I'm just going to stand over by the toilets on my own, scribbling in y notebook, mulling over the past week and the past twelve months.
"... I had to rescue somebody you'd cornered", I thought so
I thought I'd arrived at the last Twee as Fuck of the year stylishly late, but alas, I'm early enough to catch one of the free CDs on the door. I guess there's thirty people here by 10pm. I glimpse Thorsten and Camilla sat at the other side of the room, their latest eagerly awaited podcast is a corker, I wonder if they'll do an xmas one. I keep my distance to avoid cornering them ad wonder when the bands start.
Bar staff look bored and in a glistening corner of my mind I feel like dancing. I wonder who else I know will be here tonight. that immortal conflict of wanting to see friends and acquaintances, ex-lovers and goddesses off of the internet, and yet avoid corner them, engaging in conversation.
This is notebook number five for this year so far. I haven't looked up since I started writing this evening, so engrossed in my own thoughts.
Another beer or back on the soft drinks of the driver? Its a no-brainer.
I spy another bloke here on his own, at the opposite end of the bar, we glance at each other suspiciously, I think he's jealous, he left his notebook at home. He reminds me of Robbie from IoMoPS, I wonder if he got round to doing his Christmas song for this year. May I suggest "Wednesday Girl at Xmas" or "Little Miss Maybe's first Xmas" as possible song titles.
Girl here, alone at the bar, looks like a girl from the year below at school, I scribble about it in mynotebook and avoid looking up.
Realise the fallacy in wanting to avoid being creepy, but at the same time, standing on my own, next to the toilets, scribbling. Wish bands would hurry up, get on stage and fuck off so I can go home.
I fear about how quiet Twee As Fuck is tonight. Maybe the overload of scenesters last month scared off the hipsters, but equally the scenesters decided the scene wasn't for them. Is this the damnation of the twee scene or did I just misjudge this night and there is an elsewhere to be, Stoke perhaps?
Nah, too much Hibbett for one year for me.
Four skinny lads take to the stage, no drummer, they are from Sweden, they are The Margarets. My ex-way many months ago coined the phrase for them 'Swedish kids with handbags'.
They sound like two parts early Stone Roses and one part Acid House Kings. Easy G, C, Am, D type songs with noodles and phaser effects. Stephen Pastel would be proud of the vocals, Best use of iPod for drums, crowd noise and St. Etienne/Just Joans found movie dialog clips.
Ooh, I just remembered, at work todat, a colleague was playing some Polish funk rock, and one of the songs sounded remarkably like The Just Joans's 'I Hear your the man now John'.
Stood nearby the bar here is a tall hairy chap who looks like Big Duncan from Dananananaykrod, but he smells different, he runs a label called Wax.
Ooh, Elaine the promoter comes over to say hi. I get all nervous but try to come across as a pro-muso journo, fail badly. Scribble note 'must come up with more sensible bloggery muso journo things to say in similar situations'.
I spot PopKid from Spiral Scratch and elsewhere this tall scrawny ginger girl who I;d swear I was in a drama society with at university a decade ago. The place is filling up and I feel about one chessboard row less self-conscious.
A short girl tugs on my arm and asks of I have a cigarette and suddenly I'm in Bolton, November 1995. Time travel fucking terrifies me. I'm in the Academy Bar, I can't see my girlfriend, but if I could would she recognise me? The jacket and the sideburns are thesame, besides she'd be about 14 years too young. Time travel fucking sucks.
Twelve years and one month later St. Christopher take to the stage, a two-piece tonight. The chummy Yorkshire accented between and mid-song banter in stark contrast to the shoegazery noise. They're missing their drummer tonight, relying on a drum machine.
Whilst its kind of easy to get lost in the music, the 14 song set is dragging. Its only at the last song I find they're an old Sarah Records band. Revering C86 folk probably care deeply, but I want to see the headline act.
The two people in the crowd who still give a crap shout for an encore, luckily they don't oblige.
The Buffalo Bar is full, folk chatting amongst themselves, scant regard for the music, smiling, engrossed in conversations. Time has passed, its half midnight, do bands usually go on this late, I try to remember.
Hatcham Social on last, a three-piece with a standy up drummer, matching hairstyles and torn jeans. They play in an inwardly facing triangular formation. Strange, difficult to describe songs, clunky guitars. Folk in the crowd and behind the DJ desk were dancing and singing along. It seems jolly good fun, but the words are low and the ba ba ba choruses are like another language.
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