INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

The music highlight of the year 50 bands spread out over 7 stages. Met for breakfast in the 3 crowns before collecting wristbands. Had the usual group chat to keep in touch. Jude kirk . Started proceedings, bit bland for me but ok for the time of day. Sharp Class . Much better, the kind of band I came to see. Stained glass . Too loud and heavy for my taste, not worth walking across the city to see. Static kill . Entertaining and a bit different. Davoli. Bit bland, rescue rooms was packed by this point. High speed peach . Another cross city trip to Bogoda more worth it this time. Blood wizard . Listenable but a bit bland The outcharms , Bit of an Arctic monkeys feel, top 3 bands of the day. The publics . Excellent as per last year, stole the show. Commons . Hard act to follow in the red rooms Kaliko, Average Bored marsh .  Bland would have been ok at 1pm but not later on Pet Needs . Bit loud but needed since I was fading away fast. Stayed out later than most but time to head back to...

I was a lot better prepared than last year with accommodation and a band list on a spreadsheet. Colour coded to indicate yes, no or maybe. We met at Lloyds / Weatherspoon's, where we spent an hour before heading out to the 40 odd venues around the city. I had no preference for the first few hours and went with the flow. Started off in rough trade with a strange instrumental duo called Revenge of Calulon . Moving onto Brewdog to see "guts" before heading into Billy Bootleggers for Noise which were ok then another band I didn't particularly like. It was back to rough trade which was starting to get busy so I bailed out to see Luis then Whiskey stain at the Jam cafe. Less crowds and better music. Back at rough trade it was so busy you couldn't see the band plus the layout of the building doesn't help. Finished off the evening with some Myki Tuff at the metronome.

  Another music night with minimal travel. Only 2 others turned up, I can't figure out why this is often the case since it's a good venue. The numbers were lower than usual since it was a paid event. The singer was good although some of the songs were a bit subdued.  Steady night overall finished around 11.

  I'd not been to Castle Donnington for a long time, but since I was hosting my own event at this venue, I thought it would be a good idea to go to this meet up. The Castle Inn is a great place for live music. I was initially lukewarm on the band but they grew on me over the course of the night. The rest of the group were middle-aged women from Derby, but it was still a good night. 

  I'd done beat the streets a couple of years earlier. We met in the Horn in hand for breakfast before heading to the venues. First stop was whiskey stain at the red room which I didn't plan to watch but were ok. I then made a dash to Rough trade to see Grain who to be honest weren't great but that was the only time I went that venue.  Cam mannix who I'd seen before at splendour put on a good show at rock city. From that point on all the bands I wanted to see were at rescue rooms. Bloodworm were ok, but lacey were far too heavy for my taste so I went back to the horn in hand for a diet coke and a rest. Others from the group were also taking a bit of time out. By the time we went back the cost of living were on at 19:00 and the crowd were getting louder. Unlike last time I didn't spend long alone due to losing people. The publics and The chase put on a great show the crowd got very rowdy with crowd surfing and concerned security. It was a good end to the day. As peop...

  I was originally meant to be going walking but the event got cancelled a couple of days before. Hockley Hustle was a massive event advertising 400 acts over 40 venues. Far too big to be researching on YouTube, the little research I did do I forgot to transfer to phone and turned up clueless anyway. We met for breakfast in Weatherspoon's before being taken on a walking tour of the venues. This was interesting as I seen many streets and pubs I'd never seen before. Starting off in rough trade we seen the first 2 acts, Jonny Olley then Kelsey and the Embers. Both were entertaining and it was a good start to the day.  Everyone wanted a change of scenery so next stop was Billy Bootleggers, nice venue but too quiet for my taste.  Then it was onto the very modern looking metronome to see Sancho panza which I liked. The others went to back to rough trade but I stayed to watch these a bit longer. But the time I arrived it was getting crowded and there was no chance of gettin...

Other than a band in a pub and beat the streets I'd not done any live music events with meetup. Originally it was just one day but then they changed it to two days. I figured that if it was good I'd do the full weekend next year. I'd stayed the night at the excellent and very social Igloo Hostel. I walked to the park and soon found the group. We headed passed security where it would have been easy to smuggle my own alcohol through. We had a "base" where at least someone was all day. This eliminated my fear of spreading most of the day alone or searching for others in the group. The weather was bad all day with on and off rain. I'd reached the point where I couldn't get much wetter by 2pm. As for the music I pre planned which bands I was going to see a week earlier. Cam mannix were not great but listenable. Jealous nostril were a bit better. Motormof at the small stage wasn't my thing but a better option than cheesy stuff like the Sugarbabes. I took a b...

  It was a rare meetup less than 10 miles from home. Not only was I going to a pub that I'd never been before but also a town so close to home. As with the night in Derby the previous week the turnout was a disappointment at just 5 of us. It was good to catch up with one person I'd not seen in over 2 years. We had a pre booked table right near the stage, the atmosphere is the pub was good and the band was good. The major downside is the noise was not good for conversation and getting to know others in the group. There was no after drinks or anything like that.

After a terrible Christmas in which I was struck down by a horrible flu for nearly a month a good night out was long overdue. We met at the standing order for a couple before heading off to the flowerpot, nobody seemed to be doing dry January as both places were packed. Apparently it's a popular live music venue in Derby but I'd never been before. The band were great and the atmosphere was outstanding, I met a load of familiar faces with the group as well as some new ones. Had a few drinks after the band had finished, I didn't have the energy to carry on after midnight but everyone else seemed to be going anyway. Got absolutely soaked walking back to the bus station......