One Man & his
Bog,
a review of a book /CD compilation / life experience
I've just been for a weekend back in my old uni town, despite public transport being up in the air (metaphorically). While I was shunted between various trains and coaches, in my mind I was still sitting in a rickety chair blasted by great music, again taking in the sounds and community of Hull: in particular there’d been an ace reggae club night, but also I’d got hold of the book which celebrates twenty years of the New Adelphi Club, ‘One Man & his Bog’.
Nearly every ‘legendary’ band of the last twenty years has parked their first tour-van outside 89 De Grey Street, making for some great recollections from punters and often the bands themselves: read Radiohead on strange encounters with locals, Pulp on being unable to gig anywhere else; at the opposite end of their career, Pavement on how much they enjoyed themselves when warming up here for their final tour.
Pavement and the La’s are among the bands to contribute live tracks to the two compilations that accompany the book; these make for a full double-period of history that covers the Hull music scene and its touring friends. Strange and obscure names abound, from Death By Milkfloat to Edible 5 Ft Smiths (with their late masterpiece ‘Hovercraft’, full of harmonic obsession) and, in an inspired piece of Peelesque programming, the variety jumps through the Housemartins’ hometown vocal pop, to vibrant African minimalism from Ifang Bondi, through to the scat-punk antifolk of New York’s Dufus. It’s of a diverse but often excellent quality.
The book is nicely presented, reprinting some of its famous handwritten flyers, and including evocative photos of both the bands in the venue and of the venue itself, showcasing the Adelphi dirt. On first sight, the venue certainly looks a dive: it’s a converted terrace house, its stage seemed once to be held together by the discarded gaffa-tape of all the bands that had passed through, and its toilets are so infamously filthy that they gave rise to the title of this book. The owner / promoter / father figure Paul Jackson could be accused of nothing more than “keeping it real” and makes no false claim when he writes of his venue’s importance to the musical audience of local and student alike, and that of any similar venues – but this club seems to be the last of its kind. No sponsorship, just a black sheet hung loosely off bare brick, ‘the new adelphi club’ printed modestly over a sea of small stars.
I saw a lot of great things on that stage, in a period described by the book as one of decline: live music culture changing in general, and Hull’s scene not having launched a real breakthrough band since Kingmaker in the early ‘90s. The inventive local bands like Salako and Fonda 500 gained critical acclaim and pockets of great devotion, but have so far been eluded by major fame even in their own city.
Hull has often seemed a place on its own – the end of the line is not the easiest place to get to – but while its best cultural outpost has always supported local endeavour, creating merely a nearby ‘scene’ has never been the extent of its ambition and is only one part of the venue’s broad outlook. Similarly, the tale of the Adelphi, of one man and his bog – and his dog - is one that should be heard by the biggest audience possible. There are fun anecdotes but also an air of continual struggle, one that can only get harder with the advent of new public entertainment licensing. Authority is a threat which the book is intended to oppose. The stories here conjure an atmosphere that any gigging musician should be able to apply to their own experience; but also one that every independent mind should take an interest in.
Al Maceachern,
December '04
I’d written about my own experience of the venue, which at only three years can hardly cover its whole atmosphere and indeed must repeat much well-trodden ground. Amusingly enough, the only words of mine printed were about a band my big brother had been into, rather than about some sparkling new discovery, but I’d certainly enjoyed writing the article and might as well post it here for anyone else.
