Bezzie and I started our journey, to see the Fantastic Mr McRae at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, on a sunny Monday afternoon. We decided to go on the train, allowing for a stress free and easy glide in to the City Centre, one smooth cab fare away from the cheap and nearly cheerful hotel we’d booked. This gig was meant to happen sometime last year, however with the music industry still calling Tom and Tom deciding to listen, he re-scheduled. We were gutted, yet took this disappointment on our chin(s), buckled down and prepared ourselves to wait.
Is it Billy Connolly :s Jasper Carrot? :s, that talks about always sitting next to the nutter on the train? Well, whoever it was, Bezzie got him this time. We had a table and strange yon chappie was opposite us, wedged in between the chair and the table, he spent most of his time looking out of the window, and it took me quite a while to realise the odious smell was not coming from a few seats back right were the toilets were…..
You just know it’s gonna be a great 24 hours, don’t cha?
We stopped somewhere with a big fancy shiny wall of a fountain, Sheffield, and yes, that car park building did grab my attention – again! Managed a quick fix of nicotine and then off towards Nottingham, convoluted? You bet.
We located a bottle of wine shop (Tesco’s) and were off in the cab before we’d even got off the train, all was so efficient and easy, scarily smooth. Seeing the orbital ‘eye’ construction threw me a bit, thought we’d somehow time warped to London or something… it was a good reference point though lol
The hotel did exactly what it said on the can, and even if it hadn’t, the bottle of wine we started, softened the basic room, Bezzie booted up the heating and in it’s warmth, we chilled, deciding where to go a hunting for food….
What was really great was that we found an Italian restaurant that was friendly, inviting and with excellent staff, Anna, our waitress is ‘tea mad’.
She is also off to Uni in London for a further five years of study, interested in cancer (or as she said, ‘Oncolgy’ ~ my new word for the day.) I wasn’t expecting that reply when I commented on her tat’s, yes, tats’ and then asked if I could take photies. I love tea too, infact I take my pyramids with me when off to visit other climates, (Lancashire, France, Tibet….) I also love weaving, I would just never get a tat’ of a loom to show my passion, ahhh, I know what it is, I’m getting old.
We had a scrummy delish bottle of ‘dark and aromatic‘ mm mm mmm, why pay for 2 glasses when you can get a bottle for much better value….? And Bezzie wasn’t driving, so let’s take full, full advantage of it….
It was with a warm, alcohol fuelled glow that we wandered through the city centre looking for the Rescue Rooms, and what a treat it was when we found them ( We had to walk past the huge square NotTombrella’s, all heated and ready for The Smokers - what joy!)
The bar staff were friendly, served us our beer and we went next door and into the belly of the whale.
Brian Wright was already part way through one of his songs, I don’t know how many we missed, and after seeing and hearing him for the first time at Brudenell, I was sad to know I had missed even a short part of it. I really like this guy. I bought the cd bargain of the year when I got all three of them. I haven’t got a fave yet, however I know I love Accordion. I ended up standing next to someone who was also impressed with him, nice to see the support network of gigging working first hand, I hope Brian’s sales have been impressive…. I know the Tom Tea Towells have all gone, and I am annoyed with myself for falling in to the hype of now wondering if I should have bought one when the opportunity was there (Brudenell), why were they so damned popular? Will he be getting more? Did I miss something special? Why am I even saying this to myself? And the dreaded one…. Will it be on ebay for ‘big money’ one day? I threw away my ‘Wimsies’, it hurt to see them sell for more money that is decent lololol Got Regrets (But I'm hopeful yet )….
What I truly truly love about Tom Gigs is the respectful crowd. You can hear a pin drop, it was, I hope, lovely for Brian to also experience.
I am absolutley crap with naming most of Tom’s songs, even though I know them, it must drive Bezzie mad sometimes, so I refer to the play list someone kindly put up,
Alphabet Of Hurricanes
Me and Stetson
Karaoke Soul
Summer Of John Wayne
End Of The World News (Dose Me Up)
American Spirit
A & B Song
Please
One Mississippi
Walking To Hawaii
Still Love You
Silent Boulevard
Encore
My Vampire Heart
For The Restless
Boy With The Bubblegun
I was standing next to a couple of guys who were both seeing Tom for the first time, they were excited and it was lovely to see the kind of draw that Tom has on his fans, I knew what they were going to hear for the first time, I knew just how Tom’s voice can tingle the base of your neck, swamp you with emotions, jab you with the quality, mesmerise you, and standing next to them anticipating for them was a thrill all of it’s own. I hope they enjoyed the gig as much as Bezzie and I did. Karaoke Soul was one of my highlights, Bezzie says we haven’t heard it live since 2005 (she has an incredible memory for this kind of information) I just swayed to the sound, aware of people’s reactions on hearing the opening bars. Summer of John Wayne has a sound to it that reminds me of one of my fave Tom songs, The Only Thing I know, I go somewhere else inside myself listening to them, his lyrics truly reach me, mean something to me, and that is when I hear or feel, know, his melancholy, for all his irony and bitterness, it is melancholy for me that makes this man one of our great unknown talents. James who? Eat your heart out.
Silent Boulevard was just superb.
They were all brilliant.
It was also interesting to see that the merch stall were asking the kinds of questions that Tom / cafe, should be asking. What he could expect from his fans. What his fans expect of him. Would we prefer bigger venues, how much would we would be prepared to pay to see this man / cafe tour perform? Personally, I’d pay a little bit more, that’s because I am selfish and want to keep him, like I would a beautiful secret, one that you can share, it’s just the child inside doesn’t want too, like having three wishes and knowing you should share at least one of them yet are unwilling to actually commit. Or is that just me? lol
At the Leadmill, if you’re reading this Tom, we’d love ‘Won't Lie’ if at all possible, that and The Only Thing I know, please.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment