John Grant

I awoke to positively spring-like sunshine this morning which is always guaranteed to put a smile on my face. Poor Spokes had to go to work but I took myself out for a walk and then sat down to read (Patti Smith's 'M Train' - great stuff!) and do the crossword with my patio doors open - just a smidge, admittedly, but it felt good!

Later on, I went into town to meet Spokes from work and we had a bite to eat at the magnificent Mowgli www.mowglistreetfood.com were we feasted on Indian street food with the most mind-blowing taste sensations! We were really lucky to get a table.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Philharmonic Hall to see the fabulous John Grant perform. It's been just over a year since we last saw him at the same venue www.blipfoto.com/entry/4993807 and, once again, he was superb. His band now includes former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer, Budgie, a local lad who's also played with Big in Japan, Pink Military, The Slits and The Creatures. 'He's no woolyback!' said Grant, a native of Michigan, to the delight of the assembled Scousers, and, I imagine, the bafflement of many out-of-towners.*

The stage was back-lit throughout the show with lots of strobe lighting which proved fiendishly tricky for me to cope with in a photographic sense and this picture is about the best I could come up with...

The setlist went something along these lines, as I recall:

Geraldine
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
Down Here
Marz
Snug Slacks
You And Him
Pale Green Ghosts
Guess How I Know
Queen of Denmark
Glacier
GMF
Disappointing
Voodoo Doll
No More Tangles
Drug
Caramel

Here's a track from Grant's current album, 'Grey Tickles, Black Pressure' (named after the Icelandic expression for 'mid-life crisis' and the Turkish for 'nightmare') www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViyPYJ2okc

*Incidentally, Wikipedia defines a woolyback as "anyone not from Liverpool, but in particular... people living in the surrounding towns such as Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan and St Helens." Wikipedia also notes that Budgie was born in St Helens, meaning that he IS, after all, a woolyback!!