Blog: The Final Pop At The Lock

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At the weekend I headed once more to distant MIDDLEWICH, there to play the final (EVER) edition of Pop At The Lock.

The day got off to a HIGHLY auspicious start when I was greeted at Euston by a voice behind me saying "I bet you're going to the same place I am" and LO! it was Mr M Oliver, heroic gig-goer and all-round good guy who indeed WAS going to the same place as me, and more specifically the same HOTEL as me too. Thus, after a highly productive train trip to CREWE during which I wrote a whole CHUNK of my Judge Dredd book (or at least the first of many drafts of said CHUNK) we emerged from the station and hopped into a TAXI together for the Middlewich Travelodge. This was a whole lot more fun than my original plan, which was to wait ages, get another train, wait ages, get a bus,and then have a HIKE to get there, and was so successful we managed to arrive before even Early Check-In had begun, although they let us in anyway. WINZ!

After a pleasant couple of hours lurking around (and finishing off reading the excellent When There Are Wolves Again) I strolled down to The King's Lock. It was a nice walk, full of memories of the several other times I have wandered along to play there over the years, ending with me going to the SPECIAL PEOPLE table at the festival entrance to get my SPECIAL PERSON wristband. I also got an envelope containing DRINKS VOUCHER which I spent immediately, thereby breaking my own record for firmly saying I wasn't going to have a drink before playing and then having a drink.

I watched Baby Arms, who were v good (although I may have a pro-Media Studies PhD BIAS as Jen from them mentioned having finished hers) and then got myself set up with Mr G Williams at the Gazebo Stage for my own set, where I done THIS:

Clubbing In The Week

Bad Back

I Think I Did OK

20 Things To Do Before You're 30

It Only Works Because You're here

The Lesson Of The Smiths

Boom Shake The Room

I had a BLOODY LOVELY time - as I've said previously, it's SO nice to do a Normal Gig where I can change the setlist and make up new JOKES and DIVERSIONS, rather than having to stick rigidly to an order due to the SLIDESHOW that goes along with it. Also, the crowd were DELIGHTFUL and up for it, notably BOOING correctly when I said I was having a Hydration Break, and to my surprise included lots of people who clearly had not heard some of the songs before. It was ACE.

The rest of the day was spent saying hello to various pals both new and old, BEER, some delicious GRUB and some excellent bands. I was keen to see Mt. Misery and The Cords as I had both their albums but had never actually seen them - they were GRATE, and I was especially impressed by the a) pedals b) MOUSTACHES of Mt. Misery.



Francesca's Word Salad, as Liz from The School pointed out, was UTTER FILTH, and The School themselves were fab, as were The Sunbathers. I missed most of the other bands due to the aforesaid chatting, drinking and eating unfortunately!



INDEED, such were the levels of the above that by the time The Cords had finished I was DONE IN. I could have stayed for The Darling Buds and the Indie Disco, but THE WISDOM OF YEARS told me that if I left NOW I would be able to walk home fairly successfully and get to BED, rather than verging on TIPSINESS (hem hem) and the very real danger of falling asleep/over on the way home. In my defence I'd been up late the night before watching Argentina vs Cape Verde in THE FOOTBALL, so was KNACKERED.

Hence I went back to the Travelodge for a much needed KIP, rising fairly bright and sort of breezy next morning to meet Mike again for our taxi back to the station. Thanks VERY MUCH INDEED to Team Pop At The Lock for having me, it was a FANTASTIC day out all round - it's just a shame it was the last one!

posted 6/7/2026 by MJ Hibbett

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