Is Everybody Happy?

Yeah!

12 years ago I went to see PWEI in Bondi Junction, then again the next day at Eastern Creek Raceway.

Three days ago, I finally saw them again! Okay, so it was minus Clint - but it was still worth all of the trouble I went through to get there!

It all started early Saturday morning... on a bus. Although they're far more efficient, I can't justify taking trains willy nilly. Still, I arrived in Birmingham around 12.30pm and met up with my friend Brian - who I met only a couple of months earlier in Caernarfon!



After dropping my bag off at my cheapie hotel, Brian proceeded to give me a guided tour of Birmingham. First we walked past the Rainbow, a pub part-owned by Fuzz (the drummer from PWEI), then went for a walk through the Custard Factory and its small market before arriving in the city proper.

Despite the weather being so crappy in London, it was spectacular in Brum - blue skies and really hot, but this didn't deter us from exploring. Of everything I saw, the most memorable would be the modern art gallery - which contained, quite literally, some real shit. Honest.



About a month ago, two of these modern art type guys decided their next project - you're going to love this one. The gallery held an auction to raise some money, but it had to be a value that could be broken into two separate notes of any currency. In the end, the winning bid was €505 - which the two guys proceeded to eat. One note each. I am not making this up. The exhibit we saw was the result: two rather dirty and crumpled up Euro notes, as well as a video showing the whole affair. That's right kids, modern art is shit.



The only way of following this up was with a meal, so we headed to the pub for a drink and some lunch. Once finished, it was time to catch the number 9 bus to Stourbridge. Any PWEI fans out there will know why this was a big deal!

An hour or so later we finally made it to the home town of three of England's greatest bands: The Wonder Stuff, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Pop Will Eat Itself. Pretty damn exciting for a fan, but realistically not the most exciting place I've been to. Brian was meeting up with some friends at the local Irish pub, so that's where we spent most of the afternoon - until it was time to head to the venue!



I was dead keen to arrive when the doors opened as they were going to be selling super limited edition tee-shirts and I didn't want to miss out. In the end, we beat the merch guys to the venue! I spent the next hour taking pictures and meeting lots of new people - most of them fellow PWEI Nationers, but I also said hello to John Penney who was DJing for the night. He's also the singer for Ned's Atomic Dustbin, who I'm going to see this Thursday night. I couldn't resist asking him if he remembered Def FX, as they both did a big tour of America in the early '90s. Surprisingly he did remember them, quite fondly as it happens!



At 8.30pm Miles Hunt took to the stage with his very lovely band-mate Erica Nockalls on the fiddle. He started off with a few songs from his new solo album, before band-mate Malcolm Treece joined them on stage to do a bunch of Stuffies songs. I don't have a lot of their stuff, but what I do have I really like - so it was a pretty damn cool set, I thought! Funnily enough, even though the night was billed as a vileevils gig, the crowd for Miles was pretty damn big.



When Miles ended, I quickly staked my claim at the front of the stage (with a bunch of my fellow Nationers). Despite the announcement a few days ago that Clint wasn't going to be here, there were still a few whispers around the place that he was going to turn up. That didn't really matter that much to me as I was about to see vileevils! I've been busting to see them ever since they formed, so I was buzzing with excitement - and I'm ecstatic to say it was miles better than I'd hoped!



Starting the set with Reaper (We don't fear the Reaper, We celebrate good times, We don't sleep 'til bedtime, honestly, sometimes), the boys were on fire for the entirety of their relatively short set. Only seven or eight songs all up, but they were all as brilliant as I'd expect them to be. They're absolutely a worthy follow up to the mighty PWEI juggernaut! With camera in hand, I did my best to snap as many cool pictures as I could while still jumping around having a good time. Alas, it was over all too soon... however before Gra departed the stage, he told us all to stick around for something special.

I think you can guess what it was.



Minutes later, one Richard March appeared on stage - followed by Gra, Fuzz and Adam! Sadly, Clint didn't turn up after all, but what we did get was some classic PWEI tracks from their long and sordid history. Starting with the inevitable There Is No Love Between Us Any More, they then stumbled their way through R.S.V.P., nailed Not Now James We're Busy, almost incited a dance floor riot with Get the Girl Kill the Baddies, before climaxing with Their Law. I'm pretty sure there was something else in there as well, but my memory is failing me for now.



Brian and I had already organised a taxi back to Brum with a couple of friends of his, which wasn't for another couple of hours, so I thought I might stay by the stage in the vain hope I could organise a photo with the boys. After a bit of waiting (and purchasing of more merch!) I managed to score a photo with Erica, who was on her way to the backstage area (not only is she stunning, but damn is she TALL!). Eventually, my waiting paid off as Adam ventured out with some gear - I asked if I could grab a picture with them, to which he was more than welcoming!



Heading into the backstage area with my favourite band... how to describe it? Unbelievable, to coin a term from another great UK group - how's that? During the show I had the bright idea of writing a text message on my phone to show Gra, explaining just how far I'd come to see them. It worked too, he mentioned it during the show - and now I was able to explain personally what I've been through in order to see them again. After a few minutes chat, I thought I'd best not to hold them up for too long so we all huddled together and took one of my most prized photos of all time.



I'm having such a brilliant time over here, there's always something to see or do practically every day of the week. Most importantly, I feel like my life has turned around completely from where it was a year ago: I'm happy again, I'm feeling positive about life and my self-confidence is growing back more and more every day. Now all I need to do is find somewhere to live and I'll be even happier!

Before I go, I'll leave you with a little souvenir from the show. This is Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies performed live by the greatest band in the Universe: Pop WILL Eat Itself. Enjoy... or else!