The genius that is Dave Dulake and his band Virgo Intacta will be appearing at the Sun Rooms in Market Place, Southend on Thursday February 21.

For those of you who've been under a rock for the past year, Dave is Leigh's own mix of Ian Dury, Ben Folds, Neil Finn, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Wreckless Eric and Paul Weller.

His pedigree includes the Phrogs and One Iota for starters and he's hailed by Mark Bates - who occasionally works with Rollo of Faithless and is the brother of Dido - as the man who taught him to play pop music.

Dave's album, Butterfingers, is a piece of musical wonderment and his spot-on single Agency - which has some of the smartest lyrics I've heard in years - hasn't left my car stereo since I first heard it.

Live, he and the all girl band Virgo Intacta are a tonic for the ears and soul.

Entry is FREE, so no excuses and the pub's management say he'll start playing at around 9pm. Please don't miss him.

But if you are busy on Thursday, he's also playing West One Four in Kensington on Saturday.

There is a coach going up, costing £12, and the ticket includes admission. Contact Dave on 01702 521791.

Time to Grasp local music

Getting a grip on local music - Grasp are playing Chinnery's

Chinnery's on Southend seafront is staking its as-yet unspoken claim to be THE venue in the south east with it's list of impressive up-and-coming touring bands and its promote-local Burnt nights.

For the price of less than a pack of fags, you can catch four cracking local and not-so-local bands and support your local music industry.

This Friday sees the brilliant Grasp (the Mod-boys from Chelmsford and Southend who opened V2000), Parker (who claim "catchy guitar hooks, clever lyrics, perfect melodies and a great band dynamic combining to create songs that invade the brain"), the Phase (a Wickford-based indie-pop band who have played Prince's Trust gigs) and Spud Gun (of whom I know nothing) all hitting the stage.

Indie-pop - The Phase joining Grasp in Southend

And if you missed them last year, the astounding and rather large reggae and dub band the Goldmaster Allstars will be appearing on March 23.

For more information go to the website www.chinnerys.co.uk

Dr Robert pays a Chelmsford housecall

Diggin' the Chelmsford scene - Dr Robert will be playing the Army and Navy

The Army and Navy in Chelmsford will play host to the remarkable Dr Robert on Thursday.

Two years ago he briefly stopped off at too-short notice on a rainy night at the Grand in Leigh.

Dr Robert, (aka Robert Howard) established himself in the 80s with the quirky yet groovy tunes, but pushed back a few cheap jibes by occasionally joining with the likes of soul diva Kym Maselle and funk legend Curtis Mayfield and even linking up with Modfather Paul Weller on Wild Wood and Changing Man, and lending his production skills to Beth Orton.

With four solo albums under his belt since leaving the Blow Monkeys, his new album Birds Gotta Fly is about to be released and the single Blue Skies shows his love of his acoustic singer/songwriter roots.

But he's also dabbling with some intriguing mixes which indicate a refreshingly brave and open musical talent.

Q magazine has called the album "a fabulously imaginative collection of pastoral blues-pop".

You can catch him for the princely sum of just £7 and the doors open around 8pm.

Call on 01245 354155 for information or go to http://welcome.to/army&navy

Nu-metal sounds at The Castlemayne

The Castlemayne are keeping nu-metal throbbing in Basildon.

Thursday sees Keratose and Crazy Sadie trying their damnedest to make your ears bleed.

The doors open around 8pm and as usual you don't have to pay a penny to get in to the venue which is located in The Knares.

A few days later, you can catch jazz-funk band Pervis who are part of the increasingly popular DJ-and-band night Make It Funky night.

Joe, who is responsible for the best live music in Basildon and should be revered by Basildon music-lovers, said the last time the funky evening was on some groovy fellow even brought along a bit of lino and lo, there was a queue of people spinning, grooving and body-popping like days gone by. Love it.

For more information call Joe on 01268 492250.

Memorial gig at the Oysterfleet

Brief reminder of the brilliant Lee Brilleaux memorial gig at the Oysterfleet on Canvey this coming May 10.

Lee, as you well know, was a key member of Dr Feelgood and in many ways a key figure of the pub band cum punk scene of the 70s.

Basically, without the likes of Lee, you wouldn't have had the Sex Pistols and all that followed.

This is proven by the fact Malcolm McLaren used to take the snot-nosed John "Rotten" Lydon along to Feelgood gigs, point at Lee and tell Lydon "that's how I want you to act on stage".

The gig is again in aid of SCENT - a deserving charity which gave help and compassion to Lee in his final weeks - and so far the annual memorial shows has raised over £25,000.

Tickets are £12.50 and are available from the Oysterfleet in Knightswick Road. Or contact Grand Records on 01268 694888.

Published Tuesday February 19, 2002