[Originally written August 1988]
Well What great fun the Fife Aid festival was… standing in the pissing rain for hours on end watching bands that were quite simply crap. About the only decent thing had been the Sugarcubes, but they certainly weren’t worth getting soaked for, and the fact that Captain wasn’t even definitely playing didn’t help things.
Eventually
we found out that he was backstage, and would be playing… much to our
relief. There would’ve been big trouble if he hadn’t played!
After
a while on came a disgusting green and red jumper containing the Sensible one.
He was followed by Wreckless Eric and a bass player, who I thought to myself
looked very familiar. It didn’t take ling for me to recognise Paul Gray,
though he did look a bit different from the last time I saw him. Obviously
he’d managed to escape from the UFO that took him away in ’83.
Just
for a change Captain greeted the crowd with the immortal phrase “Fuck Off”,
to which I’m sure a lot of people thought “can this really be the same
housewife and granny’s favourite who made Happy Talk?” Of course it was,
only now there was no-one there to clean up his image
for public consumption. This was the real Captain Sensible : a foul-mouthed
punk!! Well not quite, but no that far from the truth!
Wreckless
Eric complained that Captain was further forward than him and that he should
move back. Captain however didn’t see it quite like that… “You ought to
move forward you turd” was his pleasant reply. “Shall we start then?”
Wreckless asked. “I can’t be fucking bothered” said Cap, but he didn’t
mean it really as they went straight into the classic “Smash It Up” which
saw the first real sign of action from the crowd which up ‘til now had been
very subdued (not surprising really considering the conditions). Down the front
there were lots of people jumping about in the mud and having a great time.
After
the aural onslaught of “Smash It Up” it was the first airing of the new
single “I Get So Excited”. By the time you are reading this the single
should’ve been a massive hit. If it hasn’t there is something seriously
wrong with the Great British Public, and shock treatment should be administered
immediately. What I’m trying to say is that the song is fucking brilliant and
everyone should buy it… NOW!
Following
this, Wreckless gave a little speech telling everyone what the next song was
about. It was a bit pointless though as it’s impossible a thing he’s saying
due to hi accent! Anyway, the song was called “Swimming Against The Tide Of
Reason” and (in short form) is about two people who love each other so much
that they both go to the seaside
and walk into the sea together, never to be seen again… a lovely happy song!
For this one Wreckless took over on lead vocals, which I hadn’t
expected, but it worked out well. Throughout the song (and the rest of the set)
Captain was dodging flying beer cans directed towards the stage following his
request for “more beer!” At one point he caught a can in mid-air, took a drink, and
kicked it back into the crowd… is this man cool or what?!
“A
Sporting Life, and Captain don’t even know the fucking words” shouted
Wreckless as they went into the “Toys Take Over’s” excellent b-side with
Cleo from Tin Pan Alley having to hold up the words as Cap couldn’t remember
them!
Wreckless
Eric stepped up once again to do vocals on the great “Some Of Us” and the
even greater “Whole Wide World” (which some of you may remember seeing on
the Way They Were a few years ago). This song is a classic and I was glad to see
it included in the set. It kept a good balance between Captain Sensible numbers
and Wreckless Eric songs.
The
final song of the day was “Glad It’s All Over” which even managed to get
some of the crowd singing along (which is quite something considering how
depressing the day had been). Midway through the song an incredible thing
happened… for the first time on god-knows how long, the sun actually came out!
“Glad It’s All Over” was the perfect song to be playing at the time…
maybe it was an omen and there is some sort of future to look forward to… or
perhaps it was just because the wind had blown some of the clouds away… who
knows… Anyway, it was
a great finish to the set and everyone seemed to have had a great time – the
band, the crowd, everyone.
With
a final kick of a can into the crowd, Captain stumbled off the stage (most
likely in the direction of the nearest beer) and it was over. Wreckless But
Sensible – the only bright spot in a very grey day…