Between The Wars

Or, more accurately, between the shows. I bought tickets to see Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot, partly because I like their recent stuff as well as the Beautiful South songs, and partly because the support act is Billy Bragg, who I have long wanted to see in concert. What was not foreseen at the time of booking was that the concert would clash with England v France in the World Cup. So I was not impressed to receive an email earlier in the week, saying that they were going to show football between 7pm and 9pm, and we had to be there a lot earlier than scheduled if we wanted to see Mr Bragg performing.
Then, to add insult to injury, I had another email last night saying Jacqui Abbot had pulled out of the concert on doctors orders. Paul Heaton and the band were still going ahead, but there was an option of a refund if we wanted one at that point. After a bit of umming and aahing, we decided to go ahead as the early start worked better for the cold and icy weather we have had today (also, the tickets were very reasonably priced at £30 - a price I would have paid just to see Billy Bragg.)
He didn’t disappoint. The angry young man standing up for the miners, is now an angry old man standing up for nurses, posties, rail workers, etc. I may not agree with all his views, but I admire his passion and the eloquent way he puts those views across - and you can’t beat a bit of overdriven electric guitar driving the songs along!
And now the lights have come back up and the football is about to start. We have taken advantage of a rare pass-out facility from the Arena and have gone into the centre of Manchester to find food. I wonder what the mood of the crowd will be when we return…