Well I suppose I'm glad it didn't happen, now we all "know" about it we can keep an eye open for the reschedule. Think I will offer him my copy of Community to sign, ironic or what, Hooky signing an album with ME playing his bassline :-)
As for Belfast bashing, it's like anywhere, put enough ppl with a low enough income and the combined woe of minute brains ( caused mainly by the parents' bloodstreams being a combination of Harp Lager, 1.99(GBP) Cider and Blue WKD from conception to birth) and you'll get spides[1]. Both sides have them in equal numbers, tho being a hun I know more of spidus orangus than spidus verdis.
And therein lies my point, despite being of good (ahem) orange stock, with a Scots sounding name, and coming from a town where Catholics exist peacefully mainly on account of them being so few in number, and despite having eyes at least 9ft apart (Note: no one not from NI will get this, cept maybe Shug and some of his townsfolk, cos they all like the same games over there)....there is NO FUCKING WAY I'd go wandering round Belfast at night[2], PARTICULARLY the loyalist areas, I've seen these ones up close. We have them in the estates here, smaller in number and lesser in fuckwitthood (Dickheads are like plants or fish, they grow to the size of their environment).
This is a social grouping who, to upset a rival social grouping, trash their own areas and infrastructure. "let's piss the fenians off by....BURNING DOWN THE CORNER SHOP MUUHUHUHUUHAHAHAHAHAHA", The reality that the nearest Catholic is safe in bed miles away, and really doesn't care if some retard has to walk an extra mile to get milk so his harpy wife can pacify their whining litter of spidelets.....just doesn't occur to them. I mean, people say Dubya is thick (Dubya IS thick), but even HE didn't tackle Bin Laden by bombing Iowa!!!. ( can you see perhaps why, I tend not to class myself among them, besides to be a prod means u need to be like religious....and I aint :) )
Lavery's is too damned close to Sandy row and the Donegal road, shaftsebury square is hilariously violent on a weekend. On a thursday tho, it will be solid students, and tho they may be a bunch of pompous English shoe-gazing wazzocks, they do not Glass people or pronouce "right" with 2 E's.
Actually, on the subject of E's, they're good for exploring new towns. When you have the invincibility feeling thing happening, it almost becomes real, no one DOES piss about with you, if you just believe they wont, always good to have a "designated thinker" along in case things DO go tits up:)
Good music does wonders too.....
Me in Dublin....
Pre Orb, really freaked out, not wanting to go anywhere cept hotel and just stare at ceiling before gig, scared of being Northern etc etc. After 2 hours of Orb, I was out on the town and couldn't e stopped, with nothing more than guiness and a couple of smokes in me, didn't sleep a wink either. BTW, Dublin is a GREAT city, it's spides ( sorry I do not know the Irish for spide) seem few in number, but if reports are to be believed, a run in with them rarely ends well ( I know a guy who runs a club in Dublin and he told me not to come cos ppl got kicked to death down the road......maybe he just hates me :) ).
So....
I would certainly go to see the great Hook, if for no other reason than to say cheers for all the tunes. Let's face it, I'd risk life and limb to see New Order, so risking a kicking to see Hooky seems fair. Be nice to do our bit for cross comunity relations by all meetin up and gettin pissed too :-)
[1]Spide: noun: The Norn Iron localization of what is known in other parts as the "chav" "townie" or "ned". you may create one for study using this part of the interweb thingy
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/no31online/spidegenerator.htm
I'll make you a deal, if you've lived or spent time in Belfast, and DON'T lose the plot at that page, I'll buy u a pint next time yer over.
More information on the spcies as a national phenomenon may be found here
http://www.chavscum.co.uk/
[2] Unless:
A: I am with ppl from the place who I know.
B: It's 20 mins before we're due to play and the 9v battery that powers have the rig has died.
C: I know precisely where I am, and where the nearest busy street is.
D: I'm off my tits and past caring.