Bernard Butler / Virgin Megastore, Leeds

Some rights reserved by neil365

Some people take a year out to travel the world. Some people take a year out to earn money and get a bit of work experience. As previously discussed, I took a year out because I was too lazy to call clearing. So I really didn't have many plans. To be honest it was ACE. I was well aware that this would be the first, and last, time that I could simply hang out and enjoy life with absolutely no worries, no pressure and no responsibility. I played a lot of guitar and practiced once a week with my bands. I played five-a-side football one night a week. I read a lot of novels (Zola, Orwell, Salinger, Shakespeare, Hardy) and listened to lots of radio (Mark & Lard and The Evening Session). I also religiously bought the NME and Melody Maker each Wednesday. Occasionally I was so bored that I'd find myself counting down the days until they came out. I even got quite excited when the news on 'Planet Sound' on Channel 4's teletext service was updated. But there is NOTHING more pleasant in life than being mildly bored. Once every couple of weeks I'd work for my Dad (he paints petrol pumps and garages), and the £40 he paid me would make me feel like I was wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. Lots of guitar pedals were purchased in 1997-98. It was A Good Time. 

Despite being in three bands, I still found it hard impossible to get my mates to go to gigs. I'd hoped that the No Way Sis show at the Duchess would have been the first of many musical excursions, and that we'd get to see lots of the new bands I'd been reading about and hearing on the radio. But no. A trip into Leeds meant Majestyks or Planet Earth. Of course I should have just struck out on my own and stopped being such a lamo, but it's easier said than done when you're from a small town and you don't know any different. Anyway, eventu-bloody-ally I found a gig that suited everyone. At this time we occasionally came into Leeds during the day and had a few drinks in pubs like The Square (shudder), The Packhorse and Whitelocks in the centre of the city. I noticed that former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, who'd had a pretty big hit with "Stay" from his debut solo album earlier in the year, was playing an 'in-store' show at Virgin Megastore on Albion Street, and my friends agreed to combine a drinking session with attending the gig. It helped that the show was free and that there were plenty of pubs nearby. 

I remember the place being packed when we got there. I'm only 5' 8", and struggled to see Bernard over the CD racks. Whose idea was it to have shows in record shops?!! It's a nice idea but they're not exactly set up for bands. That said it was pretty cool and felt kind of 'exclusive'. My friends found it a bit dull though (natch), as it was just Mr Butler and an acoustic guitar, so they ducked out off after fifteen minutes. I stayed and watched the last part of the set on my own and thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember feeling really happy that I'd finally made it to a cool, non-stadium show, and wouldn't shut up about the gig when I met with my mates again afterwards in the Conservatory. I was quite drunk by this point mind. 

With the No Way Sis show being a bit of a false dawn I hoped that this in-store would finally kick things off; my mates would realise how amazing live music was and we'd become Duchess regulars. Surprisingly enough, this isn't how things turned out...