I wasn't going to bother blogging this one, because I only went to keep the other half company and I am not a fan of Miles Hunt. However, their support, Nomad Jones, is worthy of a little blog so I decided I better have.
Nomad (apparently his real name is Damon - see what he did there?!) comes across as a very unassuming character with his floppy hair and shy demeanour, but this belies his voice. Backed with a cello, violin and bass, he creates what he terms as 'heartfelt folk' with his tales of heartbreak and late nights out with girls. He's still young but has a voice that shows experience and depth. It's not exciting music, but it's well written and, indeed, heartfelt. Worth a listen.
Miles Hunt irritates the bejesus out of me. Some of the Wonderstuff's songs were anthems of late-night journeys home on Saturday nights, or jangly accompaniments to summer days out in the Maestro. He only plays one of these, right at the end, when I was almost too far asleep to sing along with 'Golden Green'. He's written some good songs but, for me, ruins them by his sniping comments at people who've been a lot more successful than he has and with his overly nasal vocals. Erica's a fantastic violinist but it's Miles' show. I think for the Wonderstuff-devoted faithful in such a small show, it was a treat to see their idol so close up but reputation alone wasn't going to wash with me I'm afraid. He wasn't bad; I just don't get what the fuss is about!
And the Roadhouse smells funny now that there is no smoking!
5/10
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Friday, 29 February 2008
Chase HQ Allstars
Just realised I have another gig to blog before 
I forget. Last weekend was supposed to be gig-filled but due to extenuating circumstances, we only got to one. We always get lost in Warrington, to the point that all of it looks familiar as we've been past it at some point. Luckily I had the gps in my bag, so we made it to WA1 in the end. It smells of rubber gym mats, but don't let that put you off. The picnic tables aren't a good idea either as I really wanted some cheese sandwiches, a bag of crisps and a drink with a straw in it. Anyway, I digress. The purpose of our tour round Warrington was to see our friends' band, Chase HQ Allstars. We haven't seen them for a while and they have grown further - there is more brass, but I am ok with that,
honest! Anyway, they are friends so I'm not inclined to tell them where to shove their trumpet mutes.
I think last time I explained that I'm not a fan of dub or ska so I won't go into that again. What I will say though is that I was really surprised at how much better they have got since the last time we saw them. Singer Dave seems a lot more confident on stage and his voice has more range. The songs are more varied and more complex too and any band who can randomly pull out the Countdown music have my respect. The last song they played (again, I am awful at setlists and song names) had shouting in it, which is always a good
thing, and sounded really good. More shouting please, boys and girl!
The brass parts seem to fit in better now, probably a reflection that songs are starting to be written incorparating them, rather than adding brass parts later and I'm always impressed if someone can get straight off a train from London and start playing, like one of the bass players, Matty.
I might even have to change my mind about my ska-dub-phobia, but keep those Reel Big Fish albums out of my face or there will be trouble.
Oh yes - and I got a chip naan on the way home, which adds a point onto the total score: 7/10.
I forget. Last weekend was supposed to be gig-filled but due to extenuating circumstances, we only got to one. We always get lost in Warrington, to the point that all of it looks familiar as we've been past it at some point. Luckily I had the gps in my bag, so we made it to WA1 in the end. It smells of rubber gym mats, but don't let that put you off. The picnic tables aren't a good idea either as I really wanted some cheese sandwiches, a bag of crisps and a drink with a straw in it. Anyway, I digress. The purpose of our tour round Warrington was to see our friends' band, Chase HQ Allstars. We haven't seen them for a while and they have grown further - there is more brass, but I am ok with that,
honest! Anyway, they are friends so I'm not inclined to tell them where to shove their trumpet mutes.I think last time I explained that I'm not a fan of dub or ska so I won't go into that again. What I will say though is that I was really surprised at how much better they have got since the last time we saw them. Singer Dave seems a lot more confident on stage and his voice has more range. The songs are more varied and more complex too and any band who can randomly pull out the Countdown music have my respect. The last song they played (again, I am awful at setlists and song names) had shouting in it, which is always a good
thing, and sounded really good. More shouting please, boys and girl!The brass parts seem to fit in better now, probably a reflection that songs are starting to be written incorparating them, rather than adding brass parts later and I'm always impressed if someone can get straight off a train from London and start playing, like one of the bass players, Matty.
I might even have to change my mind about my ska-dub-phobia, but keep those Reel Big Fish albums out of my face or there will be trouble.
Oh yes - and I got a chip naan on the way home, which adds a point onto the total score: 7/10.
Jimmy Eat World
I'm a bit late with this blog as I've had a hectic few days since then. I have a day off today to catch up on stuff but am getting a stinking cold thanks to meetings in small rooms with germy people, so better do it now before I retreat with the Lemsips. Went to see Jimmy Eat World on 20th February at Manchester Academy. I've seen them a few times before (head's too fuzzy to work it out right now) and based on the fact that they are always great and the new album is a good 'un, I persuaded the other half to get us some tickets, which he duly did (good boy!). First off, the Academy is still not finished, the loos are still outside and cold and the sound still bounces off the walls. The sound was a little bit better than when we were there the other week to see Coheed & Cambria, but it's still a long way from good. There were some technical hitches too with some sound cutting out. I couldn't make up my mind whether Jim looked really annoyed or not but the sound was back on after not too long and, as my friend pointed out, at least she will know she has the right show when her CD shows up. One last aside - I had my new owl shows on, so that helped cheer me up and there were no vomiting incidents near them this week.
Anyway, it's all about the music isn't it? Opening song 'Big Casino' is my favourite on the new album, so that was going to be a good start. Jimmy Eat World get some criticism for not being the most edgy of bands and it's fair to say that a fair amount of their repertoire these days could quite happily be blasting out on commercial radio. However, they have tons of energy and sincerity, which is so often lacking in bands that have made it to the level of success that they have. They threw us a curveball and messed up my encore predictions when 'Sweetness' was the second song. It's possibly one of the best sings ever written in my opinion, so I am never going to complain when I hear it.
As I said, the sound wasn't great, which meant it wasn't the best Jimmy Eat World show I've seen, but the setlist was a fairly good mix of old and new, though as with a lot of bands, I prefer their older stuff to the newer songs. None of it sounded dull though and I got to point my elbows a lot at Salt Sweat Sugar and Pain. I've been a bit rubbish at remembering the setlist - I just keep remembering the ones they didn't play. I was glad to hear 'Hear you me' and have a sway about - reminds us they're not a one-trick pony and can do poppy and infectious and quiet and brooding all in one evening.
Jim introduced Dizzy as his favourite song on the new album (we'll have to agree to disagree there) and they ended the night with 'The Middle', which was hardly surprising, but got a lot of the crowd singing along.
They're a great band, but until the Academy gets sorted out, I don't think any band are going to sound truly amazing in there. Hopefully by the next time someone plays there that I want to see, it'll be OK!
8/10
Anyway, it's all about the music isn't it? Opening song 'Big Casino' is my favourite on the new album, so that was going to be a good start. Jimmy Eat World get some criticism for not being the most edgy of bands and it's fair to say that a fair amount of their repertoire these days could quite happily be blasting out on commercial radio. However, they have tons of energy and sincerity, which is so often lacking in bands that have made it to the level of success that they have. They threw us a curveball and messed up my encore predictions when 'Sweetness' was the second song. It's possibly one of the best sings ever written in my opinion, so I am never going to complain when I hear it.
As I said, the sound wasn't great, which meant it wasn't the best Jimmy Eat World show I've seen, but the setlist was a fairly good mix of old and new, though as with a lot of bands, I prefer their older stuff to the newer songs. None of it sounded dull though and I got to point my elbows a lot at Salt Sweat Sugar and Pain. I've been a bit rubbish at remembering the setlist - I just keep remembering the ones they didn't play. I was glad to hear 'Hear you me' and have a sway about - reminds us they're not a one-trick pony and can do poppy and infectious and quiet and brooding all in one evening.
Jim introduced Dizzy as his favourite song on the new album (we'll have to agree to disagree there) and they ended the night with 'The Middle', which was hardly surprising, but got a lot of the crowd singing along.
They're a great band, but until the Academy gets sorted out, I don't think any band are going to sound truly amazing in there. Hopefully by the next time someone plays there that I want to see, it'll be OK!
8/10
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
February giddy gig-ness
I am hoping that the rest of the year is as good as the first week in February has been with regard to gigs. It was always going to be good seeing as it involved seeing Coheed and Cambria twice in a weekend and they're one of my favourite bands. Added in was the fact that Spy Versus Spy have sort-of-reformed and were playing in Leeds on Saturday. Dodgy weather forecasts, a very busy week at work and other things going on and stressing me out made me question whether it'd all come off but 2 days later and I am still a bit hyper.
First off was Friday night at the Academy for the Kerrang! Tour, or, put better, Coheed and Cambria show 1/2. If anyone reads this from the Academy - GET IT FINISHED! It's a mess and it's cold going to those toilets outside! The sound was pretty bad too - noisy because there's nothing to absorb the noise. And it snowed. And someone was sick very near to my shoe which made me think about the first time I ever went there and my mother had read something about the streets being paved with vomit near the Academy. Well, about 15 years later I have finally seen some proof of that. Whingeing aside, we got there during Fightstar who were just like Fightstar always are - good at what they do and to see live but not quite good enough to make me actually listen to their album.
Madina Lake on Friday were, frankly, awful. More screaming girls again which made me bristle but they just sounded bad. They redeemed themselves a little on Sunday. Sort of.
I was there for one reason only anyway - the mighty Coheed and Cambria. OK so they're not everyone's idea of fun but there's just something massive about their music that makes everything OK for the hour or so they were on for. The setlist focussed on a lot of the new album, which sounded great. No World For Tomorrow is a big, big song and gave us time to get used to the female backing singers. Tried to push images of Bill and Ted and 'The Babes' out of my head for that. A Favor House Atlantic got the crowd going and I was more than pleased to hear Devil in Jersey City after The Trooper. My current favourite song on the new album is Feathers and seeing as I've been living under a stone for a while, I hadn't realised it is the next single so was rather chuffed they played it. The only 2 songs you can finish off a Coheed show with are In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth and Welcome Home. Epic songs for an epic band and lots of swaying and 'woh'-ing. Fantastic. Made me very excited for Sunday.
Saturday and a lot of the snow had gone so off we went on the M62, including a little song as we passed the farm in the middle, and turned up in Leeds. Checked into the hotel and went to find the pub where SVS were playing. Didn't look too hopeful in the food line so found a bizarre little Italian restaurant, stuffed our faces, then back to the Fenton for a quarrel with the bar staff over the quiz machine eating £1.60 of my hard-earned cash and refusing me even a simple geography question. First band on in the tiny room upstairs (glad no one was sick up there!) were Cocean, who I think said they were from Barnsley, though I may have dreamt that. I was surprised as when I'd seen a female singer with a keyboard, I had started to worry. Their post-rock sounds went down well though and I will probably get round to looking them up one day.
Had a bit of a sit down after that - it had been a long day - and have forgotten the name of the next band we saw, though I think it may have been 'Upon Me' or 'Above Me'. They were growly and Yorkshire and unfeasibly young but again surprisingly good.
Spy Versus Spy! We tried to figure how long since we saw them but gave up because it was too hard and we felt old. They opened with a new song, which to be honest, I didn't really get. I'm also clueless when it comes to the names of the band or the songs - more Danny's thing than mine. Anyway, the really shouty man has left and been replaced by a man who appeared to be a clone of Mark Arm in about 1991. When they played songs that I know (but not the titles I'm afraid) they were really very very good, but it just wasn't quite like it used to be. They still play it like they mean it though and the drummer is incredible, especially in his unexpected and prolonged drum solo - not de rigeur in this type of music (which I will allow you to tag as emo as this is what the term means to me - none of this poppy crap. Rant over.) Anyway, t'other half had a beaming grin, we had a chat with the drummer and then went back to the hotel with chip naans. Result.
Sunday started how all good days should i.e. with a breakfast buffet. Note of caution to anyone staying in the Holiday Inn Express - the air-con is stupidly noisy. We attempted to go in the Henry Moore Institute but most of it is closed whilst the latest exhibition is installed. The Art Gallery didn't open for a couple of hours so we had a mooch round the shops and I got the last 2 Amory Wars comics. Claudio from Coheed & Cambria was due to do a signing at Forbidden Planet but I'd not been able to get tickets as there were only 100 and I don't live in Leeds. Undeterred we popped off to the shop on the off-chance there were some returned. There weren't but the guys in the shop were helpful and I got to hold a massive Domo Kun for a couple of minutes.
The Art Gallery was great so we spent ages in there, leaving time for some p
ub grub and another wander to Forbidden Planet on the off chance. Got there and they nearly had all the ticket holders through so lucky us managed to tag on the back of the queue and get in! Got a bit giddy and got all my comics out but Claudio seemed a nice guy and signed all my comics and let me take a picture. I don't think I got too starstruck - honest - and went off to the gig with a stupid grin (see photo!)
As for the gig - same setlists etc really as Friday. Managed to see Circa Survive this time but couldn't make up my mind whether I liked them or not. Fightstar were the same as Friday. Madina Lake couldn't have been worse than Friday and seemed to benefit from the much better acoustics in Leeds Refectory. There were still screaming girls and they did a cover of 'March of the Pigs' (NIN) but I was still less offended by them than I was on Friday. Maybe I was in a better mood. Plus we'd wangled space on the balcony and had a good view and no one near who looked nauseous.
Coheed again! Much better than on Friday as the sound was better. Claudio seems much more talkative than on previous tours and we had some proper metal stances and playing of guitar behind the head etc. The setlist was (I think) the same as Friday so I grinned in all the same places and we had lots more woh-ing. New drummer, Chris Pennie, fits in well with the dynamic and Claudio's voice seems strong as ever. I was going to try to describe the band for any of you who don't know them, but it's hard apart from they have a lot of prog-rock elements but catchy hooks. Best just look them up! The setlist seemed more weighted towards what I refer to as the epic songs but the crowd lapped it all up. An hour is nowhere near enough to see what they have to offer, but it'll have to do till next time. Hope they come back with a 'proper' tour soon - can't wait!
First off was Friday night at the Academy for the Kerrang! Tour, or, put better, Coheed and Cambria show 1/2. If anyone reads this from the Academy - GET IT FINISHED! It's a mess and it's cold going to those toilets outside! The sound was pretty bad too - noisy because there's nothing to absorb the noise. And it snowed. And someone was sick very near to my shoe which made me think about the first time I ever went there and my mother had read something about the streets being paved with vomit near the Academy. Well, about 15 years later I have finally seen some proof of that. Whingeing aside, we got there during Fightstar who were just like Fightstar always are - good at what they do and to see live but not quite good enough to make me actually listen to their album.
Madina Lake on Friday were, frankly, awful. More screaming girls again which made me bristle but they just sounded bad. They redeemed themselves a little on Sunday. Sort of.
I was there for one reason only anyway - the mighty Coheed and Cambria. OK so they're not everyone's idea of fun but there's just something massive about their music that makes everything OK for the hour or so they were on for. The setlist focussed on a lot of the new album, which sounded great. No World For Tomorrow is a big, big song and gave us time to get used to the female backing singers. Tried to push images of Bill and Ted and 'The Babes' out of my head for that. A Favor House Atlantic got the crowd going and I was more than pleased to hear Devil in Jersey City after The Trooper. My current favourite song on the new album is Feathers and seeing as I've been living under a stone for a while, I hadn't realised it is the next single so was rather chuffed they played it. The only 2 songs you can finish off a Coheed show with are In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth and Welcome Home. Epic songs for an epic band and lots of swaying and 'woh'-ing. Fantastic. Made me very excited for Sunday.
Saturday and a lot of the snow had gone so off we went on the M62, including a little song as we passed the farm in the middle, and turned up in Leeds. Checked into the hotel and went to find the pub where SVS were playing. Didn't look too hopeful in the food line so found a bizarre little Italian restaurant, stuffed our faces, then back to the Fenton for a quarrel with the bar staff over the quiz machine eating £1.60 of my hard-earned cash and refusing me even a simple geography question. First band on in the tiny room upstairs (glad no one was sick up there!) were Cocean, who I think said they were from Barnsley, though I may have dreamt that. I was surprised as when I'd seen a female singer with a keyboard, I had started to worry. Their post-rock sounds went down well though and I will probably get round to looking them up one day.
Had a bit of a sit down after that - it had been a long day - and have forgotten the name of the next band we saw, though I think it may have been 'Upon Me' or 'Above Me'. They were growly and Yorkshire and unfeasibly young but again surprisingly good.
Spy Versus Spy! We tried to figure how long since we saw them but gave up because it was too hard and we felt old. They opened with a new song, which to be honest, I didn't really get. I'm also clueless when it comes to the names of the band or the songs - more Danny's thing than mine. Anyway, the really shouty man has left and been replaced by a man who appeared to be a clone of Mark Arm in about 1991. When they played songs that I know (but not the titles I'm afraid) they were really very very good, but it just wasn't quite like it used to be. They still play it like they mean it though and the drummer is incredible, especially in his unexpected and prolonged drum solo - not de rigeur in this type of music (which I will allow you to tag as emo as this is what the term means to me - none of this poppy crap. Rant over.) Anyway, t'other half had a beaming grin, we had a chat with the drummer and then went back to the hotel with chip naans. Result.
Sunday started how all good days should i.e. with a breakfast buffet. Note of caution to anyone staying in the Holiday Inn Express - the air-con is stupidly noisy. We attempted to go in the Henry Moore Institute but most of it is closed whilst the latest exhibition is installed. The Art Gallery didn't open for a couple of hours so we had a mooch round the shops and I got the last 2 Amory Wars comics. Claudio from Coheed & Cambria was due to do a signing at Forbidden Planet but I'd not been able to get tickets as there were only 100 and I don't live in Leeds. Undeterred we popped off to the shop on the off-chance there were some returned. There weren't but the guys in the shop were helpful and I got to hold a massive Domo Kun for a couple of minutes.
The Art Gallery was great so we spent ages in there, leaving time for some p
ub grub and another wander to Forbidden Planet on the off chance. Got there and they nearly had all the ticket holders through so lucky us managed to tag on the back of the queue and get in! Got a bit giddy and got all my comics out but Claudio seemed a nice guy and signed all my comics and let me take a picture. I don't think I got too starstruck - honest - and went off to the gig with a stupid grin (see photo!)As for the gig - same setlists etc really as Friday. Managed to see Circa Survive this time but couldn't make up my mind whether I liked them or not. Fightstar were the same as Friday. Madina Lake couldn't have been worse than Friday and seemed to benefit from the much better acoustics in Leeds Refectory. There were still screaming girls and they did a cover of 'March of the Pigs' (NIN) but I was still less offended by them than I was on Friday. Maybe I was in a better mood. Plus we'd wangled space on the balcony and had a good view and no one near who looked nauseous.
Coheed again! Much better than on Friday as the sound was better. Claudio seems much more talkative than on previous tours and we had some proper metal stances and playing of guitar behind the head etc. The setlist was (I think) the same as Friday so I grinned in all the same places and we had lots more woh-ing. New drummer, Chris Pennie, fits in well with the dynamic and Claudio's voice seems strong as ever. I was going to try to describe the band for any of you who don't know them, but it's hard apart from they have a lot of prog-rock elements but catchy hooks. Best just look them up! The setlist seemed more weighted towards what I refer to as the epic songs but the crowd lapped it all up. An hour is nowhere near enough to see what they have to offer, but it'll have to do till next time. Hope they come back with a 'proper' tour soon - can't wait!
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Paramore/New Found Glory
29-01-08
Those of you who know me will know that Paramore aren't my most favourite band, but being the lovely wife that I am, I agreed to go and see them with t'other half the other night. It was indeed full of kids but this had the added bonus that it wasn't too crowded for us oldies at the back. New Found Glory are one of those bands I can take or leave and the sound was, frankly, awful when they were on. I will be generous and assume it was first-night-of-tour troubles. Still, had a bit of a singalong with some of their cover versions of songs that people don't like to admit they know.
Paramore are a lot better than they should be and despite being the bendiest band I have seen in a while, can hold their own even in a place like the Apollo. Biggest cheers were for single 'Emergency' and encore-finale 'Misery Business' but the highlight of the night for me was their bass player doing a somersault (a fair height too) whilst still playing. Lowlight was a misjudged cover of 'Sweetness' by Jimmy Eat World though there was amusement in seeing our 'world's biggest J.E.W. fan' in tow going purple. Only joking, Sara!
Still got more exciting gigs to go to yet but it was an ok sort of night - 7/10.
Those of you who know me will know that Paramore aren't my most favourite band, but being the lovely wife that I am, I agreed to go and see them with t'other half the other night. It was indeed full of kids but this had the added bonus that it wasn't too crowded for us oldies at the back. New Found Glory are one of those bands I can take or leave and the sound was, frankly, awful when they were on. I will be generous and assume it was first-night-of-tour troubles. Still, had a bit of a singalong with some of their cover versions of songs that people don't like to admit they know.
Paramore are a lot better than they should be and despite being the bendiest band I have seen in a while, can hold their own even in a place like the Apollo. Biggest cheers were for single 'Emergency' and encore-finale 'Misery Business' but the highlight of the night for me was their bass player doing a somersault (a fair height too) whilst still playing. Lowlight was a misjudged cover of 'Sweetness' by Jimmy Eat World though there was amusement in seeing our 'world's biggest J.E.W. fan' in tow going purple. Only joking, Sara!
Still got more exciting gigs to go to yet but it was an ok sort of night - 7/10.
Friday, 25 January 2008
2008 gigs so far
It's a new year and I appear to be incapable of remembering what gigs I saw last year, as I found out when trying to post a belated Top 5 on a website. So, to avoid this happening again, I'm going to write a small blog when I have been out and about. That way I won't forget! I'll adopt the good old marks out of 10 system I think.
I think I have only been to two gigs this year, but I could be wrong. That's why I need the blog.
First off was one of the Academy Unsigned gigs on 11th January. We went because our friend, Steve's band, The Allure, was playing. We caught the end of the first band, though not their name, who were more like Placebo than Placebo are nowadays. I'll admit that I was concerned when I was told I would be watching an indie band with no drummer, but The Allure were actually ok - which coming from someone who is not a fan of that sort of music is about as good as it will get. The singer has one of those voices that is a millimetre away from sounding off-key but doesn't and sounds better for it. Reminded me a little of Joy Division. Their guitarist was, of course, excellent and it's good to see bands who are enjoying being up on stage so much. I would say 6 out of 10 as it's not my bag but they were good.
Gig 2 as far as I recall was 22nd January - Dashboard Confessional. I must admit again that it wasn't my top-ranked must-see gigs of the year. I like Swiss Army Romance but was put off a little bit by the stadium rock that seemed to pour out when we saw Chris with full band at Leeds last year. Luckily he's back on his own and acoustic. He sounded good and played all the songs I like, well almost, but I was irked by the screaming girls and over-enthusiastic whooping. I think I am getting old or something but rather than adding to the atmosphere, it just made me feel cross! Still, it was a reasonable way to spend a Tuesday night and the support, Tournaments, were also surprisingly good in a sort of Wonderstuff kind of way. 7 out of 10.
I will probably write more enthusiastic reviews when I am less tired and after Feb 3rd when I will have seen 3 gigs that weekend that are making me very excited!
I think I have only been to two gigs this year, but I could be wrong. That's why I need the blog.
First off was one of the Academy Unsigned gigs on 11th January. We went because our friend, Steve's band, The Allure, was playing. We caught the end of the first band, though not their name, who were more like Placebo than Placebo are nowadays. I'll admit that I was concerned when I was told I would be watching an indie band with no drummer, but The Allure were actually ok - which coming from someone who is not a fan of that sort of music is about as good as it will get. The singer has one of those voices that is a millimetre away from sounding off-key but doesn't and sounds better for it. Reminded me a little of Joy Division. Their guitarist was, of course, excellent and it's good to see bands who are enjoying being up on stage so much. I would say 6 out of 10 as it's not my bag but they were good.
Gig 2 as far as I recall was 22nd January - Dashboard Confessional. I must admit again that it wasn't my top-ranked must-see gigs of the year. I like Swiss Army Romance but was put off a little bit by the stadium rock that seemed to pour out when we saw Chris with full band at Leeds last year. Luckily he's back on his own and acoustic. He sounded good and played all the songs I like, well almost, but I was irked by the screaming girls and over-enthusiastic whooping. I think I am getting old or something but rather than adding to the atmosphere, it just made me feel cross! Still, it was a reasonable way to spend a Tuesday night and the support, Tournaments, were also surprisingly good in a sort of Wonderstuff kind of way. 7 out of 10.
I will probably write more enthusiastic reviews when I am less tired and after Feb 3rd when I will have seen 3 gigs that weekend that are making me very excited!
Saturday, 6 October 2007
A long weekend in Thessaloniki
I am not doing so well at this regular blogging lark. Maybe I should increase my intake of internet bran.
Anyway, we spent a long weekend in Thessaloniki (hence the snappy title) last weekend and rather than keep repeating myself and enthusing at people over and over, I decided to blog it.
Firstly, this is a note to myself and others to remind that connecting flights and ungodly check-in times might seem like a good idea at the time of booking and indeed often afford a more cost-effective mode of travel, but they are grim. Having said that, we had chance to potter round Zürich for a few hours on the way out there, which was actually really nice. They have the world's largest clock face there, would you believe? (see photo to left).
Also, I must explain why the photos are not the best quality. It is also a misconception that you can buy whatever you like in duty free. We thought we would bag ourselves a tax-free digital SLR in the land of cow bells and cheese, but didn't count on there being exactly two cameras in the shop, neither of which were suitable. You live and learn. We found some pear-flavoured vodka though, which will take me 10 years to drink at my light-weight drinking pace.
We finally arrived in Thessaloniki at some point in the middle of the night. It was still warm though and we were met by our Greek friend, the Niki in Thessaloniki, which was all boding well for a nice and sunny four days.
We awoke on our first day not particularly early. Actually, that is a lie. We got up not particularly early but we were awoken at some undetermined time by a noise that sounded like hell itself opening. Turns out that Greek bin men have some really hefty machinery and visit
every day. It also turns out that the Greek equivalent of the rag and bone man visits daily; we were in two minds as to whether to wake up our host to check it wasn't the 4-minute warning or something similar! The watermelon seller is much more melodious though and gives us no cause for concern. After a tasty breakfast involving spanokopita (I've just finished the last piece we brought home, but remembered that I have some spinach in the fridge - get in!) on Niki's balcony (see right), we set off into Thessaloniki to meet up with our friends from Holland.Thessaloniki is Greece's second city and it's pretty large. We walked all along the harbourfront to the so-called White Tower. It was a prison at one point and it isn't very white, but we had to see it. 28 degrees, sunny weather and a nice blue sea gave us an appetite so we paid our first visit to Zythos - a bar/restaurant with very tasty food. We stayed there for ours, learning how to pronounce 'courgette fritters' in Greek and catching up on the last few months since we had all met up. Greek food rules and I'd forgotten how good Mythos beer tastes. There was a Greek musical luminary there, whose name I have forgotten, getting rather ticked off at people with cameras, and a dog asleep in a hedge, which convinced us that Zythos is the place to be.
It still wasn't cold, but it was time for bed and to see if the bin men would be coming again. They did but it didn't deter us from sleeping! After some more breakfast spanokopita we started Saturday with some wandering about. Our base is about 10 minutes on the bus from the centre of town but the buses are pretty good and we didn't encounter any traffic. We saw some older parts of the town, which was quite tourist-free apart from all the knock-off handbags (Paul Frnak anyone?). A visit to a chocolate cafe to rival Slattery's ensued, followed by a lot of sitting around. We had a birthday in our midst so felt it necessary to head to taverna-ville. Of course it isn't called
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that, but there is an area of town filled with tavernas and men trying to get you to visit their own taverna. Having a Greek guide, we were ushered to a much less touristy-looking one near a cobbler's manned by 2 elderly gentlemen who showed no sign of having done any work until about 9pm when the machines started to whirr. We ate the compulsory halloumi and fried courgette amongst many tasty treats and had our first experience of dakos salad (see rather poor picture to the left!) Dakos is a fried bread from Crete with all the salad and dressings on top. A large crouton I suppose. It was very tasty in any case, as was everything we ate. Not being particularly well up on Greek customs (we were advised not to start lobbing our plates around), we were amazed by the free desert and peculiar drink that emerged at the end of the meal and headed off to a rock bar to try to digest. This took a while! After some discussions about Welsh road signs, we got word that we were to meet some more Greeks in a Caribbean cocktail bar in an old house. Well, it's not often you get an invitation like that is it? Habanero was certainly an interesting place and Niki's friends were all very friendly. Due to the lack of measures in Greek drinks, and my penchant for not really drinking very much, I cautiously approached a caparainha as I have never actually had one and didn't fancy a mojito after the time when I broke 2 glasses trying to make one at home. It was like lighter fuel so I sipped at it and left most of it behind. I felt quite rock n roll to still be up past 2am so we went to a very peculiar bar called Augustus for a squash in a corner and a glass of swimming pool. Finally hit the sack at some ungodly hour and awaited the dustbinmen.Day 3 of our Greek Odyssey didn't really get going till quite late on as we may be very rock 'n' roll staying up so late but still need our sleep. I am sure the bin men came twice. It's a
Sunday, it's baking hot, what do you do? Answer: Head to the local sailing club for a very tasty lemon slush and to point and giggle at the Greek equivalents of Sienna Miller and Kate Moss. My sunglasses were far too small and I was wearing sensible shoes so I sat quietly out of the spotlight. We sat there for ages, putting the world to rights and watching some massive blue jellyfish bob past. We'd not had any haloumi for about 16 hours so we decanted to a sea-side taverna where we offended the owner with our vegetarianism, prompting him to ask if we wanted any broccoli shakes. More tasty food again and some Greek wine which didn't taste of bins. Very nice! We headed back to 'our' appartment for some chatting and a fairly night in preparation for us going out on our own for our last day in Thessaloniki.We did it! We got on the right bus and got off it at the right stop to meet our friends from the Netherlands at the archaeological museum. It was all very interesting but we were having halloumi withdrawal and had to go to Zythos to have another go at making the waiters giggle at us ordering the kolokothekeftades. We finally found some postcards on the way though and a cart that was the nearest to a souvenir shop. Result! We met our Greek hostess with the mostess for a trip to the other of Thessaloniki's sea-side restaurants, the Kitchen Bar and I ate a big, fat, Greek salad. It was our last night there and with the prospect of a 4:45 am flight to Zürich looming, we bought some Greek chocolates and headed 'home'. Niki's mum came by for a while to see us, which was nice, and kindly brought us some souvenir spinach pie to bring home. It has all gone now as I mentioned before. We also had a ferret round some local shops for an amusingly named product to bring home but had to make do with some chocolates called Derby and some Greek top trumps about commercial shipping. Our short break was at an end, my sinuses were wonderfully clear due to the absence of British weather, and we left before the bin men had even been. Hopefully it won't be too long before we're back there and sampling the delights again but in the mean time we are reminiscing on a newly created Facebook group. We may be more technologically advanced since the last time I went there (1996) but we're all the same deep down.
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