FriedEgg's journal

Porcupine Tree put in a couple of reliably solid performances in Newcastle and Manchester this week. The sound for both was excellent - crisp and clear. As expected from PT, the music was performed with precision. Steven Wilson (vocals, guitars) has come along immensely as a frontman, and seems much more at home on stage these days. The music is complex and dense, and the band deliver this with an end-of-tour ease.

The set has a couple of different rotations, but nothing drastic changes between one set and the next. We got Stars Die on Tuesday, the oldest song I've seen so far on this tour, and Thursday had more material from 2007's Fear of a Blank Planet. All that being said, these are two of the best gigs I've been to this year, and there is hope for further dates in the new year.

The Porkies have attracted a lot of flak over the last few years for alienating the more established fans in favour of more recently gained fans of the newer material, but the young metalheads seen in numbers on the last tour have been largely absent on this tour, with the majority of the audience of these two gigs in the North of England were in their thirties, forties and many older.

Roll on the next PT gigs!

Last night, we went to Cheltenham, to see Ed Byrne. He was funny without having the sharpness of wit that we prefer from the likes of Dara O'Briain or Ross Noble.

I'd see him again, but I do prefer it when the comedian isn't so scripted.

The promotion stuff is now semi-official.  I don't have a contract in my hand, but the department has now been told about the reshuffle.  I'll be changing my hours from 8am-4pm to 9am-5pm, to increase the overlap with North America.  Otherwise, I'll end up working 8am-5pm, and that just isn't going to happen any more than I can help.

Looks like I'll be bloody busy!

I'm feeling a bit rough at the minute - definitely fighting off a cold - but it feels as if I'm winning.

I'm off on Friday afternoon to trek down to London (a city in the south-east of England) to see the mighty Porcupine Tree.  Looking forward to that!

I took an Ubu virgin, our close friend James from Aylesbury,  along to this one, and it was always going to be tough going, as it wasn't a "normal" Ubu gig.  It was a performance of a cut-down and new-album-centric edition of the play I saw performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall in April last year (see this entry).  Sarah Jane Morris couldn't appear as Mere Ubu this time, because she had some back trouble or something, so the understudy - a sculpture of cardboard boxes with "Mere Ubu" written on it in thick permanent marker - appeared in her stead.

David Thomas (vocals) who was appearing as Pere Ubu filled in most of the Mere Ubu role, and the band played many of the parts that they did last year.  If anything, it was better rehearsed, although some cues were missed, and the music was a lot tighter, since it's been recorded and obviously better rehearsed since then.

Some fun moments occurred.  When Robert Wheeler (synth, theremin) put on a chicken's head mask and stood motionless in a corner of the stage, the look on James's face was priceless.  He obviously had no idea what to expect, but he certainly wasn't expecting that!

David Thomas was swigging from a hip flask throughout, and every time he went backstage, it was magically full again, and this consumption was beginning to tell towards the end of the show, as Thomas's motions became more laboured, intent and clumsy.

Great fun, and I've enjoyed the two performances of this piece that I've seen, but I'm looking forward to when Pere Ubu go out and play their songs in a more traditional rock setting.

After the gig, we met up with Sue, Merv and Rochelle very briefly, as Merv and Rochelle had to get their tube home and we got ours to East Finchley, to return to Aylesbury for the weekend's shenanigans.

This year is silly for new albums.  Especially September and October.  What with the studying and other stuff going on, it's hard to keep up.

So, I'll round up very quickly.

Pere Ubu's latest, Long Live Pere Ubu defies description, which is a common trait to recent Pere Ubu albums.  Scatalogical, story-based and amusing, it could roughly be described as the soundtrack to the Jarry adaptation musical I saw them perform eighteen months ago, but that doesn't quite cut it.  A must if you're a fan, probably irrelevant if not.

We have a new Porcupine Tree album, The Incident.  The first couple of times I played this, I couldn't get past the similarities of parts with their own back catalogue and those of other bands (Pink Floyd in particular).  However, I seem to have jumped that hurdle, and am thoroughly enjoying what I find to be compelling listening.  The first three sides can be treated as one piece, and it's that part of it that I've been concentrating on - the four songs on the fourth side are good so far, but a bridge too far to try and assimilate yet.  I'm still on the first 55 minutes!

There are some elements of metal to the sound, and some figures that keep coming up in the connected piece, something that isn't really new to concept albums (or "song cycles", if you subscribe to Steven Wilson's [guitars, vocals] bizarre views).  There are shades of several different Porcupine Tree sounds in here, and some reminiscences of Pink Floyd circa 1977 in the Time Flies section.  Much prog wonder in all!

A word about the deluxe vinyl edition: nice.  Sounds beautiful, and the 12x12 48 page book is nice.

I've also picked up a bunch of new albums that were out earlier in the year; Steven Wilson's Insurgentes, David Sylvian's Manafon and quite a few other bits, which will have to be covered in another post.

Tomorrow, it's off to London to see Pere Ubu, and then the weekend with James in Aylesbury for his birthday.

Last night, I strolled down to the Robin Hood in Sherwood for a few pints with Brendan and a gig.  It's a rare occasion when a gig I want to go to is at a real ale pub twenty minutes' walk from my house, so it's an opportunity not to be missed!  Brendan and I chatted for an hour or so over a few pints of real ale (me) and Guinness (Brendan).

The support was from a folk duo called Mr. Ford and Mr. Gibbs.  They sang vaguely amusing songs, and were good for thirty minutes or so.  After a break, A Genuine Freakshow took the stage.

I had no idea what to expect from this seven-piece (drums, bass, guitar, guitar/vocals, trumpet, cello, violin).  The singer looked about twelve years old, and sang like a woman.  He had a cough, which he did well to overcome.  They have their own sound, and played for about an hour - some quiet, moody songs, and some intense cacophanies.  I struggle to compare them with anyone - anyone at all - which is A Good Thing.  The bass was sometimes fingered, sometimes picked and sometimes bowed, and the cellist (although she didn't crack a smile all night) and violinist filled the sound out very well.  The trumpeter knew when to play and when to shut up, and his playing was sympathetic to everything they did.

Some of the pub regulars  were clearly disdainful of the band by appearance, but soon looked appreciative once they started playing.  The singer was painfully shy between songs, but a little heckling from yours truly opened him up a tiny amount.

Very much recommended.  Thanks go to psychochicken , who tipped me off about the gig in the first place.  I'll definitely go and see them again, whether they're on my doorstep or not.

I met Andrew (a friend from work) at the Peacock for a swift one, and then we went over the road to the Victoria Centre bus station, to get the bus to Derby.  This took slightly less than the advertised 40 minutes, and dropped us off within 50 yards of our intended pre-gig pub, the Brewery Tap.  Here, we were treated to some very nice local brews, and meals which were smashing value for money.  Worth knowing for next time, they offer a "rack", which is five different beers (a third of a pint of each) and a bowl of local cheese for £5.

After this, we walked across town to the Flowerpot, where we had another swift one, and met up with bootleg trader pal Steve from Bristol, who had come along with his cousin (I think) who lives near Alfreton, not far away.  The Flowerpot takes its beer seriously, and it is nice to see that a subset of the hand-pulls available in the main bar is also served inside the live music hall.  This hall is slightly odd in shape, with the stage in a corner.

I was surprised how many people were there.  I would estimate fifty.  The band came on at 9.30, and played for something like an hour and 45 minutes.  The sound was bloody awful, which improved midway throught the set to be just awful.  Anne Marie Helder (lead vocal, rhythm guitar) was nearly inaudible if there was anything else going on, and the keyboard player may as well have not bothered for the first few numbers.

Sound aside, the set was varied and engaging.  Helder is clearly in her element fronting a band, and all the musicians are accomplished.  As usual with Gav Griffiths (drums - also for Fish), he was grinning like a loon throughout most of the set.

Panic Room play straight rock music with a just twist of what people tend to call Prog, but that gives entirely the wrong impression.  Given a wider forum, this band would appeal to most rock fans with open minds.  They were playing quite a lot of songs which are still being recorded for a second album, and they were sounding good.  The band were clearly quite chuffed to get called back a second time, and they jammed out a hybrid of Led Zeppelin tracks No Quarter and Kashmir, which was great fun.

Andrew had disappeared to get the 11 o'clock bus, so, after the show, I chatted briefly with Steve, and tried to have a quick word with Gav, but he'd vanished somewhere.  I bought a copy of the first Panic Room album, Visionary Position, which will doubtless get a spin today.  The buses back from Derby run until three in the morning, but I got the 12.30 one, and fell asleep listening to the mighty Jethro Tull on my walkman.  An eight quid taxi when I got back to Nottingham added quite a bit to the cost of the evening, but my bed was calling, with me having been up since seven.

All in all, if you haven't already given Panic Room a listen, I would suggest punting a tenner on one of their gigs - entertaining and thoughtful rock music.

Tonight, I'm going to see another band I've never seen before, and in this case, I've never heard a note of their music.  I'm going to this one at the recommendation of psychochicken .  A Genuine Freakshow are playing at the Robin Hood in Sherwood - that makes two local gigs in real ale pubs in as many days!  If any of the local crew fancy a pint and trying some music out, I'll be heading down there at about seven.

I'm a big fan of Tori Amos's first album Little Earthquakes, a record of profound beauty.  However, to my discredit, I've never really troubled to explore the rest of her material.  Most Tori fans seem to agree that it's as patchy as an old-fashioned quilt, but I must have a good listen some time for myself.

My brother Andrew has been a fan since about 1991, so I naturally thought of him when buying tickets for her latest tour.  The nearest gig to us was in Birmingham last night.  I set off fairly early from work, picking Andrew up at his workplace in Pinxton near junction 27 of the M1 at 4.50pm.  We headed down to Brum, getting there at about 6.10pm.  We found the traffic fairly light, and central Birmingham was surprisingly easy to get around.  In the past, I've dreaded trying to find things by road in the city centre.  We parked at Brindley Place multistorey near the venue, and walked around to a pub called the Brasshouse for the pre-gig meeting with my friend Richard.

Richard and I go back at least ten years, originally meeting through a mutual love of the music of Marillion and Fish.  We had a couple of pints and a meal at the pub, and the three of us chatted enthusiastically about music and life for a couple of hours.

Eventually, it was time to go round to the venue, and Christ, what a venue.  Nicely laid out, civilized and not a bad seat in the house, by the looks of it.  Andrew and I were way up in the grand tier, but we still had a good view of the stage.  Amos was a little late getting out on stage, but she did at about 8.45, and the large crowd were clearly up for it.

As I mentioned before, I'm not as familiar as I perhaps should be with Amos's catalogue, so I didn't know the majority of the songs performed, but I did recognize Little Earthquakes, These Precious Things and Cornflake Girl.  Amos is an engaging, energetic and demonstrative performer, and swivelled between piano and keyboards throughout the set.  At one point, her in-ear monitors packed in, and she took to singing for help over the band, without really breaking her stride, resulting in a roadie coming to sort her out from behind, and an appreciative round of applause from the audience.

The band consisted of a guitarist/bassist/slide man and a drummer, both of whom put just enough into the mix to keep it interesting without drowning the individuality of Amos's piano and vocal.  The excellent front-of-house mix helped - I remember very few concerts with sound as good.

After a 90+ minute main set, the encore break was mercifully brief (a modern trend I am very pleased with), and a two-song encore followed.

Cracking stuff - I'll be back to see her again, that's for sure.  I just need to pick my way through the minefield of her back catalogue so that I know more songs next time around!

A most fun bank holiday weekend.  Much, much studying got done, and we visited Taff and Irene for their patio-warming party, and chatted muchly to many people.  The bank holiday itself was spend chilling out at Symonds Yat with Taff and Irene, and a leisurely dessert in their garden.

We got home, had beer and listened to some music and read for a bit.

I have today off work, as VirginMedia are coming to replace my cable modem with a posh fast one, and hopefully restore some kind of continuity to my internet connection, which has been up and down like a tart's knickers for the last few weeks.  I'll be studying like crazy until the engineer turns up.

Not much happening this week.

On Friday, I went to the pub with my brother, Brendan, and at least half a dozen other mates.  This was good fun.  It was especially good to see jasper_the_cat , straythoughts  and dr_whitelabcoat  - friends I don't see nearly enough.  Also snootylj , but I do run into him at the British Gypsum canteen once in a while.

I've been studying like mad for most of the rest of the time, but have managed most evenings to carve out quite a decent slice of spare time before bed - essential if one is to keep one's crumbling sanity.

Oh yes - last week, I bought the new pressing of Black Sabbath's first album on vinyl.  It is better quality than the old 70s pressing I used to have when I had a lot of vinyl, and it was a great listen.  I haven't listened very much to the bonus tracks on the second LP, but that can wait until another bit of spare time.

I've been listening to a lot of Camel lately - Moonmadness especially being a lot of fun.

Last weekend, we had the Friday afternoon off, and picked Brendan up from work at 2.30pm.  We drove down to Taff's gaff in Cheltenham, and chilled out there for a bit, before I drove the party (Taff, Brendan, Sue, me) into Bristol, and parked outside the venue.

We were reunited with Tony (keyboards) and Dee, and then we dragged Dee off to a nearby restaurant to have a meal and a bit of a gas.  The meal eaten, we returned to the venue, had a round of drinks, and got chatting with other Company Gloster people as they came in.  This was great fun, and finally Purple Rain took the stage.

The first set wasn't very energizing, in my view - there seemed to be something missing.  Unfortunately for Jimi (vocals/guitar), there was a lot of trouble with the guitar rig, so Tony ended up filling in quite a bit with the band, jamming, while Jimi sorted his gear out.  The second set was much livelier, and great fun.

We hung around after the gig, and helped the band out with their stuff to the cars.  Tony, Dee, Doug (bass) and Jacqui (vocals) were also staying at Taff's, so we went back there, had a few beers and a chat for a few hours and finally turned in at coming up to four in the morning.

After a breakfast of tea, bacon sandwiches and chatter, we set off to Aylesbury to pick up James.  He had laid on a sandwich lunch, so we watched a recording of Mock the Week while we ate that.  Then, it was off across country to Colchester, to stay with Tony and Dee.

The route I'd planned took us through some lovely countryside, and it still only took us two and a half hours to get to Tony and Dee's house, which isn't too bad.  The M25 may have been clear, but then again, it may not.

Once in Colchester, we walked down to the Coop to buy some beer and things, and returned.  We spent rather a lot of hours drinking, chatting, and eating a delicious lasagne.  I don't think any of us were too late to bed, and a cooked breakfast followed in the morning.

On the road again, after fond farewells, and after dropping James in Aylesbury, and a pause for some tea and biscuits, it was back up to Nottingham.

A really good weekend, in the company of great friends.  We need to do that more often.

Continued from previous post.

Saturday's Fish set started with him walking in the crowd, as Vigil opened the proceedings. Vigil is one of the most powerful songs from the Fish back catalogue, and this was a good rendition. This led into Assassing, which had the whole crowd in thrall. To be honest, Foss Paterson [keyboards] doesn't do this song justice, and that did detract from the performance. It's a great song, but I have seen tribute bands perform this with more accuracy and energy.

Fish was introducing some of the songs by their age, and this set people's mind racing at once, trying to guess which it might be. While this was fun for a couple of songs, I can't help thinking that it robbed the setlist of some of its suspense.

I often complain about Fish's neglect of his early-to-mid solo career, but this weekend has made up for a lot of that. We got Brother 52, from 1997's masterpiece Sunsets on Empire, and Mr 1470 from 1994's Suits, both of which are firm favourites of mine. Also aired was one of the few tracks I like from Fellini Days [2001], Clock Moves Sideways. The venom was almost tangible, and the performance the best I remember. Incubus [from Marillion's Fugazi, 1984], often quoted as Fish's favourite work, was stunning, although I do miss Mickey Simmonds on keyboards for this. After that, frankly, the set took a nosedive, which was to see people lose interest, and in some cases, walk out: most recent album 13th Star, almost in its entirety.

This section suffered on quite a few levels. One, it's a very downbeat record, with very repetitive songs, and almost nothing to brighten its mood. Two: most of the tracks have been played at nearly every show for the last two years, and we are the kind of fanbase that go to multiple shows on each leg of a tour. Thirdly, the album didn't flow well when performed in one go. Unfortunately, on top of that, the monitor engineer was having trouble with the onstage sound, and Fish threw a strop at him. This went beyond what was reasonable, in my view, and soured the atmosphere further. Talking to some people after the show, I was told of people who walked out of the gig during this section, and from my own perspective near the front, I felt the energy go out of the crowd like a deflating balloon. I've tried to keep my own strong dislike of the album out of this criticism: even some of those who love the album were disinterested by the end of it.

Fish and band left the stage in what was clearly not the best of humours - it must have been obvious that the atmosphere in the hall wasn't what it should have been, and Fish's unhappiness with the monitors was tangible - I felt that we only got an encore by default. That this encore opened with fan favourite Fugazi helped immensely! Final encores of Marillo B-side Freaks (really not one of my favourites, although most fans were mad for it) and the ultimate show-stopper Market Square Heroes rescued this gig from being remembered as a complete duffer, in my view.  Here's the complete set, pinched (and edited) from the Union Forum:

Vigil
Assassing
Brother 52
Mr 1470
Numbers
Clock Moves Sideways
Incubus
Circle Line
Square Go
Miles De Besos
Zoe 25
Arc Of The Curve
Manchmal
Openwater
Dark Star
13th Star
Fugazi
Freaks
Market Square Heroes


The show finished at a little before half-past midnight. Sue and I said our goodbyes to those friends who we were with, chatted briefly with a few of them and then walked back to the B&B.

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast (this time with black pudding - excellent!) and went into town in time for Sue to join in with the Penguin Hunt, organized by the Company Gloster's resident lunatic Jez (although officially credited to Doc Bob, for some reason). I wasn't interested in that, so hung around with Cez and Howard for a few pints, first outside Dockers, the pub next to the venue, until I ran them out of the one ale they did, Goose Island, and later back in the Jug and Jester. We chatted about music until the Hunt finished and people returned. The weather was still beautiful, so the Penguin Hunt proved fairly popular. After another pint or two, we went into the venue for the next official event.

Fish and Mickey Simmonds were reclining with glasses of wine in some large chairs on stage, with comedic tour memories, eventually joined by Yatta [long-standing tour manager]. This was very amusing, and then the stage was set for Never Mind the FishHeads, a TV-inspired quiz compered by comedian Will Smith (the English comedian, not the Hollywood actor). The teams were Foss, Fish and Gavin [Griffiths, drums]; and Mark Wilkinson, Mickey and Frank, with Fish and Mickey team captains. It was clearly scripted to some extent, and piss-funny. The high point of the convention so far.

After the quiz, the raffle was drawn, and the winners announced on stage.  Also, Frank's 60th birthday gift from the fans was presented.

This evening's support band was The Reasoning, a band I first saw supporting Fish last year.  I wasn't convinced then, and this set didn't alter that. They have had a line-up change or two since the last time I saw them, adding an acoustic guitarist (superfluous to requirements, I think) and a rather buxom second female singer (ditto).  The music is roughly prog metal of good quality, but I don't think it works as a whole, and certainly not in this configuration.  One to watch, though, especially given developments since.  I think they have it in them to create some excellent stuff, but I don't think that their sound has matured yet.

Fish's set started with the Marillion classic Script for a Jester's Tear, and went through a set of Fish solo classics, with highlights of Credo, Poet's Moon (first time out in about sixteen years), Tongues and the sublime View from a Hill.  There's a list of some of my favourite Fish songs right there, so it goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

This was followed by the first side of Misplaced Childhood, which has been done, and better, dozens of times on the 20th anniversary tour which Fish undertook from 2005 to 2006.  That said, it was still a great deal of fun, and set up the smashing encores of Lucky (once-overplayed, but a welcome one-off performance), Internal Exile and The Company.  This last had Mickey back playing onstage, and he did look happy.  The only downside to the set was the omission of the piano intro to Tumbledown, and the boring Pilgrim's Address.

A cracking gig, with bucketloads of atmosphere, and a warm reception throughout.  Another fantastic Fish fan convention!

Full set:

Script For A Jester's Tear
Credo
Innocent Party
Poet's Moon
Tumbledown
State Of Mind
The Pilgrim's Address
Tongues
Long Cold Day
The Voyeur
View From A Hill
Cliche
Pseudo Silk Kimono
Kayleigh
Lavender
Bitter Suite
Heart Of Lothian
Lucky
Internal Exile
The Company

After the show, we held conversations with far too many people to mention, and finally trailed off to the B&B.  Taff, Jase and I wandered off to the post-gig venue, Kelsey's, which was about the only pub in town still open after midnight on a Sunday, and had one last one while we said our goodbyes to those who weren't staying with us.

In the morning, we parted fondly with the people who were staying at our guest house, and drove back north with Mike and Debbie, since Mike's car was still kaputt from blowing its head gasket, in the local garage.  We had lunch with them in Warrington, and then hit the road south after yet more goodbyes!

A Fish convention is always a blast, and we went back to work on Tuesday feeling as if we'd been off for a fortnight!  Let's not wait three years for the next one, eh, Fish?

This year, since Fish's feared throat problems turned out to be removable, he decided to hold another fan club convention. Rather than the usual hometown gathering at Haddington in East Lothian, he decided to plump for something more central. The online subset of the fanbase was consulted, and the newly-reopened Assembly at Leamington Spa was eventually settled upon. As the weeks rolled by, the line-up of the convention was hammered out, and then all was ready.

( Read more... )

To be continued...

Work's been even busier than usual, lately.  I got some things polished off after our holiday, and then went down to Hampshire for two days of meetings.  I didn't achieve what I went down there for (the necessary software, hardware and person's availability never crossed paths), but a lot of very useful stuff came out of it.  In fact, it's triggered off a couple of days of my time in Edinburgh, to enable their software development process to get moving again after a contractor left.  So, I'll be going up to Edinburgh at daft o'clock on Thursday morning, coming back late Friday evening.

On Friday was Danny's 25th birthday party, and he'd decided on an 80s themed night.  He had his white suit and was supposed to be Crockett from Miami Vice.  I went for the white T shirt and a suit jacket with sleeves rolled up.  Sue concocted a pink combination, including a space invaders T shirt.  Some of the other costumes were: John McEnroe; fluorescent sunglasses and Atari T shirt; Indiana Jones; Eddie Grant; a Village Person; and many more.  Most people made an effort, which pleased Danny.  We had a surprisingly pleasant meal at TGI Friday washed down with (in my case) several bottles of Sam Adams.  Then, Danny wanted to go to Revolution, a vodka bar round the corner.  I loathe such places with great intensity, but bore it for twenty minutes with a tonic water, and then a few of us escaped to the mercy of The Peacock.  A couple of pints of London Pride took me up to the bus time, and that was that.

Saturday was a manic study day, finishing off a complex analysis assignment question and ploughing ahead with the next number theory unit on the other course.

At about 3.45pm, we headed off to London for the Gary Numan gig.  The drive down was torturous, as a prang had caused the A1 southbound to be closed, so we were all poured into the M25 (equals "no") or High Barnet town centre, whose traffic system just isn't designed to cope with such traffic volumes.

Eventually, after a seemingly interminable tube journey from East Finchley (my favoured north London parking spot), we reached Shepherd's Bush.  We ate at the little Italian restaurant we've spotted before on the Green (quite good, and excellent value for money), and wandered up to the venue, bumping into London-based journo pal Jen, who used to live in Nottingham.  We found a seat upstairs, and settled in for the show.

We were treated to the usual excellent lighting show and atmospheric performance from a master of the art.  If you take a modern Numan album and take it home and listen to it, you generally find that there are some excellent pieces on it, and then a lot more of the same style, but less good.  When putting together a live show, however, Numan will bring a much greater variety of material to the set, and rework some of the older songs to keep them interesting to him and his band.  The piano-led reworking of Are "Friends" Electric? is excellent.  We got quite straight renditions of Cars and We Are So Fragile and the like from the early years, and the set wasn't that similar to last year's show in Manchester.  I look forward to the Pleasure Principle anniversary show in Nottingham in December.

The drive home started off badly, as the access to junction 2 of the M1 which we usually use was closed, but we went up the almost deserted A1 instead.

On Thursday, I got some studying done and a few assignment questions completed and written up.  No sooner than this was completed than psychochicken  and zantic arrived for a couple of days of ale adventures.

We sat down to chatter, music (David Gilmour's Live in Gdansk, amongst others) and some beer, and made and then consumed a couple of very large pizzas.  These eaten, we braved the torrential shower to get the bus down to the Lincolnshire Poacher.  There, they were showcasing the Elgood's range of beers.  zantic , psychochicken  and myself sampled these by the pint, and purplesuey  indulged us by trying a few sips here and there.  All in all, we spent three or four happy hours drinking the fine ales there.  For a first trip to the Poacher for the Glaswegian contingent, I think it was a success.  Certainly, there was talk of repeat visits when they are in the area :-D

Once back in FriedEgg Castle, we brewed up some tea and chattered for a while with music as one by one we decided to call it a night.

Friday morning was ushered in with many pints of tea and a cooked breakfast.  The ever sleep-hungry purplesuey  remained in bed until it was time to venture into town.  The plan: the tourist pubs of Nottingham, a bit of lunch at the Bell, and then a gender divide for record/craft shopping.

We walked from the bus stop down towards Ye OIde Trip to Jerusalem, but our attention was arrested by a small farmers' market that was set up in the Old Market Square.  After some investigation of this, it was decided that we would lunch there once our breakfast had been worked off by lifting the elbow.  The first tourist pub stop was the aforementioned Trip, and we had our first of the day in the Museum Room, carved out of the rock, like the rest of the Trip.  Nottingham's premier tourist pub has declined dramatically over the years, but its unique spirit hasn't yet been broken by the appalling service, and is still worth a visit for newcomers.

The next stop was Ye Olde Salutation Inn (known to Nottingham's rockers as the Sal), where zantic 's raspberry beer was so sickly that it went back.  The Sal's another once-great pub, now serving flat ales, although plenty of them.  On the way back to the market, we called in at Weaver's, the local wine merchant, who usually stocks several hundred fine whiskies.  Fortunately for our wallets, nothing "jumped in the basket"!

Back to the market, where various burgers and rolls were consumed.  Some fudge and other bits and pieces were bought here, too, before the next tourist pub stop: The Bell.  Among the three "Oldest Inns in Nottingham", the Bell used to be my favourite, and probably still is, but only because it has watered itself down at a slower rate than the Trip and the Sal.  The beer is always good, but the atmosphere isn't really what it was when it was an independent pub, and its repeated refurbishments haven't done it any favours.  We decided, here, that we would snack on cheese and biscuits back at home for dinner, instead of picking up some fish and chips, as previously planned.  Consequently, we followed our trip to the Bell with yet another trip to the market, and bought some cheese and other things.  Then we split up, the girls for their things, and the boys for Fopp.

In Fopp, we ran into my brother Andrew, so after we had completed our purchases, we retired to the Peacock to have a swift one with him.  The Peacock is hardly a well-known pub, but has such character that it is probably one of my favourite pubs in Nottingham these day.  Decent pint, too.  Andrew was in a very voluble mood, and many chuckles were had.  Once the girls joined us, we made our way to the tram stop at the Royal Centre to get a tram up to Basford.

Once in Basford, we walked through the spitting rain to the Fox and Crown, the tap to the Alcazar Brewery.  We had a couple of pints in there, and psychochicken  ordered a Thai platter to share.  The kitchen seems to be run as a separate concern, and the food seemed to satisfy the Thai-eaters amongst us.  I did like the beer - it was my first visit, but it won't be the last!

I rang for a cab back home, and we had our long-awaited cheese and oatcake feast.  We also sampled some delicious whiskies, and drank further ale.

In the morning, I cooked another large breakfast for us all, and after further pints of tea and fond farewells, we parted company, psychochicken  and zantic  to Evesham, and purplesuey  and me to Aylesbury.

We arrived at James's gaff in Aylesbury, and within seconds were tucking into a bottled ale from the local Chiltern Brewery.  This consumed, we hopped on the bus into town, for a few pints and a delicious meal at the Harrow, our usual starting point in Aylesbury.  purplesuey  wanted to go shopping, so James and I ventured down to the Hop Pole, and joined Matt and Lou in their ale and cider adventures.  A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of chatter and beer ensued, with Barnes dropping in on his bike for a swift one.

We ate dinner at Pizza Express, and were joined by a now bikeless Barnes, for several pints round the town.  Eventually, we poured James into a taxi, and went back to his gaff.  He and I watched the highlights of the day's play from the Ashes Test at Lord's over a cuppa, and then we hit the sack.

This morning, we had a cooked breakfast and watched reruns of Mock the Week and 8 out of 10 Cats, with cups of tea.  For lunch, we had been invited to James's parents' house for his father's birthday barbecue.  It had been chucking it down on and off, so the barbecue turned out to be cooked indoors, and we had a lovely time at their beautiful home.

Thanks to zantic  and psychochicken  for coming to see us - you're welcome again at any time, and thanks once more to James for his repeated hospitality - you're all dear friends.

We drove up to Glasgow on Tuesday, stopping at the Gloucester Arms in Penrith for some lunch on the way.  This latter item is part of a more recent effort to avoid service stations during normal opening hours.  I don't mind stopping for food at service stations during the night, when there is little other choice, but when we can make a proper stop and have a decent meal, it seems a much better idea to do so.

The hotel in Glasgow was functional - more so than the B&B at Edinburgh a couple of nights before - but basic, which we expected with the £29 price tag.  I'd looked on the SPT website for best routes via public transport, which had directed us to walk to somewhere to get a bus.  Well, we missed the bus, because I'd "memorized" the directions, omitting a step.  By the time we had rectified that, it was too late.  So, I rang up for a taxi, and we were driven through the pouring rain to within ten minutes' walk of the stadium; the nearest the cabbie could get due to thousands of people doing the same.

Once we found our seats, we were slightly disappointed that Springsteen and co finally got on stage half an hour late.  However, the show that took place more than made up for that!

Opening with the iconic Badlands, as he has frequently done during this tour, the band blasted through a set of classics and new numbers with incredible energy.  Bruce hadn't played Glasgow since 1993, and Scotland since 1996, so there was definitely the sense that he wanted to return with a bang.  Here's the set:

Badlands
Out In The Street
My Lucky Day
She's The One
Outlaw Pete
Working On The Highway
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Incident on 57th Street
Pink Cadillac
Cover Me
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom Of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run

Hard Times
Thunder Road
American Land
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Twist & Shout

Two of the requests (Incident on 57th Street and Pink Cadillac) required some thought on Springsteen's part on how the guitar parts went, before committing the band to playing them.  When it came to the encore break after Born to Run, the band didn't even leave the stage - straight back into business after a minute's discussion.

Talking of Born to Run, that was the most audience-engaged rendition of that song that I've seen - absolutely stunning, especially since the crowd had needed a little warming-up at the beginning of the set.

Another totally engaging and blistering performance from the Boss and the Mighty E Street Band.  Here's to some further UK dates in the later legs of the tour!  Can't wait many more months for another chance to get blown away.

We walked most of the way back to the hotel - about two miles of it, mostly through some rather dingy parts of Glasgow - but Sue's feet were killing her in her rain-ruined shoes, so we hailed a cab for the last mile.

We had decided to pick up some black pudding from Bury market on the way back.  That's not completely random, it is renowned for it.  Getting into Bury through Darwen was a plod, and then there was a long queue for the car park.  Once parked, we called in at a pub (there's a surprise) for a pint of Lancaster Bomber and a meal.  The beer was nice, the food was less than mediocre.  Avoid eating at the Two Tubs in Bury.

We wandered round the market, buying some of the things from our Tesco shopping list for Thursday, at a fraction of the price.  We browsed most of the stalls of interest, which took about an hour, and bought our black pudding.

The drive back from Bury wasn't the quickest, with a combination of road works and a broken-down vehicle causing quite a delay.

Cheese on toast.  Simple but tasty, and very little trouble.

The last week of work was rounded off with Danny's flatwarming party on Friday evening, which veered off into town after a couple of hours of chatting at the new flat.  Nice flat - just right for Danny, too!  I never realized he had so many shoes.  Definitely something girly going on there!  Most people went straight into town for something to eat, either at the chippie or at the grotty Whateverspoons pub on St. James's Street, the Roebuck.  Cath, Andrew and I, however, disappeared into the Poacher for a swift one, and then ate at the takeaway section of Antalya's, the Turkish place.  After catching up with the others in the Roebuck, we had one more in there and then got the bus home.

On Saturday, we got up rather lazily, and set off to Edinburgh, for a birthday party.  We used the once-traditional A1/A696/A68 route in, but this was held up near York and Newcastle.  Might well be the last time we use that route.

The B&B was a bit weird.  They put a couple of croissants and bits and pieces in a fridge in the room, and that's your breakfast.  The cupboard that served as the en suite bathroom was undecorated and lacked privacy.  For £60, I certainly felt a little robbed, even by Edinburgh standards - it's an expensive city to stay in at the best of times.  A taxi to the party was £11, so not too bad.

The party was hosted by a colleague in Edinburgh, Kath.  There were some work people there, but not many, and almost no shop was talked throughout, which was a nice surprise.  I got chatting about travel, music and studying, with all sorts of people ranging from Kath's dentist to partners of colleagues.  Great fun, and nice to get to know a few more people up that way.  Thoroughly enjoyable.  Sue had been a little apprehensive about going to a party where she knew no-one, but she got on well with everyone she spoke to, and had a good time, too.

Back at the B&B, I got a really crap night's sleep - the fridge hummed, the rain beat like a drum on the skylight window, and there was a curious pipe noise every now and again.  To put the tin lid on it, the best the shower could manage was a cold trickle.  I won't be staying there again.

We had been persuaded to go for lunch (not difficult) yesterday, which we did with a small subset of the partygoers.  The food was good, and the company also.  At about half-past two, we headed back down South.

The A68 was full of 40mph tourists, so I chose the quieter A697, the Coldstream road, as a route back to the A1.  This is much less well-used, so can move a lot faster.  It doesn't cross the border at as pretty a place (the A68 crosses at Carter Bar, which is lovely), but it wasn't very clear weather anyway.  Newcastle was at a standstill again, for no apparent reason - we're going to have to stop any variations of that if that carries on.  Eventually we got some beer and a few supplies at the local Londis and settled in for a relaxing evening.

Today is a big study day [I'm writing this on a break], and probably the busiest day of the week off, to be honest.

Well, it's all go here.  As usual.

For once, a quiet weekend - studying during the day, and not going out for any beers in the evenings, but having plenty at home.  We picked brother Andrew up yesterday, and went for lunch at the Victoria Hotel in Beeston with Mum and her husband Ken.  Delicious.  We came back to ours and had tea and cake afterwards, and chatted over some holiday photos for a bit.  Great fun.

I learned how to code LaTeX documents, and am now using that method to write assignments up neatly.  In the past, I've been defeated by WYSIWYG editors for mathematics things, finding it easier to write neatly by hand, but I thought that I'd have a go at coding LaTeX by hand - very easy and powerful.  Once I'm proficient, I should think that it will be quicker than writing out.

Sue had a nasty bout of tonsillitis last week, so was off work recovering for three days.  She's a lot better now, but just finishing her course of antibiotics.

We are in work this week, and then off next.  We have a party in Edinburgh on Saturday, studying Sunday and Monday, and then Bruce Springsteen and the Mighty E Street Band in Glasgow on Tuesday.  Then, on Wednesday, more studying before clearing the decks for psychochicken  andzantic 's tour stop in Nottingham.

When the headline slot of the final night of Hard Rock Calling was announced as Bruce Springsteen's London date on his Working on a Dream tour, this was the cue to buy a ticket at the earliest opportunity.

We missed the first band on the main stage, so I can't comment on them.  We arrived about half an hour before the second band, The Gaslight Anthem, took the stage.  They play a type of storytelling song, with a heavy debt to early-seventies Springsteen.  Whilst they were interesting, they lack variety.  One to watch, though - I wouldn't go out of my way to see them again, but I'd definitely go in to see them in a support slot.

Next up was James Morrison.  I'm not quite sure what he was doing here.  He has a good voice when he sings properly, but unfortunately, most of the time he adopts a nasal whine.  Very annoying.  Fairly straight soul-inspired pop music with very little originality, and more candy floss than you can shake an ice-cream van at.

The Dave Matthews Band was on next, and this was when the show really moved into the top gears.  The arrangements were very complex, and the proficiency of the musicians is outstanding.  Usual guitar/drums/bass/vocals with additional violin and brass.  The songs were very catchy and varied, and the crowd really appreciated it.  The hour-plus set closed with a simply jaw-dropping rendition of All Along the Watchtower, interpolating Stairway to Heaven.

I'd been looking forward to the Dave Matthews Band, and my anticipation was more than met - yet another long-established band to hunt out the work of!

Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage at ten past seven, and didn't let go for three hours.

The set opened with a cover of London Calling, before giving way to a non-stop set of Springsteen classics and requests.  During the "recession section", Bruce has been playing either Ghost of Tom Joad or Youngstown (both excellent tracks from 1996's folky Ghost of Tom Joad album).  Since we got Ghost of Tom Joad in LA, I was hoping for Youngstown, and this hope was fulfilled.  We got various tracks that I hadn't seen Springsteen perform previously, together with the welcome playing of favourites like Jungleland, Radio Nowhere and No Surrender, which he didn't play at LA.

When it came to the encore, I don't think the band went off for more than a couple of minutes, and the encore seemed like it would never end.  A really magic concert: yet another unforgettable performance by the E Street Band.

Edit:  here's the setlist:

London Calling
Badlands
Night
She's The One
Outlaw Pete
Out In The Street
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Good Lovin'
Bobby Jean
Trapped
No Surrender
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Racing In The Street
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run

Rosalita
Hard Times
Jungleland
American Land
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark