age of chance | keele | 1986

i thought age of chance were marvellous?
didn't you?
no?
oh well.



just after the release of their prince cover version they played a small tour that visited keele university.
i had a friend there and so i went along.

i don't know what the university's like now, but back then it had a lovely campus - all tree lined lawns and a posh refectory.

hang on, this is meant to be a blog about being an indie kid in the 80's not universities unlimited.

the person i stayed with had just bought the smith's "the world won't listen" and that afternoon she played it endlessly.
and i really do mean endlessly.
you know, i liked that record, but i didn't want to hear it over and over and over.
i smiled and made polite conversation - after all she was letting me sleep on her floor.

so.
age of chance.
they'd just started modelling their cycling gear look (and let me make it clear right here and now that it was never a look that i tried out). they did look FANTASTIC on stage though!
as i mentioned earlier "kiss" had just come out and it spoiled the entire gig.
both for me and, judging by the mounting annoyance on their faces, the band.

they opened the set with it. huge cheers from the audience.
then they played (if memory serves) "the morning after the 60's".
no cheers this time just multiple calls for them to play "kiss" again.
the band tried to ignore the requests and played "bible of the beats".
one person in the hall clapped - that was me - i couldn't be heard over the shouts for "kiss".
so they played "kiss" again.
after one or two more songs the pressure from the audience was ridiculous and they played "kiss" a-bloody-gain.
and again.
i really felt for them - they made an amazing noise - HUGE bass rumble, glass & barbed wire guitars and steven elvidge's nasal half sung/half rapped vocal.

in the end they cut their losses and left the stage earlier than they should have.


i just hope they got paid well.