Yesterday was a busy day, not only was it the first day of the 30th Newcastle Beer Festival it was also the night of the Drive By Truckers gig at the Cluny in Byker. I can’t remember the year of my first beer festival but it would have been sometime in the mid Eighties when it was held at the Guildhall down on the Quayside. Almost every year from that time on I have attended at least a day at the festival and latterly have taken to booking the time off work to allow me to attend every session. The only time I failed to attend was a couple of years during the early Nineties when I was disillusioned with the whole ‘beer thing’ and couldn’t be bothered to turn up.
This year’s festival was held once again at Newcastle University in the large concert hall. Despite the gig Gill, Billy, Steph and I were determined to get at least an hour or so’s drinking in before heading over to Byker. We arranged to meet up outside the University ¼ of an hour prior to opening and thus ensuring the maximum supping time. Getting into the hall we quickly made our way to the bar and got the first halves in, no pints allowed in the beer fest. First impressions are good with a number of dark beers on the list and a couple of potential ‘best beer of the festival’ candidates already.
Off to the gig we all piled into a taxi, well two actually because there were no five seaters anywhere to be found who were prepared to go to Byker for some reason. Despite having drank at the Cluny numerous times previously none of us had ever attended a gig there so were unsure what to expect. As it turns out the room reminded me a bit of a ¼ sized Riverside, all exposed brickwork and beer tacky floors. Crammed into this rather small space were a good couple of hundred punters creating an atmosphere something akin to a Turkish Baths. As ever we seemed to get stuck behind the six foot four biker and his bigger mate. I could tell Gill was already reacting badly to the surroundings, not liking the claustrophobic feeling she gets at gigs like this.
The Truckers came on stage to a very good reception and launched into their set without any preamble. One song quickly followed another with no inter song banter and by the time the fifth tune was starting up Gill made her excuses and left to find a more air spot accompanied by Steph. The set was great mix of old favourites and tracks off this months new CD, in fact they must have played a good six or seven of their new tracks through the course of the gig. The got a rapturous reception from the crowd of mainly balding chaps with ages and waistlines in the low to mid forties.
The sound was not bad considering the size of the room and for those of you yet to enjoy the DBT experience they sound very like a Tom Petty fronting a sixties version of the Rolling Stones after they had all popped several downers. Looks wise I can only really speak for the 3 guitarists/vocalists and then only from the waist up due to a restricted view. Mike Cooley looked like the bastard child of Harry Dean Stanton and Keith Richards, Jason Isbell a very young, plump Jimmy Page and Patterson Hood a strange blend of Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom and dodgy UK comedian Rory McGrath. As for drummer Brad Morgan and bassist Shonna Tucker, who knows, I couldn’t see them. In all they played for two and a quarter hours with standout numbers being Decoration Day, Space City and A World of Hurt.
This year’s festival was held once again at Newcastle University in the large concert hall. Despite the gig Gill, Billy, Steph and I were determined to get at least an hour or so’s drinking in before heading over to Byker. We arranged to meet up outside the University ¼ of an hour prior to opening and thus ensuring the maximum supping time. Getting into the hall we quickly made our way to the bar and got the first halves in, no pints allowed in the beer fest. First impressions are good with a number of dark beers on the list and a couple of potential ‘best beer of the festival’ candidates already.
Off to the gig we all piled into a taxi, well two actually because there were no five seaters anywhere to be found who were prepared to go to Byker for some reason. Despite having drank at the Cluny numerous times previously none of us had ever attended a gig there so were unsure what to expect. As it turns out the room reminded me a bit of a ¼ sized Riverside, all exposed brickwork and beer tacky floors. Crammed into this rather small space were a good couple of hundred punters creating an atmosphere something akin to a Turkish Baths. As ever we seemed to get stuck behind the six foot four biker and his bigger mate. I could tell Gill was already reacting badly to the surroundings, not liking the claustrophobic feeling she gets at gigs like this.
The Truckers came on stage to a very good reception and launched into their set without any preamble. One song quickly followed another with no inter song banter and by the time the fifth tune was starting up Gill made her excuses and left to find a more air spot accompanied by Steph. The set was great mix of old favourites and tracks off this months new CD, in fact they must have played a good six or seven of their new tracks through the course of the gig. The got a rapturous reception from the crowd of mainly balding chaps with ages and waistlines in the low to mid forties.
The sound was not bad considering the size of the room and for those of you yet to enjoy the DBT experience they sound very like a Tom Petty fronting a sixties version of the Rolling Stones after they had all popped several downers. Looks wise I can only really speak for the 3 guitarists/vocalists and then only from the waist up due to a restricted view. Mike Cooley looked like the bastard child of Harry Dean Stanton and Keith Richards, Jason Isbell a very young, plump Jimmy Page and Patterson Hood a strange blend of Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom and dodgy UK comedian Rory McGrath. As for drummer Brad Morgan and bassist Shonna Tucker, who knows, I couldn’t see them. In all they played for two and a quarter hours with standout numbers being Decoration Day, Space City and A World of Hurt.
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