Blog: Loitering in Leeds

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My GRATE PLAN in Leeds was to spend the afternoon at the pictures, but when I finally found the cinema shown on the map I found that it had been closed down a couple of years ago. I then decided to go to the PUB, but was a bit AFEARED to discover that all the pubs were PACKED OUT (at 4pm) with heavy smoking pissed people, all of whom looked like they'd been there all day. Some of them were doing Karaoke, it was WEIRD. Having walked around for about 20 minutes unable to find the traditional Quite Mid-Afternoon Empty Pub I instead went for COFFEE, and spent a happy few hours sitting in coffee places, drinking COFFEE, and reading more of my book (it's The Little Friend at the moment, it's good, but it's a bit much to be reading SO much of in one go).

The whole Lots Of Coffee thing wasn't really a good idea, as I soon found out that EVERYONE else in the band was currently stuck in traffic on the M1, and there was much FEAR and PANIC waiting for them to get there. All was WELL in the end, although we didn't get a soundcheck, but DID have time for setlist devising and indeed some CHIPS. In The North beer is 30p a pint cheaper, and chips are both 10p cheaper and MUCH nicer - ooh, they leave that Chippy After-taste in the mouth I always associate with having been to CUBS, which shows how long it is since I had proper decent chips, I guess.

ANYWAY, gig was dead good - there weren't as many people there as in Hull, and it wasn't quite so ROCK, but still it was pretty good. It MUST have been pretty good - usually, after a gig as good as Hull was the NEXT one or two are filled with DESPAIR and DOOM in comparison. The GRATE thing about doing lots of gigs together like this is that we're all Quite Good at it now, and know what we're doing. I don't have to keep looking round in FEAR to check that everyone's OK, and we have Stage Business these days too. It's been YEARS since I last had this, back in Voon, and I'd actually forgotten what it's like. It's brilliant.

Also of note, in the Onstage FACTS, is that people seem to be impressed to know that Frankie Machine is in the band - i do Introducing The Band sort of things now, and you can HEAR eyebrows being raised around the room as those in the KNOW realise that the ArchDuke of Anonistic ANGST is on BASS DUTY. Yeah! Said cataloguer of WOE flew off to hit last orders in Sheffield, leaving the rest of us to watch Being 747, who were BLOODY GRATE. Needless to say, this came as some relief...

Afterwards Emma's brother Pete said "It's like Emma sings the melody, and you do the words!" which I had to think about for a while... it's ACE being in a band like this though, it's like one long gradual polite version of a stag do, or the start bit of a wedding reception where you meet loads of relatives and other friends of the friends you've come to see. It's LOVELY.

It's all been lovely, really. I went off with Mr GogoJonnyGoGo to stay in his luxury guest-room with ensuite bathroom (even tho there wasn't actually a bath in there... or, in fact, any plumbing at all), which was very nice of him, bless, and as we walked I thought how sad it was that, almost as soon as it had started, our TOUR as a band was coming to an end.

posted 17/10/2003 by MJ Hibbett

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