So... Sunday. Get stuck in a two hour jam in Birmingham and arrive in Manchester ghost-town very late and irate. Check in at what must be the swankiest youth hostel in the world, and set out to find the pub. But the Square Albert is closed and there's a note saying 'We've gone to the Ferris Wheel'. We ask lots of people if they know of a pub called the Ferris Wheel, but no-one knows it. Sometimes I think I'm not literal enough. Anyway, we get into the hall, which is a vision of splendour, and meet lots of mad list people (Soozy, Susannah, Kate, Keith, Rob, Tag) all telling me how fantastic the aftershow had been. Curses...why did I have to come on the Sunday? Anyway, missed Future Pilot. Finally went into the actual hall just before B&S appear. They've decided to adopt a very strange stage line-up, as though they're about to play a particularly one-sided game of British Bulldog: Stuart M, Stevie, Mick, Isobel and Sarah facing directly opposite Chris and Richard, with the PA piled into a kind of totem pole in the middle. Two songs into the set and they're already living up to their reputation for being world-class shamblers, as the cello seems to require some kind of intensive care. Stevie amuses us with Matchstick Cats and Dogs, and points out the resemblance of the riff from La Pastie to the beginning of Emmerdale Farm. I'm feeling alternately a bit irritated and a bit amused at the shambolic set, when suddenly Isobel sings the most beautiful version of Orange Juice's 'In a Nutshell' you're ever likely to hear, with 'Sha sha sha sha sha' BVs from Stuart M, and the gig really takes off. The new songs in particular, with Stuart at the keyboard were just stunning. A qualified triumph, then, with Stevie Jackson again claiming the title of Greatest Living Scotsman. Hello to everyone I met, and everyone I didn't meet, come to think of it. May a strong wind blow the t-shirt thief straight to hell. Stephen xxxxxx ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ The Poetry Society Website http://www.poetrysoc.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------