Tag: Black Francis

Gigs from Abroad Part 22 – Valencia

Valencia is the third largest city of Spain with 2.7m punters within the province and is also one of the most populated cities in Southern Europe. It is bordered by the Mediterranean sea and on the northwest side by the hilly Sistema Iberico area and the foothills of Andalusia on their eastern and western perimeter.

That latter location reference resulted in me embracing my inner Black Francis and singing ‘I am un chien Andalusia, wanna grow up to be a debaser’ at regular intervals! Continuing the Pixies theme briefly I must pay homage to their recent menacing cover of ‘Que Sera, Sera’ which is used as the theme tune for the terrific ‘From’ TV series. Their version could not be further away from the Doris Day original and the one used in the 1983 advert for Birds Eye Steakhouse Grill which contains the refrain of ‘will it be mushrooms, fried onion rings?’!

Birds Eye Advert. Image Credit tvark.org

Valencia was founded as a roman colony in 138BC under the name of Valentia Edetanorum and was a major silk manufacturer in the 18th century and also had the distinction of briefly being the seat of the Spanish government during the Spanish Civil War in 1936-37. In 2003 it became the first European city to host the America’s Cup yacht race and was selected as the European Capital of Sport in 2011 and the European Green Capital in 2024. They also have the unusual accolade of having two American football teams, namely the Giants and the Firebats.

We decided to make a visit there in 2019 and we incorporated in the trip an initial jaunt to Madrid. We enjoyed one of the comfiest and effortless train rides and travelled into the city at over 200kmh, but it felt as smooth as silk, Northern train it was not!  Finding our accommodation proved to be a bit trickier as it was a tad buried away down a back street, though there were a couple of fine restaurants and bars in the surrounding suburban streets.  

We were blessed with glorious sunshine and pottered around all the tourist sites and walked for miles and the city is the home of paella so obviously we had to partake of one whilst we were there. By a quirk of fate, Valencia were in European action playing against Arsenal on our second night there. We deliberately stayed out of the centre that evening and hit the outskirts but in one particular bar we did encounter some animosity from a couple of locals, either they were surmising incorrectly that we were Arsenal football fans, or a more likely scenario is that they were just unpleasant individuals!

Our accommodation was very close to the start of the expansive Valencia Jardin del Turia that was built in 1986 on the original Turia river. The original river was diverted and drained after the Great Flood of Valencia in 1957 which claimed 81 lives. The whole site covers 136 hectares, passes under at least 20 bridges and stretches for 8.5 kilometers with further plans for an extension of that length.  

Jardin Del Turia. Image Credit ovigem.org

We hired bikes and cycled all the way down the gardens with the orange and palm trees and cafes dotted at regular intervals and if you maintain a straight line, you can reach the Port of Valencia. Whilst en route, we located a pop-up stage where a local brass band were playing.

We also spied a festival site being set up at Valencia Alamada Square, so decided to return that very evening. We purchased a cold beverage and watched a local band called Rumbo Ye Sevillinas on the main stage. It had a chilled family vibe apart from a couple of kids nearby with pyrotechnic tendencies trying to set fire to pieces of wood! Later that evening the festival procession headed down the winding streets and at one point we couldn’t find a way past to head back to our digs as at every turn they seem to follow us. It felt like we were in an extended movie scene!  

The following night, I recall us visiting a restaurant where they sold bocadillos and tapas where you could choose from a variety of items and then count your sticks at the end of the meal to work out your bill. On the nearby Valencia Mons Restaurant Square we saw an act called Tiux Music playing some reggae tunes.

Plaza Le Virgen. Image Credit vrbo.com

Around midnight, we chanced upon Valencia Plaza Le Virgen, which is located directly in front of the Cathedral. A large crowd had gathered there, and the reason became instantly evident when we heard the soothing music provided by the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (OCV) who were founded in the city in 2006.

Liverpool Venue 1 – The Royal Court

Mainly due to unreliable transport links I have been an irregular visitor to Liverpool for gigs though I have visited many times with work. I have always found Liverpool to be a vibrant and interesting place to frequent.

My first visit on a train was a mistake as for only the second time in my life I boarded the wrong train, not my fault honestly guv, and of course this error was compounded on arrival at Lime St Station by the fact that I missed the hourly train back to Preston by a wafer-thin margin of 2 minutes!

Coincidentally I was on Lime St station yesterday travelling back after a dramatic day at the cricket watching Lancashire at the quaint Aigburth ground. I have once caught the ferry across the Mersey and yes, they do play that track but thankfully only a 10 second excerpt! I have also attended the Grand National twice without finding the winner.

I never attended the infamous Eric’s venue thus my first two Liverpool gigs were at the Royal Court Theatre in Roe Street in the city centre which is very close to Lime St station. The current Royal Court was built in 1938 in an Art Deco style, and it was fortunate to survive the subsequent blitz. It is noteworthy for being the home of the stage debuts of Richard Burton and Judi Dench in the 1950’s.

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Liverpool Royal Court building. Image Credit Liverpool Echo

It gained Grade II status in 1990 and was taken over by Rawhide Comedy Club in 2005 and it is still operational today producing comedy skit performances with titles such as Little Scouse on the Prairie.

In the 1980’s it was utilised as a music venue and the likes of Rage Against the Machine and David Bowie graced the stage. The three levels of Stalls, Grand Circle and Balcony equated to a capacity of 1186, and it was a grand old venue. I unsurprisingly frequented the cheap ‘seats’ of standing in the mosh pit.

My first visit was on 2nd May 1989, and we commuted there in John Dewhurst’s work van. I recall it was a scrum at the bar prior to the Pixies hitting the stage at 9.15pm. the place was about half full and they had just released their third album ‘Doolittle’.

As ever with the Pixies, it was a vibrant tropically hot mosh pit and I recall them playing ‘River Euphrates’, ‘Mr Grieves, ‘Debaser’ and ‘Monkey Goes to Heaven’. My two highlights were the contrasting ‘Hey’ and the primal ‘Tame’ replete with Black Francis screaming like a banshee! They did an hour set and we had a debrief in a pub in Ormskirk on the way home.

My second and final visit was 19 days later to see REM, and it was on a very warm Sunday evening. The daytime was a combination of sunbathing and of Uncle George and I buying some tickets for an upcoming PNE v Port Vale play off which we unsurprisingly lost! 

We travelled over in George’s trusty yellow Cavalier. On arrival in Liverpool, we landed in an Irish pub near the station and were subject to some sustained cadging from a fellow punter. This cadging theme continued in the next pub, and we made a sensible decision to head into the venue.

REM took to the stage at 9pm. It was an early tour for them, and they were a country mile away from the polished article you saw a decade later, as Michael Stipe was a particularly shy performer at that juncture, but he still oozed charisma. He resembled an eccentric David Byrne and at times was muttering away into a loudspeaker about diverse subjects of CND and Greenpeace.

Michael Stipe in loudspeaker mode. Image Credit Pat Papertown 2

They opened with ‘Pop Song 89’ and I recall them playing ‘Disturbance at the Heron House’, ‘Orange Crush’ and ‘World Leader Pretend’. He then somewhat ironically introduced ‘It’s the End of the World as we Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ as the best song ever written. They performed two encores encompassing eight tracks including ‘Stand’ and ‘Finest Worksong’ and finished with a cover of Velvet Underground ‘After Hours’.

On the commute out of the city, we were very nearly side swiped by a speeding cop car! I recall 5 Live had commentary on a Nigel Benn v Michael Watson boxing match prior to stopping to refuel in Ormskirk with a Chinese takeaway. Just around New Longton, outside Preston, an REM track came on the radio to top of a fine night.

A postscript here is that for the first 77 gigs I attended I used to write a full review of the entire minutiae of the night and these two Liverpool gigs have finally exhausted this archive.