Rocktober - Gig 2

So last night I was in glamorous Shepherd's Bush to see the lovely Saint Etienne. I've seen them several times before at festivals but have never seen them do their own show, until last night. They're a great band with some fabulously poppy singles and yet they're not that popular here - the albums always get well reviewed but I wonder if people think they're a bit too clever.

Surprisingly they started the show by playing the songs from their first album, Foxbase Alpha, in the order they appear on the album. They'd done this a couple of times in the spring but I didn't think this was going to be one of those shows, but the singer later said she had a throat infection and was struggling to sing so I wonder if they did that because large parts of the album are instrumental?

This whole playing albums in order business is a bit strange. I think Jarvis Cocker might have started it by getting some old legend to do it at the Meltdown Festival he curated, but now everyone is doing it: before Christmas you can see ABC doing The Lexicon of Love with full orchestra, but they're not the only ones. I don't get it though - surely if you have a career of any length your best stuff will be scattered over many albums, not just concentrated in one? And what album is so perfect that it can be played just as it was made? I wracked my brains and can't think of anything so magnificent I'd pay just to hear it.

The trouble with Foxbase Alpha is that it includes strange instrumental interludes with dialogue taken from films, which just don't work on stage. The best bits were the singles, which is why they were singles. After a short pause for refreshment they came back and did a lovely version of Hobart Paving, with a man playing the piano and the audience singing really loudly - beautiful! Then it was hits until the end: Like a Motorway, Sylvie, Method of Modern Love, finishing with my favourite He's on the Phone.

They were fun even if they didn't do what I expected. I think it's time they did a new album though and stopped rereleasing and repackaging old stuff. The sound was odd though, which I think might just have been the venue - Shepherd's Bush Empire - a beautiful old theatre. It was all a bit bassy, so the high notes seemed to get lost although the singer's vocals did seem rather exposed in the mix. Here's how they should sound:



As a bonus they were supported by Annie, a Norwegian singer who they always rave about on popjustice.com but who I don't know. Turns out she was fab, really poppy in a spiky, interesting kind of way. I had two favourite moments: My Love is Better, because it includes the line "my shoes move better", and also I know your girlfriend hates me which would be a perfect Kylie song if Kylie was capable of doing anything other than nice.



(That's not actually Annie in that video, it's clearly three gay men with a dressing up box!)

I wasn't the only one at the gig last night though - Dirk from Belgium was also there with his boyfriend. It's always lovely to see them because if they're in the country it means Dirk is chasing a pop star, and if he's come all the way from Belgium to do it it makes me feel a lot better about my own Morrissey madness!

We met at Westfield Shoping Centre , Europe's largest shopping centre. I was a bit early so I had a wander round and the first thing I came across was a Camper shoe store - danger! Thankfully I didn't want to take shopping to a gig so an expensive footwear dilemma was averted. Then I got lost. I was determined to keep track of where I was going but suddenly I was somewhere I hadn't expected to be so I got out before it got more confusing.

We ate at The Real Greek, which Dirk had been to before. I don't think I've had Greek food before, so it was a real treat for me - absolutely delicious food, I'll definitely go back! Good choice Dirk! :-)

I didn't get home until 2am so today is going to be a really lazy day I think....

It's raining out, my throat is sore and I don't have to be anywhere until after lunch so let's catch up:

BRIGHTON

Sunday

I got there about teatime, dropped the car at the garage - a clever plan to avoid both parking charges and the one-way system - then went to Hove, for dinner with the lovely man who makes stained glass, who I met last time I went to Brighton.

His partner is currently staying with him, recovering from an operation, so I finally got to meet him too, although I was quite adamant that there would be no funny business with them - the last thing I wanted was a repeat of the whole FM & BF thing! And amazingly there wasn't!

We had dinner and gossiped then jumped in a cab and headed back to Brighton to hit the bars. The stained glass man is very sociable, very much a part of the community down there and joins things so he knows an enormous amount of people. It was fun to be in bars where he seemed to know everyone.

We started in a tiny bar that plays songs from musicals continually, apart from when people get up to sing them instead. The we headed round the corner to a drag bar, where it was also karaoke night and where I had the evenings most memorable experiences. Firstly the drag queen DJ, who looked uncannily like Jo Brand, sang Britney's Womanizer which was surreal. Makes you realise just how shit the song is though. The a handsome young man sang Labi Siffre's Something inside so strong, a song about Nelson Mandela and apartheid - not an obvious song to do a strip to but that's exactly what he did!

Time to leave. Next stop was a bear bar - hurrah! Bizarrely it was karaoke night in there too, but there was less madness. I lasted until just after midnight, which I thought was impressive for a Sunday, but the others stayed out till 2am!

Monday

Before I went to Brighton I had the idea that I'd go up and down the coast to see stuff as I'd done everything interesting and cultural in the city - it is quite small. But I'd had a busy week and simply forgot to plan anything. So when I woke up with a hangover and the sun was shining I abandoned the idea and decided to do what I needed to do most: relax.

So I wandered round the shops, but didn't buy anything, then went and sat on the pier with a book. Then I met the stained glass man for lunch - a big plate of sausage and mash and my first experience of onion shrapnel - basically deep fried onions that were in bits rather than rings - gorgeous. Then he came back to my hotel room for a couple of hours. Well it would have been rude not to!

In the evening I went to the cinema, because the hotel was right next to a cinema so it was ridiculously convenient. I went to see District 9, which I'd heard good things about but as it was sci-fi I wasn't sure it was my thing so I'd been avoiding it.

Well silly me - it was fantastic! It's set in South Africa, where a spaceship hovers above the city and the aliens from it are moved into a ghetto. Eventually the ghetto becomes unmanageable, is riddled with crime and has to be moved and the film follows the man in charge of the move as he tries to make it happen.

It's shot in a documentary style, with people being interviewed, fake news footage, lots of handheld camera work and just really works well. It works beautifully all the way through and is very clever. The special effects are amazing but not in a really showy kind of way and it's just very, very believable - fantastic!

Tuesday

Unbelievably it got even warmer and people were on the beaches with their shirts off - thank you God! So it seemed silly not to enjoy the sun as well. So I spent two hours on the pier reading, then walked along the front all the way to Hove.

Then it was time to meet the stained glass man at his studio. I was keen to have a nose round and he was flattered that I was interested. His stuff is gorgeous and if I had the right kind of house I'd be filling it with his work! Most amazingly though he's colour blind!

We went to Choccywoccydoodah, which has a childish name for a very adult experience - it's a cafe that serves nothing but chocolate! We sat in the camp boudoir and opted for the decadent banquet for two as we're both big chocolate lovers. A tray arrived which I assumed was just for me, and was disappointed when I realised I had to share it. But how wrong was I - I thought I could eat chocolate for England, but amazingly we couldn't finish it!

There was a big slab of chocolate covered fruit cake, two cupcakes, fondue and chocolates. We ended up having the chocolates boxed up to take away as there was a very real possibility that I would burst. Afterwards I went back to my hotel room, alone, because I needed to lie down and try not to be sick.

So how amazing that three hours later I met the stained glass man for dinner and a pub quiz! The dinner was great but the pub quiz was even more fun! I don't think I've ever done one before - oh my sheltered life! - and I assumed it would be full of relatively easy general knowledge questions. Oh no! Honestly, I felt so stupid! The only questions I managed to answer were the popular culture ones involving Bjork and Michael Jackson - turns out I'm a thicky! There was a genius question about DNA the answer to which was Kid Creole & the Coconuts Annie, I'm not your Daddy which says it all really! Amazingly we won, much to the annoyance of the two men at the neighbouring table who could hardly hide there contempt. And bizarrely four young people objected as we all have beards.

Wednesday

The return home.

As I was more or less passing their house it seemed rude not to see if FM & BF wanted to have lunch. With the emphasis on lunch. FM couldn't but BF was keen so we arranged to meet where he works. Then he asked if I wanted to see the new house, so I agreed thinking he'd be on his lunchbreak so there wouldn't be much time for funny business. Well it turns out he bunked the afternoon off working, claiming a meeting followed by 'working from home', so I didn't get away unmolested.

Then I stopped at IKEA to get some stuff for my sister, but as it was nearly rush hour I just raced in, ate meatballs, bought what she wanted and ran away again. Just as well as I think things could have gotten a bit dangerous in the kitchen department!

So that was Brighton. Inevitable pictures here - don't worry, there aren't that many.

brighton october 2009

The whole trip was wonderfully relaxing, just what I needed! And it was also pleasantly gay, something I don't really get at home, at least not with any sense of community. I'll be going back more often I think.

I'll write about Brighton tomorrow, but first lets talk about the car. The whole reason for going to Brighton was because there's a garage there that knows more about the Nissan Figaro than practically anyone, apart from a garage in Hartlepool and who in their right mind would want a holiday in Hartlepool?!

As well as a service it had a new roof. That's right, a new roof. I know a roof is something cars come with that don't usually need replacing but if you have an older convertible it might do. Plastic may take forever to degrade if you bury it but expose it to sun and frost and it will soon split. So now I have a lovely new one:



Pause whilst readers are a little bit underwhelmed.

It's so white I'm scared of it getting dirty. I'll be hovering near it with a damp cloth 24/7 for the foreseeable future!

I got home at 6pm last night, pottered around the house for a couple of hours then decided to pop out for food. But the car wouldn't start. It was quite literally dead. I panicked. The sensible part of my brain said, "it's just the battery" but the rest of my brain was saying, "it's an alternator! it's the immobiliser!" But it was too late to call the AA so I went to bed.

I woke up at 4.30am this morning and tried to kid myself it was because I have a headful of cold but actually I was panicking. So at 7.30am I called the AA then settled down to prepare for the worst. If it was going to be something serious and expensive I wondered if perhaps it might be time for a new car. But when you have something gorgeous and quirky where can you go? Hardly a Ford Fiesta! The obvious answer is the Fiat 500 - cute, quirky and pleasingly retro. So it wouldn't hurt to look at the price would it? £10000.00. I'm sorry, run that by me again. £10000.00!!! My mother has a wheelbarrow that's about the same size, admittedly you can't fit four people in it or do 55mpg but still. £10000.00!!!

Thankfully I was being a drama queen. The AA man turned up - old enough to be my Dad, and not even remotely fanciable - and worked out the battery was dead. Easily fixed and nowhere near as expensive as a new car. Hurrah!

I'm back!

Brighton was gorgeous! Full details tomorrow, until then here's a slightly blurry picture of me about to enjoy a chocolate banquet.

Last night I joined Jan, Barry, Ema & Alan to celebrate Barry's birthday. He'd managed to get a cancellation at the best restaurant in town, which is a slightly silly thing to say as the competition isn't spectacular but this restaurant really is.

I wandered down to his for pre-meal drinks and a little Strictly Come Dancing to keep Ema happy. I'd not eaten properly since lunchtime and we were eating late so the wine went straight to my head and I very nearly went beyond hunger.

But as soon as I got a G&T in my hand at the restaurant and began to smell the food my appetite returned! The food was gorgeous: for starter I had a Thai salmon thing which was lovely, then I had Monkfish Wellington which was great too, and then I finished with trifle because if trifle is on the menu you've got to have it!

The drink flowed and it was a really lovely evening. We all know each other well enough to say stupid, honest things without fear. Although in the cold light of day I think I may also have been drunkenly opinionated and a bit loud. And one point I was offering a theory - which I literally made up on the spot - that The Beatles are no better than Kylie, based entirely on the fact that "She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah" are no better lyrics than "I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky". Barry, as ever, was the voice of reason and said it's about the catalogue at which point I suggested the idea that Kylie may still have an album of Torch songs in her, but at that point I think the argument was lost.

The restaurant is run by someone Ema & I went to school with. Hasn't he done well for himself! And unexpectedly our history teacher, Miss Reeve, was there having a meal too! Ema was persuaded not to talk to her. Thank God it wasn't Mr Mansfield the geography teacher as I may have drunkenly berated him for my shockingly lack of geography knowledge!

Lovely to see you all, thanks for a great evening, and happy birthday Barry! XXX

So this morning I wake up at 5.20am with a throbbing head and a bit of a sweat on. That's not a good start to the day. I'm currently having those, "I'll never drink again" thoughts, which is silly as I know I will. Just not on an empty stomach if I have any sense!

I've been catching up online with what went on in my absence and it seems like the world's gone mad! Firstly Dannii Minogue, who only on Friday I developed new respect for, tries to out someone on X Factor, which is a bit dumb as they're all so gay, but she manages to pick the least gay one! Silly Dannii. Then it turns out Stephen Gately of Boyzone died! Now I was never a big Boyzone fan to be honest, but I'm pretty certain I saw him play The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. What with Matt Lucas's ex killing himself earlier in the week it's not been a great week to be a gay celebrity.

I'm off to Brighton after lunch so there will be no blogging until later in the week. There may be intermittent twittering though so do keep checking if you're bored!