Leeds' Cockpit is not a place where you want to hang about. So I arrive at the seemly hour of just before ten. Last calls should be reaching back stage and a great hour of music lies ahead.
But hang on. The venue bar is empty and a big warm crowd is already inside the main room. As I push through into a world of big synth and 80s tinged melodic pop I catch sight of Luke Haines himself, already on stage and working a twinkling eye and a satisfied smile around the room. My sense of disorientation is very uncomfortable. From the appreciative crush and the warm response this seems like the end of a set. And so it is. The dying chords, the waves, the scurry of stage crew, the tune of "We’ll meet again" though the PA and house lights coming up indicate a major time warp error.
Think fast. Grab some people at random, shove a notebook at them and ask "Well?". They were here, weren’t they? They’ll know. They were, and they did. I scurried round like a demented thing trying to find someone with a critical ear and some cute new putdown. Couldn’t find any. Faces were flushed and pleased. Anyone I approached was delighted to say how good, how great, how enjoyable …
"Amazing. Very, very good. I was a massive Auteurs’ fan from a long way back. I suppose I’m a Luke Hains fan really. I think the new stuff with Black Box Recorder is just so good. It should be selling really well."
"Tonight was really, really good. I love the songs. Brilliant."
"I don’t know any of the new stuff from the Passionoia album yet, but tonight it sounded great."
"Black Box Recorder are just so cool. It’s immensely good."
"Absolutely breathtaking. I just think they’re fantastic."
"The newer stuff has a bit more rock in it. It’s a bit more upbeat. Sarah has such a stunning voice."
"She really looks the part, doesn’t she? I love it."
So that's them well pleased. Job done BBR. I make a quick sprint through to the back stage area, and the man himself is holding court in the dressing room, big smile still in place and affable social demeanour well to the fore. So how did it feel tonght for the aforementioned Luke Haines?
"It felt good. It felt loose in a good sort of way. It was a precise mechanism at work. We talk about 'Precise Black Box Recorder Order' and we had that tonight. Yes, tonight was a rare treat for BBR. We all decided that Sarah was looking like Iggy Pop, and that was a good omen. We all like Iggy Pop a lot.”
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So it was fun?
"Yes. It was fun. I suppose I have a kind of reputation for being a bit miserable. But, you know, the people with the most miserable reputations do have the most fun. I hear things about Leonard Cohen. Apparently he’s a bit of a joker. Leonard Cohen and the Whoopee Cushion are as one … he has a good laugh, and he’s a very funny guy."
This is the first night of the new BBR tour, with the Passionoia album (on One Little Indian) as excuse for getting out and as the chief sales objective. So it's good that the night has gone so well and that the audience has been as receptive and seem so enthusiastic by the time the show is over. And doubly good that I'm the only one in the city with no sense of timing.
"I like playing in Leeds, and this was a good reception, as always. I think I’m specially looking forward to the Brighton show at the Pavilion Theatre on the 13th" says Luke. "I live not so far away, and it seems a bit like a home gig. I don’t know if you know the Concorde in Brighton, but that’s a great venue too. We were all there in the Summer to see Patti Smith and it was a wonderful night. Patti Smith has a thing about Brighton – she's into Greene's Brighton Rock and the Metropole Hotel and everything. So she was keen to play there and the Concorde – it's a club venue – was such a good gig. I’m really glad we saw her there rather than at the London show. But Leeds has been good too!"
Note to self: "ring tour manager next time to check on-stage time"
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