Retinal Circus

No football again this weekend but I've a good excuse.  Devin Townsend is in town and I'd got my ticket to see him before we'd even been relegated from the Conference.

Devin who you ask?  Just one of the very the best things to come out of Canada since Rush and one of my favourite artistes.

Most people know him for his band Strapping Young Lad but he has had a few other projects since then - not least the current Devin Townsend Project who I saw last year.

For our entertainment Devin is putting on a one-night only spectacular called the Retinal Circus where he reprises his career to date with the help of a choir, dancers and various other artistes. Not to be missed!

Like football matches, I like to have a few beers before a gig to get me in the mood so I've allowed myself four hours in the Euston Tap for this very purpose.

The place is fairly quiet when I get in but service soon gets hectic as a procession of youngsters pop in, dressed either as sheriffs, red indians native Americans or cows.   Very odd.

Excellent brews aplenty - I get stuck into Fyne Avalanche, Fyne Sanda Blonde, Bristol Bitter Kiwi and Arbor Yakima Valley from the cask menu and London Fields Wheat Beer,  Duchesse de Bourogne, and Saison Du Pont on keg.

I bump into someone I'd not seen for quite a while - we used to drink in the same pub after work - and so we reminisce somewhat.  He tells me that he used to go to school with John Lydon of PiL.  Well I was impressed.

I dragged myself away after staying a bit longer than planned and catch the tube to Chalk Farm.  I was surprised a huge queue around the venue but there was a delay in the doors opening.

After 20 mins the queue starts to move and it doesn't take too long to get inside one of the most iconic venues in London. 

The fan-made Lucky Animals video

The Roundhouse was originally a railway shed (with turntable naturally!) which feel into disrepair until becoming an arts venue in the 60s for a couple of decades.  There was another period of closure before it was revamped into the grandiose building we see today.

No support bands - we were to get three hours of his finest tunes so no need for anything else.  In theory there was a story to drive the various non-music entertainment but it was all about the music for me.

Highlight of the evening was the appearance of SYL guitarist Jed Simon for a couple of tracks which got the biggest response.  SYL are a dead project to Devin - something to reflect his mindset many moons ago - but the crowd love it and at the end we're in a heavenly daze.

And to round it all off Darlo won 4-1 at Billingham Synthonia.

Recommended listening would probably be his most recent CD, Epicloud. Relatively poppy than most of his work, it has some cracking songs including the Lucky Animals video above.