VICTIMS FAMILY/BLOWFLY
Birmingham Edwards No. 6

Being a relatively short drive to Birmingham, there was plenty of time to hang around before leaving. I had a pretty bad cold, but I didn’t feel ill or anything – just coughing up loads of phlegm. Chatted with Ralph for a while about the upcoming elections in both our countries, the recession, Nicaragua and the BCCI bank. He thinks the business with the BCCI and the recession are interlinked, and it’s quite possible he’s right.

After saying our goodbyes, we took off down the M6 to the sounds of Urban Dance Squad, which was pretty good. Once we got into Birmingham, we were half expecting to be looking for the venue for a couple of hours, but by some stroke of luck, the band recognised where they were and it was right outside the place!

It was still quite early, and the place wasn’t open yet, so we checked out Birmingham for some food. It was nice and quiet as it was Sunday, and I actually thought it was an ok place, though it looks worse as you’re driving in. Most places were closed but we tracked down a Pizzaland and munched out. Larry had some kind of pasta in sauce, which also came with some nice, sharp pieces of plastic!

We went back to the van and waited around for a while. We’d heard throughout the whole tour that this gig may not go ahead and were contemplating buggering off. However, much to my surprise, the place opened up at six. The club is really nice and had lots of lights and stage equipment etc. A bit of a bummer was having to heave the gear up two flights of stairs, though it got done quickly with four of us doing it (Ralph had disappeared off somewhere just at the right time!).

I met a chap, Alan, who I’d seen in Wigan, who’d travelled down for this show. He was practising his four-ball juggling when I spotted him. I wasn’t sure where I’d be staying that night, as the band thought they might head back to Leamington Spa. Alan also wasn’t sure where he was staying, and due to poor advertising of the show, there weren’t many people there to ask – about 40 at the most!

Anyway, Blowfly were the support band and they were ok, though they could do with a bit more practise. I felt a whole lot better after a couple of lagers (at the extortionate price of £2 a pint) and prepared myself for the Victims Family final UK show. Even though it was sparsely attended, I thought they fuckin’ ripped! Maybe they just relaxed as there weren’t many people there, though Ralph commented later that he didn’t feel at all relaxed (hm!).

They played pretty much the same set as the night before, and 3 or 4 of us cheered them back for more, to which they gave us ‘Sinatra’ and finished with three goes at ‘Stupid’ (a token thrash song off ‘ Things I Hate To Admit’).

Lo and behold, in the audience was that man Nick Evans (now of Alternative Tentacles) who’d come up from London. I found that the band were going to stay with him that night and wondered about a place to stay.

As Alan and I were chatting to Ralph, a couple of locals joined us and we managed to blag a place to stay with them. We took some final photos in the backstage room and headed outside, where the gear was being loaded up. Alan bought the only cassette in the UK of the new LP ‘Germ’ – only on vinyl and CD over here. Ralph told me his final thoughts on the tour, but due to alcohol consumption, I didn’t recall precisely what was said, except that they considered it successful and really enjoyed themselves.

I wished everyone good luck with the rest of the tour, and hoped to catch them on their last date, a festival in Amsterdam. That sure would be good, but finance may dictate otherwise. After bidding everyone a fond farewell, Alan and I headed off to the bus station. Halfway down the road, all the band shouted out “Hey, hey dude…later!” (which some of you may recognise from the White Bread Blues’ LP).

The place we were staying was out of town a bit and we had to catch a bus there (unfortunately, we couldn’t get a lift with the people we were staying with). We then had to find the house and throw stones at the upper right-hand window.
It all sounded a bit dodgy to me, but I was too drunk to care by now! We found the place ok and were welcomed into the flat to the sounds of Jethro Tull (Wow, have I heard some different styles of music on the tour!).

The two people (John & Gita) were extremely nice people. I think Ghita was a small-time celebrity with her multi-pierced ears and 3 chains to a nose ring, red, green and yellow hair and tattoos – a particularly cool Celtic design on her head and a smart pattern on her wrist. I think they liked my Circle Jerks tattoo too! We talked about all sorts of stuff from music to religion, and finally went to sleep to the sound of the Violent Femmes LP.