Been a twat of a week by any standards. Woke up Monday after a decent trip but a poor result at Swansea, in some ways glad to see the end of that league campaign and time for Kenny to take stock and build on the positives, and despite what some would have you believe, there were plenty of them.
Still, we all know what happened from there. I remember 21st Feb 1991 like it was yesterday, nutty day. I actually came out of the magistrates court on Dale Street and walked down to the New Court Bar for a curer, the girl put the 11 O’Clock news on, still don’t think I ever got my head around that one. Needless to say, I ended up on one!
Fast forward 20 odd years and for the second time in two years, we have allowed c*nts running the club to get rid of someone who would fight for us, put us first, time and again. You get the ‘footy manager brigade’ and the clueless c*nts on the internet, they think it was right, they think we should give the owners a chance, it is those pricks that are the death of Liverpool Football club every bit as much as Hicks & Gillette. They sit there now telling us that we won’t give the new manager a chance because he is not Kenny, it is total bollox, it’s the same fella’s who’ll be screaming for his head when we are 6th at Christmas or knocked out of UEFA. They’ve set their stall out now, we’ve got the patience of Newcastle fans, with 4 managers in two years, it doesn’t matter who comes in, they won’t get a chance, we want to compete with the best, but we want it now, no time to build.
The embarrassment linking us with a string of fellas, we’ve more chance of winning the lottery than delivering some that we are linked with, and the ones we might deliver, well there’s a reason we might be able to deliver them, think about it. I think Brian Reade put it best when he talked about ‘kicking Camron Diaz out of bed for Susan Boyle’.
Wednesday was a fucken nightmare, I couldn’t even go for a pint coz I knew some c*nt would be in my face, asking me what was going on, who I wanted as the new manager and some other shite. Head totally wrecked.
How embarrassing is that footy manager thread about who is the right manager for us to look at, probably the most cringeworthy thing I’ve ever seen. Populated by clueless c*nts, spouting shite about things they know fuck all about, if you didn’t laugh you’d cry. Mind you, I wouldn’t be surprised if that shit-house was actually in there in some alias or other. If ever there was a fella you’d want to put in a ring with Tyson and let him bite his ear off, its that prick. Met him a couple of times on the pre-season last year, never trusted him, he’ll get a different reception if we run into him this time round. The mis-trust has turned revultion on a pathological level.
Anyway Thursday was a bit of silver lining in the form of Sound City. I know the Matthew Street Festival is popular but, to be fair, it gets a bit much with all the Beatles, Freddie Mercury and Killers cover bands. It’s a great day out when the sun is out and every one is pissed up, but the music isn’t great.
Sound City brought together maybe 150 bands in 30 odd venues over 3 days. At a score for an early bird price for a band, spot on. Really is something for everyone here, some of the stuff wasn’t to my taste but that’s life, where else could you end up spending the early part of your Saturday evening watching a rock band that think they are the Chilli Peppers, from somewhere in the Far East, don’t speak a word of English? They were sound, by the way, haven’t seen a band enjoy themselves as much since Madness! Check out Monkey Plot, even the name’s great!
Not all the venues nor all the bands were great, but plenty were. The renovated Eipsteen Theatre on Hannover Street, Leaf on Bold Street, the Attic, the Zanzibar and The Shipping Forecast all sound places and hosted some great acts over the three days. Highlights for me included Stephen Langstaff, The Wedding Present, The Loud, 1930s, Dead Cities, Forest Swords and Michael Kiwanuka, all very different but all very enjoyable. Local, national and international music was all well represented.
There was so much to see, in terms of music that any one person is only ever going to scratch the surface, but on top of this the bombed out church showed some classic films outdoors, including a showing of Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii on Saturday night. There was also a football film festival incorporated into the festival, including the John Peel World Cup and live coverage of the Champions League final on a big screen. I didn’t get to any of this.
Bido Lito magazine kept up to date with daily editions during the festival and up to date line ups v venues. I never bothered with most of the headline acts such as Professor Green, Space or Temper Trap but they were there for those who wanted it.
You know you are getting on when a girl starts talking to you, watching the Loud at the Shipping Forecast, then casually asks ‘are you the singer’s dad?’ Even shut me up that one!
Great to be able to walk bar to bar, with music all around, even the bouncers appearing relatively human, politely asking if you’ve got a band, then moving out the way. Not even a comment about your Adi-daslers, nailed on.
Friday night was the highlight for me. Now 12 O’Clock on a Friday night with a skinfull down me neck, might not be the best time to judge the relative merits of a band, but the name on its own ‘Ben Caplin and the Casual Smokers’ got my attention straight away, so we headed up to the Leaf Café on Bold Street to take a look. Straight away I knew it was the right decision, I think everybody knows a bushy beard is rock n roll, and this fella had the bushiest beard you are ever likely to see, ginger to boot. There were two girls with him, one on a violin, and a lad on drums. Anyway, the gaff sold some strong Cider, and well, they were nothing short of fucken brilliant. Ended up having a chat with the fella afterwards, were sound, he was on his way to Glasgow the next day and the band were flying back to Canada. Apparently he’d played the bombed out church on the Thursday and was blown away with the venue, chocka I missed it. Still they sold a CD to one drunked auld bastard, check him out.
Anyway Sound City comes highly recommended from me, brilliant job by the organisers, the venues and the bands, highly enjoyable. Tickets for next year go on sale Friday, early bird price is £20 for a 3 day band, 2-4 May, if you like your music, you just can’t go wrong with that.
