Tag: Reindeer Section

Leeds Festival 2002

After attending one day of the 2001 festival, we decided to go and complete the full Monty of all three days of the 2002 event. As stated previously we have never actually camped at a festival and this time stayed at the Hilton in the city centre. This allowed us to swerve the unrest involving burning down the toilet blocks that occurred at the end of the festival, because of this incident it was the last event to take place at Temple Newsam before moving to its current home of Bramham Park.

Uncle George, Gill and I undertook the three days while John Dewhurst and his then partner attended Day 1 and Day 3 while Tony Dewhurst was at Day 2 and Day 3. After a couple of drinks, we headed out to the site on the Friday and despite it being a large site it was chaotically busy. We encountered School of Rock and his pals who were in residence at the Bacardi Tent.

The first band we focused on was Slipknot who were fourth on the bill on the main stage. We obtained a decent vantage point and as it was the first time I had witnessed them their full circus glory was abundantly fresh and their potty mouthed antics and the ascending rotating drum kit a sight to behold and they created a decent racket to boot. Following them we caught the Prodigy and the Snuff band wannabees the Offspring and their hit ’Pretty Fly for a White Guy’. On other stages we witnessed, And They Shall Know us by the Trail of Dead and Spiritualized.

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Leeds Festival 2002 Line Up. Image Credit pulpwiki.net

The overall headliners that day were Guns N Roses who were playing the Leeds site only. In their inimitable style they were over an hour late hitting the stage, no doubt inflicting migraines on the organisers in relation to time curfews. By this point we were heading for the bus but could hear their bombastic sound in the distance.     

On day 2, we arrived deliberately early for a 4.00pm main stage slot by my band of the weekend the White Stripes. I had missed an opportunity to see them at the tiny Manchester Roadhouse venue the previous year which was a regret so made doubly sure I was there this time and it turned out to be the only time I managed to witness them.

We spent 20 minutes wending our way through the huge crowd right from the top of the hill to about Row 10 in front of the stage. They did not disappoint and were a compelling spectacle and created such an almighty racket for a two-piece. Jack White’s voice was nothing less than astonishing and was reminiscent of a young Frank Black when I initially saw the Pixies at Manchester International 1 in 1988. As we headed away from the stage we heard Sports Report on a radio playing at a burger van which informed us that PNE had won, so all was well in the world, and it was time for another overpriced cool beer!     

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White Stripes on stage. Image Credit guitar.com

We also caught The Vines, Electric Soft Parade, Feeder, Weezer, Pulp, Jane’s Addiction and the first track of the Strokes set with Julian Casablancas hobbling on in a cast after an accident at a recent gig. I wanted to catch the Reindeer Section, a super group consisting of members of Snow Patrol, Mogwai and Arab Strap. However, when we reached the tent, it was evident that their set was cancelled, and we saw a screechy much inferior band called Vendetta Red instead. The numerous white robed members of Polyphonic Spree squeezing onto a very small stage were also an interesting spectacle.   

The following morning in the lounge area of the hotel we encountered Grant Nicholas, so it was a ‘breakfast with Feeder moment’ prior to them setting off to the Reading slot. Other bands I witnessed over the weekend were Dandy Warhols, Ash, Sum 41, Hives, Haven, Jimmy Eat World, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cooper Temple Clause, Rival Schools, Easyworld, Bobby Conn, Princess Superstar, Span, International Noise Conspiracy, Ben Kweller, The Streets, Spunge, No Use For A Name, Face To Face, Lo-Fidelity Allstars and Sick Of It All.     

I saw about 20 minutes of Muse’s grandiose set whilst standing on the hill queuing up for some tea. I made one major discovery when I witnessed the sublime British Sea Power for the first time in one of the side tents. They were in their first World War garb and foliage stage of their career, and they were terrific live, and I have seen them many times since.

The weekend ended with us walking to the transport pick up point and the musical accompaniment en route was the headliners Foo Fighters playing their finest track ‘Monkey Wrench’.

Preston Venue 23 – The Mill Part 1

There used to be a plethora of pubs in the Plungington/Brook Street area of the city, many such as the Royal Oak, the Tanners, Plungington Tavern, General Havelock, The Cottage and the Brookhouse have all now bitten the dust.

Around the corner from there is Aqueduct Street where there used to be a couple of further boozers, Prince Consort a Whitbread house run by an ex-wrestler which closed in the 90’s. The other being the Lime Kiln, a small, homely pub that subsequently turned into a slightly chaotic Chinese restaurant. Located between those two hostelries was a landmark Preston venue called the Mill.  

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The Lime Kiln pub. Image Credit Flickr.

For about three years around 2003-2005 this venue burned very brightly and attracted some big indie names to an unprepossessing back street venue. It is located near a West Coastline railway bridge and opposite a dance club I cannot recall the name of but subsequently become a LGBTQ venue called the Boiler House in 2019.

It was originally a venue between 1993 and 1996 called the Mill where Oasis and Pulp played early gigs, annoyingly I have also just discovered Buffalo Tom played there in 1993, which I was wholly unaware of at the time. It then had different signage under Club Sugar and the Marquee before closing in 2002. A year later the owners of Leeds Cockpit were looking to open a gig site in the North West and chose this location under its original name. The opening of a bigger rival venue called 53 Degrees precipitated its subsequent downfall in about 2007 as Preston was not big enough to justify two main venues, I believe it is still operational as a recording studio.

There were steps leading up to the entrance which brought you into the centre of the venue with a large dance floor, stage to the right and a long bar facing opposite. Somewhat bizarrely in about 2005 they launched a split room approach to try and create a separate bar and gig area which personally did not work for me. On non-gig nights they opened as a nightclub which I frequented a few times, and this was where Paddy Finch and I used to pogo around the dancefloor.  

This former cotton mill in Aqueduct Street has undergone a number of changes as a venue and has recent incarnations, featuring a Shisha bar and the newest addition the Escape Room Preston, where players take part in prison-break type experience. The Mill opened as a nightclub/music club focusing on alternative music in 1998
Preston Mill venue. Image Credit Lancashire Evening Post.

I saw 15 gigs there in totality which places it 8th on the all-time visited venue list and joint 2nd in the Preston venues list. I attended there twice in its original incarnation. The first in 1995 to see Cement, which was a band formed by lead vocalist Chuck Mosley who was previously in Faith No More and the legendary and influential Bad Brains. I recall them creating a rambunctious slab of noisy garage rock.  

My second appearance was the following year was to see a Battle of the Bands event and we witnessed Wunjo Station, Tripitaka, King Mambo and Fervid.

There was a seven-year hiatus before my next visit in 2003 at which point it was becoming increasingly evident that the venue was beginning to attract a decent calibre of bands to play there. I missed an early performance by Snow Patrol as I was attending an alternate gig that night, doubly regretful as I was a big fan of the material produced by their spin off band Reindeer Section, especially their terrific second album Son of Evil Reindeer.

On 23/09/03 the Swedish band Wannadies were in town and they produced an excellent set with their quirky lead singer Par Wiksten in full flow. It was a poignant gig for me as I was still recovering from a particularly unpleasant sustained bout of shingles and some noisy poppy guitars only served to aid my recovery!