secondSight delight in Croydon

secondSight get better with every gig and comfortably exceeded my already high expectations at the Scream Lounge in Croydon.

First some logistics. Travelling straight from work meant playing with the smart casual stuff again so as not to be too conspicuous at work or play. It also meant eating out beforehand which a trip to The George for some nachos and seasonal beers.

Fed and watered I then used Google Maps on the iPhone to guide me to the Scream Lounge, a walk of some ten minutes. Arriving a little early I managed to bag a table at the front, which is where I prefer to me.

The Scream Lounge is a nice little venue. The stage is well appointed for sounds and lights, the cosy room has a few tables and benches at the front and standing room at the back and, right at the back, a small bar to avoid the walk to the main bar downstairs.

This was the fourth time that I had seen secondSight in just a few months but it probably counts as the first proper gig the others being woefully short or partial dress rehearsals for the real thing.

The set was no great surprise, opening with The Knife and including many songs that I had heard them do before, e.g. Aqualung, Epitaph, Dogs and Supper's Ready.

There were some small surprises to further enliven the evening, Pink Floyd's Echoes and Radiohead's Lucky.

Clearly there was no problem for me with the set list and there was no problem with the band either. The stage, sound system and lighting suited them well and their playing rose to the occasion. The slight roughness and looseness of the warm up at The Old Explorer were gone and precision and polish took their place.

The drummer (Mike) and tune-smiths of secondSight (Norman on lead, Nick on bass and Julian on keys) do not move a great deal but that does not matter as the band's energy in funnelled effectively through vocalist Chris who is incapable of keeping still.

When not singing, Chris bounds around the stage bashing a tambourine with gusto against, well, almost anything including his head and heels.

It's hard to find any fault with a gig like this and the worst that I can come up with is that somehow I missed the last train to Richmond so had to catch the bus instead which must have added all of a quarter of an hour to the journey home. I'll know better next time.

And there will be a next time as the promoter liked the gig too and secondSight will be back there on 11 March.