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All Together Now, In Cameron's Land..!
Oct. 3rd, 2013 02:36 amWhile the weekdays have been workmanlike as I learn the new job, I've just had a great weekend; it featured Satan's Hollow, invention of a new word 'spafffest' and marching through the centre of Manchester!
Friday night, we commemerated Andy S's return to being able to socialise (in no way was the venue dictated by Amy, not a tiny bit!) As I'm having to budget a bit with the Summer being so ridiculously expensive, I remember more of the night, which given it was a good one, was an enjoyable aspect.
I can remember being in a moshpit for a Pendulum song and it getting a 'bit rambunctious' to the point where I cut open my knuckles, most of the conversation with folks like Adam , whom I haven't seen in far too long and also when Mackle tried to get our mate DJing, Kramer, to play something and neither of us understood what he was saying!
When he's hammered, our mate Mackle reverts to a deep Scottish accent, despite being from Salford! Me and Kramer exchanged raised and confused eyebrows and I left them to it! I can also recall when everyone left and didn't need chicken on the way home, more money saved.
Saturday night saw Toni brought back to the Sonic Boom Six flock as SB6 chucked plenty of older and more ska-influenced stuff. This combined with another rare thing, seeing them in a Manchester venue I'd not seen them in before, The Deaf Institute. There were folks who had journeyed from Thailand to see them, 'Bigger Than Punk Rock' from their first full album was rolled out and the evening concluded with an incredible story about Mikey Wong getting into an orgy..!
Spafffest = orgy - like the new word? I suppose you have to know what 'spaff' is!
Afterwards, me and Toni celebrated 10 months married with a couple of drinks and an episode of the X-Files (her choice, I might add!) but as she was still feeling pretty ill, she thought that was probably not going to the march in support of the NHS on the Sunday morning.
As she predicted, Toni couldn't make it. Fortunately, up to 70,000 other people could and the throng noisily made its' way around the Tory Party Conference and inner city Manchester. Inside Evil HQ, according to Private Eye, the organisers put on musical acts and Police separated attendees from the common people, so no old Conservatives came into contact with any of the hoi polloi, don't worry!
The demonstration was one of the most positive and peaceful I've ever been involved with, so that's perhaps why it didn't feature on the BBC News that night, chuck in a few Anarchists bricking windows of Starbucks and I'm sure it would have been on there!
Cries of Dictatorian censorship reverberated around when the BBC were forbidden from filming the march from within the Tory Conference itself. Either way, the buzz got out to a degree on Twitter and Facebook as the 'proper' media was letting themselves be impeded.
Here's the music video that was taken by some people who've probably travelled over from Liverpool for the march:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-j_kp-Aquk
Curiously, I'm literally just out of shot. And had I not moved prior to the final song, I would be visible on the footage. Instead, I'm obscured by a disabled toilet! Don't be fooled by the apparent village fete sized crowd, a lot of the people left after the final speech. The Farm played three songs, two of which I imagine most under the age of forty five had never heard before, prior to their big hit 'All Together Now', hence why most had already gone!
Even if it doesn't matter to our Prime Minister, it was reassuring to hear so many people and voices who still gave a toss, not only about the NHS, but about the negative changes to the Benefits system and being supportive to other human beings generally. Hopefully, this translates into something better at the Election in 2015...
Friday night, we commemerated Andy S's return to being able to socialise (in no way was the venue dictated by Amy, not a tiny bit!) As I'm having to budget a bit with the Summer being so ridiculously expensive, I remember more of the night, which given it was a good one, was an enjoyable aspect.
I can remember being in a moshpit for a Pendulum song and it getting a 'bit rambunctious' to the point where I cut open my knuckles, most of the conversation with folks like Adam , whom I haven't seen in far too long and also when Mackle tried to get our mate DJing, Kramer, to play something and neither of us understood what he was saying!
When he's hammered, our mate Mackle reverts to a deep Scottish accent, despite being from Salford! Me and Kramer exchanged raised and confused eyebrows and I left them to it! I can also recall when everyone left and didn't need chicken on the way home, more money saved.
Saturday night saw Toni brought back to the Sonic Boom Six flock as SB6 chucked plenty of older and more ska-influenced stuff. This combined with another rare thing, seeing them in a Manchester venue I'd not seen them in before, The Deaf Institute. There were folks who had journeyed from Thailand to see them, 'Bigger Than Punk Rock' from their first full album was rolled out and the evening concluded with an incredible story about Mikey Wong getting into an orgy..!
Spafffest = orgy - like the new word? I suppose you have to know what 'spaff' is!
Afterwards, me and Toni celebrated 10 months married with a couple of drinks and an episode of the X-Files (her choice, I might add!) but as she was still feeling pretty ill, she thought that was probably not going to the march in support of the NHS on the Sunday morning.
As she predicted, Toni couldn't make it. Fortunately, up to 70,000 other people could and the throng noisily made its' way around the Tory Party Conference and inner city Manchester. Inside Evil HQ, according to Private Eye, the organisers put on musical acts and Police separated attendees from the common people, so no old Conservatives came into contact with any of the hoi polloi, don't worry!
The demonstration was one of the most positive and peaceful I've ever been involved with, so that's perhaps why it didn't feature on the BBC News that night, chuck in a few Anarchists bricking windows of Starbucks and I'm sure it would have been on there!
Cries of Dictatorian censorship reverberated around when the BBC were forbidden from filming the march from within the Tory Conference itself. Either way, the buzz got out to a degree on Twitter and Facebook as the 'proper' media was letting themselves be impeded.
Here's the music video that was taken by some people who've probably travelled over from Liverpool for the march:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-j_kp-Aquk
Curiously, I'm literally just out of shot. And had I not moved prior to the final song, I would be visible on the footage. Instead, I'm obscured by a disabled toilet! Don't be fooled by the apparent village fete sized crowd, a lot of the people left after the final speech. The Farm played three songs, two of which I imagine most under the age of forty five had never heard before, prior to their big hit 'All Together Now', hence why most had already gone!
Even if it doesn't matter to our Prime Minister, it was reassuring to hear so many people and voices who still gave a toss, not only about the NHS, but about the negative changes to the Benefits system and being supportive to other human beings generally. Hopefully, this translates into something better at the Election in 2015...
