overlap

That was fun then. There's a distance threshold that governs what I consider practical travel, and whether time off work is required. Getting to the end of the year and having annual leave to use up or lose makes this sort of thing a bit easier, and leaves room to be a bit more ambitious too. * Monday - work, and up the road to Wolverhampton to see Damone (too much 'we are Damone from the United States, let me hear you say 'yeah'', not enough of the serious business of writing songs) opening the Wildhearts pre-Christmas tour. Further to the one-off excitement in September, Wolfsbane got signed up to do five shows with The Wildhearts, and while some people missed September's show, this one was a) the first since then and b) the closest to a local show, so Wolverhampton was sold out and rammed with excitable people in fifteen year old Wolfsbane t-shirts. They were as good as they ever were back in the day, and internet consensus seems to be that they were even better than The Wildhearts, who I'd agree didn't have the best show of all time. Nice. Motorway roadworks and other shenanigans meant I got home about half past two. Not so nice. * Tuesday - work, and a relatively late trip to Bristol, and back to the same venue I'd been less than a week before with my nearly matching pink jeans and handbag. I saw support band New Generation Superstars at that show in Tamworth in September,and while they have a name that ups the ante somewhat, they are not quite there yet. Like a junior version of The Almighty, but just missing that little bit of memorableness in their songwriting, I like them and I'd happily watch them again but they've got nothing I'd rush to track down to listen to repeatedly just yet. Headline band Love/Hate I also saw a long time ago, but this is the third time in the last couple of years I've seen a different reformed line-up, with three of the original four members making this the most genuine version. Skid twitches like his bass guitar lead is a high pressure firehose that he's struggling to keep under control, and spends most of the show with a bleeding forehead from headbutting the mike. Joey is solid as ever on the drums. And Jizzy is the same wired frontman of legend, with the sort of brooding presence that lesser singers (and I'm looking directly at you, Hutchence and Gahan) couldn't hope to match in their wildest dreams. Great stuff and a relatively pleasant 'early' night. * Wednesday - no work, but a fun afternoon heading north, and east. Checked in at the hotel in downtown Stockport in time to make it to the venue just before doors. Hotels, and even the b&b type of accommodation, are an exotic novelty to me, and the sort of thing that elevates this above and beyond the norm. I wouldn't have made this trip without the lure of Wolfsbane, that's absolutely certain. Damone are largely as before, but with the sound not quite as good. Wolfsbane were even better than monday and I once again found myself a couple of people from the front, though I got bounced out of there within a couple of songs of The Wildhearts' set. I don't know if it's coincidence, but I'm struggling to recall seeing any gigs which weren't in some way troubled in Manchester. There's an inevitability of jumping up and down at this sort of thing, but all the same there are a couple of over-exuberant and over-lubricated kids that contribute to several different confrontational flare-ups that could have got nasty, and having seen the mighty Wolfsbane I left before the Wildhearts' encore and was back in the hotel in time to catch up a little on my sleep backlog. * Thursday - having removed the ice from the car, I took my time crossing the south-eastern edge of Cheshire and back down the M6, and still made the consumer paradise that is Merry Hill just after lunch time. And spent five hours enjoying the sport of shopping, coming away with a dress I'd liked the look of last time but which was now even further reduced, a pair of shoes, jeans, a couple of tops and few seasonal gifts that weren't for me too. Down the road to Stourbridge, where the venue is just around the corner from a Domino's so I pushed the boat out and had pizza in my car before going in to a venue that was borderline empty, and the first venue I have ever seen using a gas-fired space heater to try to warm the place up. Wouldn't have made the journey on its own for this either, but it made the hotel seem worthwhile and gave me something to do with the time other than just go home and watch Eastenders or something similarly educational! Support act Timothy Parkes is an interesting if slightly intense character, and his songs are perhaps a little rambling for my taste, but his guitar playing is very intricate and tight. Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls close their half-year of touring with a decent set that is happily based around more solo stuff than Stuff stuff, home for about one thirty I think this time. * Friday - off to London, on what is forecast to be the most challenging traffic day of the season, but which turns out to be nothing like as much trouble as it might have done. There's a queue up the side of the Astoria, where I first saw The Wildhearts suporting Wolfsbane a full seventeen years (and a few days) ago, and my partner-in-metal for this show turns up in good time. Damone, well, you know. Someone's been up in the loft, or busy rooting thorugh a lock-up garage somewhere, as the stage is crowned with a Wolfsbane banner of a certain vintage. This is perhaps the best of the three, no doubt partly due to the fact that nobody knows if this will be the last ever set they play, and while I've got a number of stills and some video from the other gigs, mostly I'm stood watching and enjoying and soaking it all up this time. It speaks for itself that Wolfsbane, who've only done six shows in the last thirteen years, still rank as fourth in the bands I've seen most stakes, and indeed some people might think that putting another thousand miles on the car for a total of less than two hours of Wolfsbane would be something they might not go for themselves. And from my perspective it was well worth it. We watched The Wildhearts from the balcony, where I've never been before, and the end of tour spirit and their very short new xmas song lifts this one to the best of my week too, probably. Out into the fog, and home for about 3.30 - 'tis the season to be having a rest now!

Labels: gigs, Love/Hate, Miles Hunt, shopping, The Wildhearts, Wolfsbane