Norman Ralph

Last night I had the honour of attending one of the greatest music concerts I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Standing fifteen feet from the stage, braving the pouring rain in hull’s KC Stadium I rocked the night away listening to The Who. Probably the greatest rock band ever.

Singing and dancing to classics like “Who Are You”, “My Generation”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Pinball Wizard” along with tracks from their new album Endless Wire, Liz and I were part of one of those rare moments you get with ageing bands, we felt transported to the swinging sixties and rocking seventies. We felt part of the Who Generation.

The concert as a whole lived up to my massive expectations. The two support acts were the perfect counterfoil to The Who. Jackson Analogue, an Isle of Wight based indie-rock band, were superb. I had never heard of them before last night but I have been inspired to investigate them further and would definitely buy their album and pay to see them in their own right. Their sound was difficult to pigeon hole. They seemed like a cross of the modern indie sound (like bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand) and the softer pop-rock of bands like Ash with a pinch of stagemanship like the Killers. Highly recommended!

The second support act were an enigma. They are a band that I resolutely dislike both on the radio and on disc. However, I found that live, they came into their own. Whether it was the atmosphere of a packed stadium, the atrocious weather lowering our expectations or they just perform better live I don’t know. I like them. They got me bobbing up and down, nodding my head to the deep bass rhythms and funky guitar licks. I definitely feel that the band comes from a different era, they would have been at home in Brighton in the late 60s and early 70s, driving Vespas. They had really well put together set list, remarkable energy and just the right sound for the occasion made them a spectacle in their own right. I really enjoyed the forty minutes they were on stage.

After a long delay whilst the stage was put together, we got the main attraction, the raison d’etre…The Who!

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey strolled onto stage, Roger carrying what seems to be the eponymous mug of tea and the concert kicked off. They opened with a barrage of hits – “Can’t Explain”, “Substitute” and then “Behind Blue Eyes”. The crowd was really geting into the set. Hit followed hit followed hit with songs like “Baba O’Riley”, “You Better Bet”, “Relay” and “The Seeker”. The songs from the new album really demonstrated a change for the band, gone are the guitar driven songs of the older albums and enter the vocals of Roger Daltrey who really has developed singing as an instrument to a new level. His rock tones mixed beautifully with the clever musicianship of Townshend and you ahve a recipe for success. I really enjoyed two of the songs, “Fragments” and “Man in a Purple Dress” both masterfully crafted.

By the time that The Who left the stage at about 10.30, we had been standing up for over five hours yet I could have gone all night listening to the entire back catalogue of songs. Amazing as The Who are on disc they really excel live. The presence of the two remaining band members was obvious. They owned the stage and what is more, they owned the audience. It was magical.

If anybody gets the chance to see them live then I recommend it, even if you don’t really follow the band. Liz knew very few of the songs yet she says that she had a great time, the music just carries you away; you can’t help but get caught up in the moment. I am not supposed to mention this but a certain somebody suggested that the gig was better than a certain other band (which she is obsessed about….).

All in all it was an amazing night, I literally cannot enthrall about it enough. There just are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe the elation, joy and awe I felt throughout the concert.

It was an added joy to be able to share this experience with Liz. I have never been to a concert with a girlfriend before as I rarely share musical tastes with them, I tend to enjoy the more obscure and older sections of the musical spectrum. I had a great time at the concert and some of that has to be attributed to Liz.

Sorry to those that went to Cabbage last night, but by the time I had driven to Lincoln to pick liz up then driven to Hull then back to Leeds I was shattered!

Regular readers of my blog will be aware that I have recently embarked on a new relationship with a lovely young lady called Liz. Well, for the past week I have been staying with her at her Nan’s house whilst her grandparents are away on holiday for a couple of weeks. The reasons for me staying are two fold, a) it gave me an opportunity to spend some real and quality time with Liz away from the pressures of Leeds, friends and family and b) it gave me an opportunity to recharge my batteries and take stock of my life in a relaxed atmosphere.

I think both reasons have worked out for the very best. Liz and I have really gotten to know each other this week in the way you only achieve through spending time together. Having the house to ourselves was a real bonus, it has led to our relationship really developing into a beautiful adult relationship. Liz is a pretty good host too, she brings me cups of tea in the morning! Although, to be fair, I have actually done most of the work in terms of cooking, cleaning, washing etc and I have decided that Liz only really wants me for my car – it seems my chauffering skills are second to none, literally as there is no one else!

The second reason has almost been as amazing. I have really gotten to know myself through letting Liz get to know me. I think I am now in a position to move forward with my life, to start again as it were. The future holds many challenges for me and until recently I would have shied away from them and stuck my head in the sand. Now it is different. I am up for the challenge, I am relishing the challenge and most importantly I am willing to fight for what I want and fight to win.

The week in Potter’ has been relaxed although not entirely without action. Liz and I arrived from Leeds on Sunday afternoon and chilled out for most of the afternoon, we had take away – which wasn’t really up the high stabdards of Milano’s but not entirely inedible, after watching some telly we ended up going to bed relatively early. Monday was fairly standard too, didn’t really do all that much apart from a bit of shopping and some work. Tuesday saw me head back to Leeds for the morning, I picked up some quality newvinyl which gives m an excuse to update my hi-fi system, which is in the process of coming to fruition. We ended up going out into Lincoln with Liz, Edd and some of Edd’s friends to a club called Sugarcubes. It was a dive. Your standard student rock based night. Cheap drinks though at £1 for a bottle of lager/soft drink. Liz got very very drunk and I took her home. We were both quite ill on our return and as I hadn’t been drinking I wasn’t convinced it was the alcohol.

Liz returned to work on Wednesday after a few days off due to stress. Whilst she was there I did some reading and caught up with some work. A few problems occurred during the evening, none of which are really suitable for discussion here. Thursday was a faily quiet day, we watched the Lincoln City vs Bristol Rovers play off semi-final 2nd leg and I was a little dismayed to see Lincoln lose. Lincoln are not my team, but as I have several connections to the city, I have a certain affection for the club. A couple of films and a late night later we arrive at today, Friday. Liz is at work from 4-9pm this evening and then I imagine we will be heading back to Leeds.

Our plans for the weekend include watching he Blackpool game on Saturday, followed by the FA Cup final then Wendy House. Sunday will be a chilled out day then liz will head home whilst I get on with some chores and errands. Finally, I thought I would mention the fact that I have tickets to see The Who!!

Liz and I went to the Wardrobe last night to see Soweto Kinch and his band play. I wouldn’t normally have thought about this gig as something I would go and see, but after Kieran’s review a few months ago when i saw the name I headed straight into town and bought me some tickets.

I am really glad that I went, the tickets were a bit on the pricey side at £14 each and the Wardrobe is definitely no the cheapest place to drink in Leeds but even so, the atmosphere is amazing and the gig itself was second to none.

Soweto Kinch is a saxophonist and an MC, backed by a quartet consisting of a trumpeter, guitarist, bassist (double and electric) and a drummer. They have a totoally unique style of jazz music, combining the funky side of jazz with hip-hop and rap. Kinch’s talents as an MC were clear to see and were especially evident during the free-style piece he did at the end to photo’s submitted by the audience. These skills were, however, eclipsed by his sax skills. He produces a rich, clear tone with an ability to really make the music touch you. At times I was completely lost in the music.

The band was also brilliant and I feel that special mention must go to the bassist who was by far and away the best bassist I have seen live in any genre of music. His skill on the double bass was frankly awesome, the speed and complexity at which he produced spine tingling riffs and beats created the sort of bassline that you just cannot ignore. I occasionally feel with some jazz bassists that they kind of wish they had learned the trumpet or something, but this guy’s passion was obvious to everyone.

The set list was superbly designed, giving a real mix of flavours yet somehow managing to get everything to gel so smoothly that you lost track of time and totally forgot you were in a crowded club.

There were a couple of highlights for me, first I agree with Kieran’s choice of “The House That Love Built” and I also have to say that I loved their final encore piece, I can’t remember the exact name but it was something about a basketball game. The piece was basically a solo off between the trumpeter and saxophonist and I have to say they were both winners, we were treated to five minut solo’s from both musicians, interspersed with some of the finest drumming I have had the pleasure to see and hear. Every track was a journey of music, each with a story to tell. A totally awesome experience.

The night was rounded off when the band came out to sit in the bar with the audience that hadn’t run out the moment the set finished. All of the band members I spoke to had a great sense of involvement with the crowd and were more than happy to sit and talk to everyone – a feat that I wish some main stream pop/rock artists would try sometimes.

I bought their album and even managed to get Soweto to sign it for me – one for the collection, or it would have been if I hadn’t given it to Liz who had a really great time. I found out she is a regular in the Jazz Bar in Lincoln. I took a risk buying the tickets without asking her first, but it looked like the gamble paid off. This has to go down as not only one of the best gigs I have been to but also one of the finest dates.

Thanks to Soweto and the gang for making a good night out unforgettable!

Many of you of a certain age will remember a “song” by Baz Luhrmann entitled (Everybody’s Free to Wear) Sunscreen. I came across it just now as I got in and thought it is still excellent advice all round. The song is cheesy and is supposed to be somewhat tongue in cheek, but I think if you look past that then you can actually get a lot of it.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

(Brother and sister together we’ll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you’ve been hurting, and I know I’ve been waiting to be there
for you. And I’ll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody’s free.)

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

(Brother and sister together we’ll make it through
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you’ve been hurting, and I know I’ve been waiting to be there
for you. And I’ll be there, just tell me now, whenever I can.
Everybody’s free.)

They say that tomorrow is a brand new day and I have now realised how true that can be. This time yesterday was about the lowest point in my life so far, the closest I’ve ever been to doing something rather silly and irreversible. Today, however, I am happy. Seriously, I am happy.

My friend Liz came across from Lincoln last night because she was worried about me. She missed work and put her life on hold for me. I don’t think I will ever be able to thank her for that as it was this act of unquestioning friendship and kindness that made me realise a lot about myself and what was going on in my life.

I picked liz up from the station at about 7ish and the pair of us headed to Michelle’s for dinner, picking B up on the way. It was a really nice dinner, the company was good – my housemates for next year in one place plus one of my closest friends. The stresses and strains of the past few weeks were obvious on all our faces and it was with that in mind that we decided on a bit of upmarket socialising around some of the bars in town. Chris, Michelle, B, Liz and myself headed over to the Union to start, then went via Bourbon, Vodka Revolution, Sports Cafe then when first B, then Chris bailed we headed over to Bondi. It was a really chilled night. I recommend both Vodka Revolution and Sports Cafe for a night out. We had an amzing cocktail in Vodka Revolution and the prices were not that scary. Sports Cafe do pithcers of cocktail for a tenner, with a minimum of seven shots of alcohol! Plus VK drinks are £1.50. Plenty of pool tables too.

Michelle, Liz and I ended up in Bondi about 12.30 so were on a mission to get through out ten pounds worth of alcohol in the hour and half of bar we had left. They played a good mixture of music and we had a great time.

We headed home about 2.30, dropeed Michelle off then headed back to mine. Liz is a great person, we must have talked for about three hours! She knows exactly what to say to make someone feel better about themselves. I have never felt so loved and cared for ever. Liz, you are the best friend a man can have! I am going to miss you now you have gone home.

The ultimate conclusion for the night, however, was how much I really have to live for. There are many people out there who care for me far more than I ever gave them credit for. Thank you, all of you. You know who you are.

Saturday was the raison d’etre for me heading home for Easter. With Jon back from the Falklands and Dom and Beki up from London it was the ideal opportunity to relive some our youth.

Lunchtime saw us shake off our hangovers from the night before and fire up the barbeque for some lunch. The four of us were joined by Izzy and Nikki for some light refreshments and a few sausages and burgers. It was a glorious afternoon, good food and drink coupled with some lively company. We tend to get together a few times a year, but these BBQ’s tend to be well worth the effort. As the afternoon rolled on we headed our separate ways to get changed etc ready for our big night out.

I used the chance to go into Preston and pick up a new car stereo, one with a CD player and RDS – review to follow. Ended up at Izzy’s getting some CDs burned and came up with a plan to head over to Chester Zoo on Monday. Having got changed and ready I drove back over to Dom’s for the pre-party.

Joining Jon, Dom, Bekki and myself for this night of fun were Ash (Dom’s brother) and his girlfriend Jemma, Anja and Kirsty. We started off at Dom’s with a few drinks. The few drinks turned into many drinks and by 9pm we were getting ready to go into Blackpool. We have not been out in Blackpool as a crowd since we were at sixth form so we were all up for this night.

The taxi dropped us off at Schofield’s and we set off with the night. Drinks have definitely gone up since last I was in Blackpool – £20 for a round of 6 drinks! The tequilas were cheap though, so I got a round of them in! Walked up to Syndicate at about 11ish and after paying the princely sum of £10 to get in, we set about partying.

The rest of the night was somewhat of a blur, Jon and I were on the quadruple vodka and redbull’s! The music was funky house and the lights flashed a lot. It was a really good night, clubbing the likes of which I have not experienced for a good 5 years! Leeds has some good clubs but it just cannot compete with the size and atmospehere of the Syndicate. It may have been one of those nights that the fact I was with excellent company mean more than that quality of the environment, but still an excellent night.

Taxi and a kebab at 3am and we were back to Dom’s for some post-party drinks. Next thing I remember was waking up in Dom’s spare room. We fired the BBQ back up and had ourselves some BBQ bacon butties!

I finally got round to going to see the Barenaked Ladies live tonight. They are a band I have admired for a long time, both for their imaginative lyrics and their uncanny ad libbing skills.

They played a good set including most of their well known songs – One Week, Old Apartment, Brian Wilson, Easy etc and finished off the encore with a tremendous version of If I Had $1,000,000.

Defining the music they play is tough, they manage to combine the originality and musical talent of a singer-songwriter, with a splash of pop and a dash of rock and roll. They are also excellent MCs with the microphones. The band consists of two front men, one singer and one guitarist (although both sing and play the guitar…) and then a backing band of pianist/keyboardist/guitarist/accordianist, a percussionist and a bassist. They seem to have found that sparkle you get when you play with people you love. All in all it was an amazing gig. Chilled out yet rocking at the same time. Funky enough to dance to yet with the rhythm and melody you would expect from an indie style band.

The wonderful B accompanied me and considering she knew of one BNL song, she had a great time singing and dancing.

The evening finished with a few of us in the Packhorse and then takeaway and back to Chris’s place.

I have recently been introduced to a boyband from Iceland called Sigur Ros. I have to admit that I am not normally a fan of Scandinavian pop music, even Abba never really did anything for me! This band, however, are different.

Many of you will be aware of one of their tracks, even though you may not know it.  Hoppipolla, from the album Takk, is the theme tune to the critically acclaimed, massively popular BBC documentary, Planet Earth. It is indicative of the album in general, a mix of haunting melody and youthful vocal style. I don’t speak Icelandic, so I do not understand the lyrics, but the mood of the music is one of hope. A masked joy. I definitely recommend this band if you like Bjork, or modern popular classical music at all.

Thanks to Kat for the introduction, I will have to go and buy the CD for myself now as I think this is definitely car music, especially useful for those rush hour moments when you need to relax and calm down. This music would also make excellent dinner music.

All in all, I would give Takk a good 4/5.

I am currently sat at my computer at 4am listening to music. This is likely to be a recurring theme in my blog posts. I am an insomniac. I just don’t seem to sleep. Sometimes I can go for days with only an hour or two of sleep each night. My average bedtime for the last seven or eight days has been about 6am, with me getting up by 8 or 9am.

What is bizarre, though, is that I was exhausted at about 10pm this evening. I was sat at Kat’s with tea and chocolate hobnobs waiting for George to come round so we could watch a film and I could barely keep my eyes open. By the end of Terminator, I was wide awake again. I don’t think the twenty minute walk home through the cold air of Leeds helped with either.

I have been spending increasing amounts of time with Kat recently, I must have been seen her about five times in the last week alone. This does not sound a lot, but I have never really been that close to her, we just have never really gotten to know each other. I am really glad that we have started to remedy that though, she is a really cool person. Very opinionated, but then I like someone who has their own thoughts. More importantly, she is prepared to fight for those ideas! Kat also makes one of the meanest cups of tea around. In fact, it is now almost impossible to decide on who makes the best tea – Kat or Sarann! I will have to put them to the test this week when Kat and I head over to The Lakes to visit Sarann.

The first week of the Easter break is now over and as George mentioned to me earlier it has both flown by and dragged. It seems over so quickly because I have not really achieved anything, but it has also dragged as it feels a life time ago that we were all in the pub celebrating St Patrick’s Day and Wendy House!

Here is to a more productive three weeks coming up. I am not holding my breath though as I am off to Cumbria on Tuesday, going to see Barenaked Ladies on Thursday and then Jon gets back from the Falklands in 10 days! So much to do, no time or money to do it!