uk trip part 2: record stores, joy division bridge, big country//the stranglers//the boomtown rats

day 2, manchester:

knif in manchester!

on our way out of manchester towards whitehaven (which is REALLY FAR AWAY) we stopped at a couple of record stores and also the bridge in that famous joy division picture.

the first store we went to was called vinyl exchange and what spurred me to go in there was the strypes record hanging in the display window. at that point it still wasn't out yet in the states and i wanted that record in the worst way. i ended up getting that, plus the boomtown rats - rat trap 7"; three stranglers records - la folie, the gospel according to the meninblack, and live (x cert); and the adicts - the sound of music. looking back i probably should have bought more, but it was the first stop and i didn't want to overdo it.

see that strypes record in the window? IT'S MINE NOW.

 there was a second record store we went into that didn't have anything i was interested in, but the third one, vinyl revival, was much better. i got a live tyrannosaurus rex album called agadinmar's lore; the stranglers - off the beaten track; the jilted john 7" (with the picture sleeve; i already had it with a generic sleeve, the picture sleeve is what did it for me); elton motello - jet boy jet girl 7"; and the stranglers - duchess 7". i didn't even finish looking through the singles because i was scared of all the good things i would be tempted to purchase.

at vinyl exchange, the guy ringing me up (who was really fucking cool and friendly and also helpful) told us how to get to the epping walk bridge, where that iconic joy division photo was taken. that was our next stop, where we walked over the bridge and took some photos of our own.

knif on the bridge!

just your average bridge, really.

now onto the more exciting stuff - this whole trek was to see the stranglers, and the first gig was that night in whitehaven. did i mention how much driving took place? it was a lot. i got to drive the car sometimes on the trip, but mostly i was in charge of playing music and taking pictures of the scenery, because this is the gorgeous shit we were driving through:

so we finally get to the place, see a bunch of people milling around outside of an unmarked gate, confirm that is indeed the place where the show was taking place, and then search for somewhere to stay for the night. we found a place in goosebutts. yes. goosebutts. don't you just love the uk?

this event was simply called whitehaven live! as far as i can tell. we were able to get right up front, which was pretty exciting since it was not only a stranglers gig, but the boomtown rats as well. and big country! before we got to our spots, i bought a boomtown rats t-shirt. the guy selling merch told us that they'd be coming to the states soon which was really exciting news.

eating a day old chip on the ground at the festival. whitehaven is very beautiful.

here we go- big country!

big country were actually pretty great. i went into this not knowing much about them, but here is a brief history lesson. big country was founded in the early 80s by stuart adamson (previously of the band the skids), who sadly passed away in 2001. they were pretty big in the uk throughout the 90s but were never able to really break through in the states, other than with their one single "in a big country." they're a great band, so i guess we're all just stupid over here in america. so, who is the band now? two other founding members, bruce watson on guitar and mike brzezicki on drums, as well as jamie watson on guitar (bruce's son!) and derek forbes (of simple minds) on bass. simon hough is the new singer, and i give him my seal of approval. mostly for his hair, but i mean yeah, he can sing, too.

mmm look at that sweet pseudo mullet action

so yeah, i would say overall i was impressed. they played for an hour and after a while it kind of all started to sound the same to me, but i can also tell you that i was impatient to see the band i had traveled over an ocean for. but i give them props and should they ever tour over here (seems pretty unlikely, though) i would go see them again. they're still really well-written songs that have held up over time. also of note: he was not wearing anything under the kilt, in true scottish form.

i saw his butt.

then it was THE STRANGLERS.
LOOK AT THEM.

omg.

that was about when it hit me that i was actually in england and that i was seeing my favorite band. it suddenly became real.

baz says "o rly"

it was a really, really great show. they only played for an hour and 15 minutes though, which is kinda short for a stranglers set. or maybe it just felt short because i love them so much. either way though they sounded great. well, baz was having some technical difficulties with his inner ear monitor or something and wasn't happy about it, obviously. we could tell he was annoyed but he didn't let it affect his playing; in fact he had a pretty good laugh when one of the crew had to come out and fiddle around with the piece attached to baz's pants. to me, that's how you know you're seeing a professional band. if they're going to have a meltdown about a little problem and be a total diva about it then they probably should have gone into a different line of work. just my opinion. so after the guy fiddled around with the belt piece he was all up in baz's face fixing the ear piece i guess, and baz kissed him because he was so close. after the song was over and the guy wasn't there anymore, he said "all my equipment is working fine, i just like it when he touches me."

ok let's get real here. they opened with "toiler on the sea" and then went right into "(get a) grip (on yourself)." people seriously go mental for that one, understandably of course, and i love watching it. then it was "skin deep" which is a pretty song and i was a little bit afraid still that it might bother me to watch baz singing cornwell songs but nope. i love the way he sings the chorus especially. and then it was "nice 'n' sleazy"; if you could see my face right now it's my happy face. i have a hard time describing how much/why i love that song. and i know it's like a weird kind of song with not much in the way of changes, but i guess it's the drum beat that really gets me. i can play the shit out of that song. for real. but also the best part is watching jj play it. the bass line is SO COOL and he does his sexy moves around the stage. ugh. it's just the best.

speaking of sexy, let's talk about how baz sings "peaches," which was next in the set. i don't know which was better, him changing the lyric to "spread it all over my peeling foreskin, that feels really good" (!!! i know right) or all the "mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mmmmmmmmmmm"s. whew. not my video but watch for yourself here.

smiling because he was just singing naughty lyrics.

and then it was "relentless" which was one of the only newer songs they did that night. i will openly admit that for many years i ignored everything post-cornwell that the stranglers did, and i will also openly admit that it was a big mistake. don't be stupid like me; suite xvi is a fantastic album. anyway...then it was "duchess"!!!! do you want to talk about how much i love this song? probably not. but i will just say that it's a fucking catchy little pop song if there ever was one. the video for it makes me giggle, the way the band sings the backing vocals... so cute. seeing it live makes me the happiest. so like, when cornwell plays it live, it sounds fine and everything but then you see the stranglers and realize without dave playing his crazy part it really loses something. but that's all i will say about that.

"golden brown" was up next, another one that sounds strange without the keyboards, so seeing the stranglers do it really gives you goosebumps, if that's the kind of person you are. would have been nice to see jet playing the drums but that's life. then it was "always the sun," and it's another one that i am always a little afraid that it will bother me to see baz sing it and then i'm wrong, because he's wonderful. oh, and he did another fun little lyric change in that one, too, which i'm still laughing about: "who has the job of pushing my knob?" and then the face he made after, like "oh my, did i really just say that?" hahahaha. love that guy. ok, where was i... "nuclear device," "walk on by," (fucking right!!), and then "hanging around"! one of my favorites to play along to, seeing it live and watching jim macaulay play it (no, not jet, but definitely the next best thing) made me so happy. then "all day and all of the night" which was unexpected but lovely just the same.

then it was "norfolk coast," another relatively new song which sounds fucking fantastic live. "5 minutes" was after that, featuring jj on lead vocals, followed by another jj song "something better change." my life was complete, that moment, right there. it was the one song i was so disappointed they didn't play in philly, and then there it was! i love how he sings "stick my fingers right up your nose!" phew. last song of the night was "no more heroes." they're all my heroes. fuck. so i was disappointed by jet black not being there, but i got over it because I JUST SAW THE FUCKING STRANGLERS IN WHITEHAVEN. and the boomtown rats were up next!!!

confession: after the stranglers i kind of wanted to leave the front row and go sit somewhere. but luckily we stayed put because DAMN, the rats totally kicked my ass in a way i was not prepared for. so like, i've always loved the band but never got super attached to them the way i did with other bands. now after seeing them i just want to talk about them all the time and tell people "hey, did you know the boomtown rats are really great?" seriously. when bob geldof came out on the stage my heart went all wonky.

sir bob!!!! that's actually him!!!

"i'm bob geldof and we are the boomtown rats and i am wearing a fuck-off snakeskin suit!"

here's the deal with the current boomtown rats lineup: still consists of original member bob geldof (obviously) as well as pete briquette on bass, simon crowe on drums, and garry roberts on lead guitar. for the life of me i can't seem to find the names of the new keyboard player and the new guitarist but they were great! whoever they are.

right. so, geldof looks pretty great, and he was full of energy. he pranced and danced around all night and i was in heaven. he seriously is more energetic on stage than anyone i know in real life, and he's 63. there is no set list online for this show that i can find, but i can tell you what i remember, which is that they opened with "(i never loved) eva braun" and went straight into "like clockwork" and then "neon heart" and then "(she's gonna) do you in." WHOA. i mean, WHOA.

i was pretty excited when i found out bob geldof had rejoined the boomtown rats; actually getting to see them was beyond anything i expected. let's see, what other songs... they did "mary of the 4th form" and "when the night comes" and "rat trap" and, yes, "i don't like mondays." i half expected them not to play that one, and half hoped they wouldn't because i thought it would just seem contrived. but i was very wrong. it was actually very touching, which is a thing of beauty for a song that is so ubiquitous.

they also did a super charged up "someone's looking at you" preceded by a whole diatribe about the government spying on us everywhere and nasa and all that shit... which is interesting, how a song that came out in 1979 is still relevant today. perhaps even more relevant now than ever. kind of like "i don't like mondays" which is still as relevant now in 2014 as it was in 1979. crazy.

and also, "she's so modern" and "lookin' after number one." those were the first songs by the boomtown rats that i ever heard, and subsequently got me into the band. hearing them live was so exciting. if you don't know those songs, do yourself a favor and look them up. right now. in fact, here, enjoy this clip of the band on marc bolan's tv show, because it combines 2 things that i love. such a fantastic night, all around.

uk trip part 1: getting there, tv smith ruining my life, etc.

i'm going to do this in nice, small(ish) installments, otherwise i will get overwhelmed and jump out of my window. one day at a time.

earlier this year i got a nice chunk of cash from working at my side job (no, not as a prostitute) and i decided that i was going to use it to get to england and see the stranglers, hopefully with jet black drumming. they're my favorite, you know.

and then i met this dude at the robyn hitchcock show, we started talking, blah blah blah, we decided to go to england together. this was a scary thing for me because last time i went to england with a dude i ended up wanting to either kill him or myself. i warned this guy of everything that happened during that last trip, and after the fact, i can say that he did a fine job of putting up with my shit. anyway, so he only kind of knew the stranglers going into this but ended up becoming a fan after seeing them, so that's cool. enough of that shit. let me tell you about my trip. we flew into manchester, rented a car, and went on a crazy punk rock road trip all over the country.

pale blue champion. this car took us all over the fucking place. thank you enterprise!

the first night we were there, we were going to see tv smith at some pub in mexborough. when we got there, though, there was no mention of him anywhere, and after asking someone who worked there it was obvious that something had gone amiss. tv's website said the show was canceled due to "problems with the venue." the problem being that no one there had evidently ever heard of him...so we left, sad and deflated, and wandered around looking for some other place to hang out. that ended up being the boy & barrel. i walked in and saw this:

any place where i am greeted by marc bolan and debbie harry is ok by me.

so i decided this would be a cool place to sit and have a drink. basically i sat there and bitched about the canceled gig for an hour. ha. just kidding, kind of.

so, the first night was a bust. but the next night promised to be better, because we were going to the first of several stranglers gigs!

knif in mexborough!

joan jett!

august 2- clearfield county fair

before i write about this: you have to understand how much i love joan jett. i know a lot of people love her. i'm not saying i love her more than they do. but, similar to my reasons for loving debbie harry so much, she's this awesome female role model for a chick in a band (which is what i am). she really paved the way for us. she's an important person. plus people tell me i look like her all the time (especially at this show...oh man. i have some fun stories).

so, joan jett played philadelphia with roger daltrey but ticket prices were out of control so we decided driving out to clearfield county aka bumblefuck, pa would be a better idea. the website for the county fair promised performances by buffo, the world's strongest clown, which sounded pretty exciting. sadly we missed all the buffo shows. i guess seeing joan jett kinda made up for it.

before the show even started, we were standing there in front of the the stage when this woman said to me "my husband and i thought you were actually joan jett at first!" and i laughed and said thanks or something. then the husband started talking to me and saying how much i look like her and ended up taking a picture with me so he could show his friends tomorrow, as though he had actually met her. somewhere out there, there is a picture of this guy with me...i'm sure his friends will see right through it but i let him have his fun.

then there were some announcements from some beauty pageant winners, which struck me as kind of funny, and then joan and her band came out!

man she looks fantastic. not just physically (although that too, i mean LOOK AT HER):

no, what i'm talking about is her energy; her happiness; her stage presence.

not too long before this show, my friend texted me one morning to say joan jett was on preston and steve. i leaped out of bed (which NEVER happens) to turn the radio on and listen. besides the fact that she is THE COOLEST, the one thing that struck me from the interview was her answer to one of the questions, which was "how do you keep playing the same songs every night?" the song they were referring to was "i love rock and roll," and they estimated that she's probably played it thousands of times. her answer was that all she has to do is look out to the audience and see how much they enjoy it, how it means something different to each person out there, and it makes it easy. she's thankful to have a song that is so connected to people. seriously, that is so fucking cool. i love her so much.

anyway, the show. she opened with "bad reputation" and i don't know about you but that song really makes me feel things. i don't care how much you think it's overplayed or whatever; the message in that song is my favorite. then straight into "cherry bomb." i like that she still does runaways songs, too. then "do you wanna touch me." but rather than regale you with each song she played in order, i can just send you to the set list and you can see for yourself. before they went into "you drive me wild" she talked about how it was the first song she ever wrote. AWWWW. so cute. "crimson & clover" gave me goosebumps and "i hate myself for loving you" is like the best fucking anthem song ever. and, yes, she sang "i love rock and roll." of course she did. and the crowd loved it.

but yeah then a bunch of people after the show thought i was her, which was weird for multiple reasons. like, she was just up on stage, we all saw her. my hair is clearly longer than hers. i was wearing something completely different. also, i'm 28 and she's 56. granted, she looks fucking great for her age, but she does look a tad older than 28. didn't stop an old drunk man from hugging me and telling me he's loved me since he was little. this other guy shook my hand and told me it was a great show and thanked me. SO WEIRD. then we wandered around the fair for a while after the show (mostly so i could pet the cows and goats and stuff because they're the cutest) and people stared the whole night. good stuff. hey, if people are going to confuse me with any rock star, i'm glad it's joan jett.

real kids and the lyres

this show happened on june 14.

so, we decided it would be a good idea to drive to cambridge to see the real kids and the lyres.
the lyres had played the brighton bar sometime in may and i really, really wanted to go but it was during a week where i had so much other shit going on that the idea of driving for 2 hours seemed painful. which doesn't usually happen to me. so you know it was bad.
then i saw that the real kids were playing new york and i was like, WHAT. i didn't know they still did stuff! couldn't get to that show, but as it turns out they were going to be playing a club called the middle east, in cambridge, with the lyres, and also classic ruins. so, we did what any normal people do in this situation- drive for 5 hours to see a show. i mean, why not?

at this point, the dude and i had decided we were going to england together in july (HUGE DEAL right? don't worry, plenty of stories from that to come...) so we thought a road trip to massachusetts would be a good preemptive test, to see if i would murder him after several hours in the car with him. he's still alive, so hooray! we went to a couple of record stores before the show - weirdo was the second one we went to. the first one was cheapo records. that was where FATE INTERVENED. (i like being dramatic.)

i was flipping through new arrivals when i heard the guy next to me ask the guys working at the store "you going to the show tonight? real kids and the lyres." none of them were going; i turned and said "we're going to be there." he looked at me like he didn't believe me and said "oh yeah?" so we got to talking and when he found out we came from pa for the show he was pretty impressed and said "look for me at the show; i'll get you in to meet the guys." at that point i didn't know which "guys" he was referring too, i mean, he was wearing a justin bieber shirt, you know? but it was a nice offer, so we said we would.

the middle east turned out to be a pretty cool place. there is a restaurant upstairs so we got something to eat, and there was our new friend outside! he introduced us to everyone as the people who drove from philly for the show. downstairs, there was a bar and the classic ruins were setting up on stage. they were really good, but i don't know anything about them really, so that's where i will leave you with that.

our new friend (ok, his name is david, i should probably just call him that; this "new friend" business is tiring) found us and said "come backstage, you can meet the guys!" uh. ok. we go backstage with him (this is really happening) and meet john felice. i was not prepared for this at all. it just happened. suddenly i'm shaking hands with john and saying "i like your shirt!" (the standells). i said we had just seen them in may and he said he's never seen them. crazy. he was very sweet, and so was billy cole, the guitarist. on the couch was jeff conolly of the lyres (and also dmz, a band that i love a lot). someone had made cupcakes with real kids song titles written on the tops in icing.

i felt like i was in a dream. here is photographic evidence that it was not a dream, unless dreams have technologically advanced and i was unaware; also, photographic evidence that i make really stupid faces sometimes when i shouldn't.

david, john, me, ridiculously tall boyfriend, billy

anyway, so the lyres played, and it was really fucking good. couldn't tell you a single song that they played, being not-so-familiar with their catalog. they probably did "help you ann" though. fun fact: the standells played that song when we saw them; and there is john in his standells shirt. so, anyway, the lyres were really great and actually watching the drummer was my favorite. he was so intense and i enjoyed his face. also, we watched jeff on stage setting up and he had a bag of some sort. he opened it and pulled out a case. then he opened the case and pulled out another case. then he opened that case and pulled out ANOTHER case. at this point i said "is he doing a magic trick?" then he opened that case and pulled out a piece of cloth. that cloth was wrapped around the sunglasses he wore on stage. pretty ridiculous, right? he's still cool, though.

i really hope everyone read far enough to get to this point because now i am going to talk about the real kids. sadly i only got into this band very recently, but boy do i love them. once again i have to thank my boss at the record store for this one. the real kids record was being re-released fairly recently and he asked if i wanted it, and i was like, who? and he said, "you have to like this band." and we listened to them, and he was right. although it took a few listens for me to really, REALLY get into them, there's been no turning back since it happened. "all kindsa girls" really grabs you, if you want a song to listen to that will get you into them. but then, that's the opening song off their self-titled album, so if you like that you may as well just keep listening. 

john felice, the founder/lead singer/guitarist of the real kids, started out as a modern lover, believe it or not. he's not on that first modern lovers album, having left the band before the recording to start his own band. that band was the kids. but there was another band called the kids, which they found out after doing a show with jonathan richman and the modern lovers. jonathan said something like "aw, don't worry, you guys are the real kids." hence, the name. i love that story.

right, so, the real kids show. i took an upside down picture of the setlist: 

this isn't entirely accurate, because i remember thinking that night that they definitely didn't do all the songs on there, but now i don't remember which. except that they definitely did "all kindsa girls" (akg, first on the list!), "do the boob," and "my baby's book" because i love those songs and i remember that. we started out standing up front and then david motioned for us to come stand on the side of the stage. i remember feeling like we didn't belong there, and all the stares from people as we walked up there, but it was SO COOL seeing them from the side of the stage! now, here comes my not so good stuff: john was looking a little under the weather. and not just like, oh i had a cold and now i'm feeling ok under the weather. like, bruises on his arms from iv's (not like drugs, guys, don't get the wrong idea; and i'm not being naive, because i found out later that he had spent some time in the hospital before that show). the songs were played a little slower than they should have been. otherwise, i would say they sounded fantastic. his voice isn't affected at all, and his playing was totally fine. the band is tight and i think if john had been feeling better, it would be one of the best shows i'd ever seen. that good.

they've been playing out more since that show, to get their chops up, so i can't wait until i can make it out to see them again.

then after the show we chatted more with david who is a pretty great human, i have to say. and we got to talk more with billy; he gave me his phone number and email address and i gave him mine. nothing has come of it but it's fun to scroll through my phone numbers and see "billy cole" there. it's the little things... and i got this cute picture with him as well: 

there you have it. real kids and the lyres, both bands worth seeing!