1 hour ago, gumboots said:

The Sahara? Antarctic? Burnley?

Not quite, Southport and Ellesmere Port. Definitely beats Bacup though! ?

After some 4 years in the wilderness,  I'm back on here! ?

Happy days when I think back to that season, despite the away game at Port Vale on a Tuesday night when I thought we had completely ballsed it up and had resigned myself to the fact that Rovers weren't going to go up. Happy to be proved wrong and even if wasnt the best game of footy I'd seen, it was certainly one of the most memorable!

So. I might be back in Lancs for my winter holiday soon.

The Rebellion festival in August (4-7th) in Blackpool seems like a good crack (loads of proper old school classic punk bands on the line-up).

Has anyone been? I bet it's a riot - chav town during tourist season + punks.

Sorry it's a bit late Husky,not been on for a while. Rebellion held their 40th anniversary gig this year hence why it was sold out. Hope that you got to go as it really was brilliant with some great bands. £135 for 4 days and over 350 bands is fantastic value for money and worth every penny. I go every year and it never fails to be anything other than amazing. If you are just visiting Lancs let me know when you are next up and i'll give you the heads up on what gigs are coming up and what bands are worth watching. This Saturday i'm in Uttoxeter, £10 for 7 bands all tickets sold out. No surprise really as it is a top quality line up, no doubt i'll end up on the stage followed by youtube again in a somewhat drunken state!

One that's possibly for you Bacup Blue, Aus band the Bennies in the UK in October (Monday 10th Ritz in Manchester) , Highly recommended live

(Warning explicit lyrics)

http://www.thebennies.com.au

Thanks for that, i'll have a good look at them.

Hacienda Classical in Williamson's Park in Lancaster was a great one (as long as you didn't have to negotiate the bar queue).

Hooky, Rowetta and MC Tunes along with a classical orchestra and Graeme Park & Mike Pickering on the decks, all in an amazing setting too.

Need to get some more gigs booked because all I have at the moment it The Stone Roses at the Ethiad (StuWilkey of this parish came through with some tickets), the Levellers with some Ferocious Dogging in Manchester, and Jimbob off-of Carter playing a small corner in The Brudenell in Leeds.

Edit - And BML, which this year is Echo & The Bunnymen, Tinie Tempah, Travis, Lightning Seeds, All Saints, Peter Hooks Joy Division Karaoke (sorry, Pete Hook & The Light), We are Scientists, Barenaked Ladies & Black Grape

Edit 2 - And at least two trips to see The Hotpots

Ferocious Dogs are brilliant, looking forward to seeing them again at some point this year. Saw them a bit since in dingleville at the mechanics. Excellent night!

Sold out.

I would really object to paying good money to see them TBH. Saw them 2 years ago at Rebellion and they were horrendous. Set full of 8 minute long boring dirges of ol' Johnny ranting. The Empress ballroom was full at the start of their set, by the end it was barely a 1/4 full.

Just as an aside Doug, the Butlins do at Skegness is really worth going to, the security is nowhere near as severe as other venues and you can get right close up to the stage! Last year my girlfriend was that close she was stroking Captain Sensible's leg.....much to his delight.....

I didn't get to the Apollo gig Doug. I've been watching a lot of smaller gigs these days, at differing venues too. I've really got into Dirt box Disco these last few years along with quite a few other bands off the STP label. Just to give an idea of their rising popularity I went to Rebellion last year where they had the likes of The Damned, The Adicts, Boomtown Rats Etc. The only band of the 4 days to fill the Empress Ballroom (Blackpool Winter Gardens) to capacity? Dirt box! Cracking band with a great set of lads as well. Highly recommend going to see them.

Come on Bacup Blue......its that time of year again.......got my ticket for Manchester.....have you or are you watching the far inferior SLF instead?

Definitely going North West calling Doug (not been on here for nearly a year now due to personal circumstances so sorry for the late reply).

Gigs for me: The Damned at Northampton and The Royal Albert Hall in London next week,Nice 'n' Sleazy in Morecambe the week after and then of course the afore mentioned NWC. Rebellion at Blackpool in August then Great British alternative festival in Skeggy featuring 'From the Jam' and The Stranglers as well as The Blockheads! Quite a busy year with loads of other smaller gigs thrown in.

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

The longest ride - surprisingly a decent well made film.I wouldn't have chosen to watch it but had to through work.I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as i did and would thoroughly recommend it.Would make a good 'date movie'.

7/10

I'm already sick of hearing about Glastonbury. Every ruddy year fb is full of people calling it 'Glasto' (which sounds almost as outdated as the festival itself). They will then spend days telling me how 'it isn't like it used to be' or 'it's gone too corporate' (then buy a Starbucks before work every morning).

They'll complain about how muddy it is (Dude, a field with thousands of people in it for 5 days will not stay grassy) and how expensive it is (you are literally a captive market you daft buggers).

Solution: Stop going.

Meanwhile I have to put up with pics of flower crowns and (when mum forces me to watch Keane or someone similar) watching Jo Whiley's forced enthusiasm when introducing a jazz poet she's never heard of.

Sorry, but had to put it somewhere now there's no RANT thread!

Whilst we're at it Florence and the Machine headlining? 30 years ago she wouldn't have got a gig in a pub as she can't sing! Awful voice..

What happened to your dignity Mike? Have you no shame?

I saw MUSE a few years ago and they really do put on a show! Well worth watching imo,however the best live band to see at the moment is The Foo Fighters.I saw them last night and they really were fantastic.Over 3 hours of a good mix of oldies and new tracks with a couple of covers thrown in for good measure.Grohl even got a young lad up on stage to sing along with them.Amazing stuff!

C'mon Bacup Blue, one of the bands on at Slam Dunk have an A in the O of their name to make an Anarchy sign!

He He that would guarantee them to be booed off stage if they played Rebellion in Blackpool!

When 53 Degrees in Preston opened several years ago I was hoping that it would become a major gig venue - but have been disappointed. Seems to have become more of a covers band type place these days.

Might go to the Slam Dunk Punk Festival in Leeds on the May Bank Holiday weekend.

I wish they wouldn't call themselves punk,they are anything but !

Anybody going to North west calling in Manchester next Saturday? Absolutely corking line up to celebrate the Punk-Father himself Charlie Harper's 70th birthday.It's going to be one messy do!

Stranglers last night for me and my son's. Great night as always.

They were superb,2 hours of pure entertainment.If anybody wants to see a band that knows how to deliver musical perfection,then they should see 'The Stranglers.As somebody who watches over 30 gigs a year these are right up there with the best of them.Wonderful stuff!

Not many Yarkshire puddings on here i know but i tried the excellent 'Theo's' in Hebden bridge at the weekend and it was excellent! I had the Lamb Kleftidos which was the finest bit of lamb i've had in a long while.Unfortunately there is no website for them or a Facebook page but i really do recommend them.For a starter and a main course it's not overly cheap at about £18 per head but i'll guarantee you won't come out hungry! Well worth a visit!

I also went to the 'Rose 'n' bowl' in Stacksteads for a carvery meal and the carvery there is second to none.Homemade Yorkshire puddings and a choice of 4 meats (as much as you want!) and the excellent homemade gravy really makes this place stand out.Anybody into a nice Sunday roast will not find a better one than this in Lancashire.

Just got back from seeing 'The Damned' at The Ritz in Manchester.What a cracking gig! No messing around,bang,bang,bang,one song after another.Truly one of the best live performances i've seen in a while and i've seen some belting ones over the last 5 years.

I'm hopefully going to try El Rincon de Rafa this week in Manchester for my Birthday,I've heard good reports about it and having only got into Tapas this last 12 months or so (criminal I know!) I can't wait to see if it's as good as they say.

Food was great,very reasonably priced for city centre,but the service was shocking.They brought out the 'Patatas Bravas' and then it was a good 10 minutes before we saw any other dishes by which time the patatas were cold! If they had brought them all out at once it would have been superb,however for a restaurant with this reputation i expected much better.

Aside from that the Moroccan Kebabs were amazing!

Just ordered my ticket to see 'The Damned' @ at the Ritz in Manchester in December,Supported by 'The Ruts D.C',this one should be a belter!

I'd like to think that for the 7th star wars film they would revert back to using miniature model sets,but i won't hold my breath.CGI is good on some films but on others it is just overkill and it spoils the films.

Also who ever decided to cast Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in the leading roles for them films should have been shot.I've seen better performances at my local theatre.The success of the first trilogy was down to good story writing and excellent acting performances that drew the audience into their world and made the whole thing more believable.

As Han solo once said though: "I have a bad feeling about this..."

I'm hopefully going to try El Rincon de Rafa this week in Manchester for my Birthday,I've heard good reports about it and having only got into Tapas this last 12 months or so (criminal I know!) I can't wait to see if it's as good as they say.

Indian Restaurants I see are popular, my favourite dish is Saag, Saag Paneer, the chicken is great, otherwise, I try to be careful with a few of the dishes.

Tandoori chicken off the bone Saag Wala is usually my weapon of choice at the excellent "Ruchi" on Whitworth road in Rochdale.One of the few restaurants i've been to where Tandoori chicken is offered as an alternative choice of meat to go with any curry.They do a midweek special which includes popadoms with chutneys,a mixed starter and a choice of curry's with rices (excluding specials) for £7.95.Fantastic value with large portions and the staff are amongst the best you will see.Highly recommended!

Aussie Pink Floyd have played a couple of gigs at Jodrell Bank recently too. Sure they're coming back next year again.

They're good,but not as good as 'Brit Floyd' who are playing at the excellent Bridgewater Hall in Manchester around October.They will definitely give you the goosebumps!