I woke up Friday morning, slowly realising that the 29th of May hath rolled round yet again... and for the first time the usual excitement was replaced with an urge to get five minutes more kip. How old?! I didn't think it'd be like that at 22! But all was good, I went downstairs and headed for the cards and the presents - got a pile of T-shirts that was like a Kafka novel made of cloth, it was so thick.
I got an iPod dock/alarm clock thing that should hopefully do a better job of waking me up (not that I need it considering I've got no reason to get up until September) and a speaker pillow which is delightfully odd - useless for music because there's no low end (I'm a sound student, I'm sorry but I do need a wide frequency response before I register any real audio-based pleasure) but it's bob on for audio books. Since I've pushed and prodded this pillow and can't feel ANY kind of solid tweeter whatsoever, I'm convinced that it's actually infused with some kind of magic spell. Listening to an audiobook made me think a miniature Lenny Henry had somehow squidged himself into my sleeping arrangement.
I also got UNKLE's 'End Titles... Stories For Film' which is a well cool album, and City Of Men which is an AWESOME film and I do need to see it again so it's come at a great time. Also got the Futurama DVD 'The Beast With A Billion Backs' so I've got plenty to keep me occupied!
Anyways, the nightly adventure. Me and my two fantastic hombres Simon and Liam met up at about six (ish) and proceeded into Manchester in the general direction of Chinatown with the intention of sinking some classy all-you-can-eat buffet cuisine. Buffet City has become a bit of a tradition when me and Simon are out on a Friday so we thought it'd be ideal, since we had plenty of time to kill. Lots of food and ice cream later (combined with cost effective student discounts) and we were on our merry way. Not for long though, as we didn't get past Fab Café, which is right below the buffet, before deciding a cheeky beer was in order. So after seeing some of a dodgy Superman film plus a guy behind the bar with a T-shirt that said, quite plainly, 'Have a wank, have a wank, have a motherfucking wank' we were on our way yet again!
We got to Matt & Phred's for nine and it appeared that something had gone a bit awry with my table reservation but we still got one so it was all good...
Oh it was good... the band were setting up and although I was a little disappointed not to see Luke Flowers on the kit, the main man McCallum showed up in his classic velvety looking jazz jacket and everything felt right :D
Seemed aswell that we were treated to a total of five musicians instead of the expected four - a nice little percussion section with triangles and congas! Plus a sax player as well as double bass, drums (a fairly reduced kit with no toms meant no fancy solos unfortunately but still, ace) and Stu on the gee-taaar. I was a bit excited because as I've said before, this was going to be the first time I could stay for all three sets.
Oh and it was good! The percussion really added something special, and cheeky beer after cheeky beer was purchased as the night galloped on, amidst laughter and much joking with my compadres. After the first set, Simon managed to get a cheeky thumbs up from Stu as they left the stage which was just outrageous :P
Being fat and celebratory, me and Simon decided to invest in a couple of pizzas as we had done a few weeks earlier (despite just having had Chinese buffet - that's what happens when you're celebrating and you have far too much money) and I managed to beg Simon to go and ask Stu for a birthday shout out. Upon his return I was slightly heartbroken to hear that 'he doesn't do that kind of thing, it's too Cabaret'. But alas, the second set began and I tried not to cry.
After the first song was over and the applause settled, Stu announced he had something to say for some 'special' people... I perked up a bit. And he said. Lee. My name. Oh the excitement :P I got a shout out! Off Stuart McCallum! GENIUS! Simon was pissing himself and cheers went up... Then he said something about a guy called Ed and it was his birthday too, but thankfully he didn't steal my thunder. Turns out later it was some girl's 25th too, they were totally trying to upstage me! Didn't happen though.
When the second set was over I managed to grab a sneaky handshake off Stu and said thanks for the shout out, which was pretty cool... so yet more alcohol was consumed and the place started to empty out a bit.
The third set started and we'd managed to shift up to a closer table, so Stu in his typically cheeky humorous way greeted all the tables and we all gave him a jazz wave. The last set was really cool, but some people were getting a bit noisy so he asked if there were any requests. I shouted Blue Train at him and he said 'oooh, good choice!' - don't think he was really expecting anybody to come out with anything. So the last song of the night on my birthday was John Coltrane's Blue Train, which was awesome. He even told a cool little story about John Coltrane and something about using vibration to cure cancer - at least that's what I managed to make out, couldn't really hear what he was saying because of some daft annoying loud bastards behind us. It was a top rendition, every time I've heard it played before there was a lot more guitar and drumming involved and if ever anyone is lucky enough to see Stuart McCallum perform this song with Luke Flowers or Mikey Wilson, you're in for a massive treat.
The gig done, we went and got more drinks and when everyone but Stu had gone me and Simon went up to the stage and shook his hand. I told him how much I'd enjoyed it and thanked him for playing the request. Turns out he's going to be playing again on Tuesday so I reckon I'll definitely be there. An awesome night to be had for sure!
After that it was a trip to the bus station for a late bus journey home that thankfully turned out to be completely dickhead-free, which isn't too bad for 2:30AM, especially in Manchester and Farnworth.
Ace night and it'll be hard to top! Big thanks to Liam and Simon for making it such a wicked cool night!
Anyways, I urge anyone with good musical taste to head on over to Stuart McCallum's MySpace or his Official Website for a listen.
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