We had persuaded ourselves - on the basis of no evidence whatsoever, in truth - that the Sheffield gig was going to be very much along the lines of the King Tut's epic a few months earlier, and that the band wouldn't be on stage until very, very late.
Having said that, we decided after another few refreshments in the Rutland Arms to head out into the town and locate the venue ridiculously early, so we could size it up, find another pub nearby, and then return at our leisure a couple of hours later to arrive effortlessly on time for the main event. That approach sort of worked, in that the band were taking the stage just as we turned up for the "ridiculously early" part of the plan.
Which undeserved stroke of luck rather saved the whole weekend.
Still - I'm sure everybody else there just assumed we'd timed it exactly right. We both exude that kind of natural cool. Not that there were actually that many other folk there, it has to be said. Best estimate of the audience size was about eighty. It matters not a jot however, because it was still the second best gig I've been at this year.
(Disclaimer: not Sheffield gig footage. There are a few more punters in this video.)
This, however, was ours! ;)
The other thing is, when one has made a bit of an effort to go and see a band, it's nice when they hang around to have a chat with their adoring public. They've got form for that too - it was the same at King Tut's. Tonight it was the drummer, Cool Steve Kiely that drew the short straw...
...poor soul.
In all fairness though, I think Chris the merch guy was even more surprised to be asked to join in, but his wares were just so good, it was an opportunity not to be missed...
And that was rather that. Thankfully, we found (a) a kebab shop...
...and (b) the way back to the hotel...
...so no drunken Scotsmen were harmed in the making of this blogpost. Oh, and the "later on Sunday morning" reference in the title? A leisurely pre-train tourist wander around Sheffield. Nice and relaxed. So, obviously, nice relaxed background music is called for.
Toon Hall:
Cathedral:
Polis Box:
The lads at the Polis Box:
The Winter Garden:
And...sundries, on the way back to the - as you'll recall - fountainy station:
I mentioned the lack of carriage capacity on the return train trip earlier, and I won't lie - the six hours packed in like the proverbial commuting sardines wasn't a barrel of laughs. Plus, it was so busy that I didn't even feel able to break into the carry-oot, as regular toilet trips would have provoked justified outrage as one pushed past the folk cramming the aisles. In fact, the only saving grace about the whole thing was capturing this technically difficult photograph of The Angel of the North as we sped past Gateshead...
Memories to treasure.
:D
Having said that, we decided after another few refreshments in the Rutland Arms to head out into the town and locate the venue ridiculously early, so we could size it up, find another pub nearby, and then return at our leisure a couple of hours later to arrive effortlessly on time for the main event. That approach sort of worked, in that the band were taking the stage just as we turned up for the "ridiculously early" part of the plan.
Which undeserved stroke of luck rather saved the whole weekend.
Still - I'm sure everybody else there just assumed we'd timed it exactly right. We both exude that kind of natural cool. Not that there were actually that many other folk there, it has to be said. Best estimate of the audience size was about eighty. It matters not a jot however, because it was still the second best gig I've been at this year.
(Disclaimer: not Sheffield gig footage. There are a few more punters in this video.)
This, however, was ours! ;)
The other thing is, when one has made a bit of an effort to go and see a band, it's nice when they hang around to have a chat with their adoring public. They've got form for that too - it was the same at King Tut's. Tonight it was the drummer, Cool Steve Kiely that drew the short straw...
In all fairness though, I think Chris the merch guy was even more surprised to be asked to join in, but his wares were just so good, it was an opportunity not to be missed...
And that was rather that. Thankfully, we found (a) a kebab shop...
...and (b) the way back to the hotel...
...so no drunken Scotsmen were harmed in the making of this blogpost. Oh, and the "later on Sunday morning" reference in the title? A leisurely pre-train tourist wander around Sheffield. Nice and relaxed. So, obviously, nice relaxed background music is called for.
Toon Hall:
Cathedral:
Polis Box:
The lads at the Polis Box:
The Winter Garden:
And...sundries, on the way back to the - as you'll recall - fountainy station:
I mentioned the lack of carriage capacity on the return train trip earlier, and I won't lie - the six hours packed in like the proverbial commuting sardines wasn't a barrel of laughs. Plus, it was so busy that I didn't even feel able to break into the carry-oot, as regular toilet trips would have provoked justified outrage as one pushed past the folk cramming the aisles. In fact, the only saving grace about the whole thing was capturing this technically difficult photograph of The Angel of the North as we sped past Gateshead...
Memories to treasure.
:D
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