Tag: John Cooper Clarke

Preston Venue 26 – 53 Degrees Club Part 2

I recall one particular gig at Preston 53 Degrees Club where I was endeavouring to read the set times which were located behind a white line at the side of the stage. This generated an increasingly fraught exchange with an over-officious bouncer who insisted I ask him to have a look as I could not possibly cross the white line. I felt like that mischievous character in Monsters Inc!

In early 2008 I saw another band with a big reputation namely the Courteeners. They were formed in the Manchester area with the lead singer and songwriter Liam Fray being a previous Salford University alumnus. They were three months shy of releasing their gold selling debut again ‘St Jude’. They regretfully didn’t cut it for me as despite some good moments they fell into the ‘lad rock’ category.

October 2008 saw my next visit to see Dirty Pretty Things. They had formed after the breakup of the London band the Libertines and featured Carl Barat and the drummer Gary Powell from said band and had also recruited Didz Hammond from Cooper Temple Clause. They had announced they were going to split 2 days before the gig so we as a result we caught them on their final tour.   

In February 2009 the infamous John Cooper Clarke was in town which coincidentally was mine and my good pal John Dewhurst’s 100th gig together. He was good fun and was cognisant of the location as he humorously embellished his act with anti-Blackpool gags!

See the source image
John Cooper Clarke. Image Credit The Daily Telegraph.

Eighteen months later I saw Ash, who I have seen numerous times, but this was the first time in Preston. They had built up a commendable back catalogue by that point and they were very enjoyable.        

Later that year I saw the old timers Wedding Present, a mere 22 years since I had first seen them. They as ever ploughed their C86 sounds to good effect.

There followed a three-year gap before I saw the punk stalwarts Ruts DC who unlike many of their counterparts still hold their relevance. They formed initially in London Town in 1977 and produce a reggae-influenced punk sound. They were originally titled as the Ruts before adding DC to their moniker.

They were in good form and their two mainstay hits ‘Babylon’s Burning’ and ‘In a Rut’ went down a storm. They were supported by Burnley’s Not Sensibles.

 

See the source image
Ruts DC on stage. Image Credit Sunderland Echo.

A big local gig occurred on 19/10/13 when my mate Jez Catlow’s band Deadwood Dog performed their first headline gig there. I know it was a big moment for Preston’s finest bouzouki infused punk rock band and they were in tip top form. They were supported by their erstwhile supporter, the singer Dan Donnelly from Belfast who has performed as a live musician for Joy Zipper, the Levellers and Wonderstuff.  I saw them there again the following year supported by Matt Gallagher.  

In mid-2014 I saw Wolf Alice for the second time having witnessed a gobsmackingly good performance from them at the Deaf Institute the year before. They were still good value with their star quality evident but overall not quite as sharp that night, but it is somewhat tricky firing yourself up in front of a half full inactive audience on a cold Tuesday night in Preston!

Completing a full circle from their inaugural performance in 2005 The Subways made a return to the club venue in 2015. They produced their usual energetic performance. 

When the main venue downstairs closed in 2015, they continued to have sporadic performances upstairs which included my final visit on 21/04/17 to see Electric Six. They were as ever good clean fun but not in the same league as their astonishingly good performance when I saw them for the first time at the old University venue in 2003.

    

Manchester Venue 16 Academy 3 – Part 2

In totality, I have attended Manchester Academy 3 nineteen times thereby placing it in 6th place on my most populated venues list.  

Early in 2001, I began to become aware of the Strokes who released their terrific first album ‘Is This It’ later that year. I adore the way that record is recorded, sounding like they are in a New York basement, in a good way. I read in the NME they were playing Manchester and was fortunate to obtain four tickets from Piccadilly Records to a much-touted band for a sold-out gig.

John, Uncle George and Gill were in attendance on a filthy Thursday night in June. Walking up the steps to the top floor we passed Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy). He was later ensconced adjacent to us at the bar where a cliched fanboy approached him with the snappy refrain ‘love your album dude…’

The support band was Moldy Peaches followed by the main act who looked nervous initially, but they were excellent and had such admirable poise beyond the tender years.

I was perfectly content in the mosh pit when out of the blue somebody unseen threw a haymaker catapulting me halfway across the pit. Even the band looked taken aback. The assailant must have had a ring on as I had a proper bruise the next day.

Now I am a very chilled chap, but I was incandescent with rage at the sheer injustice of this unwarranted attack. There are unwritten rules for mosh pit etiquette and they were emphatically breached by this muppet!

See the source image
The Strokes. Image Credit NME

In April 2005 John Peel faves 65 Days of Static were in town. They had a couple of entries in the previous year’s Festive fifty and were supported by Sons of Slaughter. They were decent live but a tad Mogwai lite.

A couple of years later we headed over to see Goldblade supported by the punk poet Ted Chippington. Everything about that gig was loud including John Cooper Clarke booming out of the speakers in between acts.

Goldblade were thunderous with John Robb vamping it up in his inimitable style. I had imbibed a few sherbets, so when they offered ‘Iggy Pop’ style for punters to enter the fray I grabbed a rare opportunity and leapt on stage with many other like minded folk.

Implausibly, it was even louder up there, and I found myself next to the drummer so proceeded to assist him by slapping away at the drums for one track which was very exhilarating! Another new nickname was christened – ‘Jimmy the Sticks’.

On 22/11/07 an exceedingly rare event happened, namely me driving to a gig! The reason for this unusual anomaly was that we were driving to Centreparcs at Penrith the following day for the weekend.  

We landed in the venue just to catch the last two songs of a rather poor support act Son of Albion and somewhat cringingly for the band you could hear a pin drop when they finished, not even a polite smattering of applause!

The main band was the Raveonettes, a duo from Copenhagen with their fabulous names of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar and Sharon Foo on bass with the assistance of a drum machine. They excel in fuzzed up Mary Chainesque (made up word but describes it perfectly!) sound with gorgeous harmonies but with the additional bite of razor-sharp lyrics.  

To exemplify those contrast shades, they have in their cannon a sugary sounding track in the vein of Strawberry Switchblade, but it then contains contextually the understandingly brutal title ‘Boys Who Rape Should Be Destroyed’. They have produced a suite of excellent albums across their lineage.

They were a captivating experience in the live setting and were immensely enjoyable.

See the source image
The Raveonettes. Image Credit Ents 24.

When approaching my 42nd birthday I fancied attending a gig on the day so instigated a search and found that Against Me, a Florida punk band, were playing that night. Uncle George, Dave Keane and I sallied over on the quick train.  

This remains one of the four gigs I have attended on my actual birthday, Neil Young on my 19th and I saw a band in Liverpool and Manchester respectively on my 43rd and 51st birthdays.

They were one of those bands that seem to instil intense loyalty from their fans and that was evident in the fervent atmosphere at the gig. They had an individual sound and it was a fun night.