A Guilty Pleasure
…as Rory’s mum put it.
An evening at the Polo Field was promised and delivered in the company of Matt, Richard and Wools/Walls. And two brothers from Burnage and their mates.
Usual fun getting to the gig. 4 blokes sit in cab and explain their destination. Cab driver invites us to leave his taxi and wishes us good luck in our endeavours in getting anywhere near the Polo Club. Next cabbie fine and gets us there no problem.
Fairly dodgy crush to get in the place, with the organisers funnelling everyone through a tight set of barriers under a railway bridge in a sort of mad effort to prevent a repeat of the Stones’ riot. Oh well…
Once in usual lack-of-bar scenario was mitigated by the very prompt arrival on stage of ‘Whassis’. This after three of the four of us had relayed our ‘we met Liam’ stories to the starstruck young girls close by.
Fairly quiet start was livened up with the introduction of, I think, Live Forever and from this point on the band didn’t look back. A bloke had to calm the crowd after this song as the place was getting dangerously lively, including throwing trainers at the stage. Noel “There’s some right fookin’ clogs up here.” Holds up shoe. “What’s this? Fookin’ Nike! You need adidas.” (Notable that nobody attempted any crowd-pleasing Spanish until a single adios at the end.)
There was one local cultural reference, however, when Liam announced that this next one was for Diego Maradona before launching into a fine rendition of Cigarettes and Alcohol. Predictable but fun. Wonderwall was dedicted to ‘The Ladies’. Screams and swoons all round. The best live attempt I’ve heard from them. Another track was dedicated to the people in ‘those flats’ i.e. the very exclusive apartments overlooking the polo pitch. Liam was further bouyed by the crowd’s homage of ‘Ole. Ole, Ole, Lee-amm, Lee-amm’.
Overall the setting was marvellous with a high and bright waxing moon, brightly lit Metropolis buildings (and suburban trains) in the background and generally good sound, slightly affected by the wind. Frankly, Liam was at his swaggering rock star best and clearly enjoying the evening. A regal performance. Noel was also on form with The Importance of Being Idle and Don’t Look Back in Anger being delivered fantastically. Sorry this is sounding a bit fan-like, but they were that good.
As is the way these days, they finished with My Generation which was great for the first two and a half minutes but rather self indulgent for the next. But that is being picky really. As the concert (and it was a concert) came to an end Liam announced that the crowd had been ‘the bollocks’. This was true. He finished by tucking his hands into his jeans and staring at the crowd before taking off his sunglasses. Twice. Rare praise indeed. Fashion watchers note: his jacket was white double-breasted suit with only a chain on beneath it. I hate it that he can get away with that…
Quick pint afterwards finished with bed at 5am. Cheers boys (both lots). Good luck with the rest of your travels.
Song – How Soon is Now – Played in bar during our quiet pint afterwards.
Tags: Buenos Aires, Oasis, Travel
JohnnyBoy
March 11th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Hey there Martin,
the reference to Cigarettes and Alcohol reminds me – have you managed to kick the habit????
March 11th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Unfortunately, Gillian, the title of this post had two meanings. Amazing that you should have tapped into the second one so quickly.
March 12th, 2006 at 3:07 am
Big sister is watching you…LOL. Never mind – you can always start again tomorrow…. and seeing as you are an architectural expert how about a few pics of the vernacular?
March 12th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
glad to hear they were great, guilty pleasure indeed! they are pure rock and roll! anyone who says otherwise needs their ears and eyes testing, or a slap.
March 13th, 2006 at 5:25 am
Right. Vic, wherever you texted the estate agent details, they weren’t to me… I have checked the various e-mail addresses too. Nothing. Mum and Dad are arriving today and I need the details so that me ole Dad has somewhere to sleep.
Martin, you may have them on e-mail, can I have them ASAP. I have to leave to collect them soon and I’ll end up having to go to an internet cafe to see if there is a response. Hope to hear soon.
P.S. There’s no guilt in liking OASIS.
March 13th, 2006 at 8:05 am
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March 13th, 2006 at 8:18 am
Hi Martin
Long time no read
As always you are having a great time and manage to get it down on paper
The comment about it not feeling guilty about liking oasis was spot on – sounds like a marvellous gig.
Were you the oldest there?
Great news about Rory Edward
Take Care and for Gods sake try to avoid the muggers
March 13th, 2006 at 9:42 am
i’ve been workin on this soundtrack, and found most of the tunes you have quoted (including street hassle by lou reed!), but can’t help noticing you’ve upped the ante in March!
getting hold of dexys is proving the hardest i’m afraid so if anyone wants to send me the dexys tunes they would be gratefully received, as would ivor cutler, leighton buzzards, and jane aire and the belvederes!
i left out the take that tune that was mentioned in your poem, a bit naff, and substituted the (modettes?) version of paint it black with the vines, cos i couldn’t find theirs and the vines version is rockin.
i thought about substituting missing tunes with other tunes by the same band, but then instead of ‘the soundtrack of john Parry’s south american journey’ you end up with ‘music inspired by the blog of john parry’ which is typical bollocks you expect from something made for the sake of money, not the artistic endeavour we are undertaking. the precise nature of the tunes is imperative! tee hee.
March 13th, 2006 at 10:37 am
also missing:
nina nastasia
raw sex, pure energy
March 13th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Shame on you.
Oasis?!?
March 13th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
… and shame on Rob for not having the whole Dexys collection.
March 13th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Mmmm….Oasis? Liam was a United fan until it wasn’t cool.(Well he came from Burnage didn’t he?) Noel more of a Tim than anything else these days. Always preferred the Backbeat Beatles myself. At least they were honest.
Anyone ever hear of Liam’s ‘meeting’ with a Dublin Red? Very amusing story about a hard man fron Burnage meeting a ‘jackeen’ from Coolock. Could only ever be one winner.
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm
adidas boys
Great site you have. Very informative and I expect to be back again. Thanks!