Update #3

NOS Alive festival in Lisbon, Portugal which four of us are going to in July is announcing more acts.  Most of them I haven’t heard of, which might be because they are local acts.  Of interest:

·         The Chemical Brothers

·         Thom Yorke

·         Smashing Pumpkins

I saw The Chemical Brothers supporting Oasis in 1996 at Knebworth but that was outside in the daytime which is probably not the best setting for them.  I would sooner see Radiohead than their singer playing his 2^nd rate Autechre retreads but might be better than I expect.  Ruth really likes Smashing Pumpkins and they have got some good tunes though I find them a bit pretentious. Billy Corgan did tour with New Order and called them our Beatles so I am warming to him.

Very sad that Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks died last week.  Great band and What Do I Get? Is one of my favourite songs and the soundtrack for most of my relationships.

Ears still haven’t recovered from David Holmes last weekend.

Also been told off by Ruth for discussing personal things in the Blog.  I'm a bit torn about this but will respect her wishes as the wrath of Ruthie is something to behold.  Will get admonished for that comment now.

Contentious Number 4: David Holmes

David Holmes - Todmorden 08/12/2018

David Holmes - Photo by Woulfie

David Holmes is an artist and there is skill involved in DJing, despite what the reactionists  say, so this gig is included.  I've been a fan of David Holmes for over 20 years and whilst a lot of people I've spoken with didn't know who he is, a lot of them will certainly have heard his music.  He has written the soundtracks for numerous Hollywood movies, including the Ocean's Eleven franchise, created an admirable canon of his own work, produced artists such as Noel Gallagher and Primal Scream, as well as remixing U2 (can forgive him for that), Saint Etienne, and Ice Cube et al.  This is the first time I've seen him DJ though.  My personal favourites are his own tracks My Mate Paul and 69 Police and the remix of Skullcrusher by Dawn of The Replicants he did with Tim Goldsworthy.

I love Todmorden as it is such a quirky, creative and diverse place.  It is such a release from my sometimes stressful job that I am buying a flat here and will hopefully have moved in by March.  Ruth is keeping her flat in South Manchester so we will have one foot in (West) Yorkshire and one in Lancashire (Greater Manchester really but that doesn't have the same historical anchor).  For future nights out in Tod we will have my new flat, but for the gig we stayed at a BnB.  Had a lovely pre-gig Thai meal at Three Wise Monkeys which also has a great bar with a jazz band/duo playing.  Talking of quirkiness the barman was dressed as Where's Wally? and as he had to keep popping upstairs to get the card reader everyone ended up playing the game.  Great meal though!

I have never been to a venue that has such a diverse crowd before: the age range was from teenagers to people in their sixties and whilst most people were dancing away, the regulars were in there playing pool and chatting over a pint of bitter.  It was so loud though that it was difficult to even order a drink and my ears are still ringing.  The Golden Lion is a big pub that attracts great artists.  Irvine Welsh is DJing soon and Andrew Weatherall and Daddy G from Massive Attack played in recent weeks.  Not sure how they get this calibre of artists but it might be the amazing atmosphere and the money probably helps too.

David Holmes - Photo by Woulfie

David Holmes was great and he played an eclectic set thats only themes were being great tunes and funky as hell.  The place was rocking and we staggered out at just after 2 in the morning.  He didn't play vinyl which is a shame but I did benefit as at the end of his set he gave out copies of the CDs he has been using and I managed to get one from him, I reckon he was impressed by my Dub Soldier T-Shirt which incidentally has a golden lion on it.  Looking forward to more great nights in the Golden Lion if my ears recover.

David Holmes God's Waiting Room Mix June 2018 on MixCloud

First Ever Concert

My first ever concert was a turgid affair that only remains in the memory bank due to it being the first, and how crap it was. It was September 1988 and there was a girl I fancied who I knew liked Siouxsie and The Banshees so I bought tickets with the intention of coaxing her into a date. I didn't end up on the date with her but it is lost in the annals of time if she declined or I just didn't muster the courage to ask her. Anyway, I ended up going with my mate Pooley and neither of us were fans.

I was on crutches after snapping my femur which happened when I jumped out of a second floor window  whilst sleepwalking on an adventure holiday in the Herz Mountains near the old East German border (honestly).  In those days the Manchester Apollo, where the gig was taking place, didn't have a standing area.  As I was on crutches this was a personal relief but it made for a terrible atmosphere. The Banshees barely elicited a round of applause and the bassist gesticulated the wanker' sign at the audience for our lack of enthusiasm. It takes two to tango. When Pooley and I walked out of the venue there was a woman crouched down urinating, which would probably work on some level as a metaphor if I could be bothered to think about it.

Update #2 and Festivals 2019

Two festivals booked for 2019: Rockaway Beach in January which is taking place at Butlins in Bognor Regis.  The second is NOS Festival in Lisbon, Portugal in July and I know which one I’m looking forward to more.  I think it bears repeating, Butlins in Bognor Regis in January!!!  The line up isn’t amazing either with only a few acts I want to see. 

·         Echo & The Bunnymen

·         Barry Adamson

·         Goat Girl

·         The Orielles

·         Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble

·         Menace Beach

Terry Hall is taking to the decks.  There seems to be a modern fixation with anyone having a go at DJing which must be a bit perplexing for people who do it for a living.  I have pretty low expectations for this festival but that can sometimes mean having a great time, or just the shit time you were expecting.  The Lisbon festival hasn’t announced many bands yet with only The Cure, Bon Iver and Smashing Pumpkins that I have heard of.  Strangely enough, Ruth decided to opt out of Bognor Regis in January but seemed a bit keener on Lisbon in July.  For Rockaway Beach I'm going with Steve, Frank, Jules and Russian Jay.  This is a different Jay than the one who came to A Certain Ratio.  I've only met Russian Jay once and he apparently gained his moniker due to his preference for Russian ladies.  Such is the pleasure he derives from the Baltic beauties he actually goes there frequently. 

Steve, Jules, Ruth and myself are going to Lisbon. Frank is, funnily enough, in Portugal at the same time but is going to a motorcycle festival before riding to Africa.

I have booked tickets for Ruth and I to see Neneh Cherry at the Manchester Albert Hall in February and can’t wait for that one as never seen her live.

Update #1

Steve has texted and wants to get tickets for J Mascis who is playing Gorilla January 23rd. I'm up for that but Ruth was uncertain so she will probably miss out. The three of us saw Dinosaur Jr earlier this year at the Albert Hall (the Manchester one) and that was pretty special. For those not in the know J Mascis is the singer/guitarist of Dinosaur Jr. What stands out from that gig was how loud they were. Ruth loved them, probably in her indie uni days, so it was nice to take her.

Think I'm going to work out some statistics at some point related to how often I will have to see artists to hit the target. That should be worth the wait. Does irony translate in the written form? 

Bands 2 & 3: Sink Ya Teeth & A Certain Ratio

My first ever gig at Gorilla in Manchester and it is my sort of venue: small with a good sound and atmosphere and no heavy-handed security.  I organised this night out and we had quite a few people there.  From my normal gig group, Frank and Steve came as well as Jay who is in the group but this is the first time he has met the others.  Jules couldn't make it as she has a bad chest infection which is worrying as she has health issues, but she has such an amazing attitude to life despite this so it must be a bad infection.  Ruth came, and also Marius who was over from Germany and Ben who is having a bad time at college so I thought a night out with a load of old-timers, watching bands he's never heard of was just what he needed.

There was a lot of discussion about my challenge and Jay thought I shouldn't be including support bands but that would be a gig challenge my friend so no dice Jay.  Ruth and I have tickets to see David Holmes DJ in Todmorden December 8th and there was general outrage at my plan to include this event, apart from Ruth who wants me to finish this silliness as soon as possible and with the least expenditure.  I am including David Holmes because he is an established artist and it is certainly an event with artistic expression.  I wouldn't include someone playing records at the local bar but would include local bands as long as I have seen more than half the set and know their name.  The rules are taking shape as I progress and are subject to change depending on how well I am doing: it's my challenge after all.

All of us apart from Jay 'n' Steve went for a meal in Pomegranate on Burton Road before getting the tram to St Peter's Square then straight into the gig.  We'd normally go for a few drinks elsewhere first but everyone is suffering for my challenge and the need to watch support bands.  As an unlikely to be repeated bonus the first 150 people in the gig received an ACR whistle courtesy of https://bandsfc.com/.

Photo by Woulfie

At one point I commented to Ruth how whistles allow you to make a noise whilst still holding a pint andshe called it a classic Glenn comment.

Band 2

Sink Ya Teeth - Manchester Gorilla 24/11/2018

Sink Ye Teeth are a female duo from Norfolk and have been compared to New Order, Liquid Liquid, and ESG and these are all bands I love so...… They were really good though Ruth didn't think they were 'buy the album' good, I beg to differ.  Frank has a hatred of electronic music and called them a karaoke band, harsh man is our Frank.  Everyone else nodded along in a vaguely content manner which is usually as good as it gets for a support band that nobody knows.

Band 3

A Certain Ratio - Manchester Gorilla 24/11/2018

If any of the 97 performances to come beat this one I'll be surprised.  If there was any justice in the world then ACR would be playing in one of the biggest venues in Manchester rather than one of the smallest.  On reflection, if the matter of justice is being discussed then perhaps there are more pertinent recipients than post punk-funk bands from Wythenshawe but in the moment it was hard to think of anything but ACR.  And on further reflection I'm glad they were playing a small venue so maybe justice can look after itself sometimes.  Whatever their record sales ACR are legends in my book and the fact they were augmented by the uber-legendary Denise Johnson added extra class.  I never understand why Donald Johnson doesn't get mentioned when who the best drummer is from a Manchester band is debated as I don't think anyone comes close to him.  He even reverts to bass and vocals for Knife Slits Water and takes centre stage.  The set finishes with Si Fermir O Grido and a crescendo of whistles, percussion and smiles.  Frank and Steve seemed a little nonplussed by the night as they thought ACR were more electronic and less funky than the last time they saw them at Festival No 6, Ben seemed to have at least momentarily left his college blues behind him, Marius didn't give too much away, Jay was strutting his stuff, and Ruth sang I Won't Stop Loving You into my ear.  

Next stop Todmorden for David Holmes unless anything comes up before that.

Photos from Jezz Kerr's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jezspace?ref=br_tf

Taken by Pete Smith.

In the Beginning: Johnny Marr

I’m 48 presently and in just shy of 22 months I will reach the half century.  For whatever reason 30 was not dirty and 40 was not naughty.  My life beginning 40^th does not even register in my mind as having any measure of significance though I must have been at university, so life was changing, but I was a year or 2 premature in precipitating this morale boosting transition.  50 feels different!  It occurred to me earlier this year that under no circumstances, by no stretch of the imagination, or with all the will in the world, can I describe myself as being young. 

As someway of marking the countdown I was inspired by the 50 gigs in a year challenge though eventually eschewing this test for a more moderate 100 bands before I’m 50.  I’m not sure what you do about festivals with the 50 gigs challenge, does that only count as one gig?  I watched David Byrne at the Manchester Arena and Ladytron at the Liverpool 02 Academy recently which both would have made ideal opening gigs for the challenge, but I decided to start the week after meaning Johnny Marr would be the first:

Band 1

Johnny Marr at the Manchester Apollo 18/11/2018

I still remember hearing the Peel Session version of What Difference Does It Make? In the early 80s and thinking, rightly, that I’d not heard anything like this before.  I was starting to wander from my first love of The Jam who I’d become a fan of just after they split up.  The Smiths were to fill that void with aplomb and I spent a week in Wales on a family holiday listening to tapes of Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths and Staring at The Sea by The Cure.  The Mexico 86 World Cup was on TV, hand of God and all that, so I must have been 15.  I was always more of a Marr fan that I was of Morrissey, which is something of a relief these days, but I always loved how working class kids were introduced to, and sometimes accepted, topics such as poetry and female perspectives.  I feel that a lot of feminist commentators are just the acceptable face of sexism and Morrissey and Marr were allowed into a world where strident bigots, of a certain hue, were not welcome.  In the case of Johnny's erstwhile writing partner things were to change drastically.  That's another (old) story though 'but it goes on'.

Setlist

1.       The Tracers

2.       Bigmouth Strikes Again

3.       Jeopardy

4.       Day in Day Out

5.       New Dominions

6.       Hi Hello

7.       The Headmaster Ritual

8.       Walk into The Sea

9.       Getting Away With It

10.   Hey Angel

11.   Last Night I dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

12.   Spiral Cities

13.   Can’t Get You Out of My Head

14.   Get the Message

15.   Easy Money

16.   Boys Get Straight

17.   How Soon is Now

18.   Rise

19.   Bug

20.   There is A Light That Never Goes Out

21.   You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby

The set was loaded with songs from his new album Call the Comet (it was the Call the Comet tour to be fair) with a healthy smattering of Smiths and Electronic numbers and even an abridged cover of a Kylie tune.  I went with Jay and as is the normally the way when we go out, I got too pissed and consequently don’t recall a lot of the gig.  I do remember having a good time though.

Review Manchester Evening News

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/review-johnny-marr-manchester-o2-15433335 

Pretty good start to the challenge and later this week I have A Certain Ratio, and a support band to add to the list if I get in early enough.

Photo Source: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/review-johnny-marr-manchester-o2-15433335