Liverpool IPO 2013 (Briefly)

Being a regular visit to the International Pop Overthrow (IPO Festival) every year, I was very disappointed this year that all of the bands I liked were on different days, meaning that I couldn't do the usual thing of going on the Thursday night and returning on Sunday.

I decided that the best days for me would be Sunday to Monday.  As Sunday I would get to see both Dlugokecki and Eskimo Blonde and Monday Eskimo Blonde, Emma Stevens & Robert Vincent.

After spending the morning baking some Bakewell Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes for Dlugokecki, I made may way to Liverpool to arrive in glorious sunshine just in time at the Cavern Club back stage for Dlugokecki to take the stage.

They played a blinding set with most of the songs from the "Putting the Tracks in Front of the Train" album.  We also had "Too Many Borders" & "Save my Soul" and they finished the set with "All Stations".

Boyd is obviously multi talented.

Phil and Deb arrived during the last song and I sat with them while we listened to Dropkick.  I know they are a favourite of Helen's but it didn't really do it for me.  Don't get me wrong they are good at what they do and as much as I like some harmonies.  I do not like entire songs to be harmonies, there needs to be some distinctive vocals for me and I found the vocals to be a bit wishy washy!

After Dropkick I went to grab a Subway and went to the hotel to go and check in.  The hotel is only around the corner so I was looking forward to the convenience.  Very smart hotel offering free cheese and wine in lobby at 5pm.  So I went to check out my room.

It was compact to say the least but it was perfectly ok for one person even though it is a double room.  The view from the window was pretty spectacular though, sadly the sun is in the way!

This is the view from the lift on the way out.

I then made my way to the Cavern Pub for the 2nd Dlugokecki instalment.

On after them was 4th Street Traffic.  I remembered these guys from last year when they played in Eric's before Eskimo Blonde.  I also remembered how much I loved the vocals and how I had one of their CDs at home.  I thoroughly enjoyed them again!

I said my goodbyes to Ben & Andy and then made my way back to the Cavern Club back stage to see The Wheels.  I remember thinking how gorgeous the bass player was phwoarrr!

After them I got the chance to see 4th Street Traffic for the 2nd time and it was even better as the Cavern pub is not really equipped to deal with really loud bands.

After 4th Street Traffic I decided to call it a night as I was falling asleep.  Then made my way back to the hotel to see this lovely night time view.

Woke up in the morning with a call from Rob saying that he had a meeting and then he will bring baby Charlie to come and meet me.  I got up and went for a nice breakfast and then did some shopping.  Got caught up in the American Candy shop and seeing all these different flavours just made me look more forward to going to USA.

Rob and Charlie came to meet me in Costa and I couldn't wait to get him out of the buggy.  So I looked after Charlie whilst daddy got a coffee.  Aww to say he is adorable is putting it mildly.  I was all overcome with emotion, he is a little sweetheart!  He got a bit grumpy and wanted to go back into his buggy after I gave him some milk and then dropped to sleep.

Woken up again, but still not impressed.

Daddy clapping hands with Charlie.

Rob then left and I went for another spot of shopping before heading back to Costa for one last coffee before the gig.  This guy was sat next to me pounding his fist against his chest and he suddenly went into what looked like cardiac arrest.  So he is now lying on the floor and I am trying to resuscitate him.  They called an ambulance but luckily he came to and then told me he had  heart murmur and this kind of thing sometimes happens.  Took ambulance over 15 minutes to get there, I never want to be dying in Liverpool!


I then went to the Cavern Pub to go and see Emma Stevens.  I missed the first couple of songs so sneaked in.  She had a great crowd and got a lovely reception and ended off the set by dedicating "Once" to me.  It was a lovely gesture.

After Emma, I stuck around a bit longer and caught a band from the Netherlands called Marty and the Graveyard.  I really liked this pop band and the tunes were quite catchy.

I got a tad mesmerised with the keyboard player as he was so into it and kept hitting the tambourine against the side of the keyboard really hard.

When they finished I went across the road to make sure I got a good spot for Rob in the back room of the Cavern.  I then saw Helen and Mark and Phil and Deb just as Dave Rave took the stage.  This brought back memories of my very first drunken IPO where Dave gave me a CD.  He was his usual entertaining self and I was glad I didn't miss him.

He called David Bash on stage to join him for the last song.

Two singing together.

It was finally Rob's turn on the IPO stage this year and I got my first glimpse of some new talent in the band.  It was a lovely set and it was nice to see so many have come out to see him play.

A nice one of Mike

I like this one of Rob

Said my goodbyes and made my way home after talking to some people outside the club for ages.  I said to Rob that I had to work the following day and that I wouldn't make it back to Liverpool.  

Well low and behold I was back again the following night and arrived just in time to see The Ladykillers.  OMG!! What a fucking joke!!!  You had the dad and two of his sons and two old blokes in the band.  They were dreadful and so up their own arses.  I was very glad when they finished.  Ladykillers my ass, who were they fooling?!

Rob was then on next and got joined on stage tonight by Bongo Pete who told me last night he was playing but him and his friend were very very drunk.  I liked the touch of the extra percussion but think it would have been better on the bigger stage as there was just too  much going on for the Cavern.  It was packed though and people loved it.

Soon as it finished I said goodbye to Rob and his parents and came home via the dock to try and capture what looked like a spectacular sunset.

Preserves for the fayre

I am taking my goodies to the Long Eaton Open Studios event on Bank Holiday Weekend.  So I figured it was time to get my ass in gear and actually make some preserves.

I started off on Monday night with Red Onion Marmalade.  So I decided to try this recipe:

1kg large red onions thinly sliced 


2 teaspoons olive oil or butter


125g brown sugar 


125 ml red wine vinegar


50ml port

50ml (about 3 tbsp) balsamic vinegar 


pinch of chilli flakes

pinch of rosemary 

salt and freshly ground pepper

Firstly gather all the ingredients together (well the picture shows some of them).

 In a large, non reactive saucepan, heat the oil or butter. Add the red onions, chilli flakes and rosemary and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar and cook over moderate heat for about 25 mins or until the onions begin to caramalise. And they should look something like this.  

Stir in the vinegar, port and the rest of the sugar, increase the heat and stir often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.  The colour has gone a bit darker as the onions caramalise even more.  The house will now smell beautiful!

 Season to taste with salt and pepper and add to sterilised jars.  I had to read extensively about sterilising jars so make sure you do some research before doing this.

Just needs a label now.

This recipe makes about 1lb of marmalade.  

Refrigeration is needed once opened and should be consumed within 3 months.

Darvel Music Festival

Jackie very kindly offered me a lift, so I agreed to meet her somewhere on her way near Stoke at 10am.  I researched on Streetview and in the absence of any nearby lay byes I finally found a retail park so sent her the postcode.  I had to get up at 8.30am to get showered and packed before leaving.  I got to Jackie about 10 minutes late and we were on our way.

We were making good time, so decided to stop at Tebay for some lunch.  Jackie had soup and cake and I had a lovely beef roast dinner.  I figured the next meal would be after the gig and I was right!

Just before getting to Darvel we passed Loudon Hill which is a volcanic plug.  It was very unusual and I had to stop for a photo.

We then arrived in Darvel and drove straight through Darvel.

Until we saw this up near the Town Hall.

Rob and Danny arrived shortly after us and we were all a bit unsure as the town looks a bit "grim" so we had no idea what to expect.  

We arrived at the Town Hall as Mull Historical Society were doing their sound check.  So we discussed merch and they offered to do it for us.  Rob suggested I take the night off for a change.  I felt that I would be best placed at the merch desk to be able to convince people they NEED a Life in Easy Steps CD.  So I said we would go up front and watch Rob and then join the merch desk after.

Roddy Hart was next to sound check and then finally came Rob's turn.  The sound and lighting was awesome and they even had screens on the side of the stage.

We then had a bit of an anxious wait as doors opened at 7pm and Rob was on at 7.20.  Jackie and I assumed our positions up front and people started to dribble in slowly and my neck was hurting as I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the room is filling up.  But by 7.20pm the room was pretty full, and I was delighted.  

I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's performance.  The bass was such a great addition, especially during Life in Easy Steps.  Also loving "You Wouldn't Let It" at the moment. 

Set List was:

• Light of the Stars
• Burns
• Riots Cry
• Blue
• You Wouldn't Let It
• Life in Easy Steps
• How Do You Sleep
• The Passage
• The Bomb
• Demons

I was cracking up during "How Do You Sleep" as Rob got all the verses mixed up, but I suppose nobody else would have noticed.

During the break I went outside for a breather and I got talking to Rob, Danny and Albert who referred to himself as "The Marvel of Darvel".  I had to insist I was too much woman for him.  He was quite a character though and it was pretty hilarious.  I asked him to pose for a photo and this shows just how cheeky the bugger is!

Next on stage was Roddy Hart and The Lonesome Fire. I enjoyed most of it but in particular a song Roddy sang on his own with piano and a cover of "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band.

Danny parting with some wine he got in the rider.

Rob with Sheila who is one of the Organisers of Darvel Music Festival.

Danny signing some CDs

Rob with the compere lady.

Last on was Colin McIntyre and the Mull Historical Society.  If I used my usual 3 song rule, I would have left after the 3rd song as the first half of the set was quite poor.  He more than made up for it though with a cracking second half.  This just makes me think that perhaps he does not have enough good songs to play a 90 minutes headline slot.

Rob with Roddy Hart

Rob signing more CDs

I can see you...

Really loved the fabulous lighting!

Well we stayed until the end and I can honestly say never judge a book by its cover.  This was a delightful little festival which was very well organised and the sound and lighting was second to none.  The people were friendly and I will definitely look to return in the future.

I then drove Rob's car to Glasgow and Jackie and Danny followed.  We got to Sauchiehall Street and I checked us in.  We got a really awesome apartment and pretty much each had our own space.  We then went in Jackie's car in search of a curry, hoping that Kama Sutra would be open.  Sadly it was closed along with every other curry house in the vicinity!  Jackie had to drive round the block 3 times before we finally found a noodle house.  Ordered take away and I got Jackie some chips.  We then went back to the apartment and had some food and wine and told tales of a lovely day we had.

We got talking about artists we didn't like years ago but like now and the quite of the night came from Rob (a rather intoxicated Rob) when he said:  "I fucking love Prince, but not in a I wanna touch him kind of way"!

We went to bed around 2.30am and rose with the birds as Jackie does not seem to need any sleep!  After coffees and showers we vacated around 10:30 and went our separate ways.  Jackie kindly drove me back to my car via several shops in search of those illusive Ecclefechan tarts.  I managed to stock up on some Scotch Pies and Macaroni Cheese Pies, which I managed to leave in her car after all that!