A wind-assisted journey down and 1/2 hour standing in a windy queue - with shorts on, yet! - set Clive and I up very nicely for a good old bop. I was well up for this one, with my current musical obsession The Gigolo Aunts touring in support of The always-good-value-"live" Wonder Stuff. Having booked tickets for 3 dates on this tour (!) as soon as it was announced, this however was going to be the highlight; it's a great venue!
Barged our way to the front before The Gigolo Aunts took the stage early to a searing, high octane newie "Lemon Peeler". "There's a few familiar faces down the front," announced Steve Hurley before Dave Gibbs led the band into their "new" single, the re-released "Mrs. Washington", and we, and the general vicinity, went crazy. A spot-on sound, a big stage in all senses of the word, and our boys took it and went for it, with gusto! Another wonderful 45 minutes or so (which simply flew by!) of classic, harmonic and melodic guitar rock, brilliant songs delivered confidently and supremely. Simply su-perb!
Met up with Posse Car 2 before Clive and I blagged our way backstage ("Security? Just tell Dave Gibbs that David Rose is here!") and got to hang out with The Aunts for a good half hour, before decanting back to the arena for the Stuffies set. Missed 20 minutes or so because of our backstage invites, but the Stuffies obviously saved the best for last in their set. On cracking form, they delivered a splendidly well chosen selection of their offbeat, fiddle-fuelled quirky rock stuff. "Ten Trenches Deep", the set closer, was a splendid highlight which had the huge partisan crowd really rocking out. An encore run-through of some older, "Groove Machine" material ("you mean to say, everything we've recorded since 1988 has been shit?" asked Miles ironically to cheers) culminated an outstanding hours entertainment from a band evidently at the height of their powers.
That wasn't it, though! Clive, Rich and myself (later joined by the rest of the Posse Car 2 occupants, including an incredulous Jared) blagged our way backstage again, and spent an hour or so sitting around chilling, and in earnest conversation with Aunts guitarist Phil Hurley and lead Stuffie Miles Hunt. Despite the arrogant media persona (and the fact he was clearly "holding court" tonight), Miles was gregarious, friendly and willing to listen to people. Eventually, we had to clear off, so warm handshakes and gratefully accepted cans of Guinness from the rider on the way out capped another wonderful Gigolo Aunts evening. This time, however, it was a wonderful Wonder Stuff evening too!
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