Here We Go Again…
Thursday 17th December 2009
21 bus from The Black Horse in Chester le Street to Durham, cold but fresh.
By the time we arrive in Durham, there are hailstones lashing down and some of them are rather painful. A quick visit to Subway for breakfast/ dinner (a 12” Subway club for those who are interested) A walk up to the station and a sit down to eat the sandwich and wait for the train that I thought I was catching at 12:30, which I was actually getting at 12:48. (£15 each way for those that were interested in the costs last time!!) Oh well, an extra 20 minutes sat at the station for me then!
10 minutes till departure and I move out onto the platform and wait by the designated area where the carriage I’ll be on will pull in at. Despite numerous announcements telling students with big bags to make their way to the south end of the platform where their bags will be deposited in the guards van of the train, several of them still decide to stand on the platform where they want. I guess Durham University had finished for the Christmas break on the Wednesday and a whole load of students were making their way home for the holidays.
On time, the train pulls in and when the passengers getting off are off and the ignorants among us that insist on pushing their way onto the train before everyone else had decided to get on, then I was on, found my seat and sat down. The ipod went on quickly and the paper was read. Fifteen minutes later and all of the train was loaded, we set off. 3 hours later, after stops at Darlington, Northallerton, York, Doncaster and Peterborough, we arrive at Kings Cross.
The forecasted snow had not arrived as yet, but it was still very cold. I set off along Pentonville Road towards my hotel. It was a lot easier to find the hotel than it actually was to cross the road to it. The A501 gets rather busy during the rush hour and the pedestrian crossings weren’t exactly quick in getting people over the road.
Checking in was simple, found my room on the third floor and unpacked. A quick cup of tea and a sort out of what I was wearing for the night was done, before a quick 30 minute snooze occurred. Diving into the shower after a shave whilst I was in the smallest hotel bathroom in the world was fantastic, great power shower and tremendous heat. Just a shame within 2 minutes the room was full of steam, not surprising really when the room was only 5 feet x 5 feet.
Dressed and ready, I headed off out to the gig. Retracing my steps to Kings Cross and hungry, I had reluctantly settled for McDonalds, but as I approached the station, I noticed a KFC. Not having had one in an age, I decided that was what I was having. Ordered a Fully Loaded meal, as I couldn’t see the burger option on the menu, after I’d got it I eventually saw it and was rather embarrassed with myself, and especially so that the piece of chicken and the sweetcorn side were consigned to the bin, as I didn’t really have time to eat either plus, I can’t stand meat on the bone.
Into the Underground and the Victoria Line, 1 stop to Highbury and Islington. Getting off there, I exited the underground and saw the meet pub- The Famous Cock. Walking in and not immediately seeing anyone, I went to the bar to await being served. A pint of Kronenbourg at £3.40 was reasonable for London I thought and as I looked round, saw VickyP and made my way over to her. She was sat with a full booth of people, so I stood by the bandit talking to her for a few minutes until I turned round and saw Iddsy, Floyd and GarethMSP. Telling Vicky I’d get back to her later, I headed over to talk to the lads.
Only person missing was Steve_1974, who had said he was setting off to get to the pub between 5 and 6, considering it was now 20 past, I think something went wrong there eh!! Typically he turned up as I was waiting at the bar for my next pint and I got them in. Got asked to sign Ginger’s birthday card, which I thought was a great honour.
At 7, we were going to head over to the gig as the tickets had doors at 7 printed on them. Vicky wouldn’t let us go though as she said doors weren’t opening till 7:30, so we hung around till then, when Ean finally let us go. Joining the queue to get into the Garage after seeing and saying hello to Tom Spencer from The Loyalties, we finally got in and found the bar. Getting a dfrink we checked out the merchandise, not a great deal that I would really want, the only thing I did fancy was the celebratory shot glass, but at £10, I felt it was a little overpriced, so I decided against the purchase.
Hitting the stage at a couple of minutes past 8, Ginger introduced us to the first line up, consisting of himself, Rich Jones (Guitar, The Loyalties), Scott Sorry (Bass, The Wildhearts) and Denzil (drums, Antiproduct, God Damn Whores & Ginger solo band) and launched into You Smell Canadian from his mini album Supershit 666.
Over the night, the lineups revolved and songs were played from Ginger’s solo catalogue, set list being:
You Smell Canadian (Supershit 666)When She Comes (Yoni)Message to Geri (Clam Abuse)I Think I Love You (Clam Abuse)Unlucky In Love (Clam Abuse)Mother City (Valor Del Corazon)Rambling Rose by MC5Victoria (Featuring 3 Victorias on stage) by Vix & The KixCrank It Up (Supershit 666)A break of 5 minutes and Ginger returned for a second set, all Wildhearts numbers, consisting of:LoveshitTwo Way Idiot Mirror (a personal favourite of mine J )Sick Of DrugsRed Light, Green LightMindslideS.I.N (In Sin)Beautiful Thing You (another personal favourite)I Wanna Go Where The People Go (featuring Random Jon Poole on drums!!)Give The Girl A GunVanilla RadioSuckerpunchMy Baby Is A Headfuck29 x The PainLove You Till I Don’tAn encore of SilverGinger5 numbers Girls Are Better Than Boys and Sonic Shake ended the night, apparently, there were meant to be 2 more SG5 numbers, but time constraints beat us.
All of the time, I’d been relaying the line ups and set list to Col, back in Aycliffe, who duly placed the posts on the message board for the unlucky peeps unable to attend
All in all, it was just an all round fabulous gig, one I’m so glad to have attended and made the effort to attend.
Full list of guests:Rich Jones, Tom Spencer (The Loyalties)CJ, Ritch Battersby, Scott Sorry (The Wildhearts)Denzil (Antiproduct, God Damn Whores, Ginger solo band)Alex Kane (Antiproduct, Clam Abuse)Givvi (guest singer on Unlucky In Love)Michael Butler (a man of mystery!!!)The Rev, Victoria (Dirty Harry)Angie (Fluffy)Nigel Mogg (The Quireboys)Victoria (Tragedy)Vix (Fuzzbox, Vix & The Kicks)Willie Dowling (Honeycrack, Celebrity Squares, Jackdaw 4)Snell (Towers of London, The Loyalties)Jens (Gigantor)Nathan (Snow Patrol)Random Jon Poole (Cardiacs, SilverGinger5, The Wildhearts, God Damn Whores)Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines, Sisters of Mercy)Olga (Toy Dolls)Chris(tmas) McCormack (3 Colours Red, Grand Theft Audio, Gary Numan band)Conny Bloom (Electric Boys, SilverGinger5, Hanoi Rocks)
Milling round afterwards, I saw VickyP again, and she gave me a great big hug, I think it was down to the sheer excellence of the show we’d just seen, I dunno. Heading to the stage, like Martin does after each gig, I was attempting to secure myself a set list. Tonight’s set list was written in marker pen on an A2 flip chart pad, unfortunately, when I asked guitar tech/ roadie Dunc if there were any left, he couldn’t lay his hands on one. The steward in front of me leaned over and picked up something from the ledge of the crowd barrier, opened his hand to me and showed me it, it was a yellow pick, being as it was to Ginger’s right looking from the stage, there was no way it could have been anyone else’s. I eventually persuaded the steward to relinquish the pick and I thanked him profusely.
Leaving the venue, I caught up with Iddsy and Floyd again and we took a slow walk back to the Cock, Steve1974 was a little while ahead, I thought we’d lost him in the snow, as it was fairly blinding, coming in horizontally with the wind. Walking into the pub, the barmaid looked pretty miserable as she cleared tables away. There was hardly anyone in the bar so I asked if they were still serving, answer, no, so, I turned round and told the lads no more beer.
We had to then wait for GarethMSP who’d gone to the cloakroom to collect his 14 coats. Txting Vicky to tell her the pub was shut and we were making our way back to the digs, we left Steve1974 to get his lift home and away we went. One stop again on the tube and off at Kings Cross.
Looking at the arrival and departure boards and seeing just chaos due to heavy snow in East Anglia , I stood with Gareth until his train was finally called at around quarter past midnight. I headed back to the hotel and got in and immediately put the kettle on, cup of tea to warm me through.
Watching news24 it seemed like the newsreaders were describing Armageddon, not 5 inches of snow in East Anglia. Drank tea, read the newspaper and lay watching tv.
Eventually decided to sleep at about 2am. There was obviously a water pump between my room and the one next door and it made noises all night and I was unable to get to sleep, at one point I spooked myself when I opened my eyes and saw the reflection in the mirror of the bedside lamp attached to the wall above my head thinking it was a head.
It was cold when I woke up, even under the covers, so decided a hot shower would be just trhe ticket to get me warmed up before the trek back to Kings Cross. The water temperature never got much higher than room temperature, so it was mostly a waste of time. Wrapped up and set off to the station, I remembered I needed a Christmas card for the other half and a birthday card for my mother.
The post office at Kings Cross was rather poor, so I left it. Enough said.
Waiting for the train at Kings Cross brought back memories of the previous night, but only slightly less cold. After watching the news earlier and seeing the arrivals/ departure boards at the station, to leave London only 20 minutes late was quite a feat.
The country had been hit in two bands the previous night, once I got north of Peterborough, the snow faded away, but as we approached Yorkshire, it appeared again and got deeper as we got further north. Getting off in Durham, I was confronted with about 7 inches, struggling my way down to the railway station, I caught the 21 back to Chester le Street and then the bus onto the estate. Arriving home at about 10 past 5, I was able to get 2 hours rest in until it was time to go out again and head to the station to collect the other half after her journey down from Edinburgh.
Settling for a night in, we got pizza and beer and watched tv
Onto the train at Durham for the 13:27 to Manchester Airport (£13), we of course, left the train in Leeds at 5 to 3 and wandered through the streets to our Travelodge on Vicar Lane.
Checking in took forever, as a group of 4 Irish lads had trouble telling the receptionist who was who, and their bookings, maybe if they’d concentrated on trying to book in rather than chat up the redhead concerned, then they may have found it easier.
Opening the door to the room, we were met with an L shaped room, with the bed tucked into the tightest part of the L, with only about 9 inches either side to walk up the side of the bed. The other half went to check out the bathroom, flicking the switch and nothing happened. I got her to fill the kettle so we could have a cup of tea and flicked the television on, nothing. Upon trying the lightswitch for the room and the bedside switches and getting no response, she said we’d have to go back down to reception and get moved.
As I was about to leave the room, I saw the panel, saying insert card here, next to the door, upon doing so, the room sprang into life and I had to call the other half back to the room as she was almost halfway down the corridor.
Tea made and relaxing watching the swimming!! I was going online on my mobile to see what was happening with the day’s football as none of the available channels on the room tv were doing any updates.
Half 5 comes around and time to get ready for the gig, shave and shower and dressed, waiting for the other half to get ready, I get a phone call from Col, him, Martin and their respective other halves are in the Templar Hotel and was asking where the hell I was. Saying we were nearly ready, I said I can see the pub from our window and we’d be there asap, we arrived in there not long afterwards.
Sat at the front of the pub, were Col, Wendy, Martin and Lisa, with Andy_b, Mick from Middlesbrough and a couple of other Wildhearts fans. On the other side, underneath the front window was another group wearing Wildhearts merchandise, so it was no Mastermind contest to work out where they were going.
The original plan was to meet in Santiago’s, but the Templar was chosen, as Santiago’s wasn’t open when they got there. A fact confirmed when Vicky_P rang to ask where we were after she had arrived and had seen it was closed.
Trudi and Jason walked through the door next and hello’s were exchanged, then they must have heard something as they didn’t even make the bar, turning round and heading across the road. Vicious rumours were circulating that both support bands had had transport trouble on the way to Leeds and were running late, to the point that they might not even make it.
Upon finishing our second pints, we wandered across the road and joined the queue behind Col & Martin et al for the gig. When it was obvious that they weren’t going to open the doors anytime soon, we decamped to the now open Santiago’s and had another drink.
More listees were spotted and chatted to, Vicky_P and husband James, Liisa and her mate Sarah to name but a couple. Then we saw the queue starting to go down and again, another rush to finish our drinks and get across to the gig. Upon getting in, I could hear guitars and knew that The Loyalties were on stage already, so, putting our earplugs in, we headed up the stairs to the room.
Got right to the front and had a great view of the band as they put on a great set of mostly songs from their ‘So Much For Soho’ album.
In between The Loyalties and Antiproduct, myself and Col were introduced by Pudu (who I’d met and talked to at the birthday gig) to Ilsa and Olerandershelley. Thankfully, the pictures taken not long after that shall remain in the possession of the owner and NOT see the light of day!
Antiproduct were next up and didn’t waste a lot of time, hardly any soundchecking or testing went on and they hit the stage. At one point singer Alex Kane jumped off stage into the crowd, barged me as he went past, splashing my beer into my left eye. To say it stung was a bit of an understatement. Alcohol blindness is not a wonderful thing people!
Recovering sufficiently to see The Wildhearts next up, the look on the other half’s face when they finally came on made it worth the entry price alone. Having loaded the whole back catalogue (that I own at least) onto her ipod once, which she listened to on the way home, she seemed even more impressed to see them live, which is always a good thing.
Ginger had a little complaint about people talking over his talking and during songs, leading him to say, if you wanna be here fine, if you don’t, fuck off and I’ll pay you to fuck off to wherever you came from, foolishly, I shouted, ‘even to Newcastle?’ to which he said ‘oh fuck’, I said it was ok, it was only costing me £20 in first class on the train in the morning, which Ginger couldn’t understand, thinking I’d said something along the lines of ‘23 pictures in a tent (and another couple of words I can’t remember)’ Graciously, I backed down and let him get on with it and the gig continued apace.
As the night wore on, I could feel myself getting more and more exhausted, we’d taken a step or three back after Antiproduct, being as it was I believe, the other half’s first gig, so I didn’t want her caught up in the action at the front. As the gig ended, I told her, I wasn’t bothered what we did, I just wanted to get back to the hotel and sleep. Some merchandise was bought for Christmas presents and 3 copies of Chutzpah jnr were also obtained, goodbyes said and off we went.
The other half studied the menu back at the hotel and there was nothing she fancied, so it was back to the room to finish the tube of Pringle’s we’d got earlier in the day.
Myself, I got into bed, 2 paracetamol and tried to watch Match Of The Day. Only saw about 10 minutes before we were both flat out, so the tv went off, next thing we knew, the alarm was going off at 10 past 6.
What is it with me and my health at gigs in Leeds? That’s 2 seen and twice I’ve been ill.
Leaving the hotel at 20 to 7, a brisk walk back to the station, and awaiting the coach service that was a replacement for the train from Leeds to York, engineering work stopping trains between the two cities that day. Accosted on the way by 3 lads from Huddersfield asking how to get to somewhere, obviously not knowing, they continued on their merry way to wherever they were headed.
The coach finally showed up at 25 past 7 and we were soon on the way.
Arriving at York station at 10 past 8, not knowing York very well at all, we decided the Upper Crust in the station was to be our port of call for breakfast. Large hot sausage baps and hot chocolate later, we were soon on the platform for the 9am train. First class for me to Durham cost £18 and for the other half to Edinburgh was £31. We were both heading back so early so we’d be home for the football, myself, Newcastle vs Middlesbrough and for her, Heart of Midlothian vs Glasgow Celtic.
Back at Durham, there was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground and walking in it was quite difficult, but walk I had to do, down to the bus station. Eventually a 21 arrived and I made my way home. The normal 15 minute walk from the stop outside Chesters to home was increased to nearly 30 minutes, due to having to trudge through even more snow than was at Durham.
Getting in the house at nearly half 11 and still feeling much as I had the previous night, I just didn’t feel capable of going to the match, I’d have missed most of the first half, the way the public transport system was that day, so I decided it just wasn’t worth it. Thankfully, the game was on BBC1 and a fantastic 2-0 victory was recorded.
Meeting my friend Stef in the Garden Farm at 6pm, a quick pint before we left for Newcastle and away we went. The estate roads were severely treacherous and we slid all the way (so it seems) down to where he lives, where we dropped his wife Julie off for her relaxing evening at home.
Making our way into Newcastle, we got parked up no problem and set off on the 5 minute walk to the O2 Academy. Once inside, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the gig was in the main room, I’ve seen the Quireboys for the last 2 years and both times they’ve been in the much smaller Academy 2 room.
Spotting Annie, I went over and had a few minutes with her, I hadn’t seen her since just before the almost ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ incident as she christened it after the Wildhearts gig at the Garage in Glasgow in September. See the previous blog, Edinburgh/ Glasgow section for details if you don’t know what I’m on about.
Schitzo_stu turned up next and with him was long time gig cohort Jeff, various amounts of attempted mickey taking were met with the response that he’d better start being kind or else his copy of Chutzpah jnr was going on ebay. He sharp shut up and the tenner was swapped for the cd.
Wolfsbane hit the stage and were great, videoed I Like It Hot and put it on my Youtube, link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1-0CkrkruU second time I’ve seen them and I just wish now that I’d managed to get hold of their stuff when they first came out, and before their implosion when Blaze foolishly left them to do 2 poor albums with Iron Maiden.
The Quireboys were tremendous as usual, with Spike seemingly relishing the big stage that the main room of the Academy afforded him. I think this band are another one of the great British treasures lost to the majority, supporting The Rolling Stones around 1990 should have given them the kick up they deserved and got them on the road to being a really big band.
The main roads were clear by the time we set off home after the gig and it was just getting onto the estate that was difficult. The snow that had fallen over the previous Thursday night had been compacted and frozen and then the further snowfall on the Saturday night had made everything slippery as an ice rink.
Monday morning met with no change in the weather situation as I made my way down into town to the Black Horse bus stop once again, on my way to Newton Aycliffe. 21 bus to Durham, then the 7 to Aycliffe and that £4 fare again! Got me to Blakes (now renamed DL5 for some strange reason, apparently, still a dive)
Col picked me up on his way round to Tesco so he could get some cash and we returned to his, where he put the kettle on. One bacon and Mushroom sandwich later and Martin & Lisa arrived.
Decamping to the car, we set off, again, getting off their estate and to the A1(M) was the most difficult part. The motorway was clear and trouble free, stopping at Woodall services for refreshment and then continuing on our way. By the time we met the M6 from the M42, it was well into the rush hour and it took us best part of 45 minutes to get from joining the M6 to finding our Travelodge.
Checking in at 5:25, there was supposed to be a meet in the hotel bar for all those going to the gig who were staying there, so we rushed to our rooms, Col, Martin and Lisa just splashing their faces, I went for a shower, but still made it into the bar for 25 to 6. I’d bought a pot noodle to have for tea, but seeing as we were in a rush, I forwent it, that and the fact I forgot to pack a bloody fork so I could eat the damned thing! Greeting Mattie again and sinking a few pints, with no other listees appearing!!, we took the 3 minute walk to the Wulfrun Hall.
Eventually when we got in, we were met by a nicely sized hall, with separate bar area. On stage, we noticed 3 chairs and immediately thought that the Loyalties was going to be acoustic. Adjourning to the bar and seeing Rich Jones at the access, Col went to chat to him, I volunteered Col’s services to Rich as a stand in drummer, but he wouldn’t have any of it.
At the bar we spoke to Alex Kane, apparently, he’d left his digs in London that morning without his stage gear, so he’d had to take himself off into town that day and buy himself an outfit, as it was, he ended up with a Dennis the Menace style striped vest, with shiny black leggings. He must have liked it, as he wore the same outfit at Antiproduct’s Newcastle gig two weeks later. He also told us that The Loyalties was acoustic because their drummer had been unable to get away from home because of the snow. It has to be said that there was no snow in Wolverhampton, and we hadn’t seen any since Wetherby.
The Loyalties set was rather better than expected, Ginger watching from the rear, Tom’s mic stand that wouldn’t stay in the same place, as soon as the roadie tightened it, it loosened and swung round to the audience, then Scott Sorry joining them on stage for a cover of The Kinks’ Father Christmas (Give Us Your Money), Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkifFReeq3Y . Spoke to Jase Edwards after The Loyalties went off, congratulated him on a great show the previous evening, he seemed surprised that I’d been there and had made it down here for the gig tonight.
Also spoke to Finn, artist on the Wildhearts self titled album (the white one!)
Had a comment thrown at me when I was waiting at the bar along the lines of ‘I thought it was a Wildhearts gig tonight, not a comedy show’ as the long bearded 30+ stone bloke with no particular redeeming features pointed to the Newcastle United shirt I was wearing. I just flashed a smile at him, walked away and though, ‘you’ve got the nerve to laugh at me looking like that!!’.
I was making room for the pint I’d just bought and I was met by Nig1012, so when we came out of the toilets, I went and got Col and we got stuck into a good convo about all things music and also discussed the decorum that would be served tonight, as Col was not wanting any more topless pics of Mrs Nig1012 for his collection, and how firedup didn’t want to make the relatively short hop from Nottingham to Wolverhampton for the gig.
A quick hello and 2 minutes with Denzil, drummer with Antiproduct and Lady Ga Ga struck up on the house PA. Being as they had come onto that in Leeds on Saturday, I said to Col and Nig that the band were coming on, and into the room we went.
I got quite close to the front, maybe 5 feet away from the barrier and never managed to stand in the same place till the encore.
Off went the Wildhearts after another great set, no time limitations, so we were treat to the full set that we were supposed to have got in Leeds, milling around, we got to talk to Jase Edwards again, and were surreptitiously pumping him for information as to when he was heading into the studio to record the next Ginger solo album. Credit to Jase, he said something might happen, but he gave nothing away. (announcement was made on the Wildhearts message board at the beginning of Feb that he is actually back in the studio with Ginger)
We all spoke to Denzil this time and Col was keen to ask about what it was like being in the dressing room with Milena, Mandi and Clare, especially when they’re getting changed before or after gigs. I’m 200% certain he was saying it tongue in cheek, but he said he’d seen it all and wasn’t impressed, would rather go for a beer, even when they were ‘lezzing it up’. Can’t say that I’d have gone in search of alcohol given the opportunity!!
Out into the foyer where the bands were manning their merchandise stalls and we got to speak to half of the Loyalties and more of Antiproduct.
After security finally kicked us out of the building, guitar tech Dunc was also seeing someone out, so, in typical style, we went and accosted him, asked him about the rumour that the band were playing a gig in Crewe in March and where else some gigs might happen, Dunc laughed and just said that they wanted to play places they’d never been to before. With Ginger now teaming up with Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks and touring Europe and the US in April/ May time, I think we can probably safely say that this tour would be off now.
Deciding to get ourselves back to the hotel bar, the 5 of us headed off and got to the crossroads opposite. Realising it was 25 past 11, we could still have more drink in a pub if we wanted, so, asking the first pedestrian to pass us where the closest pub was, we were directed to a Yates’ When we found it, we walked in and saw some more fans who had been to the gig and decided to have a few drinks before heading home.
After a good hour of talking to them, the pub was closing, so again, we were on the streets, not before Col had had a 35 minute conversation with a couple sat in the window of the pub, I’d mistakenly thought the bloke of the couple was the sound engineer for Antiproduct and told Col, he just went over, brazen as hell to ask if he was, turns out he wasn’t, but hey ho.
They turned down our offer of a few more beers at the hotel bar as they had no money left, Col being typically brash as well said something along the lines of ‘it’s not your money we want mate’
Leaving the pub, Martin had the genius idea that we should turn right and go through the street that was pointing in a diagonal to the way we’d got to the pub, the long side of the triangle, as it were, surely it’d be quicker to get back to the hotel, quicker it was, but we didn’t bank on it taking another hour and a half, as we rounded one corner and came across the back street of the gig, loading a white transit were some familiar looking figures and as we got closer, yes, Antiproduct….again!!
A quick bout of Bungee Jumping People Die from the 5 of us as we walked down the street had the band in stitches, so much so, that Alex asked us to do it again as he wanted to record it on his phone. By the way, if you’re reading this Alex, did you ever upload it anywhere???
Getting close to the transit, we could see 5 of the band plus merch girl packed tightly into the back, we asked if they were going to travel all the way to London like that and heroes that they are, they did, except when mandy had to get out to spew, which is another story altogether, but footage is available on youtube for those who are into that sort of stuff.
Leaving them to get going, we ventured further down the street, Col demanding a piggy back from me, being the 15 stone weakling that I am, I could hardly keep the fat fucker on my back, I guess the beer consumed over the evening/ night didn’t help, past The Wildhearts tour bus, in the dark seemingly (they always are dark, you never know if someone is on board or not!!) and lo and behold, here are The Loyalties packing up their gear into their transit and trailer. Much crap was spoken by us drunken fools to them. Lead singer/ bass player Tom said he’d love to stay and chat some more but there were still a few things they needed to do inside, so he asked us if we wouldn’t mind looking after their gear while they did this. We readily agreed and stood around for about 10 minutes while we waited.
On returning, Tom said thanks and started to pull something out of his pocket, to our great joy, 4 cans of Kronenbourg, he duly handed them over as our reward for looking after the gear.
More absolute rubbish was spoken/ shouted by us to the band and thankfully they took it all with great humour, I love the fact that although we see them up on that stage, if you bump into them offstage, they always seem so happy to chat, are patient with us etc (no mention needed of the time I spoke to Ginger outside St James’ Park not long after Valor Del Corazon had been released and I made a right tongue tied tit of myself (IMO))
While all this was going on, Col decided to do his Picasso trick and drew a rather large cock and balls in the dirt on the back of the Loyalties gear trailer, Tom added to it by putting some rather large blobs of semen shooting out in all directions.
Four security guards/ bouncers walked past us while this was going on, and one of them said ‘nice shirt’ in a familiar accent to me as he went past. Behind them came strolling down the street CJ and Duncan (no quips about thick, big foreheeded Geordie telly presenters thank you!!) who were returning to the tour bus from a pizza shop. CJ bowed in acknowledgement of my shout to him, shame I hadn’t recognised him earlier and gone up to him, there’s only him and Ritch I haven’t met since I first saw them all those years ago (1993)
By this time, Scott Sorry had joined us and we were joking around about all kinds of rubbish, Scott remembered us from the Sorry & The Sinatras gig in Newcastle 2 months previously, and another reference to Amen, being probably something derogatory about Casey Chaos, we thought we had perfect evidence, being as both Scott and Rich Jones from the Loyalties had been in Amen.
Letting The Loyalties get themselves on the road to London for the next night’s gig, we moved on and headed for the hotel, one of the security guards that had passed us was taking a leak, so we obviously took the opportunity to tell him he’d have been thrown out of our club for doing that (much as they’d have done if we’d done it inside their club) Getting talking to them, one of them was from Winlaton, not far outside Gateshead. When asked what they were doing down here, we got told that Chubby Brown had being doing a gig in the city that night and they were the security on the doors and at the front of the stage. They were staying in the same hotel as us. Sorry if we kept you awake boys, read on…..
Noticing the bar was still open, it was decreed that more beer was to be consumed. Getting a pint ad settling down at the table with Martin, Lisa and Mattie, Col was sniffing again, as per, and getting nowhere with the night staff. I’d decided I was hungry and got up and went to the bar to ask. They reckon us northerners are thick, well, how about this..
Me: Hi Phillipa, are you still serving food tonight? I know it says on the menus that you stop at 10pm, but any chance?
Phillipa: Sorry, we’re not serving food, but we can order you something in if you like, and how do you know my name is Phillipa?
Me: It says so on that id badge pinned to your left tit dear
Anyway, upon hearing this, we had a chat and decided pizza and chips if we could get them. Phillipa went away, ordered us what we asked for and we sat back, watching the Christmas songs on 4music, depressing ourselves or singing inappropriate versions of said songs (glad we were the only ones in the bar!)
After what seemed no time, a pizza delivery bloke turns up and opens his bag, one 14” pepperoni pizza and 2 portions of chips, £12.60, bargain. Only proviso we’d had from the staff for ordering it for us was that we gave them some. So, 6 slices of pizza, 5 of us there, who got the last piece? I neither know, nor care.
3am came around and it was time to put a lid on it all, we all went to bed, I tried really hard to read the paper while I drank my coffee in bed, but I was fighting a losing battle and turned in.
Getting up next morning, showering and packing up, I got a call from Col saying they were ready, so I said I’d see them in the reception in 5 minutes.
Once we’re out of Wolverhampton, the roads get quieter and we’re able to move at a good pace.
The intention was to find a café or stop at a services and have breakfast, but as we moved and got closer to home, it got easier just to pass services after services, eventually ending up stopping at Tibshelf. One expensive cup of tea later and we’re back on the road.
Arriving back at Newton Aycliffe, Martin and Lisa let us out of the car and they’re away home after wishing myself a Merry Christmas etc and into Col’s Fiesta for the journey to Chester le Street.
With about 5 inches of snow on the car and underneath that, ice, it took quite a lot of de- icer to get it clear, even when the snow had been cleared off, Col was saying, it’s not shifting, I replied, it never will if you’re spraying it out there, cos it’s on the flaming inside!!!
After about 20 minutes of clearing, spraying and running the heater with the engine running, we were able to get going. Yet again, once we got onto main roads, the going was good and we were soon back in Chester le Street. Col asked for me to rub some snow on the windscreen to give it some moisture, as his screenwash bottle was either frozen or had been emptied.
Off he went and I trudged home the 5 minutes to an empty house, parents at work, dogs strangely quiet! Stuck the kettle on and had that pot noodle I was unable to have the previous day.
I now know why musicians prefer life on the road, being at home can be incredibly boring!…..
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Thursday 8 October 2009
Two Weeks in the Life Of…
A tale of events following his favourite band on tour
By Steve Passmoor (registered idiot)
Certified mad with more money than sense © members of the Ginger and the Sonic Circus/ Wildhearts message board
Our tale begins on Saturday 19th September, Chutzpah had been released 19 days previously, the author had only had possession for 16 days due to a postal strike in the south. Nottingham was the first stop on the trek…. Read on….
Left home on the beginning of the mammoth trek that was The Wildhearts 2009 Autumn tour. Caught the bus outside the Black Horse pub in Chester le Street, main street very busy full of shoppers in the warm sun.
Using the bus pass I use for work saved me the near £3 fare to Durham, but that was thankfully a shield to the £4 I had to pay to get myself to Newton Aycliffe. All around the houses we went until I finally reached Aycliffe. I was warned not to get off at Chilton, or I’d never be seen again!! Saw a handball in a football game that was going on next to the road on the way that was more blatant that Maradona’s hand of god in Mexico 86, like that famous incident, the referee in this game didn’t give the free kick either.
Col picked me up from outside the late night bar called Blakes, apparently, the only place for miles around that stays open after midnight!!
Back to Col’s while we waited for Martin, Lisa, Ashley, Jason and Karen to turn up, Col’s wife took their kids to the grandparents to be looked after over the weekend and when all had turned up, away we went.
Following Jason & Karen’s VW Beetle wasn’t too hard as there’s a bumble bee on the radio aerial (I think it completes the look Jason, if you’re reading ;) ha-ha)
The A1 was quite busy and the roadworks where the A1M is being lengthened further north from the stretch that already exists around Wetherby kept us down to what seemed like a crawl at 50mph.
Stopping at Woodall services for refreshment brought a smile to my face as I learned that Sunderland had lost to Burnley by 3 goals to 1, now for Newcastle to beat Plymouth (a game I was missing to take in this gig) and the weekend would be sorted.
When Nottingham arrived, we found the direction to the hotel pretty easily, but Nottingham’s one way system is notorious (once on the way to the match in Derby, we took a wrong turn and saw the castle in Nottingham 3 times as we didn’t have a clue where or how to get off the one way system)
As we were heading away from the hotel, it was decided a quick u-ey was required, so both cars turned around in the middle of the city. Finding the car park on St James Street, our car got parked up and proceeded to cross the road and into the hotel. We were eventually joined by the other carload about 15 minutes later, turns out they’d parked up about three planets away and had had to walk back to us.
After checking in, the others went and found the nearest bar, as the hotel bar didn’t open until 5pm. I had decided I needed to shower and change, so joined them in a short while (after a visit to Subway, in which I ended up with a cheese and honey mustard sub, instead of the club sandwich I’d ordered)
Onwards to the board meet in Speakeasy, where, it seemed the whole pub was filled with Wildhearts t-shirts. Old acquaintances were quickly greeted and a game of pool started between Martin & Jason. I slipped my Pound coin on the table to play next while I chatted to VickyP, her husband James, Davejnick & Wilddan1. Jason won the pool so I was playing him, the people who run the pub couldn’t have put the table in a worse position, there was no way to comfortably get down to any shot as there was no more than 2 feet of clearance around the table, and indeed I found there was even less at the baulk end as I went down to break and almost ruptured a kidney on a shelf perched 3 feet off the ground attached to a pillar.
After winning 4 games, I was finally defeated by Martin and as I retired to the players lounge via the bar, I was introduced to Firedup, by the very man himself, who although now lives in Nottingham, grew up in Chester le Street and went to the same comprehensive school as me. Time was spent recalling teachers and their ways, some of it was fuzzy to both of us, as I had left around 2 years before he started.
Whilst this happy chat was happening, firedup introduced me to nig1012 and the talk soon turned to me and my mad tour, how many I was going to, how much it was costing, how many times I’d now seen them (which by the way now stands at Wildhearts 21 times, Ginger solo 6 times, Ginger & The Sonic Circus 1 and Silver Ginger five 1) etc.
All too soon it was time to go to the gig and what immaculate timing we have, a couple of minutes spent at the merchandise stall (where Dunc wasn’t handling the madness of it all too well, with people thrusting notes into his hands for merch that he wasn’t sure of the prices of etc) my Chutzpah football shirt was purchased, along with a sweatband. That timing as I said was immaculate, as we entered the main room, just as Black Spiders were preparing to take the stage. I’m glad we decided to leave the pub when we did, I’d have been gutted to have missed Black Spiders, as they proved to be, throughout the tour, a very welcome addition and a fabulous 40 minutes or so of down and dirty rock, with great riffs and greater vocals from former Groop Dogdrill singer Pete Spiby.
My first visit to Rock City and I have to say, Newcastle could do with a purpose built venue of this size, it fits in perfectly between the O2 Academy and the Bassment at the King’s Hall, at the University.
A feature of this tour was that once Black Spiders had finished, there wasn’t a great deal of, for want of a better word, fucking about, Black Spiders would help the road crew dismantle their equipment and take it out, then Dunc, Hot Steve and tour manager Dave, would get to work getting the Wildhearts gear ready. It was always around 15- 20 minutes after Black Spiders had finished, that The Wildhearts came on.
The house lights go down, and the synthesised chorus of title track Chutzpah blast out, as the band enter the stage, launching straight into The Jackson Whites, then proceeding to go through the aforementioned album track by track in order, a quick break and then onto the ‘classics’ set.
I won’t bore you with minute details of the gig, you’ll more than likely have read about it on the board and other online sites, plus your own view of it (if you were there of course)
It was during the break that I decided a pit stop was in order, as I moved to the back, I passed Col’s wife and she told me that Martin had fallen down the stairs when returning from the bar, to be honest, I’m not sure how several others hadn’t done the same thing, as the steps were painted black and had no reflective or even metal edging to which you could have judged where the actual steps were.
Apparently, security had thought that Martin was merely drunk and lifted him up and escorted him out to the foyer.
At some point they realised he wasn’t drunk, and at the same time, managed to throw up all over his t shirt. A swift visit to the
merch desk followed and a competition winner t shirt was bought.
Chutzpah set was a straight run through of the UK version of the album with a Bon Jovi interlude between You Took The Sunshine From New York and Mazel Tov Cocktail.
The ‘classic’ set consisted of…..
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
Nita Nitro
Sick Of Drugs
Suckerpunch
Caffeine Bomb
My Baby Is A Headfuck
29 x The Pain
With a line from the title song for the kids programme Peppa Pig thrown in towards the end of I Wanna Go.
Regrouping at the back after it was all over, Col just couldn’t stop laughing at hearing about Martin. He and Lisa had left to go to Junktion 7 to see Illuminatis for the umpteenth time. We hung around while they got the main room ready for the club night and we spoke to Ean, Trudi and Jason.
The main room and the room downstairs eventually both started up their club nights and there were a variety of artists being played in both. To these tainted ears, being honest, I didn’t recognise a single track played in either room when we were there apart from one Rage Against The Machine song from their self titled album.
At one point in the downstairs room, the dry ice machine lobbed out that much, I was unable to see more than a foot or so in front of me and it was as if you were enveloped in a cocoon. Spoke to Mattie from the board too in the main room, (as we changed rooms regularly to see what was going on in both) my apologies for my poor conversation man, the combination of deafness, the loud background music and the alcohol meant I wasn’t picking up everything you were saying
It was at this point that the first glass dropping occurrence of the tour happened, somehow Col managed to drop his pint in the middle of the dance floor, a mop swiftly appeared and soaked up the liquid.
Eventually, we decided we’d had enough to drink and food was now required, ending up in McDonalds after midnight is a new experience for me, as well as eating a big mac meal at the same time. We were surprised to see a branch of Greggs that was open at this time too, apparently, the notice on the door said closing time of half midnight, now everyone loves Greggs, but a nuclear hot pasty at that time of night, no ta!!
Next morning found me going to find Bunters café, which I’d googled before we left home, this was the closest café to the hotel (being honest, I wasn’t prepared to pay the £7.50 the Travelodge were charging, just for bacon, sausage and scrambled egg that had been cooked about 2 hours earlier and kept warm in a buffet server.
Rounding the corner onto Upper Parliament Street, I thought I must have passed it, as I ended up opposite the theatre royal. Retracing my way back, I eventually found the said café, but it had been stripped of all fixtures and fittings and looked like it had been closed for a number of months.
Walking around I thought about a café I’d visited when I’d been in Nottingham some 5 years earlier for a stag do, as the streets seemed to be covered in Caffe Nero, Starbucks, Costa, Burger King, McDonalds, anything but an ordinary, common or garden café. I found a street that looked like the one we’d walked through to get to it, got so far down it and then dismissed it as not being the one, I turned around and headed back towards the city centre and came across a Wetherspoons, I decided that was good enough for me. If only I’d kept on for another 20 yards, I’d have seen the side street that said café was on, never mind, I know for my next visit to Nottingham. Half an hour later and a fiver lighter I’m heading back to the hotel.
Midday found us on the road home and we stopped at the new services just north of Wetherby for coffee and refreshment.
Col dropped me off outside the Garden Farm with 20 minutes of the Manchester derby to go, I thought it’d be rude not to call in for a pint and watch the rest of the game (and we all know how that ended!!)
How would I survive the next week before the next gig? I had been on such a high after Saturday night, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it……
Saturday 26th September
Survive I did, but marginally, it was hard getting through the week at work, when you knew what you were going to see at the weekend.
Ten minutes to 2 saw me on the platform at Durham station, ready to get on the train to Leeds, the first of my bargain train trips (£11) 75 minutes later and I’m pulling into Leeds station, past the Travelodge hotel that I’ll be staying in. After booking the hotel, I’d looked on the map to see where the Cockpit is and it just couldn’t have been better, it was right next door to the hotel.
Finding the hotel was a doddle and after checking in and finding my room, the laptop was quickly set up so I could watch the BBC football coverage as they were showing qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on BBC1.
After the results had come in, I’d gone down to the bar to order a pizza to eat in my room and while it was being made, I had a stroll round to the back of the Cockpit, and had a quick chat with Dunc, I requested two way idiot mirror in the second set (didn’t get it though :( )
Back to the hotel and pizza in hand, back up to my room, where the Ipswich vs Newcastle game had just kicked off, victory would put Newcastle top of the league.
The halftime tribute to Sir Bobby Robson was outstanding, being honest I was more stunned that we were 3-0 up, I can only imagine how incensed Roy Keane was, soon be time to get the dog leads out again I think!!
Into the gig after the game and was surprised at how small the Cockpit is, bottle bar at the back, another room of comparable size to the main one right next to it and a third, comfortable bar room after that too. Met up with Col and Martin once again
No security barrier at the front and indeed no security, I wasn’t to think about the consequences until later when up popped a crowd surfer during the Wildhearts set, he had nowhere to be carried, so ended up shunted off to the side till he managed to find a big enough gap in the crowd to slip, or should I say fall into.
Again, the Black Spiders were excellent, and used a great crowd tactic to get people to the front by asking everyone in the room to take 4 steps forward.
Again, not boring you with the main details, but the Wildhearts came on, Martin had managed to get right to the very front, resting an elbow on the stage, I was right behind him, right in front of Scott.
In between The Jackson Whites and Plastic Jebus, I managed to get his attention to ask him what the black eye shadow under his eyes was all about (I still never got an answer) During the set break, I took advantage of the bottle bar at the back to get a beer and some Lucozade, I was sweating profusely and was in need of refreshing.
The second set was taken in from further back as to avoid the ever increasing mosh pit that formed at the front.
By Steve Passmoor (registered idiot)
Certified mad with more money than sense © members of the Ginger and the Sonic Circus/ Wildhearts message board
Our tale begins on Saturday 19th September, Chutzpah had been released 19 days previously, the author had only had possession for 16 days due to a postal strike in the south. Nottingham was the first stop on the trek…. Read on….
Left home on the beginning of the mammoth trek that was The Wildhearts 2009 Autumn tour. Caught the bus outside the Black Horse pub in Chester le Street, main street very busy full of shoppers in the warm sun.
Using the bus pass I use for work saved me the near £3 fare to Durham, but that was thankfully a shield to the £4 I had to pay to get myself to Newton Aycliffe. All around the houses we went until I finally reached Aycliffe. I was warned not to get off at Chilton, or I’d never be seen again!! Saw a handball in a football game that was going on next to the road on the way that was more blatant that Maradona’s hand of god in Mexico 86, like that famous incident, the referee in this game didn’t give the free kick either.
Col picked me up from outside the late night bar called Blakes, apparently, the only place for miles around that stays open after midnight!!
Back to Col’s while we waited for Martin, Lisa, Ashley, Jason and Karen to turn up, Col’s wife took their kids to the grandparents to be looked after over the weekend and when all had turned up, away we went.
Following Jason & Karen’s VW Beetle wasn’t too hard as there’s a bumble bee on the radio aerial (I think it completes the look Jason, if you’re reading ;) ha-ha)
The A1 was quite busy and the roadworks where the A1M is being lengthened further north from the stretch that already exists around Wetherby kept us down to what seemed like a crawl at 50mph.
Stopping at Woodall services for refreshment brought a smile to my face as I learned that Sunderland had lost to Burnley by 3 goals to 1, now for Newcastle to beat Plymouth (a game I was missing to take in this gig) and the weekend would be sorted.
When Nottingham arrived, we found the direction to the hotel pretty easily, but Nottingham’s one way system is notorious (once on the way to the match in Derby, we took a wrong turn and saw the castle in Nottingham 3 times as we didn’t have a clue where or how to get off the one way system)
As we were heading away from the hotel, it was decided a quick u-ey was required, so both cars turned around in the middle of the city. Finding the car park on St James Street, our car got parked up and proceeded to cross the road and into the hotel. We were eventually joined by the other carload about 15 minutes later, turns out they’d parked up about three planets away and had had to walk back to us.
After checking in, the others went and found the nearest bar, as the hotel bar didn’t open until 5pm. I had decided I needed to shower and change, so joined them in a short while (after a visit to Subway, in which I ended up with a cheese and honey mustard sub, instead of the club sandwich I’d ordered)
Onwards to the board meet in Speakeasy, where, it seemed the whole pub was filled with Wildhearts t-shirts. Old acquaintances were quickly greeted and a game of pool started between Martin & Jason. I slipped my Pound coin on the table to play next while I chatted to VickyP, her husband James, Davejnick & Wilddan1. Jason won the pool so I was playing him, the people who run the pub couldn’t have put the table in a worse position, there was no way to comfortably get down to any shot as there was no more than 2 feet of clearance around the table, and indeed I found there was even less at the baulk end as I went down to break and almost ruptured a kidney on a shelf perched 3 feet off the ground attached to a pillar.
After winning 4 games, I was finally defeated by Martin and as I retired to the players lounge via the bar, I was introduced to Firedup, by the very man himself, who although now lives in Nottingham, grew up in Chester le Street and went to the same comprehensive school as me. Time was spent recalling teachers and their ways, some of it was fuzzy to both of us, as I had left around 2 years before he started.
Whilst this happy chat was happening, firedup introduced me to nig1012 and the talk soon turned to me and my mad tour, how many I was going to, how much it was costing, how many times I’d now seen them (which by the way now stands at Wildhearts 21 times, Ginger solo 6 times, Ginger & The Sonic Circus 1 and Silver Ginger five 1) etc.
All too soon it was time to go to the gig and what immaculate timing we have, a couple of minutes spent at the merchandise stall (where Dunc wasn’t handling the madness of it all too well, with people thrusting notes into his hands for merch that he wasn’t sure of the prices of etc) my Chutzpah football shirt was purchased, along with a sweatband. That timing as I said was immaculate, as we entered the main room, just as Black Spiders were preparing to take the stage. I’m glad we decided to leave the pub when we did, I’d have been gutted to have missed Black Spiders, as they proved to be, throughout the tour, a very welcome addition and a fabulous 40 minutes or so of down and dirty rock, with great riffs and greater vocals from former Groop Dogdrill singer Pete Spiby.
My first visit to Rock City and I have to say, Newcastle could do with a purpose built venue of this size, it fits in perfectly between the O2 Academy and the Bassment at the King’s Hall, at the University.
A feature of this tour was that once Black Spiders had finished, there wasn’t a great deal of, for want of a better word, fucking about, Black Spiders would help the road crew dismantle their equipment and take it out, then Dunc, Hot Steve and tour manager Dave, would get to work getting the Wildhearts gear ready. It was always around 15- 20 minutes after Black Spiders had finished, that The Wildhearts came on.
The house lights go down, and the synthesised chorus of title track Chutzpah blast out, as the band enter the stage, launching straight into The Jackson Whites, then proceeding to go through the aforementioned album track by track in order, a quick break and then onto the ‘classics’ set.
I won’t bore you with minute details of the gig, you’ll more than likely have read about it on the board and other online sites, plus your own view of it (if you were there of course)
It was during the break that I decided a pit stop was in order, as I moved to the back, I passed Col’s wife and she told me that Martin had fallen down the stairs when returning from the bar, to be honest, I’m not sure how several others hadn’t done the same thing, as the steps were painted black and had no reflective or even metal edging to which you could have judged where the actual steps were.
Apparently, security had thought that Martin was merely drunk and lifted him up and escorted him out to the foyer.
At some point they realised he wasn’t drunk, and at the same time, managed to throw up all over his t shirt. A swift visit to the
merch desk followed and a competition winner t shirt was bought.Chutzpah set was a straight run through of the UK version of the album with a Bon Jovi interlude between You Took The Sunshine From New York and Mazel Tov Cocktail.
The ‘classic’ set consisted of…..
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
Nita Nitro
Sick Of Drugs
Suckerpunch
Caffeine Bomb
My Baby Is A Headfuck
29 x The Pain
With a line from the title song for the kids programme Peppa Pig thrown in towards the end of I Wanna Go.
Regrouping at the back after it was all over, Col just couldn’t stop laughing at hearing about Martin. He and Lisa had left to go to Junktion 7 to see Illuminatis for the umpteenth time. We hung around while they got the main room ready for the club night and we spoke to Ean, Trudi and Jason.
The main room and the room downstairs eventually both started up their club nights and there were a variety of artists being played in both. To these tainted ears, being honest, I didn’t recognise a single track played in either room when we were there apart from one Rage Against The Machine song from their self titled album.
At one point in the downstairs room, the dry ice machine lobbed out that much, I was unable to see more than a foot or so in front of me and it was as if you were enveloped in a cocoon. Spoke to Mattie from the board too in the main room, (as we changed rooms regularly to see what was going on in both) my apologies for my poor conversation man, the combination of deafness, the loud background music and the alcohol meant I wasn’t picking up everything you were saying
It was at this point that the first glass dropping occurrence of the tour happened, somehow Col managed to drop his pint in the middle of the dance floor, a mop swiftly appeared and soaked up the liquid.
Eventually, we decided we’d had enough to drink and food was now required, ending up in McDonalds after midnight is a new experience for me, as well as eating a big mac meal at the same time. We were surprised to see a branch of Greggs that was open at this time too, apparently, the notice on the door said closing time of half midnight, now everyone loves Greggs, but a nuclear hot pasty at that time of night, no ta!!
Next morning found me going to find Bunters café, which I’d googled before we left home, this was the closest café to the hotel (being honest, I wasn’t prepared to pay the £7.50 the Travelodge were charging, just for bacon, sausage and scrambled egg that had been cooked about 2 hours earlier and kept warm in a buffet server.
Rounding the corner onto Upper Parliament Street, I thought I must have passed it, as I ended up opposite the theatre royal. Retracing my way back, I eventually found the said café, but it had been stripped of all fixtures and fittings and looked like it had been closed for a number of months.
Walking around I thought about a café I’d visited when I’d been in Nottingham some 5 years earlier for a stag do, as the streets seemed to be covered in Caffe Nero, Starbucks, Costa, Burger King, McDonalds, anything but an ordinary, common or garden café. I found a street that looked like the one we’d walked through to get to it, got so far down it and then dismissed it as not being the one, I turned around and headed back towards the city centre and came across a Wetherspoons, I decided that was good enough for me. If only I’d kept on for another 20 yards, I’d have seen the side street that said café was on, never mind, I know for my next visit to Nottingham. Half an hour later and a fiver lighter I’m heading back to the hotel.
Midday found us on the road home and we stopped at the new services just north of Wetherby for coffee and refreshment.
Col dropped me off outside the Garden Farm with 20 minutes of the Manchester derby to go, I thought it’d be rude not to call in for a pint and watch the rest of the game (and we all know how that ended!!)
How would I survive the next week before the next gig? I had been on such a high after Saturday night, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it……
Saturday 26th September
Survive I did, but marginally, it was hard getting through the week at work, when you knew what you were going to see at the weekend.
Ten minutes to 2 saw me on the platform at Durham station, ready to get on the train to Leeds, the first of my bargain train trips (£11) 75 minutes later and I’m pulling into Leeds station, past the Travelodge hotel that I’ll be staying in. After booking the hotel, I’d looked on the map to see where the Cockpit is and it just couldn’t have been better, it was right next door to the hotel.
Finding the hotel was a doddle and after checking in and finding my room, the laptop was quickly set up so I could watch the BBC football coverage as they were showing qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on BBC1.
After the results had come in, I’d gone down to the bar to order a pizza to eat in my room and while it was being made, I had a stroll round to the back of the Cockpit, and had a quick chat with Dunc, I requested two way idiot mirror in the second set (didn’t get it though :( )
Back to the hotel and pizza in hand, back up to my room, where the Ipswich vs Newcastle game had just kicked off, victory would put Newcastle top of the league.
The halftime tribute to Sir Bobby Robson was outstanding, being honest I was more stunned that we were 3-0 up, I can only imagine how incensed Roy Keane was, soon be time to get the dog leads out again I think!!
Into the gig after the game and was surprised at how small the Cockpit is, bottle bar at the back, another room of comparable size to the main one right next to it and a third, comfortable bar room after that too. Met up with Col and Martin once again
No security barrier at the front and indeed no security, I wasn’t to think about the consequences until later when up popped a crowd surfer during the Wildhearts set, he had nowhere to be carried, so ended up shunted off to the side till he managed to find a big enough gap in the crowd to slip, or should I say fall into.
Again, the Black Spiders were excellent, and used a great crowd tactic to get people to the front by asking everyone in the room to take 4 steps forward.
Again, not boring you with the main details, but the Wildhearts came on, Martin had managed to get right to the very front, resting an elbow on the stage, I was right behind him, right in front of Scott.
In between The Jackson Whites and Plastic Jebus, I managed to get his attention to ask him what the black eye shadow under his eyes was all about (I still never got an answer) During the set break, I took advantage of the bottle bar at the back to get a beer and some Lucozade, I was sweating profusely and was in need of refreshing.
The second set was taken in from further back as to avoid the ever increasing mosh pit that formed at the front.
Classic set:
29 x The Pain
Someone That Won’t Let Me Go
Red Light, Green Light
Sick Of Drugs
TV Tan
Suckerpunch
Little Einsteins/ Peppa Pig interlude
My Baby Is A Headfuck
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
Take The High Road/ Peppa Pig segue
Shepherded out of the main room when the gig was over, we managed to have a quick chat with some of the Black Spiders before we were ushered into the lounge room.
This was where things took a turn for the worse, waiting in the queue at the bar, I was overtaken with signs that all was not right in the stomach department, so a trip back to the hotel for 2 reasons, one to dry off and change the t shirt, the other to sort out the stomach. No sooner had I returned to the gig and ordered a pint, told Martin & Col where I’d been, then I was overcome again. I thrust my pint into Col’s hands, made my excuses and left again.
I’m ashamed to admit, I was in bed at quarter past 11 on a night where the drink would flow till 3am, clearly, the Imodium I’d taken before the gig to ensure this wouldn’t happen didn’t work this time.
Sunday morning’s plans had revolved around packing and visiting the Riveresque café around the corner on BridgeEnd, from where I was staying, sadly, with the stomach problem, I just stayed in bed till it was time to pack and check out. I ended up eating a blt baguette from the upper crust in Leeds station, just so that I got something on my stomach.
The 12:08 Cross Country service to Edinburgh was early enough for me to be able to get on board, scramble over the bags and suitcases and another passenger, to get into my seat. The at seat refreshment trolley is as good as you can get for a train, and as a whole they are clean, comfortable trains. All I was lacking was wifi in the carriage so that I could have watched the Grand Prix, but hey ho, you can’t have everything when you pay £20.50 for a three hour trip
One downside was a group of 10 Scotsmen who, as it transpires had got on the wrong train, (they were 8 minutes earlier than they needed be) who’d been down to Newcastle for a stag weekend, at half 1 in the afternoon, they were already steaming and it didn’t help that the three girls at my end of the coach from Scotland that were on the train and had been to Newcastle on a hen night, were playing to the crowd of lads, things got rather irritating, as one turned on a mini ghetto blaster and I had to listen to some dance shit for 20 minutes until the conductor finally made his way into our carriage while checking tickets and told them to turn it off. Even my ipod, at a considerable volume was not drowning out their crappy music either, so the conductor appearing was a godsend.
The consolation I took, was that the men had all to fork out another £50 each for being on the wrong train (they had advance purchase tickets meaning they had to travel on the allotted train they’d been booked on) Expensive weekend eh lads?? ;)
Arriving at Waverley and then waiting for the other half seemed to take an eternity, but she eventually turned up 20 minutes later and we made our way to the hotel, another Travelodge, glad to see I was put in a room on the second floor this time, last December when doing the same thing for the Barrowlands gig, they put me in the lower ground floor facing out into the street, people walking past could see into my room.
A quick shower and brush up and I was ready to go, Annie picked me up outside the hotel, as she had done last year and I said goodbye to the other half, off we went to Glasgow. I wasn’t to know, but we passed the other half’s flat on our way out to the M8, we could have given her a lift, but I wasn’t to know we were going that way.
Arriving in Glasgow within the hour was some achievement, marred only by the news that Sunderland were 4-2 up and cruising.
Walking up Sauchiehall Street I thought I’d seen what was a queue forming outside the Garage, you can’t miss it, it has a big yellow front end of an American style bus sticking out above the entrance, and this at quarter to 6, with doors not opening till half 6.
Thankfully, my fears were allayed by noticing that it was in fact a large queue of teenagers waiting to get into the Classrooms, there must have been some sort of school disco on in there. Seeing the kids done up though, was scary, I’m old enough to have kids that age and to be honest, if I saw they state of the clothes and make up they were going out in, I’d be worried. It was like an updated version of the film Bugsy Malone with the kids playing the characters done up to look 10- 15 years older than they actually are.
A quick visit to a chip shop for a bag of chips and into Nicensleazy’s, first time I’ve been in there and it seemed quite a decent place, I was pointed in the direction of godofhaircare, but never got the chance to introduce myself, due to him being rather busy chatting to a friend. Soon after we were joined by Annie’s brother Kenny and then Keithrichard walked in, with brother in law and two other lads in tow. We had a decent chat as I had done in Nottingham about the tour, my tour, Chutzpah and Black Spiders, when, as if by magic and with great timing, Black Spiders walked through the door. I asked Pete if it was ok to be here as they were due on stage soon, and he said it was, so I thought, fair enough.
Having been told that doors would be opening at 6:30, we made our move over the road to the queue for the gig, they finally opened at 7, and in that time, we took in more scantily clad and heavily made up teenage girls and even one lad of ohhh at least 13 walking down the street with a girl on each arm, now I wonder what he could get up to, to be able to command not one girl, but two. FFS, when I was that age, I couldn’t even attract one!!! We also spotted Hot Steve heading into the Co-op over the road, presumably for last minute stuff for the rider, or perhaps the aftershow piss up/ party.
Into the venue and I decided I was going to get a smileybones tour t shirt and a bottle opener. Keithrichard and brother in law meanwhile decided to just about clear out the merch stall, 2 smileybones shirts, a competition shirt, a football shirt, 2 mugs, 2 bottle openers, £102 all in, good work boys!!
Up the stairs to the room and presently surprised to see a quite tidy and somewhat expansive room, probably the size of both main rooms at the Cockpit with a balcony down one side. Annie and her brother had gone up there as soon as they got in, to make sure they hit the front of the balcony. She waved at me when I came into the room and I shrugged my shoulders as to how to get up to the balcony. Looking round I couldn’t see any stairs and ended up going back down to the bloody merch stall to see if there was a way round there, as beyond that, there was another bar.
After drawing a blank, I wandered back up to the room and as if by magic, saw the stairs, to the right of me, what a fool, just as Annie was at the top of them, I’d made the bottom, she’d come to get me, ahh, how nice of her haha.
Once again, the gig was tremendous, a gang of about 6 or 7 ended up deliberately crowd surfing during the classics set, one girl launching herself over the first 4 rows of the crowd with gusto, only to be met by bare wooden floor between stage and security barrier, security were too busy attending to another rather portly lad who’d decided to thrash about like an upside down tortoise on top of the crowd and it was taking all their efforts to grab hold of him.
From my vantage point Ginger didn’t look at all like he has since stated in the tour blog, I just couldn’t make out more than the features of his face, but viewing a video Annie put up on youtube, well, you can clearly tell.
Classic setlist:
Nita Nitro
29 x The Pain
Take The High Road
Someone That Won’t Let Me Go
Peppa Pig
Red Light, Green Light
Sick Of Drugs
Suckerpunch
Little Einsteins
My Baby Is A Headfuck
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
On the way out after the gig I was asked by a group of fans to take a photo of them, which I happily obliged, having taken said photo, one of the group said he recognised me and introduced himself, none other than our soon to be ex-pat Velvetpresley. Again, another chat about the tour and what I’d thought of the show etc, he was surprised to hear that I already knew he was emigrating to Canada.
Thought the end of the Glasgow gig would be the best one to invest in the mug, as I was going to be going back to the hotel in a car, would have been able to wrap it up in clothes for the journey back home so it wouldn’t get smashed etc, unlike one unnamed punter from the board who smashed his before he got it home!!
In the end, I didn’t bother, the queue was rather large, I’d say if the band haven’t made money off the back of merch sales from this tour, then there’s something highly wrong.
Liquid was required for the journey back to Edinburgh, so a bottle of water was purchased at a newsagent at the end of Sauchiehall Street, I decided to go for a toffee crisp too, now the Asian shopkeeper didn’t see what I’d picked up, but had the change from the £1.50 I gave him within a second of me handing over the cash, how did he know a, what I was buying and it’s price so quickly and b, how much I was going to give him?
The AC/DC soundtrack was added to on the way home by the exhaust of Annie’s car giving a bit of a bass boost, it didn’t seem that bad to our ears, then again, we’d just been assaulted by a gig pa for the last 3 hours so how would we know?
20 past 11 and I’m back in Edinburgh outside the hotel, as I ring the other half to tell her I’m back and to get herself over to the hotel, I get propositioned by a rather large lady sitting in a second floor window opposite the hotel, god only knows what she was saying after she’d asked me if I fancied a good time, and to be honest, god only knows what I’d have done with her, probably would have burnt my arse on the lightbulb lying on top of her!!
Anyway, no answer from the phone call and thought it rather strange, I get into the room, to find her already there and relaxed with a cup of tea.
Monday morning saw us head up Nicholson Street to the City Restaurant for breakfast, again, no Travelodge breakfast for me!! £5.90 and a large breakfast later, it was time to go, I had been contemplating getting my nose pierced, the other half suggested she take me to the place she gets her piercings done, I was all for it until it came down to it, yes, I’m afraid I bottled it, never mind, I’m sure I’ll get it done eventually.
Back on the train again at 1pm and back to Newcastle (£7.60 for those still interested in cost!!), leaving the other half behind to her life as a Scottish woman/ mother/ worker. On the bus from Newcastle to home and just long enough there for a cup of tea, some toast, unpack my bag and a shower, back on the bus at 10 to 5, arriving in Newcastle at 20 to 6.
Walking round to Rafferty’s as I turn onto Pink Lane, I bump into wez_wildheart, who is desperately looking for a cashpoint, not having any idea where there is one, I suggested he go with what he’d been told that there was one in central Station.
In Rafferty’s already was Schitzo_stu, so more catching up was done, I hadn’t seen him since Ginger’s gig at the Academy in May.
Next to arrive, Jeff, Stu’s long term gig companion and lift giver. Then steve_1974 introduced himself and the whole subject of the tour and the album and past experiences with and involving the Wildhearts arose again.
Macca_666 was next to arrive and we got Wez well on the way to alcoholism by getting him to try one of Macca’s Bruce Banner’s (for those not in the know, a bottle of blue wkd in a pint glass with a half of Stella then added, it turns green, hence the name) topped with double Jagermeister and Red Bull, then Jager Destroyer (double Jagemeister, double vodka and a bottle of blue wkd or Smirnoff ice) later reports have confirmed that Wez did indeed throw up out the back of the academy whilst waiting for the band to come out of the stage door!
Col, Martin and Lisa turned up and as I’d found out steve_1974 was an Aycliffe lad, I got him and Col together talking, apparently Steve used to go to school with Col’s sister (he recognised her when we all got into the gig)
Then came glass dropping incident number two, moving my pint from holding it below waist level to take a drink, the edge caught my belt buckle and before I realised, it had slipped through my fingers and crashed to the floor, showering Col’s leg. Rafferty’s policy is ‘sweep your breakages up’ so before I knew it, I’d been handed a dustpan and brush by one of the bar staff.
As the pub is quite dimly lit, I could hardly see what I was doing, so most of the crowd happily helped out with their lights from the cameras on their mobile phones (I later found out that some had surreptitiously taken pictures too!!)
So, onto the gig, and as some of you on the message board will have read, I wasn’t overly appreciative of the crowd, probably because of the size of the auditorium compared to the number of tickets sold. The band were tight as ever, really great in fact.
Talk about buying out the merch stall though, if you thought Keithrichard was bad, you had to be there to believe wez_wildheart, he seemed to disappear every few minutes and sources going to the toilet and once myself when I went, confirmed that on each occasion, he was stood at the merch stall, drooling. I dunno what JSA pays in Northern Ireland, but I’d like to be on it for what he was able to purchase.
Later questions confirm that 2 t shirts and a football shirt were bought, that’s what you could see, there could have been bottle openers, mugs and all kinds stuffed into his pockets. How he was under the weight limit boarding sleazyjet the next morning back to Belfast I’ll never know!!
Came out from the toilet and Denzil, drummer in Ginger's solo band was standing there, I asked him if he'd fallen off any scooters lately, he said he hadn't because he didn't have one any more and he also said no when asked if Ginger would buy him a new one.
Classic set list:
Geordie In Wonderland
Nita Nitro
I Wanna Go Where The People Go
Little Einsteins
My baby Is A Headfuck
Suckerpunch
Sick Of Drugs
Someone That Won’t Let Me Go
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
Red Light, Green Light
Vanilla Radio
29 x The Pain
Liisa came to the front at the end to see us and she looked like she’d been having the kind of gig I had in Leeds, looking red faced and rather sweaty.
Last normal bus out of Newcastle at 10 past 11 got me back to Chester le Street just before midnight, feeling ravenous I decided to go to the Golden Chippy, which is always open till 3am Thursday to Sunday when the two clubs across the road close, unfortunately, this was not to be on a Monday, I got about 100 yards from it and thought it was dark, that’s when I realised the shutters were down, so I had to go round the corner to the Esso garage.
As I stumbled up the bank to home, I was thinking about a day of rest the next day, 3 gigs in 3 nights and travelling in between certainly does take it out of you.
Wednesday 30th September found me at Chester le Street station again for the trip to Manchester (£17.50) An hour later I’m in York and waiting on the platform for the connection to Manchester. A pleasant surprise at the DMU that turns up, clean, comfortable and quite a smooth ride.
We’re soon climbing to cross the Pennines, the arrival into Huddersfield is rather eye catching as the old Yorkshire architecture blends really well with the new, the Galpharm Stadium sits prominently on view as one of the largest structures in the town.
One noticeable thing happened as I traversed the Pennines, I left lovely sunshine at home and even in York, but as we went west, it got greyer and greyer. Culminating in seeing rain as we passed through Gorton station.
Past the Commonwealth Games stadium, now more commonly know as the City of Manchester Stadium, home to Manchester City these days and into Manchester Piccadilly.
Stepping out in Manchester, I see a massive billboard for Subway saying ‘Newcastle fan, we’ve got a sub for that’ I thought, cheeky bastards, and welcome to Manchester. Just goes to show that the mancs are still obsessed with NUFC and Keegan and Shearer, just face facts eh, Shearer turned you down- TWICE and did it affect you?, well I’d say from the number of trophies you won, no.
Anyway, strolling through the fine drizzle towards my Travelodge, the first time I’ve been to Manchester, apart from to go to Old Trafford, I was impressed by the size of the tower blocks, 20 and 30 storeys high, certainly the biggest I’ve seen outside London.
Finding the hotel after about 20 minutes, having passed through the floor level of the Arndale Centre, which fits in remarkably well with the rest of the city, despite only having been rebuilt only around 10 years ago after the IRA bombed it in 1996. On opening the door to the room on the lower ground floor, I was met with this cavern of a room, a family room, you could have fitted the frankly tiny room I had in Edinburgh 2 and a half times into this one.
Kids television, Countdown or Deal or no Deal were all that was available on the tv, no channel 5 and no freeview channels that you usually get in Travelodge rooms, so I opted to use my laptop to see what had been posted on the board about tonight’s gig and further comments on the ones already played. Again, something really frustrating, as the connection would keep terminating.
Showered and ready and out at 10 past 6 (it was still raining) I set off on the walk to the Club Academy. Google maps had directed me back along to Piccadilly, go past it and turn right, continue walking till you come to Oxford Road station then turn left onto, wait for it, yes, you guessed, Oxford Road. Past the BBC studios and on and on and on up Oxford Road, when I finally came to the University, I thought, great, shelter. But it was not to be. Having arranged to meet VickyP for pre gig drinks I got myself muddled when I thought I was on the campus, but wasn’t. A quick call to Vicky confirmed I had to continue walking and would soon see the queue.
Looking at the queue, I thought wow, they’ve sold loads of tickets for this gig, it wasn’t till I’d seen the touts on the street selling fake tour t- shirts for a band called All Time Low, that I realised that there was more than one gig going on here tonight.
Joining another queue, I asked the bloke in front if this was the Wildhearts queue, he said no idea, as he was queuing for some other band, so it transpires that there were 3 gigs on there tonight.
I’d arrived in the queue at 10 to 7, after eventually going up to the front of the queue and asking security if I was in the right line, I asked if they were going to let us in as it was bloody chilly and damp, he said soon. After thinking doors were at 7, bloke next to me in the queue said, ’10 minutes to go’ so, with a puzzled look on my face I got my ticket out and was immediately depressed as it said 7:30.
When we were finally let in, finding my way down to the room, I’d decided to catch No Americana properly, after only seeing fleeting glances of them at the previous 4 gigs. Being honest, they were talented, but not to my taste. Another downside was that I had no signal to my phone in the room, meaning I’d have no wap signal, so no chance to keep up with Newcastle’s game against QPR (another home match I’d missed to see this gig) Upon popping up into the bar of the student Union to check the score at around halftime, Vicky was in the first set of seats along with Ean and Sam. Next to them was Chris Catalyst from Eureka Machines, Sisters of Mercy and Robochrist fame, who I’d just been talking to minutes earlier at the merch stand. I’d caved in and bought the competition t shirt to keep the wet one I was wearing from making me colder than I already was.
On the tv’s around the room was the Manchester United Champions League game against Wolfsburg (the German football club affiliated to Volkswagen), I was wondering if former Newcastle United number 9 Obafemi Martins was playing and hoping that if he was, he’d knock a couple in against the horrible glory hunters (I was to find out next day from the newspaper that he was in fact an 84th minute substitute L)
Half 8 came around and I was just about to say to Ean and Vicky that it was time for Black Spiders, when they decided the same thing, so down we headed, they were onto their second song when we got into the room (Stay Down), we managed to make it to near enough the front when Pete gave the usual, middle fingers in the air and ‘fuck you black spiders’ prompt to us.
All of the Wildhearts at some point stood in the monitor booth to the side of the stage at some point in the Spiders’ set.
Again, great set from the Black Spiders, they just never disappoint!, lost Vicky after she went to the bar after they’d gone off, cheers for the can of red stripe, I guess I owe you a pint, let’s say, December 17th, Highbury Garage for it? ;)
Wildhearts again, on top form, playing great, the day off on Tuesday had really refreshed them. Was one person from the barrier at the front, right in front of Ginger for the Chutzpah set. He was relating to us how the advent of the lcd lighting that had been installed in the venue didn’t give off heat and he could feel a draught coming from somewhere, I wish I’d have felt it! I was sweltering out front and sweating again, like I had done in Leeds. Although this time Ginger asked for the crew to hand out bottles of water to the front few rows
Break time came and a visit to the loo brought a mobile signal and a welcome txt from Col saying Newcastle had drawn 1-1 and Man Utd had won.
Standing further back for the classic set, as usual now, I somehow managed to end up behind this 7ft bloody giant, I’m glad he didn’t hang around long, cos It would have been a poor view. Highlight of the set being Ginger tuning his guitar whilst CJ was ‘bonding with the white men’ as Ginger called it, which started a chant of ‘CJ loves white Manchester, Manchester loves black CJ’
Classic set list:
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
29 x The Pain
Red Light, Green Light
Sick Of Drugs
Suckerpunch
Duelling Banjos
The Munsters
TV Tan
Peppa Pig
Little Einsteins
My baby Is A Headfuck
Caffeine Bomb
I Wanna Go Where The People Go (Oasis segue)
Hanging around the gig afterwards, waiting with Vicky while she waited for her lift back to Leeds I caught sight of CJ coming off the tour bus and over to talk to some fans, while the Black Spiders loaded their gear into the transit van they were using for it. Saying our goodbyes and going our separate ways, Vicky back inside to wait till her lift was leaving, Ean back to his car for his drive home and me to the bus stop (great to have buses still running every few minutes or so till midnight, certainly puts Newcastle & Durham to shame)
80p fare later and I’m on the bus back to Piccadilly. As I walked through the Arndale Centre again, a gang of men were standing outside the late night Tesco’s singing and being boisterous, being on my own I was extra wary, just in case, but as I got closer, I could detect words of German in their conversation. I then realised they were Wolfsburg fans who’d obviously been over for the match and had time on their hands.
Arriving at the hotel and hungry, I ordered a pizza from the bar and had a nice freezing cold pint while I waited. The pizza duly arrived and I headed back to my room and the interminably boring tv. Whilst eating the pizza I managed to stay online long enough to be able to put the photos I’d taken that night onto the computer and then facebook and also the video I’d taken onto youtube. Nothing on the 4 channels that I wanted to watch, so as a plan to send me to sleep, I left BBC1 on, which had news 24. It was bloody ages before I was tired enough to put it off and go to sleep.
Thursday morning’s plan was to visit the Dalton Café for breakfast, as it took me so long to get off to sleep, I just stayed in bed. At 11, I got up and packed, quick shower then off to Piccadilly.
Onto the Virgin Trains 13:15 to London Euston (£8) and unfortunately my reserved seat was at the end of the carriage where there was no window, so I occupied myself with the newspaper and dozing whilst listening to the ipod (Belfast Confetti by Ricky Warwick and Backyard Babies self entitled album took up the journey).
20 past 3 and I’m in London (other wise known by all who know, as Shitsville) I’d previously topped up my Oyster card online and the nearest Hammersmith & City line station to Euston is Euston Square, so that’s where I headed to have the credit added to my card. It was good to see the flashing green light to signify the credit had been added as I touched in.
Aldgate East was my destination and the hotel in Chamber Street was my digs for the night, yet another Travelodge. Turning left onto Mansell Street, so far down I spotted the Travelodge sign, puzzled, I continued and found the entrance, this wasn’t Chamber Street, so how come there was a hotel here? Getting into reception, I realised why, it was Tower Bridge. Figuring I’d have to go down what looked like the back alley that was signposted Chamber Street, I did so, and upon rounding the corner the street widened and I saw at the end another Travelodge sign. Two Travelodge hotels within 500 yards, that only happens on the motorway, doesn’t it?
Checked in and made my way up to my room on the third floor, upon entering I was met with a scene of chaos, no pillows, no sheet on the bed, no cover on the duvet, deskfan in the middle of the room pointed at the bed, iron burns in the carpet, sugar spilt all over the bench top. Making my way back down to reception to complain, I explained and was given a room on the first floor.
When I got up there, it was the same room as before, but obviously on a different level. All seemed well, putting my things down I could hear trains, looking out of the window was like the scene in the Blues Brothers when Elwood takes his brother back to his bedsit after his release from jail whereupon Jake asks ‘how often does a train go by’ with Elwood answering ‘so often you’ll not notice’ it was that busy.
Putting toiletries into the bathroom, the light didn’t come on, I just assumed that the bulb was gone and paid it no attention. Lifting the toilet seat caused hilarity too, as only one of the brackets holding the seat on was attached to the porcelain. Have any of you taken a shower in a room with no windows and the only light coming through the bathroom door from the window over 12 feet away and at a 90° angle to the door? I’ll tell you if you haven’t, it’s bloody difficult
10 to 6 and time to set off for Shepherd’s Bush, planned to go to Subway on Aldgate Road before getting the tube. Seeing the queue at Subway I decided against it and just went straight onto the tube. Aldgate is on the Metropolitan and Circle lines, so I knew I’d have to change at some point in my journey, Baker Street being the last for the Metropolitan and Edgeware Road for the Circle) if I’d decided to do what I actually did, I’d have just gone to Aldgate East which is on the Hammersmith & City line and I wouldn’t have had to change at all.
Needless to say, at 6 o clock when the first westbound train pulls in, it’s still packed with commuters and getting a seat is an impossibility. At Kings Cross the carriage empties virtually and gives me an opportunity to sit down, almost immediately though, the carriage is full again, and seeing a lady stood in front of me, I decide to do the gentlemanly thing and offer her the seat, she looks at me as if I’ve just pulled a gun on her, now I understand the reaction is because the old adage about nobody speaks to anybody on the tube is true. To add to that, nobody speaks on the streets either, going into shops and pubs etc and saying please and thank you after asking for and receiving anything is like having 2 heads, they look at you so strangely. Needless to say, the lady in question eventually refused the seat, after she’d realised I wasn’t going to harm her.
Changing at Baker Street, I had to wait 10 minutes or so for the next H&C line train. I eventually arrived without further mishap at Shepherds Bush at 20 to 7, walked into O’Neills next to the Empire and saw Trudi, Jason and Sarc. After getting a pint turning around, I spotted steve_1974 and he introduced me to some more board members, Chris Davies and if I remember rightly garethMSP, Iddsy and Floyd. Then Ean showed up, slowed by roadworks all through the city, but he did make it after all.
Chris McCormack popped in to find a couple of people at one point, we didn’t speak.
Almost time for the gig, but I still haven’t eaten and I’m starving, the others having left so there was just me and steve_1974 left we decided it was time to go too, Steve to go straight into the gig, me to find food. I found KFC on Uxbridge road, about halfway down the common (as I’ve found out it’s called via a map) and had a very enjoyable tower burger meal.
So into the gig and straight to the toilet, now here’s another social dilemma for you to ponder, why, the bigger the venue (below arena size buildings) the smaller the facilities? I couldn’t believe it, 20 past 8 and there’s already a queue. Initial fears about the price of the merchandise going up for the London show were confirmed, where the football shirt had 14% added to it’s price to make it £40, t- shirts went up 20% to £18
Straight to the front again for Black Spiders and yet again they don’t disappoint, a lot more movement from the band as they have a bigger stage than they’ve had all tour I think.
Being the last night, I wanted to catch the whole show properly rather than see chunks of it because of being moved around with the crowd all the time, I moved back right to the back in fact, I was able to talk to Sarc there and Ean when he showed his face.
The band came on and I made my way as far forward as I could, as it happened, I ended nearly at the back of the floor, there were that many crammed into that space.
A bloke pushed past me at the beginning of the classic set and stood right in front of me, he’d brought a holdall in with him, great black thing it was, about 8 inches wide and 18 inches long, he plonked it down between his legs and stood there, every time somebody went past, they tripped over the bag. I don’t blame any of them for it, as a black bag, on the floor in a crowd of people is the last thing you’d be looking for at a gig.
Little Einsteins made an appearance in the middle of Chutzpah
Classic Set List:
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
29 x The Pain
Little Einsteins
Red Light, Green Light
Sick Of Drugs
Suckerpunch
Little Einsteins
My baby Is A Headfuck
Geordie In Wonderland
Just In Lust
Caffeine Bomb
I Wanna Go Where The People Go (Chariots of Fire segue)
Band left the stage and I said to myself, ‘that’s it, now just to get home’ When the crowd eventually let me get through the exit doors (1 exit for the whole of the ground floor, what’s going on there??? No fire exit doors were opened for anyone) I reconvened with the board members in O’Neill’s as prearranged before the gig, steve_1974 was already there and got the pints in, being of a somewhat thirsty nature, my pint was quickly gone and I got the round in. We all talked about how good the band had been and how good the birthday gig should be if we find out where it’s going to be at and who’ll be on the bill (subsequently announced as the Highbury Garage on December 17th, no support acts or who will be in Ginger’s band announced as yet)
Having to go home, steve_1974 said his goodbyes and made his way to the tube, as did the others, within 5 minutes there was just Chris Davies and myself left from the little group, we stood around chatting about all things music and how we think the likes of simon cowell has screwed the music industry in this country and how it’s him and the big record companies who tell the gullible what they should be listening to and liking instead of letting them make their own choices and decisions.
Midnight came around and I decided I should make tracks, outside the Empire Tom Spencer (The Loyalties and formerly The Yo-Yos) was handing out flyers, I stopped and said hello to him and he asked me what the hell I was doing down here, so obviously I’d said I was at the gig and that I’d been to a few others around the country, to which he said I was a nutter and gave me a kiss and hug!!!
Rounding the corner to get to the market station, I saw a train go over the bridge ahead of me and though that it wasa bad timing, never mind I thought, there’ll be another in 5 minutes or so. Getting to the station and looking at the departure times confirmed that the last train to stop here that went to certain places was midnight, but ones for another destination continued till 12:31am, and ran every 8-9 minutes. I thought that was great and I’d not have to wait long. I was wrong, I ended up getting the last train and even then, it only went as far as Edgeware Road. The driver, over the intercom did tell us that we would be able to catch another train at Edgeware Road to King’s Cross, but when we stopped at Paddington for nearly 10 minutes, I thought we’d miss that one.
Thankfully the train was waiting on the next platform at Edgeware Road and I was able to catch that as far as Kings Cross where the remaining passengers were shepherded out of the underground system and onto the streets.
After asking where the best place to get a taxi from and being told opposite McDonalds o the corner, I made my way there, past assorted drunks and vagrants. Asking one driver who stopped to pick up, he said the best place to get one going in the direction I was going was round the corner.
So, heading down Pentonville Road, I was looking for taxi ranks, admittedly, I’m still looking now!! So I decided to return to where I had been waiting, 2 minutes later a cab pulls up and the fare paid by it’s occupants, the driver winds his window down and asks where I’m off to. When I tell him where, he agrees and lets me in the cab.
The usual taxi drivers banter happened for the next 15 minutes or so as we traversed the streets of the capital.
The fare came to £15.50, but for getting me back quickly I just asked for a pound back from the £20 note I gave him, walked into the hotel, pushed the button for the lift and got in, I was just about to press the floor button, when, after getting my wallet out for the room key, I was surprised to see it not there.
Returning to the front desk and ringing the bell, I had to wait around 10 minutes till the night porter returned to the desk, told him my details etc and was given a new key, champion. Up to the room, door opens, flicked the lights, nothing, so it wasn’t just the bathroom light that was out, it was the whole room. Being as it was pitch black, I couldn’t see a thing, I had to rely on the light from my mobile getting me to the bed where the remote control for the tv was. Getting the tv on, I was then able to start to adjust my eyes to the room and see what I was doing. For a bit more light, I turned my laptop on too, the two of them together were throwing out enough light to enable me to empty my pockets and get ready for bed.
Again, nothing on tv of note, so after checking if anyone had posted anything about tonight’s gig, I settled down to watch news 24. Last time I took any notice of the clock on the tv it was after half 2, so when I was eventually ready, I turned it off and went to sleep.
Friday morning’s plan was a trip to Oxford Street to have a walk round the shops and maybe get some presents to take home. That went out the window with again the late night and sleeping longer, although I didn’t sleep that much longer after the trains had started up again.
Checking out at 10 to 12 I made my way to Aldgate East underground, spotting the gherkin building on the skyline, I took a photo of it, I wasn’t really that far from it, if I’d know I was so close, I’d have left earlier and gone right to it for a look.
Arriving at Kings Cross not long after half 12, a bottle of Irn Bru and a paper were bought in WHSmith and eventually at quarter to 1, we were informed of the platform our northbound train was at. The train was at platform 6 (not 9 3/4 Harry Potter fans, sorry) Boarding swiftly done, I sat down to read the paper. Two and a half hours later, after stops at Peterborough, Doncaster and York, I was off the train and waiting my connection that would stop at Chester le Street. 10 minutes later, that train pulls in and I’m on the penultimate leg of the journey. Twenty minutes after that and I’m back in Chester le Street with only the 15-20 minute walk home left to do.
Shattered, I get in the house and put the kettle on while I unpack. Sitting down, cup of tea by the side, opening the post that had arrived brought a pleasant surprise, MBNA had reopened my claim for a refund of the payment protection insurance I believe I’d been falsely sold when I applied for one of their credit cards. I’d initially been told that I’d agreed to having this insurance and that my claim had been rejected. I was now being told that I was in fact correct and that the insurance payments were being refunded, along with accumulated interest, PLUS a goodwill payment of £150, all in all, they gave me back £472. The cost of my six gigs (without spending money) came to £409, RESULT!!
According to online resources, I travelled 769 miles on trains at a cost of £88.40, which works out at 8.69 miles per pound or 11pence per mile, at an average speed of 59.15mph.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though I was completely drained by the end, spent £50 in Nottingham just on food and drink for myself and probably made myself look daft at all the gigs writing down the setlist, but hey, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I met some great people, yes, even you Col, even though I already know you well mate!! saw some fabulous sights and saw 6 great gigs.
Thanks to all who helped me out, accompanied me at the gigs, before and afterwards too, it’d probably have been a bit boring doing this all on my own.
So when and where will The Wildhearts be touring the UK next year Ginger?
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