Doh! I knew I should have tried to go to Beyond Nashville, as it turns out that PJ Harvey was the surprise guest on Saturday night. She appeared on a bill headed by Giant Sand, which also featured Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse, John Parish, Evan Dando, Vic Chesnutt and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner. According to the NME, a stetson-clad Harvey performed X's 'Johnny Hit And Run Pauline' with old touring partners Giant Sand, as well as Sparklehorse classics 'Homecoming Queen' and 'Eyepennies' with Mark Linkous. She also appeared as part of her regular guitarist John Parish's 10-piece band, singing one song and contributing guitar.
The bill was put together by Giant Sand mainman and master of ceremonies Howe Gelb, who received a standing ovation from the 2,000 capacity crowd at the end of the evening.
If you've got tickets for one of the Goldfrapp shows this week in London, you'll probably know that the whole thing has been postponed because Alison Goldfrapp has tonsilitis. The shows are now confirmed to take place on December 3-5, with original tickets valid for the new shows. Tickets for November 5 are now valid for December 3, tickets for November 6 are now valid for December 4 and tickets for November 7 are valid for December 5.
Oh well, I'm off to the wilds of England (Worcestershire to be precise) to help "train people" for a couple of days, so don't expect much activity around here. I will be in Belfast over the weekend, but for anyone in London I have to point out that the wonderful Jacob Golden is playing in Notting Hill Arts Club for free on Saturday afternoon (10th) and then Mogwai are playing Brixton Academy that night. Should anyone still care, the Fall are also playing that night, at Kentish Town Forum.
Don't forget that The Clientele are supporting Ladybug Transistor at the Spitz on 8th November, and Olympic Lifts are supporting Ladytron at the Scala on the 14th. Apparently Mina and Le Hammond Inferno are also on the bill for that.
Finally the Undertones movie is being premiered this week. 'Teenage Kicks - The Undertones', narrated by John Peel, will be shown first this week (November 7) on BBC 1 (at 10.35pm GMT, Northern Ireland region). A longer version of the film (72-minutes - the TV version is 40 minutes long) will then be shown at the Regus London Film Festival on November 16 and 18. The film will also be shown as part of the Foyle Film Festival in The Undertones hometown of Derry on November 17.
'Teenage Kicks', features previously unseen footage of the band from their beginnings in 1975 to their split in 1983. Former frontman Feargal Sharkey, who no longer communicates with any of the other members, makes a rare appearance talking about his time in the band. The movie is still without a main distributor.