November 5,Acoustic Cafe, Soho

Well, holding a gig in Soho was asking for trouble wasn't it? The night got off to a comical start when Matinee were 'assisted' by no less than four sound engineers. Apparently three of them got the hump later on, so thanks to Fitz for doing a great job on the desk (the house sound man used to be in Penetration, which got some of the older Matinee contingent dewy eyed, I can tell you).

Anyway, the gig was characterised by Matinee's first ever encore. OK, they had to ask for it themselves, but as Nick said when he re-took the stage 'one thing we've learnt from therapy is to love ourselves'. Some would say they never had any problem in that department.

The crowd (yes Sara from Girlfrendo, James from Baby Birkin and Dale the Shy Mongrel were all present and correct) were spared Matinee's comedy cover version on this occasion, but it can't be long before that gem is unleashed.

For the record, the set was: Farenheit, The Stragazers, Magic Stone Store, (No Rest) For The Wicked, Julia's Peculiars, Keep It Down, Scenestealer and My Love Lite. Matinee's other Swedish fan actually asked for a set list at the end of the show, but they didn't have one (Michael is busy 'knocking one up' so to speak, as I write).

After the gig, Matinee's resident snapper Nick Howells stopped the traffic in Charing Cross road for what will surely be a prized picture in years to come. He caught drummer Steve Milton loading his gear onto a tricycle (!) for the short hop to Fitz's studio. Talk about travelling in style.

Anyway, the aftershow party took us to Insomnia on Wardour Street, where DJ Gary Barrel chucked off the resident 'house and garage' merchant to play Small Faces and Stax records for Matinee's small but well-cut Mod following. Present at the aftershow (but late for the gig, the tinkers) were Rick, Nicky and Jo. We did a runner without paying for the hire of the venue and finished the night at 3am in Bar Italia, but not before Nicky was recognised by one of the bouncers from The Wag. Anything you'd like to tell us, girl?

October 14, Bull & Gate

Well, another gig, another opportunity for a bit of gossip. After Matinee's last gig at the Hope & Anchor, guitarist Michael was the one with the widest smile on his face, due to some aftershow shenanigans. And once again, it was Matinee's answer to Bernard Butler who received the most attention after the Bull & Gate show, with a random Japanese girl coming up to 'put her hand in his pocket'. Whether anything else happened or this was merely a strike from the phantom plectrum pincher of Osaka is not known at this stage.

Meanwhile, one of Michael's mod muckers had his eyes on the Bull & Gate's lovely barmaid. He even went as far as to pretend that he was Matinee's bass player in an attempt to secure her affections. Bassist Martin (no stranger to pretending he's a bassist, some would say) would like to tell him that in his experience, this approach rarely cuts any ice, but thanks him for carrying his bass nonetheless.

Another top mod in action was Matinee superfan Mick (his well-cut threads a change from the 'Bez look' he was rocking at the Red Eye) and his new whistle might have paid dividends too. Our spies saw him disappearing into a taxi after the show with a mystery older woman.

Finally in this life-unaffirming litany of tittle tattle, our regular watch of minor celebrities within 50 yards of the gig must fall back once again on those old standbys Sara of Girlfrendo and Duncan from Kaleida who (overheard discussing the indie haunts of Stockholm) and Chris T-T of Duckyfuzz who raced off to catch another show (it was a Wednesday, after all).

But the fun didn't stop there. My spies tell me that Matinee celebrated their success at the Bull & Gate with a group outing to the East End, where Martin and Michael fell in love with a schoolgirl, Nick renewed acquaintances with a stripper and Steve found a dead body. All true, I promise.

See you in Soho, Matinee idols.