So Much To Answer For

As you read these words, I'll be heading northwards to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, to catch the first of two shows on Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band's current River Tour. I say current, because for some of us of a certain vintage, this is our second River Tour, the first followed the album's original release in 1981. Ticket prices have gone up a bit in the past 35 years.

My original twin-tub damaged ticket from 1981.

This is only the second time in my life that I've been to Manchester, the first was for just a few hours one evening in the Winter of 1978, when a band who I was chums with at the time, played at the Russell Club in Hulme, otherwise known as the original Factory Club. I travelled from their home town of Leeds in the back of the hired van, rattling around among the drums, amps, guitars and mic-stands, all the while being slowly poisoned by exhaust fumes - happy days. The weather was bitterly cold, the audience sparse and the support act was Gordon the Moron, he of Jilted John fame. I took photos, but unfortunately mislaid them a long time.

Here's Wire, who I reckon have been on a bit of a roll since 'Red Barked Tree' in 2011. They're not from Manchester, but this appropriately titled tune, from last year's self-titled album, is ace.