Art Brut make me want to rock out

There's definitely something about Art Brut which appeals to the eccentric in me.

And they certainly lived up to their zany image in their gig at the Other Rooms in Newcastle last night.

In between his dancing in the crowd and telling us his sex is on fire, lead Eddie Argos rattled through his repertoire of songs and introduced some from the new album, Art Brut Vs Satan.

As expected, their debut album hits My Little Brother and Emily Kane, a song about his first girlfriend when aged 15 which was used in the encore, got a big reception.

But there was no moshpit struggle at the front and no crowd surfers unintentionally kicking you in the back of the head.

It just wasn't the scene. Instead, gathered together was a bunch of people having fun and hanging on to every word of Argos' spoken vocals.

This gig was actually the third time I have seen Art Brut live.

On the first occasion in Spain, at the Benicassim festival in 2006, I only caught half the set because I was distracted by some Frenchmen and a few gin and tonics.

I was determined that I would see them when they came to Newcastle and managed this in early 2007 when they supported Maximo Park at their hometown gig at the Northumbria Students' Union.

But the secluded Other Rooms as a venue seemed to suit Art Brut much more and of the three gigs, I enjoyed this one the best.

And that was despite their failure to play what is widely accepted as their signature tune, Formed A Band, and my favourite which is Bad Weekend.

Actually, you could say I enjoyed it too much as shown by a drunken visit to the merchandise stall.

It ended up with me buying the new album (which I got signed by Argos!) but also, rather oddly, a cloth bag for which I have no real use for at all.

Except maybe to take it to Glastonbury which is now just eight weeks away as I can show that I care about the environment'n'stuff by carrying a reusable bag.

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PS. Many thanks to my good friend Jonathan's dad for picking up the tickets which I had left at home and taking them into town for us. My uselessness will astound nobody who knows me well enough.

PPS. Sorry to anyone who actually checks and reads my blog for the lack of new posts in the last few days. I have been distracted by looking for work, the snooker and the plight of Newcastle United FC. But mainly just the snooker and NUFC, eek!