Thursday, December 17, 2009

Let it snow...

Playlist
Editors – An End Has a Start
Elbow – Discography
Tangerine Dream - Encore
Biffy Clyro – Singles 2001-2005
Editors – In This Light and On This Evening
Pet Shop Boys – Best of
Depeche Mode – 1984-2009

Up early - day off today - huzzah - and tomorrow - double huzzah...

Getting up early is always better at the weekend or on a day off...

And what was the reason for this non "working" scenario? Why, the Pet Shop Boys of course...

Prior to 2pm and the arrival of Fife based chum Chris-with-a-Ch, I spent some time watching rubbish daytime TV and then compiling a 19 track "Best of" of said band - and this soundtracked our journey to Glasgow which, due to snow and an accident (not involving us thankfully), took twice the normal time...

We parked around 3:45 and took the train into the centre where Chris and Anne enjoyed some drinks at Bar Ten while I had a look around the CD shops, partaking of some D Mode, H League, ABC and banging trance tunes...

It was freezing as I made my way to the bar for the meet and a quick Weissbier - then we were off to Chopstix for pre-gig sustenance...



...before heading back to the SECC where we met Creeker Craig, who had taken 3 hours to make it to the venue...

And so we were a quartet...



We were near the front of the queue as the doors opened and accordingly were able to get to the front of the stage for the two and a half hour wait til PSB were due on...

Opening act was Unicorn Kid, a 17 year old from Leith who danced around a lot to the sound of his Apple Mac while wearing a lion hat and trying to convince us he was actually playing anything live...

Despite his shouts of "let me see your hands in the air" being met with hands remaining firmly by our sides, his music was pretty good, in a trancey, dancey way...

Next up was Bad Luitenant - you may not have heard of them but it was Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris from New Order plus two guitarists (one doubling on keys) and a bassist who had Peter Hook's lines off to a tee...

And so, to all intents and purposes, it was New Order - a cracking set ensued, highlights of which were a very lengthy "Everything's Gone Green" and a rocking tight rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart"...

An unexpected bonus...

But of course they could not top Messrs Tennant and Lowe and their very energetic quartet of dancers...

It was, essentially, the same show Chris and I saw in Manchester in June - in fact while we waited there for PSB to take the stage, Craig texted me to advise this gig tonight had just been announced and to ask if we wanted tickets - and so here we were...

Of course I didn't think it was as good as Alice Cooper but the Exec Producer pronounced it "awesome" and the best gig she'd ever attended...

High praise indeed...



We enjoyed a couple of bonuses during the encore, in the form of the first ever live rendition of their new single, a cover of Madness "My Girl", along with the PSB Xmas Song, "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas"...

Brilliant night - we were just a couple of feet from the stage with all these people behind us...



...and, for a change, no-one was annoying me...

Post gig, we made our way back through the cigarette smoke infested walkway to the cars and sped back to Edinburgh...

The Exec Producer and I took a detour to Fife through the snow and ice to drop Chris off, before returning to Meg the Black Cat...

Another good day...

Here's a precis...



Highlight of the Day : PSB and "New Order"...

No comments: