My 2008 Blog

Monday 29 December 2008. Manchester United 1 Middlesbrough 0.

According to the stattoes on Sky Sports, Middlesbrough have the best head-to-head record against the so-called Big Four out of the other 16 clubs in the Premiership so it was no surprise that it took us 70 minutes to break them down. Perhaps if they played with the same commitment against the likes of West Brom and Bolton they wouldn't be one place above the relegation zone.

Sunday 28 December 2008. Huddersfield Town 2 Scunthorpe 0.

A fairly scrappy, ill-tempered match that Town just about deserved to win even though Scunthorpe played the better football.

Tuesday 23 December 2008. The Albion Band, The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.

Although the tickets stated 'The Albion Band' it was actually The Albion Christmas Band comprising Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Simon Care and Kellie While. For eight years now they've been performing Christmas-themed shows around the country in December. The show comprised songs, readings and even some dancing and was thoroughly enjoyable. Even though I only booked it last week we managed to get front-row seats although Carol would have preferred seats a bit further back as you can end up with neck ache from having to look up all the time.

Sunday 14 December 2008. The Who, IndigO2, London.

This was a special gig in the intimate surroundings of IndigO2 as a thank you to the members of The Who's fan club. I wasn't actually a member at the time of making the booking but you could join at the same time for £35; not a bad deal as you get access to exclusive on-line content together with a Whooligans t-shirt and an exclusive 2-CD set of live recordings from the archives that isn't available anywhere else.

IndigO2 is, as advertised, a very intimate concert hall; I'd estimate that it's about the same size as St. Georges Hall in Bradford although better configured so that everyone gets an excellent close-up view. The band were on great form, playing an energetic two-hour set as usual.

Unfortunately, the entrance arrangements were chaotic to say the least. This was a ticketless gig - presumably in an attempt to thwart the scalpers - which meant that you had to have your credit card swiped to gain admission. But, as the doors didn't open until 19:30 and the support act was on stage at 19:50, only those who were queuing up from 19:00 or so got to see the support act's full set. As I got to the front of the queue I saw this stocky guy with a little beard in a brown suit who was directing the queue. I said to him "You look just like Harvey Goldsmith", to which he replied "I could be". I then told him that Mrs C had spoken to him on the phone once to find out why we hadn't received our usual annual priority booking invitations for EC (and, fair play to him, he sorted us out.) Anyway, he smiled, shook my hand and said to enjoy the show.

Docked half a point because the set list wasn't quite as good as Newcastle last year, although the energy levels and sheer excitement were as good as always. Plus, the crowd was boorish and at the same time rather unenthusiastic, especially when calling for the encore.

Set list:

I Can't Explain

The Seeker

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere

Fragments

Who Are You

Behind Blue Eyes

Tattoo

Sister Disco

Baba O'Riley

Eminence Front

5:15

Love Reign O'er Me

Won't Get Fooled Again

My Generation

Pinball Wizard

Amazing Journey/Sparks

See Me, Feel Me

Listening to You

Tea & Theatre

Saturday 13 December 2008. White Christmas, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. A very entertaining programme of Christmas songs, mostly secular but with a few sacred ones also included. The conductor - Jae Alexander - was a laugh though as camp as a row of tents and there were two excellent soloists, Shona Lindsay and Matt Little. Great seats in the middle of the second row.

Almost shades of Good Friday 2006 when we needed to beat a virtually relegated Sunderland to keep alive our faint championship hopes. Everyone turned up expecting a rout but it didn't turn out like that, Sunderland held out for 0-0 and Chelsea would go on to celebrate their second successive championship; a feat the 'invincibles' of Arsenal last achieved in the thirties. It was similar today but Sunderland defended stoutly in the wake of Keane's departure on Thursday. But United sides never give up and, in truth, we pummelled them for the last half hour. Just as Keegan - Alan, not Keggy - was announcing four minutes of added time Carrick smashed the ball against the post and Vidic was there to tap in the rebound - definitely shades of New Years Day 2003 when Scholes scored an even later winner against Sunderland, a result that was to prove crucial at the end of the season when we regained the Premiership trophy.

Wednesday 3 December 2008. Manchester United 5 Blackburn Rovers 3.

A really entertaining League Cup quarter-final, the highlight of which was Tevez's hat-trick - or four if you count the first one which may have been an OG although, predictably, the Website of Dreams site credits him with four. I really hope that Tevez stays; his attitude and commitment are first class, even though he's hardly figured in the starting eleven this season. No wonder the fans all love him.

Saturday 29 November 2008. Classical Spectacular, MEN Arena, Manchester.

An excellent programme of popular classics jazzed up with laser shows and indoor fireworks. The conductor - John Rigby - wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself and there were two excellent soloists, Paul O'Neill and Stephanie Corley. A pretty good selection but, personally, I would have changed a few pieces. However, I believe it's been going for some while now - I recently spotted an advert for the show at the Huddersfield McAlpine stadium in a 1995 copy of the Mail on Sunday that I unearthed during our recent office move - so I guess they have to vary the programme each year.

Friday 21 November - Friday 28 November 2008. Bahia Principe Coste Adeje Hotel, Coste Adeje, Tenerife.

A really enjoyable pre-Christmas break and our third holiday this year. Brilliant hotel and for once we ended up with a great room which was more like a private villa tagged on to the main blocks. The hotel is all-inclusive which it really needs to be as it's off the beaten track with only a couple of bars and restaurants that don't entail a 15-minute walk or cab ride. The food was excellent - we really were spoilt for choice at every meal - but it was the drinks part that was really impressive. There were numerous bars at which you could get served but from 10 every morning they laid out a couple of help-yourself bars laden with red, white and rose wine, 'champagne', sangria, vodka, gin, whisky, white rum, brandy and various juices and mixers. The weather was good for the first half of the week but overcast for the second half but still t-shirts and shorts weather. We had an excellent trip on the Yellow Submarine to observe the manta rays and various other types of fish but didn't do much else in the way of sightseeing - other than the free blanket trip - as it was our second visit to Tenerife. All in all, an excellent break away from the grim UK weather.

Saturday 15 November 2008. Manchester United 5 Stoke City 0.

A straightforward victory against a very poor, very physical Stoke side. They really are a one-trick pony of a side, namely Rory Delap's long throw-ins. It didn't take the quick-witted United fans long to come up with the chant of "You're only here for the long throw". But in fairness, some of United's football was magical and every bit as good as that of the overrated Hornbies; even the biased London-based media are going to have to acknowledge the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome down at the Emirates some day soon.

Tuesday 11 November 2008. Manchester United 1 Queens Park Rangers 0.

Not a vintage United performance but a much-changed - though still quite strong - line-up still managed a straightforward victory over Championship side QPR in this League Cup Fourth Round tie.

Saturday 8 November 2008. Steve Coogan, The Apollo, Manchester.

The perfect pick-me-up after United lost to the Hornbies earlier in the day. I don't wish to sound bitter but you have to say that they raised their game against us; after their recent performances against Hull, Spurs - bottom of the league, don't forget - and Stoke only the reddest-eyed Hornby would argue otherwise. As Chefuberjuice wrote on Phil McNulty's BBC blog, 'but there's no chance of a league title if we can only turn on the gas against the big three'. United actually played very well but - as against Celtic three days earlier - for some reason we're lacking a cutting edge at the moment. To tie in with Remembrance Sunday tomorrow Arsenal's shirts had a poppy embroidered into the design; a nice touch from a classy club.

But back to the show: I thought it was excellent and Carol - not Mr Coogan's biggest fan - also seemed to enjoy it. But on the coach home - memo to Network Rail: Why are there never any trains between Manchester and Huddersfield on Saturday nights? - there was one loudmouth telling everyone within earshot, i.e. the whole coach, that he thought it was rubbish. One man's meat, as they say. The first half consisted of Pauline Calf, Saxondale, Duncan Thicket and Paul Calf. The second half was mostly Alan Partridge with a finale of a very rude song performed in a music hall style. All together now: Everyone can be a **** sometimes!

Saturday 18 October 2008. Manchester United 4 West Bromwich Albion 0.

A fairly comprehensive victory in the end although West Brom worked hard to frustrate us and played quite well, especially in the first half. Rooney had a legitimate goal ruled out for an innocuous push in the first half but I was pleased with his reaction; where once he would have snarled and chased recklessly around, fuming at the injustice, he just got on with it, scoring the opening goal and easily taking the man of the match award. Another sign of his growing maturity. Just one thing, Wayne: please cut out the celebratory knee slides. I even cringe when the likes of Steven Gerrard and other players that I dislike do it as I don't want the Premiership to be deprived of any player through a self-inflicted injury.

Monday 13 October 2008. Stephen Stills, The Apollo, Manchester.

Stephen Stills' voice is completely shot and the man himself is a bit shambolic but he played an enjoyable set comprising a 55 minute acoustic set followed by an electric set of the same length. Nice to see Kenny Passarelli and Joe Vitale, of Joe Walsh fame, still in the line-up after all these years. Most of the hits and classics were played although, disappointingly, no Wooden Ships but I wasn't really surprised as, when Carol and I saw CS&N at the MEN Arena in 2005, Stephen handed over his vocal parts to Graham Nash. Tremendous seat smack in the middle of the second row; I'm now kicking myself for not taking a camera, all the more so given the security guys' very relaxed approach to photography.

Saturday 11 October 2008. Roy 'Chubby' Brown, Winter Gardens Opera House, Blackpool.

A weekend in Blackpool for Carol and I, ostensibly to take in the illuminations. In the past when we've been to Blackpool we've booked a show on the day but on this occasion I decided to do some advance research and discovered that Chubs was doing a Saturday night residency at the Winter Gardens so booked in advance. He was as funny and outrageous as ever. My only gripe was that he was only on stage for a very paltry 65 minutes; perhaps he's been taking advice from Chuck Berry!

Saturday 4 October 2008. Huddersfield Town 2 Leicester City 3.

Exactly one week ago at Old Trafford I wore a short-sleeved Ben Sherman polo shirt without a jacket and was perfectly warm. Today I wore a fairly thick three-quarter length jacket and was freezing; the British climate, eh? The last time I saw Leicester City in a league match was as recently as April 2004 at OT and now they're in the third division, albeit as leaders. The first half was an uneventful stalemate but after the break the visitors established a two goal lead which Town gallantly managed to peg back to 2-2, only to be pipped in stoppage time. And I have to admit that, unusually for me, I left five minutes early, thereby missing Leicester's winner, as I wanted to get home to catch United's match at Blackburn on Setanta.

Friday 3 October 2008. Van Morrison, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

If yiz wants a cathedral wiz got one to spare! European Capital of Culture 2008, la! Our first Van gig in Liverpool and my 15th overall. A very good evening began with an enjoyable though expensive dinner at Mei Mei followed by a quick visit to the cathedral. The gig was a strange one, though. What was good? Van started off in good humour, even attempting a Clint Eastwood impression during one number. The set list was varied as always, including such live rarities as Saint Dominic's Preview (with one of the port cities in the lyrics replaced with Liverpool for obvious - cynical? - effect), Wavelength and the Pink Floyd number Comfortably Numb. Van even did a couple of Astral Weeks numbers as - I guess - a warm-up for the forthcoming Hollywood Bowl shows, Madame George and Ballerina, the former ostensibly a request! What wasn't so good? Van seemed to get grumpier (TM) as the gig went on, at one point having a go at his guitar technician - IMHO he should leave the guitar and sax playing to his band who can actually play the instruments - and then laying in to his backing singers. We paid a fairly outrageous face value of £60 for this gig which just doesn't stand up compared to £35 for equivalent seats at the Bridgewater Hall in March and £50 for fifth row EC seats at Nottingham in June. One guy in the toilets afterwards was really having a whinge at the VFM and, I must say, I couldn't disagree with him. The gigs on this short tour were advertised as 'a very special eveniing with VM' so I was - perhaps naively - expecting more than the standard 90 minute Van gig, perhaps a longer set or some special guest stars or even a support act but it wasn't to be; as usual he was on stage at 20:00 prompt and off at 21:30 although his band stayed on for another two minutes during an extended finale to Gloria. At one point I wondered if the Phil was taking advantage of Liverpool's status as the European Capital of Culture but it was obvious that Van - or his 'people' - had set the ticket prices as they were consistent across this short tour, as was the drinking ban which made the daily papers. Still, to quote the great Mark Twain, you pays your money and you takes your choice. We'll no doubt be there for the next gig in this vicinity - in Spring 2009, I imagine - and, as stated below, at least we had time for a leisurely post-gig drink before the last through train from Lime Street to Huddersfield at 22:30, although Mrs C was less than enamoured with the shit hole that is the Head of Steam. Still, cheers Van!

Set list: This Love Of Mine :Rough God Goes Riding :Keep It Simple :That's Entrainment :Saint Dominic's Preview :Wavelength :Comfortably Numb :In The Afternoon > Ancient Highway > Joe Turner Sings > Raincheck > Notting Hill Gate > Tell Your Mama > ITGTSN :Madame George :The Way Young Lovers Do :It's All In The Game > You Know What They're Writing About > Make It Real One More Time :Ballerina :When The Leaves Come Falling Down :And The Healing Has Begun :Brown Eyed Girl :Gloria

Saturday 27 September 2008. Manchester United 2 Bolton 0.

This match marked Berba's home debut but will be remembered for the penalty that shouldn't have been. Before the match Carol and I had an excellent curry at Dilli in Altrincham.

Tuesday 23 September 2008. Manchester United 3 Middlesbrough 1.

This League Cup tie marked Ronaldo's first start and first goal of the season. Sadly, it was notable for Mad Dog Pogatetz's disgraceful assault on Possebon; fortunately the lad didn't break his leg, as was first feared.

Saturday 20 September 2008. Huddersfield Town 3 Northampton 2.

As this is Town's centenary season the club made season tickets available at just £100 so I decided to get one. Including the additional £5.50 charge for paying by credit card and to cover postage it works out at just £4.59 per match for anyone who attends all 23. To put it another way, as my United season ticket costs £48 per match, £105.50 at Old Trafford gets me two matches plus the first 18 minutes of the third match! For varying reasons I'd missed the first three Town matches - at £4.59 per match I can afford to - so this was my first match of the season and very enjoyable it was too, all the more so as it was the first home victory of the season in the league.

Wednesday 17 September 2008. Manchester United 0 Villarreal 0.

The reds are still not firing on all cylinders but the good news is that the best footballer on the planet is back to grace the famous red shirts.

Saturday 13 September 2008. Emmylou Harris, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

The last time I saw Emmylou was in 1982 at Hammersmith Odeon and her band was called the Hot Band. Tonight she was accompanied by the Lukewarm Band. It wasn't a bad show but it never really took off and her band certainly didn't rock like the 1982 incarnation with the great Albert Lee on lead guitar. Good seats, though; right in the middle of the eighth row and there was a no-show directly in front of us which gave us an unobstructed view. Oh, and we had a very good curry beforehand at East z East.

23-24 August 2008. Bank Holiday Weekend, Flamborough.

Another very enjoyable bank holiday weekend in Flamborough thanks to Roger and Jean who kindly let us use their caravan again. On the Saturday we walked the Scarecrow Trail round Flamborough and went to Filey on the Sunday for shopping and excellent fish and chips at Inghams.

Sunday 17 August 2008. Manchester United 1 Newcastle United 1.

For varying reasons Ronaldo, Tevez, Hargeaves, Anderson, Nani, Park, Saha and Silvestre were all unavailable for this opening league fixture against the Toon. To compound matters we lost Carrick - and much of our creativity - to injury after 25 minutes. Throw in to the mix a much more committed and organised Newcastle side than we've grown accustomed to and the result was hardly a shock. Call me naive but I can never understand how we always seem to enter into a new season so badly prepared although a summer spent chasing the South African rand may have had something to do with it! For the pessimists reading this we're now two points behind the other three members of the so-called Big Four. For the optimists we've started the season pretty much like the last one, namely a Community Shield win on penalties followed by a stuttering home draw. Just like last season the second league match is away to Pompey so get your money on a 1-1 draw! As a consequence of our involvement in the European Super Cup and the World Cup qualifiers the Pompey match is our only league match before we travel to Anfield in just under four weeks so hopefully some of the missing players will be back for that crunch match; I'm also hopeful that we'll have signed Berbatov by then so we should be in much better shape to face the 'Pool.

Friday 18 July - Friday 1 August 2008. Russian Rendezvous Cruise on Queen Victoria.

Itinerary:

18 July - Southampton

19 July - Zeebrugge, Belgium (for Bruges)

20/21 July - At sea

22 July - Gdynia, Poland (for Gdansk)

23 July - Tallin, Estonia

24/25 July - St. Petersburg, Russia

26 July - Helsinki, Finland

27 July - Stockholm, Sweden

28 July - At sea

29 July - Copenhagen, Denmark

30 July - Oslo, Norway

31 July - At sea

1 August - Southampton

Another superb cruise with Cunard. Brilliant itinerary, brilliant service, great food, plenty of enjoyable entertainment. As I said of the QE2, it's everything you'd imagine it to be, only better. Here's to the next one!

More photos coming soon.

Wednesday 9 July 2008. Pentangle, Palace Theatre, Manchester.

If Cream were the first rock supergroup then Pentangle were the first folk - or folk/jazz/blues - supergroup. And just as Cream reformed in 2005, so did Pentangle this year - and with the original lineup of Jacqui McShee, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox. They played a very entertaining two hour set with not a single electric instrument in sight.

Wednesday 25 June 2008. John Mayer, The Academy, Manchester.

My fourth gig in five days and it felt like it at work on the following day! As it turned out, Buddy Guy was in town at the Bridgewater Hall on the same evening but I plumped for John Mayer, having already seen Buddy back in 1990 with EC at the RAH. The last time Carol and I went to the Academy was to see Sheryl Crow back in 1996. The next time we saw Ms Crow was at the MEN 12 months later and I'm certain that the next time I see John Mayer it will be at an arena. He's currently 'stepping out' with Jennifer Aniston who was pictured in the papers following Saturday's Hyde Park gig with EC and Sheryl Crow taking photo after photo of him with her Nikon SLR. I don't know whether or not Ms Aniston was 'slumming it' at the Academy - actually, 'slumming it' is unfair as the Academy is quite a decent venue with clean, well-equipped toilets and Strongbow at a very reasonable £2.50 a pint but you get my drift - but standing a few feet in front of me during support act Jack McManus' set was Denise Welch of Corrie and Loose Women fame; even though I couldn't see her face clearly from where I was standing it was obvious who it was from the way she was holding court with her entourage who seemed to be hanging off her every word. She then played the celebrity card and got herself and her companions moved upstairs to the 'VIP' balcony area for John Mayer's set. Back to the music - it was a very enjoyable set with many numbers included from the Continuum album though not Bold as Love, the Hendrix cover.

Monday 23 June 2008. Eric Clapton, Trent FM Arena, Nottingham.

My 29th and Carol's 18th EC show and the first time we've seen him in Nottingham. This was one of only three shows in the UK on this year's world tour - I'm discounting Dublin and Cork as they're not part of the UK - and the only indoor one, the others being at Hyde Park and Harewood House in Leeds. We had excellent seats in the fifth row of the arena floor - hence the photos - although I was unfortunate enough to be seated next to some guy who could have been Robbie Coltrane's brother! But hats off to the Arena security whose relaxed attitude to photography was in stark contrast to the heavy-handed policing we're accustomed to in Manchester venues. As in 2004, support was provided by Robert Randolph & The Family Band who turned in an excellent set although their attempts to get the crowd going were rather futile. The audience reaction for Eric himself was most unenthusiastic; I don't know what it is with provincial crowds but they never respond to the same degree as the London ones, especially those in the relatively intimate surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall. And whilst I appreciate that the set was low on 'crowd-pleasers' - I must confess that I had a few misgivings on checking out the core set list for this tour (although, as noted by a reviewer on Where's Eric!, it was nice to see Eric - unusually for him - mixing up the set on this tour; I'm just sorry he saved Isn't it a Pity, my second favourite song of all time, for the Harewood House concert) - hardly any of the songs were greeted with any sign of recognition and it wasn't until Layla, the penultimate number before the encore, that anyone got on their feet. Still, Carol and I enjoyed what was an excellent two hour set even if it didn't quite reach the heights of some of the very best RAH shows. I can't wait for gig number 30, which - based on EC's recent tour frequency - will probably be in 2010.

More photos from the gig can be found here.

Sunday 22 June 2008. John Fogerty, The Apollo, Manchester.

John Fogerty turned in a hit-packed two hours plus show at the Apollo tonight. Just about every Creedence Clearwater Revival hit was played along with his solo hits such as Rockin' All Over The World - yes, the song that Status Quo famously covered and pretty much made thir own. Strangely, the entire front row were on their feet throughout although everyone else remained seated until the last half hour or so; I'm guessing that the front row were members of his fan club.

Saturday 21 June 2008. Santana, MEN Arena, Manchester.

A rather incongruous choice of support act, I thought, in the form of the British soul and R 'n' B singer Beverley Knight. However, she put on a good show and got the crowd nicely warmed up for the main attraction. Santana played a good value two and a quarter hour set that featured most of the hits; during Oye Como Va he even played a few bars of Sunshine Of Your Love as a nod to his good friend EC. My only gripe was that his music is now more 'world' than rock, i.e. too many horns and songs in, I imagine, Spanish. That said, it was a very good show, as always with Santana. He's a good person who 'does a lot for charidee'.

Sunday 8 June 2008. Elkie Brooks, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

HMV still choose to file Elkie Brooks under Rock & Pop as opposed to the ignominy that would be Easy Listening but it's a long time since she was considered 'hip'. But the Salford-born sexagenarian can still belt out a tune with the best of them as she proved at the Bridgewater Hall tonight. We had good seats near the centre of the fifth row in the stalls for an enjoyable set that lasted over two hours including a 20 minute interval. All the hits were played including Sunshine After the Rain and the obligatory Pearl's a Singer. Interestingly, the second set took in a number of blues numbers such as The Doors' Roadhouse Blues and Sonny Thompson's I'm Tore Down as covered by EC on the From the Cradle album.

Friday 30 May 2008. Chris Rock, The Apollo, Manchester.

Excellent stand-up from Chris Rock, one hour 40 of non-stop ruminations on politics, class, relationships, race and sex. No-one was spared his barbs; Hilary Clinton, Wesley Snipes, OJ Simpson and others were the butt of his gags. The audience was quite eclectic, mostly young and white but with a smattering of Afro-Caribbeans and a surprising - to me, anyway - number of Asians. The support act was just as good, a guy called Mario Joyner who apparently was in Three Men and a Baby and a couple of episodes of Seinfeld.

24-26 May 2008. Spring Bank Holiday Weekend, Flamborough.

A very enjoyable bank holiday weekend in Flamborough thanks to Roger and Jean who kindly let us use their caravan. On the Saturday we drove up to Grosmont and rode to Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, where we took in the abbey and had fish and chips at Trenchers; this was our second visit to the restaurant that serves the best fish and chips I've ever tasted, although they're not cheap. On the Sunday we went up Flamborough lighthouse. Finally, on the Monday we went into Bridlington and had fish and chips - again - at the famous Audreys. Jean and I went out on one of the powerboats but Carol didn't fancy it; my knuckles were a ghostly white afterwards!

Above: Standard Class 4 'Mogul' no. 76079 at Whitby on Saturday 24 May. More photos from the weekend can be found here.

Saturday 3 May 2008. Manchester United 4 West Ham 1.

A comfortable win against West Ham and, whilst I have a lot of time for Alan Curbishley, I still maintain that we should have sent them down in the equivalent fixture last season when we had the chance.

Sunday 13 April 2008. Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1.

A hard-fought and absolutely crucial win against the Arse notable for a twice-taken penalty by Ronnie and another great free-kick from Hargreaves who is now looking good value following his stop-start early season. One or two in the press thought we were slightly lucky and, true, Adebayor missed a great chance to make it 2-0 but that conveniently overlooks his hand-ball for the goal that no-one spotted at the time.

Saturday 12 April 2008. The Beach Boys, The Apollo, Manchester.

Only Mike Love remains from the original line-up although Bruce Johnston has been with them since 1965. Another very enjoyable concert, good seats in the middle of row H, and another two-part set that lasted well over two hours. Just about every hit was played although the opening few songs were played non-stop almost like a medley. That, coupled with the way that each band member was featured on lead vocals on one or more songs, gave the show almost a tribute band quality at times. Still, it was a very enjoyable show. It was interesting to compare and contrast this show with Brian Wilson's at the Palace Theatre last year; Brian wins, just.

Saturday 5 April 2008. Wishbone Ash, The Lowry, Salford Quays.

When can a band still play under its original monicker? Interesting question as only Martin Turner remains from the original line-up (see also The Beach Boys below). No matter, I'd wanted to see Wishbone Ash for a while and this tour in support of the recently expanded re-release of their one masterpiece, Argus, seemed as good a time as any. They played the small Quays Theatre at the Lowry and, even then, it was by no means full; to use a football analogy, they've slipped from the Premiership to League One. Still, it was a very enjoyable concert; great seat in the middle of the second row and a two-part set that lasted well over two hours. My only minor gripe was that, although it was billed as the Argus tour, they only played four out of the seven numbers on that album.

Saturday 29 March 2008. Manchester United 4 Aston Villa 0.

An excellent performance in awful conditions; Villa were simply swept away.

Friday 28 March 2008. Van Morrison, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Well, I was wrong! I was convinced that it would have been the same set as last night but a few of the older numbers were dropped in favour of some more from the new album. Thanks, Van, for mixing it up for us 'obsessives'. Great seats again, sixth row right in the middle. Carol thought the sound wasn't very sharp but it seemed fine to me, in spite of the hearing problems I've been suffering from since the flight to Nice. As ever with Van, the separation was excellent and you could easily pick out each instrument; maybe that's because he never plays at ear-splitting volume levels!

Set list: This Love Of Mine :Real Real Gone > You Send Me :Magic Time :School Of Hard Knocks :How Can A Poor Boy? :That's Entrainment :Keep It Simple :Moondance :Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore :Song Of Home :Bright Side Of The Road :Lover Come Back :Soul :Precious Time :I Can't Stop Loving You :Back On Top :Help Me :Behind The Ritual :Tupelo Honey > Why Must I Always Explain? :Brown Eyed Girl :Gloria

Thursday 27 March 2008. Van Morrison, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

If it's March it must be Van at the Bridgewater. Front row seat, just to the right of centre with a great view of the keyboard player. Another 90 minutes to luxuriate in Van's music. Great band as ever including Mick Green and old stalwart John Platania on guitars. The crowd were fairly unresponsive; at one point the pedal steel player tried to get the crowd to clap along with one of the numbers off the new Keep It Simple album, but to little avail. All in all, not a great night for the pedal steel player; during Precious Time she seemed quite flustered, hardly surprising when you're the recipient of one of Van's infamous glares! As I was walking up the aisle at the end of the concert I switched my mobile back on and the time was 21:31; as ever, 90 minutes exactly. I overheard one punter complain that Van was a rude so-and-so for hardly, if at all, acknowledging the audience; first-timer, I thought! Despite this and the fairly unresponsive audience, I thought it was a great gig. A Van concert theses days is very much like Ronseal; it does exactly what it says on the tin. He's professional and you pretty much know what you're going to get every time.

Set list: This Love Of Mine :Magic Time :Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version] :School Of Hard Knocks :Keep It Simple :That's Entrainment :End Of The Land :Song Of Home :Bright Side Of The Road :Moondance :Stranded :Tupelo Honey > Why Must I Always Explain? :Lover Come Back :Soul :Real Real Gone > You Send Me :Precious Time :Help Me :Brown Eyed Girl :Behind The Ritual :Gloria

Set list courtesy of Setlist.com.

Sunday 23 March 2008. Manchester United 3 Liverpool 0.

Another straightforward win against Liverpool. Even if gobby Mascherano had not got himself sent off I'm certain we'd have still beaten them comfortably.

Wednesday 19 March 2008. Manchester United 2 Bolton 0.

A comfortable victory for which Ronnie was made captain for the first time and duly delivered by scoring both goals.

Saturday 8 March 2008. Manchester United 0 Portsmouth 1.

A controversial match in which Portsmouth tried to rough up Ronaldo, cynically taking it in turns to foul him in order to keep the booking count low. The referee, Martin Atkinson, just wasn't up to it and failed to give an obvious penalty when Distin barged into Ronaldo without making any attempt to play the ball. SAF's and CQ's post-match reactions, for which ultimately they escaped punishment, were hardly surprising if a little over the top.

Tuesday 4 March 2008. French & Saunders, Palace Theatre, Manchester.

Pretty much a disappointment. There were too few laugh out loud moments and too many filmed segments. But Antony Cotton (Sean out of Corrie) seemed to enjoy it. He was sitting a few rows in front of us 'giving it large'.

16-23 February 2008. Menton, France.

A really enjoyable winter break with G and A in a sea-front apartment in Menton for the lemon festival. We had day trips on the efficient SNCF to Cannes, Monaco, Nice for the carnival and Ventimiglia just across the Italian border. A couple of minor gripes: As with Paris the Christmas before last I thought that the really good meals were outnumbered by the average ones. And I wasn't overly impressed with Easyjet; both flights were late and you don't even get a numbered seat which can lead to unseemly scrambles for the best seats. Personally, as long as I don't have to stand I'm happy wherever. Pity Jet2 don't fly to Nice in the winter months!

Click here to view the photos.

Sunday 10 February 2008. Manchester United 1 Manchester City 2.

The Liars' European Cup Final and World Cup Final rolled into one! Still, at least their fans managed to respect the one minute's silence. The fanzines claimed afterwards that the Liars had produced a commemorative mug in celebration of their first double over us in 40 years or whatever it is. I still can't decide whether or not it's a mickey-take; thing is, you could actually believe it of them. They'll now be claiming that they're the champions of Europe (I'm writing this post Moscow).

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Wednesday 30 January 2008. Manchester United 2 Portsmouth 0.

Although it was only 2-0 the scoreline flattered Pompey. This was the match famous for that free-kick. James could only look on in admiration!

Sunday 27 January 2008. Manchester United 3 Spurs 1.

Even though Spurs took the lead through Robbie Keane it turned out to be a comfortable win for the Reds.

Friday 25 January 2008. Van Morrison, City Hall, Sheffield.

I booked this when tickets had been on sale for a while so ended up with an average seat, 12th row to the left of the stage. But, as ever, we were treated to 90 minutes - exactly - of magic from the man (according to setlist.com, it was actually 94). Now that Van tends not to have a support act these days he very considerately finishes by 21:30, allowing time for a couple of leisurely drinks before the train home.

Set list: I Will Be There :Magic Time :Playhouse :Big Blue Diamonds :Stranded :Have I Told You Lately :In The Midnight :Bright Side Of The Road :Stop Drinking :Moondance :I Can't Stop Loving You :Cleaning Windows > Be Bop A Lula :The Beauty Of The Days Gone By :Precious Time [scat ending] :In The Afternoon > Ancient Highway > Joe Turner Sings > Raincheck :Saint James Infirmary :Help Me :Brown Eyed Girl :Gloria

Set list courtesy of Setlist.com.

Saturday 12 January 2008. Manchester United 6 Newcastle United 0.

And they were lucky to get nil, as they say. Pluses: Ronnie's first hat-trick for the Reds. Minuses: Smudger let himself down on two counts. Firstly, as captain he foolishly allowed himself to get sent off in stoppage time for dissent. Secondly,even though the fans gave him an ill-deserved standing ovation he failed to acknowledge the gesture. Shame, as he was always a very popular player at OT although not quite good enough.

Tuesday 1 January 2008. Manchester United 1 Birmingham City 0.

I love a good match on New Years Day but sadly this wasn't it. After a livening lunch at Pizza Express on Deansgate Carol and I made our way to OT to watch United beat Brum 1-0. Well-worked goal put away in style by Tevez but the match was really only notable for SAF's comments about the subdued atmosphere. Probably down to everyone celebrating your birthday the night before, Alex!