Back to Southampton

I was looking forward to Wednesday night so much and I could barely stop rabbitting on about Tuesday night to anyone that would listen. Initially, I was going to meet Stu at Waterloo and then get the train down to Southampton at half-five. Unfortunately Stu couldn't make it in the end due to other commitments. I got my ticket when I got there and expected it to be about £16. However, because I intended to come back before half-nine in the morning it was £31 (and that was with my railcard!). What a rip-off! Predictably enough I went into Victoria Wine before getting the train to get three cans of Strongbow to "help me on my journey". It was a lot trickier to get to the Joiner's than I expected. I just thought I'd find St Mary's Road and there it would be but unfortunately it didn't quite turn out that way. First I walked in completely the wrong direction following some people who looked like they'd be going there (yes, yes I judged someone on appearance so sue me :-) and then when I thought I'd found the correct way I couldn't find ANYONE who knew where the Joiner's was. I was starting to despair that I'd never get there. But then I found three people who I thought MUST be going there - punk t-shirts, haircuts, piercings, the lot. Funnily enough, they were and they invited me to follow them down to the venue which I did gratefully. I have to say that if it hadn't been for these three then I probably never would have found the place because they led me for 10 minutes down the road and through a labyrinth of subways to the venue. Lloyd and co were stood outside as usual. Cool. I'd even shaved off my goatee for this occasion and I could tell it was going to be a special night. It was a good start when I discovered that Fosters was only 2 quid a pint. Woohoo! I asked Cov John whether I could stay over at his place that night and he agreed so that was another problem sorted. Nice one :-) If he hadn't said that I could stay I would have just stayed in the station til the first train at 5am because there was no way in hell that I was missing Discount that night.

While we were outside talking Alison came out and sat in the doorway next door. Looks like someone needed some peace and quiet.

Blocko kicked off the evening at about 8.45pm with a storming half-hour set. Right from the start you could tell that the sound was SO much better than the previous night. Lloyd's basslines shone through, Mates' drums sounded much meatier and just better than they ever had previously. You could even tell what Nij was singing this time! The crowd seemed pretty into it as well - certainly nobody left the room while they were on and they had several people approach them after the show to say how much they liked them. Great stuff. One guy wanted to arrange an interview for a fanzine and one guy was saying he even wanted to put out their CD!

Haywire were on stage next but I have to say that I was sitting down in the bar and so completely missed them. By the time I got back in the room The Tone was just about ready to play. Yet another great show from them and I'm starting to wonder why I ever disliked this band. Good one tonight is "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" and there's plenty of slagging off of Cov John which is a great sport to take part in :-) The mad dancers started running around for this one and all I could think was "god if it's like this now what the hell is it gonna be like when Discount come on??!!!"

Pretty soon I had my answer. Alison had been dancing a little bit at the side of the stage when The Tone were on so I'm surprised she had as much left as she did. But again, right from the get-go, off she went, rocking and juddering (I almost want to say jerking) around every which way. All I can equate her performance with is a fireball or a hurricane - full of nervous boundless energy which could go anywhere. And it's brilliant and it's beautiful. The whole thing overwhelms me. The albums are great but this is just wonderful. The combination of the music (melodic yet difficult at times), the often heartbreaking and always thoughtful lyrics and the fun, passionate performances of all four people…. Well, you know how I feel. Some people might think I'm going over the top but I don't care. This is what it's all about and I'll be damned if it's not just the music… it's her!! Amusingly, the stage gets so wet and slippy during the set that it's actually wiped down :-) Towards the end, as it's the last UK show, things turn to the inevitable and Alison thanks everyone for being there and how much "I appreciate YOU!" and she swivels and points at Lloyd. It's a cool moment and even though she's smiling I get the absurd feeling that it's getting a bit emotional. I'm sure it is for several of us. As the last notes fade away the realisation sinks in - no more Discount in the UK and that's a very sad moment.

I neglected to mention that Nij, Mates and Kerry missed it because they had to go for the last train. Ten to eleven? What sort of time do you call that for a last train?? *sigh* Anyway, I'm sorry that you guys had to miss it, because it was wonderful.

After the show everyone had a drink and hung around for a while. I felt a bit isolated really as the only people I knew there were Lloyd and Cov John and they were busy catching up with the bands. Still I said hello to Todd from Discount and told him I was going to see them in Stuttgart and he kindly took my name and said he would put me on the guestlist. I also got to sample some of this lethal scrumpy that they'd picked up on the road, and made the fatal mistake of mixing it with my Fosters! :-) It was a sad moment when everyone waved goodbye but it was good know that I would see them again on Saturday.

It seemed like fucking miles back to Cov John's place especially with those cymbals but we made it eventually and went straight back out again to get a burger - a lovely cheese and mushroom thing with LOTS of ketchup and salad :-) Then we listened to some of Cov John's tapes for a while including the utterly fantastic stuff Southport have recorded. There's a slow version of "Déjà vu" on their demo which just blew me away and there's another song that mentions Blackbird Hill - cool :-) We eventually went to sleep at about 3am on Cov John's comfy couches and, once again, my dreams were full of the show.