A few weeks after seeing Embrace in Doncaster I moved to Leeds to study Philosophy and English at the University. One Sunday in late September my parents and I packed the car with all my things, then made the half hour drive to James Baillie flats in Headingley. James Baillie was not the swankiest student accommodation available. Bedrooms consisted of a cell-like box with a single bed, sink, wardrobe and a bit of wood, doing a spectacularly poor impression of a desk, slung under the window. The walls were unfinished breeze blocks, caked in cheap magnolia paint. The living room/kitchen was slightly better, with a school desk, some orange plastic school chairs, two cookers and a fridge between seven people. The shower was wonderfully grim however; a dimly lit grey hole with enough hot water for one person per day and a plughole that clogged up at every possible opportunity. There was another shower, built to the same high standards, but that didn't work, meaning that seven of us had to battle with the one horrid room for a full year. Excellent. Mum was not impressed when she left. Natch.
But it was the best place I have ever lived. The more I'd got into music, the more I'd become disillusioned with small town life. I was in full-on, teenage, "no-one-understands-me-sad-face" mode. Specifically I was fed up of going to the same crap pubs and even crappier clubs, and never doing anything else. But all of a sudden I was living in my own room in The Big City. Around twelve of us from Block G instantly clicked, and we spent most of the first week hanging out. Or we did after I'd bought an 'intro week card'. Without this card you couldn't attend any of the events at the University in fresher's week, or even go to the Union bar, and I had to wait until Monday to buy mine. This meant my first night at Uni was spent playing chess with a gruff Greek chap called Panagiotis while everyone else went out. Sample conversation:
"Can we call you 'Pan'?"
"No, I DO NOT LIKE IT"
"..."
After securing some HILARIOUS passport photos from a newsagents at Hyde Park Corner (the guy in the shop stuck his new Polaroid camera up my nose, which resulted in EXTREME CLOSE UP pics), I was finally able to get an intro card and UNLEASH all of The Fun.
We went to a play, we shot pool (lots), we went to the Union (lots), I learnt to cook and we had a drunken conversation about 'sexy dolphins'. We also went to 'Smile', an indie club in the 'Harvey Milk Bar' (a dank cellar in the Union that was demolished to make way for Mine). I'd never been to a club that didn't play chart dance music before. I was genuinely gobsmacked that such a thing existed and spent the night excitedly throwing my drinks over people, as I flailed around to indie staples by the Stone Roses, Blur and the Charlatans. To top it all though, we went to see Rialto play a free gig in a tent opposite the Union called The Blue Room. I Just Cannot.
I was only vaguely aware of Rialto from their no.37 with a bullet SMASH HIT "Monday Morning 5.19", but it was a gig. And it was free. OMG. Our fellow freshers obviously didn't share my enthusiasm, as the tent was pretty much empty when we got there. And stayed that way. But it was MEGA. Me and my mate Joey B moshed at the front of the stage for most of the gig. If you've heard the music of Rialto you'll realise that it doesn't really lent itself to The Mosh. Alcohol may well have been involved. The band had two drummers and the sound of them playing together was wicked, even if, "Monday Morning..." aside, the songs were a touch limp. After the gig I remember ripping a gold star from the roof of the tent at the request of my mate Chem, and hanging around for ages waiting for the encore that didn't come. When we got back to G Block, HM Prison Baillie, I crashed on my bed and thought that I had never been more happy in my life. Bless.
N.B. This gig was at the end of September, but I'm not sure of the date so the 25th is just a guess.
My room. Luxurious timez
But it was the best place I have ever lived. The more I'd got into music, the more I'd become disillusioned with small town life. I was in full-on, teenage, "no-one-understands-me-sad-face" mode. Specifically I was fed up of going to the same crap pubs and even crappier clubs, and never doing anything else. But all of a sudden I was living in my own room in The Big City. Around twelve of us from Block G instantly clicked, and we spent most of the first week hanging out. Or we did after I'd bought an 'intro week card'. Without this card you couldn't attend any of the events at the University in fresher's week, or even go to the Union bar, and I had to wait until Monday to buy mine. This meant my first night at Uni was spent playing chess with a gruff Greek chap called Panagiotis while everyone else went out. Sample conversation:
"Can we call you 'Pan'?"
"No, I DO NOT LIKE IT"
"..."
After securing some HILARIOUS passport photos from a newsagents at Hyde Park Corner (the guy in the shop stuck his new Polaroid camera up my nose, which resulted in EXTREME CLOSE UP pics), I was finally able to get an intro card and UNLEASH all of The Fun.
We went to a play, we shot pool (lots), we went to the Union (lots), I learnt to cook and we had a drunken conversation about 'sexy dolphins'. We also went to 'Smile', an indie club in the 'Harvey Milk Bar' (a dank cellar in the Union that was demolished to make way for Mine). I'd never been to a club that didn't play chart dance music before. I was genuinely gobsmacked that such a thing existed and spent the night excitedly throwing my drinks over people, as I flailed around to indie staples by the Stone Roses, Blur and the Charlatans. To top it all though, we went to see Rialto play a free gig in a tent opposite the Union called The Blue Room. I Just Cannot.
I was only vaguely aware of Rialto from their no.37 with a bullet SMASH HIT "Monday Morning 5.19", but it was a gig. And it was free. OMG. Our fellow freshers obviously didn't share my enthusiasm, as the tent was pretty much empty when we got there. And stayed that way. But it was MEGA. Me and my mate Joey B moshed at the front of the stage for most of the gig. If you've heard the music of Rialto you'll realise that it doesn't really lent itself to The Mosh. Alcohol may well have been involved. The band had two drummers and the sound of them playing together was wicked, even if, "Monday Morning..." aside, the songs were a touch limp. After the gig I remember ripping a gold star from the roof of the tent at the request of my mate Chem, and hanging around for ages waiting for the encore that didn't come. When we got back to G Block, HM Prison Baillie, I crashed on my bed and thought that I had never been more happy in my life. Bless.
N.B. This gig was at the end of September, but I'm not sure of the date so the 25th is just a guess.
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