The Vichy Government - gigs

This show finally saw Vichy in a natural environment, playing a private Christmas party for the librarians of Hackney and sharing a bill with Afropop ten-piece Bush Taxi and violinist Colin Barnes. Seeing four-year-olds mosh to Orange Disorder was a real vindication of the past two-and-a-half year's toil. Live debut for Serbian Warlord.

Another Angular night as The Fucks launched their "EP1". The art students took our warnings about a lifetime of Burger King in good spirits and disco elegy Your Dinner Is On Page 22 was unveiled. We were told that one student even scrawled "I <3 The Vichy Govt" in the toilet walls, which had been scribbled out within minutes. Intro music: Maxine Nightingale, Right Back To Where We Started From

Vichy took a trip into the West End for Club Echo, set in an unusual venue whose décor was unsure whether to imitate a Roman temple or a medieval dungeon. As The Violets were playing Metro that evening we missed most of the seven support bands, who had names like Trauma Pet and all sounded like Evanescence. When our time came, the handful of goths who opted to miss the last tubes responded to Life Should Mean Life with (possibly ironic) breakdancing. The promoters must be lauded for their jaw-dropping generosity with the door takings.

We were invited to play a two-day, thirty band festival that would feature Wire, The Buzzcocks, Kaito and The Futureheads. Sadly, the only "signed" act that ended up playing were Campag Velocet, and for this the general public were not prepared to fork out £28. So it came to pass that Andrew's birthday was spent playing to a crowd of Angular-affiliated bands and fanzine scribblers. Two months later, Hackney Ocean declared bankruptcy and closed its doors.

The Long Blondes and The Violets embarked on Angular Records' first UK tour, which kicked off in Cambridge and was our best-attended show there by some distance. Sandwiched between the spiky, femme-fronted guitar groups, Vichy were dismissed by our friends at the Cambridge Evening News as "a cold shower". Live debut for future classic The Male Gaze.

With characteristically impeccable timing, Vichy played a Piccadilly Circus venue on the very night that Formula One staged a demonstration race along Piccadilly and Regent Street. The support bands were the kind of amateurs who brought along all their workmates and relatives to their annual gigs, but Vichy's headline slot was greeted by an audience of five. The promoter went home during our first song. As is so often the way, it was one of our finest performances ever. Live debut for Mickey Mouse.

Back to the Limelight for Revenge of the Passive, a one-off night organised by Nick Carlisle to showcase The Uterus Women before his followers in the six counties. First up were angst-metal act Fragile Human Organs, playing their first ever gig after six years of boasting about their greatness and even releasing a DVD. The hoodies in the crowd did not enjoy our cover of "Heart Shaped Box" and we were overjoyed to be booed offstage. Intro music: Bad Dream Fancy Dress, The Supremes

For the final Rejuvenate night, Vichy were asked back to this elegant riverside venue. In November, the glass-fronted backdrop had revealed the twinkling lights of Belfast's skyline at night. In June, it was more akin to playing a tropical greenhouse. Some things never change, though; several people still walked out in disgust. Tom McShane and his band supported. Intro music: David Bowie, Starman

We made an excursion to deepest Berkshire for a show at this hippy-dippy venue (tarot murals, statues of Hindu gods), and found ourselves in the middle of a Misfortuna Pop bill- also playing were antipodean crusties Sodastream, The Seven Inches and Chemistry Experiment. The tweecore were polite enough to give us a warm reception. Intro music: The Ramones, Blitzkreig Bop