Blue Midnight

Blue Midnight, formed by school friends David Johnson and Grant Showbiz in the squat lands of West London, were originally part of the "bad music" scene, forerunner of the "Lo-Fi" movement in the post-punk era. With the genius violinist Elliet Mackrell and lively trombonist Nick Waterhouse they plied their trade in such venues as the Idiot Ballroom - in the basement of the now demolished Clarendon Hotel in Hammersmith; Alan Dogend’s Little Majic Theatre - a squatted venue in West London; the Raindrop Hotel - situated in the Free State of Frestonia; and the wondrous Meanwhile Gardens, often sharing the same bill as The Mob, World Domination Enterprises and the Instant Automatons.

At one point Blue Midnight dallied with being a ‘proper music’ band and were compared at the time to the likes of Dexys Midnight Runners. However they quickly realised that this was not their forte and returned to their original humble beginnings, playing what they most desired with a line-up of violin, trombone, harmonica and vocal backed by bass and drums. With no chordal instruments in the band their unique style has been referred to as a “spacey folk-dub brass fiesta”.