Well, what a week (well, two weeks if you include the ace Gaslight Anthem gig at Koko in Camden).
I’m lying on my bed, suffering from what surely can only be
described as man flu. By the sounds of it, half of those in attendance at the Pearl
Jam Manchester shows have the same cold, either we all got it from there or I’ve
infected half the populous of the MCR Arena.
So, on the 16th June, my 33rd birthday
(and despite being told by someone I looked 37 – sob!), I caught a crowded
train to Manchester. That night I was seeing Chris Cornell, the tickets were a
birthday pressie from Dave – hurrah! Before the gig, there were a few drinkies partaken in the
Lime Bar. I unexpectedly received more cards, drinks and presents (thank you all) but more importantly it was so lovely to see people,
friends old and new.
(Talking of new, my
love of Twitter has led to new friendships, well I hope they see themselves as
friends, so thank you to Jay, Ant and Janey for taking the time to come and
celebrate the birthday of someone you’d never actually met before, it meant a lot to me. I'm sorry I didn't get to spend more time with you all but I hope it’s the first of many meetings between us).
The Chris Cornell gig itself was amazing, the setlist was
varied, he was warm and funny, his voice
still seems so strong and if I am honest better suited now to that sort of
environment than to the Soundgarden gigs I watched online recently. I enjoyed every minute of it (from my second
row centre seat – sqweeee!). There were so many highlights but for me hearing ‘Seasons’
was the most perfect birthday present. Plus, gawddamn that man is still hawt!
The next couple of days were oddities in a way, fillers
until the Tuesday when the Pearl Jam roadshow rolled into town. We managed to
do some record shop searching (nothing purchased), football watching (no, I’m
not drinking....oh, ok, go on then, I’ll have a strawberry and lime Kopparberg) and a trip to the Imperial War Museum
North (a place I found really interesting and would recommend visiting).
When Tuesday arrived, once I'd paid for early check in
(£10 to check into a hotel you’ve booked – what’s that all about?!) and after
poor Dave had to sit through me and Yvi purchasing lots of lovely new lingerie,
the Pearl Jam madness began.
Everyone knows how much I love this band, the music fills my
soul and there seems to be songs for each moment of my life. However, I’ve been
finding it hard to get excited about these gigs, any of them, the ones in
Manchester, the ones yet to come. The buzz didn’t seem to be there, with me or
amongst my friends. If there was any excitement it was about seeing each not
about seeing the band, which was kind of sad in a way.
It was like Pearl Jam
and I had reached the comfy slippers and no makeup stage of our relationship. I wasn't sure at that point how the week would be, I wanted to be there, to see the band, to experience the highs I get from live music and I was worried I wouldn't get that.
The Tuesday night meet up was well attended, and people came
from far and wide. It didn’t have the
party atmosphere that Dublin had in 2010, but it wasn’t Dublin, it wasn’t the
2010 tour, I wasn’t a newbie and there was an England match on the tele. It was
nice, it was relaxed, and it was great to meet new people sharing a common
interest. The badge giving began and it was a great ice breaker with
people. The evening was not without
incident and for me included an unplanned visit to Manchester Royal
Infirmary by ambulance for a newly made friend – but all was well in the end.
Post meet up drinks at the Travelodge bar was to round up
this part of the week. That Travelodge was to become Pearl Jam fan central for
the next few days.
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