It�s really difficult to know where to start with
reflecting on what will go down in our folklore as the Hull Weekend. There
were just so many highs and Monday has left me, at least, feeling flat.
Travelling through Sussex today I began to notice things I�ve not spotted
before - small things really, like a house on the road out of Battle called
Evergreen, a butchers shop called R Clements and the gourmet sandwich company
called Happy Daze. Must see them once a week but never noticed before. It�s
all part of the magic I suppose.
Our weekend got off to a bad start. The flight timed to get us to meet the
North Yorkshire contingency in the Crown Posada pub was delayed at Gatwick so
we didn�t get to the Quayside until 10.40 pm. The pub looked closed and a
bloke behind the ornate wrought iron gate told us that they always close at
10.45pm. After sizing us up for a moment he said that as we looked OK we could
come in. So it was that we could start the night with Trevor, Judith, Nigel
and Jean. The pub closed almost as soon as we had settled down so it was off
to the hotel nearby for a couple of sherbets before they closed at midnight.
On Saturday morning we strolled through the town bumping into Chris
Groom and Julia Revell at fairly regular intervals. We
browsed the art and music shops until it was time for the Bridge Hotel
and Simma�s Acoustic Circus gig. This was a superb afternoon of
young musicians who Simma
has
obviously indoctrinated into the joy of Alan Hull�s music. They were a bunch
of vibrant, talented youngsters who are all singers and songwriters. They
included a girl with an amazing voice and one of the best young guitarists I
have seen since Mick Taylor joined the Stones at about the time Brethren were
becoming Lindisfarne. I think his name was Andy Mackin and he
has a great pair of hands, an ear for good sounds and has that other requisite
for guitar superstardom - he looks good in a hat! To hear these youngsters
sing their own songs as well as Alan�s was delightful. They knew every word of
every song. They even knew Dance Your Life Away a song I first heard live on
November 19th 1986 in Hemel Hempstead, nineteen years to the day. How spooky
is that? That American, Steve Foster also did a set. I�ve never
heard the achingly beautiful Treat Me Kindly performed live. I love that song
and Steve gave it full justice along with a selection of other classics.
Simma
performed the final set before we had to leave. He really has grown as a
performer since the last time I heard him and is gaining the kind of confident
stage presence that he will need if he is to carve out a successful career in
music. (A few hours later, Ray Jackson delivered a master class in charisma.
It wasn�t lost on Simma.) Sales of his new CD were brisk and he looked so
proud. Well done Simma and thank you for organising this bonus gig. We
wouldn�t have missed it for anything. I haven�t missed an England v All Blacks
match since Brethren were first becoming Lindisfarne. To hear these youngsters
singing all of the words to a selection of Lindisfarne songs was one of my
highlights. How lovely it was to realise that Alan Hull�s rich musical legacy
is in such safe hands for at least another generation.
It was good to renew a friendship with Brian Hannah who may go
to nearly as many as many gigs as we do. We have kept in touch intermittently
since the Final Fling in 2003 because of a shared love of live music.
And so after absorbing the disappointment of losing to the All Blacks it was off to the main event. I can�t begin to adequately describe the emotion when the initial film of the young Alan was shown. The build up was breathtaking to say the least. I was one of many on a roller coaster ride of emotions from the opening bars of Katherine Tickell�s haunting Northumbrian Pipe medley until the final strains of the final song, fittingly it was Run For Home, had faded away and the crowd had begun to disperse. Trying to pick a highlight is impossible because everyone on the stage was determined to do well and boy, did they succeed.
Warm feelings ran high when Jacka appeared and then to
heighten it all sang Make Me Want To Stay, including Marty�s knock-out sax
solo. Could have cried at Jimmy Nail singing This Heart Of Mine. It was one of
my favourite Alan songs not heard live since 1995 at a small solo gig in
Hastings until Billy performed a spine tingling version at West Chiltington
the previous week. My head was held up with pride at being there to see Marty,
Jacka and Billy on stage together singing Evergreen. My son who is now 23 used
to stand on the garden fence as two year old and sing this song to Donna next
door. He didn�t know the word Evergreen then and sang �pedigree� instead.
Where did those years go?
Never heard live by me before was I Hate To See You Cry. I have loved that
song since Pipedream, which incidentally I bought in Harrods, was first
released. I always enjoyed hearing Alan struggle to hit those high notes.
Those youngsters in The Motorettes did a great job and didn�t try to sing in
his style. You could see that the singer felt as strongly about the song as I
do. Later he said that you can�t go wrong with it. Oh but you can! Yet another
classic preserved for posterity - everything will be alright.
All too soon Clear White Light had ended and further mikes appeared on the
stage. The evening was coming to an end. And what an end it was. An
unforgettable tribute to a great songwriter through one of his best known
songs - Run For Home. Indescribable. You�ll just have to wait for the video if
you weren�t there.
That
should have been that until I remembered that, at The Happy Cats Hallowe�en
Ball, Marty had mentioned going for a drink at the Maggie Bank
afterwards. He�d had a couple so we thought we wouldn�t impose. That�s until
we heard that some others were going. Also an extremely talented, and
disgracefully good looking young bass player said, �Are you coming to the
Maggie?� After much indecision Northumberland Street was empty except for one
lonely taxi. Well, you only live once. Had the place been deserted we could
have come back to the Quayside in the cab. However, arriving at the Maggie,
there was a queue outside that appeared to be most of the City Hall audience.
Within twenty minutes the place was packed with the audience plus nearly
everyone who had been on the stage. Linda and Caroline even managed to talk
Tim Healy into singing a snatch of Red Sails In The Sunset.
Getting the chance to say hello to Simon, Jacka and many others put the cap on
a magical evening. During the night Brian Duffy let slip that
the Happy Cats were playing in Eldon Square shopping centre the next day at
lunchtime. By this time the two Cats in the Maggie were very happy indeed, so
we thought we ought to go along a support them.
We did and I�m glad. Seeing these seasoned professionals deal with a crowd
that ranged from the elderly taking a break from shopping to pimply faced
chavs was a joy to behold. I was even presented with a Paddy McDee torch,
presumably for clapping loudly. I was impressed that after the momentous night
before Marty and the gang could entertain a largely indifferent crowd intent
only on Christmas shopping. But they did and we loved it.
So
onto the final leg and back to the Quayside and the famous Tyne pub. I
can�t remember how many times we�ve seen the Steve Daggett Trio
there but they always put on a good show. Steve Daggett�s unique gravelly
vocals are perfectly offset by the sublime talent of Rachael Rhoades on fiddle
and accordion and Michael Bailey on the upright and electric bass. They hadn�t
come down after the excitement and pride of appearing the night before in
front of a sell-out City Hall crowd. However, they had the next day off.
We didn�t - and all too soon it was time to leave for the airport. Reluctantly
we wandered off into the night arriving home in Sussex just before nine.
Emotionally and physically drained we sat and chatted about the weekend.
Pauline went to run a bath and I turned on the TV. It was tuned to a satellite
channel showing, would you believe, Auf Weidersehn, Pet. There on the screen
were no other than Jimmy Nail and Tim Healy circa 1979.
It was wonderful to meet up again with so many old friends. One person said
that this weekend has brought some closure and would probably be the end of
jaunts to Newcastle. Not for me us it won�t!!
Lasting memory? All of it, especially all those youngsters in the Bridge
Hotel, steeped like all of us in the music of Alan Hull, but, unlike most of
us, musical in their own right.
PS I did at some time notice Ray Laidlaw trying to deflect praise from himself
saying that it was a team effort and many parts came together. Well Ray, a
ship is made with many parts. How far does it get with no rudder? Well done
that man - it wouldn�t have been so brilliant without you.
John Grenfell