Author: jimmyc1968

Leeds Festival 2002

After attending one day of the 2001 festival, we decided to go and complete the full Monty of all three days of the 2002 event. As stated previously we have never actually camped at a festival and this time stayed at the Hilton in the city centre. This allowed us to swerve the unrest involving burning down the toilet blocks that occurred at the end of the festival, because of this incident it was the last event to take place at Temple Newsam before moving to its current home of Bramham Park.

Uncle George, Gill and I undertook the three days while John Dewhurst and his then partner attended Day 1 and Day 3 while Tony Dewhurst was at Day 2 and Day 3. After a couple of drinks, we headed out to the site on the Friday and despite it being a large site it was chaotically busy. We encountered School of Rock and his pals who were in residence at the Bacardi Tent.

The first band we focused on was Slipknot who were fourth on the bill on the main stage. We obtained a decent vantage point and as it was the first time I had witnessed them their full circus glory was abundantly fresh and their potty mouthed antics and the ascending rotating drum kit a sight to behold and they created a decent racket to boot. Following them we caught the Prodigy and the Snuff band wannabees the Offspring and their hit ’Pretty Fly for a White Guy’. On other stages we witnessed, And They Shall Know us by the Trail of Dead and Spiritualized.

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Leeds Festival 2002 Line Up. Image Credit pulpwiki.net

The overall headliners that day were Guns N Roses who were playing the Leeds site only. In their inimitable style they were over an hour late hitting the stage, no doubt inflicting migraines on the organisers in relation to time curfews. By this point we were heading for the bus but could hear their bombastic sound in the distance.     

On day 2, we arrived deliberately early for a 4.00pm main stage slot by my band of the weekend the White Stripes. I had missed an opportunity to see them at the tiny Manchester Roadhouse venue the previous year which was a regret so made doubly sure I was there this time and it turned out to be the only time I managed to witness them.

We spent 20 minutes wending our way through the huge crowd right from the top of the hill to about Row 10 in front of the stage. They did not disappoint and were a compelling spectacle and created such an almighty racket for a two-piece. Jack White’s voice was nothing less than astonishing and was reminiscent of a young Frank Black when I initially saw the Pixies at Manchester International 1 in 1988. As we headed away from the stage we heard Sports Report on a radio playing at a burger van which informed us that PNE had won, so all was well in the world, and it was time for another overpriced cool beer!     

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White Stripes on stage. Image Credit guitar.com

We also caught The Vines, Electric Soft Parade, Feeder, Weezer, Pulp, Jane’s Addiction and the first track of the Strokes set with Julian Casablancas hobbling on in a cast after an accident at a recent gig. I wanted to catch the Reindeer Section, a super group consisting of members of Snow Patrol, Mogwai and Arab Strap. However, when we reached the tent, it was evident that their set was cancelled, and we saw a screechy much inferior band called Vendetta Red instead. The numerous white robed members of Polyphonic Spree squeezing onto a very small stage were also an interesting spectacle.   

The following morning in the lounge area of the hotel we encountered Grant Nicholas, so it was a ‘breakfast with Feeder moment’ prior to them setting off to the Reading slot. Other bands I witnessed over the weekend were Dandy Warhols, Ash, Sum 41, Hives, Haven, Jimmy Eat World, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cooper Temple Clause, Rival Schools, Easyworld, Bobby Conn, Princess Superstar, Span, International Noise Conspiracy, Ben Kweller, The Streets, Spunge, No Use For A Name, Face To Face, Lo-Fidelity Allstars and Sick Of It All.     

I saw about 20 minutes of Muse’s grandiose set whilst standing on the hill queuing up for some tea. I made one major discovery when I witnessed the sublime British Sea Power for the first time in one of the side tents. They were in their first World War garb and foliage stage of their career, and they were terrific live, and I have seen them many times since.

The weekend ended with us walking to the transport pick up point and the musical accompaniment en route was the headliners Foo Fighters playing their finest track ‘Monkey Wrench’.

Preston Venue 32 – Plungington Hotel

Picture the scene if you will, midnight on a sweltering summers evening in 1985, two scrawny callow 17-year-olds on Lytham Road in Preston are throwing a tennis ball over a railway bridge, known locally as the danger bridge. When the ball did not reach its intended destination, the thrower would scramble up the hill to retrieve it, the issue being that this was the West Coast main line, the saviour being that the electrified third rail had not yet been introduced at this stage.

The punters in question were myself and a chap called John Monk who I knew from school and the reason for this activity was due to a skinful of ale supped at the nearby Plungington Hotel pub. I guess this hazardous game could be quantified in equal parts invincibility of youth and crass stupidity.

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The Danger Bridge! Image Credit www.blogpreston.co.uk

I recall on another night John and I undertaking another outing through the disused Miley tunnel which was part of the original Preston to Longridge route before the muppet Beeching culled all the lines in the 60’s. It ran from the Adelphi roundabout to Deepdale Road and walking through it most definitely not reminiscent of a scene from the Railway Children movie! There has been talk for years of building a tram network which would utilise that line, but methinks the proof will be in the pudding there.

As you progressed away from the Danger Bridge towards the pub, on the left for many years was Preston football legend Tom Finney’s plumbing firm which he ran for many years after his retirement in 1960. On the right is St Cuthbert’s church where I used to attend bonfire nights with treacle toffee and parched peas on sale. I also recall Jumble Sales there where I used to hunt down rare Roy of the Rovers comics.

At the next junction with Brook Street there was located for many years a sweet shop that I used to frequent when walking up to watch the match. It was a proper old-fashioned place where they would have scales to weigh the toffees and place them in the requisite white bags. You could purchase in 2oz portions, and my regular choices were chewing nuts, toffee bonbons (white ones) and midget (mini) gems though I was also sometimes partial to Blackcurrant and Liquorice, Rhubarb and Custard, Chocolate Eclairs and Pear Drops.

Beyond there you reach the roundabout and the intersection with Blackbull Lane and Plungington Road where the pub resides. On the far side of the roundabout is a bus stop where Dave Keane and I would catch buses back in the 80’s.

For a spell around then there were bus wars in Preston and one of the firms operating were Zippy buses and their chief selling point was that they would stop anywhere and operated some non-standard routes. This assisted us greatly as we had undertaken a mission at that stage to try and have a drink in every Preston pub. We achieved about 90% coverage but fell short on some of the outermost pubs as there was no public transport option and taxis were unfeasible due to our paltry finances!

The Plungy for many years was a traditional Matthew Brown brewery pub and is split into a lounge and a games room with pool table and two dart boards and has remained relatively unchanged. Outside there is a bowling green where Crown Green bowls are played, I had the privilege of playing on there once, the only time I have played the deceptively challenging game. There are viewing areas around the green and it is a proper sun trap area.

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The Plungington Hotel. Image Credit blogspot.com

The Keane family clan who live nearby have been attending the pub for a Christmas Day dinner time drink for nigh on 40 years but 2020 put paid to that unbroken run, as it did to many other traditions and plans.

The establishment went through an extensive doldrums period and drugs issues prior to two brothers taking over the lease in 2009 and regenerating it. They spruced up the real ale choice, organised an annual gin festival which encompassed the bowling green area and introduced live bands. We visited on Easter Sunday 2010, and the place was jacked for the first time in decades and a noisy Preston indie covers band called Sydney Gumboots were playing in the lounge area.   

Around that time, they also used to have a decent jukebox where somewhat astonishingly I could find the Mogwai ‘Hunted by a Freak’ track so naturally I used to ensure that it received regular airplay much to the bemusement of the regulars!