GIG: Nachtmahr (London)

Our fourth time seeing Nachtmahr in five years, and while not the best... it wasn't the worst either. To be fair the first time we saw Nachtmahr (2015) was epic and that gig is one of the best we've seen over the last few years, this one suffered slightly from an 'instrumental' heavy set and (for me) some fuckwit dancers who annoyed the shit out of me by persistently banging into me. Once I moved I enjoyed the show a lot more, but the setlist was undeniably weak and Thomas hardly spoke to the crowd. Not bad, but this should really have been better, and certainly should have been better relative to La Villa Strangiato...

GIG: La Villa Strangiato (Leicester)

Our second time seeing La Villa Strangiato and this time they were playing songs from 'A Show of Hands'. The band seemed a little loose to start with, but once they got going they were really good. Once again the sound was overloud and the mix was a bit off, especially the samples for the 80s songs, but overall it was a good show. The set-list pretty much followed the album, minus 'Witch Hunt' and 'Mystic Rhythms' and plus 'Chemistry' for some reason... and 'La Villa Strangiato' as an encore.

MEAL OUT: Rocksalt (Market Harborough)

Almost four years on from our last visit, we returned to Rocksalt with the Mums in tow for a lunch on Sally's birthday. I don't know why we haven't been back because it's very nice and the food was great. I don't know if it was because it was lunchtime, but the main portion was a little small. Well, not so much the chargrilled chicken (which was lovely) but the tiny square of dauphinoise potato hidden underneath.

By contrast the puddings were a decent size, so at least they got that right. I had the sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and salted caramel ice cream and Rose had the brownie, both were excellent and I think it would be nice to go back at night and see if the portions were a little more generous...