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Blog: Fuzz Club BBQ
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Ten seconds later i was SPRINTING back down the road to Kings Cross, to catch the 11.00am train to Sheffield (change at Doncaster) which... er... was the one I meant to get anyway, but had by force of habit gone to the wrong station to catch. Good thing I'd set off All In Good Time eh? I dashed onto the platform to see signs saying "FULLY RESERVED!" and a man standing at the gate saying "Don't get on, it's fully reserved, there's no seats." I WHOOSHED PAST and he said "Wait half an hour and get a seat!" This re-ANNOYED me - why do train companies think that the ONLY reasons people catch the train is a) because they are Important Business Men travelling between 7am and 10.48am whose million pound tickets are paid for by their companies OR b) they are light-hearted fools travelling on a WHIM, who care little for what time they get anywhere nor indeed where they actually get to. EVERY time there's a problem at weekends or bank holidays they seem to think "Oh well, people were only travelling BECAUSE THEY LIKE SITTING ON TRAINS, it's not like anything important ever happens at weekend is it?" GRR!!
It felt quite nice to be RIGHTEOUSLY annoyed at the trains again I must say. I ran down the length of the train to find it was indeed completely packed, and that the VESTIBULES got more packed the further you went, so utilised my TRANE KNOWLEDGE, turned round, and ran BACK to First Class. This is my HOT TIP for busy trains: if you've got to sit on the floor in the vestibules, do so in First Class. It's the same floor and the same faint odour of toilets, BUT other people seem to think they're not allowed to go and sit there, so there's nearly always a lot more room. ALSO you can STRIKE BACK against THE MAN by nicking a "free" copy of The Times! HA!
Thus it was with a slightly NUMB BUM that I arrived in Doncaster, was swept away to Sheffield, and soon found myself happily ensconced in a TRAM, speeding towards the University. When I arrived I NOTED a bunch of YOUTHS doing The Breakdancing outside, although to be honest it looked more like SKIPPING. I telephoned Mr Alex Lawson of Shadowplay fanzine, who ran past me out to the breakdancers, then came back and together we went to the studio of SURE Radio, the Sheffield Uni Student station, where we did a VERY lengthy interview (featuring me GABBING ON quite a lot about a variety of TOPICS) and I played the following TUNES:
A Million Ukeleles
The Lesson Of The Smiths
Boom Shake The Room
It was MUCH fun, and it was nice to get A Million Ukeleles an first airing with the WORDS in front of me - it's on air tonight, apparently, and will be PODCASTED anon, i shall alert you when this momentous event occurs!
That done I went off to the Ents Office from where I was led through the building down to The Raynor Lounge, where I met the Ever Lovely Penny. As it was RAINING it had been decided to move the ROCK indoors, and THUS i got to play in aforesaid Raynor Lounge, which i think is one of the very few rooms i HADN'T played in before. There was a while to go yet, so I set off with my FOOD VOUCHER to try out the BARBECUE - I hadn't bothered with this last year, thinking I'd end up just with a BAP, but GOODNESS ME you didn't half get a mighty platter of GRUB. A veggie burger, veggie sausage, baked potato and VAST salad, it was ACE! And to thank you for queueing for grub they gave you a free bottle of San Miguel too - hey! BBQ! You're WELCOME!
I wandered the grounds a little NOTING the fact that the sound of The Band was being PIPED around the gardens and other bars, before finding The Velodrome Posse who, as i may have noted in brief on previous occasions, are an absolutely LOVELY bunch of people, so I spent most of the rest of the afternoon with them having BEER and discussing Las Vegas and Popular Crime Drama, amongst other things, it was ACE. After a while I popped in to see Monkey Swallows The Universe, who did an SMART version of "Ice Cream Man" and then - NERVES a-jangling - it was time for ME to go on, and do THIS:
The Peterborough All-Saints' Wide Game Team (Group B)
My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once
Never Going Back To Aldi's
It Only Works Because You're Here
The Gay Train
Do The Indie Kid
The Lesson Of The Smiths
Easily Impressed
Boom Shake The Room
Clubbing In The Week
Oh boy, it was a WHOLE LOT OF FUN. Things began ODDLY before they'd even properly begun, when i was asked to interrupt my Setlist Writing to have my picture taken with somebody! NOTE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: if anyone ever wants to do this, please do not be shy, it makes me feel LIKE A ROCK STAR!! The set felt a little shakey to start with, as i was A Bit Scared, and my INNER MIND was busy working out how many people had LEFT in the fifteen minutes since Monkey Swallows The Universe, but i BATTLED HARD to point out to MYSELF that, actually, lots of people were coming back in, and the ones who WERE there were GRATE - oh, there was singing along, there was CLAPPING, there was even some LARFS at my GAGS, for which i blame the ALL DAY DRINKING.
I had a BRILLIANT time, and was even a little SCARED by how VOCIFEROUS the DEMANDS (and they WERE demands, not requests) for an encore were. HOORAH! Thanks everyone, that was BRILLIANT!
I talked to a few people afterwards who wanted CDs, many of whom were in their last year at college and it struck me that, as I'd played EVERY time there'd been an all-dayer, I might actually be a TINY part of their University Experience - sort of like Chips & Cheese is for me! This was a LOVELY thought, and i was BUOYED UP by it for the rest of the afternoon, which was spent standing around in the rain with aforementioned Sheffield POSSE having a LARF and a BEER, before sprinting off once more for the train. I managed to get an earlier train than expected to Doncaster, which was HANDY as the train I'd meant to get was CANCELLED - being a bit early meant i could catch the slightly earlier train home, but it ALSO meant it was absolutely PACKED again.
I didn't mind - I sat once more on the First Class Vestibule floor and read the "free" The Times, RUBBING IN the AFRONT to The Man by doing the crossword, Sudoku AND Killer Soduku: TAKE THAT, FORCES OF CAPITALISM - feeling full of the JOYS of ROCK, PALS, and also BEER. What a fantastic day out!
posted 8/5/2007 by MJ Hibbett
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