pop shop

New Estate's latest record is called Rock Shop but last night they played at the Pop Shop, a speedily- arranged show with Plus Minus playing support. The Pop Shop is a pretty classy venue, with incredibly loud dance music downstairs and bands playing upstairs with the distractingly entrancing bonus of a huge video screen behind them. We saw Bewitched (you really appreciate Dick York as a comedy actor with the sound turned down), the first twenty minutes or so of Return of the Pink Panther (the scene with Clouseau and Kato fighting in the apartment before it is blown up was magic behind a very tempestuous song of Brad's) and a lot of Monsters Inc which I've seen but was surprised to discover I have absolutely no memory of. But the monsters look great. Plus Minus were excellent particularly for a first show (they're playing again next weekend but I won't get to see them). NE were their usual splendid selves, though it wasn't till I went up the back (I was trying to take photos nearer the front but the compositions were all wrong) that I realised just how tremendous they sounded last night. The picture is of Mia playing drums for one apparently quite improvised song with Plus Minus, to a backdrop of Darren in bed with Mr. Tate.