Hmm :/
There were four of us, including a teenager (he particularly likes The Jam) and we set off to have an excellent night. We got there, the support band (Twisted Wheel) were already on stage, we desperately wanted them off stage as quickly as possible though, either I am too old, or - no, I am getting too old for this kind of gig. I couldn't understand a word of what the lead singer was screaming, and even though we were unlucky enough to hear at least four of the songs - they all felt like one horribly long, awful one. The teen with us thought they were ok, so it is an age thing. I was so relieved when they went off.
It was a long wait until Mr Mod came on stage, and I am left to ponder, just what is a 'sound check' these days? When do they get 'done'? We were lucky enough to get to see Mr Mod at sound check in Hull several years ago, a couple of hours before the gig, maybe 3/4 of an hours worth of him singing and I think only about 10 of us in the entire arena, we were absolutely spoilt, it was great! So to know this was the protocol up till quite recently, why-oh-why did they spend another 3/4 of an hour arsing around checking mic's and git boxes, leaving us standing around like idiots? On and on and on it went.
He came out wearing one of his better jumpers... (some of them have been, umm, less than attractive, to say the least) pretty much all in black, with his hair far less fluffy than when he does his professional photo-shoots, shorter and still stylish aka Liam. He did however seem to have that 'tango glow' - so maybe a tad too long on the sun bed... or he could have just come off his hols.....
I picked up the word 'andromeda' somewhere in his lyrics and can only assume this is a new song, what completely threw me was that he almost looked like Bowie (Ziggy) and the sound seemed Bowie-esque as well, this happened to me a couple of times throughout the gig. Most odd. The crowd were of all ages, all though I personally did not see any children, it did take me back to to the good old days when we used to find a spot for the teen (he's nearly 6 foot these days)... and it was comforting to know he was right next to me as some of the crowd were way too enthusiastic for me. When Shout to the Top (Style Council) and Start (The Jam) were played, the moshing was too much. Moshing to The Jam? ffs *rolls eyes* hasn't anyone told these younger fans that 'Mod' is not Punk? And never will be.
I don't know when the Oasis fans decided to change allegiance and drop Oasis for Mr Mod, I wish they'd all bog off though. I am assured that seeing Mr Mod at Dalby Forest was a far more rewarding experience. I think the 'true' fans find the time, money and effort to go and see him pretty much anywhere, and the lesser true fans go only to gigs that are easily reachable. So go to Dalby Forest if you want to hear this man play, ensuring that no moshers will be there to jump on your toes, shove you every-which-way and generally attempt to turn the gig into a 2009 Punk / spit / throw your beer all over the audience fest. There were some particularly revolting 'grown ups' there though (sadly) - maybe they were Bridites - I don't think so though, they (she) knew all the words, she is a fan. I heard her before I saw her, felt her before I saw her. "... fuck off, FUCK OFF," shoved in the back, "......you fuck off, no, YOU!") as she barged into me, stomping her way through, not a please, a thank you or an excuse me to be heard, ignorant to manners, her boyfriend grabbed her arm (he reached over my shoulder to do so) and there I was, suddenly a human sandwich, a very still, wide eyed leaf of lettuce, in-between the whitest of white, full of 'numbers', cheapest of the cheap (only 8p a loaf at Morrisons) pieces of bread imaginable. Mr Mod had been on about 5 minutes, and already I am questioning whether I should even be there. The two of them continued their barrage of movement further in to the centre, never to be seen again. tf.
I could recount this experience about 20 more times (although she was the worst by far). I have seen Mr Mod many times, I had never experienced this strain of fan though. It is enough to put you off going.
I had my camera taken off me when the security guards checked my bag, most annoying and as I don't have a camera phone, was left with only my own personal minds eye movie of the gig, and this photo from Bezzie's mobile...
I have to say I was mildly pissed off when I was forced to view many of the songs as if I had 'fly vision' you know, like when you see a fly's eyes' view of their world? The whole field of vision becomes thousands of the same image being thrown at you all at the same time? That is what I will take with me on my recall of 'You do Something to me'.
One of the best songs was in Mr Mods first encore. The roadies (let's hear it for those guys *applause*) had placed four chairs in a line at the front of the stage, and out came Mr Mod, and his three supporting musicians, one is Steve Craddock, (Ocean Colour Scene) one was guesting on piano / guitar, and Andy Lewis played guitar and cello, I didn't get all the names. It was 'Wildwood', and it was truly great.
He disappeared from view on several occasions, hiding behind the piano, if I'd had a camera I would have got the 'here's Mr Mods head resting on the top of a piano' look, effective, if a little scary... He was having several 'sneaky' tokes on his ciggie, and the dark liquid in the glass... Me thinks it was good old JD. Oh the privileges of stardom.
At some point the moshing got really quite manic, the non-moshers relishing in pushing the moshers back in to their own turbulence and there she was (arg!), all 5 foot fuck all of her, screaming ("fuck off, fuck off", like a threatened chicken in a chicken factory) and bouncing, pushing and shoving and then stopping mid-mosh to glare at anyone who'd dared to treat her like she was treating everyone else. She really was a nasty piece of work, and well past 40. I turned to the teen and said, 'see, even the grown ups are wankers', he cracked up at that.
I got out of the way when the encore finished, only a few people started to leave, we all knew he'd be coming out for one final time, it was Changing Man and the house really rocked, I was just pleased to be out of the way.
Mr Mod looked like he was having a great time up there on the stage, he never keeps still, his energy is obvious, his passion for his songs unquestionable, I just hope he realises many of his fans want to be completely involved alongside him, and the moshers take this away from us.
And it bloody hurts your toes.
A selection of my better photo's...
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