Tag: James

2021 Gigs – Part 3

The third and final part of reviewing the 2021 gigs recommences with a couple of visits to Manchester Ritz. The venue is now firmly ensconced in my Top 3 venues visited list as I have been attending there consistently over the years since my first attendance in October 87 watching the astoundingly loud and intense Swans.

First up on 22/09 was the old stalwarts Ash, who I was watching for the sixth time, three of those being at festivals, and it was the first time I had seen them in eleven years. Prior to the gig we had a drink in Brew Dog near Albert Hall on Peter Street, coincidentally the most profitable Brew Dog bar in the world, and then feasted on a pizza that took an age to arrive in Rudy’s Neapolitan restaurant next door.

I thought they were decent but slightly one dimensional, and I always contend that their sound has never been quite as complete since Charlotte Hatherley left, though admittedly they do still have a bagful of recognisable tunes. I was at the bar mid-set when I found out that PNE had drawn Liverpool at home in the League Cup though that subsequently ended up with the usual golden chances missed and then inevitable defeat.  

Ash in Charlotte Hatherley days. Image Credit Steve Scalise.

The other attendance was to see Maximo Park on 10/10 which saw Rick Clegg toggle over for a rare appearance in Manchester and I think his first visit to the Ritz. After a trio of scoops in Yes, Lass O Gowrie and Temple Bar we headed into the venue. It was the second time I had seen them though overall not as enjoyable as my first sighting of them fourteen years earlier.   

I finally went full circle from my first ever blog and first Manchester venue by revisiting Manchester Apollo for the first time in thirteen years since being pummelled by the gentle My Bloody Valentine! There were four of us in attendance and we had a couple of pre-gig aperitifs in the Wine and Wallop in West Didsbury, the future of that chain being currently in doubt, prior to a cab to the venue.

Wine and Wallop. Image Credit DesignMyNight

When we reached the busy bar inside, we discovered they sold beer in two-pint pots which we decided to purchase though it wouldn’t accept my card asking me to input my pin details in. To my chagrin I realised the reason for this was the round cost £52, above the then limit of £50, this equated to an unacceptably brutal price of £6.50 per pint. Come on, Apollo, you can do much better than that!   

The band on stage was the ever-dependable Public Service Broadcasting who were in excellent form, and we had a cracking vantage point near the front.

My pal Marcus is a huge James fan and he persuaded me to attend their Manchester MEN Arena show in December. I had only just managed to purloin some tickets when they were released about a year earlier and was bizarrely sat waiting for an appointment in Stockport Specsavers at the time. I rather rudely had to ask for the lass to delay my appointment slightly as I had finally reached the booking page!

Our significant faux pas was to foolishly book our Covid booster appointments the day before the gig which resulted in Gill being unable to attend and myself feeling distinctly below average. We did consider watching the support act Happy Mondays only from a statistical angle viewpoint as it would have created a new personal record of 34 years between seeing a band as I first saw them in Camden in 1987, but in the end decided not to.

My record thus remains at a 28-year gap with Meat Puppets, however the Loop gig later this year will be just shy of a 32-year gap since witnessing them at my last ever gig at Manchester international 1 in 1990.

We were seated up in the gods with a side on view of the stage, the band were very good value over there 2hr 15-minute set and we watched the last track stood up by the barrier. Marcus headed off to a Christmas works do and I must have resembled a sulky teenage emo as I dragged my weary feet back from the tram stop!

We happened to be out and about of 21st December and sallied into the Manchester Parrs Wood, which will always have a special place in my heart as the first pub we ever visited on that mad day we relocated to Manchester, though there some people rather brazenly sat in ‘our seats’ from that first night! There was a band on stage called Irish Fiddle who performed the seemingly obligatory cover of ‘Dirty Old Town’.    

Warrington Festival 2021

This is a particularly exciting blog for me to pen as is it is the first one that involves attending gigs after the fateful March 2020 date. This was not quite my first post pandemic gig but details the first festival I attended when we were allowed to do so again! This year’s Warrington Festival was pushed back from its original date to 04/09/21 but despite the autumnal date the weather gods smiled on us.

I had looked at the Warrington event previously, but this year Marcus and I decided to make an appearance to catch the Saturday bill. Transport options were weighed up because as you know I never drive to a gig and the most feasible was train there and taxi back.

The local train was fine but the Manchester to Warrington leg was extremely busy resulting in us being jammed in between carriages with a worrying lack of mask compliance. It was a huge culture shock and felt more claustrophobic than normal due to the COVID connotations. It was such a welcome relief when the door finally opened at Warrington Central station.

Warrington is a place I have rarely visited despite it being handily placed on the West Coast main line and I always link it geographically with the shopping hell that is IKEA. I can only recall one distinctly average night out years ago and my abiding memory was the plethora of Greenall Whitley pubs!

We sallied over to the venue of Victoria Park, about a 15-minute walk from the station. En route, we grabbed a comfort break in a Wetherspoons hostelry, though no supporting drink was purchased as a protest against their rather shameless Pandemic approach to their staff. As we departed, we noticed there was a Green Day covers band playing at an outdoor stage in an adjacent pub Postern Gate, we listened to one of their jaunty tunes, then headed onwards.

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Warrington Postern Gate. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

On arrival to the site and due to my permanently guilty expression I was obviously subject to a full search, bringing back memories of regularly being refused entry to nightclubs when I was younger! It was a busy site, but it was very well proportioned with three stages at good distances from each other.

We spent much of our time at the Big Top stage. The first band we witnessed was the Big Moon, an all-female 4-piece from London who have previously supported the Pixies on tour. They cut a gentle engaging presence and when they played a Fatboy Slim cover they nearly had me in floods of tears. It wasn’t that track, it could have been any song, it was the realisation at that point that I was back doing something I love after the horrendous period we have all been through. I managed to recalibrate, have a slurp of my overpriced beer and everything was back on an even keel!

Continuing the maudlin theme because as I pen this article, I have just heard of Mark Lanegan’s untimely death at the age of 57. I must say this one has hit me hard, with the same resonance of Grant Hart’s passing, as I was a huge fan of Screaming Trees. I have read his brutal unflinching autobiography detailing his troubled soul and addictions and was fortunate to see him live four times. However, his legacy will live on with his utterly unique vocal delivery and stellar albums such as Dust and Bubblegum. 

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The idiosyncratic Mr Lanegan. Image Credit malapu-pro.com

The next band was the much-vaunted Murder Capital, the post punk group from Dublin. They didn’t quite cut if for me as their music was somewhat dour and directionless, I much prefer their city counterparts Fontaines DC. They were followed by the Gang of Youths from Sydney, Australia. I had been privy to some of their material beforehand and placed them firmly in the Triffids bracket thereby having decent expectations. They had their moments, but the lead singer David Le’aupepe loved himself a little too much, not even in a semi-ironic way!

We grabbed some food and began chatting to a young engaging couple from Stoke. A worrying aspect of the conversation was that they had no firm plan of how they were going to travel home at the end of the day, I wonder where they are now!

The Viola Beach stage was the next port of call where we had earlier seen Lona. The headliners were the Orielles from Halifax and despite their main vocalist Esme Dee Hand-Halford losing her voice early in the show their slightly wonky intelligent sound was as enjoyable as ever.

As we had walked round to the entrance earlier, we had heard the unmistakable summer sounds of the Coral on the Main Stage drifting over the perimeter fence. We caught a smidge of Sam Fender and the days special guest Jake Bugg.    

The main headliners were James and we headed down closer to the front and caught most of their set before heading off to our taxi rendezvous. The traffic on the Warrington streets was chaotic and as a result we were relieved to eventually find our ride. Unfortunately, he then made a wrong turn and diverted us down the M60 instead of the correct M56 route adding an extra 20 miles to the journey. Fair play to him, he took it on the chin and no extra fee was incurred and I subsequently arrived home around midnight.