Towards the end of my first year as an undergraduate, Hothouse Flowers played the uni. They were still riding the crest of their chart peak, Don't Go, and it was generally considered that the gig was "a big deal". Half of my hall seemed to have tickets. I did not. They all went and had a good time...
...whilst I mooched off alone to a nearby park on campus where the Heineken Big Top had rolled into town, offering a free gig by The Railway Children. All you had to do to get in was contend with a bar that only offered their anaemic gassy yellow excuse for a beer. That aside, the band were alright, as were local support act The Bardots. But I was determined not to enjoy myself, and succeeded.
The half of my hall that went to see Hothouse Flowers rolled back onto the corridor late that night, all buzzing. The girls were unanimous in their swoon for frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí, which of course made me like him and his band even less.
Liam popped up a couple of years ago at a Celtic Connections Roaming Roots Review concert.
ReplyDeleteHe's barking mad!
Nineteen year old me is pleased to hear that.
DeleteHa ha- the reasons for disliking bands are many. Girls we fancy liking a band is definitely one. I liked the Railway Children back then, their Factory records especially.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!
DeleteOh Martin! I love that line: "But I was determined not to enjoy myself, and succeeded". We've all been there. The folly of youth.
ReplyDeleteYes... But I still get like that now.
DeleteOh yes, much of my youth was spend determinedly not enjoying myself.
DeleteMy youth and also, it seems, my mid-life.
Delete