Sinister: i'm not saying you're not pretty

[Ian Watson]

Am I allowed to report back on my own shenanigans? I guess we¹re all doing
that on here, in some way or another. So here goes. What I got up to when I
went on a mini DJ-ing tour of the country last month.

OXFORD JUNE 20TH: In the company of my musical supervisor and attorney
Rupert, we made our way to Oxford. Drove straight past the venue, over a
bridge, under spires, slumbering or not. All very pretty. The riverside pubs
looked especially inviting. Met up with David and his team, our promoters
and hosts for the night. Good room above the pub ­ just one problem. No
curtains. It was bright sunlight outside and would be almost til the end of
the night, since we were on pub hours. Curtains were needed and found. David
informed me that Stuart had pulled out of Nottingham, which was the first
I¹d heard of it. Oh well. Had some food downstairs ­ the not very healthy
vegetarian option of fried egg in a baguette and chips ­ then up to get
things underway. Adam would be our guest for the night and play from half
eight til nine. I¹d then do til closing. First hour was nice and calm. Our
first paying clubber wanted to hear Dusty and got to sit in the venue by
herself (bar me and Rupert) to listen to her request. Got talking to Mark
from this parish. Then the girls from Coventry who went to London the night
before turned up ­ they wanted to hear more Shangri Las. No problem. Great
set from Adam, then it was my turn. My highlights were as follows:

 Different Drum by the Lemonheads followed by "Mrs Robinson" by Simon &
Garfunkel

 3 Is The Heavenly Option ­ fast becoming a firm favourite

 Nipping off to the loo during There Is A LightŠand hearing it skip while I
was mid ablution. Erk! It got caught in a loop but David rescued it. There
was a huge chod of dust on the needle apparently. Ooops.

 The wobbling table. Every time a footstomper came on, the table would
wobble and the record start to jump. Not much fun, as I had to spend half
the night telling people not to dance so enthusiastically, which is kind of
defeating the point. Rupert stepped in to hold said table at one point, but
refused point blank to help any further when I cued up Crash. He knew a lost
cause when he saw one. Needless to say, fervent bouncing ensued and we
hardly made it to the end of the track.

 Claire¹s cakes. Very nice. Even if they didn¹t have any OJ in them. I had
two
That¹s about it. A great night. I really really enjoyed it and will
definitely be back.

NOTTINGHAM JUNE 21st: After a morning¹s shopping in Oxford ­ a red top for
Nottingham ­ a quick and easy drive to Nottingham. Found the venue straight
away again. Said hello to Fosca as they were stepping out of their taxi. Met
up with Sam, our promoter for the night. Mentioned, at one point, that I
needed a copy of Tigermilk and Sinister, and Aline (sorry, if I¹ve spelt
that wrong!) kindly took us to her halls of residence to pick up her copies.
In return, I promised to play her countrymates Os Mutantes. Which is the
sort of deal it¹s always a pleasure to strike up. Went into town. Chatted
with Rachel of Fosca then went to listen to some Christian rappers who were
playing on a carpark thing in the city centre. One rhyme was excellent "You
might believe in Allah or Krishna/And I don¹t wanna diss yaŠ" Genius. Found
ourselves in a second hand record shop. As you do. Spent a happy half hour
of so sifting through vinyl, playing bits and pieces on the old record
players they had there. Bought a couple of things to play that night. The
owner wanted to shut up shop but walked us to another second hand record
shop. Or at least to the bottom of the hill it was on. Walked up, past every
Indian and Chinese take out in town it seemed, to find it closed. My, the
excitement of touring life. Went to Selectadisc, bought the first three REM
albums on CD for 12 quid. Excellent. Played ŒSuperman¹ that night. Walked
past an all you can eat indian buffet place and decided to get some food.
Huge mistake. The worst meal I¹ve had for a long long time. Dreadful food,
utterly tasteless or completely not what it was meant to be. Disgusting.
Makes me feel sick thinking about  it now. Back to the venue. DJ downstairs
started off with Gay Bar and followed it up with Money by Pink Floyd. I was
very excited. From there, he could have gone anywhere. Anywhere! I wanted to
stay downstairs and see what esoteric delights would ensue, but alas it all
went a bit predictable after that. Ho hum. Blokes dressed as ladies cavorted
downstairs. Upstairs the opposite looked likely. Retired upstairs. Fosca
were excellent. I¹ve not seen them before but they were truly great,
particularly the new songs. Then it was me. A short, almost greatest hits
set, but very enjoyable. The folk of Nottingham were clearly up for a dance
and even didn¹t seem too perturbed when I played Tainted Love twice by
mistake. Met Robin Stout from here, but was mid DJ-ing and a little busy to
talk. Sorry Robin. It¹s great that you can go to two different towns and
meet people from Sinister.

What have we learnt? The following:

 Life on tour is all about food. It¹s the one thing that changes.
Everything else is pretty much the same.

 Life on tour is a string of events, happening in a straight line. Reciting
them turns you back into your six year old self. "And then weŠand then
weŠand thenŠ"

 Being a DJ, playing the same core songs every night, makes you feel weird.
Like you¹re being unadventurous. But if it¹s a different crowd then it
shouldn¹t matter. A band don¹t worry after all. Did my best to make sure
each night was different ­ and it was. But it¹s all in the margins. Enjoyed
playing Jonathan Richman in Oxford and Os Mutantes in Nottingham. For those
two alone, it was all worth it. Both were fantastic nights and I¹d happily
return any time. 

THE INEVITABLE END BITŠ

This Thursday, July 17th, is the last How Does It Feel To Be Loved? on a
Thursday. From next month, we'll be on a Friday. Insert your own early
Radiohead jokes here. Our guest DJ this month is Phil Wilson of the June
Brides.

I'll be doing a special "Cor, what a scorcher" tribute set to the big shiny
hot thing in the sky. So far that consists of "Heatwave" and that's about
it. Any other suggestions?

http://www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk

x

How Does It Feel To Be Loved? is at the Buffalo Bars, underneath Famous Cock
Tavern, outside Highbury & Islington tube, London, 9pm-2am.

The playlist is:

The Smiths * The Supremes * The Go-Betweens * Dusty Springfield * Belle &
Sebastian * Tammi Terrell * Aztec Camera * The Ronettes * Orange Juice *
Beach Boys * The Temptations * Velvet Underground * Felt * The Shangri-Las *
Primal Scream * Otis Redding * The Field Mice * The Stone Roses * Dexys
Midnight Runners * The Four Tops * Dolly Parton * The Orchids








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