REAL GONE GOES OUT: Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent 21/3/2025

It’s 9pm on a Friday night. Terrorvision have just arrived on stage in the small Ballroom at the Dreamland venue. Surprisingly, for a name band pitching themselves at a middle aged audience, many of whom in the local area are affluent and often up for a night out, it isn’t a sell out. The venue is approximately half full, bringing back memories of Carter USM man Jim Bob’s undersold show in the same location in April 2024.

Unlike Jim, though, the lads aren’t sulking about it. Halfway through opening number ‘Discoteque Wreck’ – which attacks with immediacy, driven by a chunky guitar and a bass heavy sound – Tony Wright appears to be thrilled to be on stage. Sporting a very retro, blue-grey checked suit which looks a bit like one of Noddy Holder’s cast offs, he’s centre stage with a beaming grin, dancing manically. The sound is rough, but the energy coming from the band and into the audience is utterly immense. It’s obvious that this is the perfect opener for this fairly intimate show, and midway through the second number, it’s also clear that Wright’s dance wasn’t actually contrived to illustrate the narrative behind the previous song. He’s still lurching about like a man possessed, while the rest of Terrorvision crank out some hard edged riffs.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: Travis – Hall By The Sea, Dreamland, Margate, Kent 11/12/2024

It’s just a couple of weeks until Christmas. The days may be short, and the weather less than pleasant, but Margate is still very busy. Thankfully, the seafront has stopped being harassed by the tail end of the storm that has battered the west coast, but things feel less than calm and decidedly soggy. The weather hasn’t stopped most of the locals coming to Dreamland for a huge night out, however, and the Travis show is a sell out. The upstairs room – the Hall By The Sea – has seen many busy nights in the past, but few have felt as absolutely rammed as tonight’s gig. It feels as if the entire town has shown up to support the band, and that’s not entirely surprising since this is supposedly the popular Scottish band’s first ever visit to the seaside resort.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: Ocean Alley – Hall By The Sea, Dreamland, Margate, Kent 14/9/2024

With two gigs taking place at the Dreamland venue, it’s a busy night in Margate. Most people are assembled at the Scenic Stage to witness a double headliner between Orbital and Leftfield, marking the end of this year’s big outdoor shows for the summer. A more select crowd have chosen to spend the evening indoors at the Hall By The Sea welcoming Ocean Alley, visiting heroes from Australia.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: Deacon Blue – Dreamland, Margate, Kent 28/6/2024

Deacon Blue’s addition to Dreamland’s Summer Series of gigs may have been a little late, coming a few weeks after the confirmation of Simple Minds, Madness, Bryan Adams, Limp Bizkit and Manic Street Preachers, but since the Scottish pop band haven’t ever played in Margate before, this additional date on their 2024 tour is a most welcome one.

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

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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