Sunday May 13th. Champions at last.

After weeks of enduring shite from knob head U****d fans, City did the impossible and won the league.
Of course City being City we had to nearly fuck it all up in typical fashion. We overcame the 8 point margin, U****d lost to Wigan, drew with Everton and obviously to us.
While we kept winning after the Arsenal game, beating them and overcoming a really tough test at Newcastle away thanks to a Ya Ya brace.

The hard part was done, all we had to do was beat QPR at the Etihad.
Easy huh?
We had only dropped 2 points at home all season and they were horrible on the road.

Finding a suitable venue to watch the game was a tough decision as well, I didn't want to go to the Crown because I refuse to go in there. I was debating various pubs in the Valley or Santa Monica, but was saved by fellow blue family the Steenson's of SM and so me and Liam went there to watch so we didn't have to deal with any idiotic rag fans.

The game itself was a thriller to say the least, City battered them and Zabaleta puts us ahead to go in at halftime 1-0 up.

Joey Barton then got himself sent off and put QPR down to 10 men and then things started to go wrong, very wrong.
Lescott put a shocking header right into the path of Cisse who ran through and equalised. Then later on in the half Mackie put them 2-1 up after a fine cross from Traore, it has to be said that this was from a free header after Nasri jogged back leaving his man (Mackie) wide open.
City continued to pile on the pressure but QPR defended like Trojans especially Paddy Kenny who made save after save after save.
With a last throw of the dice Dzeko and Balotelli were brought into the game.
The 90 minutes were up with 5 added on, still a bridge too far I thought.



But in 91st minute Kenny saved from Balotelli on a corner, on the next one Dzeko powered a header into the back of the net.
I found this especially cruel and typical of City to finally get one past Kenny when it was way too late. After the restart QPR hoofed the ball up the field, the ball was played to Kompany who sauntered 40 yards or so with the ball before finding Aguerro.
Aguerro ran at the QPR back four, passed it to Balotelli who with his back to the goal fell over before finding Aguerro with a pass while on his arse. Aguerro took one touch, went just wide of Taiwo and with the weight of the entire blue half of Manchester on his shoulders blasted the ball past the heroic Paddy Kenny.
The stadium went wild, the players went mental, the commentators couldn't believe it, we couldn't believe it. We were jumping over the couches in Lisa and Dave's living room, it was blue heaven.

To make matters sweeter, Sky immediately went to the Stadium of Light and showed the look of disappointment on the faces of Fergie and the U****d players and fans, it was perfect.

After all the abuse they had given us over the last few weeks, the best they could come up with was that it was only on goal diffence. Ha, daft and bitter cunts indeed.
The future is bright and the future is blue.... CTID.

It's coming down to the wire.

Manchester City 1, Manchester United 0

Vinny scores.

It's gone a bit quiet these days from the red half of Manchester.
Didn't seem that long ago they were all saying it was in the bag and making those "20" posts on facebook and twitter.
Even the lead singer from my favourite band the "semi legendary" Wedding Present has stopped sending me taunting texts.
The win tonight puts us on top, ahead on goal difference and even though I think we have the tougher two last games, if we can't win them then the season has been for nothing and we will have got what we deserve.
Good win tonight and nice to see captain Vincent Kompany score the winner after he was wronged in the FA Cup derby.
Two more games lads, two more games.
I probably won't cry if we don't win the league, but I'm sure that I will if we do.

Vinny celebrates.

Arty Bloody Farty comic strips.

From my Morrissey fanzine of old, Arty Bloody Farty, I give you the comic strips.
Enjoy.


From issue number one:

From issue number two:

The Wedding Present in San Diego and Los Angeles.

March 30th 2012 The Casbah, San Diego.

Fergal, Mark, Kellie and myself drove to SD and we were meeting fellow barmy army member Kia at the hotel later on in the early evening. The hotel was decent and literally a five minute walk to the venue, so it looks like we have a new permanent place to stay for all future shows at the Casbah. We settled in, then went to find somewhere to eat.
We agreed upon a small Mexican take away just a block down the street, it was very good by the way. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped and grabbed a few beers from the 7 eleven around the corner and also bought a few tickets for the Mega Millions lottery.
The jackpot was up to $600 million, so it was worth a shot. We speculated on how we would spend the cash if we won and came up with an idea to follow TWP all over the world and finance the next studio album.
We of course would call it "Club 5" in honour of the five barmy army members who made it all possible. but unlike "Club 8" we would have special tee shirts and badges made. Sadly though we didn't win, but the notion was a good laugh until we realised we weren't multi millionaires, but we certainly got our money's worth.

Just prior to setting off we were joined by our friends Dolly and Paul, we drank a few more beers and then made our way to the venue. Wedding Present shows in San Diego aren't usually well attended and the audience can be quite unenthusiastic at times. But this Seamonsters gig was a bit of a surprise, the venue was packed and the crowd were really into the performance. I think they even took more than the normal $78 on the merchandise table.
I could hardly believe it myself. The show was great, the band had got tighter since we had seen them at SXSW and were visibly having a good time onstage. Kellie's daughter Caitlin came to her first ever Wedding Present show, she said she had a good time.
I personally think that Kellie was more excited to see her after months away at UCSD, that the actual gig, but that's completely understandable.
I had tequila shots with Pepe, Charlie, Patrick and Sebastian after the gig. They were fiddling about with salt and lime in between drinking it, while I just knocked it back. Can't be bothered with drinking ceremonies, "just get it necked", that's my motto.
Back at the hotel, we had a bad case of the munchies, so it was back to our neighbourhood Mexican take away where we bought even more tacos and burritos.
What is it about being drunk and wanting a really heavy late night supper?
Either way, it was really good once again.
The next day we all went to Old Town and ate a fabulous Mexican breakfast and Fergal picked himself up a couple of house warming gifts from the museum across the road.

Paul, me, Fergal and Mark at The Casbah.

March 31st 2012 The Troubadour, Los Angeles.

DLG in action at The Troubadour


I had announced that I would make a big curry in honour of our guests and the fact that our friends Steve and Brandi were coming along to the show.
I made a chicken vindaloo and an aloo ghobi of sorts with added lentils and mushrooms.
I also made my famous spicy onions and raita with poppodums. Everyone loved it, or at least nobody got ill.

Before the show I chatted with ex-WP bassist Terry De Castro and she seemed pretty excited to see Seamonsters performed live.
She later admitted to me that she was gutted that she never got to play the entire album and "maybe" she quit two years too early.
She owned up to being a bit sad about being an audience member at a WP gig, but she certainly enjoyed the show anyway.
It seemed that we pretty much knew approximately third of the entire audience.
At every turn there seemed to be an old friend to chat to.
As ever the show was excellent.
One of the highlights for me was when DLG pulled out an LA Galaxy towel in between song to wipe his sweaty brow. He announced that they were his American team (He's been to a few games with us) and added that it was football and not soccer because "it is a game that you use your foot to kick a ball".
Little did he know that the Galaxy were losing 3-1 to New England as he spoke, I think we made the right decision to go to the gig rather than watch the G's lose at home and in the rain.
Kellie's other daughter Deirdre came to this gig, which means that all of our kids have been to Wedding Present shows. I think Owen is the biggest fan as he is quite proud of his bedroom/band storage area. Plus he probably knows David and Jessica better than the other three and vice versa.
It was kind of sad knowing that this was to be our last Wedding Present show for some time, but it had been a very enjoyable month.
I made "another" big curry for the band when they returned to Simi Valley a week later to drop some stuff off. It was another enjoyable evening and the chance to say our "goodbyes" to friends new and old before they set off for Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.

Me, DLG and Paul after the L.A. gig.

SXSW Days Five and Six

March 18th and 19th.


TWP after the Flat Top Burger gig.


I could go on about our last two days in Austin about how were went to the local mall and wandered around from shop to shop looking for trainers, clothes and souvenirs.
Or I could mention how we thought our hotel was in the middle of nowhere and how we got a cab to stop so we could get beer and had to order $40 pizzas only to discover that there was a gas station and a subway sandwiches and a fucking ATM machine less than a mile away, hidden behind an office building.
I won't mention the fact that me and Mark watched the Galaxy game in our hotel room on his computer as Kellie consoled herself with a glass of wine while Ian and Steph went on some wild adventure looking for bats.


Barmy Army at the Red Eyed Fly.

Our crappy trip home via a stop over in Denver where I sampled a burger made from buffalo meat (It was delicious, no wonder they are virtually extinct) shall go unobserved.
None of that mundane stuff is worthy of a mention, I shall just focus on the general vibe of SXSW. It was a great week, we had a fabulous time watching our favourite band while hanging out with some lovely people.
The barmy army's "magnificent seven" obviously take centre stage, but a special mention has to go the Wedding Present band and entourage.
Over the years we have become friendly and gotten attached to various members of the band, but having said that it is always nice to meet new recruits. Obviously we already know Charlie and his lovely girlfriend Sarah. But it was lovely to see them again. Patrick apparently had played with the Pipettes and I honestly can't say I've ever listened to them, even though DLG and Jessica once invited us to a gig to see them at the Troubadour. Patrick was a joy on the door, always good for a laugh and willing to chat, his run in with the locals at the Iron Bear is the stuff of Wedding Present legend. His mate Sebastian, who was TWP's stand in sound guy on the tour was another great addition and an instant favourite of the barmy army.


Patrick and me the day after the Iron Bear "Seamonsters" gig.


Patrick, the man, the myth, the gay icon.

Pepe had the biggest boots (quite literally) to fill in the band. Terry had been part of Cinerama and TWP for well over a decade and even DLG has said on more than one occasion that she was the best he had ever worked with. Terry is another big favourite of the barmy army and me and Kellie have been to all of her solo shows in L.A.
But Pepe just filled Terry's vacant spot effortlessly. Her bass playing is a bit rockier than TDC's and her stage presence was best described as enthusiastic.
At one point I jokingly scolded her and told her to "Stop smiling onstage as it was bad for the band's image"


Pepe, not smiling for once.

She is like a breathe of fresh air within the ranks of TWP and it was pleasure to meet her hubby Andy at Austin as well.
He was as into the gigs as any member of the barmy army, jumping up and down like a loon, at the front at every performance.
It turns out that Andy and I have a mutual friend (Dave Brown) and this helped break the ice as he might possibly have thought that we were a group of stalking weirdos.
Anyway, anyone that loves footy, likes the Wedding Present and is married to the band's bassist is alright by me and the rest of the barmy army.
We all had a great week, despite the muggy heat and crowds. As a long time Wedding Present fan and an atheist, I must say that watching Seamonsters performed live is as close to a religious experience as I will get these days.


TWP at Mellow Johnny's bike shop.
Keg porn.

Anyway, the trip might have emptied our funds for a while and used up all of my limited vacation time, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
So Jessica, DLG, Patrick, Pepe, Charlie, Sarah and Andy, I salute you.
Kellie, Mark, Kia, Derek and Ian and Steph from Ian and Steph, I would like to pay a particular homage to and say kudos for all your standing about for hours, walking around Austin in the horrible heat, putting up with each other and me, eating great food and also crappy food all in the name of the David Gedge's Barmy Army and a commitment to following The Wedding Present to ends of the earth or just possibly venues we haven't been to before.


Mark and his infamous bucket o' margarita's


We didn't make Barmy Army tee shirts for this tour, so here's a photo of the original shirts. I won't say who the model is here as Kellie will kill me when she sees this.

SXSW Day Four.

17h March 2012.

Top o' the fuckin' mornin' to ya!!!!
Day four of SXSW fell on Saint Patrick's day, so the crowds were bound to be heavier and even more obnoxious than normal.
The first Wedding Present gig of the day was a bit later than normal and this gave us the opportunity to see the Twilight Sad at a different venue.
I had never really listened much to this band even though friends had raved about them, in fact all I have ever heard from them before this was them covering TWP and The Smiths and those were pretty good efforts.
We got to the venue a bit early but things were running late and unfortunately for us we had to endure the dreadful Andrew WK and an even less talented prat helping him out who happened to be English. These two were as embarrassing as they were annoying and you could see the Twilight Sad getting pissed off onstage while rushing their soundcheck as these two buffoons kept referring to them as Twilight.


Twilight Sad

When they finally were ready to play, singer James Graham announced. "Hello everyone, just to let you know, we are not Irish. We love the Irish and we love Ireland, but we are fucking Scottish." Obviously this was probably down to Saint Patrick's day and perhaps every American they met today asking them if they were Irish. Then it was the turn of Andrew W(an) K (er) and retarded friend to feel his wrath as he added,
"We are not fucking called Twilight, were are not fucking vampires.
We are The Twilight Sad, that's a fucking shite film."


Twilight Sad


The performance was great, it brought the house down. I was really impressed and also dug the fact that he was wearing a cracking pair of Adidas Beckenbauer's. Good music, beer and trainers, it doesn't get much better than that.


James Graham's trainers, Adidas Beckenbauer's


Menu stolen from the Gingerman.

Next up for us was TWP at the Gingerman.
The place was very impressive, it had a 4 page menu for the beer and a single sided menu for the food. I love it when a bar has it's priorities in order.
Sadly though for the band this was a predominantly St. Paddy's day crowd. The beer garden was packed with wannabe Irish party people even older than us, all bedecked in green enjoying some god awful Irish American folk band. I did spot one other person wearing a Bizarro shirt, but that was about it and he was busy sending out texts on his phone. Probably asking friends if he was in the right place no doubt, as we were certainly wondering the same thing ourselves.


Non-Wedding Present crowd at the Gingeman.



The folk band finished and TWP showed up and set up rather quickly. I noticed some scruffy, beardy bloke at the opposite side of the stage from us and instantly recognised him as Joaquin Phoenix, Ian from I&S was a bit skeptical, but I have seen him on Letterman a couple of times in between films and this is an image he always adopts.


Joaquin Phoenix at the Gingerman checking out TWP.

The sun was beating down and I guess the band weren't feeling the love from the majority of the crowd as they skipped one on the songs from the list. At least the barmy army and a few other WP fans in the audience really enjoyed the show.
In fairness to the drinkers, they were very polite about the performance and some tried to get into it, they met each song with mildly warm applause, it just wasn't their thing and wasn't what they had come to see.


Gingerman setlist.


After the show Kellie and I left to get a kebab, while the others went and had a Mexican meal at Carlos Santana's restaurant Maria, Maria. We met then later on for drinks and I have to say that this place was really nice. Beautifully decorated, the service was great and the prices very reasonable for such a swanky joint.


The rather impressive Maria Maria.

The last Wedding Present gig of the week took place in the wonderfully named Beerland. It was a bit of a dump and very small and narrow, but served its purpose and the beer was the cheapest we had seen all week.
We bumped into Andrew Scheps again, said "Hello", had a bit of a chat but he politely declined my invitation to have a bit of a bounce down at the front. Clearly he is smart as well as exceptionally talented.


DLG at Beerland by Mark Venton.

The gig was being broadcast live on local WFMU and was a bit rockier than all the other sets mainly because there was only one microphone stand available so all songs that Pepe sung backing vocals on had to be skipped. This meant that we got Dalliance instead of DDR, which was a bonus in my eyes, as it's in my top ten WP songs.
There was the added bonus of a really drunk WP fan at this gig, and naturally he had to pick me out to stand next to for the show. Harmless enough, but quite annoying. He kept bumping into me, yelping and slapping his hand onto the stage. Patrick and Pepe gave him that "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" look on more than one occasion. In between songs he shouted for "Give my love to Kevin" David said it wasn't on the setlist and the drunkard replied "Play it for my best friend" as he put his arm around me "He's here, my best friend Kevin"
David laughed,(probably at my expense) and said "That's funny, the last time I checked his name was Andy"
I was bit annoyed with this drunk person to be honest, but he clearly didn't really mean any harm and I could hardly give him a dig, that would have been really rude.
Anyway during "Don't talk, just kiss" he gets really over excited and falls onto the stage and did a face plant right into Pepe's pedals. Jessica and Patrick glanced at me with a look of horror, maybe for a split second they thought I had decked him, I didn't.
I helped him up and he had a big red mark right in the middle of his forehead, I guess they called that karma. He probably woke up with an massive head ache the next day, or at least I hope he did.
After the gig, we chatted with the band and made plans for a wild after SXSW party back at our hotel room. Jessica squeezed us all back into the tour van, it was technically illegal, but sometimes even TWP live life on the edge.


Beerland setlist. Dalliance was played last though.

Back at our room, all the couples except for Charlie and Sarah said goodnight and retired to their rooms (lightweights).
So the big after party consisted of Kellie and me, Mark, Sebastian, Patrick, Charlie and Sarah. Our room was a bit of a mess already, so it's not like a party would make any difference. Everyone was starving so we ordered 3 pizzas, and started on the beer and wine. We had a few laughs recalling everyone's take on the Iron Bear and the incidents we all had. Sebastian and Patrick brought some beer from the Ranger Creek brewery, "It was free" they said, and we soon figured out why.
It was described as mesquite porter ale, which basically meant that it smelled and tasted of beef jerky, it was fucking vile. Me and Patrick both tried it and nearly vomited, as a result of this Charlie and Sebastian passed. Mark however was a bit drunker than we were due to the bucket sized margaritas that he drank at Maria, Maria's, so he had a couple of them. The pizzas took forever to arrive, so we called the pizza parlour again in order to bollock them and finally nearly an hour after we placed the order, they showed up, lukewarm. Despite this, I tipped the bloke a fiver and must say that they were really good pizzas. We devoured them until there was only one slice left and I could tell some of the lads were eyeing it up, but were acting too polite to take it, so I spared them the embarrassment and ate the fucker myself.
It's just all part of the considerate service that I offer.


The party room. What happens at SXSW, stays in SXSW.

SXSW Day Three

16th March 2012

Day three was probably my favourite day at SXSW, they were all awesome, but this one just tipped it.
We had three great gigs at three venues that couldn't have been any more different from each other.


Flyer from Flat Top Burger.


First up was at Flat Top Burgers. It was an old converted garage/gas station that was now a classic all American burger joint. The food was amazing as well, I opted for the double cheeseburger, I took one bite before announcing to Kellie "Wow, this is the best burger I have ever had in my life"
I may or may not have been exaggerating, but at that moment, it certainly tasted like it and I've clearly sample a hell of a lot of burger.
Kellie opted for the veggie burger and onion rings. The onion rings looked like an onion bhaji without the spices, they tasted grand as well. Kellie demanded that I tried her veggie burger and it had to be said that it was most definitely by far the best veggie burger I have ever had. The venue also had free pale ale on tap from a local brewery and event sponsors Ranger Creek of San Antonio, so top marks all round to Flat Top Burger.


The barmy army eat while TWP stand in line.


Ian and Steph from I&S arrive in style and fashionably late for the Flat Top Burger gig, with two minutes to spare.


The crowd in attendance was a mixed bunch, there were people actually older than the barmy army and DLG, there were mums with their kids and one couple had a really young baby with them sporting bright pink headphones that appeared to block out all of the deafening music. The place just had a really lovely vibe to it.


TWP's youngest fan at SXSW.


The bands played their sets in what would have been the old garage work stations by the bathrooms.
The gig saw the first airing of "It's a gas" which I have always loved and sounded superb live, Pepe certainly adds a lot to this fun song with her backing vocals and her and the rest of the band seem to have a laugh while performing it.
The show was being broadcast live on a local college radio station, towards the end of the gig DLG turned around to give them a plug but could read the poster as it had fallen off the wall. You know it's a great show when you blow posters off the wall.


TWP play Flat Top Burger next to the restroom. "The Trouble with Mens" indeed.



Me and the band after the Flat Top show.


Setlist from Flat Top Burger.

Next up was the Paste (magazine) Party at the Stage on 6th. This venue was by far the biggest TWP played while at SXSW and was really quite swanky. It was a country and western bar, but really well done with a lovely mural of country legends on the back wall, unfortunately we didn't spot anyone wearing a stetson, this was strictly an indie and hipster crowd today.


DLG at the Paste Party.


Pepe at the Paste Party.


Kellie and I travelled to the gig with the band and Jessica gave us wristbands and we also were given free drinks tickets by the promoter, nice one!!!
Ian, Steph, Mark and Kia arrived later and unbeknown to us were stuck in the massive line outside. Anyway Kia sent me a text and asked if I could get them in, I wasn't sure, but I walked up to the doorman, showed him my wristband and said "Those four are with me" while pointing at them. He waved them inside, the power of the wristband eh? I don't know who was more chuffed, me or our four fellow barmy army members.


Charlie at the Paste Party


Patrick at the Paste Party.

The gig was a good 'un once again. They must have enjoyed playing "It's a gas" as they did it again, which I personally loved and also played "Suck" and "Blonde" back to back.


Setlist from the Paste Party


Mark and Pinky Piglets at the Paste Party.



After that we went for yet another great meal, this time it was Thai and it was amazing. This was the one and only time that we all sat down and had a meal together as a group while in Austin and it was a very enjoyable one. The food was gorgeous and we all had a good old chat reliving the events of the week so far.


Ian from I&S lookly rather saintly at the Thai place.

Next up was the Iron Bear for the Seamonsters set. All week Jessica and DLG had been telling us that it was going to be near impossible to get into this one, so we had been expecting not to see it. But we chatted Jessica up into at least asking for us. She agreed and we marched up to the venue early with her and to be honest I wasn't really expecting the response I wanted off the doorman. We helped carry some gear into the venue and Jessica said to the head doorman "These are friends of ours who have travelled from England, can you put them on the list for tonight?"
"No problem" he replied "just ask for Alan, that's me and you're in"
Fucking result, we all made a collective sigh of relief.


Flyer from the Iron Bear Seamonsters showcase.

We returned later and our new best buddy Alan smiled and let us in.
All week I had been saying that I would have to buy a venue tee shirt and up to now they had either been too expensive or I just couldn't be arsed.
Anyway this place had shirts available in black for $12, they were quite nice and very cheap.
So I bought one. One thing I noticed about this place was that all the staff were male and really, really friendly. Anyway I walked back to Mark and showed him my shirt. He was looking around at some of the decor on the walls, I noticed a Texas flag with a rainbow on it. Just as the penny was starting to drop Mark said,
"You do realise that this is a gay bar don't you?"
"Err yeah, oh well, it doesn't matter"
Then Mark announced that he didn't care as he had been to loads of gay bars in his time.
Too much information buddy, and there's me thinking that my longtime friend was a family man. Don't worry folks, I will edit that last cheeky comment out before Mark gets a chance to read it.
Today was also Ian's birthday and Jessica bought him the world's biggest chocolate cup cake, which was nice of her.
The setlist was just the whole of Seamonsters, which was amazing even though some of the band members forgot the order of which the songs were to be played (Twice)
Jessica said this was because there was no paper available at the venue. I'm sure it had all been taken by the bar clientele to use while they all swapped phone numbers with fellow patrons who also batted for the same team.
I made sure that I stuck close to Mark tonight, so people would think we were a couple and wouldn't bother us.
Valentina producer Andrew Scheps was in attendance, I popped over to say "Hello", he's a lovely chap to be honest and always happy to chat.
There were three bands on before TWP, two of them were great, while the other one to be perfectly blunt, were shit.
My favourites were Raziki, a Norwegian ska influenced band that kind of reminded me musically of Orange Juice and vocally sounded a bit like Camera Obscura. What's not to like?
After TWP played the crowd thinned out instantly and you could really see the make up (pun intended) of the locals. There were handlebar mustaches a plenty on show and a few tight spandex tee shirts being worn.
Now I am as open minded as the next chap, but the sight of really fat gay blokes standing around after the gig shirtless, snogging and licking each other's breasts "may" haunt me for the rest of my life. I am not objecting to this because they were gay, I am just not into public displays of affection and would feel equally objective if I saw a straight couple doing this in a bar, "Urgh, get a room people".


Flyer from the Iron Bear bathrooms.


Oh well, just a bit of harmless fun I suppose.
The line for the men's bathrooms were huge, while for a change, there were none outside the ladies room. Patrick later informed me that he was slightly propositioned while changing his shirt in the bathroom and Sarah (Charlie's girlfriend) said that when she went to the ladies room that two blokes were snogging in there.
As a side note, I gave the venue tee shirt to my 15 year old son Liam, he liked it and what he doesn't know can't hurt him.