Tag: Tim Burgess

Wickerman Festivals 8 and 9

Wickerman 8 was held in 2009 and had a decent bill. The indefatigable Billy Bragg was in residence and was at that point going through his Woody Guthrie phase. There was some folk rock provided by Meersault from Edinburgh and Celtic folk from the Solus Tent headliners Pearl and the Puppets.

The Dickies belted out ‘Banana Splits’ for the umpteenth time, already thirty years old at that stage. Holding the punk flag were the perennial UK Subs, the Sharks and Penetration, Johnny Robb was in town with Goldblade and there were covers from the Counterfeit Clash.

Also playing were Root System, Mr Kil, Drums of Death, Luva, Anna, The Box, Marc Wilson, Kid British and there was glam rock and tartan attire from Glasgow’s Velcro Quartet. There were very retro performances from Candi Staton and Dreadzone. 

Idlewild, as ever, blasted out a solid set and I was impressed by Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks as they were a refreshingly noisy bunch in the vein of Twilight Sad.  The Zutons covered the scouse angle and Magic Numbers are always soothing with their close harmonies and Californian vibe.  The headliners after the burning were the Human League who were very good value.  

The band of the weekend was an utterly joyous set in the scooter tent from Bad Manners. I think Buster Bloodvessel is the only remaining original and he is quite frankly nothing short of certifiable! He is now surrounded by younger band mates and the saxophonist was a revelation and the closing ‘Can-Can’ was riotous.

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The inimitable Buster Bloodvessel. Image Credit brightonsource.co.uk.

On the Saturday we always liked to have a communal bet on the horse racing prior to heading off to the festival. There was at one point in time a bookmaker in Kirkcudbright but now no more. In later years we also had enjoyable afternoons in Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie.

The absolute nadir was one year when it seemed we couldn’t even find the winner in a one-horse race and stacked our hopes on a horse called Tony Tie in the last. It didn’t even depart the stalls as it decided to eject its jockey! On the converse side one year we got the first three winners up in a Lucky 15, a fourth winner would have won us thousands, but the three timer was sufficient to cover the entire festival ticket costs for our five strong crew!

Wickerman 9 in 2010 had its share of slightly wonky legends as Tony Christie, Ed Ten Pole Tudor, The Saw Doctors, The Buzzcocks and The Undertones were in residence. Ocean Colour Scene ploughed their usual furrow; however Go Team provided their usual joyous jaunty set. Also on the bill were the nattily titled Earl Grey and the Loose Leaves, Mitchell Musuem, Midnight Lion, Fenech Soler, Lee Mottram, The Banana Sessions, The String Contingent, The Sex Pistols Experience, GoGoBot and Dr Huxtable.

There was a terrific set of post rock from Glasgow’s There Will Be Fireworks and Teenage Fanclub provided a soothing set with much of the material off their recent ‘Shadows’ release. Completing the Glasgow angle were the rock band Sons and Daughters. Tim Burgess and the Charlatans were in town alongside Sunderland’s Futureheads and 808 State played the main stage after the burning.

At one point we were ensconced in the Acoustic Tent, and I turned around and saw Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand fame standing directly behind me. He later hit the stage to perform some acoustic FF tracks and he went down a storm with the audience.

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Alex Kapranos. Image Credit Zimbio.

Pandemic Paean of Praise to a Plethora of Music Palaces

Recently there was the initially sad news revealed that the Deaf Institute and Gorilla venues in Manchester will not reopen post-pandemic. I have attended both venues many times and will cover their reviews in future blogs. This news coincided with further reports of the closure of the Welly and Polar Bear venues in Hull.

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Hull Welly. Image Credit Pinterest

Even though the decision of the Manchester sites was subsequently miraculously reversed four days later via the partial intervention of a Pandemic hero Tim Burgess it only serves to illustrate the real and present threat to the future of all venues.

The are some rays of light in that there has been tireless work undertaken by the save our venues campaign resulting in significant crowdfunding to save 140 venues from ‘imminent danger’. Also, the Government has stumped up some funding for the Arts including music venues which will only help if the money is distributed speedily and equitably.

These events give me cause to muse on the fact that many of the conurbations in Britain will contain at least one small essential music venue. To name but a few, the Mad Ferret in Preston, the Leadmill in Sheffield and the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.

The venues are the absolute creative lifeblood of the industry and of the local community, impacting on nearby retail outlets and the continued employment of associated roles, including bar and security staff, roadies, agents and publicists to name a few more. It even provides an opportunity for those pesky touts!

They also provide a priceless opportunity for the hungry local talent to initially learn and hone their craft. Everyone must start somewhere, like a nurse takes blood for the first time, so must a band enter and exit stage left.     

All bands who have gone on to bigger things will have tales to tell. Using Oasis as an example, their roster of very early gigs contains stellar venues such as Club 57 and the Hippodrome in Oldham and the legendary Krazyhouse in Liverpool, which I have visited once in its nightclub capacity.

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Liverpool Krazyhouse. Image Credit The Tab

As the pandemic has progressed, I do appreciate that alternative approaches have been understandably sought out by musicians to replace the missing gigs as that remains their primary source of income. Personally though, I have struggled to hook into the numerous twitter and streaming events because to me there is nothing to replace a live gig at a venue where you can see the whites of the eyes of the band. I would contend there is only very limited enjoyment to watching a festival from your own living room.  

This incorporates all facets of the experience. The expectation before a much-anticipated band, the gibberish discussions in the pub before and after (maybe that’s just me!), the shared acquaintance with like-minded souls all there for a communal experience, the sweaty mosh pits, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up when you see a great band, even better when it is unexpected. All in all, some of the best nights of my life have been at live gigs.  

Unfortunately, due to their very nature music venues will probably be last to be reintroduced so that makes it even more imperative they are supported right now.  

Another negative by product of the current situation is that I am not adding any new gigs or venues to my roster thus I am continuing to delve through my archives, and I am hoping I do not run out of material in the interim. It is doubly frustrating as I was hoping to pass my 1000th gig this year.  Who could have predicted when I launched my blog last November that a pandemic would strike 4 months later!

Please stay safe kids and we will eventually arrive at the other end of this dark tunnel and will soon be back in those mosh pits.