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Variety, they say, is the spice of life. They're wrong (The Spice Of Life is actually a pub in Cambridge Circus), but a career as a hip 6 Music gunslinger can certainly take you to some diverse places. Since I last blogged, my pursuit of rock action has taken me everywhere from glitzy West End hotels to sarf London backstreets. Still, beats working for a living ...


Q Awards
Grosvenor House Hotel, London, Oct 10

Attending the Q Awards always feels a bit like attending an old-fashioned gentleman's club where all the members just happen to be international rock stars. It regularly gets the best turnout of any awards ceremony known to man and this year is no exception, as they manage to get Oasis and Coldplay in the same room (and have Noel Gallagher and Chris Martin kissing each other backstage), meaning even the likes of Paul Weller, Ray Davies, Nick Cave and Yoko Ono are relegated to the B-list.

Some stars even go to the aftershow (and that never happens elsewhere) - like Guy Garvey, spotted being pestered by stalkers. I spot Romeo from The Magic Numbers at the canapés tray but he was so nice that anyone expecting one of those jokes has come to the wrong blog. Does Richard Bacon do one of these? He probably has someone to do that for him, nowadays, I expect.

Rubbing shoulders with the rock establishment is all very well, but it doesn't half put you in the mood for a walk on the wild side with some untamed young bucks. Time to go back to the 'hood ...


V Formation
Brixton Windmill, London, Oct 16
 
... specifically, a wet'n'windy walk to one of the few venues in London you can actually stroll to from Loughborough Junction. Weirdly though, this is actually my first ever trip to The Windmill, although it won't be the last, despite the near record-breaking tramp count on my journey (and no, Guy Garvey wasn't one of them).
 
It's a great little venue see, and properly unpretentious, more like one of those New York bars that just happen to put bands on than the usual toilet-with-attitude London circuit dive. There's also a healthy crowd for this showcase of new Northern Irish talent, headlined by V Formation, four stubbly Belfast boys from the same management stable as Ash.
 
They may not have a decent razor between them, but they have tunes to spare. Their demo makes the singer sound worryingly Molko-esque but live he's more like Stephen Malkmus, dripping pleasing angst over songs that incorporate Fugazi guitars, Throwing Muses drums and Pixies basslines to make something of an alternarock dream team. Result!
 
Cobwebs duly blown away, it's off north to complete my almost-all-points London odyssey (I did watch EastEnders this week too, but I don't think that really counts. At least not until the Mitchell brothers make their triumphant return).


Hard-Fi
Camden Electric Ballroom, London, Oct 19

By any sane measurement, of course, Hard-Fi would count as a 'new' band just as much as V-Formation do. But the ludicrously accelerated nature of the business these days means that, post-Mercury nomination, they're practically establishment themselves.
 
Nonetheless, this is the first time I've seen them live and, despite Richard Archer's confident assertion that this is "the hottest ticket in town", it initially threatens to disappoint. Live, the dance/ska-inflections of the Stars Of CCTV album are ironed out in favour of a four square rock approach which is all very well, but robs the band of the very thing that made them stand out in the first place.
 
Fortunately, as you may have guessed from the quote above, Rich doesn't lack for confidence. He's also, the girls in the 6 Music typing pool tell me, a good-looking lad and a combination of charisma and cocky patter see the band through until, five songs in, Tied Up Too Tight arrives and the hottest ticket in town finally catches fire.
 
Even with the band firing at last, Archer remains the key to Hard-Fi's chances. Indeed, if they made a soap opera about the band, he would play every role: lairy hedonist (Living For The Weekend), cheeky charmer (Hard To Beat), lovelorn romantic (Better Do Better) and, er, man who's run out of money on a night out (Cash Machine). They could call it The Archers. Arf!
 
Meanwhile, the straight-forward neo-punk approach actually works pretty well when they've got an anthem to deal with - and, judging by the reaction of the varied crowd of everyone from teenage screamers to nasty geezers, they've got plenty. The lyrics can be a bit "ver kids on ver street", like 1979 never stopped happening or something, but at least they're making an effort.
 
And, indeed, the band are at their best when doing just that. The set highlight is a version of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army that comes on like a dubbed-out Clash, replacing that riff with an eerie melodica that comprehensively re-invents one of the most familiar rock anthems of recent years (although at least half the people I vox-pop afterwards had never even heard of it).
 
It ends with Rich rousing the crowd like a better-looking Jimmy Pursey, prefacing Living For The Weekend with the words "Anyone here got a sh*t job that don't pay?" Only half right in my case, but Hard-Fi still deserve all the cheers they get.