DiS in-joke #43,873: Craine at the Dublin Castle, last night. Some comments.

So a friend sent me a txt msg while I was on the train back from a week in Scotchland and said he was going for booze in the Dublin Castle after going to a gig, cos it's right near his house you see. I said I'd see him there. I got home and checked and - oh yeah - there's a band on there tonight. What a happy accident! I just need to point that out so you know I was in no way heading to the venue just so I could make a hatchet job on an unsigned band – obviously that's far too easy as it's better to spend your time writing nice words, right? Perhaps if I was still a 19-year-old fanzine writer, it would've been a different case.

There is nothing remarkable about Craine. They are competent musicians, they look incredibly earnest (perhaps too much so), they obviously have their sight sets on the stadiums, and there's nothing wrong with a little ambition in bands. Will they get that far? No. Will they get a record deal? No. Have I seen worse bands? God yes. We've probably accidentally booked a few of them, although I'm not going to name names.

I don't know if they had many Sheffield people there. There seemed to be a couple of excitable girls but other than that it was a typical bored-looking midweek London crowd watching Yet Another Band - not standing too close to the stage, not looking terribly interested, watching a band with nothing to say. Another blow for the live scene.

My main problem is that Craine just seem to exist so they can GET SIGNED. There doesn't seem to be any genuine LOVE for what they do. Are there other bands with this attitude? Yes, of course there are. And that's the problem.

Obviously I don't know them as people so this is where them or their team come online and slate me for my comments. Fair enough, but that's the impression they give off on stage. Craine to chill out a little and perhaps some decent songs will come more naturally to them. Write what you feel, not what you think other people will like, because 99% of the time you'll be wrong.

Anyway well done, their people have achieved what they set out to do and got people talking about their favourite local boys. I think this is the point where they go through the list of bands I've rated or reviewed and pick them to shreds. Perhaps you could start with Scissor Sisters? Although I didn't much care for the second album.

Obviously the roof remained intact – well, it is in a residential area and the council have things to say about noise levels. I tried to get a picture but it just looks like black blob on a screen. I think the floor will also live another day... that's usually the only part of the venue (other than the damn lights) which has any kind of damage (hey, it's refurbishment is the reason we once had to move a Kaiser Chiefs gig from there to the Archway Tavern. Good times!).

Luckily the guy on the door was the chap who work for us on Tuesdays, so I didn't have to pay. High five.

I was drinking cider and black. It was pretty good.