Depot Live at Cardiff Castle, The Wombats, e The Rock Band

I first got into The Wombats after perusing the Top Forty and finding their latest single 'Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) quite high on the charts. I was intrigued by the incredible album artwork, and instantly fell in love with their alternative, punky tunes. Three months later, my parents gave me permission to go to my first concert. I instantly thought of my new favourite band, and booked tickets to go with a couple of friends to see The Wombats. Fastforward to February 22nd 2012. I saw them at the O2 Academy Brixton, a large but popular venue that never fails to provide the right atmosphere for a show. The Wombats did not fail to deliver either. They played for over two hours, and all of it was explosive. They played the entirety of 'This Modern Glitch' (complete with lasers and confetti) as well as their most popular tunes from 'Love, Loss and Desperation', ending with the classic 'Let's Dance to Joy Division." Of course, not only was there a stellar performance, but their interaction with the crowd was impeccable. With Murph constantly ordering for another 'wall of death' and Tord crowd-surfing, The Wombats do not disappoint, and most certainly is not a band to miss.

The very name ‘Sugababes’ probably means different things to different people, depending on how old you are; they’ve undergone so many lineup changes these past few years that they make The Smashing Pumpkins look stable. The present lineup, in fact, contains precisely zero original members; Heidi Range is the closest thing they have to a stalwart, at over a decade in the group, but Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen are both relatively recent additions. To make things even more confusing, the very first iteration of the band - comprising Siobhan Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan - have gotten back together, too, under the inventive banner of Mutya Keisha Siobhan. The current Sugababes are currently on hiatus, with their only record between them, Sweet 7, meeting with an unfavourable response both critically and commercially. Should they choose to regroup, though, the one thing they will have on their side is a formidable back catalogue; one of the strongest in recent British pop history, in fact, with the likes of ‘Freak Like Me’ and ‘Too Lost in You’ only sounding better as the years roll by; the mark of a genuinely excellent commercial pop song. In an ever more fickle scene, though, they’d be well-advised not to leave it too long; irrespective of which version of the group they’re most used to, the public forget alarmingly quickly these days.