Vanessa and the Baskervilles – Yeah, yeah, Dublin Castle, yeah.

I love Vanessa – she’s one of my oldest friends and she is also a ridiculously cool, kind, funny, clever person.  Oh, did I mention she also runs not one, but two, record labels representing lots of excellent up and coming bands? Unfortunately she spends half her time in Norway, so when she’s back in the country, I always jump at the opportunity to catch up, particularly when I can blag guest list for one of her bands’ gigs.

I haven’t seen Vanessa since the Ghosts of Men album launch a few months ago at Zigfrid Von Underbelly, which was ace and involved me rolling around on the stage being dry-humped by a gorgeous Scandinavian lady (don’t ask) so my expectations for the Baskervilles’ gig were suitably high.

I hadn’t heard of the Baskervilles before, but one of my buddies, Richard from BBC Introducing, had seen them perform and vouched for their quality. Plus the name reminded me of Sherlock Holmes which is something I look for in a pop-rock band.

However, as soon as we arrived at the venue, Camden’s Dublin Castle, I recognised a familiar face. A few familiar faces, in fact. As it turns out, I had known the Baskervilles in a previous grubbier incarnation as ‘Dirty Addiction’ – and their guitarist Callum used to co-present a radio show with me. However, last time I saw them, they were still in college… I feel so old.

Having taken a year off to work on their new album, the boys are ready to be noticed – their new single, Death of a Pop Star drops on 5 May. See the teaser video here:

It’s a varied set and the band demonstrate their proficiency as musicians, filling the stage space with confidence. Singer James Betts has a watchable charisma which he particularly demonstrates on stand-out final track ‘Yeah yeah yeah’ (I think it’s called that?!) While the band admit to treating this smaller gig as something of a warm up rehearsal for their big return, they do seem most happy performing this rockier older track which I hope will be released as a single in the near future.

On the way home I took a #DwayneTrainSelfie – have ittttt x