View from the Getty Museum
Friday, March 25, 2005
Our Californian trip - 5th - 12th February 2005
More details to follow - but for the time being here are some photos
Monday, March 21, 2005
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Mike Randle's solo gig, Fibbers, York, 18th March 2005
Hooray - they're back in the UK!!
Lizzy and I both have offspring who are students in York, and today fortuitously happens to be the last day of term for both of them - so we can combine clearing out student room trips with going to see Mike's gig as support for Chris Helmes at Fibbers. Neither offspring is coming to the gig however, but then they have their own mates to go out with.
I arrive in York mid-afternoon and spend some quality time with Jim, wandering round ancient York. Lizzy arrives at about 6pm and we meet up at our hotel, the Ramada Encore where we stayed last time. Hotel reception is full of ladies on a hen weekend with pink furry things sticking out of their heads.
We do a bit of catching up and then head into downtown York, first to a pub called the Last Drop (we had a drink in one of them in Edinburgh) which has a definite hanging theme, and sells great beer and cider, Lizzy's favoured tipple. Then on to Fibbers - and as soon as we get in the door, there's Mike and Rusty with their respective ladies, Hannah and Lucy. Its great to see them, and they're pleased to see us. Hannah is actually manning a table near the door selling Mike's CDs. with some success. Ringo and his wife are also there, as well as a number of the crew we met on the previous visit to Fibbers. Also Chris Jones arrives, the guy who took the brilliant pictures currently being used to publicise the new tour.
Mike is on at about 8.45 - he's very relaxed on stage, and a lot less hesitant then he was when we saw him in London last year. He does a brilliant version of Madonna's "Borderline", which is one of my favourite songs, and also an acoustic "Aloneagainor" , alternating between Arthur's and his own vocal lines, which shows off his amazing guitar skills. He's not on for long but then he is the support act.
Chris Helmes of the Yards comes on at about 9.30pm - now a number of folks will have seen Chris when the Yards toured as support to Love, but this guy is just amazing. He has a brilliant voice and I don't know why he's not a big star - I talk to Ringo later, who manages him, and he reckons its because he's not fashionable/new (he was a member of the Seahorses that were a fairly successful band some years ago).
The venue has a club night from 10.30 so Chris is off stage by then. A few drinks and chats with Mike and Rusty and Chris Jones, then we head down the road with Mike and Hannah, who are staying with Ringo. They stop at the nearest kebab van for a death-doner - I taste a bit and it is not nice at all. Lizzy and I decide to go to the decent kebab house on Micklegate near our hotel instead for fresh cooked kebabs, which we take back to our room and consume with a bit of a night cap.
Next stop Sheffield a week on Sunday!
Lizzy and I both have offspring who are students in York, and today fortuitously happens to be the last day of term for both of them - so we can combine clearing out student room trips with going to see Mike's gig as support for Chris Helmes at Fibbers. Neither offspring is coming to the gig however, but then they have their own mates to go out with.
I arrive in York mid-afternoon and spend some quality time with Jim, wandering round ancient York. Lizzy arrives at about 6pm and we meet up at our hotel, the Ramada Encore where we stayed last time. Hotel reception is full of ladies on a hen weekend with pink furry things sticking out of their heads.
We do a bit of catching up and then head into downtown York, first to a pub called the Last Drop (we had a drink in one of them in Edinburgh) which has a definite hanging theme, and sells great beer and cider, Lizzy's favoured tipple. Then on to Fibbers - and as soon as we get in the door, there's Mike and Rusty with their respective ladies, Hannah and Lucy. Its great to see them, and they're pleased to see us. Hannah is actually manning a table near the door selling Mike's CDs. with some success. Ringo and his wife are also there, as well as a number of the crew we met on the previous visit to Fibbers. Also Chris Jones arrives, the guy who took the brilliant pictures currently being used to publicise the new tour.
Mike is on at about 8.45 - he's very relaxed on stage, and a lot less hesitant then he was when we saw him in London last year. He does a brilliant version of Madonna's "Borderline", which is one of my favourite songs, and also an acoustic "Aloneagainor" , alternating between Arthur's and his own vocal lines, which shows off his amazing guitar skills. He's not on for long but then he is the support act.
Chris Helmes of the Yards comes on at about 9.30pm - now a number of folks will have seen Chris when the Yards toured as support to Love, but this guy is just amazing. He has a brilliant voice and I don't know why he's not a big star - I talk to Ringo later, who manages him, and he reckons its because he's not fashionable/new (he was a member of the Seahorses that were a fairly successful band some years ago).
The venue has a club night from 10.30 so Chris is off stage by then. A few drinks and chats with Mike and Rusty and Chris Jones, then we head down the road with Mike and Hannah, who are staying with Ringo. They stop at the nearest kebab van for a death-doner - I taste a bit and it is not nice at all. Lizzy and I decide to go to the decent kebab house on Micklegate near our hotel instead for fresh cooked kebabs, which we take back to our room and consume with a bit of a night cap.
Next stop Sheffield a week on Sunday!
Friday, March 18, 2005
Thursday, March 17, 2005
No 18: Liverpool Kings Dock, 7th July 2004
This was quite a weird one, and at the present time is the last Love gig that Lizzy and I went to.
The gig was one of the "Liverpool Summer Pops" - funny name, funny set up in that a huge big top is erected on the Kings Dock car park for the month of July and various acts ply their trade there - I seem to remember it was going to be Busted the following evening. I was driving to Liverpool from Nottingham and got stuck on the notorious Thelwall Viaduct on the M6. so when I got to the Campanile Hotel, Lizzy was already there. You couldn't miss the venue, a huge stripy structure a few hundred yards from the hotel, but to walk there you had to negotiate various barriers, although we made it in the end.
The plan was that we were definitely filming this one, the strings and horns were there again, so it should be a good one to catch. We went to the box office to get our photo passes, no filming possible without them, but they weren't there - somebody seemed to think that Ross, the tour manager had them but noone was sure. Oh well, we'd sort that out later, the support band was the Zutons who Jim had said were a good band, so we wanted to see them. we'd sort the passes out at the interval.
Into the cavernous tent and more or less the first person we see is John E, who's come up from London. Shortly after that we run into a gaggle of Swedish horn players, and John gets Lizzy to take his picture with them - John is a big Brian Wilson fan and has spent time with the Swedes at Brian's gigs. Shortly after that, I run into my ex-brother in law (i.e. my sister's ex-husband) Neil, who I haven't seen since their separation about 19 years ago - this tour has been big on this sort of incident, its brought all the people of a certain age out of hiding and back to gigs.
We watch the Zutons, who I like - they're young and energetic and have a manic dancing female sax player. We've run into Gill and her sister Maureen by this time as well, so there's a good turn out of the die hard fans.
Then its back to the box office to try to sort out the passes again - the security is tenacious at this venue, no way would be able to film without the correct passes. After a lot of radioing around, it's determined that Ross does indeed have the passes, and he is backstage, so we're escorted there by a burly security man and pick up passes and camera just as Love are coming on stage. We get ourselves to a likely spot in the banked seating - I fumble around a bit, the floor is a bit unsteady but we get set up again and start filming somewhere during the first number.
Now IMHO this was not the best performance Arthur has ever given - however my opinion was bound to be coloured by a) this being my 18th time of seeing the band b) having seen a brilliant Magic Band gig the previous evening. It certainly seemed to impress the assembled throng, perhaps I'm being over fussy - but I don't think he was completely with it. He also darted about the setlist in an erratic fashion, leaving the poor orchestra very bemused. John E and the prodigious Loveshack were both down the front bopping about like maniacs, so they seemed to enjoy it. Hey Ho.
A first however - Arthur took off his trademark hat and bandanna at one stage, showing off his bald pate. Not a bad look at all, wonder why he feels he has to keep his head covered on stage. Along with the omnipresent shades, part of the image I guess.
Quick chat with Mike at the end but they were packing up furiously, as most folks were rushing off to catch a plane. We headed across to Gill and Maureen's hotel with John E and we spent a pleasant couple of hours discussing how we would manage and market Arthur if it was up to us. Which it isn't.
The gig was one of the "Liverpool Summer Pops" - funny name, funny set up in that a huge big top is erected on the Kings Dock car park for the month of July and various acts ply their trade there - I seem to remember it was going to be Busted the following evening. I was driving to Liverpool from Nottingham and got stuck on the notorious Thelwall Viaduct on the M6. so when I got to the Campanile Hotel, Lizzy was already there. You couldn't miss the venue, a huge stripy structure a few hundred yards from the hotel, but to walk there you had to negotiate various barriers, although we made it in the end.
The plan was that we were definitely filming this one, the strings and horns were there again, so it should be a good one to catch. We went to the box office to get our photo passes, no filming possible without them, but they weren't there - somebody seemed to think that Ross, the tour manager had them but noone was sure. Oh well, we'd sort that out later, the support band was the Zutons who Jim had said were a good band, so we wanted to see them. we'd sort the passes out at the interval.
Into the cavernous tent and more or less the first person we see is John E, who's come up from London. Shortly after that we run into a gaggle of Swedish horn players, and John gets Lizzy to take his picture with them - John is a big Brian Wilson fan and has spent time with the Swedes at Brian's gigs. Shortly after that, I run into my ex-brother in law (i.e. my sister's ex-husband) Neil, who I haven't seen since their separation about 19 years ago - this tour has been big on this sort of incident, its brought all the people of a certain age out of hiding and back to gigs.
We watch the Zutons, who I like - they're young and energetic and have a manic dancing female sax player. We've run into Gill and her sister Maureen by this time as well, so there's a good turn out of the die hard fans.
Then its back to the box office to try to sort out the passes again - the security is tenacious at this venue, no way would be able to film without the correct passes. After a lot of radioing around, it's determined that Ross does indeed have the passes, and he is backstage, so we're escorted there by a burly security man and pick up passes and camera just as Love are coming on stage. We get ourselves to a likely spot in the banked seating - I fumble around a bit, the floor is a bit unsteady but we get set up again and start filming somewhere during the first number.
Now IMHO this was not the best performance Arthur has ever given - however my opinion was bound to be coloured by a) this being my 18th time of seeing the band b) having seen a brilliant Magic Band gig the previous evening. It certainly seemed to impress the assembled throng, perhaps I'm being over fussy - but I don't think he was completely with it. He also darted about the setlist in an erratic fashion, leaving the poor orchestra very bemused. John E and the prodigious Loveshack were both down the front bopping about like maniacs, so they seemed to enjoy it. Hey Ho.
A first however - Arthur took off his trademark hat and bandanna at one stage, showing off his bald pate. Not a bad look at all, wonder why he feels he has to keep his head covered on stage. Along with the omnipresent shades, part of the image I guess.
Quick chat with Mike at the end but they were packing up furiously, as most folks were rushing off to catch a plane. We headed across to Gill and Maureen's hotel with John E and we spent a pleasant couple of hours discussing how we would manage and market Arthur if it was up to us. Which it isn't.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
The Magic Band Nottingham Rescue Rooms 6th July 2004
One of the great knock on effects of this Love thang has been that I've gone to see other bands as well - I was a bit intimidated by the thought of Rock City and the Rescue Rooms initially, but once I'd been to see Love there, I realised that they were fine, and that actually other quite old people went to gigs there as well.
So I've seen a number of other bands in the last couple of years as well - Durutti Column, David Thomas and the Pale Boys, Jah Wobble, the Average White Band, Maroon 5, etc etc and... the creme de la creme ... the Magic Band.
Now Lizzy and I were also big fans of Captain Beefheart and the Magic band back in the 60s and 70s. I saw them perform twice, once in Newcastle and once in Nottingham. In fact I still contend that the gig at Newcastle City Hall on 5th April 1972 was the best I've ever been to, by any artist, ever.
The Magic Band without the good Captain I approached with some trepidation, but it was unfounded, they were brilliant.
So I've seen a number of other bands in the last couple of years as well - Durutti Column, David Thomas and the Pale Boys, Jah Wobble, the Average White Band, Maroon 5, etc etc and... the creme de la creme ... the Magic Band.
Now Lizzy and I were also big fans of Captain Beefheart and the Magic band back in the 60s and 70s. I saw them perform twice, once in Newcastle and once in Nottingham. In fact I still contend that the gig at Newcastle City Hall on 5th April 1972 was the best I've ever been to, by any artist, ever.
The Magic Band without the good Captain I approached with some trepidation, but it was unfounded, they were brilliant.
No 17: Alban Arena, St Albans, 4th July 2004
Despite having told Arthur that we'd see him next in Liverpool, we decided we couldn't wait that long...
There was to be a gig on Sunday evening in St Albans, and a quick look at the road atlas revealed that it wasn't a bad trip from Nottingham, straight down the M1 and turn right at Luton - a lot more of a trip from Newcastle however, but Lizzy was up for it. I emailed Glenn and said we'd like to be there, could he arrange for our names to be on the door. No problem - I couldn't even have imagined asking for this sort of favour when we first started out on this venture.
Sunday dawned and Lizzy made her way down to Nottingham mid-afternoon. Back in the motor and we did the surprisingly easy run down to St Albans - finding the venue was a bit more difficult but we found our way round the maze of car parks eventually. There was the tour bus parked next to the stage door, so we knew we were in the right place.
We parked up and were figuring out what to do next when a familiar figure got off the bus - it was Arthur, plugged into his Walkman. He sees us, and its " Hey I didn't think you were coming tonight - the camera's not here" - oh well never mind, Lizzy can still film with hers and I can just watch and listen - no big deal.
We head off to the box office and run into Glenn and his girlfriend Jane on the way - our tickets and passes are there, what a nice man! A quick pizza in downtown St Albans and then back to the venue - we see Gill and her husband Colin, as well as John E and Hannah and Miranda - the London crew are out in force as its only down the road.
The venue itself is rather like a well appointed school hall - seating, which we're not so keen on, and a balcony. We go upstairs and park ourselves at the back, the venue isn't full by any means. Lizzy sets up her camera and I just settle down to watch. Its not a bad show, but my opinion is that it a very sterile venue, not a lot of atmosphere.
At the end we hang around by the stage (definitely not stalking) and chat with Mike and the rest of our pals. The car is parked not far from the tour bus which is not far from the stage door - we head towards it, talking to Gill and Colin and some other fans who've travelled quite a distance - and there is Arthur again, coming out of the stage door with his young lady friend from SBE and Troels, and carrying a box. He comes over and talks to us, Gill asks if she can have a photo and he obliges - he hands me the box to hold, its full of wine and sandwiches but unfortunately the bottom starts to fall out of it. Troels rushes up to save the contents, then Arthur takes it back and he's away. We really will see him in Liverpool next time.
There was to be a gig on Sunday evening in St Albans, and a quick look at the road atlas revealed that it wasn't a bad trip from Nottingham, straight down the M1 and turn right at Luton - a lot more of a trip from Newcastle however, but Lizzy was up for it. I emailed Glenn and said we'd like to be there, could he arrange for our names to be on the door. No problem - I couldn't even have imagined asking for this sort of favour when we first started out on this venture.
Sunday dawned and Lizzy made her way down to Nottingham mid-afternoon. Back in the motor and we did the surprisingly easy run down to St Albans - finding the venue was a bit more difficult but we found our way round the maze of car parks eventually. There was the tour bus parked next to the stage door, so we knew we were in the right place.
We parked up and were figuring out what to do next when a familiar figure got off the bus - it was Arthur, plugged into his Walkman. He sees us, and its " Hey I didn't think you were coming tonight - the camera's not here" - oh well never mind, Lizzy can still film with hers and I can just watch and listen - no big deal.
We head off to the box office and run into Glenn and his girlfriend Jane on the way - our tickets and passes are there, what a nice man! A quick pizza in downtown St Albans and then back to the venue - we see Gill and her husband Colin, as well as John E and Hannah and Miranda - the London crew are out in force as its only down the road.
The venue itself is rather like a well appointed school hall - seating, which we're not so keen on, and a balcony. We go upstairs and park ourselves at the back, the venue isn't full by any means. Lizzy sets up her camera and I just settle down to watch. Its not a bad show, but my opinion is that it a very sterile venue, not a lot of atmosphere.
At the end we hang around by the stage (definitely not stalking) and chat with Mike and the rest of our pals. The car is parked not far from the tour bus which is not far from the stage door - we head towards it, talking to Gill and Colin and some other fans who've travelled quite a distance - and there is Arthur again, coming out of the stage door with his young lady friend from SBE and Troels, and carrying a box. He comes over and talks to us, Gill asks if she can have a photo and he obliges - he hands me the box to hold, its full of wine and sandwiches but unfortunately the bottom starts to fall out of it. Troels rushes up to save the contents, then Arthur takes it back and he's away. We really will see him in Liverpool next time.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
No 16: The Robin, Wolverhampton, 29th June 2004
Lizzy had been working in Birmingham today so she came back to our house before we set off again for Wolverhampton - not far, 50 miles or so. Quick drive up the M42 in the recently acquired new motor.
The Robin is actually in Bilston, a fairly dull looking part of the Black Country - the venue itself however is wonderful, looking like an old cinema, with "Noddy's Bar" off the lobby, covered with numerous posters of Mr Holder himself.
We had some fish and chips from a local health hazard - as we were sitting outside eating them, Dave Chapple (bass - I don't think I've mentioned him before) strolled past, looking for somewhere to buy some credit for his mobile phone. I think he found some up the road.
Back in the venue, we set up the tripods at the side of the balcony. During the support act, Lucky Jim, we see Arthur at the side of the stage. He looks surprised and heads back behind the scenes - we hear later that when he saw us, he realised that he had left the video camera in his hotel room and sent Kose back to collect it. It arrives just as the band are coming on stage so I don't have a lot of time to set up - both Lizzy and I have got used to setting up video cameras in the dark by this stage, a useful life skill.
This is a great show - some months later, when Lizzy and I had a weekend at her house watching back to back videos in chronological order for two solid days, we vote this one the best of the lot, closely followed by Edinburgh. Lizzy brought a data projector home from work, so we had the full big screen experience on her spare bedroom wall, complete with speakers as well. And several bottles of wine. But no popcorn.
A quick chat with Arthur at the end - we tell him next one for us Liverpool in about a weeks time (thats the plan anyway). The tour bus is parked next to the venue, we have a chat with Mike and Troels and Frazer the merch guy (star of Mike's diary). I have to drive back to Nottingham so no hanging around/ stalking tonight. We drive past the tour bus in the new motor - its good for driving back along the M42 at midnight, listening to the Janice Long show on Radio 2 - special live guests Lucky Jim - and tomorrow night its going to be Arthur Lee and Love...
The Robin is actually in Bilston, a fairly dull looking part of the Black Country - the venue itself however is wonderful, looking like an old cinema, with "Noddy's Bar" off the lobby, covered with numerous posters of Mr Holder himself.
We had some fish and chips from a local health hazard - as we were sitting outside eating them, Dave Chapple (bass - I don't think I've mentioned him before) strolled past, looking for somewhere to buy some credit for his mobile phone. I think he found some up the road.
Back in the venue, we set up the tripods at the side of the balcony. During the support act, Lucky Jim, we see Arthur at the side of the stage. He looks surprised and heads back behind the scenes - we hear later that when he saw us, he realised that he had left the video camera in his hotel room and sent Kose back to collect it. It arrives just as the band are coming on stage so I don't have a lot of time to set up - both Lizzy and I have got used to setting up video cameras in the dark by this stage, a useful life skill.
This is a great show - some months later, when Lizzy and I had a weekend at her house watching back to back videos in chronological order for two solid days, we vote this one the best of the lot, closely followed by Edinburgh. Lizzy brought a data projector home from work, so we had the full big screen experience on her spare bedroom wall, complete with speakers as well. And several bottles of wine. But no popcorn.
A quick chat with Arthur at the end - we tell him next one for us Liverpool in about a weeks time (thats the plan anyway). The tour bus is parked next to the venue, we have a chat with Mike and Troels and Frazer the merch guy (star of Mike's diary). I have to drive back to Nottingham so no hanging around/ stalking tonight. We drive past the tour bus in the new motor - its good for driving back along the M42 at midnight, listening to the Janice Long show on Radio 2 - special live guests Lucky Jim - and tomorrow night its going to be Arthur Lee and Love...
No 15: Fibbers, York, 28th June 2004
Jim is a student in York but he had to be out of his room in Hall on Saturday 26th June, so Keith and I had made the trip there and back from Nottingham then. However Love were due to appear in York the following Monday, so after depositing Jim in Matlock for the afternoon while I saw a client there, we both travelled back up to York again to meet up with Lizzy.
This was to be a short tour of the UK to fit around the Glastonbury festival. No 14 ended with the news that Arthur had not replied to my email about filming more gigs in the UK. However I'd also thought to email Glenn, who did reply, and who had arranged that we hook up with the new tour manager, Ross, to film the gigs we were planning to go to.
We'd booked two rooms in a very nice hotel in York City Centre, the Ramada Encore. Once Lizzy arrived, we set off through the streets of York to find Fibbers, which is a very small club forming part of a concrete monstrosity once called a carbuncle by Prince Charles. There was quite a gathering for this gig with a particularly large Scottish contingent - Lizzy's diary has the details. Kose and Troels were on stage setting up and greeted us like long lost friends - a hug from Troels is something you don't forget in a hurry.
Mike came out from backstage to say hello and said "Arthur is totally asking about you guys" to Lizzy and myself - yes he did want us to film. We sorted out a likely spot - not far from the stage, but then nowhere in Fibbers is far from the stage. Chris Helmes did a great turn as support, with Mike playing with him for a while. Then Arthur and the band were on - and it was great, the hairs on the back of my next were standing up. It seemed like quite a long gap since we'd seen them, almost 3 months, which wasn't long really in the overall scheme of things. I'd waited about 35 years to see the band from first hearing their music.
Afterwards, we had a brief chat with Arthur before he was taxied back to his hotel - said we'd see him the following evening in Wolverhampton. We hung round in the club for a while and Lizzy and I had the stalking conversation again, i.e. when are you stalking people and when are you simply hanging about waiting to see what's going to happen. Anyway stuff did happen - Mike's pal Ringo who lives in York had arranged an after party at the Evil Eye bar, so we set off there, Jim leading the way. It was cracking - Lizzy's diary has both words and pictures.
Obligatory kebab stop, back to the hotel, up early the next morning to get back to Nottingham for work - and then its all over again for Wolverhampton the following evening.
This was to be a short tour of the UK to fit around the Glastonbury festival. No 14 ended with the news that Arthur had not replied to my email about filming more gigs in the UK. However I'd also thought to email Glenn, who did reply, and who had arranged that we hook up with the new tour manager, Ross, to film the gigs we were planning to go to.
We'd booked two rooms in a very nice hotel in York City Centre, the Ramada Encore. Once Lizzy arrived, we set off through the streets of York to find Fibbers, which is a very small club forming part of a concrete monstrosity once called a carbuncle by Prince Charles. There was quite a gathering for this gig with a particularly large Scottish contingent - Lizzy's diary has the details. Kose and Troels were on stage setting up and greeted us like long lost friends - a hug from Troels is something you don't forget in a hurry.
Mike came out from backstage to say hello and said "Arthur is totally asking about you guys" to Lizzy and myself - yes he did want us to film. We sorted out a likely spot - not far from the stage, but then nowhere in Fibbers is far from the stage. Chris Helmes did a great turn as support, with Mike playing with him for a while. Then Arthur and the band were on - and it was great, the hairs on the back of my next were standing up. It seemed like quite a long gap since we'd seen them, almost 3 months, which wasn't long really in the overall scheme of things. I'd waited about 35 years to see the band from first hearing their music.
Afterwards, we had a brief chat with Arthur before he was taxied back to his hotel - said we'd see him the following evening in Wolverhampton. We hung round in the club for a while and Lizzy and I had the stalking conversation again, i.e. when are you stalking people and when are you simply hanging about waiting to see what's going to happen. Anyway stuff did happen - Mike's pal Ringo who lives in York had arranged an after party at the Evil Eye bar, so we set off there, Jim leading the way. It was cracking - Lizzy's diary has both words and pictures.
Obligatory kebab stop, back to the hotel, up early the next morning to get back to Nottingham for work - and then its all over again for Wolverhampton the following evening.
Monday, March 14, 2005
No 14: Shepherds Bush Empire 2nd April 2004
This was to be the last big gig of the tour, and the Swedish Strings are Horns were back! The big news as far as we were concerned was that Bent had been sacked / had quit / not sure which. Different folks gave different stories, but whatever, we'd known he hadn't been happy for a while.
We were booked into the Kensington Hilton, which we knew from Scottish Keith, who is a great pal of Mike's, was where the band were staying as well. Bent had always been our contact as far as the filming was concerned, so Lizzy and I decided we would just go to the gig as paying customers and not worry about filming - it could be a pain, although you always got a great view. We met up with Caryne and SK down in the foyer, just as Mike and Rusty appeared - we had a chat and then our contingent decided to go to a pub near Goldhawk Road tube station where we were meeting some other fans. On the way we ran into Kose who told us that Arthur's camera was going to the gig, but we had already made our minds up that we were just going to be spectators this evening - that also meant we could drink more than usual, we'd found it preferable to be sober when filming.
A few beers later, and some food for me but not for Lizzy, and we're off to the SBE. We make our way down to the front, trampling on some young folks who'd decided to sit on the floor in the process. We're right in front of the horn section, the lovely Bjorn and his pals are there, as well as the strings. Its a great show - I'd forgotten how much the orchestra add to the overall sound - and it's good as well not to have the responsibility of being in charge of Arthur's camera for the duration.
We hang around at the end and Troels and Kose pass us some of the special yellow tickets needed to gain access to the after party in the backstage bar. There's a good turnout, including Bobby Gillespie again and the two guys from the Whisky magazine that we met at the Forum. They remember us, and have been following Mike's online diary, so know all about the videoing etc. No Arthur though.
After a while I head off to the Ladies - while I'm in there, two ladies come in, one of my age or thereabouts and a much younger one. I leave - and outside the door is Arthur, all by himself, obviously waiting for the two ladies who've just gone inside. I say "Hello Arthur", he says "Hello Lizzy", and I say, "No I'm the other one, Tina". He say "Are you two sisters?" and I say "No we're old friends". He then says - and I quote "Its a damn shame you didn't film the show tonight, a damn shame". I explain that we didn't know who to contact with no Bent, and we have a chat about this and that, I tell him its wonderful for us original fans that he's doing all these shows, that we;re both aged 50, he says he's 60 next year etc etc, it goes on in this vein for a few minutes until his friends reappear and then we all go into the party.
I go over to Lizzy and Caryne in some excitement and tell them I've been taking to Arthur, then he comes over and joins us, he's very jocular and happy for his picture to be taken with all and sundry. The older of his lady friends introduces herself as Lynn, who is an American living in London - she's a real hoot and tells us some great stuff about the old days - most of which is unrepeatable here. I have her phone number somewhere and we were told we should stay with her next time we were in London.
When the time comes to leave, we head back towards the hotel with Whisky Jim. We grab bagels on the way, then I nip up to the hotel room and grab the bottle of gin I had the foresight to bring with me. We sit in the lobby with Jim and are shortly joined by a bunch of Swedish Strings and Horns and Danish Crew - the gin gets consumed and Jim falls asleep on a sofa. Lizzy and I try to move him when we're off to bed, but he's completely gone so we leave him - its about 3am by now. I check the next morning and he has gone.
Next morning, Lizzy is ill - I go down to breakfast and bring her some yogurt back to try and get her stomach back to some degree of normality. We make it down to the lobby at about 11am with a view to saying goodbye, where we see in rapid succession :
1) Mike, who gives me a 20 euro note from Arthur as he had heard we'd paid for our own tickets (I still have it in my possession)
2) The entire Fulham Football Team (very smart)
3) Arthur and his entourage, including manager Glenn Povey. Arthur comes over and introduces us to Glenn, who is actually apologetic about being rude to us at the Forum! Arthur then tells us again that its a shame we didn't film last night's gig, and that in future we should contact him personally about the arrangements. He then gives me his email address.
Afterwards, Lizzy and I ponder that when we were teenagers in Newcastle in 1968, huddling over the Dansette listening to Forever Changes and being awestruck, we would never have imagined in a million years that we would ever (a) actually meet Arthur Lee (b) have him give us his email address (not that email had been invented in 1968).
Needless to say, I email Arthur after a few days so as not to appear too keen.........he never replies.
We were booked into the Kensington Hilton, which we knew from Scottish Keith, who is a great pal of Mike's, was where the band were staying as well. Bent had always been our contact as far as the filming was concerned, so Lizzy and I decided we would just go to the gig as paying customers and not worry about filming - it could be a pain, although you always got a great view. We met up with Caryne and SK down in the foyer, just as Mike and Rusty appeared - we had a chat and then our contingent decided to go to a pub near Goldhawk Road tube station where we were meeting some other fans. On the way we ran into Kose who told us that Arthur's camera was going to the gig, but we had already made our minds up that we were just going to be spectators this evening - that also meant we could drink more than usual, we'd found it preferable to be sober when filming.
A few beers later, and some food for me but not for Lizzy, and we're off to the SBE. We make our way down to the front, trampling on some young folks who'd decided to sit on the floor in the process. We're right in front of the horn section, the lovely Bjorn and his pals are there, as well as the strings. Its a great show - I'd forgotten how much the orchestra add to the overall sound - and it's good as well not to have the responsibility of being in charge of Arthur's camera for the duration.
We hang around at the end and Troels and Kose pass us some of the special yellow tickets needed to gain access to the after party in the backstage bar. There's a good turnout, including Bobby Gillespie again and the two guys from the Whisky magazine that we met at the Forum. They remember us, and have been following Mike's online diary, so know all about the videoing etc. No Arthur though.
After a while I head off to the Ladies - while I'm in there, two ladies come in, one of my age or thereabouts and a much younger one. I leave - and outside the door is Arthur, all by himself, obviously waiting for the two ladies who've just gone inside. I say "Hello Arthur", he says "Hello Lizzy", and I say, "No I'm the other one, Tina". He say "Are you two sisters?" and I say "No we're old friends". He then says - and I quote "Its a damn shame you didn't film the show tonight, a damn shame". I explain that we didn't know who to contact with no Bent, and we have a chat about this and that, I tell him its wonderful for us original fans that he's doing all these shows, that we;re both aged 50, he says he's 60 next year etc etc, it goes on in this vein for a few minutes until his friends reappear and then we all go into the party.
I go over to Lizzy and Caryne in some excitement and tell them I've been taking to Arthur, then he comes over and joins us, he's very jocular and happy for his picture to be taken with all and sundry. The older of his lady friends introduces herself as Lynn, who is an American living in London - she's a real hoot and tells us some great stuff about the old days - most of which is unrepeatable here. I have her phone number somewhere and we were told we should stay with her next time we were in London.
When the time comes to leave, we head back towards the hotel with Whisky Jim. We grab bagels on the way, then I nip up to the hotel room and grab the bottle of gin I had the foresight to bring with me. We sit in the lobby with Jim and are shortly joined by a bunch of Swedish Strings and Horns and Danish Crew - the gin gets consumed and Jim falls asleep on a sofa. Lizzy and I try to move him when we're off to bed, but he's completely gone so we leave him - its about 3am by now. I check the next morning and he has gone.
Next morning, Lizzy is ill - I go down to breakfast and bring her some yogurt back to try and get her stomach back to some degree of normality. We make it down to the lobby at about 11am with a view to saying goodbye, where we see in rapid succession :
1) Mike, who gives me a 20 euro note from Arthur as he had heard we'd paid for our own tickets (I still have it in my possession)
2) The entire Fulham Football Team (very smart)
3) Arthur and his entourage, including manager Glenn Povey. Arthur comes over and introduces us to Glenn, who is actually apologetic about being rude to us at the Forum! Arthur then tells us again that its a shame we didn't film last night's gig, and that in future we should contact him personally about the arrangements. He then gives me his email address.
Afterwards, Lizzy and I ponder that when we were teenagers in Newcastle in 1968, huddling over the Dansette listening to Forever Changes and being awestruck, we would never have imagined in a million years that we would ever (a) actually meet Arthur Lee (b) have him give us his email address (not that email had been invented in 1968).
Needless to say, I email Arthur after a few days so as not to appear too keen.........he never replies.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
No 13: Sheffield Leadmill 18th March 2004
I set off after work to drive to Sheffield, its only 40 miles or so from Nottingham - Lizzy was driving down from Newcastle for the evening, which was a considerably longer journey. The traffic was pretty awful - then I saw Lizzy's car driving past me so I knew I was going the right way. I headed for the station car park as recommended and Lizzy and I arrived within a couple of minutes of each other - its wonderful when a plan comes together!
After parking up, we did a bit of a reccy and found the Leadmill - there were passes waiting for us at the stage door so in we went, to find the whole band (exc Arthur natch) and crew tucking into sandwiches and coffee. They were pleased to see us, asked us to help ourselves food, so we did. Bent and Troels were worn out and Bent in particular wasn't very happy - it transpires that they had driven from Florence (yes the one in Italy) to Wrexham and then on to Sheffield over the course of the last couple of days, so no surprise that they were tired. We found a handy DJ booth to park the video stuff in and left for the nearby pub where we'd arranged to meet John E who was travelling up from London.
After a couple of drinks (not a lot as we both had long drives at the end of the evening) we were back to the venue, and into the DJ booth which was up quite a few steps and afforded a great view of the stage. Scottish Keith arrived so we had a chat with him.The Yards were support, very good they were too. Then Arthur and the video camera arrived, I hastily set up, and they were on. Another good show - we got the impression that everybody was really tired by now, six weeks or so into a very gruelling tour, but it didn't show in the performance.
Afterwards Lizzy and I went backstage and had a chat with the crew - Bent, Kose and Troels - they weren't happy because they had to stay in Sheffield for a few days with Arthur, while the band were staying with friends in York - the next gig was in three days time in Manchester and they'd much rather go there but had been told there were no hotel rooms to be had. I said I'd look the next day on the internet to see if I could find anything for them and ring Bent if I could - unfortunately it was true, absolutely no hotel rooms to be had in Manchester City Centre for love nor money. So the guys stayed in Sheffield - presumably Arthur went off to stay with his pals, the Head brothers of Shack fame, in Liverpool for the next couple of days.
At the end of the evening we went back to our cars, I returned John E's bag to him that I'd been storing in my boot - Mike and the gang going to York were parked near us so we all said our goodbyes in the carpark. Our next gig was to be Shepherd's Bush Empire on 2nd April, when the orchestra would be rejoining the tour.
After parking up, we did a bit of a reccy and found the Leadmill - there were passes waiting for us at the stage door so in we went, to find the whole band (exc Arthur natch) and crew tucking into sandwiches and coffee. They were pleased to see us, asked us to help ourselves food, so we did. Bent and Troels were worn out and Bent in particular wasn't very happy - it transpires that they had driven from Florence (yes the one in Italy) to Wrexham and then on to Sheffield over the course of the last couple of days, so no surprise that they were tired. We found a handy DJ booth to park the video stuff in and left for the nearby pub where we'd arranged to meet John E who was travelling up from London.
After a couple of drinks (not a lot as we both had long drives at the end of the evening) we were back to the venue, and into the DJ booth which was up quite a few steps and afforded a great view of the stage. Scottish Keith arrived so we had a chat with him.The Yards were support, very good they were too. Then Arthur and the video camera arrived, I hastily set up, and they were on. Another good show - we got the impression that everybody was really tired by now, six weeks or so into a very gruelling tour, but it didn't show in the performance.
Afterwards Lizzy and I went backstage and had a chat with the crew - Bent, Kose and Troels - they weren't happy because they had to stay in Sheffield for a few days with Arthur, while the band were staying with friends in York - the next gig was in three days time in Manchester and they'd much rather go there but had been told there were no hotel rooms to be had. I said I'd look the next day on the internet to see if I could find anything for them and ring Bent if I could - unfortunately it was true, absolutely no hotel rooms to be had in Manchester City Centre for love nor money. So the guys stayed in Sheffield - presumably Arthur went off to stay with his pals, the Head brothers of Shack fame, in Liverpool for the next couple of days.
At the end of the evening we went back to our cars, I returned John E's bag to him that I'd been storing in my boot - Mike and the gang going to York were parked near us so we all said our goodbyes in the carpark. Our next gig was to be Shepherd's Bush Empire on 2nd April, when the orchestra would be rejoining the tour.
No 12: London Forum 1st March 2004
Our hotel is full of Japanese tourists as we eat our breakfast the next day. Caryne and the Swedish contingent had told us the previous evening that they were planning a day involving drinking lots of alcohol. Lizzy and I haven't got the stamina for this - and we are filming again this evening so we need a modicum of brain cells between us - so its a cultural day again today. We decide to visit the British Library, the new vastly expensive one near St Pancras Station. Its a brilliant place, with sound archives, exhibits featuring some of the oldest and most famous books in the world, as well as a great temporary exhibition of modern Chinese prints. If you haven't been I would thoroughly recommend it. After a morning there we visit the old British Library reading room at the British Museum, and do a bit of shopping on Oxford Street.
We decide to negotiate the London Bus network to make our way up to the Forum in Kentish Town, and this works out fine. We're just got off the bus when we run into Bent, who's off for something to eat before the gig. We have blank passes from him, he tells us to go round to the stage door so we can get our video gear set up. We attempt to do this, but its not a straightforward task - the guy on the door fetches Love manager Glenn Povey, who seems pretty stressed and doesn't know anything about us being there - we produce the passes from Bent but this makes matters even worse, he shouldn't have done this presumably. We learn that Martyn Samuels from South Africa is already there and he is filming as well - Glenn relents in the end and lets us in, especially as we tell him we have bought and paid for tickets for the gig. We set up the gear in a small space by the sound rig where Martyn has already positioned himself, and then retire next door to a pub where we have arranged to meet up with Caryne and the Swedes. We're later joined by Steve 64 from the message board and then return to the Forum in time for the support band. Joss, who we met at Canterbury, is there as well - nice to see him again.
Sky Saxon and the Seeds are supporting Love at this gig, Sky is another 60s survivor with a new young band. They do a really good set and seem to have a really good time on stage. Sky hasn't weathered as well physically as Arthur - he has a face like a sack of spanners, as we say oop north, and is wearing some of the most atrocious trousers I have ever seen in my life - psychedelia meets Pucci print if you can imagine such a combination. More about Sky later.
Love come on and they're really rocking - Mike has told us previously that Arthur treats shows in London as the most important as there's more likelihood of press being there, not that this means he doesn't take other performances seriously, he always gives 110%. There's an after party in the upstairs bar at the Forum - the Danes make sure that Lizzy, Martyn and I get in. There's quite a crowd there, including Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream who is a big Love fan, also the guys from the whisky magazine who had been interviewing Mike earlier in the day, as well as all the Love and Seeds people, including Arthur, who spends a lot of the time talking to Sky Saxon.
We're just about ready to go and I'm standing waiting for Lizzy to finish a conversation with Martyn - when Sky comes up to me, grabs hold of me and snogs me, and then says "Thank you for coming". Not as an unpleasant an experience as I might have predicted - still hate those trousers though Sky!
Back on the night bus to Kings Cross and the hotel, up early the next morning so we can catch early trains to get us back to work. The band are off to the continent now with the Seeds for a short tour over there, they're not back in the UK for over a fortnight - how are we going to cope without a gig for all that time!!
We decide to negotiate the London Bus network to make our way up to the Forum in Kentish Town, and this works out fine. We're just got off the bus when we run into Bent, who's off for something to eat before the gig. We have blank passes from him, he tells us to go round to the stage door so we can get our video gear set up. We attempt to do this, but its not a straightforward task - the guy on the door fetches Love manager Glenn Povey, who seems pretty stressed and doesn't know anything about us being there - we produce the passes from Bent but this makes matters even worse, he shouldn't have done this presumably. We learn that Martyn Samuels from South Africa is already there and he is filming as well - Glenn relents in the end and lets us in, especially as we tell him we have bought and paid for tickets for the gig. We set up the gear in a small space by the sound rig where Martyn has already positioned himself, and then retire next door to a pub where we have arranged to meet up with Caryne and the Swedes. We're later joined by Steve 64 from the message board and then return to the Forum in time for the support band. Joss, who we met at Canterbury, is there as well - nice to see him again.
Sky Saxon and the Seeds are supporting Love at this gig, Sky is another 60s survivor with a new young band. They do a really good set and seem to have a really good time on stage. Sky hasn't weathered as well physically as Arthur - he has a face like a sack of spanners, as we say oop north, and is wearing some of the most atrocious trousers I have ever seen in my life - psychedelia meets Pucci print if you can imagine such a combination. More about Sky later.
Love come on and they're really rocking - Mike has told us previously that Arthur treats shows in London as the most important as there's more likelihood of press being there, not that this means he doesn't take other performances seriously, he always gives 110%. There's an after party in the upstairs bar at the Forum - the Danes make sure that Lizzy, Martyn and I get in. There's quite a crowd there, including Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream who is a big Love fan, also the guys from the whisky magazine who had been interviewing Mike earlier in the day, as well as all the Love and Seeds people, including Arthur, who spends a lot of the time talking to Sky Saxon.
We're just about ready to go and I'm standing waiting for Lizzy to finish a conversation with Martyn - when Sky comes up to me, grabs hold of me and snogs me, and then says "Thank you for coming". Not as an unpleasant an experience as I might have predicted - still hate those trousers though Sky!
Back on the night bus to Kings Cross and the hotel, up early the next morning so we can catch early trains to get us back to work. The band are off to the continent now with the Seeds for a short tour over there, they're not back in the UK for over a fortnight - how are we going to cope without a gig for all that time!!
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Mike Randle's solo gig, Upstairs at the Garage 29th February 2004
The following weekend I have to go to London on Saturday for a work conference - it so happens that Mike has a solo gig on the Sunday and then there is a Love gig on Monday March 1st in London, so the timing is quite fortuitous. I also have an understanding employer that lets me take lots of occasional days off (out of my annual holiday entitlement of course). I book a room for Lizzy and myself at the Thistle Kings Cross - I arrive in London early Saturday morning and leave my bags at the hotel before heading across to the conference on Park Lane, and then meet Lizzy there in the early evening. We head off to Upper Street in Islington for the evening, Chinese meal I seem to recall.
On Sunday we decide to take in a bit of culture and take in the fabulous El Greco exhibition at the National Gallery, plus a few of the sights of London. We walk over to the Garage early evening, its only a mile or so away - its snowing by this time. We spot some Love fans in a nearby pub and join them - there's Aake who's come over from Sweden with a couple of his Swedish mates, as well as Caryne who's a regular poster on the Love message board - this is the first time I've met her but Lizzy has come across her on previous occasions i.e. Love gigs she went to before we met up again! Gill and her son arrive, as well as John E who is a local, so there are quite a few of us. Good job really, because when we get to the Garage there aren't many other folks there. Mike is already there backstage, practising, and Hannah is with him. Just as he goes onstage the rest of the Love contingent arrive including Rusty, Kose and some friends of Bent's from Denmark - this crew certainly have a strong Scandinavian following! Darian Sahanaja from the Wondermints, who's curently working with Brian Wilson, is there as well, so there's an audience strong on quality if not in quantity.
Lizzy films the show for Mike, its just him and his guitar on the stage. Its lovely, he has a sweet, folky style, quite different from his lead guitar persona on stage with Love. Lots of audience participation as well, its that kind of gig. We hang out with folks for a while at the end and I learn that they've all been listening to the disco CD on the tour bus - and they love it! We walk back towards our hotel with Caryne, who's staying not far from us. Tomorrow night is the big one, Love at the Forum in Kentish Town.
On Sunday we decide to take in a bit of culture and take in the fabulous El Greco exhibition at the National Gallery, plus a few of the sights of London. We walk over to the Garage early evening, its only a mile or so away - its snowing by this time. We spot some Love fans in a nearby pub and join them - there's Aake who's come over from Sweden with a couple of his Swedish mates, as well as Caryne who's a regular poster on the Love message board - this is the first time I've met her but Lizzy has come across her on previous occasions i.e. Love gigs she went to before we met up again! Gill and her son arrive, as well as John E who is a local, so there are quite a few of us. Good job really, because when we get to the Garage there aren't many other folks there. Mike is already there backstage, practising, and Hannah is with him. Just as he goes onstage the rest of the Love contingent arrive including Rusty, Kose and some friends of Bent's from Denmark - this crew certainly have a strong Scandinavian following! Darian Sahanaja from the Wondermints, who's curently working with Brian Wilson, is there as well, so there's an audience strong on quality if not in quantity.
Lizzy films the show for Mike, its just him and his guitar on the stage. Its lovely, he has a sweet, folky style, quite different from his lead guitar persona on stage with Love. Lots of audience participation as well, its that kind of gig. We hang out with folks for a while at the end and I learn that they've all been listening to the disco CD on the tour bus - and they love it! We walk back towards our hotel with Caryne, who's staying not far from us. Tomorrow night is the big one, Love at the Forum in Kentish Town.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Kung Fu International by John Cooper Clarke
Kung Fu International
Outside the take-away, Saturday night
a bald adolescent, asks me out for a fight
He was no bigger than a two-penny fart
he was a deft exponent of the martial art
He gave me three warnings:
Trod on me toes, stuck his fingers in my eyes
and kicked me in the nose
A rabbit punch made me eyes explode
My head went dead, I fell in the road
I pleaded for mercy I wriggled on the ground
he kicked me in the balls and said something profound
Gave my face the millimetre tread
Stole me chop suey and left me for dead
Through rivers of blood and splintered bones
I crawled half a mile to the public telephone
pulled the corpse out the call box, held back the bile
and with a broken index finger, I proceeded to dial
I couldn’t get an ambulance the phone was screwed
The receiver fell in half it had been kung fu’d
A black belt karate cop opened up the door
demanding information about the stiff on the floor
he looked like an extra from Yang Shang Po
he said “What’s all this then ah so, ah so, ah so.
he wore a bamboo mask he was gen’ned on zen
He finished his devotions and he beat me up again
Thanks to that embryonic Bruce Lee
I’m a shadow of the person that I used to be
I can’t go back to Salford the cops have got me marked
Enter the Dragon
Exit Johnny Clarke
Footnote: I saw John Cooper Clarke perform at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham last night - back in the 70s he was known as the punk poet. He didn't do this one but I enjoyed the performance, he told some cracking jokes as well. He was support act to the Fall - who unfortunately I cannot comment on as we left before they came on. After waiting for over an hour after JCC went off, standing up in a packed, hot, sweaty club we got fed up - and my bad back was hurting! Our friend who stayed said they were OK if somewhat stroppy and pissed - I'm afraid I'm too old to be bothered with that sort of stuff nowadays.
Outside the take-away, Saturday night
a bald adolescent, asks me out for a fight
He was no bigger than a two-penny fart
he was a deft exponent of the martial art
He gave me three warnings:
Trod on me toes, stuck his fingers in my eyes
and kicked me in the nose
A rabbit punch made me eyes explode
My head went dead, I fell in the road
I pleaded for mercy I wriggled on the ground
he kicked me in the balls and said something profound
Gave my face the millimetre tread
Stole me chop suey and left me for dead
Through rivers of blood and splintered bones
I crawled half a mile to the public telephone
pulled the corpse out the call box, held back the bile
and with a broken index finger, I proceeded to dial
I couldn’t get an ambulance the phone was screwed
The receiver fell in half it had been kung fu’d
A black belt karate cop opened up the door
demanding information about the stiff on the floor
he looked like an extra from Yang Shang Po
he said “What’s all this then ah so, ah so, ah so.
he wore a bamboo mask he was gen’ned on zen
He finished his devotions and he beat me up again
Thanks to that embryonic Bruce Lee
I’m a shadow of the person that I used to be
I can’t go back to Salford the cops have got me marked
Enter the Dragon
Exit Johnny Clarke
Footnote: I saw John Cooper Clarke perform at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham last night - back in the 70s he was known as the punk poet. He didn't do this one but I enjoyed the performance, he told some cracking jokes as well. He was support act to the Fall - who unfortunately I cannot comment on as we left before they came on. After waiting for over an hour after JCC went off, standing up in a packed, hot, sweaty club we got fed up - and my bad back was hurting! Our friend who stayed said they were OK if somewhat stroppy and pissed - I'm afraid I'm too old to be bothered with that sort of stuff nowadays.
No 11: Newcastle University 22nd February 2004
Travel arrangements are a bit complicated - we have to get the train from Glasgow (Queen Street not Central) to Edinburgh then pick up the Edinburgh - London train to Newcastle, which we manage with minutes to spare - its full of haggard looking English rugby fans on their way back down south after what was probably a very heavy night. Chris picks us up at the station and takes us back to his and Lizzy's house, some welcome normality. In the afternoon we go off to the local pub and meet up with Lizzy's brother George who again is someone I haven't seen for twenty odd years - this is getting to be something of a habit!
Then we're off to the venue with Ellie, Liz and Chris's 18 year old daughter, who is quite a Love fan in her own right - see the Rescue Rooms entry. Our names are on the door again (this is getting to be something of a habit) so we make our way in before the stream of regular punters, and find suitable spots to set up the equipment on the (fairly low) balcony. Lizzy has her camera and tripod, I only have the trusty Argos tripod of course until such time as Arthur and his camera arrive. It looks a tad weird, standing there with a tripod and no camera trying to protect a prime spot - various people come up and make comment like "lost your camera pet?" - you know what jokers these Geordies can be... Chris is with Lizzy and Ellie is with me - at one stage I leave our station to get a drink and have a chat with Scottish Keith who has arrived by this time, and get back to find Ellie fending off the advances of two local women who are very keen to stand in the area we have attempted to cordon off. I explain to them that we are waiting for Arthur's camera to arrive and that seems to do the trick, they're on their way.
The camera eventually arrives with Bent - the news is that Arthur's broken a tooth, he's spent half the day at a local emergency dentist's trying to have it patched up. Another great gig - you'd think we'd get tired of them but no way do we. Arthur whips up the crowd brilliantly - at one stage in "You set the scene" I pan the camera onto the audience, as it looks like very single person has their hands in the air and is singing along " I wanna love you but oh wo wo wo wo wo wo" (its sounds better than it comes out in print, believe me). Mind you, we North Easterners always were a fairly emotional bunch.
Quick chat with Mike after the gig - his old pal from York, Ringo, and his family are there. Then its back to Lizzy's house for some much needed sleep, and up early Monday morning- Lizzy is back to work and I'm on the early train from Newcastle to Newark.....and you'll be pleased to learn my car was still there.
Then we're off to the venue with Ellie, Liz and Chris's 18 year old daughter, who is quite a Love fan in her own right - see the Rescue Rooms entry. Our names are on the door again (this is getting to be something of a habit) so we make our way in before the stream of regular punters, and find suitable spots to set up the equipment on the (fairly low) balcony. Lizzy has her camera and tripod, I only have the trusty Argos tripod of course until such time as Arthur and his camera arrive. It looks a tad weird, standing there with a tripod and no camera trying to protect a prime spot - various people come up and make comment like "lost your camera pet?" - you know what jokers these Geordies can be... Chris is with Lizzy and Ellie is with me - at one stage I leave our station to get a drink and have a chat with Scottish Keith who has arrived by this time, and get back to find Ellie fending off the advances of two local women who are very keen to stand in the area we have attempted to cordon off. I explain to them that we are waiting for Arthur's camera to arrive and that seems to do the trick, they're on their way.
The camera eventually arrives with Bent - the news is that Arthur's broken a tooth, he's spent half the day at a local emergency dentist's trying to have it patched up. Another great gig - you'd think we'd get tired of them but no way do we. Arthur whips up the crowd brilliantly - at one stage in "You set the scene" I pan the camera onto the audience, as it looks like very single person has their hands in the air and is singing along " I wanna love you but oh wo wo wo wo wo wo" (its sounds better than it comes out in print, believe me). Mind you, we North Easterners always were a fairly emotional bunch.
Quick chat with Mike after the gig - his old pal from York, Ringo, and his family are there. Then its back to Lizzy's house for some much needed sleep, and up early Monday morning- Lizzy is back to work and I'm on the early train from Newcastle to Newark.....and you'll be pleased to learn my car was still there.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
maggie and milly and molly and may - e e cummings
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
e e cummings
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
e e cummings
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
No 10: Glasgow Carling Academy 21st February 2004
Up in the morning, goodbye to the apartment and we're back up the hill to Waverley Station to catch the train to Glasgow. Not as scenic as the Edinburgh to Aberdeen run, more like new towns and council estates than breathtaking coastal scenery. We park up at our hotel, another Express by Holiday Inn, on the banks of the Clyde this time, then we hit the city centre.
You, dear reader, can probably tell that I like my food as I seem to have a favourite restaurant or at least kebab house in every town / city visited. Glasgow is no exception, some years ago when I was here on business I had a fabulous meal at a restaurant called Rogano's and I'm keen to go there again. We find it eventually, shrouded in scaffolding - its a wonderful Art Deco place inside. The restaurant is fully booked but a nice waiter finds us seats at the bar, then its fish and chips with glasses of champagne - delicious!
We find the venue which is over the other side of the bridge across the Clyde. The biggest venue we've been to yet - f**king massive in fact. There is a great balcony which we're keen to get onto to set up the video gear - we're not allowed to by the rather jobsworth security people, health and safety or something to that effect. So we set up by the sound board in a space about 2 feet by 2 feet - oh well.
Bent invites us backstage before the gig and we spend time with Mike and the Danes, watching the rugby on TV and drinking some of the band's beer. There's been some trouble between Arthur and Mike - no details are forthcoming, but we see Scottish Keith later who witnessed the scene and presumably it was not pretty. I also give Mike another copy of the famous disco CD - I'd brought one with me to listen to, but Mike's need is greater than ours, they need stuff to listen to on the tour bus. Back in the auditorium, we meet up with Old Man again who is also doing all of the Scottish gigs.
The show starts and its fantastic, Arthur is everyone's friend again. The working conditions for the video ladies are not ideal, I get beer thrown over me at one stage and Lizzy almost gets DVT from standing in one spot for two hours. After the show, Arthur comes out to talk to the assembled multitudes - I actually manage to speak to him like a normal human being and not a gibbering idiot on this occasion, mainly about the filming - he hasn't looked at any of the videos yet but is very appreciative of us for doing it.
Back to the hotel, escorted across the bridge by Old Man. Newcastle tomorrow!
You, dear reader, can probably tell that I like my food as I seem to have a favourite restaurant or at least kebab house in every town / city visited. Glasgow is no exception, some years ago when I was here on business I had a fabulous meal at a restaurant called Rogano's and I'm keen to go there again. We find it eventually, shrouded in scaffolding - its a wonderful Art Deco place inside. The restaurant is fully booked but a nice waiter finds us seats at the bar, then its fish and chips with glasses of champagne - delicious!
We find the venue which is over the other side of the bridge across the Clyde. The biggest venue we've been to yet - f**king massive in fact. There is a great balcony which we're keen to get onto to set up the video gear - we're not allowed to by the rather jobsworth security people, health and safety or something to that effect. So we set up by the sound board in a space about 2 feet by 2 feet - oh well.
Bent invites us backstage before the gig and we spend time with Mike and the Danes, watching the rugby on TV and drinking some of the band's beer. There's been some trouble between Arthur and Mike - no details are forthcoming, but we see Scottish Keith later who witnessed the scene and presumably it was not pretty. I also give Mike another copy of the famous disco CD - I'd brought one with me to listen to, but Mike's need is greater than ours, they need stuff to listen to on the tour bus. Back in the auditorium, we meet up with Old Man again who is also doing all of the Scottish gigs.
The show starts and its fantastic, Arthur is everyone's friend again. The working conditions for the video ladies are not ideal, I get beer thrown over me at one stage and Lizzy almost gets DVT from standing in one spot for two hours. After the show, Arthur comes out to talk to the assembled multitudes - I actually manage to speak to him like a normal human being and not a gibbering idiot on this occasion, mainly about the filming - he hasn't looked at any of the videos yet but is very appreciative of us for doing it.
Back to the hotel, escorted across the bridge by Old Man. Newcastle tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
No 9: Edinburgh Liquid Room, 19th February 2004
Edinburgh is a brilliant place, I've spent quite a lot of time there in the past as Keith, Jim and I have spent time at the Festival Fringe for the last few years. We've rented an apartment in the past so Lizzy and I have arranged to have it for a couple of nights, as we're not due in Glasgow until Saturday. Also there's a Rugby International, Scotland v England, at Murrayfield on the Saturday so a lot of the hotels are already booked for the duration.
We arrive at Waverley Station and its only a short walk to Abercromby Place in the New Town, our home for the next couple of nights - its nicer to have somewhere a bit bigger than a hotel room. Off to the local supermarket for a spot of shopping, including a tasty takeaway curry, then a taxi to the Liquid Room, the other side of Edinburgh Castle in the Old Town. The taxi driver say " I hope you don't mind me saying but youse don't seem like the normal Liquid Room crowd" i.e. we are about 30 years older than the average clientele - we explain what we're up to and he seems quite amused. We meet up with Scottish Keith and Mike, and also Old Man who has travelled down from Aberdeen, and all retire to a pub called the Last Drop - site of the last hanging ever to take place in Edinburgh presumably! There's another Lizzy diary which gives a lot more gen about the evening. The people who say we should stay with them next time are Fiona and Billy - more about them later. I seem to remember that the latter part of the evening involved copious amounts of whisky drinking and chatting with Danes, plus hearing about Troels' identical twin brother (every woman's fantasy as I tell him!)
Next day is Friday and we do the Edinburgh culture - and Edinburgh is a place with lots of culture. We also have brunch at my favourite Edinburgh eatery, Valvona and Crolla on Leith Walk. In the evening its another Sainsbury's takeaway curry, several bottles of wine, and we put the world to rights before setting off for Glasgow on Saturday morning.
We arrive at Waverley Station and its only a short walk to Abercromby Place in the New Town, our home for the next couple of nights - its nicer to have somewhere a bit bigger than a hotel room. Off to the local supermarket for a spot of shopping, including a tasty takeaway curry, then a taxi to the Liquid Room, the other side of Edinburgh Castle in the Old Town. The taxi driver say " I hope you don't mind me saying but youse don't seem like the normal Liquid Room crowd" i.e. we are about 30 years older than the average clientele - we explain what we're up to and he seems quite amused. We meet up with Scottish Keith and Mike, and also Old Man who has travelled down from Aberdeen, and all retire to a pub called the Last Drop - site of the last hanging ever to take place in Edinburgh presumably! There's another Lizzy diary which gives a lot more gen about the evening. The people who say we should stay with them next time are Fiona and Billy - more about them later. I seem to remember that the latter part of the evening involved copious amounts of whisky drinking and chatting with Danes, plus hearing about Troels' identical twin brother (every woman's fantasy as I tell him!)
Next day is Friday and we do the Edinburgh culture - and Edinburgh is a place with lots of culture. We also have brunch at my favourite Edinburgh eatery, Valvona and Crolla on Leith Walk. In the evening its another Sainsbury's takeaway curry, several bottles of wine, and we put the world to rights before setting off for Glasgow on Saturday morning.
Jim by Hilaire Belloc
Jim
Hilaire Belloc
Cautionary Tales for Children
1920
There was a Boy whose name was Jim;
His Friends were very good to him.
They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,
And slices of delicious Ham,
And Chocolate with pink inside
And little Tricycles to ride,
And read him Stories through and through,
And even took him to the Zoo—
But there it was the dreadful Fate
Befell him, which I now relate.
You know—or at least you ought to know,
For I have often told you so—
That Children never are allowed
To leave their Nurses in a Crowd;
Now this was Jim's especial Foible,
He ran away when he was able,
And on this inauspicious day
He slipped his hand and ran away!
He hadn't gone a yard when—Bang!
With open Jaws, a lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat
The Boy: beginning at his feet.
Now, just imagine how it feels
When first your toes and then your heels,
And then by gradual degrees,
Your shins and ankles, calves and knees,
Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.
No wonder Jim detested it!
No wonder that he shouted "Hi!"
The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
"Ponto!" he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the Lion's name),
"Ponto!" he cried, with angry Frown,
"Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!"
The Lion made a sudden stop,
He let the Dainty Morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his Cage,
Snarling with Disappointed Rage.
But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper's Eyes were dim.
The Lion having reached his Head,
The Miserable Boy was dead!
When Nurse informed his Parents, they
Were more Concerned than I can say:—
His Mother, as She dried her eyes,
Said, "Well—it gives me no surprise,
He would not do as he was told!"
His Father, who was self-controlled,
Bade all the children round attend
To James's miserable end,
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.
Online text © 1998-2005 Poetry X. All rights reserved.From Cautionary Tales for Children 1920
Footnote: My Dad used to read this poem to my sister and I when we were children, and I read it to my son Jim when he were nobbut a lad. He was not named after this Jim, but actually "Jimmy Jimmy", that well known ditty by the Undertones.
Hilaire Belloc
Cautionary Tales for Children
1920
There was a Boy whose name was Jim;
His Friends were very good to him.
They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,
And slices of delicious Ham,
And Chocolate with pink inside
And little Tricycles to ride,
And read him Stories through and through,
And even took him to the Zoo—
But there it was the dreadful Fate
Befell him, which I now relate.
You know—or at least you ought to know,
For I have often told you so—
That Children never are allowed
To leave their Nurses in a Crowd;
Now this was Jim's especial Foible,
He ran away when he was able,
And on this inauspicious day
He slipped his hand and ran away!
He hadn't gone a yard when—Bang!
With open Jaws, a lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat
The Boy: beginning at his feet.
Now, just imagine how it feels
When first your toes and then your heels,
And then by gradual degrees,
Your shins and ankles, calves and knees,
Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.
No wonder Jim detested it!
No wonder that he shouted "Hi!"
The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
"Ponto!" he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the Lion's name),
"Ponto!" he cried, with angry Frown,
"Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!"
The Lion made a sudden stop,
He let the Dainty Morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his Cage,
Snarling with Disappointed Rage.
But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper's Eyes were dim.
The Lion having reached his Head,
The Miserable Boy was dead!
When Nurse informed his Parents, they
Were more Concerned than I can say:—
His Mother, as She dried her eyes,
Said, "Well—it gives me no surprise,
He would not do as he was told!"
His Father, who was self-controlled,
Bade all the children round attend
To James's miserable end,
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.
Online text © 1998-2005 Poetry X. All rights reserved.From Cautionary Tales for Children 1920
Footnote: My Dad used to read this poem to my sister and I when we were children, and I read it to my son Jim when he were nobbut a lad. He was not named after this Jim, but actually "Jimmy Jimmy", that well known ditty by the Undertones.
Monday, March 07, 2005
No 8: Aberdeen Lemon Tree 18th February 2004
Aberdeen! Its a long way from anywhere...
I'm i/c travel arrangements and come up with a cunning plan . I buy a Saver ticket from Newark to Aberdeen on the old GNER line, Lizzy buys one from Newcastle to Aberdeen - Savers allow you to break your journey on your return journey, so we can take in Edinburgh and Glasgow on the way back down, with the trip culminating in Newcastle. Four gigs in five nights - hmmm.
Wednesday dawns and I set off for Newark, about 20 miles from Nottingham, and leave the car in the station carpark - hope it's still there next Monday. I've got the trusty Argos tripod, and a suitcase full of aging rock-chick type gear. One train up to Newcastle, where Lizzy is waiting, and we set off again to Aberdeen. Its a terrific journey - when I was a child my family lived in a house right next to the Newcastle to Edinburgh railway line about 5 miles out from Newcastle - and there it is! Then up the Northumberland Coast, lots of castles, through Berwick and the ramparts and on up to Edinburgh. Over the Forth Bridge, on up the coast through Dundee, Montrose and finally at about 5pm we're at Aberdeen. It gives the impression of being a very solid place, they don't call it the Granite City for nothing. Not very warm in the middle of February however.
We're staying at the Premier Lodge right opposite the venue - a short walk through the rather grandiose streets and we're there. We check in - all of the other residents would appear to be oilmen straight off the rigs apart from us. We've arranged to meet Old Man (George) from the Love message board so after we've sussed out the venue, we go to a local pub where we've arranged to meet him and his family - they're at the gig tonight as well. One of the brilliant things about getting involved with the band has been meeting some great people from all over the country. We're tucking into beef lasagne when George (a committed vegan) arrives.
Back to the venue, which is run by some of the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet - God Bless you Marge! Its a great show, we return the camera to Bent and chat with folks at the end before heading off back to the hotel - a little too early we learn the following night, as Arthur deigns to come out and press the flesh with the fans after we've left, something he doesn't do too often. Not to worry - there's time for that yet.
The next day looking around Aberdeen and then travelling to Edinburgh is great - Lizzy's diary gives all the gen so I won't repeat it all here. Needless to say it was one of the funniest train journeys I've ever had.
I'm i/c travel arrangements and come up with a cunning plan . I buy a Saver ticket from Newark to Aberdeen on the old GNER line, Lizzy buys one from Newcastle to Aberdeen - Savers allow you to break your journey on your return journey, so we can take in Edinburgh and Glasgow on the way back down, with the trip culminating in Newcastle. Four gigs in five nights - hmmm.
Wednesday dawns and I set off for Newark, about 20 miles from Nottingham, and leave the car in the station carpark - hope it's still there next Monday. I've got the trusty Argos tripod, and a suitcase full of aging rock-chick type gear. One train up to Newcastle, where Lizzy is waiting, and we set off again to Aberdeen. Its a terrific journey - when I was a child my family lived in a house right next to the Newcastle to Edinburgh railway line about 5 miles out from Newcastle - and there it is! Then up the Northumberland Coast, lots of castles, through Berwick and the ramparts and on up to Edinburgh. Over the Forth Bridge, on up the coast through Dundee, Montrose and finally at about 5pm we're at Aberdeen. It gives the impression of being a very solid place, they don't call it the Granite City for nothing. Not very warm in the middle of February however.
We're staying at the Premier Lodge right opposite the venue - a short walk through the rather grandiose streets and we're there. We check in - all of the other residents would appear to be oilmen straight off the rigs apart from us. We've arranged to meet Old Man (George) from the Love message board so after we've sussed out the venue, we go to a local pub where we've arranged to meet him and his family - they're at the gig tonight as well. One of the brilliant things about getting involved with the band has been meeting some great people from all over the country. We're tucking into beef lasagne when George (a committed vegan) arrives.
Back to the venue, which is run by some of the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet - God Bless you Marge! Its a great show, we return the camera to Bent and chat with folks at the end before heading off back to the hotel - a little too early we learn the following night, as Arthur deigns to come out and press the flesh with the fans after we've left, something he doesn't do too often. Not to worry - there's time for that yet.
The next day looking around Aberdeen and then travelling to Edinburgh is great - Lizzy's diary gives all the gen so I won't repeat it all here. Needless to say it was one of the funniest train journeys I've ever had.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
No 7: Northampton Roadmender 15th February 2004
Once the North Eastern contingent had headed back up the M1, I decided we needed a new tripod - I'd used Keith's good tripod at the Rescue Rooms last night, it had been just the job. However I didn't think he'd be so keen on it going down to Northampton / up to Scotland / wherever the video ladies were needed. Also it was quite big and heavy. So I headed off to Argos and bought a cheap, light-weight one which came with its own handy carrying case!!
Lizzy got back from her epic journey late afternoon, a quick bite to eat and then we're off to Northampton - me driving, so that means not much drinking. I used to travel to Northampton quite frequently in a previous job, its not a bad journey of about 70 miles. After a bit of a detour we find the venue which looks a bit like a 70s municipal leisure centre. We head for the door - Bent has been good to his word and our names are on the list - and we have press/photo passes! We're in - and its not as bad inside as the outside had suggested.
Again, Lizzy wrote up a cracking diary at the time so I won't repeat all of the details. The camera arrives with Arthur, and Arthur doesn't arrive until much before the band are due on stage - he is the star after all. I do some waiting around while Lizzy minds our spot on the balcony, and Bent finally brings me the camera with the message from Arthur "Make sure you label the tapes". Yessir Arthur, we will, we've even brought a pen - and a torch, which we realised was a necessity after yesterday's fumblings at the Rescue Rooms.
No after show kebabs this time, for one thing we need to drive all the way back to Nottingham and Lizzy has to be up extra early in the morning to get to Newcastle for 9am. We do hang round for a while and have a quick chat with Mike and Rusty - Rusty is wearing a sharp suit on stage today instead of his usual black jacket, I tell him he looks good in it and he seems quite embarrassed - he's a sensitive soul and not your usual swaggering rock god type.
Drive back towards the M1, I nearly drive straight across a roundabout instead of round it, we survive that and make our way back to Chateau Yourmindandwe on a very quiet M1 at midnight on Sunday night.
Lizzy got back from her epic journey late afternoon, a quick bite to eat and then we're off to Northampton - me driving, so that means not much drinking. I used to travel to Northampton quite frequently in a previous job, its not a bad journey of about 70 miles. After a bit of a detour we find the venue which looks a bit like a 70s municipal leisure centre. We head for the door - Bent has been good to his word and our names are on the list - and we have press/photo passes! We're in - and its not as bad inside as the outside had suggested.
Again, Lizzy wrote up a cracking diary at the time so I won't repeat all of the details. The camera arrives with Arthur, and Arthur doesn't arrive until much before the band are due on stage - he is the star after all. I do some waiting around while Lizzy minds our spot on the balcony, and Bent finally brings me the camera with the message from Arthur "Make sure you label the tapes". Yessir Arthur, we will, we've even brought a pen - and a torch, which we realised was a necessity after yesterday's fumblings at the Rescue Rooms.
No after show kebabs this time, for one thing we need to drive all the way back to Nottingham and Lizzy has to be up extra early in the morning to get to Newcastle for 9am. We do hang round for a while and have a quick chat with Mike and Rusty - Rusty is wearing a sharp suit on stage today instead of his usual black jacket, I tell him he looks good in it and he seems quite embarrassed - he's a sensitive soul and not your usual swaggering rock god type.
Drive back towards the M1, I nearly drive straight across a roundabout instead of round it, we survive that and make our way back to Chateau Yourmindandwe on a very quiet M1 at midnight on Sunday night.
No 6: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 14th February 2004
The first show of the tour for us was to be the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham on Valentines Day, 2004. Lizzy, Chris and their daughter Ellie, together with Scottish Keith, were all coming down from the North East to stay at our house before going to the gig on Saturday night. Gill and Colin were coming up from Essex and we had arranged to meet up with them in the Bell again.
Now Mike has a friend and neighbour in LA, the New Guy (TNG) who had been filming various US gigs for Arthur's personal use. TNG, and by association Arthur, was keen for as many of the UK shows to be filmed as possible. Lizzy, who is much more of a technophile than me, had been asked if she could get involved in this, so she was bringing her video camera along to the show in an official capacity. I put our tripod in the back of the car and we set off - the place where I work is very near the Rescue Rooms so we parked there and then strolled down to the Bell and met up with Gill and Colin.
Gig time approached and we headed for the Rescue Rooms - the first person we saw was Mike, talking on his mobile phone outside in the courtyard. We had a quick chat and he told us that Bent, the tour manager was looking for Lizzy re the videoing - she was on the guest list!
Lizzy has written a great diary about the gig so rather than repeat everything that happened that extraordinary night, I've put a link to it. All I can say is - we weren't expecting to be using Arthur's video camera, we were completely stunned when it arrived - and when you opened the bag it did smell of roses... Taking the camera back after the gig, I did the old "Can I have an autograph for my friend" trick again - this time for my old pal Paul, a long time Love fan, who happened to be there with his wife Pam that evening.
After the obligatory kebab with Mike from the Antalya on Upper Parliament Street - we were all back to the band's hotel, the Strathdon, for a few drinks. It was here that were to meet the crew properly for the first time - all Danes, these were people who were to become great pals over the next few weeks and months. First off there was Bent, the tour manager, who'd seen it all, done it all - and got the t-shirt. Then there was Kose, the (partially deaf) sound guy - more about him later. Then there was the lovely Troels - now Troels is about 6 foot 4 inches tall, a sort of a coffee colour, and has waist length dreadlocks - and, we later learned, an identical twin brother! We spent some time chatting with them, although at this juncture Troels was sticking to his native Danish and Bent was translating - we later discovered that Troels had a pretty good grasp of English.
After a few beers, Lizzy and I decided that, despite previous decisions not to, we had to go to Northampton the next evening... this would involve Lizzy driving all the way back from Nottingham to Newcastle on Sunday to take her family back home, then back to Nottingham, and then driving on to Northampton. Bent would arrange for us to have press passes. It was to be the start of our brilliant careers as rock legend videoers (is that a proper word??)
The Disco compilation goes Stateside - December 2003
Shortly after my birthday, Mike posts a diary entry about an incident from the 70s and his love of the BeeGees music - we're emailing each other quite regularly by this time. I tell him I've got this killer disco compilation, he's keen to have a copy so I duly burn him a CD which is despatched to West Hollywood, and much appreciated.
The other news around this time is that there is going to be big - and I mean big - Love UK and European tour in early 2004. Its due to start early February and go on until April, visiting pretty much the length and breadth of the UK. There's going to be a show in Nottingham on February 14th and the week following that. a good week for both Lizzy and I to take off work, they're in Scotland and the North of England. The girls are going to go on tour.
The other news around this time is that there is going to be big - and I mean big - Love UK and European tour in early 2004. Its due to start early February and go on until April, visiting pretty much the length and breadth of the UK. There's going to be a show in Nottingham on February 14th and the week following that. a good week for both Lizzy and I to take off work, they're in Scotland and the North of England. The girls are going to go on tour.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
NLR: My 50th Birthday 27th November 2003
Another birthday, another party...
Friends and relations are summoned from far and wide - Lizzy and Chris are coming down from Newcastle, my two sisters are coming over from Hull and my brother is coming up from London.
Mrs Matheru, the samosa lady from Sneinton, does a wonderful job of the food. Castle Rock Brewery does a wonderful job of the beer. And its me sorting out the music again....
By this time I reckon I've come up with the definitive cheesy disco collection - and this is it:
1. Jacksons – Blame it on the Boogie
2. Trammps – Disco Inferno
3. Wild Cherry – Play that Funky Music White Boy
4. Kool and the Gang – Get down on it
5. Rose Royce – Car Wash
6. Chic – Good Times
7. Pointer Sisters – Jump for your love
8. KC and the Sunshine Band – Get Down Tonight
9. Hues Corporation – Rock the Boat
10. Gap Band – Oops upside your head
11. Kool and the Gang – Celebration
12. Heatwave – Boogie Nights
13. Gibson Brothers – Cuba
14. Emotions - Best of my Love
15. Beegees – Stayin Alive
16. Supremes – You can’t hurry Love
17. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
18. Chic – Le Freak
19. Diana Ross – Upside Down
20. McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t no stoppin’ us now
Friends and relations are summoned from far and wide - Lizzy and Chris are coming down from Newcastle, my two sisters are coming over from Hull and my brother is coming up from London.
Mrs Matheru, the samosa lady from Sneinton, does a wonderful job of the food. Castle Rock Brewery does a wonderful job of the beer. And its me sorting out the music again....
By this time I reckon I've come up with the definitive cheesy disco collection - and this is it:
1. Jacksons – Blame it on the Boogie
2. Trammps – Disco Inferno
3. Wild Cherry – Play that Funky Music White Boy
4. Kool and the Gang – Get down on it
5. Rose Royce – Car Wash
6. Chic – Good Times
7. Pointer Sisters – Jump for your love
8. KC and the Sunshine Band – Get Down Tonight
9. Hues Corporation – Rock the Boat
10. Gap Band – Oops upside your head
11. Kool and the Gang – Celebration
12. Heatwave – Boogie Nights
13. Gibson Brothers – Cuba
14. Emotions - Best of my Love
15. Beegees – Stayin Alive
16. Supremes – You can’t hurry Love
17. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
18. Chic – Le Freak
19. Diana Ross – Upside Down
20. McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t no stoppin’ us now
Friday, March 04, 2005
NLR: Jim goes off to University 5th October 2003
This was the day I had been dreading for a long time - my only child, fruit of my womb, was leaving home to go to University in York. The empty nest syndrome as its called, it had had me behaving strangely for some time and sometimes I think the whole Love thang was transference behaviour.
The previous weeks had been spent buying bedding, kettles, crockery and cutlery etc plus ensuring that Jim was kitted out in suitable student style, i.e. more a less a t-shirt for each day of term, as clothes washing is not a speciality. The car was packed to the roof and we were off to York, about 90 miles or so away so not exactly the ends of the earth. We joined the procession of similarly laden vehicles on the York ring road and there we were, Vanbrugh College, Jim's new home - only for 10 weeks initially mind you, he was planning to come home for Christmas. Keith, Jim and I unloaded the car and started to get the room into some semblance of order, bed making etc ... then there's a knock on the door.. "Hi, I'm James, I'm in the room across the corridor"... and he was off. We said hasty goodbyes and left him to it, this was Jim's day not ours after all.
Back in the car and back round the ring road - I'm saying things like " They seemed like nice people" and "The room was a bit small wasn't it"... and I look over at Keith and he's in floods of tears. He's been the one who's been telling me its going to be all right etc, when I've been going bonkers over the last 12 months or so. Looks like I'd come to terms with it already and Keith has just realised the enormity of what has just happened......but that doesn't mean its not going to be all right.
The previous weeks had been spent buying bedding, kettles, crockery and cutlery etc plus ensuring that Jim was kitted out in suitable student style, i.e. more a less a t-shirt for each day of term, as clothes washing is not a speciality. The car was packed to the roof and we were off to York, about 90 miles or so away so not exactly the ends of the earth. We joined the procession of similarly laden vehicles on the York ring road and there we were, Vanbrugh College, Jim's new home - only for 10 weeks initially mind you, he was planning to come home for Christmas. Keith, Jim and I unloaded the car and started to get the room into some semblance of order, bed making etc ... then there's a knock on the door.. "Hi, I'm James, I'm in the room across the corridor"... and he was off. We said hasty goodbyes and left him to it, this was Jim's day not ours after all.
Back in the car and back round the ring road - I'm saying things like " They seemed like nice people" and "The room was a bit small wasn't it"... and I look over at Keith and he's in floods of tears. He's been the one who's been telling me its going to be all right etc, when I've been going bonkers over the last 12 months or so. Looks like I'd come to terms with it already and Keith has just realised the enormity of what has just happened......but that doesn't mean its not going to be all right.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
A Supermarket in California - Allen Ginsberg
A Supermarket in California
What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the side streets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?
I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans following you, and followed in my imagination by the store detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.
Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?
(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd.)
Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses,we'll both be lonely.
Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of Lethe?
Allen Ginsberg
Footnote: I was reminded of this poem when Lizzy and I were wandering around the wonderful Wild Oats Supermarket in Santa Monica, California - it put every English supermarket I've ever been in to shame. We saw Allen Ginsberg give a poetry reading in Newcastle probably about 1971, including this poem - he was like a little bearded gnome and his drawling style of reading was mesmeric. When I looked for the poem back in the UK, I found it a boxed set, Penguin Modern Poets 1-6, with the inscription:
" Tina Lyall, Prize for English, Whitley Bay Grammar School 1970".
Q. How much poetry have I read since 1970? A. Not a lot.
What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the side streets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?
I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans following you, and followed in my imagination by the store detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.
Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?
(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd.)
Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses,we'll both be lonely.
Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher, what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat disappear on the black waters of Lethe?
Allen Ginsberg
Footnote: I was reminded of this poem when Lizzy and I were wandering around the wonderful Wild Oats Supermarket in Santa Monica, California - it put every English supermarket I've ever been in to shame. We saw Allen Ginsberg give a poetry reading in Newcastle probably about 1971, including this poem - he was like a little bearded gnome and his drawling style of reading was mesmeric. When I looked for the poem back in the UK, I found it a boxed set, Penguin Modern Poets 1-6, with the inscription:
" Tina Lyall, Prize for English, Whitley Bay Grammar School 1970".
Q. How much poetry have I read since 1970? A. Not a lot.
Non-Love Related (NLR): Steve and Wendy's Silver Wedding 30th August 2003
Steve and Wendy are good friends of ours in Nottingham, we've known them for 28 years or so since Keith and Steve were both training as teachers at Nottingham University. Its their Silver Wedding and they're throwing a big party at home - somewhat surprisingly the first party they've ever held. Keith and I are famed as party animals and have thrown parties at every conceivable opportunity since we've known each other - perhaps that's why Steve and Wendy never have before! They've bought the booze, booked a caterer and I have been commissioned to be i/c music for the evening!! Wendy has given me a list of some of their fave tunes, the ones that have special meaning for them, to help me on my way (Martha and the Muffins?? whats that all about??)
Now, I'm a bit of a disco diva - in my younger days I used to haunt the 70s night at the Black Orchid on Nottingham's Ring Road, Disco Inferno, complete with resident DJ Disco Dick, strutting my funky stuff to Tavares, the BeeGees, Trammps and other such cheesy rubbish. Now, cheesy that sort of stuff might be, but from my advanced age I can tell you, it gets everybody of every age up and dancing! So with the much appreciated technical assistance of Jim I put together a few CDs, one or two of the meaningful stuff but also a couple of ripsnorting Disco collections to get the grannies up and bopping.
Its a great night, Steve and Wendy have gathered a lot of their old friends together and everybody is having a good time. Late in the evening I get stuck into the CD player with some serious Disco action and they're all doing the actions to "Blame it on the Boogie" and "YMCA", and sitting down rowing (i.e. performing the action of rowing a boat rather than arguing) to "Whoops upside your head". Hey, I'm enjoying this - perhaps a new career as a disc spinner beckons...
Now, I'm a bit of a disco diva - in my younger days I used to haunt the 70s night at the Black Orchid on Nottingham's Ring Road, Disco Inferno, complete with resident DJ Disco Dick, strutting my funky stuff to Tavares, the BeeGees, Trammps and other such cheesy rubbish. Now, cheesy that sort of stuff might be, but from my advanced age I can tell you, it gets everybody of every age up and dancing! So with the much appreciated technical assistance of Jim I put together a few CDs, one or two of the meaningful stuff but also a couple of ripsnorting Disco collections to get the grannies up and bopping.
Its a great night, Steve and Wendy have gathered a lot of their old friends together and everybody is having a good time. Late in the evening I get stuck into the CD player with some serious Disco action and they're all doing the actions to "Blame it on the Boogie" and "YMCA", and sitting down rowing (i.e. performing the action of rowing a boat rather than arguing) to "Whoops upside your head". Hey, I'm enjoying this - perhaps a new career as a disc spinner beckons...
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
No 5. Canterbury Fayre 23rd - 24th August 2003
Having decided earlier in the year that we were too old for Glastonbury (!), a nice little festival comes along that we 49 year olds feel a bit more comfortable with. Its at Mount Ephraim near Canterbury, August Bank Holiday weekend, Robert Plant is headlining Saturday and Love are headlining Sunday - Hooray! We book weekend tickets.
Now I'm more of your five star hotel sort of a gel than your tent sort of a gel, so I get on the internet and find a nice Express by Holiday Inn (wot no Thistle) on the Canterbury bypass, the nearest hotel with more than three rooms - two rooms are booked, one for Lizzy and Chris and one for me and Joan, Lizzy's cousin who again I haven't seen for twenty plus years.
August dawns and the big news is that Jim has done well in his A levels and is off to his first choice, York University, to study Chemistry. Much celebrating in the yourmindandwe household.
A week or so later, early Saturday morning I'm driving off to Canterbury. Down the M1, swift circumnavigation of the M25, head off across Kent (which looks very nice) and into the Express by Holiday Inn to await the rest of the party who are travelling down from Newcastle/Scotland. I join the queue at Reception to check in - the chaps in front of me are Scandinavian, in fact one of them looks suspiciously like Bjorn, the Swedish trombone player I took a shine to in Manchester. The other one, a careworn Dane who I will later learn is Bent, the tour manager, is arguing with the reception clerk about why the room is not ready for Mr Lee..... Effing Hell, I've only gone and booked us into the same hotel as the band... I quickly text Lizzy to tell her the news, she's somewhere near Luton and will be with me as soon as humanly possible.
Lizzy and Chris arrive, followed shortly after by Joan who's driven all the way from Perth (Scotland not Australia). We quickly get reacquainted, after all we are sharing a room, and she tells me everything thats happened to her in the intervening twenty odd years - living in Sweden, running a pub, marriage, three kids, divorce, not having a s**g for the last 10 years (10 years!!), some cow at work who's made her life a misery etc etc - makes my 20 odd years of marriage, most of that time doing the same job and living in the same house seem a bit humdrum - hey ho! Bit less than 10 years for me however, she asks me how long and I have to admit its more like 10 hours.
We head off for the festival site, its about 3 miles away. We are directed onto the overflow parking/camping site , the cricket pitch, which is very pleasant. We have a day tent - very civilised - which is duly pitched - somewhere to keep the beer etc, and to shelter if it rains. Recollections of Saturday are a bit vague but it is real hippy heaven here - I feel like I've been transported back about 35 years. We listen to Roy Harper from the cricket pitch, and then go down to the stage and watch the Incredible String Band who Lizzy and I saw at Newcastle City Hall in about 1969 - they have dated a great deal! The main event however is Robert Plant and his new band, and they are excellent -really rocking. They finish off with Whole Lotta Love and we repair to the hotel happy bunnies.
We sit in the downstairs bar/lounge area of the hotel to watch the football - Joan is feeling tired so she's off to bed. In a short while a big people-carrier with blacked out windows arrives - its Robert Plant and his lady - I say Hello and he says Hello back (couldn't I have thought of something more original!!). Shortly after that the same van is back again - and its the band, sans Arthur. We start talking to Mike and Rusty - Mike is hungry, there's no food available at the hotel, so kebabs are mentioned. Now Lizzy and Chris have a little two seater sports car, I have a great big car, we discuss things amongst ourselves, am I sober enough to drive into Canterbury for kebabs?? - I decide I am and Lizzy, Chris, Mike and me are heading off to Canterbury in search of an ever open Kebab house (it is about 1am by now). We park up somewhere near the Cathedral, ask some passing locals where we should go, and we're there. Now Mike has peroxide dreadlocks and a Californian accent - he stands out a bit in downtown Kent. We have some slightly odd conversations with the rest of the clientele of the Kebab House, then its off for a little walk around Canterbury to see some sights (i.e. the Cathedral again and the Canterbury Tales amusement arcade) then its back to the hotel. Mike falls asleep in the front seat of the car while we're driving back, we wake him up when we arrive and everybody's off to bed, ready for another busy day tomorrow.
Sunday dawns - we're due to meet with Scottish Keith. He's rung to ask if we can get some beer in - another drive to Canterbury, a supermarket is traced and copious quantities of beer, cranberry juice and food are purchased - we already have gin, tonic and lemons and I've got a flask full of ice from the hotel ice machine just to be on the safe side. Then its off to the site again - our tent is still there so we get settled in. SK comes up to the cricket pitch to meet us, he's with Dukie, Hannah and Miranda - we get quite a party together which SK has detailed at some length (see link) so I won't go into all the details again - needless to say we were all having a great time. Now Hannah has been emailing back and forth with Mike Randle but has never met him before today - she's a very nice young lady in her early twenties - she gets stuck into our gin and SK's vodka and by the time she gets to meet Mike later in the day she is seriously plastered. Now as this story unfolds you, dear reader, will come to learn that Hannah is now Mike's "significant other" - when Lizzy and I were in LA recently and met up with Mike, he was quoting back things to me that I said to Hannah on that afternoon, so I must have made an impression!
A quick recuperative sleep and then we're down to the front of the stage to see the Buzzcocks followed by Love. Now, I unlike some of my party was always a big Buzzcocks fan - they give a great performance and we all pogo about like mad. Then Love come on, with orchestra and light show, fantastic performance again. Afterwards we all congregate at the sangria tent, Mike joins us and as described in Scottish Keith's diary, we have a bit of a sing song. Back to the hotel to sleep this time, no midnight kebab trips tonight.
Next morning, Joan and I get up and go down for breakfast. Mike is sitting near the bar looking a bit worse for wear - he did a bit more drinking after we left him. We take our seats when who should we see walking towards the breakfast area but Arthur Lee, looking very cool in his trademark shades, accompanied by Bent the tour manager. I look and smile and Joan and I whisper and giggle with each other like a couple of school girls - then he comes over to our table... I utter the immortal line " Arthur, you're looking cooler than any man deserves to at this time of the morning" - cringeworthy or what. Never mind, he seems quite flattered, asks us if we were at the show last night and did we enjoy it, we say we were and we did and he goes back to his seat looking quite pleased with himself. Joan and I are beside ourselves with excitement, Lizzy and Chris come down to join us and we titter our way through breakfast.
Time to leave - we check out and Arthur is sitting in reception reading a paper, wearing normal prescription specs now, not shades - he looks almost like a normal human being rather than a rock god. We say our goodbyes, shake him by the hand and he thanks us for coming. I head back to Nottingham feeling like I've died and gone to heaven.
Now I'm more of your five star hotel sort of a gel than your tent sort of a gel, so I get on the internet and find a nice Express by Holiday Inn (wot no Thistle) on the Canterbury bypass, the nearest hotel with more than three rooms - two rooms are booked, one for Lizzy and Chris and one for me and Joan, Lizzy's cousin who again I haven't seen for twenty plus years.
August dawns and the big news is that Jim has done well in his A levels and is off to his first choice, York University, to study Chemistry. Much celebrating in the yourmindandwe household.
A week or so later, early Saturday morning I'm driving off to Canterbury. Down the M1, swift circumnavigation of the M25, head off across Kent (which looks very nice) and into the Express by Holiday Inn to await the rest of the party who are travelling down from Newcastle/Scotland. I join the queue at Reception to check in - the chaps in front of me are Scandinavian, in fact one of them looks suspiciously like Bjorn, the Swedish trombone player I took a shine to in Manchester. The other one, a careworn Dane who I will later learn is Bent, the tour manager, is arguing with the reception clerk about why the room is not ready for Mr Lee..... Effing Hell, I've only gone and booked us into the same hotel as the band... I quickly text Lizzy to tell her the news, she's somewhere near Luton and will be with me as soon as humanly possible.
Lizzy and Chris arrive, followed shortly after by Joan who's driven all the way from Perth (Scotland not Australia). We quickly get reacquainted, after all we are sharing a room, and she tells me everything thats happened to her in the intervening twenty odd years - living in Sweden, running a pub, marriage, three kids, divorce, not having a s**g for the last 10 years (10 years!!), some cow at work who's made her life a misery etc etc - makes my 20 odd years of marriage, most of that time doing the same job and living in the same house seem a bit humdrum - hey ho! Bit less than 10 years for me however, she asks me how long and I have to admit its more like 10 hours.
We head off for the festival site, its about 3 miles away. We are directed onto the overflow parking/camping site , the cricket pitch, which is very pleasant. We have a day tent - very civilised - which is duly pitched - somewhere to keep the beer etc, and to shelter if it rains. Recollections of Saturday are a bit vague but it is real hippy heaven here - I feel like I've been transported back about 35 years. We listen to Roy Harper from the cricket pitch, and then go down to the stage and watch the Incredible String Band who Lizzy and I saw at Newcastle City Hall in about 1969 - they have dated a great deal! The main event however is Robert Plant and his new band, and they are excellent -really rocking. They finish off with Whole Lotta Love and we repair to the hotel happy bunnies.
We sit in the downstairs bar/lounge area of the hotel to watch the football - Joan is feeling tired so she's off to bed. In a short while a big people-carrier with blacked out windows arrives - its Robert Plant and his lady - I say Hello and he says Hello back (couldn't I have thought of something more original!!). Shortly after that the same van is back again - and its the band, sans Arthur. We start talking to Mike and Rusty - Mike is hungry, there's no food available at the hotel, so kebabs are mentioned. Now Lizzy and Chris have a little two seater sports car, I have a great big car, we discuss things amongst ourselves, am I sober enough to drive into Canterbury for kebabs?? - I decide I am and Lizzy, Chris, Mike and me are heading off to Canterbury in search of an ever open Kebab house (it is about 1am by now). We park up somewhere near the Cathedral, ask some passing locals where we should go, and we're there. Now Mike has peroxide dreadlocks and a Californian accent - he stands out a bit in downtown Kent. We have some slightly odd conversations with the rest of the clientele of the Kebab House, then its off for a little walk around Canterbury to see some sights (i.e. the Cathedral again and the Canterbury Tales amusement arcade) then its back to the hotel. Mike falls asleep in the front seat of the car while we're driving back, we wake him up when we arrive and everybody's off to bed, ready for another busy day tomorrow.
Sunday dawns - we're due to meet with Scottish Keith. He's rung to ask if we can get some beer in - another drive to Canterbury, a supermarket is traced and copious quantities of beer, cranberry juice and food are purchased - we already have gin, tonic and lemons and I've got a flask full of ice from the hotel ice machine just to be on the safe side. Then its off to the site again - our tent is still there so we get settled in. SK comes up to the cricket pitch to meet us, he's with Dukie, Hannah and Miranda - we get quite a party together which SK has detailed at some length (see link) so I won't go into all the details again - needless to say we were all having a great time. Now Hannah has been emailing back and forth with Mike Randle but has never met him before today - she's a very nice young lady in her early twenties - she gets stuck into our gin and SK's vodka and by the time she gets to meet Mike later in the day she is seriously plastered. Now as this story unfolds you, dear reader, will come to learn that Hannah is now Mike's "significant other" - when Lizzy and I were in LA recently and met up with Mike, he was quoting back things to me that I said to Hannah on that afternoon, so I must have made an impression!
A quick recuperative sleep and then we're down to the front of the stage to see the Buzzcocks followed by Love. Now, I unlike some of my party was always a big Buzzcocks fan - they give a great performance and we all pogo about like mad. Then Love come on, with orchestra and light show, fantastic performance again. Afterwards we all congregate at the sangria tent, Mike joins us and as described in Scottish Keith's diary, we have a bit of a sing song. Back to the hotel to sleep this time, no midnight kebab trips tonight.
Next morning, Joan and I get up and go down for breakfast. Mike is sitting near the bar looking a bit worse for wear - he did a bit more drinking after we left him. We take our seats when who should we see walking towards the breakfast area but Arthur Lee, looking very cool in his trademark shades, accompanied by Bent the tour manager. I look and smile and Joan and I whisper and giggle with each other like a couple of school girls - then he comes over to our table... I utter the immortal line " Arthur, you're looking cooler than any man deserves to at this time of the morning" - cringeworthy or what. Never mind, he seems quite flattered, asks us if we were at the show last night and did we enjoy it, we say we were and we did and he goes back to his seat looking quite pleased with himself. Joan and I are beside ourselves with excitement, Lizzy and Chris come down to join us and we titter our way through breakfast.
Time to leave - we check out and Arthur is sitting in reception reading a paper, wearing normal prescription specs now, not shades - he looks almost like a normal human being rather than a rock god. We say our goodbyes, shake him by the hand and he thanks us for coming. I head back to Nottingham feeling like I've died and gone to heaven.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
No 4. Rock City, Nottingham, Ist July 2003
After what seems like an awfully long gap, the news is out that Love are coming back over to the UK in the summer for Glastonbury and a few selected gigs, including one in Nottingham, my home town. Oh joy unconfined!
I don't feel up for Glastonbury, I feel that would be pushing it too far, but I do stay up to watch the television coverage - and there, in the middle of the night, are Arthur and the guys, including the Swedes,and they are wonderful. Can't wait for Rock City.
On the day of the gig, I picked Lizzy up from Newark Station - back to my house then into town with my husband Keith for a rendezvous with a number of other fans at the Bell in the Old Market Square. Mike Randle was there, selling copies of a demo CD, so I shelled out a fiver for one. Gill and her husband Colin were there, as well as Aake from Sweden, Martyn from South Africa (some folks travel a long way to see Love) Dave from Nottingham, and a chap from Hertfordshire called Pierre who ws drawn to Lizzy's jacket (see picture). Scottish Keith arrived later from Darlington with a friend, so there were quite a gang of us before we set off to Rock City, Mike having already left to do what he had to do. We managed to get very close to the front so had a brilliant view. A wonderful gig again, no orchestra but all of the band in remarkably good form. Arthur seemed really happy and was joking with the crowd, he seemed the most relaxed of the gigs that I'd seen to date. Downstairs to the basement bar when the show was over, Mike came down to join us for a chat and a beer but Keith was keen to get home so it was back to ours in a taxi.
I don't feel up for Glastonbury, I feel that would be pushing it too far, but I do stay up to watch the television coverage - and there, in the middle of the night, are Arthur and the guys, including the Swedes,and they are wonderful. Can't wait for Rock City.
On the day of the gig, I picked Lizzy up from Newark Station - back to my house then into town with my husband Keith for a rendezvous with a number of other fans at the Bell in the Old Market Square. Mike Randle was there, selling copies of a demo CD, so I shelled out a fiver for one. Gill and her husband Colin were there, as well as Aake from Sweden, Martyn from South Africa (some folks travel a long way to see Love) Dave from Nottingham, and a chap from Hertfordshire called Pierre who ws drawn to Lizzy's jacket (see picture). Scottish Keith arrived later from Darlington with a friend, so there were quite a gang of us before we set off to Rock City, Mike having already left to do what he had to do. We managed to get very close to the front so had a brilliant view. A wonderful gig again, no orchestra but all of the band in remarkably good form. Arthur seemed really happy and was joking with the crowd, he seemed the most relaxed of the gigs that I'd seen to date. Downstairs to the basement bar when the show was over, Mike came down to join us for a chat and a beer but Keith was keen to get home so it was back to ours in a taxi.
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