MUSIC IN MANCHESTER
	(Manchester Bands Section)
	Valerie  25 Summers Ago Big Hands Sat 11 Aug 01

Other Valerie Gigs 

The sun should be beating down, but its August in Manchester and it's the rain that is beating down

It's five o'clock and inside Big Hands Jon and Mike are nervous. The venue isn't exactly bursting at the seems with punters to watch & listen to the line up of bands that are here to "celebrate" that long hot summer of `76 when the sun, along with the Pistols etc. burst onto the scene

So the start time for Flamingo 50 is put back, before they take to the stage with their honed down style of rock,

Each band will be on stage for approx. 15 minutes (fame, Warhol, etc.) and some bands will struggle to get one number whilst others such as Valerie will manage 20 numbers with their raw homage to the true DIY traditions of punk, even producing an umbrella just in case the recently painted roof begin to leak

Riding on a wave of local publicity, Scapa Flow, complete with dry ice, attempt to draw a quickly increasing crowd to the stage and Rocketfield want to try to blast out to a crowd that is increasing in size

The snarled, scabrous vocals of Gabrielle's Wish attempt to strip the wall, the sound seemingly focused through front man Rob's snarling vocals

Surprisingly, Julian Loafer is the first DJ to slap some `Pistols on the decks, and a seemingly incongruous mix of "Cool for Cats" stops everyone in mid conversation to go ".. remember this?", all misty eyed with smiles breaking out on their faces

The Riot Grrrrl ethic is re-visited courtesy of Hooker, with Zoe's piecing, dynamic vocals driving them on.     Red Vinyl Fur overcome the hassle of getting their gear through the ground to hit the ground running, and Politburo are all fiery intent & glammed up visuals

Now it's a sweat box, and that's how it should be.     Jon is sat on the till, and he's in a good mood.     City have won 3-0 and the place is packed.    So much so that after the Heineken, the cider has also ruin out, begging the question of "How are we to create a good snake bite as we did those years ago?".

He misses the Obsession, but there are plenty of punters crammed around the stage as Nick dons his star bedecked body stocking.        "Burning A Curve" and "Soul on Ice" are dispensed in a fast, frenetic manner that gets the crowd going.    And was that "Ace of Spades" I heard?

Desolation Angels display different ranges of their catalogue, from a slow, almost acoustic opener to the full cut & thrust of the electric hammer type closer

Be-decked In their red uniforms, Los Nachos are ready to pounce and plunder an audience that wants to be entertained.    Glad to be on stage after hanging around for most of the day, they produce a taught, dynamic release of energy that creates a serious outbreak of pogo-ing

It looks like all the efforts that Steff, Nick, Matt, Jon, Mike et all have put into this affair are being justified by the number of PAYING punters, and their deliberate low key, word of mouth type approach has worked

So to Moco. Beforehand, Steve has no idea of what will happen, he will let the "Moco" character take its course

He even takes up the guitar before the fun really start.       Minus a mic stand, Julian Loafer obliges by becoming his personal microphone holder. The moshing breaks out. With the stage far too small for Steve, he takes the place where he feels most comfortable, in with the audience.       Participation is taken to the ultimate as Steve is suspended upside down, Julian still managing to get the mic close to his mouth.

Its still raining outside, but somehow it doesn't seem to matter for the time being

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