Manchester review, Fri 30th Nov (3/12/01)

Mally Brigham of Offerton, Stockport:

I'd never been in the Student Union bar before and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. Nice one Andy - the pre-gig atmosphere was great and the drinks remarkably cheap. I made sure I got my round in then so as not to be disturbed mid-set. There really were touts on the door too, though seeing as the other major event in town that night was the Top of the Pops Awards , maybe they got the wrong venue? Mind you, my mate reckoned there were around 700 people there - was there a head count taken? And anyone spot any famous faces by the way? I spied with my middle eye, the mysterious Kidspoons and chatted for a while to an optimistic looking Leicester City fan. I also bumped into some 'strictly no colours' Tranmere supporters, two of whom were catching the first train to the coast in the morning for the vital league encounter with Bournemouth (good weekend all round then lads?).

9pm and I was getting anxious. Even though I'd been informed 'they weren't going on until a quarter past' I ushered my travelling army of synthetic supporters up to the main auditorium and amidst the strains of Mozart, we took up position, right of stage, foolishly close to the speakers and just on the outskirts of an embryonic moshpit.

I will list the set as I recall it, but I know I'll probably miss a few out and will undoubtedly get the running order all to cock, but here goes :

  1. Bob Wilson
  2. Fred Titmus
  3. Running Order Squabble Fest
  4. Something about thumbing through the Argos Catalogue
  5. Turned Up, Clocked On, Laid Off
  6. Best Things In Life
  7. Albert Hammond Bootleg
  8. Lilac Urine (What! No recorder? They only had to ask..........)
  9. Vitus Geralitus
  10. Evil Gazebo
  11. Irk The Purists
  12. Paintball
  13. A Country Practice
  14. Secret Gig
  15. New Dawn Fades
  16. Song To The Siren/Slipknot
  17. Bottleneck at CC
  18. 24 Garage People
  19. Look Dad, No Tunes
And then there was a tremendous encore of PRS, Trumpton and AOR, for which I finally succumbed and embroiled myself in the pit, my trusty companion Parker at my side (thanks mate!).

Oh, my horses! It was over, all too soon and the crowd filed out in military procession to Elgar's Nimrod. We hung around for a while in the afterglow.

Somewhat disappointed that there was no Uffington Wassail (me too - Gez), Third Track, Main Camera, Monmore, Hedley Verityesque or Mark Lowe, but next time maybe as I refuse to join Job's comforters and urge Andy to make it a regular tri-annual event - it's one of the best venues I've been to over the years and possibly one of the most accessible locations for all.

Debate!