Born of Frustration

So on Friday, I went to see the James gig at the Manchester Central (formerly known as the GMEX).

Tim Booth's vocals were excellent (what happened to all his hair?)and there was no tiredness when the usual favourites were sung, ie Sit Down, Laid, Say Something, Sometimes. There were some new tracks too which sounded promising.

The venue? Well, being a converted railway station, the acoustics did sound a little different - guess I'm used to places like the MEN Arena.

Plus someone my size would not generally choose an all standing gig (I may have spotted the stage a couple of times!) but there was an atmosphere that reminded me of my student days which I was quite comfortable with - the floor slick with spilt beer and crushed plastic pint pots!

Watched a bit of Gangs of New York on tv afterwards, an enjoyable but late evening.

Saturday - nearly didn't wake up in time for my train to York. Yes, another outing to watch Ebbsfleet United in action at the Kit Kat Crescent. Only two of the Manchester lads went - the others seem to have lost interest which is a shame but we met up with some of the others who travel to watch the club so it was still a good outing.

Shame about the football though - after dominating the first half and securing a 1-0 lead, the Fleet totally lost the plot and the game - it was shocking.

In the bar afterwards, the Fleet's 'coach' Liam Daish was there and some of the fans had a chat with him - he's big and a bit scary so I can't see many harsh words being said to him but I think tactically, he could have done a better job.

A playoff position now is a pretty unrealistic (we're in 12th place, 11 points off the zone) but one can still dream!