09 September 2009

York and Sucio

I was fortunate enough to see the wonderful Sucioperro again on Saturday 5th September. It was my 3rd experience and probably not final one this year. My friend Sam and I arrived in York on Saturday afternoon – we located the hotel, the centre of York, somewhere to eat and the venue fairly swiftly. Sam had been to York the previous weekend so had a heads-up on the venue’s location. Finding things so easily was an impressive achievement for us, given that we are both geographically challenged. We even managed to take the shortest journey into town after getting ready for the gig – genius!

We ate an enjoyable meal at an Italian restaurant some time around lunch time. I could find the restaurant again but its name escapes me. Our plans for sight-seeing failed somewhat, once we got chatting, the time disappeared and the gig start time fast approached. Gig preparation was fairly efficient. I model myself on the so-called typical female approach to getting ready to go out, in other words, I take ages. On this occasion I was efficient, start to finish in about an hour - award winning stuff.

Following a precursory drink at a bar near the venue, we headed off to the venue which would host some Sucio fun for the evening. It was aptly named The Basement Bar (located as it was, in the basement of a cinema). Tickets ripped, hands smiley stamped, drinks purchase and we were in position to watch one our favourite bands. We said hello to Fergus (drums, vocals) and Spider (bass), Dragon (guitar, vocals) was nowhere to be seen until a little later. We caught the end of the first support act, all of the second and third acts. I was impressed with the second supports enthusiasm but didn’t really fall for them musically. The third support was pretty good, quite heavy and a good stage presence. The main event, as you would expect, was the highlight. Sam positioned herself where she could see the stage and I bounced from her location (the stairs) to the front at intervals. I was excited and this came across in my singing, bouncing and occasional pointing / shaking (see http://1974haze.blogspot.com/2009/05/pointing-and-shaking.html). They played: The Dissident Code, The Drop, The Crushing of the Little People, I have reached my limit, No. 23, Hate Filters, Conception Territory, Mums bad punk music, I don’t hate it, I accept it. They also played a new song which, if my memory serves me correctly is the new single, due out on the 19th October. Sadly, due to a language barrier (the lads speak Scottish), I haven’t a clue what this track is called. I’ll be buying it though. I have buy everything policy with Sucioperro plus the track was bloody good (no change there then)! A technical hick-up occurred in the form of bass guitar string breakage. Dragon serenaded us with Abba’s Take a chance on me whilst Spider attended to his bass. Take a chance on me was unexpected but most enjoyable. I have fondness for Abba so it was rather nice to hear Dragon’s acapella rendition of it. The Sucioperro experience was, perhaps unsurprisingly for those that have seen them, marvellous. They have an arsenal of amazing songs and could play for many hours without ever having to draw on a weak one. In other words, they are weak song free. They played with lots of energy and unless my ears lied to me didn’t put a note or beat wrong. I was pleased to hear my favourite Pain Agency track; I have reached my limit, and my second favourite, Dissident Code. At one stage Dragon invited a request from the audience – unbeknown to me, he listed two options. I shouted for them to play The Ruins, not, as it turned out, one of the options but one of my most favourite Sucio songs. I was met with an anticipated refusal, in fact, Sam my gig going chum, informed me that my request was in fact met with a rather negative “yeah, like that’s gonna happen” from Dragon! Will I ever get to hear The Ruins live, doesn’t look like it, unless I learn to play it myself (yeah, like that’s gonna happen) ;-). I would have liked to hear a few more Random Acts of Intimacy songs but didn’t expect to. I always hope for B sides, non-album tracks but thus far my hopes have been dashed. Having said that, ideally, I’d want to hear all material at a very, very long gig! It’s nice to live in the unreal world! The gig passed by very quickly and soon the bar was closing for the evening. They may have even put big light on (insert Peter Kay humour here). Sam and I got ready to leave and had a brief chat with Spider on the way out.

We headed off to a nearby bar, the one we’d inhabited earlier in the evening. The bar was now packed with drinkers (how odd – jest). York, like many cities, attracts large numbers of hens and stags and we were unfortunate enough to share our night with lots of them (insert sexy traffic wardens, Vikings - well we were in York and other strange clothing here). During our post-gig analysis chat, we attracted the attention of some enthusiastic stag dooers, enthusiastic and at the stereotypical level of wastedness. One stag doo member offered us a pack of dares to choose from - we chose but didn’t carry out the dares in question. Another stag doo member stroked Sam’s hair and made comment on the type of baby’s they could have. I believe he said “bald and ginger”. You’ll be pleased to discover that he was the bald contribution. Nice line, ahem. Fortunately enough, the mainstay of their number wanted more beer at another bar so we didn’t have to be rude to get rid of them. Shorty after that interjection of fun (insert sarcasm here), we left and made for our hotel. We caught up with the Sucio lads on the way hotelwards. We had a very enjoyable chat with Fergus, who was about the drive the Sucio van all the way back to Ayr, Scotland. Long drive would have made for a very sleepy Fergus (particularly after all that drumming). I only hope one of his fellow travellers was staying awake for occasional poke in the ribs duty. We spotted the tour bus a few times during our journey back to the hotel. At a guess they were trapped in York’s system of confusing roads. They must have escaped eventually because they stopped driving past us. Sam and I arrived back at the hotel - after adorning sleep wear and further chats, sleep took hold. For my part, sleep took hold into between chats, I’m not known for my ability to stay awake when in bed (erm depending on the activity taking place obviously!). I have a vague recollection of talking total bollu at her, although some would say that total bollu leaves my lips in moments of wakefulness too but anyway.

All in all, the visit to York was fab and Sucioperro were as wonderful as they’ve been each time I’ve seen them. I look forward to seeing them again soon.

xxx

2 comments:

  1. ha ha! It was a good weekend! When are we doing it again?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh soon, very soon but at much less cost. Im am skinters maximus. I wonder whether the lovely Shotokan Disco will come too. xx

    ReplyDelete

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