With various restrictions being relaxed, various gigs that were postponed due to Covid have been taking place, so last month I got see three great bands – Blossoms, Snow Patrol and Elbow.
Blossoms gig at Manchester Arena, with ticket showing the original date.
A couple of weekends ago saw my first music gig since March 2020 (when I saw Stereophonics at the Manchester Arena a few days before everything started shutting down). This gig was also at the Arena, where Blossoms were finally getting to play their Manchester gig, postponed from that first weekend of lockdown!
I arrived wearing my mask, and I was a bit wary of the whole thing because it was the first time I’d been around so many people for about 18 months, and most people there weren’t actually wearing any face coverings! But it didn’t feel totally packed in which I’m glad of, and I was able to move around a bit, keeping pretty close to the front, but more to the side of the stage.
Blossoms.
Blossoms.
It was a really good show – I’ve seen Blossoms a couple of times before, and their music is so catchy and really gets the crowd pumped up. You could tell they were enjoying playing to such a big crowd – I saw them do an album launch show just before lockdown last year, and that was great too, but a much smaller scale than this one!
Setlist:
Your Girlfriend
There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)
I Can’t Stand It
Getaway
My Swimming Brain
The Keeper
Honey Sweet
Cut Me and I’ll Bleed
Blown Rose
Sunday Was a Friend of Mine
If You Think This Is Real Life
Falling for Someone
Blow
Between the Eyes
Like Gravity
My Favourite Room
Encore:
Care For
Oh No (I Think I’m in Love)
At Most a Kiss
Charlemagne
Blossoms.
‘Sounds Of The City’ at Castlefield Bowl.
Then last Sunday, I was at the Castlefield Bowl to see Snow Patrol, who were playing as part of the ‘Sounds Of The City’ series of shows being held there.
I arrived quite early because I’d gone to see a film at ‘Home‘ in the afternoon, as well as taking in a bit of the atmosphere from the Great Manchester 10K run (which I actually did myself a couple of times back in the day… never again!!)
Snow Patrol.
Anyway, I got there about 6pm, bought some overpriced chips for my tea, and positioned myself in the main crowd to get myself a good spot for the main event. Both support acts were really good – Lucy Blue and The Lathums, and then just after 9pm, Snow Patrol came onto the stage…
…and they killed it! They are so good live, even if the running joke was that Gary Lightbody keeps forgetting the words and the crowd have to fill in the gaps!
The atmosphere was amazing – the outdoor setting was really great, and the Castlefield Bowl really works well as a gig venue. The only negative was a really annoying loud, drunk woman nearby – I could have done without her being distracting through a lot of it!
Setlist:
Chocolate
Take Back the City
Crack the Shutters
Run
Empress
Set the Fire to the Third Bar
Lifening
Open Your Eyes
Life on Earth
Make This Go On Forever
Shut Your Eyes
Heal Me
The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)
Chasing Cars
You’re All I Have
Encore:
What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?
Just Say Yes
Snow Patrol.
Elbow.
And then finally, on Tuesday it was time for Elbow at the Apollo! By now, I was feeling quite used to being around a large group of people, and obviously I was still wearing a mask, and I was quite pleased to see quite a few others wearing one too.
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t know Elbow’s back catalogue as well as I should, but the stuff I do know I really love! And the songs I didn’t really know at all were great as well – one of the advantages of wearing a mask at a gig is that people can’t see if you don’t know the words to a song! As long as there’s some mouth movement, no-one notices!
Setlist:
Dexter & Sinister
Fly Boy Blue / Lunette
Mirrorball
Empires
Station Approach
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
What Am I Without You
White Noise White Heat
Magnificent (She Says)
Kindling
Weightless
The Birds
My Sad Captains
The Bones of You
Grounds for Divorce
Encore:
Lippy Kids
One Day Like This
Elbow.
And then finally I was over in Blackpool last night, taking some photos of comic Steve Royle performing his show – ‘The (Steve) Royle Variety Performance’ – at the Grand Theatre.
Steve Royle at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool.
Originally, Lee from Gag Reflex had asked if I could film it for their records, but in the meantime Steve actually arranged for someone local to do it instead (and to be honest the result will be better because the guy had more cameras to film it than I’ve actually got!). But I offered to shoot some photos on my A7siii – it’s not got the greatest pixel resolution, but it’s good in lowish light which is ideal when you can’t use a flash. I took a lot of pictures – obviously most of them will get binned because you keep shooting hoping to get the perfect poses – but I think I’ll still end up with quite a lot that I’ll need to edit!