It’s approximately 8pm on a Friday night in Ramsgate. There don’t seem to be as many people milling around outside the Music Hall as usual. This seems odd given that, tonight, The Fierce And The Dead have sold out the venue on their second visit to the town. From the car park opposite, the sounds of a nearby pub cranking out ‘Up Where We Belong’ by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes at a ridiculous volume with the sounds of avant garde sax from the Music Hall bleeding through – courtesy of the night’s supporting artist, Terry Edwards – creates a somewhat surreal experience.
Category Archives: Gig Reviews
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Inspiral Carpets – Hall By The Sea, Dreamland, Margate, Kent 10/10/2026
Inspiral Carpets made their first ever visit to Margate in December 2025, several decades into their career. The gig took place on a cold Sunday night in the Dreamland Ballroom, a venue notorious for bad sound quality. In terms of a long overdue seaside jaunt, it wasn’t exactly the most auspicious of gigs. Tonight, they’ve returned to Dreamland, but they’re playing upstairs in the Hall By The Sea, a far superior, steampunk-ish gig space where everyone sounds (mostly) brilliant.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Bowling For Soup – Dreamland, Margate, Kent 25/6/2026
When Bowling For Soup played in Brighton on their ‘Together Again! You’re Welcome’ tour, the show became notable for three reasons: the tour marked the last time guitarist Chris Burney would visit the UK as a touring musician; the band managed to hit the Sussex coast just as Storm Dennis hit and it was interesting to see fans of all ages and sizes struggling to navigate the seafront and actually get into the venue (at one point, it wasn’t even a guarantee it would be safe to leave once the gig was over), but most importantly – although nobody knew this at the time – this would be the last big night “out out” for many, since everything went into a lengthy pandemic lockdown just a few weeks later.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Skunk Anansie – Dreamland, Margate, Kent 19/6/2026
It’s a few days away from the Summer Solstice, and thankfully, after days of torrential rain, the sun appears high in the sky over Dreamland, despite it being rather late in the day. Du Blonde has not long finished a rather sprited but ragged set, and Skunk Anansie have arrived on stage at the huge outdoor venue.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Lande Hekt – Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate, Kent 9/4/2026
On a musical level, Lande Hekt’s solo albums provide a welcome jolt of nostalgia. The bulk of the material takes on a big, jangly approach which evokes strong memories of the early 90s, and Lande’s finest songs are an equal match for The Sundays’ best. With some superb music offset by some sometimes very personal narratives, they’re recordings that also retain a contemporary heart. In the live setting, the singer-songwriter abandons a band set-up in favour of a solo approach, which allows the lyrical elements to take centre stage. The very intimate Ramsgate Music Hall really suits the scaled back delivery with Lande reworking fan favourites and new tracks for voice, guitar and occasional loop pedal.