Can’t think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon than at a very intimate gig (about 20 people) listening to The Mystery Jets playing acoustically.  Well, after a strange string of events (alright an unexpected e-mail) that is what happened.

Back in May I went to see the Noisettes play courtesy of Russian Standard Vodka… totally forgot about the brand to be honest, until a competition e-mail landed in my inbox yesterday.  Replied, heard nothing until this morning I was told they had some spares so I had won – Whoop, Whoop!! Headed out on my lunch-break optimistic I would get back in time (although knowing I would be in for an ass-whooping for a long lunch when I got back) to find what turned out to be a short set (4 tracks total) but far better than I could have expected.

The setting oozed summer; an outdoors courtyard hidden away in the back streets of Shoreditch between some offices.  The set-list was succinct yet filling; Dreaming Me Another World, Serotonin and Too Late To Talk (all on the new album released Monday), then finishing up with Flakes.  The summer vibes matched the acoustic sound; singing with bare naked vocals (the harmonies lingering in the air) made everything sound liberated, like you had stumbled across them busking.  The whole thing was a seriously good look…

…and talking of good looks, I got talking to the brand Manager for the Russian Standard Vodka project and the offer is interesting to say the least.  Apparently, they are starting a “VIP group” who’ll have access to film and music events (apparently more ‘courtyard shows’ in summer then proper gigs from November).  The catch = you gotta win tickets and you can enhance your chances by purchasing their Vodka.  Now I don’t drink Vodka, however if buying a few bottles and entering a few codes is going to get me in to gigs like this for free then there will be a lot of people getting Russian Standard Vodka for birthday presents!

All jokes aside, whatever your take on branding in music (still got to get round to writing my piece on this) this is a prospect that cannot be ignored.  The new bottles have not launched yet and the whole VIP thing is still pretty small so signing up now is smart.  Come December it’ll probably be so big you can never get tickets, however for now it’s still pretty much a secret.  Can sign up on this website for updates (http://rsvoriginals.co.uk) though you’ll have to go to an event to get the all important card.

Back to the music, The Mystery Jets were very impressive and the setting more than helped… oh and managed to avoid an ass-whooping at work; music, alcohol and increasing brand loyalty are very hot topics in marketing these days!  RSV made two fans today… well for as long as we get free stuff!

Rob