Tag: Billy Bragg

Preston Venues 8 and 9

Just behind Preston prison, on Ribbleton Lane was the Preston TUC Club (also known as the Ribdale Club). It was a scruffy slightly battered venue with a decent sized gig room on the left-hand side of the building.

My first visit was in 1985 on a Thursday night with the band in question being the Food Scientists. They had some truly suspect barbecued beans with baked potatoes on sale which I really should not have purchased. The band were instantly forgettable and did a short set allowing me to jump on the 11.15 bus home.

My other visit was on another Thursday 10/12/87 to see Chumbawumba. Astonishingly there were five gigs on in Preston that night, a true tsunami of music and a feat possibly never repeated. They included Tank at the Guild Hall and Frank Sidebottom at London Road Labour Club, I cannot recall the other two events.

There was a group of us out and we also ran into Tony Dewhurst in the Greyhound prior to them going to the Frank Sidebottom gig. I headed to the other gig on my lonesome before catching up with John Dewhurst inside the venue.

We witnessed a couple of supports prior to the main band coming on at 10.30. This was prior to their ‘Tubthumping’ 15 minutes of fame period. There was about 10 of them in the band and they very interactive, anarchic and overtly political, creating a vibrant moshpit.

Image result for chumbawamba pictures
Chumbawumba promo pic. Image Credit last.fm

They did one song in the style of Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ with the discarding of the placards and encored with an acapella version of ‘The Diggers’ for which Billy Bragg had previously performed a cover. They played about an hour set and were good fun overall.

Couple of years later I missed a Snuff gig there as I was recovering from a tonsillectomy. I can find no records there of any gigs into the 90’s so assuming the music part of the venue closed around then.

Down by the River (not the Neil Young track!) in Preston lie the linked Parks, Miller and Avenham Park. The latter has a natural bowl effect and we used to partake in the local tradition of rolling eggs down the hill on Easter Monday.  

Avenham Park on an Easter Monday (before my time!). Image Credit Blog Preston.

There used to be an old stage at the foot of the slope, which was utilised during the Preston Guild events which take place every 20 years (in place since 1179) and this venue was used extensively in the 1992 event. The stage has long now and there is a café and tourist information where it once stood.

I saw four different gigs there over the years. The first being a short impromptu one when traversing the park on the way to another gig in town after a couple of bevies in the Continental pub. This was on 31/05/92 and we caught a portion of Jools Holland and Rhythm and Blues band’s set.

I witnessed two local bands events, the first in July 2000 witnessing Lorane, Bridge and Cujo and the second was on 26/07/03 to see sets by Gotukola, Free Parking, Idiom Lifeline and Neocoma.   

Between 1994 and 1996 Gill and I lived on a flat off Fishergate Hill which was 5 minutes-walk from the park and remarkably a free Heineken Festival was scheduled to take place there.

We headed down on a Saturday in June 1994 and were chatting to a couple of friends whilst a young bunch of upstarts from South Manchester called Oasis were playing in the tent about 100 yards away – I can claim I heard them at least!

We now live within 5 minutes’ walk to where the Gallagher boys grew up and the record shop they frequented and my pal Marcus lives opposite the house where the Definitely Maybe album cover picture was taken

I am sure I saw more than one band that day but did not record the details so the only one I definitely clocked was a superb set from Boo Radleys. The fact that I could witness such a fine band for free on my doorstep was a rare boon. Their best track was ‘Lazarus’.  

The festival continued the following year but with a significantly more commercial slant with Spice Girls playing. I decided to swerve that one and reminisce on the previous year’s show!

I appreciate this is a first world problem, but today marks 100 days since my last gig, my longest gap between gigs since 1994. I am hoping and praying that all these venues, especially the smaller ones  survive the pandemic.

Manchester Venue 8 – Academy 1

Manchester Academy was built in 1990 about 100 yards from Manchester Students Union on Oxford Road and was renamed as Academy 1 in 2004 when the Academy venues merged. It is the largest of the group with a capacity of 2600, but I have always found it to be an accessible venue and tend to head down the right side to endeavour to have the best vantage of the stage. Generally, though it is a decent view from any area in the venue. The bar by the entrance however is brutally hard to get served.

Since my first visit on 24/05/91 I have attended there 30 times placing it at No 3 on the venues most attended list. That first gig was a starry double bill of Wedding Present and Buffalo Tom and was the first gig where we caught the 1.20am ghost train back. That train became a staple for many years after. I saw the Weddoes there again in 2007.

My next two visits in 1992 and 1993 involved stalking Sugar (Bob Mould’s new band after Husker Du) on their initial tours. The following year I saw Kristin Hersh (previously of Throwing Muses) and remains one of only about five gigs I have ever driven to, because quite frankly why would one want to drive to a gig?

Image result for sugar bob mould band live pictures
Sugar publicity pic. Image credit Spin

In the tail end of the 90’s Billy Bragg played twice with a Spiritualised gig in the middle of those two.  In 2000 I had high hopes for Queens of the Stone Age but despite a great first track it disappointedly petered out.

2002 saw Rocket from the Crypt imitators The Hives in town, the gig did not work for me at all. That was followed by two gigs involving legendary bands I had chased for a while, Sonic Youth and Fugazi. Both were excellent but on reflection Fugazi shaded it. The band contained Ian MacKaye (previously of Minor Threat) and they cut an intelligent and engaging presence.

Somewhat unsurprisingly I have caught every Mogwai Manchester date and they graced the stage four times between 2003 and 2011, all of consistently high quality. The only gig I have never attended due to illness was a Hundred Reason show, so I immediately rectified that by catching them on their next tour in 2004.

The Vines and Mercury Rev were splendid gigs and I also saw Go Team and Nine Black Alps there in 2006. Later that year I saw a proper high energy set from the Subways which turned out to be my 100th gig in Manchester.

We went to see Explosions in the Sky in 2008 missing an important North End relegation game against West Brom. We were keeping ourselves updated and confirmation of the final result – a 2-1 win induced whoops of delight which coincided with a very quiet passage on stage generating quizzical looks in our direction from the band!

Image result for explosions in the sky live pictures
Explosions in the Sky on stage. Image credit asialive365.com.

Further gigs followed from Ash, Buzzcocks and Hole. The final one inducing regret that I didn’t see them earlier in their career as their performance felt somewhat staged. The Hold Steady on 10/12/08 was as ever a positively uplifting experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed Eels in 17/03/13 in attendance with super fan Gary Moore who now runs the Schooner pub in Gateshead which stages live music. I have not yet had the opportunity to visit said establishment.

www.theschooner.co.uk

My two most recent gigs there were to see Toots and the Maytals, decent but too quiet and a 25th anniversary gig with Feeder in 2018.