Maybe im getting old, but three nights involving ale at the arse end of a week is getting harder to handle, i used to lose weeks of my life in my youth, swinging between various hostelries from rafter to rafter like a modern day chemical fuelled urban tarzan. Now if i get into bed after midnight, with a workday looming, it sets in Harikari levels of clinical depression.
Curry, Rice and Chips(with a massive Deep Fried Cod on top) from the Chong Hing then nipping up to The Selwyn for a few swift Guinesses was the first thing ticked out of this socialites imaginary diary, Carrie Bradshaw has got absolutely fuck all on me .What followed this glamorous pre game routine was another frustrating home draw for Moyes and his men at home. The moment Mikel Arteta accelerated down the wing in the opening exchanges and pulled up holding the back of his leg, firstly there was an audible collective gasp from half the crowd muttering ''Oh fuck, thats his hamstring...'', with the other smart-arse half(me) immediately adding ''six weeks that...'', secondly after his display v Newcastle you knew we would struggle to break down a scrapping for their lives Birmingham City.
Beausejour had got in front of Tony Hibbert on 17 minutes to put the visitors in front, yet another goal conceded at home before we manage to take advantage of our early dominance in games. Three things were remarkbly satisfying about this otherwise dissappointing game; Tony Hibberts two laser guided pin point sliding tackles were both worth the admittance fee alone, Leon Osman assuming the creative responsibility when Arteta went off and running his tiny bollocks into the ground for 90 minutes and Johnny Heitingas inch perfect youTube rip snorter at the park end. Other than that it was a bit shit really, with Beckfords questionable substituion for Anichebe rather than the labouring Louis Saha, being the only other remotely interesting thing to debate. Suffice to say it was the right result, but Moyes is a comedian if he thinks he can get this team playing within themselves into Europe. One win against the bottom eight in the table this season speaks for itself.
Bedtime -11:45.
Biting into a quite frankly superb Pork Schnitzel burger in the Kro Bar opposite the academy last thursday it was hard to know what to expect from The Decemberists, either way the burger sided with chunky chips was going to be a hard act to follow. Taking up residence in the posh bit on the balcony with our own personal stools(i did say i was getting old), a quirky voice over encouraged everybody to introduce themselves from the off and basically get on board for a fun, friendly and respectful night of folk americana. Bar one broad accented manc wag telling them to ''Get the fuck-on-with-ih'' from time to time, the tit. They did get on with it though and managed to keep the energy levels ticking over nicely with a range of songs from all six of their albums, with my highlights being Down By The Water, Rise To Me, The Rake Song, This Is Why We Fight and The Mariners Revenge Song.
Set list:
Infanta, Down By The Water, Rox In The Box, Rise To Me, Annan Water, Won't Want For Love, The Crane Wife 1 & 2, The Crane Wife 3, Don't Carry It All, Calamity Song, January Hymn, The Rake's Song, Sixteen Military Wives, This Is Why We Fight, (encore) Eli, The Barrow Boy, The Mariner's Revenge Song, June Hymn/Ask.
The real treat of the night though was their rendition of The Smiths classic 'Ask' with the whole crowd joing in on their second encore. Lovely stuff.
Bedtime - 00:30am
'Puscka' on Rodney street just off Hardman street, is a corking pre gig venue for scran. Curry, Rice n Chips it wasnt. Cosy, welcoming and very attentive staff all manage to warm the cockles nicely as does Cains Lager being served. I had the Confit of Duck ''Shephards Pie'' to start which was excellent, then the Rump of Lamb with Balsamic, Rosemary and Red Onion marinade, Garlic Mash and Green Beans. Ten out of ten, couldnt fault it, set your underpants to 'thouroughly satisfied'.
Onto the gig though, I reckon it was the seats, right at the sodding back in the gods, due to procrastination around our tickets, im not so sure. Sam Beam/Iron and Wine's performance was predictably captivating and in parts completely intoxicating, but there was a certain simplicity missing to some of the songs for me. Dont get me wrong he's an absolute thoroughbred of a performer and his vocals are beautiful, but there is something inherently dissatisfying to being distracted by 30-40 smartphones lighting up in your line of sight because of an over fussy arrangement or saxophone solo. That said, Naked As We Came, the one song encore(?), almost brought a tear to the eye such was its perfection.
Bedtime - 02:00am
Lastly if you're pondering whether to renew your season ticket this spring/summer or even just fancy a reminder about why we all bother with the gang of spineless biffs playing for us at the moment, then look no further than this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nQmBN6e5o little ditty by The_Golden_Vision off the blaukopf_efc message board.
Up th toffees.
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