The Rescue Rooms are located on Goldsmith St nearby Nottingham Trent University. The venue opened in 2003 and consists of two separate rooms, to the left is the bar area and the long thin gig room is on the right with a current capacity of 450. I have witnessed three gigs in total there.
On 05/07/08 we headed there for a local band showcase night. First on stage were Love Ends Disaster! who formed at Loughborough University who were followed by My Accident Captain. O Lovely Lie featuring siblings Gemma and Rich Upton were on next and created a fine wall of sound. The main band were Lo Ego who subsequently broke up later that year.
On 06/04/12 we went to see the legendary Flipper who shamefully prior to the gig had never appeared on my radar. They formed in the Californian punk scene in 1979 and like many bands they been through various break ups and different incarnations. They were unpopular in those early days as they played a version of slowed down punk in direct contrast to the speedier hardcore brand which was more prevalent at that time. They were touted as a major influence on Nirvana resulting in their former bassist Chris Novoselic playing with them in the 2000’s.
They were terrific live and the sludgiest band I have ever seen (in a good way!) and it reminded me of early Stooges material, I am just glad I got the chance to see them once in my lifetime. They were supported by local band Grey Hairs.
My first visit there on 24/08/06 was to see the Vines from Sydney, Australia. They formed in 1994 and I first picked up on them via their excellent debut album Highly Evolved. I have always quantified them in the garage rock category.
A couple of years earlier it had looked somewhat unlikely that the band would ever tour again because the lead singer Craig Nicholls had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. Unexpectedly then this tour was announced so we grabbed a ticket for the sold-out gig.
They produced a superb set and they had five or six standout tracks with my favourite being ‘Outtatheway!’ with its crackling intro and gradually building crescendo, it is an archetypal sweaty mosh pit song and I naturally answered the call to arms in that regard!
The touted support band was the View who the organisers rather cheekily moved to the next-door venue Stealth to play their set after the Vines had completed theirs. To continue on the cheek angle, they tried to additionally charge us but we blagged our way into the venue.
Stealth was a rather soulless metallic nightclub with a tiny stage for the band, though in their defence they did play Billy Bragg’s ‘New England’ at immense volume, which sounded fresh as a daisy that night!
It was a very early tour for the Dundee boys and the first time I had witnessed them, and their chaotic stagecraft and indecipherable Scottish brogue was an interesting sight. They attracted a boisterous enthusiastic audience. It had been a long evening so we bailed about halfway through their set but vowed I would endeavour to catch them again at a yet unspecified later date, and I was true to that pledge!
