808 State
Back in the day, i was down in Madchester to see 808 State at the G-Mex, supported by the flaccid Utah Saints. After a few in Dry we headed down, ticketless, but hopeful.

On arrival a few touts proffered some £50 tickets which were well beyond my meagre budget. Me and mate shuffled about a bit up and soon enough this guy and his bird had a ticket for sale, i saw them first, i had the ticket. £15.

My mate was gutted,. However i was concerned about the lack of a 'stub' on the ticket i was about to buy for £15. he insisted it was fine and that was the way the ticket was when he bought it. i was under some mild pressure, i could hear the bass and feel the riddims emenating from within. I agreed, we exchanged paper.

I said to my mate that it was time i went inside, with my ticket. and that he should hang around and wait for a similar transaction.

i speed off to the door, clutchin my circumcised ticket. I had been to a fair few gigs before and had always had a stub of some description...

Sure enough, the ticket i had was invalid, no stub. The cunt must have gotten hold of a useless used ticket and sold it to me.

Shattered, i headed back to my mate who was in the process of buying a stubbed ticket for face value....

So off he trots with an actual ticket, explains to me that its the right thing to do, the same conversation i had had with him not 4 minutes before.

He gets in.

I, was standing outside, thinking about how to get back to my mates flat but not wanting to go, but not having anymore money to buy another ticket, when all of a sudden these 2 yardie rasta types push open the gmex fire doors, in the bar area on the left hand side. So quickly that the folk who where sitting with their back on the doors simply fell back onto the paving stones outside.

Within 5 seconds i was in the g-mex, absorbed into the crowd in the bar, me and about 14 others. It was mental, folk just jetted towards this, momentary tear in the g-mex security.

I arrive in a corridor mixing with folk who are just in the door. I see mate coming towards me, he cant quite believe how i can be in, in front of him. Neiher could i.

Gig was mediocre, i seem to think bjork was on stage as well, not so bad.

Wen't back to the flat and my mate who worked in manchester had bought a sheet of purple ohms he thought were duds. He took three and i took two.

We listened to Ex:El for about 10 hours on repeat. No duds.

A strange night, and that was the last time i remember being blatantly robbed.
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Sun 21 Oct 2007, 3:53, 1 reply)

Ex:El
great CD
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Mon 22 Oct 2007, 3:05, closed)