Elbow in HK. A cast of Manchester people…

I went to see Elbow on Friday night. It was the first ‘proper’ gig I’ve been to in HK and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The gig was ace, but more about that later…

The venue – Rotunda 2 – was really strange. It was on the third floor of a shopping mall!

My friend back home, Claire, had managed to sort tickets out for us. I found it absolutely amazing that if you’re on a guestlist anywhere in England, there’s usually some sort of problem and it takes numerous phone calls and explanations before you successfully get in. That didn’t happen here – The efficient Chinese and their meticulous attention to detail finally helped me…

When we arrived at the venue and walked up to the table, I was fully expecting to have to call Claire back in England to try and sort things out, but it wasn’t needed and 30 seconds later we had our wristbands and were in the venue.

The room was a lot bigger than I was expecting. I was prepared for a Roadhouse/Ruby Lounge sized room, but it was much bigger – Probably a similar size to the Academy 1 in Manchester… But much plusher inside! Oh, yeah, it was a round room as well.

The main drawback was the drinking situation. The bar was on one side of the room and drinkers were penned in to that area and not allowed in to the middle of the room with alcohol. It meant we watched the two support bands from the drinking area and moved in to the main bit of the room for Elbow.

I’ve much have seen them nine or ten times now over the years but this was one of the best times I’ve ever seen them – Including when they played with the Halle. I’m not sure if that was just because I felt like I was at home for the first time in months – The room was full of drunk British people.

After Elbow had finished we went over to the side of the stage, where we’d been told to meet for the party after the gig. This is where the evening stated to get really freaky!

Whilst we were waiting to be taken through, we got talking to a couple who were also waiting. The girl asked where we were from and it turned that she had lived in Wythenshawe and then Salford. We had a chat about back home and made the usual comments of it being a small world etc etc.

After ten or 15 minutes we were let though to the dressing room. One of the first people to walk in was a girl called Mel – She used to work at the Roadhouse in Manchester. We just stopped dead in our tracks when we saw each other. It turns out she is now working for Elbow.

I chatted to Mel for a bit until Elbow appeared… Followed by somebody else that I know, but haven’t seen for about ten years!  It was Matt that I used to work at Virgin with. He was also working for Elbow – Doing the sound, I think. We said hello etc and de grabbed a beer for him and his mate. I looked at his mate and I thought I recognised him from somewhere but I couldn’t remember where. I told myself I was getting carried away and carried on talking, but then I noticed that he was looking at me! It turned out he used to work at the rehearsal room where Sandbox used to rehearse years ago.

I spoke to the band for quite a while about the Sandbox/Ugly Man connection and about Manchester in general. It was nice to talk about ‘normal’ stuff for a change! It also turned out that everybody was staying at a hotel just around the corner from my flat.

Other interesting stuff probably happened but there was too much beer and I too many people that I ‘d not seen for years freaking me out.

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I’m realising that my blogs are not in really being posted in chronological order and I still need to back track and finish Em’s visit and blog about Lauren’s visit. They’ll come soon…

I’m off to watch the Premier League Asia trophy on Wednesday with Chelsea, Blackburn and Aston Villa so my next blog will probably be football related. There’s also loads of good gigs to go to in August AND Sam and Laura (finally) arrive next week!

AJG

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I’ve been listening to the following bits and pieces:

Manic Street Preachers – iTunes festival EP

Metronomy – The English Riviera

Flickerstick  – Live from Atlanta

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie