Tag: Darling Buds

Milestones Part 1 – Gigs

This week I am launching another new strand relating to the significant milestones I have achieved in my gig-going life thus far and this initial article concentrates solely on the gig numbers. I previously elucidated my interpretation of what constitutes a gig at some length in a blog that I drafted back in the mists of time named ‘Definition of a Gig and a Venue?’  

Thus, I won’t repeat my cogitations from there but will suffice myself with saying that as the years have progressed, my qualifying criteria of a ‘gig’ has softened immensely to allow more gigs to gain entry to the Jimmy Archives. Therefore, as long as I witness someone on a stage nowadays playing music, they can be counted!  

Everyone has a first gig and my contribution to that grand compendium was Slade at Lancaster University back in December 1983. My 50th was to see Wonderstuff and Darlings Buds at the fabulous Manchester International 1 and the 100th was Dinosaur Jr at Manchester Academy 2.

Darling Buds. Image Credit thenewvinylvillain.com

As I have got older, I seem to be attending an increasing number of events and the overall numbers have skyrocketed as a result, so much so that after a few cheeky gigs in Lanzarote, it became apparent that my next show at Manchester Gorilla on 13/05/22 would be my 1000th gig.

I am not going to list all my landmark gigs, but I will pick out some highlights, thus my 250th was my one ear splitting foray to watch My Bloody Valentine at Manchester Apollo on their comeback tour. I don’t think I am unique in saying that this was the loudest show I have ever attended, and I personally have a very high bar in that regard. I know a few readers on here saw their recent shows, but I decreed once was enough mainly because I have never worn ear plugs to gigs, probably to my own detriment, but I am too far down that path to change now!

My 500th was Cymbals down in the basement of Leeds Wardrobe with the 800th being the terrific Belly at Manchester Ritz, Tanya Donelly still having a terrific voice. Number 900 was Helicon at Manchester Peer Hat.

Since then, I have rattled upwards even further with Snuff being number 1200 at Manchester Breadshed, 1300 was Public Service Broadcasting at Manchester Albert Hall. I have also recently gone past the 1500 figure which was at a new venue so I will cover that one in a future article.  

Inadvertently, but somewhat appropriately on the night there was a proper gathering at my ‘chiliad’ (had to look that one up!) and chiliagon is also apparently a term for 1000-sided polygon, now thinking about it I cannot visualise the scale of that diagram and how that might look. Anyway, returning from my digression, Gill and I met Marcus initially for a cold one in the Lass O Gowrie.   

There was then a little breakdown in communication, but we managed to catch up with Tris in the Gorilla bar attached to the venue where she had run into a former colleague Andy and his friend Paul who were also attending the gig. Thankfully Tris had clocked that it was an early show starting at 8.30 so a quick drink, photo shoot and a scoot round to the entrance was in order.

Pre-gig team photo with L-R Tris, Andy, myself, Paul, Marcus and Gill. Image Credit kind anonymous punter.

We accessed the venue, and I was a little giddy as my usual reticence gave way to informing a couple of random punters that this was my 1000th show, either being met with ‘well done, that is a fine achievement’ or on the converse side total bemusement!

The band that night was Mattiel who constitute of singer/songwriter Atina Mattiel Brown and guitarist Jonah Swilley and originated from Atlanta, Georgia in 2015. Mattiel Brown was raised on a self-sustaining farm in a rural setting, which was apparently quite an isolated existence, and she threw herself with gusto into visual arts, which fed into her subsequent music creation.

When we saw them they were promoting their fine third album ‘Georgia Gothic’ and they had strengthened out the band with the addition of a bassist and a drummer, and they produced an enjoyable slab of garage rock. The downside was that the gig was over by 9.45pm and one couldn’t fail to notice many punters being caught out by the early show. I was almost craving gig 1001 to follow it but instead we headed to the hostelry, ending the evening in the Peveril of the Peak. 

Mattiel. Image Credit ATO Records.

Touching briefly on gigs attended with other people, I have individually attended over 500 gigs with both Gill and Uncle George and just under 300 with John Dewhurst. Also, Uncle G, John and I (The three stooges) have very recently just gone past 250 shows together.

Manchester Venue 2 – International 1

Aah, let me count the ways I loved this venue: –

  • Low strung roof which assisted greatly with the acoustics and created a fabulously sweaty communal venue when busy
  • Bars either side serving Colt 45 or Schlitz
  • Responsive DJ playing fab tunes when requested and memory tells me or tricks me that they played Long Ryders ‘Looking for Lewis and Clarke’ every visit
  • Loos at the side of the stage to allow you to swiftly rejoin the moshpit
  • Like minded brethren in the audience
  • Main bands rarely came on before 11 and of consistently high calibre
  • Cheeky little food hatch with un nutritious snacks to soak up the ale
  • All in all, what’s not to like?

I visited 20 times between 1985 and 1989, the venue closed around 1992. In my new Manchester pad I live a couple of miles away from the old site. It is now a Turkish deli/supermarket. I always had pretensions if winning the lottery to reopen the venue, but my odd £25 prizes are clearly not enough to achieve that aim.

The hallowed venue now! – Image Credit Jimmy Crossthwaite

My first visit was to see Hüsker Dü with the prior knowledge we wouldn’t get home and involved train and a fair bus ride as it was on the outskirts of town in Longsight. Whilst queueing up lead singer Bob Mould clattered out the doors past us to buy some cigs in the small newsagent next door which was exciting for us avid fans. They were mighty fine in front of a sparsely attended venue. The remainder of the night was trekking back into town to  Victoria and crashing in the waiting room while they loaded the paper trains before catching the first train back at 6am. Being a durable 17 year old I recall a couple of hours kip, on to Preston North End to sell programmes, watch the match and then inevitably out again that night. A few years after I became friends with another chap who was there and also napped on the station prior to a trip back to Blackpool (Spig, if you are reading this).

There was always an obliging driver in the crew to ferry us there before trains became the regular route to Manchester gigs. There was always a couple of aperitifs as we always travelling in via Holts and Boddingtons pubs in Prestwich, I believe the Friendship Inn is still standing and the afore mentioned Holts was 64p a pint (cheapest beer in Britain!).

Some of my favourite early gigs were here, notably astonishing performances from Lone Justice (what a set of pipes Marie McKee has and a fantastic cover of Velvets ‘Sweet Jane’), 10,000 Maniacs (stunning vocal also from Natalie Merchant) , Hüsker Dü again and the first ever gig in England for Meat Puppets in 1987 supported by the Inca Babies.

Picture shows the infamous Lone Justice gig on 20/02/1987. Image Credit radiox.co.uk

There was a dream joint headlining tour from Throwing Muses and Pixies. I read somewhere that it was something like the Pixies 26th ever gig and Black Francis cut a very menacing presence howling like a Banshee with me joyously bouncing round the moshpit despite having at that age an ever present nose bleed!

Other bands seen were Shop Assistants, a polished Robert Cray, That Petrol Emotion, Proclaimers and Rhythm Sisters, joyous Bhundu Boys (twice and once with a compelling hangover after a quiet night at the infamous Strawberry Duck at Entwistle!), Screaming Blue Messiahs and Wild Flowers, Wonderstuff and Darling Buds, Triffids (laconic Aussies) and Waltones, Amayenga and finally a thunderous Loop.

Flyer from 1986 – see Wonderstuff and Voice of The Beehive dates. Image Credit mdm.archive.co.uk

One notable exception was Green on Red and Steve Earle where it was just one of those nights where the gig didn’t work, the set was dull and to top it off the transport home had been vandalised and was bereft of a coat and a back seat window so was bloody freezing all the way home especially for Dave Keane in the back seat!

Two remaining standouts were Voice of the Beehive which was the first gig I attended with my then girlfriend, now wife Gill. The other was a carload of us attending the Stiff Little Fingers comeback tour on 18/12/87 which despite being sub-tropical outside remains one of the hottest gigs I have ever attended with a maximum of two songs in the moshpit before an obligatory rest station on the DJ’s steps.

Despite not attending a gig there in 30 years, and over 900 gigs since it still sits proudly as my 5th most attended venue.