Aaaah nostalgia. It’s not, as the old joke goes, what it used to be.
At one time you liked a band, the band split up and that was it. You retained a few good memories, played the records occasionally and moved on.
But now you can’t move for revivals, reconciliations and reunions. Whether bands were good, bad or indifferent.
The whole `touring an album on its anniversary’ movement has also helped revive a few stalled careers.
As a fickle human being I choose to approve of some and not of others.
The Stone Roses – not interested.
Ash – where do I get a ticket?
And so on…
As long as it looks like a bit of fun and hasn’t been heralded as a Second Coming (ahem), I don’t mind.
Which is how I came to be in the William Aston Hall in Wrexham watching the Inspiral Carpets and Shed Seven in what would have been, admittedly, a mid-table double bill even back in the day.
But I have nothing against either. I know most of the words to at least half a dozen songs by both. It’s nearly Christmas. I didn’t have to drive. It was all good.
And in the spirit of my criteria for approving of these things, it was genuinely a lot of fun.
I’d have always had the Carpets pegged as the bigger band and even Clint Boon admitted that two decades previously the Sheds had opened for them.
Undeterred they merrily rattled off a good chunk of their singles collection starting with Joe and dedicating Saturn V to new British astronaut Tim Peake.
They didn’t do Caravan which I’ve always loved, but they only had 45 minutes so they weren’t all going to get an airing.
Shed Seven moseyed on half an hour later and were actually better than I ever remember them being.
Now that could be because they play the kind of stuff I like and I don’t hear as much of it these days, so when I do, I like it more than I should, if that makes sense.
One of our party suggested Rick Witter might not have eaten since we last saw them as he has retained his whip thin frame, and he did look in remarkably good shape.
Cruelly it was also considered that he might be secreting a picture of me in his attic which is going to seed at a much faster rate and sparing him the inevitable ravages of time.
Opening up with She Left Me on Friday, they then banged out a number of Britpop/old TFI Friday era standards like Going for Gold, Getting Better, Chasing Rainbows and Speakeasy.
The sound was filled out nicely by a brass section which gave them some added punch and helped replicate the sound they had unveiled on A Maximum High way back when.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable night out for the over 35s.
See you down the front 