You've probably noticed that I'm back from my (perfect) trip across the pond that saw -- and heard -- the music of my youth transport me back in time.
With the Hotel du Vin in Bristol as our home base (the clawfoot tub made it almost hard for me to leave the room!), we kicked things off with Saint Etienne -- a band I discovered on KROQ while driving on Wilshire Boulevard in my convertible Volkswagen as a struggling 20something -- on their Final Tour, celebrating nearly 40 years of music.
Although it had its glamour and perks, living in L.A. was a difficult time for me. Pulling in $23,500 a year (while commuting 100 miles roundtrip to Orange County in an aging VW) at the height of the AIDS crisis didn't exactly provide a solid foundation, which is to say nothing of the endless roommate drama of one's youth.
So music was kind of my only salvation -- what I didn't spend on car repairs went to purchasing CDs, and no artist meant more to me during that period of my life than Saint Etienne.
Sarah and the boys went out with a bang at Beacon Hall, performing a perfect mixture of old favorites ("Spring," "Mario's Cafe," "You're in a Bad Way," "Who Do You Think You Are?," "Pale Movie"), midcareer gems ("Heart Failed in the Back of a Taxi," "Shower Scene," "Stormtrooper in Drag"), four songs from their brilliant farewell LP ("Glad," "Take Me to the Pilot," "Brand New Me," "The Last Time") and required classics ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Nothing Can Stop Us," "He's on the Phone").
And perhaps best of all was the one-two punch opener of "Tonight" and "Like a Motorway" -- Damian and I were both covered in goosebumps, absolutely dying.
Kudos, too, for doing the underappreciated "DJ" and working "7 Ways 2 Love" into "He's on the Phone." (One might quibble with the exclusion of everything from "Good Humor" and "Home Counties," but I was sanguine since I'd seen them perform the former in its entirety on its 20th anniversary and the latter on their last U.S. tour.)
From there, we explored Wales -- touring Oystermouth Castle, wandering around the seaside village of Mumbles on Swansea Bay (Damian loves to trick me into hikes), visiting Swansea (the birthplace of Dylan Thomas), Cardiff (the birthplace of the Darling Buds, whom we missed by a week!) and Caerphilly Castle.
Along the way, we hit a few bars on both sides of the border (the one straight pub we stumbled into wound up being the most fun!).
Then, as a fitting musical bookend to the trip, we headed to Exeter, where we took in the magnificent Exeter Cathedral, had the best French dinner and wrapped up the concert portion with Clare Grogan, who marked the 45th anniversary of Altered Images' "Happy Birthday" -- especially fitting since the trip doubled as an early birthday celebration for my hubby.
Hearing the album live and in sequence took me right back to my teenage bedroom on West Kiva, where I never even dreamed I could someday marry a man, much less one as cute and smart as Damian.
In addition to the album, they left virtually nothing on the table, performing "I Could Be Happy" (Clare's mic went out, so naturally I led the crowd version in her absence!), "See Those Eyes," all four "Bite" singles, the title track from their comeback album (Clare vowed she wouldn't be waiting another 39 years to put something out because she "likes being on the charts"), "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (a nod to the Slits, who were Clare's inspiration along with Siouxsie, Debbie Harry and Poly Styrene) and "Dead Pop Stars," which you may recall inspired me to make this pop pilgrimage before it's too late.
And before heading home, we squeezed in one last first: Stonehenge, which was even more spectacular than "National Lampoon's European Vacation" led me to believe.
The original plan was to visit Edinburgh and Belfast and see the bands on different stops. But unforeseen circumstances caused us to nearly call off the whole thing before recalibrating -- and I'm so glad we did. xo
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