Saturday 7 May 2011

Vini Reilly and Durutti Column

Many years ago, when I was working at On the 8th Day in Manchester, my friend Tony Wilson came in and told me about his new band. They were named after an anarchist movement, The Durutti Column aka the movement of the 24th January. I was thrilled, as that was my birthday!
A couple of years later my boyfriend at the time was their roadie, and a couple of other friends played in the band.I'm not sure if I ever actually saw them play, but I certainly went with them to where they should have played.
Life moved on - friends moved to other bands, including a Simply Red connection.
In the early 80s I moved to a house in West Didsbury.Bruce Mitchell lived in the next door adjoining house with his family and Vini. Vini's room was the other side of the shared party wall from my bedroom. My daughter was born at home, in that room, to the sound of Vini playing his guitar. He had no idea of what was happening on my side of the wall. The midwife was very impressed as her son was a big fan.
Years later, I shared this information with my children when they discovered Vini's music.
They have been to see him with me a couple of times.
Last Saturday I took my youngest son, now 17, to see Vini and Bruce at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
It was a difficult concert for Vini, as he is going through a difficult relationship break up, made all the more poignant by the beautiful photos of Poppy that were part of the performance. She also played on stage with him. Photos of Tony Wilson, and Bruce and Jackie were also part of the display.
It was very raw and quite miserable, but we stuck in there with him.
After the interval he came back and did some old favourites, including Otis. Bruce Mitchell is still the best drummer in the world for me, and Charlie loved the performance.

No comments:

Post a Comment