Tuesday 1 September 2009

Beatle Week Tuesday pm

We're still standing... The last couple of days have been pretty long ones. Both Sunday and Monday nights were epic - we didn't get to bed before dawn either night. The All-nighter at the Cav was fairly entertaining despite having to wade through rivers of detritus to get there. Liverpool on Mathew Street Festival weekend ain't a pretty place... The all-nighter lacked a host - The Prellies certainly kept the event together and i'll defend them against anyone who says they couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery! The bands managed to keep to time fairly well, although it's hard to play more than the allotted 45minutes when you throw in sweltering temperatures and the fact that it is 4am. Ringer were great, as were The Kavanaghs. Unfortunately the Repeatles were losing their voices and as nice as it is to hear Small Faces songs, they didn't really do Tin Soldier justice! The Tearaways had the now select crowd if die-hard BWer's rocking, although being a lightweight I observed the fun from a chair at the side of the stage. Chris Marra from Ringer and Phil and Eddy from the Beat Brothers joined them onstage, and Jesse and Fin swapped places for 'Gloria'. We dragged our aching bones to the now famous Newhill Cafe for breakfast around 6am, and chatted to Helen via the wonders of Skype. Everyone's asking after both Helen and Chris-their presence is missed this year more than last I think. Despite the very late night I didn't sleep in too late and was up and off for a spot of shopping by Monday lunchtime. Monday night bought the big show at The Philharmonic Hall with Jon Keats, Apple Jam and Pepperland. Jon was struck with 'Lennongytis' so Victoria Sharpe took his spot instead. Apple Jam were great until Alan White joined them onstage. The fact that he is hardly loaded with charisma and that he was also severely intoxicated really killed the momentum established by John, Curtis and co. John's huge onstage presence only emphasised Alan's deficiencies. I'd rather have seen a full AJ AW-free set! Pepperland are truly talented musicans and did perform their Love set perfectly, but the staid atmosphere of the Phil combined with over-zealous security staff restricting the use of video recording and a very safe choice of songs had me struggling to stay awake. By Monday night you really need some rock and roll to counteract the lack of sleep. Janine and I headed to the Cavern (in the pouring rain) to see Nube 9 (they make Janine happy!) in the Cavern pub. They played a fantastic sixties set to a full house and it was a welcome respite from Beatles, of which there has been rather too much this year. I missed a proper McCartney set, although we do have a George set to look forward to this evening, courtesy of Nube 9 again. We headed back to the Adelphi for the VIP party where I caught up with lots of friends, old and new. Managed to sleep til 11am which was pretty good and feel quite refreshed although my back is starting to complain about the amount of time i've spent on my feet the past five days. So I'm sat here blogging from Starbucks and enjoying a chai tea latte and a bit of alone time before the big finale tonight. And then we can get into Other BW mode for Brian Wilson's arrival tomorrow!
Beatle Week Tuesday pm

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Nina - You didn't have to miss a proper McCartney set - you should have come to see us: The Getback Band!! We are a McCartney / Beatle s tribute and love doing the Macca stuff!!

Iain x