Nic
Strata Poster
WARNING - this is an epic load of drivel and contains much fangirling. Enjoy! 
Ok, so let's start by explaining just how special this was to me. I've loved them and their music for at least 15 years, and for that time they've easily been my favourite band. As a teenager I spent horrendous amounts of time and money collecting their stuff and following their progress, and at times could talk of little else... especially Graham Yes, it’s tragic, and I really needed to get out more, but it made me happy - and still does.
I was at their last proper 4 piece gig at the RFH back in 2000 which was absolutely stunning. So, here I was, 9 years later, at their very first 4 piece gig since that night... would it live up to my high expectations?
The venue for the gig was chosen very carefully. The theme of their recent activities seems to be about going back to the start, back to when they really enjoyed what they were doing. It was fitting, then, that they chose here for their first reunion gig - the very same place where they first performed together way back in 1988. The crowd was to be made up for around 150 people, about half invited guests (family and friends - mostly local school mates etc) and half fans. Big fans.
We arrived at the venue around 6pm. It’s a working train station and railway museum. Its like stepping back in time, or onto the set of a film or something. My friend Doug (to whom I am forever indebted for letting me be his +1) said that "it's like being on a school trip", and he definitely had a point. We went into the station's ticket office, got our wristbands, and were told to come back in an hour. Therefore, we decided to take a wander down the road to the local pub.
We arrived, got a drink, and took up our seats in the pub's garden. As time went on, more and more fans arrived, and everyone was just sat around enjoying their drinks and the evening sun. As I went to the bar to get the next round in, it quickly became apparent that a food and drink order had just gone in for a large group that was starting to filter into the function room next to the garden. On a quick glance through the open doorway, Alex James was stood there.... as were the rest of the band with their close families. This was surreal. The function room looked out onto the garden through a set of smoked glass French windows. Doug and I were sat in the corner, right next to these. We were, therefore, just inches away from the band who we love so much.
Within minutes, a tall figure emerged from the pub and strode out into the garden. It was Alex coming out for a fag. He wandered out through the garden, then came back a few minutes later. Shortly afterwards, another, shorter, figure came wandering out through the door - this time it was Damon. He stood out in the middle of the garden, scanned the group - clearly looking for someone - then went back in. Everyone sat out there just fell into a stunned silence and looked across the garden at the other bemused fans at other tables. I will say, everyone there was fantastic. Nobody hassled the band or their family as everyone wanted to respect their right to have a quiet meal to themselves. Plus, I don't think any of us could quite believe it was happening for real.
After this we wandered back up the road to the museum. We went up through the ticket office, over the bridge across the tracks, and wandered along down the platform the other side.
We arrived to find an old train shed which would be the gig venue, and a vintage carriage which formed the bar for the evening. Fairly soon, the band arrived and were immediately welcomed by the vast numbers of family and old friends who were as much there for a catch up as they were for the gig. The band stood around chatting to people for about half an hour.
It was at this point that we took the opportunity to fulfil an ambition - I got to meet Graham! He happily posed for pictures, but still seemed quite uncomfortable and confused as to why anyone would be bothered about having their pic with him. He's lovely
It was then time for the gig, so we all piled into the shed and crowded around a very small, low, improvised stage in the corner.
We took up our place just in front of Graham in the 2nd row - literally just a few feet from the band. In a gig that was about going back to the start, what better way to open the show than with their first single, She's So High. Damon leapt around, Graham stood in the corner shredding it up, Alex (back to his old, sleeker, self) perched on top of a monitor speaker with a fag in his hand, and Dave... well, drummed! They were all clearly there because they enjoy playing together, and wanted to be there. Any fears that money was their only motivation for these gig quickly faded.
The set saw them play over 2 hours of classic hits such as Girls & Boys, Parklife, Charmless Man, Country House and Song 2. They also played a selection of lesser known album tracks that are still fan favourites such as Tracy Jacks, Badhead, Jubilee, Trimm Trabb, Battery in Your Leg.... and my all time favourite song of all time ever - This is a Low.
The band had huge smiles on their faces throughout and were clearly in high spirits, making jokes and passing glances amongst themselves. The crowd lapped it up, singing along to every word of every song. For such a small crowd, it didn't stop it getting very squashed at the front during some of the more energetic songs like Song 2 and Popscene. During Advert, Damon surprised us all by stage diving. He leapt a long way, completely missing the first 3 or 4 rows. He was then passed back, right over my head, onto the stage.
Towards the end of the Gig, Damon announced, "We've only got time to play one of these, because they're both long songs. Which do you want - Sing or Essex Dogs?” After much unintelligible shouting, Graham asked us to raise our hands to vote for each song. To my disappointment, Essex Dogs won, and Graham crouched down amongst his guitar pedals with a proud grin on his face that he'd managed to lead the crowd to a democratic decision.
With the gritty epic about Essex life (i.e., Chavs) over, Damon squinted at the station clock hanging above the crowd and declared that "there's 12 minutes till the last train." With that they went into For Tomorrow, then "4 minutes till the last train - time for one more". They launched straight into The Universal. It still sounds as gorgeous now as it did at its release 14 years ago.
With that, the band disappeared off the stage, shaking the hands of the crowd as they went, and the best gig of my life was over. We hung around for a little while, chatting to the guy that used to run the Fan Club, and generally taking in the last of the fantastic atmosphere. As we were stood outside, Alex emerged with one of his son's on his shoulders and went to get a T shirt for someone from the merch stand, again saying hello and shaking people's hands as he went. After this, we decided to call it a night and start off on the 3+ hour journey back home.
The whole night was just surreal. I think its going to really sink in when I'm at Hyde park with 50,000 people, miles away from the stage. It'll be hard to believe that just 2 weeks earlier, I was in a small shed in Essex watching the very same band. Before the gig, I'd worried that it was going to be nothing but a disappointment. You know how things from your childhood are never *quite* as good as they were back then, and I was worried that this would be the same. However, I couldn't have possibly hoped for a better night. For the last 15 years, I've dreamt about a night like that... but I never thought it would actually happen. Last night, all my dreams came true.
Ok, so let's start by explaining just how special this was to me. I've loved them and their music for at least 15 years, and for that time they've easily been my favourite band. As a teenager I spent horrendous amounts of time and money collecting their stuff and following their progress, and at times could talk of little else... especially Graham
Yes, it’s tragic, and I really needed to get out more, but it made me happy - and still does.I was at their last proper 4 piece gig at the RFH back in 2000 which was absolutely stunning. So, here I was, 9 years later, at their very first 4 piece gig since that night... would it live up to my high expectations?
The venue for the gig was chosen very carefully. The theme of their recent activities seems to be about going back to the start, back to when they really enjoyed what they were doing. It was fitting, then, that they chose here for their first reunion gig - the very same place where they first performed together way back in 1988. The crowd was to be made up for around 150 people, about half invited guests (family and friends - mostly local school mates etc) and half fans. Big fans.
We arrived at the venue around 6pm. It’s a working train station and railway museum. Its like stepping back in time, or onto the set of a film or something. My friend Doug (to whom I am forever indebted for letting me be his +1) said that "it's like being on a school trip", and he definitely had a point. We went into the station's ticket office, got our wristbands, and were told to come back in an hour. Therefore, we decided to take a wander down the road to the local pub.
We arrived, got a drink, and took up our seats in the pub's garden. As time went on, more and more fans arrived, and everyone was just sat around enjoying their drinks and the evening sun. As I went to the bar to get the next round in, it quickly became apparent that a food and drink order had just gone in for a large group that was starting to filter into the function room next to the garden. On a quick glance through the open doorway, Alex James was stood there.... as were the rest of the band with their close families. This was surreal. The function room looked out onto the garden through a set of smoked glass French windows. Doug and I were sat in the corner, right next to these. We were, therefore, just inches away from the band who we love so much.
Within minutes, a tall figure emerged from the pub and strode out into the garden. It was Alex coming out for a fag. He wandered out through the garden, then came back a few minutes later. Shortly afterwards, another, shorter, figure came wandering out through the door - this time it was Damon. He stood out in the middle of the garden, scanned the group - clearly looking for someone - then went back in. Everyone sat out there just fell into a stunned silence and looked across the garden at the other bemused fans at other tables. I will say, everyone there was fantastic. Nobody hassled the band or their family as everyone wanted to respect their right to have a quiet meal to themselves. Plus, I don't think any of us could quite believe it was happening for real.
After this we wandered back up the road to the museum. We went up through the ticket office, over the bridge across the tracks, and wandered along down the platform the other side.
We arrived to find an old train shed which would be the gig venue, and a vintage carriage which formed the bar for the evening. Fairly soon, the band arrived and were immediately welcomed by the vast numbers of family and old friends who were as much there for a catch up as they were for the gig. The band stood around chatting to people for about half an hour.
It was at this point that we took the opportunity to fulfil an ambition - I got to meet Graham!
He happily posed for pictures, but still seemed quite uncomfortable and confused as to why anyone would be bothered about having their pic with him. He's lovely
It was then time for the gig, so we all piled into the shed and crowded around a very small, low, improvised stage in the corner.
We took up our place just in front of Graham in the 2nd row - literally just a few feet from the band. In a gig that was about going back to the start, what better way to open the show than with their first single, She's So High. Damon leapt around, Graham stood in the corner shredding it up, Alex (back to his old, sleeker, self) perched on top of a monitor speaker with a fag in his hand, and Dave... well, drummed! They were all clearly there because they enjoy playing together, and wanted to be there. Any fears that money was their only motivation for these gig quickly faded.
The set saw them play over 2 hours of classic hits such as Girls & Boys, Parklife, Charmless Man, Country House and Song 2. They also played a selection of lesser known album tracks that are still fan favourites such as Tracy Jacks, Badhead, Jubilee, Trimm Trabb, Battery in Your Leg.... and my all time favourite song of all time ever - This is a Low.
The band had huge smiles on their faces throughout and were clearly in high spirits, making jokes and passing glances amongst themselves. The crowd lapped it up, singing along to every word of every song. For such a small crowd, it didn't stop it getting very squashed at the front during some of the more energetic songs like Song 2 and Popscene. During Advert, Damon surprised us all by stage diving. He leapt a long way, completely missing the first 3 or 4 rows. He was then passed back, right over my head, onto the stage.
Towards the end of the Gig, Damon announced, "We've only got time to play one of these, because they're both long songs. Which do you want - Sing or Essex Dogs?” After much unintelligible shouting, Graham asked us to raise our hands to vote for each song. To my disappointment, Essex Dogs won, and Graham crouched down amongst his guitar pedals with a proud grin on his face that he'd managed to lead the crowd to a democratic decision.
With the gritty epic about Essex life (i.e., Chavs) over, Damon squinted at the station clock hanging above the crowd and declared that "there's 12 minutes till the last train." With that they went into For Tomorrow, then "4 minutes till the last train - time for one more". They launched straight into The Universal. It still sounds as gorgeous now as it did at its release 14 years ago.
With that, the band disappeared off the stage, shaking the hands of the crowd as they went, and the best gig of my life was over. We hung around for a little while, chatting to the guy that used to run the Fan Club, and generally taking in the last of the fantastic atmosphere. As we were stood outside, Alex emerged with one of his son's on his shoulders and went to get a T shirt for someone from the merch stand, again saying hello and shaking people's hands as he went. After this, we decided to call it a night and start off on the 3+ hour journey back home.
The whole night was just surreal. I think its going to really sink in when I'm at Hyde park with 50,000 people, miles away from the stage. It'll be hard to believe that just 2 weeks earlier, I was in a small shed in Essex watching the very same band. Before the gig, I'd worried that it was going to be nothing but a disappointment. You know how things from your childhood are never *quite* as good as they were back then, and I was worried that this would be the same. However, I couldn't have possibly hoped for a better night. For the last 15 years, I've dreamt about a night like that... but I never thought it would actually happen. Last night, all my dreams came true.
