Blackpool has always been an anathema to me as a Preston North End fan, however grudgingly I must admit the place does have some merits. I had many trips when a wee pup to the Pleasure Beach and me and Gill have had some fine day trips there in the past followed by a Chinese at the Mayflower on the sea front. Additionally, my stag outing involved beer stops on the train back from Blackpool South to Preston.
Blackpool has not been a fertile ground for gigs as I have only attended 4 in total over the years. The first involved Status Quo in 1984 on their farewell tour. You may chortle at that as they are still on the circuit, but it was officially their last tour, until the intervention of Live Aid brought them out of retirement the following year. The concert was at Blackpool Opera House and was my second ever gig.
We travelled the 20 miles over on a trundly bus. It was a large auditorium and we were sat up on the front row of the balcony. They were very good value and thumpingly loud and somewhat predictably ‘Rocking All Over the World’ went down a storm. Due to the encores we missed the last bus and my mate’s dad had to undertake a mercy mission to come and pick us up.
There followed a gap of 6 years to the second gig foray into Blackpool. It was a wholly unplanned one as I was out on a works do on a Friday afternoon around Preston and my mate Spig who resided in Blackpool mentioned that the Family Cat were playing at Blackpool Jenks. I can find no history on the venue, but it has clearly since bit the dust.
After a couple of sherbets, the gig attendance sounded like a fabulous idea, so we pottered off to the train station. On arrival in Blackpool we ran into a couple of his other mates who also decided to attend. Blackpool Jenks was located opposite the North Pier and after going up an endless flight of stairs it resembled a nightclub setting with stage towards the back. Family Cat were the first band I witnessed to have four guitarists which is always an enthralling sight to me as a colossal guitar fan. The four-guitar pronged approach was repeated most effectively years later by Mogwai. It was a very late gig and I recall they made an impressive racket. The day ended with me crashing on Spig’s bedroom floor.
The third gig was to see the Proclaimers in the Winter Gardens on 21/06/08 and they were as enjoyable as ever in a decent venue with excellent visibility. The fourth and final one is a treasured one as me and Gill were lucky enough to see the Specials at the Empress Ballroom on 04/11/09. I was too young to see them on their first time round but grasped the opportunity on their initial reunion tour. It was on an apocalyptically wet Tuesday night and we had a decent Thai meal beforehand. It was a large venue with a huge sprung floor which even if you didn’t dance yourself had an instant trampoline effect and they went down an absolute storm and continue to be as relevant as ever. We squelched off for the last train from Blackpool North which remains one of the most soul less stations I have ever encountered, a proper end of the line. The other place that springs to mind resembling it is Fuengirola which is another unappetising station. There were also many reprobates on the choo-choo, but we landed home safely after what remains a landmark gig.