Tag: John Peel

Gigs from Abroad Part 19 – Nuremberg and Bamburg

In 2019 the annual lads trip gravitated over to Nuremberg, a city which is the second largest in Bavaria. It is encompassed on three sides by a huge forest and the other by a vegetation area with the quaint name ‘garlic land’. It had the honour of having the first steam-hauled railway in Germany in 1835 linking it with the nearby city of Furth under the auspices of the Bavarian Ludwig Railway, the route is covered today by the U1 Subway.

Nuremberg vista. Image Credit TripSavvy

There is a dark side to Nuremberg’s past as due to its geographical links to the Holy Roman Empire it was utilised as the location for the huge Nazi party conventions which became known as the Nuremberg rallies, the first taking place in 1927. On 2 January 1945 it was carpet bombed by the allies where ninety percent of the city was destroyed in an hour and was then recaptured in April 1945 after an intense ground troops battle. It was therefore the natural location for the Nuremberg trials that took place immediately after the war in the Palace of Justice which somehow had survived undamaged during the bombing.

The city rose again from the ashes and thankfully there remains many remnants of the walls and towers, and of course there is the obligatory castle! It also contains a bonny and evocative old town area where I recall us finding an excellent bar at the top of a steep incline, and I took a liking to the city itself. Famous Nurnberg alumni include the acclaimed actress Sandra Bullock who was educated in the city via a German mother and American military father who was stationed there.  

Also on that list would be musician Kevin Coyne who had an interesting life commencing from being born in Derby in 1944. Between 1965 and 1968 he spent three years as a psychiatric nurse at the renowned mental institution Whittingham Hospital in my hometown of Preston. Alongside this he was developing musical aspirations in the folk-blues domain and his first band Siren was signed to John Peel’s Dandelion Records label in 1969.

He also had the unusual accolade of appearing at an alternative festival in protest against the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. He once turned down a meeting with Elektra Records to discuss the possibility of replacing Jim Morrison in the Doors. He was pals with Virgin label mates John Lydon and the Mekons and one of his bands contained Zoot Money, subsequently the musical director of the 1987 TV series Tutti Frutti featuring Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson. The other band member was Andy Summers, latterly of the Police.  

Kevin Coyne Razorblade picture. Image Credit rootsvinylguide.com

In 1985, after a nervous breakdown and ongoing alcohol issues he relocated to Nuremberg, where having finally ditched the demon drink, he continued to maintain a prolific recording and touring schedule alongside furthering his books and painting outputs.

His enigmatic approach could be exemplified by the album cover for his 1977 release of ‘In Living Black and White’. On the front cover he is seen smiling and artistically bowing to an invisible audience whilst the back is the same photo from the rear where you can see he is holding tightly an open straight razor. He lived there until his death in 2004. The reason I have catalogued his extended story is that at the end of the day despite opportunities he is the tale of another aspiring underground artist, who could be a mirror of many others who have peppered the musical historical landscape without any meaningful recognition over the decades.

Nuremberg is also the start point for a unique annual music event called the Techno Train Nurnberg. The high-speed rave train leaves the city with DJ’s, punters and high-quality sound systems on board and then travels non-stop for seven hours through Bavaria until it lands in Munich, where an after party takes place. Most definitely not my cup of Yorkshire, but it certainly quantifies as a novel event.  

A common theme on the lad’s sojourns is to always include a day trip and, on this occasion, we undertook a 40 minute train journey over to Bamberg. The old town there contains 2400 timber houses situated in the old town and that has been badged as an UNESCO world heritage site since 1993. The most famous ‘local’ resident would be Willy Messerschmitt, the aircraft designer who had some planes named after him and their most famous band in my view would be the turn of the decade punk band Go Faster Nuns.

Go Faster Nuns. Image Credit youtube.com

Bamberg also had a lot of character, and we had a good sally around and traversed up another steep hill, this time without any reward as the bar we were scouring for was subject to seasonal hours and as a result not open. Back in the town, we visited a bar called Bamberg Mercator Di Sappori and witnessed a local band called Endlich Samstag

Manchester Venue 135 – Bread Shed

On the opposite side of Grosvenor Street from the Deaf Institute venue you will find the Sand Bar. This is one of the many hostelries within the Oxford Road corridor, but it is a singular Manchester institution and one of my fave places to visit. It came into existence in the mid-90’s and I have been attending there for pre-gig drinks for many years. It is housed in an old industrial mill with an olde world feel and has an unprepossessing and almost hidden entrance. They have always served fine beers and was the first place that I was aware of that stocked continental lagers and was the location of my first sampling of the Bavarian Schneider Weisse wheat beer!  

Manchester Sand Bar. Image Credit flickr.com

On the next corner is another watering hole with the previously very simplistic name of ‘The Pub’. It is housed in a Grade II listed building, and they regularly have quiz nights and open mic nights, this one being more of a sporadically visited hostelry. A recent artistic addition to their side wall in May this year was a large mural of Kurt Cobain. At the back of this pub for many years there was a nightclub called the Zoo, now a singular music venue called Manchester Bread Shed.

I first visited the venue in its Zoo nightclub phase as part of the Dot to Dot festival event in 2013 and the act on stage was Beans on Toast which is the stage name of folk singer Jay McAllister who derives from Braintree in Essex. He is a prolific musician and has recorded fifteen albums since 2005 and has a liking for releasing them on his birthday of 1st December.

The Bread Shed. Image Credit designmynight.com

To be honest, he was not my cup of Yorkshire Tea though there were many punters in there who were lapping up his performance. On a personal front, my day improved dramatically immediately after as I caught a startlingly good Wolf Alice set across the road in the Deaf Institute.

In August 2017 the site rebooted as the Bread Shed and the owners Stonegate Pub Company spent £450k on upgrades. The unusual name derived from the history of the building as in the 1900’s it was the Duncan & Foster bakery site. This was also reflected in the attached pub revising its name to the Flour & Flagon. It was set up as an events space with a 480 capacity and beyond the live music they also reinstated the XS Malarkey comedy night that had for a short period been rehomed at the Comedy Store.   

Prior to attending a Fontaines DC gig at Gorilla in 2019 I cheekily blagged my way into the venue and caught a portion of a pretty woeful Iron Maiden tribute who were at the same low calibre level of the ‘legendary’ Damascus gig (my third ever gig) at Preston Clouds in 1984!   

My next visit was in October 23 where Marcus and Anita attended with Gill and I. Marcus had some ticket issues on the door but managed to negotiate his way in. The band we had come to see was the Boo Radleys who I was witnessing after a 29-year sabbatical as I had not seen them since two gigs in 1994. They were on a rotating joint headline tour and were the support on the night and were in excellent form with the fabulous ‘Lazarus’ being performed towards the end of their set.  

The headliners were Cud who are an electro indie band from Leeds who I had surprisingly never seen before. They formed in 1987, broke up in 1995, but reformed again in 2006. In their first incarnation they undertook a cover of Hot Chocolate’s ‘You Sexy Thing’ which garnered a number 20 position in John Peel’s festive fifty in 1988. Their lead singer is Carl Puttnam who can be marmite to some people, and I honestly didn’t approach them with high expectations. However, these chaps could play and were seriously good fun, reminding me of the vibrancy of Electric Six’s live performances.   

Cud band. Image Credit 3loopmusic.com

My latest visit was in April this year to see the ska/punk sounds of Snuff for the eighth time. Just when I was thinking the audience were very quiet on the first three tracks and not resembling an archetypal Snuff crowd they then played ‘Soul Limbo’ cricket theme, and the place went ballistic! So much so the instantly created moshpit had a kick back and Uncle George was knocked back onto the floor and temporarily flattened, but he is literally made of Teflon so bounced straight back up again! I had a rare foray into the pit myself for a few tracks and as ever thoroughly enjoyed their show!