"I get so carried away..."
Let's roll back the years & mine the timeline for stories because my life is extremely boring at present.
28 Feb 1997: Red letter day as I pass my driving test at first attempt & then later crowdsurf for first time at Ash's London Astoria gig. Enjoyed it alot.
Eight bloody years ago! EIGHT! It really doesn't seem possible.
Anyway I'm pretty sure that my driving test was about midday. I had my final lesson with my most excellent driving instructor. He really was a top man, we shared a passion for Radiohead & he would let me have a fag in the car now & then. I remember him once pointing out 2 footprints on the inside of the windscreen, of which he was very proud. I never met the owner of those feet but she was a solicitor & DrivingGuy got her to do my statutory declaration free of charge when I officially changed my name.
When the test started a was a bit alarmed to find that I had 2 examiners in the car! The guy actually carrying out the test was on his last day of employment there so the other fella was riding along to make sure that he didn't just pass or fail people willy nilly.
I drove quite well during my test & completed my manoevres with no problems. Then I stalled the car. I recovered well enough & figured that I'd get away with it. I then over the next 5 minutes stalled on a further 2 occasions. Well, that's that bollocksed then, I thought.
I was shocked & thrilled when the guy said "Mr.Flash I'm pleased to tell you that you've passed". Yay! First time too (sorry Charbs!)!
DrivingGuy took me back to Crapsville & I thanked him profusely before we said our goodbyes. As I got out 3 builder type guys were sitting in a van outside the chip shop at the top of our street. They must have seen the shaking of hands & the smiling because as I got closer they all started cheering & clapping. I remember it vividly because it was a great gesture from total strangers & how often does that happen in life?
I did a little theatrical bow, complete with smile & went into my house where I proceeded to ring round everyone to tell them my news.
When Temper Tantrum & Reckless came in from work it was time to go to London.
We went on the train for some reason & arrived at the Astoria in time to see the support band;Kenickie. They were mildly entertaining & their one great song, "In your car" was ace.
The Astoria still remains my favourite live venue out of the hundreds I've been to. The place is just the right size & has a great vibe. Remind me to tell you about Neville some time.
None of us had seen Ash before so we were all quite giddy. The place was chock full & a large percentage of the audience were kids, which felt a bit strange.
Anyway they came on & they rocked! We all launched into the mosh pit & remained there for the duration. Towards the end Reckless & I decided that we should have a go at crowd-surfing. After all, if all these kids could do it why shouldn't we? Reckless went first. I watched his long lanky frame bouncing around above the crowd all the way to the barrier. My turn, I got some of my fellow gig-goers to give me a leg up & I felt my feet come away from the floor as I started my epic journey. I then felt a sharp thud of pain in my back as I was promptly dropped onto the floor. For a split second I was petrified, fearing that I was about to be trampled to death. Almost instantly I was dragged up by my arms & legs back above the bodies & now I was actually surfing. Though it was 8 years ago today (almost to the hour!) I remember it as if it was 8 minutes ago. The euphoria was indescribable. And though I was only up for a few seconds, it felt like hours. All the time I was singing my heart out, bobbing along on the sea of arms & heads towards the stage & the barrier. Then abruptly I was manhandled over the barrier & that was it. I barged my way through the crowd back to where Reckless was & we screamed at other in complete & utter joy. I surfed countless times after that night. Sometimes Reckless & I still talk about our great surfs. His at the Manics, mine at the Super Furries.
As I've been typing away, I've had a wistful smile adorning my lips. I really miss those days. Sometimes we'd go to 4 gigs in 4 nights, sometimes we'd all get in from work & after scouring the NME's gig listings just get in the car & go off to some distant town so we could have yet another night jumping around like loonies, getting sweaty, getting stoned & most importantly; being very, very happy.
Like I said, I miss those days & that day, 8 years ago today, was one of the finest of all.
28 Feb 1997: Red letter day as I pass my driving test at first attempt & then later crowdsurf for first time at Ash's London Astoria gig. Enjoyed it alot.
Eight bloody years ago! EIGHT! It really doesn't seem possible.
Anyway I'm pretty sure that my driving test was about midday. I had my final lesson with my most excellent driving instructor. He really was a top man, we shared a passion for Radiohead & he would let me have a fag in the car now & then. I remember him once pointing out 2 footprints on the inside of the windscreen, of which he was very proud. I never met the owner of those feet but she was a solicitor & DrivingGuy got her to do my statutory declaration free of charge when I officially changed my name.
When the test started a was a bit alarmed to find that I had 2 examiners in the car! The guy actually carrying out the test was on his last day of employment there so the other fella was riding along to make sure that he didn't just pass or fail people willy nilly.
I drove quite well during my test & completed my manoevres with no problems. Then I stalled the car. I recovered well enough & figured that I'd get away with it. I then over the next 5 minutes stalled on a further 2 occasions. Well, that's that bollocksed then, I thought.
I was shocked & thrilled when the guy said "Mr.Flash I'm pleased to tell you that you've passed". Yay! First time too (sorry Charbs!)!
DrivingGuy took me back to Crapsville & I thanked him profusely before we said our goodbyes. As I got out 3 builder type guys were sitting in a van outside the chip shop at the top of our street. They must have seen the shaking of hands & the smiling because as I got closer they all started cheering & clapping. I remember it vividly because it was a great gesture from total strangers & how often does that happen in life?
I did a little theatrical bow, complete with smile & went into my house where I proceeded to ring round everyone to tell them my news.
When Temper Tantrum & Reckless came in from work it was time to go to London.
We went on the train for some reason & arrived at the Astoria in time to see the support band;Kenickie. They were mildly entertaining & their one great song, "In your car" was ace.
The Astoria still remains my favourite live venue out of the hundreds I've been to. The place is just the right size & has a great vibe. Remind me to tell you about Neville some time.
None of us had seen Ash before so we were all quite giddy. The place was chock full & a large percentage of the audience were kids, which felt a bit strange.
Anyway they came on & they rocked! We all launched into the mosh pit & remained there for the duration. Towards the end Reckless & I decided that we should have a go at crowd-surfing. After all, if all these kids could do it why shouldn't we? Reckless went first. I watched his long lanky frame bouncing around above the crowd all the way to the barrier. My turn, I got some of my fellow gig-goers to give me a leg up & I felt my feet come away from the floor as I started my epic journey. I then felt a sharp thud of pain in my back as I was promptly dropped onto the floor. For a split second I was petrified, fearing that I was about to be trampled to death. Almost instantly I was dragged up by my arms & legs back above the bodies & now I was actually surfing. Though it was 8 years ago today (almost to the hour!) I remember it as if it was 8 minutes ago. The euphoria was indescribable. And though I was only up for a few seconds, it felt like hours. All the time I was singing my heart out, bobbing along on the sea of arms & heads towards the stage & the barrier. Then abruptly I was manhandled over the barrier & that was it. I barged my way through the crowd back to where Reckless was & we screamed at other in complete & utter joy. I surfed countless times after that night. Sometimes Reckless & I still talk about our great surfs. His at the Manics, mine at the Super Furries.
As I've been typing away, I've had a wistful smile adorning my lips. I really miss those days. Sometimes we'd go to 4 gigs in 4 nights, sometimes we'd all get in from work & after scouring the NME's gig listings just get in the car & go off to some distant town so we could have yet another night jumping around like loonies, getting sweaty, getting stoned & most importantly; being very, very happy.
Like I said, I miss those days & that day, 8 years ago today, was one of the finest of all.
And that's what Flash thinks today @ 21:54
2 Comments:
At 11:16 pm,
shorty said…
July 8th, NIN, crowd surfing time again, perhaps?
Sorry I haven't commented lately, or have I? This life of mine is a blur lately.
We really need to talk, or atleast I do to you. We need to catch up! Maybe since you are on lates??? Maybe tonight???
Miss ya!
ooooooo
At 11:43 am,
Charby said…
I wanna pass my test!
*sob*
its not fair!
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