FFWD →
The Blood Arm. The Soul Tree, 18/2,  £8.50
 Since this year’s NME Shockwaves Tour is a) sold out and b) set to be even more embarrassingly bad than last year, go see The Blood Arm instead.  California’s finest export since Sandy Cohen, this band won’t fail to get you dancing with their punchy indie-disco beats, catchy choruses and undeniable quirky sex appeal.  Despite a flood of over-hyped bands swamping Cambridge, The Blood Arm can also claim the distinction of actually being underrated.  Better than having a cup of piss thrown over your head by the 13-year-olds moshing to The Automatic.

The NME Indie Rave Tour, The Junction, 21/2, £13 
Featuring The Klaxons, CSS, The Sunshine Underground, and New Young Pony Club.  Cue clichéd instructions to ‘get out your glow sticks’ etc.  The Klaxons will no doubt be on fine form after the success of debut album Myths of the Near Future; some people might think they sound a bit like the soundtrack to a gay porn film set in outer space, but actually they’re just really like, postmodern.  New Young Pony Club are more under-stated but also a bit porno.  And let’s face it, no one’s going to see the other two.  Turn up wasted.

 ← RWD
Great Ball of Fire, King's Bar, 7/2
 The ADC musical, Return To The Forbidden Planet is presenting its band in various venues prior to the show. A sci-fi rock n roll musical loosely based on The Tempest, the band delved into Guns N Roses and Grease the Musical as well as true 50s and 60s numbers. The overall effect was one more of a pastiche than the real thing but a crowd pleaser nonetheless, and the constantly changing vocalists lent a certain variety and unpredictability.

Black Shabbat Kambar, 8/2
When organising a gig in aid of Amnesty International, how does one find a band mainstream enough for popular appeal but strange enough to keep the hippies happy? The eclectic and certainly multicultural Black Shabbat, performing klezmer-inspired covers of Black Sabbath songs (among Yiddish favourites) were surely the only choice.  These manic hipsters made multi-culturalism not only cool, but loud as well.

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