highlandsflyer":j701zlpm said:back in the late 80s I lived in London, but went to Manc sometimes twice a week to gig and club.
Moved up there eventually I loved it so much, though by the time I left I had had my fill. Same with most cities I guess.
+1 on all counts....
Did exactly the same when I was at Uni in Surrey and had a gf at Manchester Uni from 88-89. It was loads better going out in Manchester than London.
When my brother started there in 1990 after the gf and I were history it became my second home again until I started my PGCE in Didsbury in 92, which is where I really became addicted to MTBing and ended up working in bike shops instead of classrooms until moving to Denmark in late 94, by which time I had also "had my fill". Still miss the curries though - and the friendliness of the locals when I was there in feb. was heartwarming - I'd forgotten that part of it.
Funny thing is though - much as I loved living in Manchester, I never liked many of the bands from there. I must have seen hundreds of gigs in that city but can probably count on both hands how many Manc bands I saw there and on one hand how many I actually thought were any good. To me it just seemed like a scene that was based around blowing your own ego up and doing the same for your mates who would return the favour, end result being that it looked like there was a "scene".
Still, I was a goth at heart (without the look) but grunge and crusty techno was more my thing by the time the Banshee closed down. And besides, I'm a Yorkshireman and still maintain that the best bands came out of Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford - and these days, Scandinavia.
Anyway, I've still not forgiven Mani for trying to cop off with my ex when they played in Copenhagen in 1990. She was flattered but said he seemed like "a bit of a dick".