Menswear wanted to lead the Britpop mod revival. They were nothing like a mod band, but deserve more credit than they ever got for a few half-decent pop songs.
At the time, Supergrass and The Bluetones were making their names on the Britpop scene. Both bands attracted something of a 90s mod revival following. The Bluetones played a great support slot, after which roughly a third of the audience left. Those who stayed did so wisely and saw an excellent (very loud) set from Supergrass, who would excel to stardom over subsequent years. No ticket stub for this gig, as in those days you could still queue and pay a few quid on the door.
Three years earlier, at their peak, I had seen the Inspirals perform to crowds of thousands in their home town of Manchester. Now they were playing for a few hundred die-hard fans, in a venue where the stage wasn’t big enough for the entire band. Clint Boon and his Hammond organ were on a separate smaller section of stage. Between him and the band was a walkway that led to the toilets. You had to walk through the band to go to the toilet. It seemed slightly disrespectful – but a man’s gotta go, when a man’s gotta go!
Setlist: Open / High / Pictures of You / Lullaby / From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea / Just Like Heaven / Apart / A Night Like This / Friday I’m in Love / In Between Days / The Walk / Let’s Go to Bed / Doing the Unstuck / Fascination Street / Never Enough / Cut / End // In Your House / Charlotte Sometimes / Boy’s Don’t Cry // Three Imaginary Boys / A Strange Day / A Forest
An evening of Mancunian music legends: Sumner & Marr at Barrowlands. Electronic do not use tapes.
Setlist: Soviet / Idiot Country / Gangster / Try All You Want / Disappointed / Get the Message / Reality / Tighten Up / Some Distant Memory / Feel Every Beat // Free Will
Artists: Iggy Pop / Sonic Youth / Pop Will Eat Itself / Dinosaur Junior / Chapterhouse / Silverfish / Babes in Toyland / Revolver / The Belltower
Venue: The Reading Festival [1991]
Date: 23.8.91
My first festival. With hindsight I regret not seeing Nirvana, who were relatively unknown at the time. We also had a Nirvana backstage pass, which we never used. A wasted opportunity!
Setlist: Leave Them All Behind / Like a Daydream / Unfamiliar / Beneath / Dreams Burn Down / Going Blank Again / Vapour Trail / Perfect Time / Chrome Waves / Taste / Nowhere / Seagull / Time of Her Time / Drive Blind / Chelsea Girl
One year later, Inspiral Carpets returned to G-Mex as the ‘Madchester’ scene raved on. Not as memorable as the previous year’s gig at the same venue but the dye stains on the ticket imply it was another hot and sweaty one.
Support: The Farm / The La’s / Northside / Stereo MCs / The High / Mike Pickering [DJ Set] / Paul Oakenfold [DJ Set] / Jam MC’s [DJ Set]
Venue: Elland Road Stadium, Leeds
Date: 1.6.91
A full on baggy invasion of the Yorkshire heartland, as Happy Mondays and friends hosted their ‘Match of the Day’ at the home of Leeds United. The gig was temporarily halted, as some nutter climbed to the top of the floodlights for a better view and a bit of a dance. The crowd obligingly chanted “jump”, and the show went on.
An early Saint Etienne line-up, performed tracks from their first album, ‘Foxbase Alpha’, with Moira Lambert on vocals. ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ brought a little bit of Ibiza to a winter’s evening in Leeds.
Including former members of The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets, with latter production by Martin Hannett, The High joined the ‘Madchester’ scene a little late, and never really shared the notoriety of fellow bands.