Mancunian Blues
Created | Updated Feb 10, 2005
The Review Issue.
Here's an example of irony: Last year, the government decided that building trams going out to 3 areas of Manchester was not cost effective, even though they'd already bought and knocked down houses to make way for them. So they painted a Metrolink tram in purple to
highlight the 'Get Our Metrolink Back On Track' campaign. When last month there was a derailment, guess what, it was the 'Back On Track' tram that was sitting off its rails at a silly angle.
Anyway, I'd been reading through So Long and Thanks For All The Fish recently and I was sitting in a restaurant, wondering if I would go about trying to go though the guide's three rules for giving reviews in exchange for payment. Then I looked on the wall of The
Great Kathmandu, Burton Road, West Didsbury, and saw more awards than Ant and Dec.
This little Indian/Nepalese restaurant has got national praise and
is one of the best curry houses in England. So why do I really not like going there? Mainly it's because the atmosphere is horrible, in my opinion. I was getting snarled at by the waiters (I wanted a curry on my own, so do not get nasty or I won't tip), but it's the other customers that always ruin it for me. It's not a big place, in fact it's on the cosy side of Diddy, and the tables are very close together. Which makes me wonder, why on this green Earth, do they still allow smoking?
I was sitting less than 2 feet away from the next table all the members of which were puffing like the metaphorical chimney. When I shared a flat, all my house mates had the good manners not to smoke when we were eating, not so here however. It's the huge stupidity of it. As I was munching through an excellent chicken starter, one guy, fag in mouth, was saying how his dad had cancer and how he was calming it down and not even smoking at home. If you do not smoke at home, don't smoke over my food.
They finished their starters just as my main course arrived, and they actually lit up the moment my meal arrived. There is no segregation at all, no smoking or non-smoking. For people who pride themselves on the delicate flavours of their meals, I can't see how they can let the healthy majority of this nation have their experience ruined. No real comment on the curry, it was well made, but the neighbouring table ruined it for me and I wasn't up for taste comparison. If you smoke and feel like ruining somebody else's culinary experience, then come on down. At £15 for drink, starter, rice and main meal, its decently priced.
I also went to Moon this week. Moon is a Curry restaurant on Wilmslow Road in Withington. It's much bigger, doesn't offer an extensive menu, but the food is well made and the staff are friendly enough. Again it's smoking where ever, but the place is much larger, with more room between the tables, so it didn't seem
as oppressive. I enjoyed the Chicken Jalfrazi there and it was a quid or two cheaper which was nice.
Thursday saw me head down to the 'Campaign For Real Ales' Winter Ale festival. As well as ales, there were a fine selection of ciders, international beers, beer guts and beards. It's a nice friendly way to sample drinks you wouldn't normally get the chance to, with no
pressure to just get trollied, but to sample each beer and discuss the flavours and such.
Onwards from that. Yep there is more - lots more! I ended up at the Retro Bar near UMIST. Downstairs at the Killing Fantasy club I watched Zombina and the Skeletones. They are by far the best Ska-Punk-Horror band I have seen. Slightly retro organ sounds drive an energetic and humorous set. I visited their site, and some of the song descriptions are great: Space Debris meets Girl, Space Debris falls in love with girl, girl dies from radiation poisoning.
Classy!! Anyway, check out them out.
While at the gig, I had a demo forced on me from a group called Sadie Hawkings Dance, a female-fronted glam rock band. Their theme song, Sadie Hawkins Dance is the kind of energetic song that will get people out front
and on their feet. The rest of the demo, however, didn't bowl me over. I have yet to see them live, and given that their web site looks like it's half a year out of date, don't know when that will be. If I get a chance to check them out, I'll let you know.
I was having a discussion on a message board about a band called Young Offenders Institute, who seem to be making waves. Handily they had a gig with the self proclaimed Indie-Punk-Nerd-Rock Gods, Midland Railway, so I went down to check them out. As far as I've heard (second-hand from somebody who watched C4 teletext) they were formed by a big name manager out of some youths from the Collyhurst Young Offenders Institute (hence the inventive name). With PR on board, they have also got an 8-part TV series on the cards. Perhaps this explains how they've managed to get around the 21 day rule at the Roadhouse where they play soon, because it really can't be talent.
They started off with their theme song, which lost all hope of starting the set well when they made a point of introducing it. In my many years hanging round the music dens of Manchester, I've seen my share of bad Oasis wannabees, just this lot take it to a whole new
level and I didn't know that it could go that low!
The lead singer is in no way a singer, and he is only up for the interspersed rapping. Yes, cashing in on the success of The Streets and Goldie Looking Chain, YOI break into random rap every so often and, to be fair, its not very good. Any street edge is deadened by the hideous timing and incomprehensibility of the words. Some of the tunes were robbed straight off other artists (makes a change from them robbing of grannies), for instance Tears In Heaven provided the tune for Baby Cocaine. Oh yes, most of the discernible lyrics were about drugs and I had the impression that
they were written by a team of middle aged writers in London. If their fans hadn't accosted me going to the toilet, or spend their spare time keeping the replacement car radio and window glass businesses going, then I would feel sorry for them liking this pap.
Its hard not to be disgusted at the cynicism of the music industry. They know they aren't doing a Jamie Oliver. When that 'Jamie's Restaurant' came on, he took a bunch of kids and tried to give them a decent start, made them take responsibility, tried to take the drugs and crime out of it. This is a group of druggies who are basically being told if you sing about acid, crack and dope, we'll give you cash and it will just encourage others to join in the culture. Frankly any band who are so awful in conception, theory and execution and makes me praise Jamie Oliver, are so beneath my contempt that I'm just going to
stop there.
Till the next time
Love, peace and blues
tjm
