new Smugglers venue

The Talking Drum, Cliftonville, Margate
18th December 2016

I'm writing this a few weeks later, and sadly this (never fully opened) venue didn't work out in the end. But I had a great evening, the second of two midwinter weekend happenings there. There was a jumble sale when I arrived (far too early), so I dug through for a few clothes, then headed to the Turner Contemporary gallery cafe nearby to finish Leonora Carrington's wonderful surrealist novel The Hearing Trumpet. Then back for a series of excellent sets from:

• The Kent Fantasy Orchestra (quite a few new pieces in the repertoire, including the seasonal "Fairytale of New York"... my friend Kirstie's joined as a vocalist too, which was good to see... Jesse's ability to make this project happen is truly inspiring)
• Poggy Hatton (solo, playing a lot of stuff not on her new album reviewed a while ago on this blog)
• The Papalonian Babooshkies Big Band (Aidan has arranged the Papylonian trio material for a larger group, including Domi on violin...sadly I missed half the set dealing with a necessary phonecall)
• Itchy Teeth (very entertaining, very funny, great band)
• Bison Bonasus (they just keep getting better, got us all dancing... I ended up missing my lift home as a result, but fortunately Will and Gabrielle (behind this venure) put me up in their flat above the venue, so all was well)