Sometimes these words just don't have to be said

Out tonight for The Wedding Present, at Rock City. The gig was centered around a full rendition of George Best, which is 20 years old this year, making me feel very old indeed.

However I was in good company, the audience comprised 75% similarly aging ex-indie boys (some of whom had bribed their wives / partners to accompany them), hoping for a glimpse of the old Gedge guitar shredding magic. Some of these late thirties / early forties gentlemen actually had a stab at crowd surfing, to the obvious alarm of the Rock City security staff, who had to grab and land them. I almost felt sorry for them, although sympathising with Rock City bouncers is a bit like feeling sorry for the Tonton Macoute.

The band were great, I think Gedge is the only original member, but the guitars sounded as manic as the old days, and they whizzed through George Best in what seemed like half an hour. I'm sure Getting Nowhere Fast was on the original vinyl version of the album? DG claimed this wasn't the case and hence it wasn't played, which would be my only gripe with the gig. I suppose he should know...

My Favourite Dress was terrific, and Kennedy and Flying Saucer also stood out...

It's been a long long time since I played any of the old stuff, but it surprised me how I instantly knew all the words to many of the songs... clearly they are stashed away in the part of my brain reserved for guitar-based indie pop songs about breaking up with girls.

How long Mr Gedge can get away with this kind of stuff remains to be seen - his subject material is very adolescent, and he must be well into his 40's by now, but tonight it was great hear those songs and those guitars, despite the shameless nostalgia.

Andy Penco's Flat

I have listened to a lot of music in Andy's flat. I have also drunk a lot of wine there, and talked a lot of nonsense. I have discovered many great tunes while nursing a glass of red on his sofa - Soulsavers, Underworld, Dan Reeder, Hamell on Trial, Bellowhead come to mind, but there have been so many. I've slept on the same sofa after some great gigs - Alabama 3, Primal Scream, etc .

So Mr Penco's pad is a musical landmark in my life, which I am commemorating here with a virtual tour of the premises, for the edification of the uninitiated.

The sofa











The Kitchen










The multimedia facility











Hat wearing at the flat is more or less compulsory, usually after eating, when the second or third bottle has been opened. Andy has a wide selection to choose from, and is pictured below in a particularly stylish number:

Red wine, good music, and an assortment of cheeses and hats.

Hometown Blues

A couple of weeks ago there was an Emmylou Harris night on BBC4, and this evening I finally got around to catching up with it. One of the programs was a compilation of clips of ELH at the BBC down the years, and it included a clip which I hadn't seen since it was first broadcast. Steve Earle, fresh from rehab, duetting with Emmylou on 'Goodbye'.

Earle was fairly fresh from rehab at the time, and about to enter a purple patch which lasted for the next 7 or 8 years (his last LP is rather dull, but Train a Comin and Feel Alright are blinders) and Emmylou had covered the song on her Wrecking Ball album.



I remember watching the show at the time, shocked by the pudgy and greasy Earle, who last time we saw him was lean and long haired, very different. I saw him live two or three times very soon afterwards and he was magnetic. Then a couple of years ago I saw Emmylou Harris at the Concert Hall in Nottingham, she was wonderful, and her band was fantastic. Never let people tell you that country music is made by rednecks and truck drivers...not all of it anyway.

Dread At The Controls

Two tracks tonight on the headphones at an unhealthy volume.

First off - and I hope you will bear with me on this - 'Supper's Ready' by Genesis. I first heard this track on the Friday Rock Show countdown of the best rock tracks ever, I think it came in at number 5 or 6...anyway, it's from the LP 'Foxtrot', and is born of the most fragrant purple prose prog rock, but I absolutely love it; it's funny and original and perhaps more influential than we care to admit.

Other tracks in the Friday Rock Show countdown included ...pause for deep breath...Stargazer by Rainbow, Child in Time and Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, Stairway To Heaven by Led Zep, Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and maybe Whole Lotts Rosie by AC/DC.

My second tune of the evening is very very different - Uptown Top Ranking, by Althea and Donna. A one hit wonder...not heard of before or since, Althea was 17 and Donna was 18 when they were number 1, and what a bloody infectious fantastic tune it is! See me in my heels and ting...

And that's it for me tonight, just a couple of great tunes I wanted to shout about..