After having to reschedule their tour seven times owing to the pandemic, not even a fire at the original Bristol venue (SWX) was enough to sway THE LOVELY EGGS and make them throw in the towel as many other bands would have done!

Thankfully, the BEAUTIFUL people at The Fleece offered their venue so the show could indeed go on and go on it did, Glenn Morrison was on hand to attend, take photos and tell us how the evening panned out, take it away Glenn….

The atmosphere was a mix of excitement and relief of actually being at a gig. It was very much a ‘Lovely Eggs’ crowd, they knew the songs and had plenty of banter between them but what was great to see was that the venue was full for the support acts as well, a sure fire sign that people really had missed live music.

AK/DK, described as ‘electro-disco-noise-punk’, got things kicked off and the crowd really responded. Coming straight from a set at Farmfest earlier in the day, they got things kicked off good n’ proper.

Thick Richard, a potty-mouthed Manchester based punk poet was up next with his 90mph vocal delivery in his thick mancunian accent had the crowd listening intently. His one about festivals hit the right notes with the crowd, it was funny, thought provoking and something everyone could relate to. One line I have committed to memory from later in the set was , “In London they say you are only ever 4ft away from a rat. In Manchester you are only every 2m away from a dickhead”.

And then the Lovely Eggs arrived to a raucous entrance, it was clear to see that the punters and the band had really missed nights like these. The crowd knew the songs and where singing along merrily. The ‘pit’ (more of a dance pit than a mosh pit for these guys) grew with every song and was a sight to behold. I had doubts I would ever be able to experience this again following the dark days of the last 18 months but the music soon brought it all back. Holly was fab with the crowd and her lockdown drinking journey into cider was greatly appreciated by the Westcountry crowd as she swigged from her can of Thatchers Gold (other ciders are available - She also mentioned drinking Strongbow but this did not go down well).

The band were on top form. They steamed through the set which covered the oldest to the newest which hit the spot with all in attendance. The live versions of the songs adding a slightly more raw angle to the recorded ones ‘Don’t look at Me (I Don’t like it)’ (a song from towards the end of their set) and dating from 2011, was greeted with cheers and everyone around me was singing every word.

With the sound of their last song ringing out across the room, they left the stage, no encore came, the crowd were left screaming for more but looking at the faces of the revellers, it looked like they would all benefit from a ‘nice sit down’ after spending so long in the dance pit, I think it was safe to say that they were going to be a little sore the next morning!

For anyone interested, David sold his Mickey Mouse soap on eBay for the princely sum of £30, go check out their feed on Facebook, I only mention it because it was certainly a topic of conversation at the gig!

Words and Pictures by Glenn Morrison