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| From | "Hastie, John" <HASTIE_J@sunybroome.edu> |
| Subject | IPO-Liverpool (finally!) |
| Date | Wed, 3 Nov 2004 13:35:26 -0500 |
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Hello all,
I got back from Liverpool last week but found myself swamped in work & such and only now can I put down a few thoughts about my IPO experience.
Liverpool is a nice, clean and friendly place. It was cloudy and rained some every day, but I didn't let the weather keep me inside! The IPO recommended hotel, the Sir Thomas Hotel, was a VERY short three block walk to the Cavern and an extremely pleasant place (still under some construction) with a continental breakfast included in the cost. And one of the coolest things is that my American bank is HSBC and they have branches in Liverpool. So I was able to go to the ATM and get money when I needed it just like I would in lovely upstate New York!
Central Liverpool is all pedestrian, so I joined the busy walkways and checked out all the sights. Of course I hit Virgin & HMV and got unpleasant sticker shock. CD's on sale for 9.99 pounds (roughly $18 US) and the normal stock running 13 - 16 pounds (roughly $20 - $28 US). I bit the bullet and bought the Aerovons and a CD by Lucie Silvas.
There's only one used record/CD in central Liverpool and their prices were high (IMO) as well.
Found some friendly places to eat over the six days I was there, but I'm not sure that any of them would qualify as examples of British cuisine! My only excursion out of central Liverpool was the fun & informative "Magical Mystery Bus Tour" on which we were able to see birthplaces, schools, early gig sites, etc of the four Beatles as well as Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields.
As for the music (which was my main reason for the trip), I was able to attend 6 evening shows and 2 afternoon shows. Drank lots of Guinness while checking out both stages. For the most part, one could easily see at least half of every performers sets and if one didn't click, the other stage often would. I did my best to keep the Merch Girls busy and bought CD's by twelve of the acts as well as a couple of vinyl 45's! Favorite performers were Barry O'Brien and Bailey (two brothers? And drummer), Sean Altman, Anton Barbeau, The Rhinos, Harrison, Kelly's Heels, The Afternoons, The Scooters & Jet Lag. There was a special performance by Tim & Doug (ex-Sun Sawed in 1/2) which was impressive. I pretty much saw every performer between October 19 through October 24 and have added many names to my "want list" since several of the acts expect to put out a CD in 2005 (especially looking forward to a new Sean Altman CD!). Over all a VERY enjoyable experience and being in "The Cavern" (even though it's not the original) made it all that much more special!
Hung out with some other Auditeers - nice to see Bob Hutton again (and Mrs Bob) and met Bob Mootz. Thanks to David Bash for hosting the entire thing (and thanks to David for convincing me to go to the monthly record show - I picked up a Judie Tzuke LP that was never released in America for the low price of one pound!).
If you're on the East Coast you should try to best to attend an IPO. I've been to several and hope to go to more. May have to miss the Boston, NYC, & Philly shows this year. But I hope to get to Nashville next year. And now that I have a new passport, I told David to arrange an IPO in Spain - I need a reason to go to Spain and IPO would be a good one!
Pop on!
John
Np: The Syrups
Next up: The Boss Martians
Cee-lo Green and his Perfect Imperfections
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