overlap

Some days are impossible to get through without think 'life doesn't get much better than this!', so I'm glad I've developed the capacity to recognise such things. A slightly earlier than normal start had me on the road in enough time to take care of a couple of errands before getting to the ground. "Big star players" coming to a lower league club to finish their career is not something that always works out for the best, and I'll admit to certain reservations at the time. With a few goals, a load of nice touches and cracking workrate including the odd yellow card for an excess of tackling, I was happy to rapidly be proved wrong. Roy of the Rovers has got nothing on the way Darren Anderton absolutely leathered the ball from the edge of the box to bow out of professional football by scoring the only goal of the game in the 88th minute. From my position behind the post I watched it all the way in, and as it hit the back of the net with a resounding slapping sound, the place erupted and rightly so. Thanks Darren, way to go! Legging it through the post-match euphoria that had people wandering all over the roads, I had a 100 miles to cover to a venue that was opening its doors less than an hour after I got back to my car. Insert your own comment about the inevitability of missing support bands here! I only just missed Vile Evils, but I've seen them before and will hope to catch them again when the album emerges early next year. Even if I hadn't got caught up in traffic on the end of the M4, and in the immobile pedestrian throng blocking Charing Cross Road, I still wouldn't quite have made it so I'm glad I wasn't rushing any harder. I don't know if the closing date is published yet, but if this is to be my last gig at The Astoria, it's a fine way to go out. In a close copy of the previous night, this was the original line-up of Ned's Atomic Dustbin playing together for the first time in rather more than a decade. Dan Dan the fast drumming man does exactly what you'd expect of him, and Alex's bass as lead guitar work is as distinctively melodic as ever. Jonn jumps about a lot, and has a chin. The returning pair have slightly differing approaches, Rat plays his guitar, concentrates on playing his guitar and smiles a bit while playing his guitar. Mat, on the other hand, looks like a man who can't believe all his Christmases have come at once, and over the eighty-odd minutes they play probably says more into either Alex's or Jonn's mike than he did in the whole of his previous tenure in the band! I really doubt there was anyone in the place having as much fun as Mat obviously did. Much as I love the distinctive sound of Alex's bass, Jonn's lyrics can tend towards more sound than text, and for a Ned's jukebox this was pretty much a perfect set, ending early for a club night, as is the way. The early finish meant I was back on the road well before 23.30 and some remarkably clear roads saw me home again, 370 miles later by 2am. And all put together that's a pretty damn good way to spend a day! * Happy was NAD's highest charting single, a UK number 16 in 1991.

Labels: gigs, Ned's Atomic Dustbin