Towards the end of 1998 one litch couldn't turn on the wireless without hearing Eagle Eye Cherry's acoustic stylings. "Save Tonight" is a decent enough pop song but I wouldn't say I was MASSIVELY ENAMOURED with the wee Cherry fella. But some of my friends from Uni wanted to go and I was ITCHING to see any live music I could. Plus I really wanted to visit the T and C, which was the main venue in Leeds at the time for moderately successful bands.
An Aside:
I probably should have been worried that the gig was "In association with... Aire FM". I listened to 96.3 Radio Aire FM (!) a lot between the ages of 11-13. When me and my mate Whacks played Sonic, Mario or Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis at his house, we'd have it on in the background. They only seemed to own three records: "Angel In A Centrefold" by The J. Geils Band, "Angel Eyes" by Wet Wet Wet and "Rubberband Girl" by Kate Bush. They played them over and over again. It was almost a relief when the 'hilarious' Coldseal windows adverts came on. Despite being a massive Kate Bush fan, I still cannot listen to sodding "Rubberband Girl". I'm getting a headache even thinking about it. Anyways...
We got tickets really late on (from the booth that used to be was where the main doors to the Academy are now), so had to settle for balcony seats. Which was fine by me as I didn't really want to 'get down the front' and pogo. We bumped into my old school friend Steph in the queue, and ended up sitting just behind her on the balcony. Fascinating stuff no?
As total novices we'd got to the venue when the doors opened, so had to wait ages until the support act, Preacher Boy, came on. Preacher Boy was one of those ten-a-penny singer-songwriter blokes that regularly turns up on supporting bills. Presumably because singer-songwriter blokes are easy to soundcheck, easy to upstage and don't cost a lot. Looking on his website, it would seem that his links with EEC are still his primary claim to fame. Hmmm... He may, or may not, have played a cover of "Son Of A Preacher Man" that night. I think he probably did. Oh dear. His own songs have left absolutely zero impression on me. I remember that he was kind of ok - not terrible, but not great. And that's it. 5/10 son.
Eagle Eye Cherry was a bit better. The songs that weren't "Save Tonight" or "Falling In Love Again" were well-written, but a bit dull and not reet memorable. The songs that were "Save Tonight" and "Falling In Love Again" (i.e. "Save Tonight" and "Falling In Love Again"), were well-written, a bit less dull and more memorable. It was a perfectly pleasant way to spend an evening, and a nice way to get acquainted with a venue I'd never been to before, but EEC was probably the first gig I went to that didn't really mean anything. It was just a show and nothing more. Sorry Eagle-Eye :( You have nice hair though.
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