The first gig of 2003 turned out to absolutely fantastic. We went to see The Broken Family Band, Herman Dune, and Of Montreal at the Portland Arms. All three bands were great, but Broken Family Band stole the show with their mixture of Crowded House style jangles, country affectations, and tongue in cheek humour. They're a local Cambridge band and seem to be destined for big things - keep an eye out for their EP that's just out.

Herman Dune were very different. A strange mixture of the Velvet Underground and They Might be Giants and some regulation length CAMRA style beards made for a fun and interesting kind of band.

Of Montreal were a more typical Indie rock bank and ended the night with the crowd going wild. Not bad considering the venue was smaller than our living room. Very much a standard punky indie thing, they had a great sound and seemd to enjoy what they were doing. Ending on Black Sabbath's War Pigs made sure that we all left feeling pretty high. Those of us who knew what War Pigs was - naming no names, of course...