The Beat Surrender

In late 1998 I was having a year out from my studies after graduating from university, I was working for a pension review unit (man it was dull) and purely earning money to go towards leisure activities. I was using this time to decide what I wanted to do next career wise and my time outside of normal office hours was effectively my own, each and every night. It was during this period that I attended more gigs and festivals than ever before.. .or since sadly – but one particular week clearly springs to mind.

It was October and I had somehow managed to get tickets to three gigs all in one week and all at the self same venue. And that venue was the dearly departed (although due to return shortly) Leeds Town and Country Club- in my opinion the greatest gig venue of all time. There was something unique about this place. Everyone there seemed to always have a smile on their face (I think it was a natural high) and all were present because of a combined love of a good night out and damn fine music. It seemed to have a particular atmosphere, a mixture of dry ice residue, stale lager and top tunes banging out from the upstairs bar or the pre gig sound system. Nostalgia…it ain’t what it used to be.

And then there were the gigs themselves and I don’t ever remember seeing a duff one in all honesty at the T&C. But this particular week was extra special. The mind plays tricks over time but I think the first band up were Placebo on the Monday. Now I was never a massive fan of their effeminate American nasal tones but my girlfriend at the time was so to keep her quiet (an achievement believe me) I agreed to go. I was glad I did cos she went to the front which meant I got some peace and quiet at the bar so actually had chance to enjoy the music. And I did to be fair- at the time I wore very dark clothes and a long matrix style leather jacket so with these goth/indie puppies I didn’t look too out of place. Little did they know I liked Oasis and Shed Seven too… Fools!

Next up on the Weds were Mansun- my favourite band at the time. I really loved Mansun and was so excited to see them that I think I bored my mates silly on the night telling them at the beginning of each song what the title was- so apologies lads ten years on. They smashed through their hits at the time of Stripper Vicar, She Makes My Nose Bleed and Wide Open Space. The crowd was also treated to the seminal “Legacy” which I think stands up as the stand out track of their back catalogue. It was glorious and a gig I will always treasure. A crying shame Mansun no longer exist as I believe they contributed a huge amount to my musical education and I felt they constantly evolved as a band- I would like to see where they could have gone.

And last but not least were Ash on the Friday. A singles band without a doubt but that is too often propagated as a bad thing. They produced damn good singles. But on this night they had a dj on stage with them and it raised the bar of what they could achieve live. Each song was given a heavier, fuller feel and gave the set an edgier temprament. “Girls from Mars” and “Angel Interceptor” were raw yet with a produced polished edge purely because on some tracks extra break beats or scratching were occurring in the back ground. I remember this nights version of “Goldfinger” – it was absolutely superb- one of the best performances of a track live I have ever seen. I have never had the desire to see Ash again because I genuinely don’t think the environment and performance will gel as well for them again and I just think I would be left feeling a little disappointed.

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