Let's party like it's 2004

It’s been a long time, however you look at it. Time was we saw each other almost every week. It must be at least two years since so many of us have been together for a gig.

When this tour was announced I was looking forward to a ‘proper gig’ not just a band in a pub, but a 'credible' music venue. Well actually it was still 3 bands in a pub, but a music pub with a separate room for the music. It had just the right level of grunginess, but still served decent wine*.

When we get together we are loud, and this time was no different. There was much hilarity in the bar; about the fact that Shona, Corinne and I were given glasses, whilst Gayle and Becky got plastic; about Gayle’s ‘broken foot’ (‘health and safety!’) and the lack of any first aid apart from a comedy plaster; about the fact that crisps can be sold as ‘roast ox’, so much so that I was literally crying with laughter.

Eventually we went into the music room. On the way in, they tried to sell us Griffin t-shirts. ‘He’s signed them’, ‘sorry, that’s sooo 2004’. The support band was on. After about one and a half songs we decided to go back to the bar. They weren’t awful, they just weren’t anything special. We returned for the headliners, Ivyrise**. After the first song we thought they were pretty good, by the second song we were moving to the front, and dancing. I really enjoyed their set, and they loved the fact that we danced.

Shortly afterwards, Griffin was on. It’s a long time since I’ve heard him do a set that isn’t mainly covers, but this time he did his own songs, including a couple that I didn’t know. As always, the voice is there, and I loved I Have Lived, Silent Suicide, and Naked. I would have liked a couple of rockier songs to dance to though.

In very many ways there was a sense of déjà vu about the evening. We had a great time, from dancing in front of the stage to wandering the streets of Leeds in the early hours looking for chips. Note for the future, Leeds needs a strategically located van that sells chips, so we don’t have to cross the city to go to a Golden Arches.

*I’m just imagining how my boss would view that statement. He asked my advice on which champagne to order in a Chinese restaurant the other night. My advice was not to buy champagne in a Chinese restaurant!

**Although they are headlining the tour, having had a number 7 single, they were appearing second. The reason for this, apparently, was that at the first gig, most people had left after Griffin, which is frankly rude, and I felt so bad for them.