Slap my balls and call me Susan, what an outstandingly epic few days.
I should probably tack a disclaimer in here - this post is going to gush about the many amazing people and things I have experienced in the last few days. It might get a touch on the sycophantic side, but then that just goes to show what an amazing few days it has been. It's also going to be long, so fetch your glasses (wine or reading).
Being one of advancing years, the raw pace since Thursday has almost been as relentless as the energy I showed. We've been needing something like this for a very long time and I guess I'd saved up quite a lot of 'play'.
But I digress. Dear reader, presented for your delectation four insane days start here.
It all began on Thursday night with a gig. I'm allowed to say gig now. I think I qualify. We arrived at the Rescue Rooms in time for the end of Vreid, which was disappointing. In so much as it was tantalizing taste of what we had missed. Definitely one for the list. Still, it gave us time for a pint, which we happily downed as we watched the roadies setting up for the next band.
"Howcome you never see bands soundcheck their own equipment?" I asked the exceedingly knowledgeable Gayle, scant moments before the self-same roadies came back out and promptly blew the roof off the venue. Insomnium were everything about a band you needed - technically perfect and well aware of how much the crowd appreciated what they were doing. Bravo. A sobering lesson for what followed. In the wake of this, Paradise Lost seemed.... well, lost. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all, even the guy who threw his phone at me while I was waiting at the bar. More on that later.
Friday. Nerd Day. After what can only be described as the most bizarre queuing experience in cinema history, we settled in to watch 'Avengers Assemble', or 'The Avengers' as it should have been called. Dreadful naming decisions aside, this movie did everything right. The perfect pay-off for the five movies that set it up. Everyone got their moment in the sun, it was respectful to the source material and funny in all the right places. With nerdish grins plastered on our faces, we left the cinema, maintaining a respectful silence until we reached the pub, then exploded in an orgy of nerd gushing. Bliss.
Saturday. Oh sweet merciful hell.
Saturday started quite gently. A late breakfast in the awesome company of Andy Smilie, talking all things Warhammer and Extreme Plumbing. Always a pleasure, never a chore.
What better backdrop from which to rush home and turn the house upside-down in a cleaning frenzy of titanic proportions, whilst Gayle did battle with the woeful organisational skills of Boots Opticians?
How could this day be salvaged?
Enter the UK's best parody metal band, Evil Scarecrow . I kinda hate these guys, but in the best way possible. Simply because they are clearly having more fun doing what they do than should be acceptable. Add to that the fact that they're the nicest bunch of folks you could hope to knock back a drink or two with and you've got a recipe for all kinds of emotional confusion. Taking audience participation to a new level, jumping between angry, vengeful cartoon theme tunes, fury powered waltzes and darkly gothic weep fests (with actual man-crying), these folks did everything right. The evening finished up with us finally finding a venue that we can hang on to, making some new friends and the astounding realisation that the guy spinning the turntables threw his phone at me on Thursday night.
I could see myself doing a few more weekends like that. Bring 'em on.
