Slayer

Usually I'm at the venue way too early. I walk around The Academy, to check out the tour buses and the trucks. Then I stand in the queue, soaking up the pre-gig atmosphere, for about half an hour. Then I stand inside waiting for it all to start. But with the date changes, this should have been the 20th of November last year, the ticket said doors 7:30pm, I was there just gone 7 and everyone had already been let in. Maybe this was a good thing.

This meant that I only had 15 minutes to wait, at my spot in front of the mixing desk, before the lights went down and The Haunted came on. It has to be tough for all opening bands, but opening for Slayer has to be even harder. I hadn’t heard of them, or any of their music, before. But my god they were loud. I don’t know if the sound guy was using all of the 24 Marshall cabinets across the back of the stage but it certainly sounded like it. I could feel my clothes flapping against my chest. They played well enough but I think after a while all the songs seemed to sound the same. Lots of devil horns thrown by the band and hurled back by the crowd as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio.

Set List

World Painted Blood

Hate Worldwide

Cult

Disciple

Expendable Youth

War Ensemble

Jihad

Payback

Beauty Through Order

Seasons in the Abyss

Hell Awaits

Mandatory Suicide

Chemical Warfare

Raining Blood

Aggressive Perfector

Encore

South of Heaven

Silent Scream

Angel of Death

I've wanted to see Slayer since I started going to gigs again but they only ever seemed to play the M.E.N. with about 4 other bands I hadn’t heard of. I can’t believe that they've been going for nearly 30 years. I remember the review in Kerrang! for Show No Mercy, an album/CD that I still don’t own, which said that it was practically unlistenable. Then Geoff Barton, yes the huge KISS fan Geoff Barton, reviewed Hell Awaits when it was released on import in 1985 and gave it a maximum five K’s. Looking back at the music I was buying at the time it was all hair metal: W.A.S.P, Motley Crue, Ratt, the album I bought after Hell Awaits was Asylum by KISS. Of course I'd bought everything by Venom and was looking for music in a similar vein.

Stage time for Slayer must have been 8:30pm because everything was ready. Guitars tested, microphone checked, blue lights and smoke. Each time the interval music stopped there was a huge roar from the crowd and the Slayer chant started. Then some more music would play and we'd have to wait again. That must have happened at least 4 or 5 times until the stage lights went out, the Slayer logo appeared on the video backdrop and the band ripped into World Painted Blood. A testament to the strength of the new album to open the set with the title track.

From that moment on it was like having a sledgehammer slammed into your chest for nearly 2 hours, but in a good way. Tom thanked the audience for the good wishes he'd received. He sang and played perfectly, of course, but from the concert DVDs I own I could tell that he wasn’t banging his head or thrashing his hair around as much as he used to. I've never seen so many black, band logo t-shirts in one place before. A packed Academy isn’t big enough for a pit but there were plenty of people crowd surfing, so the security guys in front of the stage certainly earned their money. There was hardly any between song banter from Tom although he did ask if we liked beer that we should probably try drinking it instead of throwing it about.

With the main set over the encores ended with Angel of Death and the crowd was doing most of the singing. Tom thanked us all, Jeff was throwing guitar picks, Dave came down from the drum riser and handed out drumsticks and Kerry pointed to some new ink down the inside of his left arm. Just an amazing couple of hours. Long may Slayer reign.

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Update
I've just read the review of the Leeds show in Kerrang! magazine and found out that Kerry was checking a guitar tabs book of Slayer songs for one of the old tracks from Show No Mercy. And also that Tom had forgotten the words to one song, I think it was Angel of Death. That would explain the sing-along-a-Slayer sections to Angel of Death at the end.

Reginald D. Hunter

You wouldn’t think that Steve Hughes and Reginald D. Hunter had that much in common, but as tonights performance at the Lyric showed, they do. They aren’t physically similar, Steve is thin and white, Reginald is heavier and “a person of colour” (a wonderful PC description). But they were both born overseas, Steve in Australia, Reginald in Georgia U.S.A., and they have both lived in England for an extended period of time. This gives them both a greater world view than a comedian who has never left our shores. They can look at the U.K. and our culture, what there is of it nowadays, with a different eye.

Steve Hughes is a heavy metal fan. You couldn’t really tell by looking at him this evening, with his hair tied back and his goatee beard, he looked like a modern day Catweazle. It’s only when he explained that in 1982 he saw Iron Maiden and it changed his life. Mentioning The Irons as he did was something of a coincidence as I had only watched Flight 666 the previous evening after many years that had been Maiden free. His musical preference is mentioned throughout his 45 minute set. He is obviously influenced by Bill Hicks as he has these machine gun rhythm passages describing the war on Iraq. I hadn’t heard of him before tonight but after watching clips on YouTube I’ll be looking out for him in future.

Steve was good but it was Reginald D. Hunter that we had come to see. His appearances on QI and Have I Got News for You were enough to make me buy a ticket. He certainly didn’t disappoint covering racism, conservatism, relationships, stupidity, his family life especially his upbringing in the deep south. All spoken with that laconic deep southern drawl, not quite as deep as Barry White but pretty close. There was some idiot in the audience who kept whistling, a harsh, piercing whistle that Reginald reacted to at first but I think after the third or fourth time it was starting to become irritating. It is a performance, a one way communication of ideas, it isn’t a conversation. Although he did bring the lights up and ask questions, gauging popular opinion by a show of hands. A chap directly behind me called Alan was asked about voting Conservative in the last election.

Reginald did mention a phrase that I've only ever heard him say, “I went out with a girl from Glasgow for a strong minute”. It’s that ‘for a strong minute’ that I still can’t quite fathom and what’s worse I'm sure he’s explained it on TV at some time.

With Steve and Reginald both having similar styles they did both touch upon political correctness and health and safety. Maybe they’re spending too much time in each others company, and, judging by the length of this tour, that’s a distinct possibility. You can just imagine them driving off to the next venue, the car windows rolled down and The Commodores playing on the stereo.

Related Links
Steve Hughes: Big Issues on iTunes
Steve Hughes: Heavy Metal Comedy on iTunes

Reginald D. Hunter Live at Amazon.co.uk

Steve Hughes on YouTube
Reginald D. Hunter on YouTube

Update
“a strong minute” – “a long time but not a very long time” (Wordcraft)

KISS
Sonic Boom
Over Europe
2010

It’s been well over 30 years and even I didn’t think that it would happen.

I've mentioned before how I became a KISS fan via a Scotch C90 tape of KISS Alive II and I saw them at Manchester Apollo in ‘84 on the Animalize tour. Back then Mark St. John had just recorded the album but Bruce Kulick had to step in to do the tour and later to become a full time member. Even then I couldn’t believe that they'd play a venue as small as a theatre in Manchester. This was only my second concert, I'd seen Iron Maiden on the Powerslave tour the week before. The support band for KISS was Bon Jovi back when they were fresh faced little scamps.

KISS played the M.E.N. Arena on the Psycho Circus tour but I didn’t go along. I'd bought the CD and was interested in the reunion with Ace and Peter but I was listening to Nine Inch Nails and lots of other genres at the time. And then they did a Farewell Tour, which was less of a final farewell and more of a bye bye to the two original members who had started to become a pain in the ass. That’s from what I've read.

So last year they did the Alive 35 shows with Tommy and Eric in the band. Things were going so well with the current lineup that they decided to record an album again, 10 years after the last one. All analogue, no ballads, no outside writers, just the four of them writing songs and it’s amazing.

Of course I didn’t go alone. I knew Zoe would like to come along, which meant seat tickets, because she is only little and wouldn’t see much of the show from the floor of the arena. To save Zoe reenacting the whole show, song for song, note for note to her mother when she arrived home I bought Lorraine a ticket too. This was via a Classic Rock pre-sale the day before the tickets were available to the public. Between last November and today there’s always been the question, “Who are we going to see?”. Even when I told them the date and that we were going to Manchester. I don’t think it really sunk in until we were cutting through Boots to get to the Food Court when I stopped and asked my sister if she thought she might need ear plugs.

We had something to eat, wandered around the Arndale and then headed out to the M.E.N. I bought two programmes, Zoe and Lorraine would have to share and we walked around inside the arena. We looked at the merchandise stalls, but none of us bought anything and watched people getting their faces painted. After we'd done a complete circuit of the arena we headed down to find our seats. Not bad seats at that, block 105, Gene’s side of the stage in the corner.

You really have to either admire or feel sorry for a band opening for KISS but Taking Dawn were the opening act. Admire them for the fact that they have a chance to play to half full arenas. Feel sorry for them because no one is really there to see them specifically, they’re just the distraction before the main event. They played typical eighties metal, all flaying hair and bobbing heads. Coming from Las Vegas is a novelty simply because I can’t think of any other band that hails from there.

There was a cheer when the curtain with the KISS logo on it was lowered to cover the stage. People were queuing on the stairs near us to get to the floor. Looking around the arena did seem to be more or less sold out. This was supposed to be the first date in England until more dates were added due to demand. This was certainly the first concert I've been to where children, probably as young as six or seven, were attending.

Set List

Modern Day Delilah

Cold Gin

Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll

Firehouse

Say Yeah

Deuce

Crazy Crazy Nights

Calling Dr. Love

Shock Me

I'm An Animal

100,000 Years

I Love It Loud

Love Gun

Black Diamond

Detroit Rock City

Encore

Lick It Up

Shout it Out Loud

I Was Made For Lovin' You

God Gave Rock And Roll To You

Rock And Roll All Nite

The lights finally dimmed, the video screens showed the first part of the Modern Day Delilah video (with thunderous footsteps), then shots of the band walking to the stage with Doc McGhee. I must have heard the intro hundreds of times on the Alive and Alive II records but it doesn’t come close to hearing it in person.

The curtain comes down, all the screens are on, the bombs go off and Gene, Paul and Tommy are lowered to the stage on a huge platform playing the start of Modern Day Delilah. For any other band playing the single from their new album as the first song would be considered a miss step but the track is so strong that it’s a perfect opener.

From then onwards it’s just a blur of classic songs, new songs and the vast spectacle of it all. Gene stalking around the stage flicking his tongue out as if it were the only way to consume oxygen. Tommy cranking out the riffs and solos and making them his own. Eric keeping it all together with his power house drumming. But it was Paul who impressed me the most. He must be the greatest front man of any genre of music. Covering all the stage and more, playing with the guitar between his legs, flicking guitar picks, strutting and dancing around, being able to pronounce Birmingham and Glasgow correctly (no mean feat for an American) and singing absolutely note perfectly as well. All four of them were just amazing.

Only two little niggles: Shock Me, as a song written by Ace and being so heavily linked to him, should only really be sung by him. Tommy should have sung When Lightning Strikes instead. I'm An Animal, that Gene sung, I'm not a huge fan of and should have been replaced with God of Thunder. But that’s just me.

Zoe even started to loosen up towards the end, playing air drums and air guitar, but quite rightly not at the same time. Both of them managed to stay standing for the full two hours. I could remain seated and still see all the stage. Being on the tiers for the first time did make things seem kind of strange, as if you’re watching a concert instead of being part of it. On the floor, near the stage, your whole field of vision is filled instead of just a small part of it.

For the last song of the encore, Rock And Roll All Nite, Gene and Tommy were high up on platforms, Eric’s drum riser had lifted up and they must have set off every bomb, firework, fire jet and confetti canon that they had. It really was a sight to behold.

Walking back to the car Zoe said that when they froze at the end of one of the songs she thought it was going to take them a while to straighten up! Ageist yes, but quite funny nonetheless.

I can still remember Harry Sime recording KISS Alive II for me on to a Scotch C90 tape. I don’t think any of us are going to forget tonights show any time soon.

Reviews
CityLife Review
New Beats Media Review

Interviews
106.1 Rock Radio interview with Gene
Part One mp3
Part Two mp3
Absolute Radio interview with Paul – mp3

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Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll
Crazy Crazy Nights
Black Diamond
I Was Made For Lovin' You
KISS Jet leaving Manchester Airport
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Rammstein

Easily the best concert that I've ever attended and I saw Rammstein in this same venue when they played in 2005.

You would think that there would be more people leaving Manchester during rush hour, but for some reason the roads that are usually are quite clear were grid-locked. Luckily I was still in plenty of time to get to the M.E.N. Arena and have a wander around before heading inside.

Quite why the venue security insist on everyone sitting down I don’t know but I guess it’s a chance to rest your legs in preparation for the next 3 hours. Strange that we all stood up at the same time. There didn’t seem to be a signal we just did it. I was stood about mid-way between the stage and the mixing desk, dead centre.

The stage was already set for Combichrist so there wasn’t the usual roadies running around checking microphones with the compulsory 1-2 1-2. They have to do that as part of their union regulations. You could tell from their setup that they’re a good match as support for Rammstein. Two drummers either side of a keyboard player with a singer prowling the front of the stage. I hadn’t heard any of their stuff previously and may checkout a track or two of theirs on iTunes. As always with support bands there is always one or two people in the crowd who are total fans. Bouncing up and down and shouting along whilst the rest of us just nodded gently.

When Combichrist had said their goodbyes a woman, who was obviously the worse for drink, moved into the spot in front of me. She was already shouting ‘Rammstein’ in that delightful cracked wail that only the completely inebriated can manage. She kept swaying around and putting her hands in the air making these strange gestures like an Indian belly dancer. At least it provided a diversion during the set change.

Because I'd stopped reading Kerrang! magazine a couple of years ago I didn’t know what was in store this evening. I'd bought the new album, Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da, and to be honest I wasn’t that taken with it. I'd even bought the ticket just thinking that I wouldn’t want to miss Rammstein considering that they may only tour the U.K. once every 5 years.

I have certainly never seen a rock concert like it. It was simply amazing. I think not knowing what was going to happen made the whole experience much more enjoyable. So I won’t even try to describe the whole show. But the lights and the stage would usually be enough for most bands but the flames were simply astonishing. Fire shooting up from the stage and down from the lights. How they manage to remember where they have to be at a given moment is remarkable. One step too far and any of them could be toast, literally. Parts of it were just completely mad: the dolls, the bath, the petrol pump, Till singing at a table next to a floor lamp, Flake ‘walking’ for most of the show, the foam ‘cannon’, the wings, which other band would have the keyboard player ‘sail’ over the crowd in a dingy.

It was just the most amazing spectacle that I've ever seen. I can’t wait to get the live DVD, or Blu-Ray, when it comes out to re-live it all over again.

Related Links
A Gallery of Photos by lodge28 (Warning – Show Spoilers)

Thank god I set out 2 hours early. All I had to do en-route is fill up with petrol, even though the little pointer wasn’t quite into the last sector on the dial. Traffic to the M60 was fine but getting near the Trafford Centre every lane ground to a halt. 40 mile an hour speed limits and cars just crawling along. And this was just an hour before showtime. I did contemplate getting off the motorway but that wouldn’t have been the wisest of moves as I don’t really know the area all that well. There didn’t seem to be any road works, I just saw a few cars on the hard-shoulder with a police car and that was about it.

Unlike The Academy shows that I've been to at least The Lowry has reserved seating, so you don’t have to queue outside for half an hour and then sit waiting for an hour before Henry comes on. I was pleased to see that row B was the front row. The row A seats must have been removed. Even I had to check the row letter twice.

Looking around before the show I noticed two microphones, at stage left and right, on stands pointing out to the audience. This did make me think that Henry could sell the MP3’s of each show on his web-site for a few bucks a pop. Possibly, if the show was being recorded, it would be included on a future CD release. With audio recording equipment being fairly cheep, they already have the microphones/mixing desk, I can’t see why all the shows couldn’t be recorded.

At just past 7:30pm the house lights go down and the stage lights come up and Henry walks out on stage. It’s been nearly 2 years since I last saw him and he hasn’t changed a bit. The same grey trousers, black t-shirt and blue/white Vans shoes. The only difference being that his hair did look a shade lighter, but that may have been the stage lights.

Henry started saying that he'd just found out that Salford wasn’t Manchester… then his mic cut out. He complained a little that his ‘road-crew’ had 2 hours this afternoon to get it working but he just ploughed on. I could hear what he was saying, being at the front, but I guess the folks at the back of the circle had a little difficulty. The sound cut in then out then the roadie yelled to Henry to grab the spare. Once that was switched over everything was fine. Even Henry said, while this was going on, that it can’t be the mic because it a Shure. I think that bending the cable just past the plug to wrap the cable twice around his hand can’t do it much good. I can see why he started doing it. Singing with Black Flag if someone jumped on stage and pulled the cable the microphone would just fly out of his hand.

Once that technical glitch was over Henry just kept talking, barely stopping for a gulp of water: Obama, working on Sons of Anarchy, making the commencement speech at Sonoma State University, Saudi Arabia in a car with a Prince and later at the palace, his girlfriend (who also has grey hair), the Bhopal disaster, slums in India, China and giving essential hygiene advice to the ladies of Bangkok. There were countless other topics covered during the two and three quarter hours that he was on stage.

Henry is always worth going to see, this was my 5th time, but tonight didn’t seem to be all that funny. Not that you go to a Rollins show to have your sides split, the show is still billed as a Spoken Word and not as an evening of Stand-Up Comedy. Possibly it was because his travels to Bhopal, Saudi Arabia and India were more of an education for the audience instead of entertainment.

One thing that I have noticed is that he never mentions traveling to South America. It always seems to destinations in the northern hemisphere that he visits. Maybe South America is too close to home and not enough of a culture shock.

As always a great evening out seeing Mr. Curve!

Related Links
Dispatches
Fun House by The Stooges

Black Gives Way To Blue

Considering the recent weather, torrential rain and strong winds, I really didn’t fancy queuing outside for long if it was going to be typical Manchester weather. Luckily the rain held off and I was outside The Academy at about 7:00pm. Finding ‘a’ queue wasn’t fun. A huge trench had been dug in the pavement and instead of the usual boards covering the gap they'd just put barricades along the full length of it. It also didn’t help that there was a vast amount of people outside the main student union building for another gig, or two. Long and short of it I'd joined the wrong queue. This was eventually pointed out to us by a man shouting for tickets who seemed either drunk, or high, or both so his first announcement fell on deaf ears. A group of us left the queue, which was the ticket collection queue, and walked past the front doors and around the side of the building to where the buses were parked, to the end of the real queue.

It is kind of saddening that you have to be searched before you enter these places. We’re all there to listen to the music and see the band surely? Possibly some aren’t. They’ll have airport style security next.

The audience certainly seemed about the same age as me, maybe older. I bought Dirt back in early 1993 after Kerrang! magazine voted it album of 1992.

The support act was a woman on guitar and vocals and a bloke on drums. Even now I don’t know who they were. You'd think they'd say “we’re The Support Band, goodnight” at the end of their set.

With only a mic stand and a small drum kit to remove from the stage the change over should have been really quick. At least that’s what I thought. I wonder if someone keeps a list of the amount of times a microphone is checked by a roadie?

Set List

It Ain't Like That

Again

Them Bones

Dam That River

Your Decision

No Excuses

Check My Brain

A Looking In View

Rain When I Die

Heaven Beside You

Got Me Wrong

Black Gives Way To Blue

What The Hell Have I

Acid Bubble

Angry Chair

Man In The Box

Encore

Would?

Rooster

After what seemed like forever the stage lights lit the audience and a cameraman pointed a video camera across the crowd. Then the lights went back to the way they were before, lighting the stage for the roadies to do their job, checking microphones and shining torches on cables. The sight of two members of the road crew with their elbows resting on speaker stacks didn’t bode well at all. The crowd, growing increasingly restless, started booing and slow clapping and for a minute I thought that the show wasn’t going to happen. Then, at about 9:30pm, because I kept checking my watch, after what felt like forever, the band walked on stage.

After Layne died this is something that I never thought I'd see, Alice In Chains playing these incredible songs live. Highlights? Again, Them Bones (during which I almost lost it completely), Check My Brain, all the heavier stuff. Whenever Jerry stood centre stage everyone shouted his name. William sang and played guitar like he was born to do it. The only slow spots were the acoustic, barstool songs. Black Gives Way To Blue was so quiet that I'm sure people talking in the crowd was louder. There was a huge cheer at the end when a really short black and white video clip of Layne was played. It was just the right length and exactly what was needed, fresh faced, long curly haired, smiling and giving the peace sign.

With the technical difficulties, and the curfew, we won’t know if they would have played more songs.

William really did a great job, fitting in like the role was always his. Certainly big boots to fill but I think the crowd, like I was, was just pleased to hear those songs again. Like the man said, “This is just the beginning!”.

Somebody check my brain.

Update
Official blog entry for the Manchester show

Eddie Izzard

Certainly the first time that I've seen a single, solitary, stand-up, performer in such a large venue. Eddie Izzard was ‘playing’ the second night at the M.E.N. on his Stripped tour and apart from seats on the upper tiers the placed seemed sold out. Comedy is the new rock ‘n’ roll and has been for a few years now. I'm amazed that he is playing such vast spaces, I honestly didn’t think that he was that well known. Remember the days when he would only do stand-up and wouldn’t be seen dead gracing our television screens?

It is, more or less, impossible to distill his act into a few ‘jokes’. There won’t be many people at work tomorrow trying to re-enact the show for their work colleagues. In fact I'm amazed that Eddie manages to remember it all, I can only recall a few segments, the rest just passed by in a blur. Maybe that’s the joy of it, laughing at the time, forgetting most of it, then remembering bits in the weeks that follow.

The interesting thing is that when he does two or three characters you can see that they’re there. You know where on stage they are, your mind just fills in the blanks, even if Eddie confuses the voices or positions, which he makes a joke about and becomes another part of his act. When he does an impersonation of a giraffe, or shark, it is just a short, stocky guy in tails, but the voice and the mannerisms are spot on.

For such a big show there were lights, screens, back-lit panels with hieroglyphs on them (I've just remembered another joke) but the major let down was the sound. I've heard people complain about the sound in these ‘sheds’ before but I thought that only applied to concerts. It seemed that the only speakers were the ones up in the lighting rig. At a gig these are usually the ones to fill in the sound for the people on the tiers, because bands will have rows of Marshall cabinets on stage. Tonight Eddies disembodied voice only came from those speakers up high near the ceiling and so was no where near loud enough for those down below. Why didn’t they have speakers on stage, behind the light panels, for the punters on the ‘floor’?

And talking about ‘the floor’, are they supposed to be the more expensive seats because you are looking directly at the stage? All I could see was the back of the bloke on fronts head. I spent at least half the show watching Eddie on the big screen in all his pixelated glory. When I did get a chance to see the real thing it was a pleasant surprise. This is all because ‘the floor’ isn’t slanted, obviously, that'd make Disney On Ice a real treat, so you can never see over the person in fronts head. The tiers, albeit at the sides, must give you a better, uninterrupted view, of the stage.

It looks as if the Eddie Izzard Live Stripped DVD is already available for pre-order, just in time for Christmas. I personally prefer the older discs, Unrepeatable and Definite Article.

Yes, tonight I would have been at the Last Night Of The Poms at the M.E.N. in Manchester but alas it was not to be. Through no fault of my own you understand because the date was cancelled back in July with ‘unforeseen circumstances’ being the reason given.

I had been dying to see Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna in the flesh and had booked the ticket back in January. In my official capacity as curator of a web-site dedicated to Uncle Les I felt it my duty to attend. Even the ticket price of £53.50 didn’t dissuade me. That is a considerable amount of money in anyones currency for two, possibly three, hours entertainment. It would have been the first appearance by Sir Les on a UK stage in many years.

On a side note: when the cancellation was announced Ticketmaster.co.uk managed to get the ticket out the next day. This was so that they could still charge me the £2 booking fee and leave me with a souvenir ticket that was worthless. £2 for a piece of flimsy card. They did refund the £51.50 but considering that they had my money for six months, that the date was cancelled and that they hadn’t even sent out the ticket, it was robbery.

Last night was the first Last Night Of The Poms so my Google Alerts were firing with multiple links to various reviews. You can read the selected high-lights over at Sir Les Patterson’s web-site. From all accounts, the word isn’t good. The monologues by Sir Les and Dame Edna certainly seem to have been well received but when the band and the huge choir strike up that’s when things take a dive.

From what I've read the musical passages just aren’t that funny, witty or humorous. These musical sections have been performed before and, again from what I've read, most people wanted to forget them.

With the country digging it’s way out of a recession I can’t see that that many people would have paid £50 or more, each, for one night out. And that doesn’t include meals, parking, drinks or a stay in a hotel.

The tour should just have been in theatre sized venues, of which there are at least 4 or 5 around the centre of Manchester, with Laurie Holloway on the piano, a few songs (hence the pianist) and buckets of phlegm and gladdies. Possibly do two nights at each venue, one for Sir Les and the other for Dame Edna (I think I've missed my calling, I should have been a tour manager).

There is a possibility that the tour will return to the UK next year after a stint in Australia during December. Here’s hoping that Sir Les leaves the band behind and plays a show near here.

Dave Gorman

Tonight’s trip to The Lowry was supposed to be an exercise in secret keeping for my niece Zoe. She cannot keep a secret for very long before feeling compelled to blurt it out. We can’t quite decide if this is an positive trait or not. Of course I am the former olympic champion at keeping secrets (yes, I even keep secrets from you gentle reader) and had to be, having bought the tickets back in March.

But after catching up with The Dave Gorman Podcast (on iTunes) last week I was starting to feel that maybe an evening with Mr. Gorman wouldn’t be entirely appropriate for a young woman. Now, this may well be some sort of kinky comedian thing, it could be that he lives in the South or it may well be just a personal fetish but he confessed, on Absolute Radio, that he owns a duvet cover with a zip. Shocking I'm sure you’ll agree. He also has a pierced nipple but I have no doubt that in celebrity circles it’s compulsory.

Of course Zoe wasn’t shocked and surprised when Dave Gorman’s name was read out over the tannoy. It must have been like Mission Impossible. She had already sent a text message to her mother who was sat waiting in front of an iMac with a high-speed internet connection. Knowing our location Dave Gorman’s name could only have been a few Google links away.

Naturally, based on previous experience, we didn’t expect Dave to just do a ‘normal’ tour. He is playing 32 consecutive nights in venues of various sizes across the land without utilising a Bon Jovi size tour bus. With cycling being more than a means of transportation around London he is getting on his bike to travel between gigs. In fact he is touching all four points of our little island, north, south, east and west, but not necessarily in that order. This is why Glenfinnan Railway Station and Inverness The Ironworks are on this tour that has been christened, “Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop And Stand-Up”. Always advisable to stop before standing up.

I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the show already. You just can’t distill two hours entertainment into a few malformed sentences, so I won’t even try. Just to say that everyone in a packed Lowry left feeling as happy as a horse in trousers.

Zoe had said earlier that she was starting with a cold, so by the trip home she was probably feeling as rough as a pumpkin.

Tomorrow Dave Gorman will be on his bike again heading towards Preston, because that’s how he rolls.

Related Links
Day 15: Stoke to Manchester
Day 16: Manchester to Preston
Dave Gorman’s photography
Dave Gorman’s blog
Dave Gorman’s tweets

Who Killed Amanda Palmer

Even I couldn’t quite figure out exactly where Club Academy was. The ticket didn’t say Academy 2, where The Dresden Dolls performed last time, just Club Academy. A couple of strolls around the building didn’t help all that much. The campus signs, the ones that say “You are here, or here!”, didn’t help at all. After the third circuit I had decided that the queue at the front was THE queue, so joined the tail end of it. Those black and white striped tights are a sure indication of a Dresden Dolls fan.

The inside of the venue has been modernised since my last visit back in May 2006 and Club Academy is exactly as you would expect, underground with a low ceiling. I managed to secure a vantage point about 10 foot from the stage in front of a large pillar. The stage can only have been about 2 foot high, with a 2 foot high riser holding aloft Miss Palmer’s piano and stool.

Jason Webley was first on with just about the loudest accordion that I've ever heard, and I've heard two, and a hat that spent most of it’s time either over his eyes or on the floor. He was really entertaining and funny. I mean how many times have you been instructed to hold your finger in the air and spin around 12 times. Obviously I didn’t… I like to stay in control. He looks like a younger, thinner, Chris Cornell, so it came as no surprise to hear that he hails from Seattle.

Zoë Keating was on next with a new cello. It makes a great, rich, sound which is then repeated and doubled with the aid of a MacBook pro and a bank of foot pedals. I wish I had been closer to the stage to see what pedals Zoë hits as she plays. I was also a little curious as to why she had to click her fingers into the microphone before she started.

Oooo ahhh!! And so to the recently departed Amanda Palmer. Draped in a veil and carried, for obvious reasons, by The Danger Ensemble across the front of the stage and then onto the piano stool. The veil removed Amanda started to play Astronaut from the new album Who Killed Amanda Palmer. The rest of the evening just flew by in a blur. Ampersand and Guitar Hero were other tracks from the new record as well as the one that name checks Google. Coin-Operated Boy, Mrs. O and Half Jack were the Dresden Dolls songs that I remember. A Smiths and a Regina Spektor cover, then Oasis, the rather contradictory Livin' On A Prayer with Jason, Zoë and Lyndon, the violinist, all joining in. Then back to the piano stool for the last song Leeds United.

Considering, by her own admission, Amanda had had a pretty crummy day I think that by the end of it she had cheered up considerably. We certainly made enough noise to turn her mood around.

Amanda Palmer Rest In Peace.

Related Links
Amanda Palmer photos by Man Alive! on flickr
Astronaut on YouTube
Ampersand on YouTube
Let Me Get What I Want on YouTube