Predictable in the 90's (or how I learned to stop worrying and write a review)...

If in the 90's you'd have told me that I'd meet the lead singer of the Bluetones outside the toilets in a Nottingham pub I'd have told you to piss right off. Seriously. But, guess what? It actually happened. True story.

Now, this is a sort of a gig review (I use the term review in the loosest possible sense), but as I am not a 'proper' music journalist please don't expect this to be a full blown account of the gig with set list and all that jazz. It's just a kind of review of the show based on what I thought about it and how it made me feel. Nice and simple, a bit like me. But like all good fairy tales, let's begin the beguine...

I loved the Bluetones from the very first time I first heard 'Bluetonic'. I would've been about 19 back then. Their debut album 'Expecting to Fly' is one of my all time favourites, and what a cracking debut it was. It took me a long time to appreciate the quality of the songwriting on this and the subsequent albums and I think it's only now as I've got older that I can fully understand it more. On the debut the songs 'Putting Out Fires' and 'The Fountainhead' both leave me with chills as to me they are achingly beautiful. I'm not sure that I can say that I felt the same at the time, but back then my appreciation and understanding of music was not the same as it is now.

The debut came at a time when so called 'Britpop' was in full flow, but I never actually considered the Bluetones to be in this genre. To me that was about Blur and Oasis and neither of those were my cup of tea (and still aren't). My old workmate and music pal once told me back in 1995 that he wasn't surprised that I liked the Bluetones cos it was my kind of thing. I was obviously predictable back then too. He also told me that they weren't very good live as I think he'd seen them as they were just starting out. To be fair, this is the man who saw Oasis in a room with about 6 other people before they were famous so he did know his music which is why I listened to his advice.

Basically my youth in a magazine...

I was never lucky enough to see them play live as basically no-one I knew back then was a fan and the voice of doom with his "they aren't very good live" mantra stuck in my head and I never actually bothered. I still however, bought all the albums, listened to them regularly, watched them on Top of the Pops (I can clearly remember them playing Autophilia with a backing choir whilst wearing very nice suits!), fancied the lead singer etc etc but that was it. And then they broke up... Story of my life.

Those of you who punish themselves by reading my other blog posts will know that I am somewhat of a Twitter Twat and that I'm pretty much on there every day, just stalking people or making ridiculous comments about nonsense. I follow mostly the musicians that I love and happen to follow someone called Mark Morriss. Self described as 'former Bluetones lead mincer' it should all now sink into place for you and get you up to date. Got it? Okay.

Well, Mr Morriss went solo and has released 2 spectacular albums. The first called 'Memory Muscle' in 2008 (while the Bluetones were still together) and this years 'A Flash of Darkness'. I cannot describe how good these albums are, but the songwriting and composition is just amazing. Mark's voice has also grown over the years (or at least it sounds that way to me) as sometimes when I listen to the early stuff it doesn't seem as rounded as it does now. The first time I listened to 'A Flash of Darkness' all the way through it was like "Wow, what the fuck have I just listened to?" And I then put it back on and listened to it again. Truthfully. One of the lyrics that always makes me smile is from the track 'Conseula' and goes "You can say what you like behind my back, you can keep on my case like you're Bergerac". That's a bit of a British joke right there which I find very funny. My favourite song on the album (and my constant pinned tweet on my Twitter profile) is 'Life Without F(r)iction' as it's just simply amazing. I wanted to add the video to this post, but can't for some reason so link it here.

Below is a live video of 'Unwanted Friend' from the Memory Muscle album.This song sticks in my head as it reminds me of someone in particular and the lyrics are very fitting for the basis of our relationship. In fact, most of Mark's lyrics speak to me in such a way that I have attached certain people to them. That's a great art right there. Making your audience resonate with you so highly that they feel you are singing on behalf of them. This is one of Mark's many talents.

Anyway, back to this bloody gig. It was at The Maze in Nottingham which is a 'live music venue'. In other words it's a pub with a room at the back large enough to fit a stage in the corner. I'd never been there before, but bearing in mind I am not actually from Nottingham I feel it's okay to state this fact. On the other hand, I have lived here for over 10 years now and am meant to like music so perhaps I should know where all the music venues are. Well, maybe...

As you will know I spend a lot of time doing all things music related (listening, reading, writing about etc) and I also check out the local gig guides to see who's venturing into Notts to play at our many fabulous venues. I can't quite remember how I found out that Mr Morriss was playing here, I think it might have been via his website, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to go. I had no idea where the venue was, but my friend was game in coming with me and the tickets were a steal at just £13 each so we booked it. This was in early May and the gig was in October so just 5 months to wait then...

Mark shows us the art of sitting on a guitar case and not getting a sore arse

Cut to 10 October and the day of the gig. It was Friday and the yearly beer festival was in full flow at Nottingham Castle. My office is right next to the Castle so I spent the day listening to the various bands performing in the grounds (not all of them good) and enjoying one of them do a kick arse version of 'Ghostbusters'! This should have been getting me in the mood for an evening of live music entertainment, but when I checked the timings for the evening I noticed that there were 2 support bands and Mark was not on until 10pm. I was knackered and feeling grouchy so was not looking forward to having to wait until so late to see him. Pah.

We got to the venue at about 8.30pm and it was already pretty packed. Lots of fellow music lovers were in the bar area waiting for the back room to open and let us in. We got some drinks and then joined the queue and went through to the music room claiming our wristbands on route. The room was a fair size with a large stage and had a few seats and another bar. We nabbed somewhere to sit as we planned to stay on our arses for the entire night and found out later on that we were sitting with a music journalist and a photographer. Nice.

Of the 2 support bands, I preferred the first one who were called Hotbox and are 'an indie rock band from Nottingham, bringing a blend of intense indie rock and upbeat pop to create warm and catchy songs, with upbeat funky rifts and grooving beats'. They were really good. Soooo young, but very good and seemed to go down great with the crowd. Their EP was released that same day which was really exciting for them and they were selling it for just £4! Up and coming stars I would say!

The other support band were called Lois and seem to be regulars at the Maze. They are a four piece rock and roll band from Nottingham who note that they are influenced by some of the great bands of the 60s and 70s. And you could tell. There were hints of the Beatles, but towards the end it sounded to me very much like the Manchester sound of the 90s (very Happy Mondays / Stone Roses maybe). They finished their set and cleared the stage. This was the time I decided to nip to the toilet before Mark came on.

The loo's were out the back past the stage and when I came out of the ladies to return to my seat Mark and his band were standing waiting to go onto the stage (Adam Devlin was part of the band, but he wasn't there at the time). Usually I would never approach anyone famous as I am actually quite a shy person in reality, but for some unknown reason I caught Mark's eye as he was looking towards me and decided without thinking to go and say hello. He was kind enough to speak to me for a few minutes and actually told me he recognised me from my Twitter photo which was a bit of a surprise. Bearing in mind I look awful in almost every single photo I have taken, I now know that I also look awful in real life too!! Thems the brakes. But on the plus side it was nice to know that my tweets are memorable (or else I stalk him far too much, you decide).

What a very nice man he is

When Mark and the band finally arrived on stage at about 11pm, I can honestly say that the gig was awesome, but over far too quickly. He played the majority of 'A Flash of Darkness' and a few choice tunes from 'Memory Muscle' such as the night's great opening number of 'I'm Sick'. I should've been a bit smarter and nabbed the set-list, but sadly I'm not that on the ball. The crowd was a bit sparse which I found very frustrating, but there were some obvious fans there who were having a great time and one lovely chap even bought the band a shot each and some crisps! Nottingham hospitality at it's finest. I purchased a rather fetching t-shirt from the lovely ladies at the merch stall and have already worn it with pride. It was such a shame that there weren't many people there and I really do think that Mark is under selling himself on the ticket price as he gives a great show. But it's not just about the music. The banter and humorous comments with the crowd are all part of being a great performer. I've seen many singers who just get up and do their songs and don't really acknowledge the crowd at all, but Mark spoke to us all the way through and made the crowd laugh with his jokes. It felt nice to be in his company and be part of this gig with the other people who were there. I was sad when it was over, but knew I had seen a great performance which I will remember for some time. I tweeted Mark to say thanks the following day and he replied with a kind response of 'let's do it again some time'. Well, the next time will be in January as I've just booked tickets to see him play a solo show in Derby. And yes, I've told him I'll see him again, and yes, he replied and gave me a thumbs up. I do wonder if he is also preparing the restraining order against me, but I guess only time will tell on that one...

So, what have we learnt?

1. I watched Top of the Pops in the 90s and was a massive Bluetones fan
2. I foolishly listened to someone when I shouldn't and lost out on seeing them live which fills me with regret
3. I still don't know the music venues in Nottingham after 10 years of living here
4. Mark Morriss is a very talented and amusing man who is kind enough to put up with my annoying tweets
5. My gig reviews and shit

Addition 20/11/14

Okay. I have something to add to this post now following ground breaking news I've received this week.

In my quest for all the answers (which apparently I will receive when I turn 38 according to the lovely Olly Knights from Turin Brakes who told me so), I decided to ask my old pal for his take on the whole "they aren't very good live" debarcle so I can finally put it to bed.

So, I emailed him as I am nothing if not resourceful. He replied with "You expect me to remember something I said to you in 1996??!!" to which I countered "Of course I do. You should remember all of our conversations from nearly 20 years ago". Jeez. He then said that he didn't think he'd ever seen the Bluetones live so either I'd got it wrong or more likely he was being contrary. I was fuming. Before you start shouting at me, I have to explain that this person (who I shall now refer to as bellend) was very important to me at the time so I was inclined to believe pretty much everything he said. Call it being young and impressionable (or blinded by lust). Anyway, he then comes back to me and says he googled it and thinks he did actually see them at the V Festival in 1997, but doesn't recall their performance as he was more than likely drunk at the time. What can I say? He is basically nothing short of useless and due to his wanting to wind me up years ago I lost out on the opportunity to see a great band live.

Now, I can't hold him altogether responsible for this as I should have just ignored him and gone anyway. But in my defense, (and remember the lusty aspect) bellend was the person I usually went to gigs with at that time so if he was being an arse about the band then we probably wouldn't have gone to see them anyway. A poor excuse I know, but it's all I've got. I think we can now safely say that the matter is closed. I will reflect on my inability to grow a pair and chalk it up to experience.

As another update, I am also now going to Brixton in December to see Mark and his band play again. It's my Christmas present to myself. Costing me a small fortune, but I think it's worth it and I'm very confident it will be an awesome show. Only a month to go. I've been waiting nearly 20 years so a month should be a breeze...

About bloody time you dozy cow...