The Canal

...at the back of the Glee Club in the British Waterways Building. I joined a select few for a gig by The New Mendicants, a.k.a. Joe Pernice and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. Apparently this unlikely duo are now near neighbours in Canada and get together to play something of a campfire mixture of songs from various of their past endeavours. It was a pleasingly ramshackle affair, all acoustic, with guitar and vocal duties swapped and shared and Norman adding occasional charming glockenspiel accompaniments. Highlights included a laid back closing take on the Fanclub's 'Everything Flows' and Pernice Brothers favourite 'Amazing Glow.' I think it was the latter of which Joe said, "this used to be about something else but then I sold it to Sears who used it to advertise coats. Now it's about coats..."