Last week, I signed on for benefit for the first time since I started university, 19 year ago. The whole experience was a lot more pleasant than I expected. The staff at the job centre were all friendly, polite and helpful (despite having givenme the wrong claim forms, not once but twice!). Vic signed on at the same time, and we used our new Job Seeker status to get reduced price tickets to see Shaun of the Dead
Got a nice surprise from the Inland Revenue, in the form of a cheque for a tax rebate (I overpaid quite a bit last year due to only working until October). With no salaries coming into the house, that certainly helps, as does the dole money (I know you’re not supposed to call it “dole money” any more).
On Friday, I took to the roads once more in a slightly less scary, and slightly more competent driving session. And this time it wasn’t followed by a biblical-style downpour.
Saturday saw a brief trip to Borough Market, followed by some lounging in preparation for an evening out. Cedric, Vic and I had tickets for the “Carling Live 24” gig at Brixton Academy.
The first act on were the execrable “Queens of Noize”. Basically, two girls playing records and dancing like drunken loons. They don’t even make an attempt to mix the records. I’m sure they’re terribly funny on some sort of ironic level, but I wish they’d just bog off and leave a space for someone with an iota of talent.
Next up were the real headliners of the night, the Scissor Sisters They had already played in Wembley supporting Duran Duran that night, and were due to head off by helicopter to Nottingham as soon as they came off stage, but still put in a tremendous performance, opening with their current single “Take Your Mama” and the show carried on in a similar bouncy fashion. Great gig and the band all looked like they were having a great time.
The last band on were Lamb who we’ve seen several times before. Really liked their first album but haven’t been as enthusiastic about anything since, and live I’ve always found them disappointing and slightly annoying. Saturday was probably one of their last UK gigs (they’re doing a couple of festivals), as they’re taking some time out and may call it a day. Unfortunately, the performance lived down to expectations with a couple of songs being okay but most being irritatingly jazzy and to top it all, Andy, the bloke who writes the music acts like a complete arse on stage, apparently believing himself to be the second coming of Bono with all his speaker climbing and imploring calls of “Hellobrixtoniseverybodyhavingagoodtime?”. We stuck it out to the end though which, being a late-night gig was about 2:30am.
Grimsby Town are attempting to astound their fans by surviving the season without being relegated from Division 2. Their safety from relegation is now in their own hands, following their 1-0 win against Brentford on Saturday. Another win on Saturday at Tranmere will see them safe, with the prospect of some local derbies next season following the promotion of Hull and Doncaster from Division 3, and even Lincoln are likely to make the play-offs. So here’s hoping for a decent result on Saturday.