An idiots guide to an idiot: September 2019

Had a terrific day in London going to a gig. I'd won tickets to see The Quireboys who were doing a one off gig at the Kentish Town Forum to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their debut studio album 'Abit of what you fancy.' (Though actually the album was released in 1990.)
We decided to make a day of it, got a cab to the station and trained it down to the big smoke. There's a nice pub very near the venue, The Bull & Gate, so we headed there to get some food.
There wasn't many people in at that time, I went to the bar and T said she'd get a seat....She had the whole pub to choose from and managed to get a seat next to the nutter...…..
OK, I'm being abit unfair as alot of tables were reserved but anyway, we had our dinner and then this lady started talking to us from the next table, she had already 'accosted' T in the Ladies so were already friends (!) Strange to say the least, she ended up singing to Tara! She was obviously lonely and had a few health (mental) issues, in fact she told us this and she named dropped about her parents knowing Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Lane also Dudley Moore and also Peter Cook who chatted up her brothers girlfriend all night at a family party. Was this just a flight of fancy or was there some truth here? I had some idea in my head that in a week or so we'd be reading a paper and she'd be in it and would turn out to be a famous artist or author or something. Well that wasn't quite the case but her Dad was Sylvester Stein a South African journalist who fought apartheid, knew Nelson Mandela, moved to the UK to escape the oppressive government, turned actor, wrote plays and is a published author. Her Mum, Jenny Stein was director of the Whitechapel Gallery in the 1970's and also an actress. So she was quite an interesting, if troubled person as it turns out.

The gig beckoned and off we went. I said I'd won the tickets but these would have been standing only. On the website that I won the tickets on for a mere £11 each we could upgrade to VIP status, this allowed us up to the balcony where there were seats and also a meet and greet with the bands. I thought this might be a bit of fun, we've never done this before and for such a little extra to pay it seemed like a good idea. Got in and had our wrist bands put on and made our way up to the balcony. The seats were fine, but unreserved , the meet & greet was a complete joke! Basically you needed to join the very long queue to get into the room where the merchandise was being sold and there you could meet the bands and get your arse or your new t shirt signed or whatever. Hardly a meet & greet! I'd even had a look at the bands on You Tube so I stood some kind of chance of knowing who I was talking to....what a chump!
Bit of an Antipodean theme going with the first support having one Aussie & the second all from Australia.
First Tequila Mockingbyrd (great name!) a girl band (although tonight there was a male guitarist and bassist for some reason, also they have merged with Amorettes & currently 'sharing' a singer from the Amorettes called Gill Montgomery....who's Scottish!), they were absolutely brilliant! Definitely one to see again & well worth investing in a CD I think.

After a break and a chance to get more drinks on came Massive who are from Melbourne. Another very good band, loud, full of energy and great rock n roll songs! Another CD coming to my collection soon I think.

Another break....more drinks then the third support came out. I always like to see the support bands but sometimes I think there's maybe too many as of course their sets are reduced accordingly. Pig Iron were on third so got a better go at a set, and are from London. I liked them but compared to the first two acts they were abit pedestrian, abit plodding. Good stuff but whereas I'd go and see the first two again I don't think I'd go to see this lot.

I liked all the guitars lined up at the back, couldn't get a close up though.

Last break, last drink then the headliners hit the stage. The Quireboys couldn't give a bad show if they tried, they were quite simply fantastic! Spike is a great showman and frontman for the band, always plenty of chat and banter from him. The album they played was superb and has songs I knew the words to so I could bellow them out. Tara being much better at remembering song lyrics sung all the more! They were a joy from beginning to end.

Quireboys setlist

Unfortunately the setlists of the other bands haven't become available online for the moment.

There was supposed to be another chance to meet the bands after but we couldn't be bothered to join the inevitable queue again but I did want a t shirt! Nothing about so we left, luckily there was the now all too infrequent bloke outside selling similar t shirts out of a box. For £10 I'm not complaining. Bands go on about merch being the only money they get to themselves and then put T shirts out for £25+! Though to be fair had the merch room been open I'd have paid it!

Fire surround tiles not mended very well in The Assembly Room! The flower on the right has been put on upside down!

Pottered over the road to The Assembly House for a last beer. It was a very ornate pub, very high ceilings, this building dates from 1898 and has always been a pub. The Richard Burton film 'The Villain' made in 1971 shot some scenes in this pub. Well that was our night, a short walk to the station to find the trains rammed! There were quite alot of Union Flag hats, dresses, waistcoats etc as tonight was also last night of the Proms so think we got caught up in their gig as well! Didn't get a seat until Harpenden! This not withstanding , it had been a bloody good day!

Was who we saw on Friday night in Oxford. We went to the Oxford 02 Academy. Very straightforward journey and bit of a novelty driving to a gig rather than the train. Got parked directly opposite the venue, quite a result! Got to say what a friendly venue it was, all the staff we encountered were very helpful and jolly.
Only a small auditorium, there's a bigger one downstairs but for the proposes of this gig it was upstairs only. Got a drink (nothing of note ….or taste on draught so slummed it on cider) and T had Bacardi & Coke. Mooched about for a while and then the first band came on called by the vocalists name of Rhys Warriner. Took station down the front, it wasn't very crowded yet, they started very well and were quite good though they lost me abit when they went abit funky. They finished and I had a chat to the bloke next to us who, it turns out runs a blog called Market Square Heroes all about music and tribute bands. He does interviews and generally promotes them, its very good, go to https://www.marketsquareheroes.net/ to find out more. He follows the bands on festivals etc, there are, it appears whole festivals devoted to tribute acts!
Time passed and then the next band came on. 'Port in a Storm' were really good. The vocalist had a brilliant voice and they rattled their way through there (mostly) own penned rocky songs, there're a local band formed in 2008.
Ultimate Coldplay came on about 9.30pm and played an very good hour and an half set from the original Coldplay album 'Live in Buenos Aries.'
They were absolutely brilliant! Really loud and very professional. I think the term 'tribute band' conjures up second rate because they are copying, but this is far from the truth. Any tribute band I've seen (now seen four) are consummate musicians, very proud of what they do and very good at it. Paul from Market Square Heroes told us that Ultimate Coldplay are regarded as one of the best Coldplay tribute acts, indeed they have the seal of approval from Chris Martin himself!
Really enjoyed the gig, bellowed out the words such as I knew and we had a bloody good time, they were definitely as good as the real thing, considerably cheaper & we could get near the front.
Ended all too soon and we were back in the car driving home before you knew it. It was a great night.