My resolution for 2026 is to see more live music. Plenty of my favourite bands from the 90s are touring and I also hope to discover some new and exciting artists. But first, a reflection on 2025.
Shed Seven, 24th January 2025 @ Pryzm, Kingston
First up, Shed Seven in January at Pryzm in Kingston. Celebrating the 30 year anniversary of their debut album Change Giver, released in 1994, these shows were postponed from October last year.
Listening to the album before the show, it turns out that I’d probably not heard Change Giver in full back in the day. It was released just a bit before I discovered indie music and was quickly followed by A Maximum High in 1996, which contains the early hits that I remember, Getting Better, Going for Gold and On Standby.
The band played Change Giver in full, with Speakeasy and Dolphin as particular highlights. Great energy in the room.
The second part of the show was billed as a ‘greatest hits’. These included the aforementioned songs from A Maximum High, plus hits from later in the 90s, Disco Down and Chasing Rainbows. There was a couple that I didn’t recognise and it seems that these were more recent songs from 2024, Talk of the Town and Let’s Go Dancing.
I spoke to a group of fans for whom Change Giver was the soundtrack to their university years and they had even been to the show at the same venue the night before. Great to see Shed Seven inspire such passion. I enjoyed the trip back to the 90s sound and hearing Change Giver in full. If there’s an anniversary tour of A Maximum High in 2026, I might just have to check them out again.
Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, 23rd April @ Pryzm, Kingston
I rarely turn down an opportunity to see live music so when I was offered a ticket to this, I barely paid attention to what I had agreed to. I did not realise that Jeff Goldblum, the actor, makes music. In fact, he was promoting his third jazz album, Still Blooming, with the Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Jeff talked about his recent role in Wicked. His co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo featured on the album, though sadly they didn’t make an appearance on this night in Kingston.
Counting Crows, 14th May @ Pryzm, Kingston
Next up Counting Crows. To celebrate the release of their new album Butter Miracle The Complete Sweets!, vocalist Adam Duritz and guitarist David Immerglück (Immy) visited Kingston to play a short acoustic set at Pryzm.
Skunk Anansie, 29th May @ Pryzm, Kingston
An altogether different vibe for Skunk Anansie in the same venue just a couple of weeks later. The last time I saw Skunk Anansie was when they headlined the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury festival 1999, the last headliners of the 20th century. And it was a nice surprise to run into my 1999 festival friend at this show!
The band had just released their seventh studio album The Painful Truth, though I must confess that I wasn’t familiar with any of their material since the 90s. Despite this, the energy, the sound, the songs were recognisable as typical Skunk Anansie. Playing a handful of new songs, Skin sounded powerful and fierce.
The set ended with a couple of much welcomed oldies. Skin related the origin story of Hedonism, about how it was about raw feelings for an ex but how the passage of time has given her strength. “I hope you’re feeling happy now,” she said, shaking her head and mouthing words to the contrary. Go grrrl!
The set ended with Weak, from their very first album Paranoid and Sunburnt from 1995. Amazing hearing them playing it live again.
Read: Kingston Gig Life 2025 – part 2
Read: Kingston Gig Life 2025 – part 3
Blue Roses Fanzine 2.0 