Blog: Brighton Indiepop Weekender

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I set off for the SEASIDE on Saturday, for Brighton where I was playing at the Bobby McGee's Indiepop Weekender. Aaah, Brighton! Many cities have stereotypes about them, but few STRIVE so hard to live up to them so quickly. I reckon there must be a CRACK TEAM somewhere in the city centre, monitoring new arrivals to ensure they have seen AT LEAST four ladies kissing each other within the first five minutes of arriving, noticed AT LEAST five PACKED Independent Coffee Shops within ten minutes, and if they manage to make it twenty yards beyond the railway statio without tripping over eighteen red faced purple haired crusties and their dogs then the entire TEAM has their QUICHE confiscated for the week.

It is lovely there tho, and having bumped into some pals on the way I arrived in fine fettle to find a VERY FULL pub watching Jimmy and El doing an acapella version of "Ask" in the corner. If there is a better definition of INDIEPOP than that then frankly I do not wish to be made aware of it.

The rest of the day was basically pretty BRILLIANT. I spent much of it sitting with Craig, Ian and Sharon at a TABLE ("Ooh!" we squeaked, "SEATS!") and/or yakking to various other delightful people who had turned up. After a couple of hours drinking it was my turn to get up on stage, so I SAUNTERED up and did THIS:

The Gay Train

A Little Bit

Theme From Dinosaur Planet

Being Happy Doesn't Make You Stupid

Hey Hey 16K

Do The Indie Kid

The Lesson Of The Smiths

Easily Impressed

Boom Shake The Room

I must be honest: I had a bloody WHALE of a time. I've not done a full on SINGALONG set for AGES but thought that people might be sufficiently TIDDLY to GO for it, and indeed they did. It was LOVELY - my favourite bit was when I mentioned former Peterborough United/current Brighton & Hove Albion HERO Craig Mackall Smith in 'Boom Shake The Room' and it prompted a chorus of the song Brighton sing for him! HOORAH!

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself but there was more of ME to come as thirty minutes or so later i was back onstage, this time to sing It Only Works Because You're Here with A Little Orchestra. Before I began I remarked that this was like an episode of QUANTUM LEAP, where Sam has leapt into an Alternate Universe where ORCHESTRAS play in pubs... I thought this was quite clever, and it was only the next morning I realised that it's SLIDERS where they do that. Oops. Anyway, the song itself felt LOVELY, as usual - it's nice ENOUGH when you play with another BAND who are GOOD, as you can look around and see FELLOW ARTISTES and do Meaningful Glances of ROCK, but with this lot there were HUNDREDS of them (NB this may be an exaggeration) and it felt like being SURROUNDED by music. It was lovely!

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed by delightfully, with I think Candy Panic Attack being PARTICULARLY excellent, but soon it was time for me to STAGGER off into the night. I was confronted with that uncomfortable feeling, a few yards out of the pub front door, when one stops thinking "Everything is so lovely and beautiful and whoo" and you SUDDENLY REALISE "OH NO! i am DRUNK and have to spend the next 2-3 hours trying to get home!"

I made it back in the end though, FUELLED by a bit of "2 for 1" offer MADNESS in the M&S at the station which saw me through ANNOYANCE on The Drunk Train on the tube at midnight. Next time there is a meeting of Drunken Arseholes Of The World, could someone tell them that "HUR HUR! GIVE US A TUNE MATE! IS THAT A GUITAR?" has now officially been done to DEATH? Thanks!

But yes, even THAT for half an hour was a trifling nuisance compared to the ACE day out. Some people were going back again for MORE on Sunday, I think that might have DONE for me!

posted 24/10/2011 by MJ Hibbett

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