theducksjournal

So, i went to see The Wedding Present on Saturday night down at the Button Factory.
They were the latest in a long line of bands i loved when i was younger, and now get to see again.

It’s funny how the “benefit” of a few extra years (like, maybe 20….) can change your opinion of something, or completely reinforce it.
I’d alway paired The Wedding Present with My Bloody Valentine as two bands to listen to in the depths of despair, and now i can see why – angry; self-absorbed; selfish maybe…. and listening to The Wedding Present the other night just took me all the way back to those days, closed in my room, angry with the world. But i still love their music, haunting and angry, melodic and jarring.
Takes me right back.
They did a few songs first – a couple of new songs, and a couple of oldies – then launched into the whole of their ‘Seamonsters’ album. I was more of a fan of Watusi and Saturnalia, but still, it was totally worth it.

Also, it’s been a while since i was in the Button Factory, in fact the last time i was there it was still the TBMC. I have to admit i’m not keen on it.
It feels a mess, the carpet is always sticky and manky, steps all over the place, and the jacks was disgusting.

But apart from that it was damn cool.

The Wedding Present: www.scopitones.co.uk/
The Button Factory: www.buttonfactory.ie

UPDATE:
For anyone still paying attention the scores on today’s doors are:

€1 = €39 + 2 x Free tickets
€2 = 1 x Free ticket (ooooooooh, failing)

Today’s guest scratcher: My lovely assistant Andy Burrows (the previously mentioned co-worker who is still picking tiny bits of silver foil out of his beard)

Interesting facts in today’s scratch-a-thon:
Another 25 card!
The first time two cards next to each other in the strip have produced winners!

Stay tuned for more mindless rubbish.

Took the winnings from the first lot of scratchers and got more.

I’m keeping the two lots separate, this is going to be complicated by the fact that i won €5 on one of the €2 cards so we now have a mix of €1 and €2 scratch cards in the €2 card pile.

€1 = €37 + 1 Free card
€2 = €9 + 1 Free (€1) card
More silver shavings (although most of these blew off my desk)
One slightly irate co-worker who suddenly found a big pile of silver shavings on his desk (see above)

Single biggest win so far = €25 (from a €1 scratch card)

I have an urge to create a spreadsheet………. i’ll see how busy i am this afternoon at work.

Fridays are always a bit strange, everyone winds down for the weekend, so apart from the occasional drama Fridays are pretty relaxed.
I still had my birthday money on me – €150 burning a hole in my pocket, so on a whim, i bought €100’s worth of scratch cards.
50 x €1 and 25 x €2 scratch cards with the pseudo scientific aim of trying to figure out the following:

1) which are more productive – the €1 or the €2 scratchers
2) what’s the percentage return
3) kill half an hour

and:

With the assistance of a lovely assistant (Tricky) we proceeded to spread as much metal foil around.

After 30 mins. scratching like a scabies ridden dog, the following results were obtained:

€1 scratch cards: €25 in cash, and 2 x free cards
€2 scratch cards: €23 in cash, and 2 x free cards
A big pile of foil shavings
Two slightly depressed human beings
An empty bottle of wine (see above)

The experiment will continue until we either win big, or all the scratch cards stop producing cash or cards.

It was hit or miss whether i was going or not, but in the end i won the tickets on PhantomFM so it was a pretty easy decision in the end.

I’m always a bit nervous seeing bands i love from my misplaced youth, 20 odd years later. However, right from the start they hit the spot – was great to hear the classic stuff, and, shelfishly, there were only a few new songs.  Was great rocking out with all the mid-life crisis heads – everyone had either long hair or no hair.

Still, was a good night rocking out.

Then after the gig, back to Lotts for a few quick pints and home.

OK, lets see how this goes………..

The random mutterings and musings of a drunken ducker.

I give it a month before i get bored.