Tag Archives: britpop

REAL GONE GOES OUT: Supergrass – Dreamland, Margate, Kent 20/6/2025

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It’s just before 9pm. Attracting one of the biggest crowds ever seen for a support slot at Dreamland, Jake Bugg has just delivered a fantastic set, and the venue’s DJ has just traded in the 90s bangers for a JJ Cale track. The subsequent arrival of ‘Whipping Post’ by The Allman Brothers Band lends the feeling that this is at the request of Supergrass mainman Gaz Coombes, keen to build a more retro atmosphere before his band takes the stage.

At 9pm sharp, the Allmans get cut off in their prime; the stage is bathed in red light and Sweet’s classic ‘Blockbuster’ provides a rousing intro tape for the arrival of four figures who are about to whip the audience into a frenzy. Or at least that’s the theory.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Popscene: From Baggy To Britpop 1989-1994

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The early nineties were an exciting time for guitar based music. Grunge dominated the rock scene, but as any avid viewer of the ITV Chart Show will tell you, circa 1992, the indie chart was brimming with great bands, often more of a UK vintage. Shoegaze sounds captured the underground; jangly indie acts – like The La’s and World of Twist – celebrated more of a 60s vintage, and the social commentary that drove bands like Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and The Wonder Stuff found itself crossing over for massive chart success.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: The Bluetones – Dreamland, Margate, Kent 28/6/2024

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It’s approximately 7pm on a slightly overcast summer evening and a few rather unassuming figures wander onto Dreamland’s massive Scenic Stage. They are Britpop legends The Bluetones, a band who were never as good at generating their own press as Oasis, and never had the pin-up status of Sleeper’s Louise Wener, but their best singles were among the Britpop scene’s finest, and as musicians, their 60s meets 90s jangle was always exceptionally tight. This is actually their second visit to Margate in under a year – they played the Dreamland Ballroom back in October 2023, playing the whole of their ‘Return To The Last Chance Saloon’ album – but, tonight, their support slot with Scotland’s Deacon Blue promises to be just as special.

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MY LIFE STORY – Loving You Is Killing Me

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My Life Story’s first new studio album in nineteen years, 2019’s ‘World Citizen’, was a great comeback. Although the orchestral elements may not have seemed as prominent as those that drove the band’s earlier work, the album’s best material still demonstrated how Jake Shillingford’s distinctive indie pop still possessed a pleasingly grand heart. With orchestral arrangements recorded remotely in Hungary whilst the “rock band” contingent of MLS worked in the UK, the results could’ve sounded disjointed, but its to the band and producer’s credit that everything came together flawlessly. On reflection, a few of the more obvious vocal filters made some of the material feel a little shiny, but, as a complete work, it held up well over repeated listens following its release, proving that the fans and critics’ early enthusiasm for the album was certainly not without merit. The live shows surrounding the record continued the My Life Story tradition of giving audiences an indelible experience – even without a full orchestra in tow – and then, having gained even more traction, any future plans were cut short by the 2020 global pandemic.

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The Real Gone Advent Calendar 2023

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2023 seems to have flown by. We’ve already made it to December, and that can mean only one thing. It’s time for The Real Gone Advent Calendar!

As is traditional, over the next twenty four days, we’ll be posting a new link. It might be a video. It might be audio only. It might be an old favourite. It might be something brand new and unfamiliar. The only way to find out is by coming back each day and opening a new window!

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