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I'm Writing This Letter...
Sep. 2nd, 2018 10:17 pmWhen I was nine, I had three close friends; Philip, Robert and Bryan. Philip's birthday was just before Christmas and that year he went to the pantomime for this party. He could only bring two friends though as there were not enough tickets for everyone to go. I was the person left out. While today I can look at this in more pragmatic terms, as a nine-year-old, I remember the overwhelming sense of loneliness that came from being left behind. This incident has shaped my outlook ever since and I always try to ensure that people are always included, indeed it is very important to me that they are.
Why am I mentioning this now? Well, yesterday was Wolfie's birthday and none of our friends were able to share it with him. There were a number of different reasons for this, with the Northern Rail strikes being the most disruptive. One of our friends was also ill and had spent most of the week battling a cold, but everyone pulling out for one reason or another, engendered the same feelings I had felt as a nine-year-old. I know Wolfie was terribly upset by this, not only because we had moved the night from Friday to Saturday to try and accommodate people, but also because it was yet another attempt to rekindle the old group who used to go to the Gasworks when the event was still running. We had found a new rock and metal club in Leeds called The Key Club and had been meaning to go for sometime, with last night being the perfect opportunity. However, with no-one willing to join us, I guess people have just moved on.
It was frustrating as had it been down to us, we would have gone out on Friday rather than Saturday. This was partly because the Friday night line-up at the club was stronger, but also because we were out anyway sampling some new beers that Brewdog had released. Not only had a new sour beer called Quench Quake come out, but also two Overworks sours too based around peach and pear. Furthermore, one of our favourite barmen from little Brewdog was leaving for pastures new and we wanted to say goodbye. This meant we spent a good couple of hours in Brewdog on Friday night chatting with the staff, before ending up at the bigger Brewdog for some pizza. In hindsight, we should have probably just stayed out and gone to the club once it opened at 11pm, but expecting our friends to join us on Saturday, we opted to go home and have an easy night. We were still incredibly tired after EF and needed to catch up on sleep, with eleven hours of it that night proof of just how tired I was.
Another reason why Saturday had been a less preferrable night was that Gdakon registration opened at 7pm that day. This significantly limited our day plans, and was one of the primary reasons why we didn't really do much during the day (that and not getting up until after 2pm). Registration went smoothly and we boarded a bus into town at around 9pm, which was roughly when the slew of cancellations from friends started. Once we had arrived at little Brewdog again at 10pm, it was clear that no-one was coming and we were both terribly upset. Still, Wolfie got his free birthday beer (having had his free birthday burrito at Bar Burrito) and we did get chatting to one of the barmen at Northern Monk, who had missed his train due to the Northern strikes and was stranded in the city. It was great chatting with him about the Manchester beer scene and we learned a fair deal from him. It also made the night somewhat better, so we left little Brewdog happier than we had gone into it. The same wasn't the case at the bigger Brewdog though, which was terribly quiet and a rather lonely affair. I bought Wolfie a barley wine to try and cheer him up but he was still too sad as we contemplated whether we should just call it a night.
In the end, we decided to say fuck it and stick to the original plan so after a cheeky double cheeseburger in McDonald's, we headed down to The Key Club shortly before 1am. While one room was playing chart hits, the main room was full on metal, and soon we were down on the dancefloor moshing away. There were a number of our favourite songs playing throughout the night, while the atmosphere and camaraderie of the place was fantastic - indeed there were quite a few fellow metalheads there who were happy for us to dance and jump with them to the tunes. The place was incredibly hot and sweaty though and soon sweat was pouring out of me, particularly through my hair which became more and more whip-like as the evening went on. This merely added a grungy authenticity to it though. At one point, I got so excited that I punched myself in the nose accidentally, and I fear I may have broken it, while the balance of songs between ones we knew and ones we didn't was just right, enabling us to take a seat and rest for a short while too. The beer was good and reasonably priced for this kind of place and the ringing in my ears which is persistent until now demonstrates just how loud and awesome this underground club is. It was a little sweaty, this is true, but the toilets were in good shape and it was easy to get a drink, while it was neither too packed nor too quiet. All in all then, we had a great couple of hours here and didn't get home until after 3:30am after an exhilarating evening. It was definitely a fantastic end to Wolfie's birthday and something I am glad we did - we are going to have to go back again in the very near future.
Why am I mentioning this now? Well, yesterday was Wolfie's birthday and none of our friends were able to share it with him. There were a number of different reasons for this, with the Northern Rail strikes being the most disruptive. One of our friends was also ill and had spent most of the week battling a cold, but everyone pulling out for one reason or another, engendered the same feelings I had felt as a nine-year-old. I know Wolfie was terribly upset by this, not only because we had moved the night from Friday to Saturday to try and accommodate people, but also because it was yet another attempt to rekindle the old group who used to go to the Gasworks when the event was still running. We had found a new rock and metal club in Leeds called The Key Club and had been meaning to go for sometime, with last night being the perfect opportunity. However, with no-one willing to join us, I guess people have just moved on.
It was frustrating as had it been down to us, we would have gone out on Friday rather than Saturday. This was partly because the Friday night line-up at the club was stronger, but also because we were out anyway sampling some new beers that Brewdog had released. Not only had a new sour beer called Quench Quake come out, but also two Overworks sours too based around peach and pear. Furthermore, one of our favourite barmen from little Brewdog was leaving for pastures new and we wanted to say goodbye. This meant we spent a good couple of hours in Brewdog on Friday night chatting with the staff, before ending up at the bigger Brewdog for some pizza. In hindsight, we should have probably just stayed out and gone to the club once it opened at 11pm, but expecting our friends to join us on Saturday, we opted to go home and have an easy night. We were still incredibly tired after EF and needed to catch up on sleep, with eleven hours of it that night proof of just how tired I was.
Another reason why Saturday had been a less preferrable night was that Gdakon registration opened at 7pm that day. This significantly limited our day plans, and was one of the primary reasons why we didn't really do much during the day (that and not getting up until after 2pm). Registration went smoothly and we boarded a bus into town at around 9pm, which was roughly when the slew of cancellations from friends started. Once we had arrived at little Brewdog again at 10pm, it was clear that no-one was coming and we were both terribly upset. Still, Wolfie got his free birthday beer (having had his free birthday burrito at Bar Burrito) and we did get chatting to one of the barmen at Northern Monk, who had missed his train due to the Northern strikes and was stranded in the city. It was great chatting with him about the Manchester beer scene and we learned a fair deal from him. It also made the night somewhat better, so we left little Brewdog happier than we had gone into it. The same wasn't the case at the bigger Brewdog though, which was terribly quiet and a rather lonely affair. I bought Wolfie a barley wine to try and cheer him up but he was still too sad as we contemplated whether we should just call it a night.
In the end, we decided to say fuck it and stick to the original plan so after a cheeky double cheeseburger in McDonald's, we headed down to The Key Club shortly before 1am. While one room was playing chart hits, the main room was full on metal, and soon we were down on the dancefloor moshing away. There were a number of our favourite songs playing throughout the night, while the atmosphere and camaraderie of the place was fantastic - indeed there were quite a few fellow metalheads there who were happy for us to dance and jump with them to the tunes. The place was incredibly hot and sweaty though and soon sweat was pouring out of me, particularly through my hair which became more and more whip-like as the evening went on. This merely added a grungy authenticity to it though. At one point, I got so excited that I punched myself in the nose accidentally, and I fear I may have broken it, while the balance of songs between ones we knew and ones we didn't was just right, enabling us to take a seat and rest for a short while too. The beer was good and reasonably priced for this kind of place and the ringing in my ears which is persistent until now demonstrates just how loud and awesome this underground club is. It was a little sweaty, this is true, but the toilets were in good shape and it was easy to get a drink, while it was neither too packed nor too quiet. All in all then, we had a great couple of hours here and didn't get home until after 3:30am after an exhilarating evening. It was definitely a fantastic end to Wolfie's birthday and something I am glad we did - we are going to have to go back again in the very near future.
