Apologies to anyone who had problems finding d4d™ this morning. According to 34sp’s status page something major went “fzzzt” and knackered lots of network connections within the host.

Anyway, all should be back to being well now.

Well, we did make it in the end – and as normal photos will be posted later today, or tomorrow morning. I just haven’t sorted them off the camera yet.

Brookes Uni SU bar isn’t much of a venue, it has to be said. The people behind the bar had obviously suffered some kind of genetic cross-patch with snails, as was made evident by both their speed and their lack of anything resembling a personality. Quarter of an hour to get served, which takes the piss rather than serving it. (Yeah, they had Budweiser on tap, so serving piss is meant literaly)

On the other hand, the gig itself was pretty damn good. The support act, McDermott’s Two Hours were OK – perfect for the “crusty” image of the Levellers and so on. Irish, political, slightly odd, and with a fiddle player to die for. Supposedly they’re one of the main influences on the Levellers, so fair play.

The Levellers themselves were – to me, anyway – a bit of a surprise. In appearance they were far more “pub rock” than “crusty” – well, the bass-player fitted the bill, but the rest were strangely ‘normal’. I found the same with Offspring, among others – and the lead singer does remind me of Offspring quite a lot. Punk and rebellion-type music doesn’t really seem to have stayed with students and teenagers, but instead has grown-up and aged with its original audience.

Anyway, they were bloody good. Right from the start, they were stunning – loud, fast, and just how they should be. All the old favourites were played, along with stuff from the new album.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, even with the bunch of arseholes stood next to us. Oh, and the woman one of them was groping, who could only be described as “rougher than a badger’s arse in Autumn”. But they just provided amusement/bemusement. The gig itself was great.

Ah joy, a visit to the dentist first thing in the morning. Even better, an extraction. As readers will recall from about eighteen months ago, my body doesn’t like the anaesthetic that dentists use, and processes it really quickly.

Six – yeah, count ‘em, fucking six – jabs of anaesthetic later, I’m done. I had so much painkiller in my face that it finally went numb from ear down through lower jaw and across to the other side. My mouth feels like I’ve been punched. And the paracetamol hasn’t kicked in yet.

Blah.