Cult Figures, Micko and the Mellotronics and Helen McCookerybook at the Hope and Anchor

Gigs this close to Christmas are wonderful- they are celebratory for the performers, in particular, because you've got another year under your belt. That's another milestone in validating a really peculiar lifestyle, with a switchback of ups and downs that don't make any sense to anyone apart from your musical compatriots.

When Micko contacted me to ask me to open for the Mellotronics and Cult Figures, I jumped at the chance. This is a different musical world to explore; lots of them overlap and I'd seen the Mellotronics at The Lexington several months ago and enjoyed their twangling, Kinks-inspired songs a lot. I was not so familiar with Cult Figures, though of course any band with the always-engaging Lee McFadden in it is worth seeing.

I got out one of my best stage shirts and even prepared a song I'd never sung live before (Things Like This). Playing an unfamiliar song seemed unrisky, because I was first on and sure nobody would be there at the beginning.

How wrong can you be? The room was pretty stuffed right from the start, which for a support act is the best Christmas present you could possibly have. The Wine Tipster and Simon Horsemanjockey were there, disappointingly not in their diaphanous dance dresses, but forgiven for making the effort. And reader, I managed the new song fine although I played some pretty sh*t guitar in the couple of songs leading up to it, partly out of Fear Of The New Song. I honestly don't think people heard the mistakes, actually, though any musician will tell you that they remember each gig as a series of linked mistakes with a bit of clapping in between! I also had to contend with having used my guitar to rehearse lead-licks in the Beefheart project with a pick, and also a missing fingernail. But no more excuses! People seemed to really like it all, even though I left out several of my regular anchor songs and played a  slightly different set to normal. The woman behind the bar loved it, which is always a good barometer. How do I know? I could see her at the back smiling, and she told me afterwards. There were quite a few people there who had been to Chefs gigs, and someone who didn't like Helen and the Horns! Ha ha! we had a nice chat afterwards. It was great to see Tonje out again, with Pete, and also to see James out and about, and to be invited to Chris's birthday party in February.

Well its not All About Me, is it? Micko was playing with a brand new band that included the bass player from The Boomtown Rats, and they played a very tight set. Their songs are about quirky subjects: Imelda Marcos, the noisy neighbour, Holloway Road (about Joe Meek). Micko has a real star quality and enviable guitars in his collection and played some mean guitar licks. I have their latest CD here to listen to and I'm really looking forward to that. Apparently it was mastered by an analogue genius in Devon, and I'm looking forward to earwigging that too. We had an ongoing joke about the volume of the bass and he messaged this morning to say he'd turned it down! It's just that if someone is a really good guitarist you need space to hear what they are doing. It was a really neat, appealing set of songs and the audience thought so too. Cult Figures were the headliners for the night, promoting their new release as well. They started with some older songs and then played their new album. I liked the way their used harmonies, especially because you could hear relatively new member lead vocalist Fraser Gillespie singing in a Scottish accent alongside Lee's London one. I know their guitarist died recently and it must be hard to carry on, but they delivered a strong set of powerful pop songs that went down very well with the audience.

Can you imagine what fun it is to play a gig, and then stand back and watch the next bands playing, so you've got a night out as well? That's what it was like. There was a great atmosphere in there!

The photos show Micko and the Melleoronics from close to the stage and Cult Figures from further back. Christmas gig done: now to buy the parsnips!