's set, starting dead on 8.30 with "Garden", and subsequently struggling to get their own unique brand of, erm, "magna-pop" to beat the poor sound in this large hall. "Merry" was breathtaking, though, although we wished they'd saved it until last! Also breathtaking was the energy displayed in delivering their performance, especially very pneumatic vocalist Linda. Their perky heavy guitar pop thrills would be excellent in a small venue. we wait in hope...
Sugar, on at 8.30, gave a lesson in transcending the poor sound - simply play louder! Their set was full of the same ferocity, noise assault and thundering power as last time out, the play switching from mainman Bob Mould to his trusted lieutenant Dave Barbe and back without losing any momentum, drive or passion. "If I Can't Change Your Mind", more tuneful and ridiculously hooky than the usual heavier Sugar material, was nevertheless the set highlight for me. A second encore, introduced by Mould (the only occasion he spoke directly to the audience!), was a cover of the Who's "Armenia City", which was messy and overlong, but couldn't spoil another consummate performance by Bob Mould, indisputably the Man Of The Year, and by Sugar, the Band Of The Year!
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