RedHanded Live presents… Strange News From Another Star and Lucky Delucci
Clwb Ifor Bach

Not content with producing Wales’ finest men’s magazine (we say in the most modest of tones) we’ve decided to launch a series of RedHanded Live gigs to give you, dear readers, the chance to catch some of the best new music in Wales.

Cardiff-based sextet Lucky Delucci kick off proceedings - filling Clwb’s intimate basement floor with waves of lilting rhythms and softly-softly verse. Towering front man Josef Prygodzicz has a lush, textural delivery to his voice and it’s given additional chutzpah from his melodious, freewheeling band mates.

The anthemic December 1986 showcases a band in transition, bursting with ideas and ready to shake off the inaccurate twee-pop label that was brandished early on in their formation. Still, they’d have to soar considerable decibels higher to reach the cranked rock of Strange News From Another Star.

Spreading across the stage in a triangular formation and each donning a pair of 3D specs, the trio promise a sumptuous visual treat. The first ballistic notes signal it’s a rush for both the eyes and lobes as guitarist and vocalist Jimmy Watkins angles across the floor, turning trips to the toilet into something out of the Krypton Factor.

Past the idiosyncratic turns (most notably, Watkins stripping from his denim to reveal a tight Lycra number more suited to the Tour de France), there’s much to admire in their abrasive, shouty punk with the muscular Letter From The Queen a bruising, chaotic three minute workout. A nicely juxtaposed night of live music. Michael Took

Dave Gorman
Glee Club, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff

If you haven’t come across Dave Gorman over the last 10 years then you may have been walking around in a daze or spent most of your time in a coma. Let me just refresh you, the main bits - he was the fella who travelled the world to meet all the other Dave Gormans out there, he had the Google-Whacking adventures and found enlightenment with an undiscovered America and for me when I really took a shine to him was when he joined Absolute Radio, the same station I was on. So, without sounding too biased about my fellow colleague, here is my little review of when Dave came to the Diff!

He has a soft and really approachable nature; you can hear how funny he is on air but nothing harsh at all. You could tell that on stage too, which instantly pulls you in, he isn’t intimidating one bit, and his happy-go-lucky attitude to life is quite infectious. You almost want him to pick on you in the audience! No warm up act, so Dave performed the two hour set on his own. What a ledge!

My brother saw Dave Gorman and his Googlewhack Adventure and before that I had seen his Are You Dave Gorman? and his Astrology Experiment which all told the tale of his trials and tribulations through a weird and wonderful quest. This one was different as it was much more like a ‘normal’ stand-up gig. However, his usual cheekiness and off centre world-view came through nicely for a great evening’s entertainment.

His routine is full of the usual experiences that you would expect to hear from a comedian: Family, Pet Hates, Practical Jokes, Advertising and a hilarious routine involving a set of keys and a letterbox. There was a great bit about a Las Vegas Hotel, which had the audience in stitches: I'm talking tears streaming down the face! I feel compelled to tell you more. In fact, I can't say as Dave swears us all to secrecy about the gig. (I feel pressured now.) What I can say is, I honestly haven’t belly laughed like that for a long time, the pain in my stomach actually felt like my appendix were about to burst.

Witness the birth of RedHanded LIVE!