Blog2010 ≫ I went out two nights in a row!

Suede Teenage Cancer Trust gig @ Royal Albert Hall rocked.

Went to see Suede last night at the Royal Albert Hall, did I mention I was going? I think I did. Seven years since the last time we saw them, and it was great, a great set, all the band on form.

Royal Albert Hall felt smaller than I remembered from [my only other visit](/gig/2002/09/18/morrissey" title="Morrissey) but that's the difference between sitting up the back (last time) and standing tickets (this time). I was driving, so not drinking, that was a fairly unique experience for me at a gig. Not one I hope to repeat any time soon really, but at least it meant I didn't overdo it and fall asleep like [that other time](/gig/2009/02/26/the-cure-nme-big-gig" title="The Cure).

Quite pleased with this picture:

[flickr]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4461342575_d69e68bb72.jpg[/flickr]

Everything else I took came out quite badly, I'm quite a bad photographer.

NME says1 they played:

I thought the set was a bit longer than that. But look, compare that with the sort of sets they were playing not long before they split, it's all old stuff, the stuff people want to hear, good work! Could have done with My Dark Star but you can't have everything. He's Gone was dedicated to "someone who can't be here tonight", this was the only point I thought "oh maybe Bernard is not going to show up". It was for a friend of Brett's who died recently. Everything else made me think Bernard was going to come on, I was kidding myself quite tragically. Richard Oakes appeared to be in a bit of a grump, I know why I thought. The previously rumoured bit where the rest of the band go off and just Brett plays on his own was just Brett, with Brett playing guitar unfortunately. I have this on video, but here's a look of how it went on Saturday night at the 100 Club while waiting for me to upload mine:

So we got to the sort-of-encore, and still no Bernard. I don't think he's going to turn up you know. He did not turn up. I will stop spreading rumours that he's going to appear at a Suede gig.

We left the gig on time, good, I was aching a bit from being stood up and a bit tensed. Or maybe it was the extra strain on my spine from holding Clare's handbag while she moshed at the front with her bro. Holding the camera up was also annoying - annoying for me having to hold my arm up, and annoying for everyone else behind I expect. I was pissed off by the array of iphones in front of me anyway. Gigs must be so well documented these days, it won't be long before modern technology will be able to take all the footage from all the phones in the crowd and reproduce a holographic version of the gig. That will be great, I'll not have to go out again, not even when the Smiths reform. Anyway, leaving the gig on time, we did, @emmaelwood and the friends she was with did not they were all headed in to the after show party, which I'm still waiting to hear about. If it was too exciting she will be secretive about it anyway I am sure.

The drive home was alright, no trouble getting out of our ace car parking spot, and only really slight confusion and stress navigating across town. Part of the problem was that Clare and Dom must have got out of the car, and a couple of drunken pearly kings got in. All I could hear was "oh yeah, it's the old, whatname, apples and stairs, down the old kent road, have a banana. Oh you wanted to turn left back there, strike a light". I confused myself with the idea of going to Trafalgar Square and going the way the bus used to go back to New Cross. Bear in mind I was always drunk when I got that night bus, so that's where the idea that it got to New Cross without actually crossing any of the bridges. We sorted it in the end, on to Waterloo Bridge following a diversion back through Camberwell and that the way we'd come.

Home by about quarter past one, I had to wind down with a beer and an episode of Pointless on the iplayer.

I am knackered today, luckily I always look like this so I am not getting any pity or anything from anyone at work. Early night tonight in theory, but you see it's Friday Friday, so the weekend has officially started, and we have some serious TV to be catching up on (Lost, Shameless, Countdown).

💬 Suede

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Paul Clarke's blog - I live in Hythe in the far South. Married + dad to two, I am a full-stack web engineer, and I do js / nodejs, some ruby, other languages ect ect. I like pubs, parkrun, eating, home-automation and other diy jiggery-pokery, history, family tree stuff, Television, squirrels, pirates, lego, + TIME TRAVEL.