A welcome return and a fond farewell

After an enforced 18-month hiatus, it's so good to have Nightshift back. And (dare I say it) it's almost as though it's never been away.

In the September issue, there's a cover feature profiling and promoting not just one but six of Oxford's new-to-the-scene acts, who talk about the challenges and opportunities presented by starting out in lockdown.

There are reviews of new releases from the likes of Kid Kin and The August List (whose Wax Cat LP I'll be reviewing here this week).

There's the listings section, long enough to bring a tear of joy to the eye, and astute recommendations for the Nick Cave & Warren Ellis and Pom Poko shows in particular (the latter are indeed "idiosyncratic, expectation-defying, wayward and weird" while also "serious fun").

There's Dr Shotover's monthly column, which - as usual - both raises a few smiles and throws up phrases to be added to the band name list (I can definitely imagine someone onstage announcing "Hi, we're Sanitised Elves").

And, of course, there's the Tracks section (formerly the Demo Dumper), which just goes to show that Ronan's lost none of his bite. Opening sentence: "People keep talking about a new, kinder world post-Covid, but those people don't have the job of sifting through piles of Soundcloud links and self-made Youtube videos hoping to hear something that'll shake us out of a torpor brought about by 18 months of sitting on the sofa eating crisps and watching repeats of A Place In The Sun, as some kind of substitute for actually going on holiday."

The new issue brought bad news as well as good, though. While Nightshift's future was secured for the next couple of years thanks to a wildly successful Crowdfunder campaign, the Wheatsheaf is no more, despite the fact that plans to turn the venue into student flats were foiled.

During my time in the city, I enjoyed countless great nights up those stairs, stuck to the carpet. Of the three venues Ronan and the Sounding Bored crew raved about on the Oxford episode of the podcast back in May 2016, only the Bullingdon is left, given that the Cellar has also gone. The loss of the Wheatsheaf - the last remaining dedicated gig venue in the city centre - is a devastating blow for a local music scene attempting to escape the long shadow of the pandemic.