Postcards from the man cave

Hot Club of Cowtown – The Met Bury, 16^th November 2019

Back in Bury again, just two weeks since our last visit. Honestly, my heart lifts as we drive into this small town. I always smile when I pass the Roach Hotel, I must go there! Even if we don’t stay there I must have a beer and toast its fantastic name!

I fully intended that this blog would see me raging at the grave injustice visited upon Bury Football club. Bury FC were elected to the Football League in 1894. They won the FA cup in 1900 and 1903. In the latter final they beat Derby County 6-0, a score equalled only last year by Manchester City. Last season they won promotion to division 1………………….. However, on 27 August 2019, Bury were expelled from the Football League due to unpaid debts and poor ownership.

Why was this allowed to happen?? To add insult to injury, Everton Director Bill Kenwright offered to inject over a million pounds into Bury to save them but was stopped by the Football League as it contravened their rules…………Shame on you!!!!, shame on the Premier League and it’s Billionaire clubs who stood by and let it happen. This is only the beginning comrades, expect other clubs to perish, after all, once mighty Bolton Wanderers nearly suffered the same fate as Bury only being rescued at the eleventh hour.

Rant over (for now), I visited Wax and Beans for a second time. I love this record shop! There were punters sat drinking coffee and shooting the breeze and fellow vinyl foragers hunched over the record bins. I bought Love’s debut album, Nicely out of tune by Lindisfarne (Newcastle is our next road trip) and Hard Rain by Bob Dylan. Hmm, I swore I would never buy another Dylan live album. Much as I love ol’ Bob, his live albums suck! So why did I buy it? Well both Mick Ronson and T Bone Burnette are in his backing band on this album, surely reason enough? I intend to blog about live albums in the near future so watch this space.

Vinyl lust sated, I visited the Two Tubs. The small front bar was almost empty when I arrived so I got a good seat, bought a pint of Thwaites Best and settled down to relax.

Are you into Rockabilly? I was shaken from my reverie by a guy sat at the bar. Beg pardon? The guy saw I was wearing a Sun records sweatshirt. I explained that I had bought it from the studio in 2018. He was impressed thus began a very enjoyable discussion on music. It turned out that the guy was a singer in a Rockabilly band. We discussed the stuff he played and, to my delight, found we both love The Cramps. Our conversation carried on through a fire alarm (ironically caused by his vaping. Interestingly everyone in the pub ignored it!) and we covered much musical ground. He took a phone call from the drummer in his band. My new friend said he was off to the Thirsty Fish and invited me along. I had never heard of the Thirsty Fish so he told me where it was and I promised to see him in there later.

The Thirsty Fish is based in an empty shop unit on the front of the Millgate shopping centre. A none too exciting prospect thought I. How wrong was I? Eight real ales, a good number of real Ciders and a small selection of Continental Lagers are on sale. There are a few tables and bar stools in this small place. The décor is cool, the tunes played are excellent and the clientele are really friendly.

I started with a New Zealand IPA which was excellent then followed with a pint of Strong Mild (7%abv) recommended by a fellow punter. My Rockabilly friend’s drummer turned out to be good company with excellent musical taste. I could cheerfully have stayed all afternoon but in the interests of sobriety we bid our new friends farewell and headed off for a curry. We had a quick pint in the Waverley (another first) before eating at the Darbar restaurant next door. Suitably fortified it was back to the hotel for a power nap and a shower!

So to the gig. No beer bellies on show tonight thankfully. The punters were of a fairly diverse age range. I was delighted to see such a big crowd. When I mentioned that I was going to see the Hot Club of Cowtown, my work colleagues shook their heads with incredulity and assumed I would be the only person at the show!

The Hot Club of Cowtown is an American hot jazz and Western swing trio that formed in 1997. The band’s name comes from two sources: “Hot Club” from the hot jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli’s Quintette du Hot Club de France, and “Cowtown” from the western influence of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and other early Western swing combos, as well as the band’s love of fiddle tunes, hoedowns, and songs of the American west.

The band are fronted by violinist Elana James who is ably supported by guitarist Whit Smith and double bass player Jake Erwin. You would swear that there are double the number of musicians on stage. They sound fantastic and the crowd love them. Elana James pulls facial expressions that I found slightly unsettling, they reminded me of Popeye!!

They play two forty five minute sets which contain a healthy selection of songs from their new album Wild Kingdom though thankfully refrain from playing their cringe worthy version of Loch Lomond. Guitarist Whit Smith is absolutely superb. His solos are well constructed and beautifully played. Smith is also a good singer. I love the Double Bass so Jake Erwin was also a treat for me.

This was a great show and I loved seeing so many smiling faces in the audience. Tickets cost £19 which was an absolute bargain. The band hail from Austin Texas, the third act we have seen in Bury this year from that venerable city. Delines singer Amy Boone lives off SoCo, Tom Russell has just moved there from Santa Fe and all of tonight’s act are domiciled there. We visit Austin next year. I wonder if there are many Bury bands playing in the city?? Perhaps my new Rockabilly buddies will be starring on 6^th street!!

The previous weekend the Met hosted the annual Bury beer festival. This weekend seemed to be the Bury smoking festival! I have not seen so many tobacco devotees congregated in a long while. Every pub we visited had a smoking crew outside the doorway. Inside each pub were a good number of vaping devotees. Post gig we adjourned to the Robert Peel fighting our way through the outdoor smoking throng. Inside, the pub was busy and the atmosphere was quite relaxed which belied the heavy police presence outside. We chuckled at a young chap who sported a king size tucked behind his ear, a sight we had not seen for years.

We stopped off at Rayners on the way back to our hotel. There was a good sized smoking posse chatting to the two doormen outside. Inside, we were almost the only punters!! A friendly barmaid, and good drinks at reasonable prices were a great way to end another excellent day in Bury, a true Jewel in the crown of England’s glory.

Postscript:

The next morning we decided to head for breakfast at the Art Picture house. As we rounded the corner we saw clouds of billowing smoke!! Fortunately it was not a fire, just another bunch of enthusiastic smokers outside the pub. This was 9.0 am, inside there was a goodly number of punters scarfing full English breakfasts washed down with early morning pints. I hung my head in shame as I drank my Cappuccino!!

Postscript 2:

Hard Rain is pretty damn good, not my favourite live album (blog will follow soon) but pretty damn good. Bob, you are forgiven!

Mary Gauthier/Jaimee Harris/Michele Gazich –  Edinburgh Pleasance Theatre 9^th November 2019

I must start by saying I love Mary Gauthier. Her songs have the lyrics front and centre like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. There is more pathos in a Mary Gauthier lyric than any other artist I can think of. Listen to Last of the Hobo Kings, The Rocket, Goddam HIV or Christmas in paradise. If you are not moved then you can never be my friend.

On the other hand I’ve never been impressed with Edinburgh. This was our fourth visit; two of the first three visits were to see the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield. I loved the gigs but the city left me cold. For this visit we booked a hotel in the Old Town close to the venue, The Pleasance Theatre. We travelled by rail. The two hour journey was a pleasure, pure relaxation. We walked to the Hotel from Waverley station. My mood lightened as I took in the atmosphere of the area. I noticed some promising looking pubs and took in some great views of the Castle.

 After dumping the bags at the hotel we checked out the venue location which was just a five minute walk away. Over a coffee we planned the day ahead. First stop was at Unknown Pleasures on Cannongate. This is a great record shop, it has a fantastic selection of new and used vinyl with a healthy sprinkling of collectibles at reasonable prices. The shop also has some fantastic tee shirts on sale. I nearly bought myself a Ramones and a Motorhead tee shirt but after last week’s Bury blog I figured that discretion is the better part of valour. I don’t want my own photo starring in my blog!! Four albums and a single slaked my spending thirst. I left the shop with a broad smile and a spring in my step. We then walked back past the station and into the New Town. As we neared Princes Street my heart sank. I realised why I have never liked Edinburgh. Too crowded, too pretentious, in love with itself, full of……………………you get the point! Within five minutes my mood had soured, even looking at the cities stunning architecture wasn’t lifting my spirits. We retraced our steps and headed back to the Old Town. A quick pit stop beckoned at the Booking Office, the Weatherspoon’s pub by Waverley station. This must be the busiest Wetherspoon’s on earth. It is packed to the gills all times of day. A pint of Skye Black (excellent) hit the spot. No seats in the pub (as usual) so we sat outside in the glorious November sunshine.

After a mood enhancing pint we took a walk through the Old Town. I loved the atmosphere of the place and the fantastic buildings. We headed for a bar we had passed earlier. The World’s end. In the owners words;

welcome to the World’s End

The Worlds End’s exterior walls form part of the Flodden Wall, a 16th century fort that protected Edinburghs historic old town. There was once a time that the people of Edinburgh thought the world outside this wall was no longer theirs so hence our name.

This pub can trace its roots back to the 16^th century. In more recent times it gave its name to a murder case as it was the last place that the two girls were seen leaving. This was in 1977. Their murderer was not convicted until 2014 and died earlier this year. A controversial case that is worth reading about if you like true crime stories.

On a happier note, the pub is really friendly and serves great beer. We sat at the bar and enjoyed listening to a wide range of accents from all over the world. The thick walls mean no phone signal which promotes the art of conversation.

We then walked across the road to a pub on the opposite corner whose name escapes me. A nice place serving good beer but it lacked the age and history of the World’s end.

Next stop was back to Cannongate and a pub called the Tollbooth Tavern. Another hostelry that can trace it’s heritage back to the sixteenth century. This excellent pub is reputedly haunted. Over to the owners:

I love old pubs that drip with history. The patrons were a friendly crowd and the beer was good, what more could you want? The food is supposedly good but we had already decided to return to the World’s End for lunch. There is a small dining room off the main bar in the World’s end. The food was good, hearty pub fayre which was just the ticket after half a dozen pints sank in the name of research!

After a power nap, it was off to tonight’s gig. First up was Jaimee Harris. I must admit I’d never heard her before so didn’t know what to expect. I must confess that I normally give support acts a miss and spend my time in the bar psyching myself up for the main event. I’m glad I didn’t in this case as Jaimee Harris is an excellent performer. Her songs have excellent lyrics which is a big thing for me. Jaimee is a folk singer though her style is probably what journalists describe as Americana. For her penultimate song she was joined on stage by violinist Michele Gazich who really adds something. For the final song Mary Gauthier herself joined Jaimee and Michele which rounded off a great set on a high note. I must have been impressed as I bought Jaimee’s debut album after the show.

There was no break it was straight into Mary Gauthier’s show. She started with Your Sister cried and then went into my personal favourite The Last of the Hobo Kings. The songs came thick and fast; I Drink, Drag Queens and Limousines, Cigarette Machine, Between Daylight and the Dark………….I won’t recite the full set but I was delighted that Mary played two of my favourite songs from the Trouble and Love album – When a woman goes cold and Oh Soul. One thing that was a real surprise is that there was no between song stories, usually a feature of Mary Gauthier shows. In fact she didn’t really speak to the audience at length until playing a trio of songs from 2018’s Rifles and Rosary Beads album. Song writing with Soldiers is a US charity that takes Military veterans who are suffering from PTSD and/or horrific injuries sustained in war to a resort with their partners. They are paired off with professional songwriters who listen to their stories and write songs that help them share how they are feeling. Mary Gauthier has been a dedicated supporter of this charity for some years. She eventually released the Rifles and Rosary beads album which consists of songs written with veterans and their partners who receive credit for their stories. It is an incredibly emotional album which forces you to reflect on the horror of war. The people she has written with are veterans of Afghanistan, and the various gulf wars. Their injuries both physical and mental are harrowing. Check out the stats on the number of US servicemen/women who have taken their own lives over the past few years to appreciate the effect wars have away from the battlefields.

The final veterans song she plays tonight is It’s her love which has tears running down my face after Mary has described the backstory to the song. A poignant part of the show given that the following day is Remembrance Sunday

The set ends predictably with Mercy Now and there is no encore. A bummer because in recent years Mary has been playing Woody Guthrie’s ‘This land is your land’ A great show with Mary Gauthier in great form and in great spirits. A particular call out goes to Italian Violinist Michele Gazich. A regular sideman at Mary Gauthier shows, he was absolutely brilliant tonight. I will check out his albums!! If you’ve never listened to her music then check it out. If you like great lyrics and great tunes then you won’t be disappointed. By the way Gauthier is pronounced Go Shay.

After the show we walked down the hill back towards the hotel stopping off for late night libation in Holyrood 09. This warm and cosy bar specialises in Craft beers which are not my favourite but I found a good stout amongst their wide selection. We enjoyed talking to a fellow gig goer who lives in Edinburgh.

After four or five pints it was time to call it quits. We really enjoyed Edinburgh this time and have promised to return. There is a pub on the outskirts called The Sheep’s Heid which I must visit. Over 500 years old and is also a former haunt of Mary Queen of Scots. It also has a reputation for good food which ticks all the boxes for me. I also want to visit Leith and it’s many bars so a return is a must. A final shout out for the Pleasance theatre, a great small venue with superb acoustics. The heating could use a little attention though!!

The following morning we ate breakfast in Em’s Kitchen across the road from our hotel. Fresh food, good coffee and a friendly waitress. Check it out!

Wishbone Ash – The Met, Bury 1^st November 2019

Friday saw us make a trip to Bury, one of our favourite places in England. This small town (population 78000) is part of Greater Manchester and therefore considered insignificant when compared to its (in)famous neighbour.

 Bury is proud of it’s ‘famous’ market :

Market of the year 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015!

Voted Britain’s Favourite Market 2019

I love British markets. They epitomise British people and hark back to an age when the community pulled together, bought local produce and crafts and weren’t bombarded with glossy adverts.

Bury market brings in tourists by the busload, has a wide range of stalls and is great value for money.

Bury is the birthplace of much missed comedian Victoria Wood, Elbow’s Guy Garvey and England’s own Neville Brothers, Gary and Phil. There are many more famous sons and daughters of Bury, I have namechecked the ones who mean the most to me.

Lecture over! Our first stop was The Art Picture House. This Grade 2 listed building is part of the Wetherspoons chain and the best in my humble opinion. The three-storey building is the former Art Picture House, described by The Theatres Trust as ‘a fine example of an early 1920s cinema, exceptionally theatrical in its plan and decoration’. It was completed in 1923.

Fortified by a couple of pints my next stop was an eagerly awaited visit to Wax and Beans. This was my first visit and I wasn’t disappointed. Over to the owners;

A unique concept, where you can relax in comfort, enjoy a delicious coffee (and maybe even some cake), whilst listening to the tunes of your choice.

We have a huge range of used vinyl to choose from that we can play for everyone throughout the store.  Or, if you’d prefer, choose to sit with our turntable, which allows you to play your own choice of vinyl through headphones (you can even bring your own to play if you want).

All the secondhand vinyl you can choose to listen to is available to buy… where else do you get to enjoy before you buy. 

Not only that, we have lots of brand new vinyl, artwork and unusual momentos on offer.

I loved the place, really friendly and has a good selection of new and used vinyl. I didn’t try the coffee but walked away with five albums, a CD and a button badge!

Next stop was The Two Tubs, Bury’s oldest pub. Another favourite of ours. It’s quite a big place but I love the snug front bar. A good selection of Thwaites beers is on sale and ‘home cooked’ food.

We ate at an excellent Cambodian restaurant. For a small town, Bury has some good places to eat that are not chains (a pet hate!)

So, to the gig! I love the Met. A small theatre, (capacity about 250 seated or 400 if a standing gig), It has great acoustics and the bar serves quality beers at pub prices. You can take your drinks into the show which is an added bonus.

Sat in the bar preshow I was fascinated (and repelled) by the number of bad tee shirts and beer bellies on show. This is where the germ of the idea for this blog came about. When I eventually got my shit together and started taking photos of some of the specimens on show I had missed some of the worst offenders. Comrades, you would have been truly appalled at some of the ones I missed (a psychedelic orange number will give me nightmares for years to come!)

So how was Wishbone Ash?

This was their 50^th anniversary tour. The age demographic in the audience reflected this momentous anniversary (see the middle-aged moshpit below!!). I was six years old when they formed…….a sobering thought !

When I started senior school many years ago I was always fascinated by the albums under the arms of ancient sixth formers. One on regular display was Argus by Wishbone Ash. I was fascinated by the helmeted, spear carrying warrior on the cover and the sense of foreboding it conveyed. When I eventually heard the album I loved it! In the intervening years I have owned 3 or 4 vinyl copies, the CD and the (expanded) digital edition. Strangely, until recently, it is the only Wishbone Ash album I have owned.

This was the first time I have seen the Ash and I’m pleased to say they were great. Original member Andy Powell still leads the band. His flowing locks are no more but the trademark Flying V is still there

They did two sets, both an hour long. Highlights were The King will come, The Pilgrim and Jailbait. The air guitars were out in force for Blowin’ Free which was the encore.  Four tracks from Argus, the only regret is that they didn’t play the Warrior.

Real Guitars Have Wings

The King Will Come

Throw Down the Sword

Sometime World

We Stand As One

In Crisis

Way of the World  

Blind Eye

Deep Blues

Enigma

The Pilgrim

Tales of the Wise

Living Proof

Jail Bait

Blowin’ Free

Post gig we adjourned to the Robert Peel, Burys other (and biggest) Wetherspoons. It was full of young people in Halloween costumes (a day late guys) but £3 for a double Jim Beam and Coke made it all worth it (I needed to buy four rounds to check that they hadn’t undercharged me!!)

A grand day out! We are back in Bury to see the Hotclub of Cowtown in a couple of weeks. I have already down selected an Indian restaurant for us to eat at……………….can’t wait!

We returned to New Orleans in October 2018 after a gap of nearly 30 years! I have always known I had unfinished business with NOLA. My brother lived there in the late nineties/early noughties but we never got chance to visit him there. Our daughter was born in 2000 so the timing wasn’t right, the planets didn’t align.

I’ve wanted to visit Nashville for the past few years so that was the reason for the 2018 trip to the States. The optimum way for us to get to Nashville was to visit as part of a road trip starting in New Orleans. Serendipity had intervened in our plans.

Has it changed?……………..you bet……………for the better? Well yes and no

Firstly it’s safer. When we first visited you couldn’t walk anywhere at night downtown other than the French Quarter. Even the free tourist leaflets in hotels had more ‘must avoid’ places than ‘must see’ sights. ‘Only visit the Superdome in the daytime or for games’, ‘only visit the Cemeteries on guided tours’, ‘avoid Louis Armstrong park’. All are now perfectly safe. Treme, the African American neighbourhood which borders Louis Armstrong park and the (now defunct) Storyville is now a must see. When we first visited it was not even on the tourist radar. So, in conclusion, the city is far more accessible today.

On the downside, the city has lost a lot of the edge that made it unique. On my first visit I found N’Awlins deliciously sleazy, gloriously decadent. A hedonists delight, an adult Disneyland. Now it is filled with stag and hen parties and middle aged conventioneers playing at living on the front line.

Sadly, Hurricane Katrina was probably the catalyst for the major changes to the city’s culture. Optimists will claim that from tragedy came triumph. Others will mourn the passing of the soul of one of the seven wonders of the traveller’s world.

When we first visited, Bourbon Street was loud, sleazy, and even edgy in parts. Now, it’s still loud but dirty and overpriced. Fortunately the French Quarter still has many great bars, restaurants, sights and shops making it still feel like a magical place.

In addition to the French Quarter, the Warehouse district, Uptown, The Garden District and Frenchman street are all brilliant neighbourhoods. The city has some of the finest dive bars in the USA, if you’re visiting search ‘New Orleans dive bars’ on Google. You’ll find many must visit places ensuring you see the real best of the city.

Happily, the food is as good as ever. I love Cajun food! Spicier than most places in the States but also really tasty. On our latest visit we ate at K Paul’s, a French Quarter institution. Sadly, Head chef and owner Paul Prudhomme is no longer with us but his delicious food lives on. We couldn’t afford to eat there first time we visited so getting older does have some benefits. There are many cheap places to eat delicious food so all budgets are catered for.

I hope that I get the chance to go back to New Orleans in the not too distant future so that I can revisit my lost youth in the temple of Bacchanalian excess!!!

If you want to watch the slideshow that accompanies this blog then go to https://youtu.be/DvIAlNm8wFk The music is ‘I walk on guilded splinters’ by Dr John. This track always makes me think of the magic and mystery of New Orleans. Dr John died in 2019. New Orleans and the world lost one of its finest musicians, songwriters and personalities. RIP Mac Rebennack.

Liverpool 13th October 2019

Double Fantasy – John and Yoko

Museum of Liverpool

This is a free exhibition, celebrating the meeting of two of the world’s most creative artists who expressed their deep and powerful love for one another through their art, music and film. They used their fame and influence to campaign for peace and human rights across the world, transforming not only their own lives, but art, music and activism forever.

Featuring personal objects alongside art, music and film produced by John and Yoko, the exhibition is drawn from Yoko’s own private collection, some of which has never been displayed.

Exhibits include  original artwork by both, including Yoko’s Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting, Painting to Hammer A Nail and Apple, as well as The Daily Howl, a hand-made book by John from his childhood and numerous examples of his distinctive line drawings. The exhibition also features conceptual work the couple produced together, such as War is Over, Plastic Ono Band, and elements of their first collaboration Acorn Peace.

– Many personal items, such as John’s wire-rimmed glasses, Yoko’s large Porsche sunglasses, iconic items of clothing, such as John’s New York City t-shirt, and items from their wedding outfits are also displayed.

I was overwhelmed by a tremendous feeling of loss as I moved, transfixed, through the exhibition. As you reach the end of the chronological exhibits you come to 1980 as you knew you must. The comments from Yoko, Sean and Julian are incredibly moving causing a wave of sadness to engulf me.

Mark David Chapman, I will never know what drove you to commit such a senseless murder. I can only surmise what John would have gone on to achieve if you hadn’t intervened. How much more great music would he have made, would he have written an autobiography, would the Beatles have played Live Aid. Because of you Mr. Chapman we will never know

The exhibition closes November 3^rd, try and see it.

No visit to Liverpool is complete without visiting some of the cities pubs. After leaving the exhibition and walking through the rain drenched city centre I found myself in one of my favourites. The Globe is a small pub opposite Central station. I love to sit and listen to the conversations in here. The bar staff are fantastic, possessing a sixth sense as to when patrons are ready for another beer. Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is my beer of choice when I visit.

In the evening, after a curry, we met friends in the Fly in the Loaf. An ex-bakery, this comfortable, spacious pub sells beers from the Isle of Man amongst it’s selection of real ales. Next stop is Ye Crack on Rice street. I love this place! This is where John Lennon took Cynthia on their first date and the pub is festooned with some excellent photos of him. On this night one of the small rooms had some original artworks for sale featuring paintings of Lennon.

There is a great selection of beers on offer and the locals are a friendly crowd. I also love this place because the bar staff are Evertonians!

Next stop was the Philharmonic pub. This is the place where Paul McCartney played a secret show on the episode of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke dedicated to Macca. The pub is most famed for the Gents toilets! The immaculate Victorian pissoir attracts a stream of women on nights out to look at it’s magnificence (allegedly!).

No night is complete without a visit to Mathew street, site of the original Cavern club. It’s the Grapes where we head though. This is the pub where the Beatles used to come between sets at the Cavern. Lots of Beatles memorabilia is on show and it is a fitting venue to finish off a great day in a special city.

Welcome to Postcards from the man cave. About ten years ago I converted a small bedroom in our house into my personal space or ‘man cave’. It has a HiFi system, about 450 vinyl records, 1100 CD’s, a desktop computer (with 2000 digital albums), four guitars and a Banjo. The walls are covered with posters, prints and souvenirs of gigs we’ve seen or places we’ve been and also prints of some of my favourite art. Of a weekend I like to pour a glass of wine and sit back and listen to music. I do all our travel research in this room. Some great holidays and road trips have been conceived while I relax in here.

The purpose of my blog is to share the music I am listening to and new albums I have bought. I will also share photos and reviews of places that we visit around the world.

I want to connect with like minded people who will share their music likes or recommend places that I should visit