Feeling that I could do with the enjoyment of a live gig after a winter of none, I browsed my local venues and discovered Catlea was playing at the West End Centre in nearby Aldershot and, better yet, the tickets were just a fiver!
I did a bit of trawling on YouTube and decided she sounded interesting enough to risk that much money.
It was a pleasantly warm evening as I made my way to the venue, which features a tiny hall.
The ticket said it started at 8 and around half past, I heard activity from the hall.
I went in and saw a huge man with a microphone and three other, regular sized men, with some instruments.
Sadly, though, this support act turned out to be a rap performer and, while I'm quite catholic in my musical tastes these days, after two tracks, I knew this wasn't for me, so I adjourned to the bar and treated myself to a nice cloudy IPA...
After a while, they finished and so I returned to the hall and after a short while a group of people arrived.
This was 'Indi', which some research suggests is India Brown, the singer, and a group of musicians making up the rest of the band, including a saxophonist, which is not something you often see.
They made a pleasant sound, India has a good voice and is very photogenic, suggesting she could be destined for big things, although some of the band seemed to be concentrating very hard on playing their instruments, as if they weren't fully comfortable with them.
They started with a song called "Taxi in Mumbai" and then went through a number of catchy, songs, some upbeat, some more ballad-y.
I enjoyed them and so did most of the people there, it seemed, as there were calls for them to play another song, but I guess they either didn't have time or any other material!
By now it was past 9PM, so I assumed the next act would be Catlea, the headliner, but no...
A group of a drummer, a woman with a bass and two young lads (Yes, I'm getting old, but they looked like teenagers!) ventured onto the stage and made a very loud noise.
My first reaction was to head to the bar and have another IPA, but I decided they deservered a second chance and they did get better. Not all their songs were more than noise, but they were all better than the first and, if I'm honest, I actually enjoyed at least half of them. A little bit 2000s US punk/grunge, I guess (so not really my thing), but they were not the worst support I've seen and heard. I didn't catch a band name, though.
Finally, at God only knows what time, but after 10PM, Catlea took the stage. I was a bit surprised to see the previous bands' drummer again, but why not, everyone seemed to be friends.
However, as it had got later and later, by the time the supposed headliner arrived, there was about 30 people left and within a couple of songs, there was about 20, at least half made up of the Wookie Rapper and his band and some hangers on, who Catlea clearly knew.
It was a most bizarre experience to be one of the very few people there who weren't 'with the band'!
And that was a shame, because goth looking, but soflty spoken, American, Catlea, her boyfriend and a basist and that drummer were pretty good.
I recognised a couple of songs from my YouTube trawling, but most were pretty good and she has a pleasant voice.
A website says of Catlea (today featuring purple hair, shaved on one side of her face and long on the other), "Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Catlea's musical style covers an eclectic spectrum from alt-indie to rock, to pop and EDM. The alt-indie singer's vocals range from angelic to raw and powerful." I'd say that was a fair description of what we got.
On this occasion, though, she didn't play any instruments, just standing front and centre and sang, while her 3 bandmates provided a distinctly alt-indie rock sound.
Sadly, by the end, the friends were a bit pissed and their interaction with the band started to distract from the performance.
The gig felt a bit shambolic by the end, but what can you expect for a fiver?
I was surprised that so many people left even before Catlea came on, but maybe people had simply been tempted out by a cheap Friday night gig and felt they'd had enough by the late hour they finally took to the stage.
I'd say both Indi and Catlea were worth checking out on YouTube and going to see if they're in your area for a such a ridiculously cheap price.
No setlist, things were too chaotic.
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