SOCK FREE HIDEAWAY
THE MIGHTILY infectious Almunia are in town on the 23rd October, taking us to the high-place and anytime soon I'll be chasing up Tommy Awards for an hour of exclusive tunage. Sock Free Hideaway is a culmination of mixed ideas dating back a decade but most recently, last August.
Tommy Awards first EP was spinning, and I was reminded of the time I was bothering Moonboots, watching Bing Ji Ling, just effortlessly making his guitar strings make the most delectable sound, and asking "wouldn't it be great to have such music flowing out of you?" to which he replied "it does, out of my 1210s."
There was a small local theatre putting on cod-folk and has-beens (note the bitterness), and naff cinema nights, and I foolishly thought, book Tommy Awards and a DJ and give the people something fresh and wonderful.
Flash-forward to my Saturday night ritual of sipping red in my pyjamas and spinning exotic music, which has been getting less left-field and more green field of late. My girlfriend thought this was being selfish as music should be shared and I wish I'd been armed with Rob Bright's Balearic gloop' line, thus able to tell her "Mancunians are is awash with the stuff," but, alas, I wasn't. Instead, soon after, I was at my pals see-sawing 40th ( as these things do), and was reminded that I turned quite a few attendee's onto music that defined their university life.
Still traumatized by my failings in the early noughties, I foolishly imagined hooking up with my former work-spar Jeff to remedy a few matters, and managed to book Huw Costin and Torn Sail plus aforementioned theatre but failed to rouse his interest, so had to do it alone.
I got emotionally involved in the project and I was seen as a fanboy by the guy running the show. He had a select crowd and didn't want what was quickly established to be a local contingency turning up to 'his' (it was supposed to be voluntary run) lovely theatre. I foolishly assumed South Manchester would come to Shaw for the occasion. Part self delusion on my part and part ingrained snobbery on theirs, but watching Huw's solo album wriggle and turn, I was convinced it would crossover enough to give him the tour he craved. It sank.
Everybody at our end, bar one member, turned up to play a church hall after I cancelled the theatre at the eleventh hour everybody, not including half the people who promised to be there at the other end. But the band was electric and Huw's attitude a shining example to me. I was so happy I woke up 2 days later and e-mailed Almunia and got back in touch with Tommy Awards.
A wondrous night of musical celebration guaranteed. The high place indeed.
