"So Much to Answer For..."

Just got back from Manchester this afternoon. A fun trip out. First we went to see The Fall in the nearby coastal town of Morecambe (named after a comedian from the ‘60s). After the show we stumbled through the back door of the venue and into the band’s dressing room, where we met Mark E. Smith and asked him various questions like “Why don’t you like Pavement?” (I think he just laughed at that one) and “Do you like Subway Sect?” (Yes, it was the only band he liked from the post-punk era). They gave us free beer and were incredibly nice.

Next day we wandered around Manchester and chanced upon a few things here and there, such as the former site of the Hacienda club (established by Factory Records in the early ‘80s), now an apartment building. Went to a couple of record stores and at night popped into a club called Night & Day, where we talked with one of the bartenders for a while. According to her, Mancunian legends such as Peter Hook of Joy Division, some of the Smiths (not Morrissey), and Guy Garvey of Elbow come in from time to time for drinks.

The day after that, we took a walk over to Salford—Manchester’s smaller neighbor to the west. We did a great tour of the Salford Lads Club, the site where The Smiths were photographed for the inside cover of their penultimate classic The Queen is Dead. Next, we swung by Old Trafford before checking out the The Imperial War Museum North. At night we spent an hour walking around looking for a burger place before giving up and retreating to the kebab shop near our hostel.

In between the aforementioned events were more greasy meals, discount beer from Tesco, the closed down amusement park at Morecambe, the Costa in Lancaster, some place called Ruby Lounge (or something), and several near-death experiences involving Manchester’s Metrolink tram system. All contributed to a fairly rock ‘n’ roll holiday in and around Lancashire.

Indubitably,

Peter Crickners, ca. 2008


"Back to the Old House" - The Smiths - from the Peel Sessions
Buy Louder than Bombs from Newbury Comics!



The Fall live at the Dome, Morecambe



"Big Prinz" - The Fall