It’s been a couple of years since we last saw Sharon Van Etten – at the time, Lee and I went along not having heard anything by her and were just blown away by her amazing voice. When I found out she was playing Manchester Cathedral on Lee’s birthday, it seemed like a perfect present……

Through the wonders of modern technology I contacted Marc Riley to let him know we were going and he graciously invited us into the 6Music studio at Media City, Salford to meet Sharon and watch her do a pre gig interview and perform some solo tunes.

She was so lovely – and extraordinary that that voice comes out of someone so diminutive. She happily signed our tickets – “We saw you at the Brudenell” “I loved that place, I still have my T-shirt from there” “Herman Dune did that” “Oh, I didn’t know that, it makes sense”. She finished with an amazing version of ‘Everytime the sun comes up’ – how does she do that!       Listen to it here….

We had a quick chat with Marc to thank him (what a star) before heading off to the Cathedral where we met up with Jeff and witnessed another wonderful performance.

She was obviously happy to be in such a beautiful space (and even happier that someone had bought her flowers!) and was funny and commanded your attention. Her band were in top form and their sound and the lights made the most of the Cathedral. I loved it when her vocals joined with Heathers….’Life of his own’ was just ace!

Someone put the whole thing up here

A fantastic evening and a unique birthday treat – Thanks Sharon, thanks Marc’n’Michelle xx

Bob the Chiropodist

A bunch of us went up to Edinburgh to help Roger celebrate his 50th birthday and what a fab week-end it turned out to be. Cocktails on the train up there from Leeds at 10am (cheers Jez) City centre Hotel just minutes walk from the station (Cheers Roger) then a walk to the Scotch pie shop before hitting our first pub where a kitty was started (Thanks Dave – 15 drinks per round – what a star!). Rugby was on and everyone was getting on. In the afternoon we all went our different ways (John Jez and I had some posh whiskey at ‘The Scotch Malt Whisky Society‘ before getting totally Christmassed up at the Dome – amazing decorations with the scent of cinnamon being pumped out everywhere….

We were booked into the Voodoo Lounge for an evening meal and John came in very excited “I’ve just been talking to Vic Goddard outside whilst he had a fag!”. Turns out he was playing there that night so off we went after dinner to see the worlds most talented Postie do his stuff.

There was a lot of love for him in the room and he and the Subway Sect were obviously enjoying it. Oldies and newies were greated with the same enthusiasm – ‘Ambition’ did it for me…..

After that I was in the mood to dance so got Graeme and Big Phil up for a boogie in the Voodoo lounge bar (much to the shock of the locals and non-locals a-like). Simon, thanks to his trusty iPhone, found us an indie disco to go to called ‘The Twisted Circus’. It was in a club that was only a short walk away, but no one else was up for it……too tired…..so it was just the two of us.

We found the Mash House after 11.00 and at first thought we’d made a big mistake because it was £8 in (“There’s 4 bands playing”) and the bar was empty – we then realised that there was another room and in there, Sea Bass Kid were just finishing their set. We caught the last 2 numbers which were great – very ‘Gogol Bordello’ – as were the other bands…..and the DJ music in the bar inbetween.

Alba Roma were on next and got everyone in the place – and I mean everyone – jumping like a bunch of mad things – fantastic stuff! Everyone else in there seemed in their early 20’s but we were dancing as much as anyone!

We were flagging a bit by the time Mad Dog McRea came on who were a bit more sea shanty like but again had every one jumping around – reminded me of a Pogues concert.

By now it was 2am and we just couldn’t stay awake much longer (I’d been up 19 hours straight and ‘enjoying myself’ for 16 of those) so missed out on Yoko Pwno (who look like they’d have been really good!) and instead went to the chippy for some local culture before heading home “What’s a ‘Kingrib’?” I asked the guy infront of us who’d just ordered a massive £21.30 worth of food for himself, topped off with a ‘Kingrib’. ‘A Kingrib….?!” he says like I’d just asked the most stupid question in the world “….it’s a Fackin’ Kingrib innat!”………………. I do love Edinburgh!

Bob the Chiropodist

A blistering night with the rock riff heavy ‘Ty Segall’ and those Italian Gypsies ‘Movie Star Junkies’…….Riff-Tastic!

Movie Star Junkies have one of the most energetic lead singers I’ve seen – he even manages to head bang whilst playing the keyboards whilst on his knees whilst drinking lager – quite an achievement. Their guitarist was so into it, shaking his head, I thought it might work its way loose from his neck…..wild and dangerous with so many different styles – they were great!

Jimmy the cowboy came on to introduce Ty Segall “I ran into these boys in a bar on one of the moons of Jupiter…..” and when they came on…..you could believe it! Ty seemed as high as the highest kite but his guitar playing was immaculate – how does he get those riffs out of that thing? There was a violent mosh-pit like I’ve never seen at the Brudenell with loads of crowd surfing and stage diving going on – just wild!

The songs ranged from soft indie pop songs to full on screaming heavy monsters with a feed-back undertone…..you couldn’t help but love their energy and love them. Emily the drummer looked like she’d have trouble carrying the shopping back from Tesco’s but BLIMEY – she could pound those drums!

A Top night although my ears are gonna need a bit of a rest for a while now…..

Bob the Chiropodist

As I’d put on gigs for my 40^th and 45^th birthdays, I wasn’t going to miss out on my 50^th. So a bunch of pals, all in band T-Shirts, got together at the wonderful ‘Wharf Chambers’ in Leeds to see ‘The Dirty Stop Outs’ from Malton, Leeds legend ‘Mik Artistik’ and dance til 3am – it was a wonderful night!

The Dirty Stop Outs (with our Dave on guitar and vocals) play a great selection of covers from ‘River Deep Mountain High’ to ‘Atomic’. With a singer who’s as good as Fliss – you can even do ‘I Feel Love’! The crowd were baying for more at the end – I predict a bright future for this lass – one to watch!

I was chuft that ‘Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip’ could do a set for us too – hilarious as usual with old classics like ‘Library’ and ‘She looks like my mam’ with ones I hadn’t heard before like ‘Plastic Fox’ and ‘Johnny’s had an offer from another fuckin band’. Pure Joy!

The disco then kicked in with a brace of Northern Soul tunes that had Spud and Dave Cann gracing the floor with their moves before the rest of us ‘not so good but enthusiastic’ dancers took over.

A big thank you to all the staff and to everyone who came and made the effort with band T-Shirts – The Beatles beat the Stones (as did the Who) and very few duplicates except for 3 people had the same ‘Guns and Roses’ and 3 people with the same ‘London Calling’ sleeve……gimme The Clash any day of the week……

Bob the Chiropodist