Being a Northern lad, food has always been a key component of the evening. The central port of call in Preston since the mid 80’s has been the always friendly, reliable Zagros outside the Dog and Partridge and yards from the bus stop for the last bus home. Fabulous pizzas (Tuna Fish and Prawn used to be a fave) and fine kebabs with devilish chilli sauce.
On early Manchester trips there were many mercy dashes to a Chinese in Prestwich prior to the 1am closing, sometimes without success. Looking at my early notes, Chicken Prawn Cashew Nuts and Egg Fried Rice appeared to be a staple choice, quite often in one tray to assist the consumption. When the stable trains were introduced China Town was regularly visited after the gig and I am sure over the years we have visited the majority of restaurants in the vicinity.
As an alternate the curry mile in Rusholme was also occasionally visited. Over the last 15 years the cheap and cheerful Umami Noodle Bar on Oxford Road has been the venue of choice, we should be gold card members by now, and until a recent menu change you could set your clock by my good pal John Dewhurst ordering a No 68, for the record the Chicken Katsu Curry.
At the gig, the age-old problem of incessant babblers (generating the question of why buy a ticket in the first place?) has always been rather annoying and I have challenged people in the past in this regard, but I tend to zone it out nowadays, unless it is excessive and continuous. A more recent millennial issue is the recording of entire gigs on phones but as I tend to attend gigs that attract more discerning indie types I have never really found this to be a major concern.
As gigs in the 80’s and 90’s used to start later, I encountered more support bands but now tend to arrive 5 minutes before the main act as to me there is more allure in a sociable chat in the boozer than waiting in the venue between bands. Generally, also the beer is cheaper outside the gig and I am not normally one to warble about beer prices because I tend to accept rightly or wrongly that it is just the way it is. However, a case in point here was on a recent visit to the Ritz where a pint accrued the remarkable sum of £6.15, which quite frankly chaps is not good enough!
I have always tried where possible to place myself near the front of the stage and there have been many mosh pits visited. Those visits have been less frequent recently however there was one particularly old fashioned pit at a Rumjacks gig attended with Paul Wilson a few weeks ago which incited me to participate fully for an hour (a substitute gym session?) though my body was screaming in protest the following morning.
This generated the question of whether I should still be in moshpits at 51, but I embrace the ethos that you should not be too old for anything and to me there is nothing more invigorating than being in the midst of like-minded souls with a proper noisy band on stage, I find it a cathartic experience. I am still planning to nick out of the nursing home when older to catch the 50th anniversary Mogwai tour! To close I heard a phrase recently mirroring that sentiment which was ‘Adventures before Dentures’ –which I think is a wholly commendable approach to adopt.
