Getting here on Friday was a bit of a pain - I left at 1515-ish, since I naively assumed that the requests to “check in two hours early” meant “check in two hours before you normally would”, rather than “check in two hours before your flight is due to depart”. bah. ah well, it could have been worse - easyjet’s baggage system had broken down under the strain, and three staff members were trying to deal with maybe a thousand irate passengers.
So, I got through security, only to find that my plane had been delayed by FOUR FUCKING HOURS. grr. yes, kids, jet2 have /no/ spare planes - and, since they aren’t part of an sort of international alliance, they can’t even borrow a spare plane from a partner airline. So, if one breaks down, the flight is either cancelled, or passengers are made to wait for a plane to finish its duties elsewhere. beh.
Saturday saw Sarah, Robertdane, Mark, and some of the manifesta crowd at the Faversham for the Data Panik gig. Now, Data Panik - whose very wonderful single, Cubis (I love you) can be had from here - are the band that rose from the ashes of the equally wonderful bis. Yes, themmuns from Top of the Pops and Eurodisco and the Powerpuff Girls and all that. yes, they /were/ great. really.
We turned up at nine-ish, to find the venue still in use for the wedding reception for a couple who’d met at a bis gig back in the Social Dancing era. In fact, when the gig did start, it was really just an open-to-the-public extension of the reception - complete with be-hatted bridesmaids.
Napoleon IIIrd
I don’t do gig reviews, ‘cos I’m not nearly pseudy enough (yeah, yeah, I know you don’t believe me, but, really, it’s /true/), so, er, this isn’t going to be one. ‘ver Panik finally shuffled onstage just before midnight, and we danced around down at the front, and all was good.
John Disco and Sci-fi Steven, as was
The setlist contained the words ” * COVER VERSION * ” at the end, and, sure enough, they wheeled out - for the last time ever - Kandy Pop, much to the delight of those of us old enough to remember the song’s significance. Nothing has ever made me feel older than trying to explain the machinations of the indie universe circa 1995 to a bunch of 19 year olds at the party afterwards, but, well, it was worth it…
Steve & Manda in the middle of Kandy Pop’s final chorus
