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CRINGLE: Down with the kids
OF course I was at the Villa Marina last Wednesday night for the Kaiser Chiefs’ gig. (See, I know the word for these things).
Where else would Grandma and I be when Henry is 20 and Annie is 19 and we are obliged to show them that their Grandees can be cool or hip or with it or whatever the current drivel might be.
Yes, we were there all right. I suspect we were the oldest persons among those present in the pandemonium of the crammed Royal Hall where once Joe Loss and his Orchestra used to play In the Mood.
(Grandma are I were there for that as well).
All right, I confess.
Last Wednesday didn’t come about quite like this. We hadn’t even bought tickets.
We just happened to be at the Villa that night to take in a movie at the Broadway Cinema. On the way out we ran into the Villa’s manager, Mr Noel Quigley, who is a friend of long standing and as amiable as they come and he asked us to look in on the Chiefs and their admirable support band, Dr Eliminator and the Deadly Vipers who, let me say, I have not made up.
Also I don’t mean we ran into Noel in the bodily impact sense. You try to avoid that sort of thing with a man who used to be a professional heavyweight boxer. We shook hands and accepted his offer and a snifter to go with it.
Grandma and I are aware that Henry and Annie like the Chiefs which makes us as familiar with their hits like ‘Ruby Ruby Ruby’ and ‘I Predict a Riot’, as I am sure all our friends are.
In the circumstances we had to stand at the back of the main action where I was able to admire the skills of young men coming back into the audience from the bar with pints of beer. To carry three you have to have one in each hand and the rim of the third clipped between front teeth.
I plan to try this when there’s nobody else around.
Meanwhile our situation was too good not to capitalise on. We knew that Henry was home from university and very likely sitting in the peace and quiet of our daughter’s home in rural Hampshire so Grandma rang him to let him listen to the Chiefs and their rip-roaring audience and show him we were there. The wall of sound, even on a mobile, must have nearly wiped out the village. Henry was impressed and promised to report our venture back to Annie. By now it was time to make a discreet withdrawal.
We had gone to the cinema, by the way, to see a movie called The Bourne Legacy, a political thriller which is an American take on Britain’s James Bond franchise which lacks any of the latter’s flip humour. The sound track was deafening.
But the Brits won out on all counts last Wednesday night at the Villa. The Kaiser Chiefs and Dr Eliminator and the Deadly Vipers were even louder, more amusing, more musical, more comprehensible as well as a damn sight more interesting than Mr Bourne.
You see. I’m still an old fart at heart.
• JOHN and Kate Keown of Ramsey refer to an article in the Examiner on a film made in Castle Rushen about a woman and her son who were burned to death there for witchcraft in 1617. The screenplay has been written by 19-year-old student Nathan Russell-Raby and he is quoted as saying:
‘From photographs of the period you can see Castletown looks exactly the same.’
Photos in 1617? There’s witchcraft for you.
• IN a BBC Radio 4 news and current affairs programme we were told that Foyle’s are ‘successful in selling electronic children’s books’.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 33 mph
Wind direction: North west
