THEATRE: Funny Money (Market Harborough)

An incredibly frantic play about a man who finds a briefcase full of (presumably illicit) money. He decides that he and his wife should 'disappear' to Barcelona, but doesn't reckon on his wife's reluctance to leave (amongst other things). It was a chaotic and frenzied couple of hours, quite funny but rather tiring at the same time. The cast must have been exhausted by the end.

GIG: Delain (Manchester)

Our fourth time seeing Delain and our first visit to the Manchester Academy. The first problem was trying to find the venue. Having parked around the back (in a surprisingly empty car park given that all three venues in the Academy were in use tonight, and two of them were sold out) we eventually found the queue for Gary Numan. We decided to ask for directions and collared a very well attired but slightly camp gentleman who pointed us in the right direction, who then clocked my T-Shirt and told me he 'loves' Destruction. Not sure that's entirely true, but still...

Eventually we came across the place and after being showed in by an even more camp security guard and then giving our tickets to the tallest man in the world. We attempted to penetrate the sold out venue. Of course Delain were delighted to have sold out, whereas we were just irritated by it.

We caught the last 4 or 5 songs of Anneke's set, which were okay. It was a lot more rocking than last time we saw her, it sounds like she's been listening to a bit of Therion or something. Added to that a couple of Gathering tunes which now sound very old and not that great really... and it was all a bit, yeah whatever. Not bad, or actively annoying but not exactly inspiring either.

Anneke had a tiny female guitarist (Merel Brechtold) who was on double duty tonight, as she is Delain's new guitarist. More on her later...

After Anneke left the stage the venue seemed to empty a little, I guess when you have a name support act there's going to be a few people who leave (just ask WASP what happened when they took Slayer out on the Electric Circus tour), it wasn't a dramatic exodus, but there seemed a little more room to breathe, which was nice for us anyway. We moved a bit closer to the front in anticipation and managed to stumble on a very short lady to stand behind (awesome luck!).

As the band took to the stage I was taken aback to see Keith Lemon playing guitar stage right... really quite bizarre, and then Merel turned up and stood next the bass player with Dee Snider's hair, who's about 6ft 6". She did look slightly ridiculous, and it didn't help that when Charlotte tried to sing to her she sort of stooped as if talking to a child. Frankly, it looked a bit like a poorly child had written to the Make A Wish Foundation and got to play with Delain.

Delain were solid, but unfortunately this year the quality of gigs has been extremely high. I can't really think of that much to say about them, they played their songs in an entirely inoffensive manner and then left. It was all very nice. The fans were happy, Delain were happy (even the little one) and that was that. Oh and there was a tinsel cannon near the end, but even that was a bit underwhelming compared to Nightwish (and even Loud 'N' Nasty at JB's).

On the way home Rose and I rated the gigs for this year, this being Rose's last (I still have to see Paradise Lost in November). It was agreed that the top gig was definitely Nachtmahr, probably followed by Mesh (Pre-Verse then Mesh for me)... the bottom was definitely U.D.O., then WASP, then either Delain (for me) or Birthday Massacre then Delain for Rose.

With gigs like Bad Religion and Aesthetic Perfection in the mix, Delain need to try a lot harder to make an impression, but that said, it was perfectly okay.

MEAL OUT: The Counting House (Leamington Spa)

Having stood outside The Counting House for several minutes waiting for it to open, we eventually realised there was a way in through the adjoining hotel. Once inside we instantly felt like we'd made a very good choice as the clean, modern surroundings were very nice indeed.
The Counting House serves a limited lunchtime menu, but the burgers we had were absolutely gorgeous and very competitively priced. Unfortunately neither of us could manage a pudding, even the thought of sharing the toffee and honeycomb cheesecake was too much. Such a pity. Still, maybe next time!

DAY OUT: Leamington Spa

After I decided that I didn't particularly want to go out for a meal on my birthday (partly because our Anniversary meal had been so good) the idea came about that we go out for the day on the following Saturday. After our trip to Leamington Spa to see Katherine Ryan the previous week, we were inspired to return and have a look around. 

It was a nice place, although barely big enough to sustain a day out if I'm honest. It was also a little bit chilly really, for wandering about, so perhaps next time it might be nicer to go on a warmer day.

Still we had a very nice lunch at The Counting House (definitely one to remember for next time) and I also managed to pick up a new TAG Heuer catalogue from Ernest Jones.

A lot of the shops were a bit small, so probably not the best place to indulge a need to shop, but nevertheless a pleasant place to spend a few hours.

COMEDY: Katherine Ryan (Leamington Spa)

This was our second time seeing Katherine Ryan this year, although on two different tours. There was a slight overlap of material, but not much. It could be that she was trying bits for this tour at the end of the last one. 

We'd never been to the Royal Spa centre before, it was quite a nice venue, a little short on leg room but aren't they all. Fortunately we had an aisle seat so I was able to stretch my poor leg out. 

Katherine was very funny, and refreshingly brief, her set lasting a fairly meagre 45 minutes. I guess £17 for 45 mins seems a bit steep, but better that than 75mins with thirty mins of filler.

Support act Stephen Bailey was moderately amusing, but ultimately fell into the cliche of gay comedian who talks about cocks a lot. Destined for greatness and widespread fame, I doubt it.

MEAL OUT: The White Lion (North Kilworth)

Our second meal at the White Lion, and again it was top notch. I had a beautiful fillet steak with peppercorn sauce and chips, while Rose had Lamb, with fondant potato and shepherds pie. For pudding we both had the massive Caramel Shortbread, mine with the standard clotted cream, Rose's with a substitute of After Dinner Mint ice cream. Thoroughly gorgeous. Pricey, but for a special occasion like your 22nd wedding anniversary, worth every penny. If only the loud wankers at the bar could be euthanized, everything would be perfect! :)