Blog: The Giddy Whirl

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It was a BUSY day of Bumping Into People Unexpectedly for me yesterday, starting with the Chris T-T gig at The Harrison in the afternoon. it was a little STRANGE as when I got in i gradually recognised TONS of people, including Jude From Smoke and The Light Programme Lot, Henry The Producer from off the radio, and Pat From The Action Time. This latter was perhaps MOST disconcerting as I had a quick chat to him and found him to be the same Nice Chap he was when i knew him YEARS ago when he was in a band with my pal Matthew, but LATER it emerged that in the interim he has, like Penny from Velodrome 2000, had a CAREER IN ROCK and is now - GULP! - an editor at the NME! How the HECK did that happen?!?

Anyway, Mr T-T started playing and was GRATE. He seemed to think he was a bit ropey, which he certainly WASN'T, but it wasn't as EXCITING and WOW as he'd been at The Borderline... BUT he did do "7 Hearts" which was UTTERLY LOVELY. INDEED i found myself Actually Really Welling Up when he was playing it. "Oh my", i thought, "Do not cry Hibbett! You will look a right prat!" It's SUCH a gorgeous song, it really GETS to me.

Afterwards i said a quick hello and handed over a copy of The Uberset - I'd been PALMING these off on various people already, and was by now becoming a little embarrassed by the fact that it does, after all, feature a big picture of me doing Karate on the front...

I then headed off back into town, for a SWIM, and then to meet my HOUSEHOLD for a HOUSE OUTING to Ronnie Scott's, to see Boo Hewerdine. I must admit i started to dislike the VENUE as soon as we went in and were told to take off our jackets, remove our bags, and switch our phones off. When we went in we were told to move our seats and be quiet, and then when I went to the bar I was told I should have sat still and waited to be served. It was all RATHER BOSSY and gave the impression that i really didn't BELONG here. Me, i prefer places where its NOISY and you can move around and get your own drinks, it is MUCH nicer, whereas here it felt like the sort of place people went to APPRECIATE the music, rather than actively ENJOY it.

STILL, the company was DELIGHTFUL, we DID get a couple of beers in the end, and after a while Mr Hewerdine came onstage, and was BLOODY GRATE. As with Chris TT, this wasn't quite as exciting as the previous time we'd seen him because, as with Chris TT, that previous time had been BLOODY AMAZING, but it WAS really brilliant, especially as he appeared to be in a much more CHIPPER mood this time, telling LENGTHY and FUNNY stories between the songs, and very obviously enjoying himself.

Shockingly, he played almost the same set as previously. Can you imagine? An acoustical solo artist playing pretty much the same set from gig to gig, i was appalled. I wonder if he has a name for it? Like The Boo-ber Set?

Me funny! So yes, it was GRATE, ESPECIALLY when he dedicated "Ontario" to ME! For LO! The Flattened Third In My Minor Chord had DISCOVERED him earlier lurking about, and got him to do it - this is the kind of LOVELY thing she goes around doing, and i was all TOUCHED. Aaah!

After the gig we chatted to Kevin The Promoter who'd put me on WITH Mr Hewerdine in Wimbledon, and whilst we were doing this someone ELSE appeared and said "Are you Mark Hibbett? I was in a band with you!" and LO! It was DAVID THE ROBOT!

He's not really a robot, we called him that because we kept trying to persuade him to wrap tinfoil around his head at gigs and... er... pretend to be a robot. This was in Voon, about 300,000,000 years ago (actually 15, which seems longer), in the very VERY early days in the band. I remember some very cold evenings spent in a very cold room in Brazil Street with me and Neil NODDING FURIOUSLY at him, as he played SYNTHS over the top of things and we thought THIS IS IT! It was very exciting, but a bit of a shock to see him again! It was Dave The RObot! WOW!

THUS we staggered out slightly shell-shocked from all the EVENTS, pausing briefly only to PUSH a CD into the hands of Mr Hewerdine, and stride out into the London Night. Nobody unexpected LOOMED out of the past at me on the way home after that. It was a RELIEF!

posted 31/10/2005 by MJ Hibbett

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