Tag: Ian Dury

Gigs From Abroad Part 27 Greece – Part 3

Continuing the tale from last week where we had decided to undertake some island hopping and in advance research it suggested there would be daily ferries available heading from Zante to our next destination of Kefalonia. However, we subsequently discovered there was only transport every two days and that didn’t match up with our schedule. It is a nine-mile crossing, and we were beginning to embrace our inner Steve Redgrave or Michael Phelps before we thankfully discovered a Plan B.

This involved a 30-mile taxi to the other ferry port at the northern fishing village of Agios Nikolaos Skinari. The friendly taxi driver dropped us at his favourite bar, and we bedded in for a while as we had landed there 3-4 hours before our departure. We then shuffled down to the rather sparse ferry point before departing on the 7pm sunset crossing to Pessada.  

The Sunset Ferry. Image Credit Jimmy Crossthwaite

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian batch of islands and was the location of the siege of Argostoli between the Italians and Germans in 1943 during World War II. After the German’s victory their brutal reprisals including the execution of five thousand Italian soldiers. The subsequent English author Louis de Bernieres book and film ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ is based on this event.

There is also an unproven synopsis that the island is the actual setting in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. Musically they have a long history with a Philharmonic Orchestra being in play since 1836. Additionally, Richard Wright who was the keyboard player in Pink Floyd for ten years was born there.  

We were there for six days and stayed in Argostoli and hopped on the ferry over to the fishing harbour of Lixouri for day trip. Taking a route over a steep hill from the town centre brought you to the resort of Lassi, where one night we attended a restaurant with the owner having a striking resemblance to Ian Dury.  Across the road we saw a chap called Gary performing in the Lassi Kefalos Restaurant and Bar.  

Ian Dury. Image Credit listal.com

Our previous remaining visit to Greece was in 2010 to the small island of Skiathos which only has 27 miles of coastline but has 60 individual beaches. In the 19th century it had a profitable period where it was a shipbuilding hub which utilised the profusion of pine trees naturally at their disposal. The international airport is located very close to the lovely capital of Skiathos town and is a plane spotters paradise. There were some dangerous cakes and fabulous restaurants where you could dine on the Catch of the Day and imbibe the local ice cold dry white wine. 

The core bus route runs regularly along the length of the island and has numbered bus stops, 1 being the capital and 26 being the last drop at Banana Beach, and during our stay, we travelled to every stop to fully view the island. One of the previous residents of Skiathos was the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip who was born there in 1921. Additionally, the island and its neighbour Skopelos were utilised as locations for the Mamma Mia film.

We made our trip at the tail end of the season in September and the weather as a result was a tad erratic. On the Saturday we were endeavouring to head out to a local bar to watch the Burnley v PNE match and also grab some tea but outside there had developed the most cataclysmic electrical storm I have ever witnessed. The field opposite was completely swamped, so much so the water was threatening to enter our accommodation.

Finally, there was a marginal easing in the monsoon, so we grabbed the opportunity to scamper down the soggy track to the bar. Immediately after our windswept and sodden bodies bumbled through the door, a lady in the corner piped up with a ‘Deliverance’ style voice asking, ‘Are you the entertainment?’ to which I replied instantly ‘I can be if you want me to be’ which thankfully resulted in her craning her neck back in. It got worse before it got better as PNE proceeded to improbably throw away a 3-1 lead in the last 10 minutes and lose 4-3.

Deliverance Duelling Banjos scene. Image Credit americancinematheque.com

Thankfully the friendly accommodating bar owner fed and watered us superbly despite the constraints of the inclemency, which resulted in him scampering to the supermarket next door to top up his dwindling larder supplies.

Our next planned Greece trip was going to be to the picturesque location of Santorini with the bonus of grabbing a couple of days in the capital Athens before heading home. It was all booked but then the pandemic struck and everything was cancelled. We have never yet had the chance to rebook and slay that particular ghost, though I believe it is now hugely oversubscribed with tourism numbers. 

Electric Fields Festival – Part 2

This week I shall continue the tale of our attendance at the 2018 Electric Fields Festival in Drumnlarig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway. It was a three-day event, but we decided to head up there for Days 2 and 3 which were the Friday and the Saturday thereby missing Orielles, Ride and James amongst others on the Thursday’s roster.

I now had an extra hour on my journey with the initial leg from Manchester to Preston where I picked up Jez Catlow and Uncle George en route. We then decamped at the Booths Café in Fulwood and nursed a cappuccino whilst awaiting John Dewhurst finishing work. We all then dived into John’s transit van with the additions of his brother’s Paul and Tony who were also in attendance.

Now, fate and timing had dealt us a kind hand due to the fact that Paul’s sister-in-law Bernie had recently opened up a bed and breakfast in Dumfries located centrally near the train station. She generously offered to provide lodgings and fed and watered us for the weekend, a lovely lady she was!   

The Electric Fields ‘Red Stripe’ posse. Image Credit Tony Dewhurst.

On arrival, we had a skelp around some of the town’s hostelries before jumping into a cab down to the festival entrance point. We slid down the hill and it was a green tinged and pretty location, and the weather was thankfully behaving itself.

They had pronounced themselves as being encompassed within the boutique festival category, and the set up reminded me of the Connect Festival I attended at Inverary Castle back in 2007. They also had the huge bonus of a real ale tent which provided a welcome alternative to the frothy Tennents Lager!

It was quite a small site, and the acts played across two areas, the Main Stage and BBC Introducing Stage. I have struggled to find a day bill listing so am going to rely on my memory as to who I think played each day.

First up were Out Lines who are on Mogwai’s Rock Action label and are a collaboration of Kathryn Joseph, producer Marcus Mackay and Twilight Sad’s James Graham and they had recorded their one and only album ‘Conflats’ the year before.

There was then some psych-pop from Hallo Maud, MC rapping from Lady Leshurr, indie rock from Soccer Mommy and ex Coventry University students Feet, hip hop from Edinburgh’s Young Fathers and a perennial festival appearance from The Coral.

I witnessed a decent country folk set from Tracyanne & Danny who were a collaborative project consisting of Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura and Danny Coughlan from Crybaby. There was a fun performance from the old troubadours Idlewild who I was witnessing for the seventh time and then Teenage Fanclub who fitted into the day like your old Arran sweater!

The most enjoyable set of the day was from Public Service Broadcasting. They were in fine form and the best I have seen them, and they had just recently expanded their sound to include sporadic blasts of joyous brass which only enhanced the sonics of their performance. There were then some predictable taxi shenanigans, but we eventually made it back to our digs.   

On the Saturday we attended a couple of pubs on the other side of the river to make it easier for a tax pick up. In one hostelry there were a posse of disgruntled Queen of the South fans, Dumfries football team, who had left the nearby ground in disgust when they were 4-0 down to Ayr at half time!

Idles on stage. Image Credit www.pinterest.com

I saw a portion of the Horrors set and some rock/dance crossover sounds from Makeness which consists of a UK based producer called Kyle Molleson. The latter has recently had his biggest tour so far with a support slot with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I also caught a noisy performance from Brighton band Black Honey and a couple of tracks from Noel Gallagher & the High Flying Birds on the Main Stage.  

My favourite three acts of the day were on the BBC Introducing Stage with first up being Baxter Dury. He has chiselled out of a music career for himself and moved away from being famous just for the fact that he was Ian’s son. Next on were Sunflower Bean, a three-piece from New York who I thoroughly enjoyed with their swirly sounds, reminding me of Fleetwood Mac and The Orielles.

 The undeniable highlight was Idles who are a proper throwback band with their socially conscious ethos, passion and glorious intensity. They pour everything into each performance and must be absolutely exhausted afterwards. The only downside was that we had already booked a cab for a specific time which resulted in only catching two thirds of their show, and I never yet seen them again!  

The New Bazaar. Image Credit cdlh.co.uk

The day’s music wasn’t finished though as when we landed back in town, we headed to Dumfries New Bazaar. The pub’s main claim to fame was that it was the location of the formation of the aforementioned Queen of the South and there is a plaque to commemorate that first formal meeting on 26th March 1919. On the night we saw a local band called Nearly Not Guilty which wrapped up nicely the weekend’s entertainment.