Lo Ego – jimmysgigapedia.com

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.

See the source image — Flipper. Image Credit Discogs

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!

Junktion 7 was a venue located on Canning Circus. Its initial incarnation was a flagship Home Ales pub The Royal George, then an Irish bar the Shillelagh prior to opening as a music venue for the period from 2002 to 2008. It then reopened as Seven prior to closing for good in 2011 and was demolished to build student property in 2016.

For a music venue, it was reasonably plush with polished floors, solid oak tables and a throwback table top Space invaders machine.

I attended two gigs there in that period, the first on 23/04/05 to see Sound Explosion supported by Swarm. The headline band were a garage rock band from the North East who were whirling dervishes and created a thunderous racket. I recall the guitarist somehow managing to perch himself on the bar whilst continuing to play on regardless, they were great fun.

I thought they had potential to progress but disappointingly disappeared without a trace shortly after.

My other visit was on my brothers 40^th birthday with Gill in tow. He had a party in the early evening with far too much jazz playing for my liking and so we headed out for something hopefully more raucous.

We saw two local bands, Lo Ego and the Drapes. The main band had been touted beforehand but they left little impression on me. They broke up in 2008 and the lead singer Martin Collins subsequently converted his career to a different direction as a stand-up comedian.

The Old Angel on Stoney Street in the Lace Market is a Grade 2 listed building dating back to the 1600’s. It has an interesting history as it was the site of two murders, a policeman and a prostitute in the 1700’s and it is said to be still haunted by the young prostitute. It was previously both a brothel and a chapel and deep below the pub, beyond the beer cellars lie caves in the shape of a crucifix.

The old chapel upstairs with its double height ceiling with dark walls was the gig venue and it could get rather tropical up there. The musical palate of the venue modelled itself down the ear bashing metal and punk rock lines. It was a friendly though slightly weather-beaten pub with three separate rooms downstairs.

My first gig there on 17/06/07 was to see Ordo Ab Chao but they were outshone by the support band, the delightfully named the Smears. They are a female trio punk band from Nottingham, and they were terrific fun.

I saw Itchy Arris there in 2009 and I also saw a band called Meinhof on 31/08/13. At the second named gig there was only in the main family and friends in attendance. Thus, when they asked who in the crowd did not know the band, I was the only punter to raise my hand, so they dedicated the next song to me!

On a random night out in October 2014 we gravitated to the pub and there was a fabulous local punk band called X Rays playing in The Old Angel downstairs bar. They were about in the mid 90’s and reformed in 2013. It was 100 miles an hour clean sounding punk, reminding me of Black Flag and they were outstanding.

The pub changed direction again in 2017 when it created its own microbrewery and rebadged itself as a gastropub.

Tag: Lo Ego

Nottingham Venues 24 to 25

Nottingham Venues 6 to 8

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