Steve Ignorant, Carol Hodges and Band at the Hairy Dog

Well, this afternoon we went to the Quad in Derby for a lovely cup of tea and a brownie and then onto the Hairy Dog for a drink before tonight's show which was Genesis Songbook, a tribute act.

They played 'Turn it on again' and 'Mama' along with some early stuff in the first half of the set and then in the second half they played a lot of the more popular ones. The audience loved it- and this included some stalwart Genesis fans who were cheering along and having a right good time! The set ended with 'I know what I like ( in your wardrobe)' after songs including 'Follow you, Follow me' ( a bitter sweet song for me), 'Abacab' and 'Jesus, he knows me'. They were all good musicians and the lead guitarist played a double necked guitar at times. The drummer had help from the singer who turned out to be a good drummer as well, and it was good to see two kits on the stage. The singer had a good voice and a magnificent stage presence, winding the audience up with hand gestures for applause and he did a spectacular display with his tambourine, hitting different parts of his body with it, including his head, his knees and his feet! The keyboard player was amazing and did the group proud. There was a film playing in the background while they were on stage and it was interesting to watch. This band was well worth watching and if they come to Derby again you should really make sure you see them! Good value for money as well!

The title of the event at the Dubrek Studios, Derby on Friday 13th 2026 was 'Two Piece or not two piece? 6 men, 3 bands, no bassists'.

This event was wicked. Each of the duos had something different to offer the audience-and we were in for a treat!

The night kicked off with the Atomic Tide.

This was the third time we'd seen this band..and they just keep on getting better. This duo's self-penned songs are upbeat and catchy. Connor the drummer is also the vocalist and he performed well and sang well.

Jake the guitarist moved his feet with the music while he was playing, stepping around. Visually he attracts your attention with this movement, and retains your attention with his guitar skills! He's such a good guitarist. I was transfixed watching his hands fly along the frets.

Atomic Tide were an excellent band to start the evening with and they were exciting to watch and hear.

The next group up was Cull Season, a duo who have as their bio on Instagram " Cruelty Free, Bassist Free, Vegan 2-piece punk band from Derby".

They sounded like good people and Jade is going to write about them later. 

This Indie Night event involved Nigel Clark, the lead singer from the Britpop group 'Dodgy', who was supported by The Mancunions at Mr. Shaw's House.
Unfortunately, due to power cuts along the street the venue had to be changed to the Old Bell Hotel at Sadlergate, which was built in 1655 as a prestigious coaching inn and is now a Grade II listed building.
This caused a lot of last minute change and extra work for the Indie Night and Karl and Emma Shaw of Mr. Shaw's House in redirecting the audience etc, but they managed well.
It was the first time I'd been in one of the rooms at the Old Bell Hotel and it was an absolutely beautiful venue. The room we were in had architecture in the Regency style and according to the website, this room was built in 1900. The room had 2 large oval stained glass lanterns, which were stunning.

A beautiful place to see a gig at, and the management had helped out Karl and Indie Night at short notice, so kudos to The Old Bell.
The support group the Mancunions told us that they are usually a 4 piece band, but due to work responsibilities etc. they had come out tonight as a duo on acoustic and electric guitar.
They were very good and sang and played really well. Their voices were clear and strong. The audience liked them and they played a good set of original songs.
They were a really good act.

It was time for Nigel Clark to come on. He sat down and played his acoustic guitar faultlessly. Sporting a natty yellow hat over his blonde, curly hair Nigel was a laugh a minute.
He had a glass of white wine with him as he regaled the audience with tales and sang songs.
During the set he sang the 'Dodgy' hits 'Staying out for the Summer' and 'Good Enough'. My word! He did not need a backing group at all! He was brilliant!
His voice was really strong and his lyrics were clear and loud.
Nigel's sense of humour was evident in the evening and he even got the Derby lot to sing along with him as his backing singers on a few songs!
At one memorable point, he even got us meowing like cats!!

Despite saying at the start that he didn't do requests, he did play one for the lad who danced all evening who had Down's Syndrome, and it was 'Sweet Caroline'. The audience stuck in all the popular extra bits- that aren't strictly in the original lyrics- with gusto! Nigel then awarded the lad his guitar pick and the lad was over the moon with his gift.
The audience loved Nigel- and I hope he loved us.

Cannot wait to see Nigel Clark and his support return to Derby in the future. We'll be there.

Then for a snack and drinks at the Hairy Dog, where Jade shared that she felt 'edgy' ( she thinks it was more linked to her neurodivergent condition than MH) and we had to come home early.

In the meantime, go and visit the website for Mr. Shaw's House https://mrshaw75.co.uk/shop/ where you can find some beautiful, original clothing which celebrates Derby!
And remember...for all your design needs you can also contact Karl Shaw, who is an excellent designer, via his website above.

All in all, another good night out in Derby!

Right- Graveyard Cop setting up for his part of the show.

#DanielTroop was the first act to get on the stage at the #VictoriaInn on Sunday 18th January.He played an #acoustic guitar and was quietly confident.

His name on the billing was 'DT- songs for the people' and his self penned songs each told a story.

He was a really talented guitarist and he had the ability to chat with the audience like a good un.

His voice had a clarity to it and his lyrics were thoughtful. He describes his music as being influenced by folk, acoustic-indie and grunge. He was a really interesting artist who we enjoyed listening to- and it's refreshing to hear so many original songs.

Daniel Troop is one to watch, I think.

Perhaps one of my most favourite bands ever is the #Stranglers. I had the #RattusNorvegicus album when it came out and the cover is iconic- a black rat walking jauntily in front of a red sunset and foliage.
Every song is perfect.
Every song is built up of different layers from each musician and I always liked that part of them. 
Last year someone asked me if I could only listen to one song forever then what song would it be?

My answer- #Toulouse by the Stranglers. Always will be.

For various reasons, I never got to see the Stranglers before Hugh Cornwall played his last gig with them on August 11th 1990 at Alexandra Palace, and I just couldn't bear to see them without him afterwards.

So, I was looking forward to seeing this band that were playing at the #VictoriaInn, Derby. Somehow, between booking the tickets and the gig Rattus Inheritus had discarded Inheritus and were #Rattus. I liked that. Simpler.

However, I really couldn't visualise just how they were going to have a keyboard player who could come anywhere close to the late, great Dave Greenfield. There was no way.

So, I thought that if a keyboard player could get through this set without murdering every song, then that would be good. And to his credit, the keyboard player did an amazingly good job, a lot better than I was anticipating. Yes, there was the occasional tiniest slip, but the majority was fine. He was fantastic! He had a #Hammond keyboard in a burgundy colour and a few more keyboards around him. The guitarists had #Fender brand guitars, like the original band favoured.

The lead singer, complete with backing vocals by the bassist and keyboard player, was very good, he made a fine job of singing the lyrics and he played the guitar extremely well.

The band are obviously a few decades younger than the band they cover. Hugh Cornwall is 76 years old now, Jean Jacques Burnel a little younger at the age of 73 years. Jet Black and Dave Greenfield have passed away but were 84 years and 71 years old respectively when they died, but Dave would have been more around Hugh's age now and Jet would have been 87, born in the same year as my late Dad.

Anyway, the set started with the band entering the stage to the sound of #Genetix and the lead vocalist said that they were going to play songs from a band 'who knew what was what about world affairs decades ago' and after the bassist and vocalist kicked each other's foot for good luck, they set off into a cracking rendition of Shah-shah-a-go-go. It was brilliant!The volume of the music throbbed into the floor and fittings of the room. Wonderful! The room was packed with an appreciative audience who loved the set.

The bass player was excellent. He didn't miss a beat. Professional.The other half of the rhythm section was a fabulous drummer. Jet Black had always made playing the drums look so easy, but when you watched this drummer- never missing a beat to all these Strangler classics- it was quite obvious that Jet had made it look easy when it was far from it. His arms were moving quickly and he must have burned off so many calories! #Duchess and Nice 'n Sleazy were played, as well as other tracks. The last song in this part of the set was #Longships from the Raven album and it was cracking! At the end of the set all the musicians were sweating, despite the temperature being in the minus figures outside! They were extremely ready for the break in the evening!
The musicians were open to speaking to fans and listening to people asking for requests, which was really lovely.

Unfortunately, Jade was feeling overwhelmed by the evening and she wanted to move on.

Jade described it as "My brain says 'Oh, you're really enjoying this!' Well, you're overwhelmed and you're going to have to leave now, whether you've loved it or not!".

And that's the way it is.

This time it's not caused by being neurodivergent, this time it was down to Jade's MH condition.

We've learned to just go with the flow.

I don't know what songs were going to be played in the second part of the set, but I imagine it was a good selection of Strangler songs and it would have been great.
Instead, we drifted along to the #HairyDog for a drink in a familiar place which had #music played by the resident #DJ #Kris.

An excellent night at the Victoria Inn, Derby and finished at the Hairy Dog!

I'd recommend anyone to go and see Rattus, they do justice to the songs of the Stranglers and I'd pay to see them again, no problem.

4/1/2026

( written while I'm listening to #Genetix by the #Stranglers and other songs).

Jade and I went to the #Quad and had our usual tea. We were going to go to a charity gig at the #VictoriaInn as well a little earlier, but Jade was too tired and we decided to miss that.

Next we went to the #HairyDog at Derby for the gig that I managed to get #2for1 tickets for, which was a clever marketing strategy by the #promoter ( which might be an idea for other promoters to use to boost their sales instead of cancelling gigs). The groups which were playing were #TekkinbackSunday, #MeYouatSix and headliners #ADaytoRememberUK.

Tekkin back Sunday were good. The vocalist was energetic, camp as Christmas and powerful. He sported a faux American accent which he hilariously dropped from time to time into the wonderful, broad Yorkshire accent of their true origin! We really liked this group. The bass player had a white guitar and a silver padlock and chain around his neck. The guitarist also played well and the drummer provided backing vocals which contributed to their heavy sound. The audience absolutely loved this band and they were dancing and singing along. Their set was pretty lengthy and gave good value for money.
I thought I recognised the vocalist, but it wasn't until today that I realised that he is the same man who sings for #Mustardmitt. We'd caught the tail end of that act at the Vic early last year and the singer was literally dripping wet with sweat, so much so that he had to change into a dry T-shirt when he came off stage!

After a brief change over and sound check, Me You at Six came onto the stage. The three guitarists provided a loud sound which the vocalist added to. The drummer provided a solid rhythm. The singer encouraged the audience to gather closer and he really got them dancing and jumping around. A couple of the band resembled TV personalities! Once I'd seen it I couldn't not see it, which was amusing to me.

Jade enjoyed both of these bands ( but my favourite was Tekkin back Sunday).
Prior to A Day to Remember UK coming onto the stage Jade admitted that she'd had enough for the night. Our ways of communicating this to each other and family is Jade ( or the affected person)  to say "I've hit my limit" or another very recent saying we have adopted is "My social battery has run low ( or out)" which I think is a perfect way to express that you need to leave and that it's no one's fault, and our nuclear family understand this. I also felt emotionally 'flat', for some unknown reason. 

Another thing that happened last night was that I had to 'pay' some #ADHD tax.

Basically, I can have anything in my hand and I will lose it.
Over the years I have lost countless umbrellas, sunglasses, pairs of or single gloves, scarves and hats. Every year, consistently losing things.

I used to think it was my fault, why was I so useless? Now I know it is a symptom of my ADHD.

Anyway, in the bar I had my black hat and red leather gloves on the table.I had them when I went to show our tickets to Holly ( who is lovely!).

Between going through the door to the gig room and coming out again I managed to lose them! I have no recollection of what I did with them! So, going out I told Holly about my lost property but to be honest I don't think I'll see them again despite the best searching by the staff. It only involves a small amount of money, but over time these financial losses mount up.

Afterwards we had something light to eat at Matic's kiosk and went to catch the bus home.

3/1/2025

( Written whilst listening to a selection of songs/videos including #Veloria by the #Pixies).

We couldn't find a gig that we fancied on Friday so we dropped back into our second choice activity- the Cinema. Particularly the #Quad Cinema.
We find that it's pretty comfortable for our #neurodivergent needs- it's not crowded, the double seats are comfortable, you can take your drink up with you from the bar, there's chocolate for sale in the foyer and all of the staff are superlative. Every one of them. That's pretty rare!

The show times which we needed pretty much chose the film we were going to see which ended up being "The #Housemaid", rated 15. I didn't really put much hope into it being a good film, it sort of looked as though it might be one of my least favourite genres, a rom-com, and it did have elements which did fit that description including some gratuitous sex scenes (...and why are these scenes always depicted in an impossibly perfect manner, never messy or imperfect!). But my word, once it got going, especially in the second half of the film, it was definitely a woman's movie deliciously shot through with the themes of sisterhood, vengeance and the beginning of the elimination of paternalism in society.
And blood.
Quite a bit of blood...

(ps. we do *not* condone violence in any way. This film is fiction ).
Well worth a watch!

Then we visited a watering hole, The #HairyDog for a quick snifter or two before going to catch the bus. I added a bit of extra #ADHD clumsiness to the walk by slipping on the ice and becoming airborne briefly, before landing on the road. The only things that were bruised were an elbow, ego and my pride as ( of course) I'd fallen in front of an audience!
The lovely #Carrie from the #HairyDog came to see if I was ok, which was really nice of her.In this space, we share inspiration, tips, and stories that help you get the most out of our services. Whether you're looking for helpful tips, background information, or a behind-the-scenes look: you'll find it all here. We regularly post new articles, so keep an eye on the blog for updates and new insights.

30/12/2025

Jade-

This evening was magical. Another amazing experience at The Victoria Inn Derby. THE Matt Peach and Edd Saffell played acoustic covers in the pub room - they took requests. Magical. This was intimate music on another level. Sitting on the seat next to the amazing June and my amazing Panda companion in this amazing pub felt like home. Lovely people having a laugh and a drink, some watching Matt and Edd play before leaving to catch their train ( there was a Derby County match at Leceister). It was also amazing to visit The Hairy Dog afterwards. I've never had a night like it!

Julie-

We'd seen Matt before playing with Kelsey Carter and the Heroines and with Adam Slack and the Bangers. I don't recognise some faces sometimes and I had totally missed that Edd was the Eddie and the Wolves, who we'd also seen play before. It was just like watching someone fantasically good playing in your living room! They had already played a cover of the Proclaimers 500 miles song and their set included 'Where is my Mind' by the Pixies, a Bowie cover, Thin Lizzy and many more. As John the landlord at the Vic intends to put this kind of event on next year to fill that awkward lull between Christmas Day and New Year, we will be heading here again in 2026.

26/12/2025

We decided that it might be fun to ask Jade some questions about her love for music.

Here's the first part!
The first question I asked Jade was-

-"What is the first pop/rock song you remember? And why did you like it?"

Jade's response-"Hello, I look forward to answering your questions. The first pop song I remember is 'Wicked Game' by Chris Isaak. I remember seeing the video as a child, I still like the timeless quality of the song."

"The first rock song I remember hearing is 'Jump they say' by David Bowie. I was at a swimming pool and it was playing. I read that it was written for David Bowie's brother. It is rock that is unique."

( Info.-Bowie's half-brother was 10 years older than him and was called Terry. Terry lived with the severe mental health condition Schizophrenia. Sadly, Terry ended his life as he was struggling with his condition. The stigma around MH was even worse than it is currently.) 

-"What groups have you seen and where?"

Jade-"I've seen lots of groups, I used to travel and see bands in Liverpool, London, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield. I've seen Blancmange at Nottingham Rescue Rooms, The English Beat at Rock City."
( Info.- Jade cannot remember a lot of the bands which she'd seen before her diagnosis in 2013, but I know that she's seen the Pogues, Ian Dury and the Blockheads at Nottingham, Moloko and Garbage at Birmingham, the Skapones at Nottingham and many, many more.)

-"Which live group left an impression on you?"

Jade-"The live group who left an impression on me was #Blancmange at Nottingham Rescue Rooms. It is an intimate venue and it was the gig that felt like a door opening...I remember hearing Blancmange as a child too and after that gig I started experiencing live music again, especially locally."