So after months of speculation it would appear that London’s grubbiest West End venue has been given a reprieve from the developers of the new cross rail train 
link. I have a love hate feelings towards the Astoira. It is truly grotesque, the men’s toilets in the aptly named Keith Moon bar makes Ewen McGregor’s experience in trainspotting look like a 5* suite in the Mandarin Oriental. Also why should you be banned from taking plastic cups into the urinals? What next a beer themometoer checker? That said it is the only decent venue over 2,000 people in the West End and has a decent sized photographers pit (a very important point).
So to Supergrass, the band have just released their 6th studio album, “Diamond Hoo Ha” which has had some fairly good reviews. The band performed a number of tracks from the new album as well the big hits from their early years. Supergrass are one of those bands who enjoyed a considerable amount of success very early in their career. Their debut album “Should I coco” which came out in the mid 90’s spanned their most memorable singles, “Caught by the fuzz”, ” Lenny” and their huge hit “Alright”. Bands seldom recover from novelty hits, just look at The Boo Radley’s or The Shamen however Supergrass’s strong songwriting ability coupled with a very strong fan-base ensured that no long term harm was done.
So now that they are now in their late 30’s it was good to see that they had not lost any of their passion and ability to put on an energetic live performance. Whilst I would not recommend that you rush out and buy their new album I would endorse their live performance which was as solid as ever. I have not seen all the festival listings for this summer however hopefully they will be appearing at more than just the Wakefield Festival in Blenheim Palace. The only question I have is are they appearing before or after the puppet show?