as some of you may be aware, the enemy bought two tickets to see the specials, and asked who i wanted to take. at her suggestion i rang four dinners and invited him. as it was my birthday we decided to make a weekend of it. as you do…..
first, and you all knew…. 4D came up for the weekend. roadworks on the M1 meant he got here an hour later than planned, and i was itching to welcome him back into the tarn! but he got here!! and the festivities began. the drink started flowing, and it was as if the two years we hadn’t been together was two days!
the enemy was out picking the boy up, and when he heard where his daddy was, he was adamant he wanted to meet dinners, so whats a guy to do?
thoughts soon turned to food, so we journeyd across the road to the indian. yes that right, the pub 4D was staying in was across from the curry house! we know how to plan these things! the food was brilliant, and we met a couple of locals that kept dinners busy with talk of union matters! can’t get away eh?
saturday came around (my head/gut thought too soon) and at half 11 4D was knocking down the door! after sorting out some e-mails, it was into barnsley, where we settled in, outside the courthouse, and set about our mission!
and set about it we indeed did! now i don’t know if it was the warm weather or what, but the john smiths was flowing and going down lovely.
now you can’t tell from this photo, but the weather really was glorious, so i thought i’d treat you to a shot of the town hall. enough tourist crap, back to the real stuff. again our guts were telling us that it was time for something to soak up the beer.
so over the road we went (you see a trend developing here?) and into ‘subway’. a first for me, and judging by the dumbfounded look on 4D’s face when asked what he wanted, same for him! “what do you want? what kind of bread? how big? salad? extras? sauce? toasted?” AAAARGH!
and so back to the pub. where we were joined by our new best mate ‘woody’. he claimed to have been up 3 days and slept with 3 women the night before. then we were joined by a pretty 19 yr old and her bloke (i know her dad) and woody picked that time to breakdance his way off the table and kick her in the back!
eventually we had to call it a day, to retreat and prepair for the live radio show. so dinners went off to get changed and i went home. this was quarter to 7. we were due to be live at8. dinners came back and off we went…..but…NO! it all went tits up, the laptop broadband server was down, the nsnz server didn’t want to play, so we rebooted. we were recording anyways, but the live feed was iffy to say the least, and the webcam wouldn’t work. you can hear the results on MY PODCAST but be warned, it aint for the faint of heart!
after finishing the show at god knows what time, waving 4D off at 2:30am, it was up and to the pub the next day at dinnertime after a couple of favours for the enemy. speaking of which, the enemy’s mum offered to run us to leeds as she knew where it was we had to be, and the enemy didn’t. 
s0 we get to leeds, and head for the nearest bar to use the lavs. when we emerge, we decide it’s only good form to buy a drink from their bar. two vodka’s. one with lemonade, one with tomato juice. £8!! blimey! we come outside into the baking sun and see an oneals over the road. after the voddies we head over there, order the same for a fraction of the cost!
we decided to go into the gig. and straight to the bar, where a pint of lager and a newcastle brown costs £6:50. thats a bargain!
we we chill in the sun, watching all manner of life pass us by. old skins, new skins, indie kids, punks, mods, and even normal folk! all there for the same thing, not one once of tension in the air, all played out to the soundtrack of dub reggae and a real toasting dj!
and so to the music. first on were ‘the slackers’ who are an amazing NY ska band. i actually chat to one of them, dave, the sax player. i’ve given flyers out for him. didn’t know they were playing here though, maybe i could have swung some VIP type stuff.
next up were ‘pama international’. no pics, not overly fond. they did their reggae stuff, and were gone. then it was the turn of ‘kid british’. wow! what a revelation! me and 4D were dumbstruck. i compared them as the junior version of ‘the specials’ crossed with ‘asian dub foundation’. very very good indeed.
then, after an hours wait for the stage to be set, they were on! ladies and gents, i give you….THE SPECIALS! 90 minutes of hits had the 7,000 strong crowd bouncing from start to finish. hit after hit after album track, the whole crowd singing along as one. people who had never met, hugging each other, smiling, laughing, singing, hugging and generally having the best time of their lives. i have to say. THE BEST GIG I’VE EVER BEEN TO!
THE PLAYLIST:
DO THE DOG
DAWNING OF A NEW ERA
GANGSTERS
IT’S UP TO YOU
RAT RACE
MONKEY MAN
BLANK EXPRESSION
TOO HOT
DOESN’T MAKE IT ALRIGHT
CONCRETE JUNCTION
FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING
STEREOTYPE
MAN AT C&A
RUDY (A MESSAGE TO YOU)
DO NOTHING
RICH GIRL
LITTLE BITCH
NITE KLUB
YOU’RE WONDERING NOW
GHOST TOWN
ENCORE:
TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG
LONGSHOT KICK THE BUCKET
SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP
ENJOY YOURSELF
the enemy and her mum came to pick us up, and before we knew it, we were back in barnsley. we dropped the mum in law off, then dinners, then i went home. after all that time stood, and then sitting on the journey home, it had an adverse effect on my bad ankle, and i could barely walk to the house!
the following morning i met dinners at 11am for a couple of shandy’s before he headed off home. what a weekend!
dinnners mate, i said it monday, and i’ll say it publically here, thanks to you for such a good weekend, it genuinely felt like i’d been away on holiday. my liver and wallet hope for a rest, but i could do it all again next weekend!
*for the rest of you, watch this space, because next year is my 40th, and is already being planned…..oh yes, we have something potentially breathtaking planned for next year.
4D, you are the big bro i never had, i love you to bits, ta.
ttfn peeps, i’m off to bed!
Same ere l’il bro.
Strangely no mention of muppets? ;-)
Crackin’ weekend old bean. Give Pinball a hug from me.
A Spade is a horticulteral earth inverting impliment by the way….;-)
Say “Hi” to Woody as you step over him……
Until the next time!!!!!!!!
I SAW WOODY LAST NIGHT ON MY WAY TO WORK! NO LIE!
he was stumbling up the road, probably trying to find that elusive pub where a round costs a quid!
Poor bootsie! ;-)