Thanks for the friendly welcome 8. You've whet my appetite even more for the gig. Although I've been a fan since ... well watch out for my post on the "First NMA Experience" topic ... I've only seen NMA twice; Glastonbury 2002 and Manchester Ritz 2020 both fantastic gigs.
Pleasure's mine, Matt2072.
Two gigs you say? Well, that's one entire gig more, than every single person I've brought along with me to most of the 8 NMA gigs that I've ever been to! It's really great to
hear that you're aiming to attend more NMA shows! Ohhh, brace yourself... you're going to love them!! Just a tip though, aim to see NMA/JS when they're the
headlining act, especially, that way you'll get a much more varied / diverse and longer setlist.
In my case, sadly, one gig was enough for each of my friends.
Even though they enjoyed themselves at the NMA concerts, none of my friends permanently caught the
bug or
itch so to speak, to go to even just one more gig with me. I don't know, maybe it was actually down to me or because they came with me, to the gigs? I never asked. Most of them were women, though. None of them were as heavily, intensely, positively and profoundly impacted, soul-shifted, moved to the degree that I was by the whole experience... the writing, the music, delivery, etc..
The NMA live gig experience didn't seem to touch, move or affect any of my great friends as hard, deep and to the degree as NMA did-me -- not sonically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually or otherwise.
This completely baffled me to no end, baffles me even still. I've since exhausted my entire reservoir of single friends, that I attend NMA gigs on my own now. It isn't so bad, but I seriously miss talking to people about the whole thing, of being at a NMA concert. This is why I come here, to this forum (I'm not a facefooker or a fritter frat brat). NMA owns this special place and it's precisely due to that fact, that I consider this noticeboard / forum to be NMA's
orig
inal real and TRUE online
home. I love it here. So much. I hope and pray with all my inner strength and might that NMA/JS don't ever shut this sacred space, wonderful place down.
Great thing about attending gigs on my own, now, is that it costs me by far, far, far less!
And, there's the other added bonus of not having to answer to anyone; to leave the venue as early as my friends tend to want to -- which is exactly what happened at the last NMA gig I attended... ohhh, it's about 11 rough years ago, now.
I wanted so much to stay. SO much. It broke and crushed me to fcukin' pieces, having to leave so early that brisk and gorgeous autumn evening, especially. I died that night. Within seconds, my innards felt like they'd
whooshed / dropped, fallen right down to the floor. Within the flick of an instant, my pounding heart shattered as the beats of it gradually fell away, too. I tried best to hide my emotions, my eyes, but I'm just one of those people who are just too fcukin' easy to read. I should've worn sunglasses that night, wouldn't have made it any easier, but I needed something to crawl behind, some where to retreat to.
Did my absolute very best to
'hold back the rain'; keep the flood of tears at bay; piece my heart back together and suit it back up in my invisible coat of armour again, as we headed our way back to our hotel. Made it back to our room where I wept the whole rest of the night through, so softly, so quietly, into my pillow, in silence, stillness, like some silly little girl would've done. I cried right into the dawn of daylight and for three straight days thereafter. It was absolute torture... an emotional rollercoaster of a disaster. But I love 'em still... and good or bad, always will.
'It's times like' those, that I really need someone to slap me out of the funk 'n rut / behaviour. I can be so irksomely pathetic, over
'the taste of nothing at all'... well, or so it truly felt, there that night... or so it apparently seemed.
You know, there's an uncanny wealth of light, honesty, wisdom, experience and truth
in SO much of Mr.
Sullivan's work / his writing, particularly.
It's unquestionably true what JS sings
in his brilliantly stellar tune...
"1975"'A smoldering stillness lay over the land I wandered out across,
Companions came and went their ways, it was easier alone'I love this man! I do! I do! I do! Don't you
(=everyone reading this, at his very moment), too? Doesn't everybody here genuinely, really and truly love this guy? How can one not? How? ugh! ugh! ugh! And that's what the exact issue was -- none of my friends could see it / him / them, feel it / him / them, with their eyes closed. They couldn't see with their hearts afire, souls awoken... intellectually, intuitively, naturally, openly, freely. All of the beauty, treasure, passion, honesty... they couldn't
see it. They failed to
see what we here do in NMA/JS. I still don't understand it. But I'm not one who's looking to change people. I feel that that's something every individual
(=my present self included) has to work out and do for themselves, and do it for the most important reason
(s)... to be their best, truest self or whatever those reasons may be.
Just adding my first NMA experience... (TLDR: Salford Uni 1991 - borrowed T&C off a mate)
I was in my first year at Salford Uni in 1991 and my music guru mate Jon lent me T&C after I spotted it in his record collection and thought "New Model Army is a great name for a band, I want to hear that". I'd never heard of them until that point. I loved it on first listen and was well pleased to discover they'd released previous records. Being a record-head at the time I quickly bought the vinyl of No Rest, Ghost of Cain, Impurity, Radio Sessions, Raw Melody Men, The Price ep plus some 12" singles and a couple of 10" singles (for the b sides) - I couldn't believe how they were all different but I loved them all. (For some reason I've never bought Vengeance...).
Matt2072, please, do yourself a massive favour and buy yourself a copy of
"Vengeance The Whole Story (limited edition)". That's a crucial, must have in any NMA collection. It's available in
CD format, if you find the vinyl any bit
pricey.
NMA are not really typical of the music I like / have liked - I've moved through The Smiths, Shoegaze, Beatles / Lennon, EDM, Brtitpop etc, etc ... but NMA have also been there, in their own category, special to me.
Very odd, add in there a lot of classic rock, 60s soul, a bit of punk, some original goth, electronica, a tonne of new wave, post-punk, folk, classical music, film scores and true opera and that sounds exactly like me. My taste in music has always been all over the place, eclectic, but never in all my years of searching, did I ever find a band quite like NMA. The closest I can think of are The Who
(classic line-up), but it's should actually be the other way around though, The Who came first. I see in NMA/JS SO much of The Who. There are similarities between the two bands, not so much on a technical level, but most definitely on a higher emotional, spiritual and genuine / honest, even subconscious level.
Then there's Killing Joke too, but NMA has a softer at-times-sweeter side, that I feel Killing Joke and the material released under the Killing Joke banner doesn't as often quite particularly possess, present. But then again, I have a lot of catching up to do with Killing Joke's repertoire. The albums I properly listened to from start to finish, were their first self-titled album right up to "Pandemonium". I bought the remaining albums, I just haven't played them yet... got totally enthralled / side-tracked by another colossal brilliant band, NMA at the exact same time.
Do any of the German fans think it's worth turning up for Berlin
Saturday night and trying to buy a ticket outside the venue?
Hopefully a few benevolent members of our wonderful NMA German contingent, floating and posting here, will take a quick minute to help answer your great question; offer helpful tips; guide you in the best direction, etc..
Speaking of the German fans I should perhaps translate
the phrase I used "billy-no-mates"
I think the equivalent would be
Wilhelm-keine-Freund
lol, even though I myself do not speak German
(which is a bummer 'cause it's one of my favourite languages), I genuinely appreciated your ultimately thoughtful, inclusive and explicative virtual gesture. Let us know if you manage to acquire a ticket. Enjoy the day Matt2072, everyone, everywhere. And most of all, welcome back to all things NMA/JS!!
