Friday 24th January 2004, Liverpool Academy
The current vogue is for nostalgia tours for bands trying to eek out one last big payday before Butlins and summer season beckons, bands who meant nothing in the first place trading on perceived former glories. You can see it now – summer 2010 - Blue, Busted and Blink 182. Performing on Hear and Now 2010.
This is certainly not the case with Love who are touring an album that was released thirty years ago and still sounding fresher and more interesting than anything that is currently being released. It’s payback time for Arthur Lee whose life can certainly be described to be colourful, to say the least.
Arthur Lee released a couple of years ago after a twelve year stretch in prison, having fallen foul of the three strikes and you are out rule, Lee is certainly is in the mood to make up for lost time.
Though not strictly Love - Arthur Lee’s current incarnation backed ably by the band Baby Lemonade are about fulfilling the legendary status of Arthur Lee.
It could be argued that Liverpool is Lee’s spiritual home and tonight’s audience was certainly a who’s who of the Liverpool music scene – both new and old. It is one of the requirements in this cities musicians apart the obvious albums to own a copy of ‘Forever Changes’.
The band was greeted by a rapturous reception by the audience much to the delight of Lee. The night started off with a storming version of ‘Little Red Book’ and a few other tunes warming up to the main part of the show. Love were soon down by a string quartet for the start of the run through of ‘Forever Changes’ from start to finish.
The familiar tones of ‘Alone Again or’ written by Brian McLean (sadly no longer with us) prompted the crowd to acknowledge their appreciation. They continued to do so at every change of tempo during the song. The band could have gone of there and the ticket price would have been more than covered.
Thankfully they didn’t and the rest of ‘Forever Changes’ was brilliantly played by the musicians on stage and received by the Liverpool crowd. ‘A House is not a motel’ was superbly executed and was given a fresh impetus by the band. Though liberties weren’t taken with the music, the band did add their own stamp on the songs. Even the string quartet seemed to be enjoying the songs as much as the audience.
The later section of the gig saw other Love albums showcased – songs such as ‘signed DC’, ‘My Flash On You’ and ‘She Comes in Colours’. He paid tribute to his friend John Lennon, before playing ‘Everybodies Gotta Live’ which segued into ‘Instant Karma’.
Lee even slipped in a new song ‘My Anthem’ though sounding a little too much like Big Country for comfort; this was well received by the audience. To be fair he could have played a Spice Girls song tonight and the reception would not have been any less ecstatic.
The sad part about tonight’s gig was certainly that it had to end, but not before the promise of a return from Arthur Lee. If that gig is half as good as tonight’s then it will be one that I won’t want to miss. Tonight was nothing short of brilliant and was well worth leaving the house on a cold January night.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Friday, December 5, 2003
Human League
Liverpool University, Friday 5th December 2003
For a band associated with all that’s glitzy and at times tacky of the culture that was the 1980’s, tonight’s gig was something else. A cold night in Liverpool at the Liverpool Academy was certainly as far removed from the days of legwarmers and mullets as it ever could be, but an hour in the company of the Human League transported you back to all that was good about the era that style forgot.
Essentially a greatest hits set, with the odd curio thrown in to keep the more ardent fan happy; tonight’s gig showed a band that was still on top of its musical game.
At times Phil Oakey was in danger of losing his voice, but he need not worry as he had the mass ranks of the Liverpool Academy audience to prop him up.
Tonight’s audience were almost as good as the band as a spectacle. The age of the audience was varied from the hardcore that saw them in their heyday, to the younger ones who wanted to do something different on a Friday night.
The make up of the audience was something to behold. When you sit down and analyse the Human Leagues lyrics you do have to say they are not the best. But when you see 40-year-old hairy arsed builders singing along to songs such as ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ it does restore your faith in the human spirit a little.
It was the fourth night of a fifteen-date tour and despite one or two technical difficulties, the band stuck to a tried a tested set list of virtually all the hits.
The stage set was well-designed and afforded Phil Oakey to camp it up from all parts of the stage. Susan and Joanne were perched either side of Oakey when he was front of stage, and at intervals they both disappeared for costume changes throughout the night.
Predictably the last song of the night before the well-deserved encore was ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’ this was in not the highlight of the set, that was reserved for the final song of the night ‘Together In Electric Dreams’, a song I have never liked was brilliant delivered by the band and sung along by the builders in audience with gusto.
Future plays of this song will conjure up images of tonight’s proceedings. A top gig, if not one of the best I’ve ever seen.
For a band associated with all that’s glitzy and at times tacky of the culture that was the 1980’s, tonight’s gig was something else. A cold night in Liverpool at the Liverpool Academy was certainly as far removed from the days of legwarmers and mullets as it ever could be, but an hour in the company of the Human League transported you back to all that was good about the era that style forgot.
Essentially a greatest hits set, with the odd curio thrown in to keep the more ardent fan happy; tonight’s gig showed a band that was still on top of its musical game.
At times Phil Oakey was in danger of losing his voice, but he need not worry as he had the mass ranks of the Liverpool Academy audience to prop him up.
Tonight’s audience were almost as good as the band as a spectacle. The age of the audience was varied from the hardcore that saw them in their heyday, to the younger ones who wanted to do something different on a Friday night.
The make up of the audience was something to behold. When you sit down and analyse the Human Leagues lyrics you do have to say they are not the best. But when you see 40-year-old hairy arsed builders singing along to songs such as ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ it does restore your faith in the human spirit a little.
It was the fourth night of a fifteen-date tour and despite one or two technical difficulties, the band stuck to a tried a tested set list of virtually all the hits.
The stage set was well-designed and afforded Phil Oakey to camp it up from all parts of the stage. Susan and Joanne were perched either side of Oakey when he was front of stage, and at intervals they both disappeared for costume changes throughout the night.
Predictably the last song of the night before the well-deserved encore was ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’ this was in not the highlight of the set, that was reserved for the final song of the night ‘Together In Electric Dreams’, a song I have never liked was brilliant delivered by the band and sung along by the builders in audience with gusto.
Future plays of this song will conjure up images of tonight’s proceedings. A top gig, if not one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Radiohead
Manchester Evening News Arena, Saturday 22nd November 2003
Set List: There There; 2 + 2 = 5, Lucky; Myxomatosis; Where I end You Begin; Backdrifts; fake Plastic Trees; Paranoid Android; Sail To The Moon; I Might Be Wrong; Climbing The Walls; My Iron Lung; Sit Down, Stand Up; Scatterbrain; National Anthem; Exit Music; Idioteque; The Gloaming; Go To Sleep; The Bends; Street Spirit; A Wolf At The Door; Karma Police; Everything In It’s Place.
Back in the big arenas after this tours various warm up shows and the last major tours use of big top circus tents. Radiohead may have found the perfect place to deliver to the music they are now performing; the sparse electronica that can sound a little cold and digitised on record, but in this sort of arena bounces around this vastness of the place.
The energetic Asian Dub Foundation, are the tour band of choice for Radiohead. They are a band with a similar message to deliver though from a slightly different direction. There set is one that goes down well with tonight’s audience.
At 9 o’clock sharp the lights dim and the band emerge to electronic white noise. The band launches into in my opinion the single of the year ‘There There’. On record this is a fantastic 5-minute experience – live it is something else, with Guitarist’s Ed O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood pound away thrashing out tribal rhythms at two drums. Before grabbing the guitars to take the song to a different level altogether.
One song in and you wonder how they follow that? Instead of relying on the sure fire crowd pleasers, Radiohead explore the more avant-garde output of their last three albums. The reaction from the crowd to these songs is fairly good. You get the feeling that majority of the crowd haven’t just come to see if they’ll play ‘Creep’ (which they don’t) but that they’ll give the rest of the bands output a listen.
The set draws heavily from the politicised last album ‘Hail To The Thief’. As well as from the other electronic based ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’.
The other albums are not neglected though. ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ is given a great reception at its start as to did songs like ‘My Iron Lung’ and ‘Paranoid Android’ a song that just gets better every time that you hear it.
Front man Thom Yorke doesn’t go much on the between song banter but he has something of magnetic personality about him that keeps the crowd enthralled. He was a bundle of nervous energy as he spins around the stage like a whirring dervish. While the band solidly concentrate on getting the sound across.
It was an astonishing performance from a band very much at the top of their game. Tonight was very much the end of phase one as a band what with the soon to expire record contract. Here’s hoping that the next phase is as exciting and varied as the last.
Set List: There There; 2 + 2 = 5, Lucky; Myxomatosis; Where I end You Begin; Backdrifts; fake Plastic Trees; Paranoid Android; Sail To The Moon; I Might Be Wrong; Climbing The Walls; My Iron Lung; Sit Down, Stand Up; Scatterbrain; National Anthem; Exit Music; Idioteque; The Gloaming; Go To Sleep; The Bends; Street Spirit; A Wolf At The Door; Karma Police; Everything In It’s Place.
Back in the big arenas after this tours various warm up shows and the last major tours use of big top circus tents. Radiohead may have found the perfect place to deliver to the music they are now performing; the sparse electronica that can sound a little cold and digitised on record, but in this sort of arena bounces around this vastness of the place.
The energetic Asian Dub Foundation, are the tour band of choice for Radiohead. They are a band with a similar message to deliver though from a slightly different direction. There set is one that goes down well with tonight’s audience.
At 9 o’clock sharp the lights dim and the band emerge to electronic white noise. The band launches into in my opinion the single of the year ‘There There’. On record this is a fantastic 5-minute experience – live it is something else, with Guitarist’s Ed O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood pound away thrashing out tribal rhythms at two drums. Before grabbing the guitars to take the song to a different level altogether.
One song in and you wonder how they follow that? Instead of relying on the sure fire crowd pleasers, Radiohead explore the more avant-garde output of their last three albums. The reaction from the crowd to these songs is fairly good. You get the feeling that majority of the crowd haven’t just come to see if they’ll play ‘Creep’ (which they don’t) but that they’ll give the rest of the bands output a listen.
The set draws heavily from the politicised last album ‘Hail To The Thief’. As well as from the other electronic based ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’.
The other albums are not neglected though. ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ is given a great reception at its start as to did songs like ‘My Iron Lung’ and ‘Paranoid Android’ a song that just gets better every time that you hear it.
Front man Thom Yorke doesn’t go much on the between song banter but he has something of magnetic personality about him that keeps the crowd enthralled. He was a bundle of nervous energy as he spins around the stage like a whirring dervish. While the band solidly concentrate on getting the sound across.
It was an astonishing performance from a band very much at the top of their game. Tonight was very much the end of phase one as a band what with the soon to expire record contract. Here’s hoping that the next phase is as exciting and varied as the last.
Sunday, June 1, 2003
Paul McCartney
Liverpool Kings Dock, Sunday 1st June 2003
There is always something special about being on the banks of the River Mersey in the summertime. Especially when an event like this is taking place. The setting sun over the disused docks on the Birkenhead side of the water offers a backdrop that is hard to beat. Even the faint hint of rain is not likely to wash away the atmosphere that had built up in the afternoon preceding the gig.
In front of 35,000 fans from around the world, Macca was coming home – the conclusion of his Back In The World tour.
With no support – who would want that unenviable task. The proceedings started with a dance troop which seemed to go on for an age and just as you beginning to think turn this in, the familiar figure of Paul McCartney appeared on the large screens at the back of the stage, holding that familiar Hofner bass, accompanied by the crashing opening chords of ‘Hello, Goodbye’. Thirteen years on since his last visit, he was indeed back home.
The set list covered all phases of his illustrious 40-year career and was one that owner’s of the Back in The World DVD or CD or visitors to previous concerts would be familiar with, with a few notable additions for the home crowd – ‘Maggie May’ and his first-ever composition ‘I Lost My Little Girl’. With a back catalogue like Paul McCartney’s, the hard part was probably what to leave out.
The classic songs where treated with the respect that they deserve by the fantastic band that McCartney has put together for this our, though with a few embellishments of their own. No more so was this highlighted with the powerhouse drumming of Abe Laboriel during ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ that took a great song to another level.
The set that ran to over three hours had something for everyone and left you not only impressed by the quality of his songwriting, but his stamina too. At 63 years young this was some feat.
The pace at the start of the gig was something else as he rattled through his hits from Wings and The Beatles. As the pace slowed down McCartney turned his thoughts to absent friends. Linda his wife who was up on stage the last time he played here. To John Lennon and George Harrison sadly no longer with us he shared some memories of growing up in Liverpool as well as treating us to a playful tribute to George by playing his classic ‘Something’ on the ukulele.
The band returned and the hits kept on coming. The pyrotechnics on ‘Live and Let Die’ were a particular highlight. This tour contained the most Beatles songs that McCartney has performed live. Some that he had performed live for the first time ever. The time ticked on and the hits kept on coming and the crowd could not have asked for anymore with trusty crowd pleasers such as ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Hey Jude’ being sung with equal gusto to that of the band.
Sadly all good things have to come to end and after a generous encore, in which Paul McCartney clearly emotional at the reception he had received. Summed up his feelings by saying. “To be on the banks of the Mersey with you lot is special. Word’s can’t express how I feel tonight.”
‘Sergeant Pepper/ The End’ closed the night’s proceedings leaving those who witnessed the event traipsing off into the night thoroughly entertained and hoping that McCartney would hold his promise to come back and perform much sooner than the last wait for a hometown gig. On the evidence of tonight’s performance one night wont be enough.
There is always something special about being on the banks of the River Mersey in the summertime. Especially when an event like this is taking place. The setting sun over the disused docks on the Birkenhead side of the water offers a backdrop that is hard to beat. Even the faint hint of rain is not likely to wash away the atmosphere that had built up in the afternoon preceding the gig.
In front of 35,000 fans from around the world, Macca was coming home – the conclusion of his Back In The World tour.
With no support – who would want that unenviable task. The proceedings started with a dance troop which seemed to go on for an age and just as you beginning to think turn this in, the familiar figure of Paul McCartney appeared on the large screens at the back of the stage, holding that familiar Hofner bass, accompanied by the crashing opening chords of ‘Hello, Goodbye’. Thirteen years on since his last visit, he was indeed back home.
The set list covered all phases of his illustrious 40-year career and was one that owner’s of the Back in The World DVD or CD or visitors to previous concerts would be familiar with, with a few notable additions for the home crowd – ‘Maggie May’ and his first-ever composition ‘I Lost My Little Girl’. With a back catalogue like Paul McCartney’s, the hard part was probably what to leave out.
The classic songs where treated with the respect that they deserve by the fantastic band that McCartney has put together for this our, though with a few embellishments of their own. No more so was this highlighted with the powerhouse drumming of Abe Laboriel during ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ that took a great song to another level.
The set that ran to over three hours had something for everyone and left you not only impressed by the quality of his songwriting, but his stamina too. At 63 years young this was some feat.
The pace at the start of the gig was something else as he rattled through his hits from Wings and The Beatles. As the pace slowed down McCartney turned his thoughts to absent friends. Linda his wife who was up on stage the last time he played here. To John Lennon and George Harrison sadly no longer with us he shared some memories of growing up in Liverpool as well as treating us to a playful tribute to George by playing his classic ‘Something’ on the ukulele.
The band returned and the hits kept on coming. The pyrotechnics on ‘Live and Let Die’ were a particular highlight. This tour contained the most Beatles songs that McCartney has performed live. Some that he had performed live for the first time ever. The time ticked on and the hits kept on coming and the crowd could not have asked for anymore with trusty crowd pleasers such as ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Hey Jude’ being sung with equal gusto to that of the band.
Sadly all good things have to come to end and after a generous encore, in which Paul McCartney clearly emotional at the reception he had received. Summed up his feelings by saying. “To be on the banks of the Mersey with you lot is special. Word’s can’t express how I feel tonight.”
‘Sergeant Pepper/ The End’ closed the night’s proceedings leaving those who witnessed the event traipsing off into the night thoroughly entertained and hoping that McCartney would hold his promise to come back and perform much sooner than the last wait for a hometown gig. On the evidence of tonight’s performance one night wont be enough.
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Beck
Beck
Manchester Apollo, Sunday 27th April 2003
Set List: Pay No Mind; guess I’m Doing Fine; It’s All In Your Mind; Cancelled Check; Lost Cause; Do You Realise??; Already Dead; The Golden Age; Tropicalia; We Live Again; Little One; Lonesome Tears ; Nicotine & Gravy; Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods; hollow Log; Ship In A Bottle; Sunday Sun; Nobody’s Fault But My Own; Round The Bend; Loser; One Foot In The Grave; Sunday Morning.
Edinburgh, London and tonight Manchester were the only places that the UK could see Beck promote his latest album ‘Sea Change’. The album much more introspective than his previous major label releases and the delivery is very stripped down – gone are the samples of ‘Odelay’, gone are the styling’s of Prince on ‘Midnite Vultures’. This is very much a return to his earlier work, with a dash of Nick Drake thrown in.
It was a set reflected the stripped down nature of the album, with no support and no band. Beck took to the stage backed by varying types of guitars, beat boxes and Keyboards.
The set featured heavily the songs from his latest work and was greeted by an almost reverential hush that descended once the first chord was struck and only lifted at the end of the song to applaud the songs. He won the crowd over from the first chord of the night and he rewarded them with almost two hours of music.
Interspersed in between the music was an amusing and engaging banter that was almost as good as the music that everyone had come to see. Fans probably longed to see him with the full set and exploring his full repertoire, but they couldn’t grumble at tonight’s performance.
His choices of covers were interesting to say the least. The Flaming Lips’ – ‘Do You Realise??’ was expertly delivered, Justin Timberlake’s – ‘Cry Me A River’ was started but never finished, but even the intro was greeted by the warmest of applauses.
‘Tropicalia’ the song from a life Less Ordinary was given an airing and stripped down with only the beat box for backing the song sounded right for tonight’s proceedings.
Not even a few technical problems could ruin Beck’s flow - a swift kick to the offending keyboard solved the problem. ‘Loser’ was the last song of the night and the rapturous applause almost shook the roof off.
He came back on to do ‘One Foot In the Grave and finished the set with the Velvet Underground classic ‘Sunday Morning’.
Two hours of fantastic music sent those home that witnessed this event satisfied and looking forward to seeing Beck return in the very near future with or without the band.
Manchester Apollo, Sunday 27th April 2003
Set List: Pay No Mind; guess I’m Doing Fine; It’s All In Your Mind; Cancelled Check; Lost Cause; Do You Realise??; Already Dead; The Golden Age; Tropicalia; We Live Again; Little One; Lonesome Tears ; Nicotine & Gravy; Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods; hollow Log; Ship In A Bottle; Sunday Sun; Nobody’s Fault But My Own; Round The Bend; Loser; One Foot In The Grave; Sunday Morning.
Edinburgh, London and tonight Manchester were the only places that the UK could see Beck promote his latest album ‘Sea Change’. The album much more introspective than his previous major label releases and the delivery is very stripped down – gone are the samples of ‘Odelay’, gone are the styling’s of Prince on ‘Midnite Vultures’. This is very much a return to his earlier work, with a dash of Nick Drake thrown in.
It was a set reflected the stripped down nature of the album, with no support and no band. Beck took to the stage backed by varying types of guitars, beat boxes and Keyboards.
The set featured heavily the songs from his latest work and was greeted by an almost reverential hush that descended once the first chord was struck and only lifted at the end of the song to applaud the songs. He won the crowd over from the first chord of the night and he rewarded them with almost two hours of music.
Interspersed in between the music was an amusing and engaging banter that was almost as good as the music that everyone had come to see. Fans probably longed to see him with the full set and exploring his full repertoire, but they couldn’t grumble at tonight’s performance.
His choices of covers were interesting to say the least. The Flaming Lips’ – ‘Do You Realise??’ was expertly delivered, Justin Timberlake’s – ‘Cry Me A River’ was started but never finished, but even the intro was greeted by the warmest of applauses.
‘Tropicalia’ the song from a life Less Ordinary was given an airing and stripped down with only the beat box for backing the song sounded right for tonight’s proceedings.
Not even a few technical problems could ruin Beck’s flow - a swift kick to the offending keyboard solved the problem. ‘Loser’ was the last song of the night and the rapturous applause almost shook the roof off.
He came back on to do ‘One Foot In the Grave and finished the set with the Velvet Underground classic ‘Sunday Morning’.
Two hours of fantastic music sent those home that witnessed this event satisfied and looking forward to seeing Beck return in the very near future with or without the band.
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Wake up weekly music press you are dead
The Royal Family is not the only large organisation that has been putting out the bunting, for its Golden Jubilee celebrations this year. Another establishment figure, perhaps not as lovingly treasured as dear old Queenie, but one facing equal concerns with regards to its relevance in the 21st century, also celebrates the big five-o this year.
The New Musical Express, or to give its more pithier title the NME, celebrates 50 years in circulation, with a series of events to celebrate this momentous occasion. With it comes the re-launch, with a glossier smaller cover, one that has seen the movement from the bottom shelf to amongst the other glossy music titles.
The re-launch prompts discussions with regards to the state of the weekly music press, often dubbed the ‘inkies.’ Pessimists will offer up the closure of the Melody Maker, just before Christmas 2000, after 73 years in circulation as evidence that re-launches, do not always work.
The last few years in circulation for the Melody Maker, where problematic, with its various re-launches and re-branding, which resulted in the watering down of the content of the paper; as well as the change from an A5 inkie to a Smash Hits styled glossy magazine.
At the time of its closure, the Melody Makers circulation was down to about, 32,500, (down 14.9% on the previous years figures) the lowest in its history. IPC, the Melody Makers owners, ironically the owners of the NME too, closed the Melody Maker, as it was then felt to be no longer sustainable.
In the end its decline was inevitable. The magazine was struggling to get interviews with front line bands. Most bands preferred to be interviewed by the NME. There were few big name writers left, either most having been poached or defected to other publications. Also few bands bothered to advertise because the readership was so low.
The Melody Maker may be no more, but its name still lives on in some form. Its huge archive has been transferred to its sister paper, the NME’s website. Also transferred were some of the regular features that have appeared in the Melody maker throughout the years.
So what of the NME? First reflections may be that it should be in a position of strength, having seen off its nearest rivals but the most recent figures published by the Audit Bureau of Circulation have seen the circulation decline to 70,003.
Recent figures have also shown that Kerrang, the rock music equivalent, has pushed out its market share also. Though Kerrang is not strictly a weekly music publication as it is published twice a month, it still competes for a similar readership and bands as the NME.
IPC Music and Sport director Mike Soutar said the company intended to continue to broaden the appeal of the NME,
“The NME has about 40% command of the rock magazines sold in the UK and plans are to look at the options of being the only weekly in the market. We have spent the sort term building nme.com, but now the focus would return to the magazine”
Where does this leave the NME? In the current climate the NME has no direct competitors in the weekly press. Having seen off rivals such as Record Mirror, Sounds and of course Melody Maker in the last ten years.
At fifty it may be sustainable in the present cutthroat world of publishing, but is it still relevant? This is a question that no doubt prompted the recent talk at the Flying Picket, In Liverpool, as part of the yearly, Writing On the Wall festival, entitled ‘Wake up NME, you are dead’ question marks have been raised with regards to its credibility and not its sustainability. The Writing on the Wall talk proclaimed the NME as,
“Once the radical voice of British popular music the NME has sold its soul to global multi-media interests. Today’s NME is timid, conservative and bland.”
The talk at the Picket attracted big names from the papers history, as well current journalist such as Steven Wells and former journalist and current musician, John Robb, who is well versed in looking at the state of the weekly music press from both perspectives.
Steven Wells, current NME writer – outspoken to the last - came up with the following point of view in relation to the fact that the NME has seemingly sold out,
“I feel your pain, I really do. But in the modern business environment we have all to move with the times. We have to adapt. We have to change with the times. Look at it this way: NME is like a shark. It either keeps going forward or, it dies.”
No doubt with tongue firmly in check he added with regards to the take over of IPC by Time Warner he added,
“We are all HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, fans of Time Warner and we are too damn honest and bursting with journalistic integrity to let a silly thing like a corporate takeover stop us from carrying on praising the many fine products and services, provided by the cool folks at wonderful Time Warner.”
It would be naïve to believe, that such a takeover was the reason for any perceived problems that the NME has encountered. Even as far back as its perceived heyday at the end of the 1970’s, at a time when Punk was in its infancy, the NME was a name amongst other titles. The problem that the NME faces today is one of content. The NME is a music newspaper but when the music becomes the news, like it has done recently. Where does that leave the NME?
Also technology has moved on, in the Internet age can the NME strengthen itself. Steve Sutherland a former editor of the NME, who is now brand director for IPC Music and Sport, believes,
“That the Internet could sound the death knell of the traditional rock n roll journalist and of a rock n roll paper.”
The NME has always prided its self on the fact that it is a champion of new bands. A fact that has always been apparent, in its ‘build them up and knock them down’ attitude, that appears when yesterdays big thing have served their purpose and have moved on to the to the next thing.
It’s a fickle nature but is one that has served them well down the years. But music tends to come in waves and scenes. It’s a cyclical business, which is either feast or famine. At present, there is not a scene that the NME can get behind and champion. More often than not the NME is accused of making scenes and hyping bands.
The last two big music scenes came at the start of the Nineties, with the Madchester scene, which heralded the emergence of bands such as the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, and The Charlatans.
The Mid Nineties saw the Britpop years with bands such as Oasis, Blur, Elastica, Pulp and the re-emergence of the Stone Roses, bands who all sought their influence from bands of the past such as the Beatles and The Kinks. Britpop was a scene that indiscriminately lumped British bands into one scene by virtue of a geographical positioning than by any uniformity of music.
Britpop was big news and stories that would have previously been the domain of the NME, became big news with the other media outlets, such as the tabloids and even with television news.
One story, which the NME covered in great detail, with its front-page depiction of two heavyweight boxers slugging it out in championship bout, was for the simultaneous release of Blur and Oasis single on the same day.
This was a prime example of music industry hyping, but was manna from heaven for the NME, as they saw a rise in their circulation as a result of the Britpop battle. Even the BBC evening news covered the story with vox pops outside music stores, capturing record buyers asking whom there money was on.
This event showed that the music and stories that had only been a traditionally NME only occurrence, was now in the public domain. People didn’t need to go to the NME for news of their favourite band; they could see them in the tabloids. The problem that the NME faces is one of where does it reposition it’s self now with regards to the tastes and styles of its readership.
Speaking in the 40th anniversary edition of the NME the then editor Danny Kelly, repeated the mantra that has served them well down the years.
“ All we’ve done over the last forty years is not as important as what we do next week and the week after that.”
Written in 1992, Kelly seemingly for saw the proliferation of other media getting in on the act his response at the time served as something of a rallying call.
“The other thing that knockers are fond of saying is that as more and more media get to grips with rock and pop, so NME, will wither and to that I say bring ‘em on.”
The NME has always evolved with regards to its content; the NME of the 1950’s was certainly a different beast to the one of today. The launch issue was that of a Big Band paper and saw its typical reader as a musician, than that of a fan. Throughout the years the NME has covered Rock n Roll, the Traditional Jazz movement of the early sixties. As well as the Mersey beat era of Pop, Rock, Heavy Rock, e.g. Led Zeppelin, Prog rock, New wave, New Romantic, Pop, Indie, Madchester, Acid House, Dance grunge and Britpop.
Throughout the years Melody Maker and the NME had their heyday, in an age where rock n roll was an entity for a single constituency. But the growing fragmentation of the music market has eaten away at the audiences at these once popular magazines.
In line with this fragmentation in the styles of music, there has also been something of a fragmentation in the music press. In the 1980’s, Smash Hits came along and dented a big proportion of the readership. Whilst at the time the NME, was dabbling in other areas, other than music such as fashion and an ideology crusade on behalf of black musicians, with a barely disguised contempt for mainstream rock.
The NME was alienating its readership. Further attacks on the papers circulation came in the late 1980’s with the launch of Q magazine. Q interviewed stars that the NME had long since not cared to Interview and with nothing much new musically happening at the time, the NME was struggling.
With the varying different genres and sub-genres of music titles having come and gone the NME has faced some difficult competition.
Steve Sutherland, NME brand director doesn’t believe that these magazines are direct competition for the NME
“ I don’t compare us with those other magazines. For a start we’re a weekly, with on-the-ball news stories and reviews. And we’ve consistently written about the bands that other magazines have then latched on to. I’ve always seen monthly magazines like the Face and Q as essentially luxury purchases, normally following up on what we have discovered first.”
Steve Sutherland’s claim that the NME has ‘taken on an identifiable brand name’ almost as an institution isn’t entirely to be disregarded. Music has become sub-divided into smaller categories people are more eclectic in their listening, Its always going to be harder to appeal to a whole cross-section of readers every week. He further argues that with the Internet,
“Opinionated rants that have characterised music journalism for the past 30 years may not be appropriate in the Internet age.”
The future of the NME brand in the long-term may be with its Internet site NME.com that has 1.30 million unique users and that traffic is growing at almost 5-10% per month. So perhaps the future for the NME, may rest with its Internet website.
The last few years, has seen the NME repositioning itself as a more mainstream music title. To survive magazines need investment, they also need to move on and they need to reflect the changing lifestyle patterns of the readership. This has generally been well received with readership figures remaining relatively constant.
The NME has always prided itself on being interactive way before the days that interactive were inextricably linked with the Internet and new technologies. Angst is the letters page, dedicated to reader’s rants and ruminations of the NME populace.
It is a good measure of the changes that have taken place within the NME. It is apparent that over the last year scanning through the pages there has seemingly been a change in editorial policy of the paper, with the Introduction of new editor, Ben Knowles.
The typical NME concerns of Indie bands – typically white Middle Class as well as dance music, where joined by more mainstream acts from the popular music scene such as RnB and Garage acts to the Pop stars and Pop idol phenomena. This was not universally well-received one apoplectic reader Richard Gillings, Colchester wrote in 21ST April 2002.
“ There used to be four weekly music magazines. And then there was one. But for how long? It is changing out of all recognition, with the likes of Hear’ Say and Mrs Beckham reviews and Interviews. Since when did the NME readers want to read about this.
And what has happened to the Indie charts? In the last few weeks there have just been the official charts, i.e. wall-to-wall shite. NME needs to decide what kind of readership it’s really after it truly is a music paper.”
I could have included other letters, but this one typifies the seemingly anger and betrayal of a readership. Another such letter highlighting the anger and betrayal of the readership was posted to the NME by Victor Mildew, of
Namchester (sic) complaining about the issue NME, April 28.
“I found out the corner was adorned with a picture of Destiny’s Child. If I wanted to read about this sort of rubbish, I’d go out and spend my money on a teen-mag.”
In response to this and other letters on the subject, Neil Thompson who no doubt echoed the sentiments of his fellow NME writers edited the angst page that week.
“ What’s the big problem that so many of you have with Destiny’s Child? The above is one of the least offensive of the tirades sent in this week. Just realise that there are no rules any longer and NME is not and never has been a platform for snobbish prejudice, just a vehicle for great music.
The past six months have seen Wu-Tang clan, Amen, Daft Punk, The Manics, Missy Elliot and Mogwai all on our cover. The Indie fan is an endangered species. Its time to get your head out of the sand and into the clouds. Lets get it together people – stop complaining and start embracing all the diverse and brilliant music there is around”
Even attempts at incorporating Politics into the paper have fallen foul of Mr Irate of Colchester. The typical complaint being of “you’re a music paper – not a newspaper”, have been the typical complaints voiced Whilst trying to cover the May Day riots last year as well, the abolition of tuition fees, and the front page with the London Mayor as well as the on going legalisation of cannabis debate, It has seen a fairly apathetic response.
Seemingly the comments have been taken into consideration as the recent issues of the NME have seemingly reverted to the archetypical bands that have served the NME down the years. Angst has reverted to its usual type of ‘my band is better than your band’ type debates, than the recent concerns questioning the actual content of the publication.
It remains to be seen what the future will hold for the NME one thing is for certain the mythical great age that everyone talks about has for certain disappeared. Society has changed. Listening and reading habits have changed and also. Added to this technology has moved on. The Internet has replaced the main reason for purchasing the NME in the first place. Whether or not people use the nme.com or other sites. The need for the NME may be no more if the current circulation figures drop any further.
The weekly music press may be on its last legs, but the NME name may live on, as it strives for the same of credibility that it has always strived for.
The New Musical Express, or to give its more pithier title the NME, celebrates 50 years in circulation, with a series of events to celebrate this momentous occasion. With it comes the re-launch, with a glossier smaller cover, one that has seen the movement from the bottom shelf to amongst the other glossy music titles.
The re-launch prompts discussions with regards to the state of the weekly music press, often dubbed the ‘inkies.’ Pessimists will offer up the closure of the Melody Maker, just before Christmas 2000, after 73 years in circulation as evidence that re-launches, do not always work.
The last few years in circulation for the Melody Maker, where problematic, with its various re-launches and re-branding, which resulted in the watering down of the content of the paper; as well as the change from an A5 inkie to a Smash Hits styled glossy magazine.
At the time of its closure, the Melody Makers circulation was down to about, 32,500, (down 14.9% on the previous years figures) the lowest in its history. IPC, the Melody Makers owners, ironically the owners of the NME too, closed the Melody Maker, as it was then felt to be no longer sustainable.
In the end its decline was inevitable. The magazine was struggling to get interviews with front line bands. Most bands preferred to be interviewed by the NME. There were few big name writers left, either most having been poached or defected to other publications. Also few bands bothered to advertise because the readership was so low.
The Melody Maker may be no more, but its name still lives on in some form. Its huge archive has been transferred to its sister paper, the NME’s website. Also transferred were some of the regular features that have appeared in the Melody maker throughout the years.
So what of the NME? First reflections may be that it should be in a position of strength, having seen off its nearest rivals but the most recent figures published by the Audit Bureau of Circulation have seen the circulation decline to 70,003.
Recent figures have also shown that Kerrang, the rock music equivalent, has pushed out its market share also. Though Kerrang is not strictly a weekly music publication as it is published twice a month, it still competes for a similar readership and bands as the NME.
IPC Music and Sport director Mike Soutar said the company intended to continue to broaden the appeal of the NME,
“The NME has about 40% command of the rock magazines sold in the UK and plans are to look at the options of being the only weekly in the market. We have spent the sort term building nme.com, but now the focus would return to the magazine”
Where does this leave the NME? In the current climate the NME has no direct competitors in the weekly press. Having seen off rivals such as Record Mirror, Sounds and of course Melody Maker in the last ten years.
At fifty it may be sustainable in the present cutthroat world of publishing, but is it still relevant? This is a question that no doubt prompted the recent talk at the Flying Picket, In Liverpool, as part of the yearly, Writing On the Wall festival, entitled ‘Wake up NME, you are dead’ question marks have been raised with regards to its credibility and not its sustainability. The Writing on the Wall talk proclaimed the NME as,
“Once the radical voice of British popular music the NME has sold its soul to global multi-media interests. Today’s NME is timid, conservative and bland.”
The talk at the Picket attracted big names from the papers history, as well current journalist such as Steven Wells and former journalist and current musician, John Robb, who is well versed in looking at the state of the weekly music press from both perspectives.
Steven Wells, current NME writer – outspoken to the last - came up with the following point of view in relation to the fact that the NME has seemingly sold out,
“I feel your pain, I really do. But in the modern business environment we have all to move with the times. We have to adapt. We have to change with the times. Look at it this way: NME is like a shark. It either keeps going forward or, it dies.”
No doubt with tongue firmly in check he added with regards to the take over of IPC by Time Warner he added,
“We are all HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, fans of Time Warner and we are too damn honest and bursting with journalistic integrity to let a silly thing like a corporate takeover stop us from carrying on praising the many fine products and services, provided by the cool folks at wonderful Time Warner.”
It would be naïve to believe, that such a takeover was the reason for any perceived problems that the NME has encountered. Even as far back as its perceived heyday at the end of the 1970’s, at a time when Punk was in its infancy, the NME was a name amongst other titles. The problem that the NME faces today is one of content. The NME is a music newspaper but when the music becomes the news, like it has done recently. Where does that leave the NME?
Also technology has moved on, in the Internet age can the NME strengthen itself. Steve Sutherland a former editor of the NME, who is now brand director for IPC Music and Sport, believes,
“That the Internet could sound the death knell of the traditional rock n roll journalist and of a rock n roll paper.”
The NME has always prided its self on the fact that it is a champion of new bands. A fact that has always been apparent, in its ‘build them up and knock them down’ attitude, that appears when yesterdays big thing have served their purpose and have moved on to the to the next thing.
It’s a fickle nature but is one that has served them well down the years. But music tends to come in waves and scenes. It’s a cyclical business, which is either feast or famine. At present, there is not a scene that the NME can get behind and champion. More often than not the NME is accused of making scenes and hyping bands.
The last two big music scenes came at the start of the Nineties, with the Madchester scene, which heralded the emergence of bands such as the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, and The Charlatans.
The Mid Nineties saw the Britpop years with bands such as Oasis, Blur, Elastica, Pulp and the re-emergence of the Stone Roses, bands who all sought their influence from bands of the past such as the Beatles and The Kinks. Britpop was a scene that indiscriminately lumped British bands into one scene by virtue of a geographical positioning than by any uniformity of music.
Britpop was big news and stories that would have previously been the domain of the NME, became big news with the other media outlets, such as the tabloids and even with television news.
One story, which the NME covered in great detail, with its front-page depiction of two heavyweight boxers slugging it out in championship bout, was for the simultaneous release of Blur and Oasis single on the same day.
This was a prime example of music industry hyping, but was manna from heaven for the NME, as they saw a rise in their circulation as a result of the Britpop battle. Even the BBC evening news covered the story with vox pops outside music stores, capturing record buyers asking whom there money was on.
This event showed that the music and stories that had only been a traditionally NME only occurrence, was now in the public domain. People didn’t need to go to the NME for news of their favourite band; they could see them in the tabloids. The problem that the NME faces is one of where does it reposition it’s self now with regards to the tastes and styles of its readership.
Speaking in the 40th anniversary edition of the NME the then editor Danny Kelly, repeated the mantra that has served them well down the years.
“ All we’ve done over the last forty years is not as important as what we do next week and the week after that.”
Written in 1992, Kelly seemingly for saw the proliferation of other media getting in on the act his response at the time served as something of a rallying call.
“The other thing that knockers are fond of saying is that as more and more media get to grips with rock and pop, so NME, will wither and to that I say bring ‘em on.”
The NME has always evolved with regards to its content; the NME of the 1950’s was certainly a different beast to the one of today. The launch issue was that of a Big Band paper and saw its typical reader as a musician, than that of a fan. Throughout the years the NME has covered Rock n Roll, the Traditional Jazz movement of the early sixties. As well as the Mersey beat era of Pop, Rock, Heavy Rock, e.g. Led Zeppelin, Prog rock, New wave, New Romantic, Pop, Indie, Madchester, Acid House, Dance grunge and Britpop.
Throughout the years Melody Maker and the NME had their heyday, in an age where rock n roll was an entity for a single constituency. But the growing fragmentation of the music market has eaten away at the audiences at these once popular magazines.
In line with this fragmentation in the styles of music, there has also been something of a fragmentation in the music press. In the 1980’s, Smash Hits came along and dented a big proportion of the readership. Whilst at the time the NME, was dabbling in other areas, other than music such as fashion and an ideology crusade on behalf of black musicians, with a barely disguised contempt for mainstream rock.
The NME was alienating its readership. Further attacks on the papers circulation came in the late 1980’s with the launch of Q magazine. Q interviewed stars that the NME had long since not cared to Interview and with nothing much new musically happening at the time, the NME was struggling.
With the varying different genres and sub-genres of music titles having come and gone the NME has faced some difficult competition.
Steve Sutherland, NME brand director doesn’t believe that these magazines are direct competition for the NME
“ I don’t compare us with those other magazines. For a start we’re a weekly, with on-the-ball news stories and reviews. And we’ve consistently written about the bands that other magazines have then latched on to. I’ve always seen monthly magazines like the Face and Q as essentially luxury purchases, normally following up on what we have discovered first.”
Steve Sutherland’s claim that the NME has ‘taken on an identifiable brand name’ almost as an institution isn’t entirely to be disregarded. Music has become sub-divided into smaller categories people are more eclectic in their listening, Its always going to be harder to appeal to a whole cross-section of readers every week. He further argues that with the Internet,
“Opinionated rants that have characterised music journalism for the past 30 years may not be appropriate in the Internet age.”
The future of the NME brand in the long-term may be with its Internet site NME.com that has 1.30 million unique users and that traffic is growing at almost 5-10% per month. So perhaps the future for the NME, may rest with its Internet website.
The last few years, has seen the NME repositioning itself as a more mainstream music title. To survive magazines need investment, they also need to move on and they need to reflect the changing lifestyle patterns of the readership. This has generally been well received with readership figures remaining relatively constant.
The NME has always prided itself on being interactive way before the days that interactive were inextricably linked with the Internet and new technologies. Angst is the letters page, dedicated to reader’s rants and ruminations of the NME populace.
It is a good measure of the changes that have taken place within the NME. It is apparent that over the last year scanning through the pages there has seemingly been a change in editorial policy of the paper, with the Introduction of new editor, Ben Knowles.
The typical NME concerns of Indie bands – typically white Middle Class as well as dance music, where joined by more mainstream acts from the popular music scene such as RnB and Garage acts to the Pop stars and Pop idol phenomena. This was not universally well-received one apoplectic reader Richard Gillings, Colchester wrote in 21ST April 2002.
“ There used to be four weekly music magazines. And then there was one. But for how long? It is changing out of all recognition, with the likes of Hear’ Say and Mrs Beckham reviews and Interviews. Since when did the NME readers want to read about this.
And what has happened to the Indie charts? In the last few weeks there have just been the official charts, i.e. wall-to-wall shite. NME needs to decide what kind of readership it’s really after it truly is a music paper.”
I could have included other letters, but this one typifies the seemingly anger and betrayal of a readership. Another such letter highlighting the anger and betrayal of the readership was posted to the NME by Victor Mildew, of
Namchester (sic) complaining about the issue NME, April 28.
“I found out the corner was adorned with a picture of Destiny’s Child. If I wanted to read about this sort of rubbish, I’d go out and spend my money on a teen-mag.”
In response to this and other letters on the subject, Neil Thompson who no doubt echoed the sentiments of his fellow NME writers edited the angst page that week.
“ What’s the big problem that so many of you have with Destiny’s Child? The above is one of the least offensive of the tirades sent in this week. Just realise that there are no rules any longer and NME is not and never has been a platform for snobbish prejudice, just a vehicle for great music.
The past six months have seen Wu-Tang clan, Amen, Daft Punk, The Manics, Missy Elliot and Mogwai all on our cover. The Indie fan is an endangered species. Its time to get your head out of the sand and into the clouds. Lets get it together people – stop complaining and start embracing all the diverse and brilliant music there is around”
Even attempts at incorporating Politics into the paper have fallen foul of Mr Irate of Colchester. The typical complaint being of “you’re a music paper – not a newspaper”, have been the typical complaints voiced Whilst trying to cover the May Day riots last year as well, the abolition of tuition fees, and the front page with the London Mayor as well as the on going legalisation of cannabis debate, It has seen a fairly apathetic response.
Seemingly the comments have been taken into consideration as the recent issues of the NME have seemingly reverted to the archetypical bands that have served the NME down the years. Angst has reverted to its usual type of ‘my band is better than your band’ type debates, than the recent concerns questioning the actual content of the publication.
It remains to be seen what the future will hold for the NME one thing is for certain the mythical great age that everyone talks about has for certain disappeared. Society has changed. Listening and reading habits have changed and also. Added to this technology has moved on. The Internet has replaced the main reason for purchasing the NME in the first place. Whether or not people use the nme.com or other sites. The need for the NME may be no more if the current circulation figures drop any further.
The weekly music press may be on its last legs, but the NME name may live on, as it strives for the same of credibility that it has always strived for.
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Going underground: ‘The Mole of Edge Hill’
Liverpool is renowned for its numerous innovators and eccentrics, who have carved their name in the pages of history down the years.
One such innovator, and no less of an eccentric is Joseph Williamson. His name has been surrounded in mythology and speculation for numerous years but has lived on through the legacy that surrounds his greatest work – The Williamson Tunnels.
Joseph Williamson’s name is synonymous with the tunnels, which zigzag underneath the streets and surrounding areas of the Edge Hill district of Liverpool. Unfortunately, until now Williamson’s work has been referred to fleetingly in the history of Liverpool.
Without the work of organisations such as the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels, Williamson’s work would have remained merely a footnote in Liverpool’s history.
The FOWT have taken this a step further and are bringing the Tunnels to the surface of the consciousness of the people of Liverpool. The FOWT is a voluntary organisation and also the biggest local history society in Britain
It has certainly been a labour of love for the volunteers of the FOWT and it is without doubt that their endeavours are equal to the effort of the original workers, who excavated the tunnels in the 19th century.
August 2002 will see the culmination of years of hard work with the opening of the first phase of the tunnels to the general public. Following a major excavation and renovation exercise, two of the tunnels in the original stable yard on Smithdown Lane section of the labyrinth will be open to the public as a permanent tourist attraction.
Although some of the tunnels have been lost over the years and are unable to renovated. Many of the original tunnels still exist today under the now largely residential area of Edge Hill.
The opening will be testament to the hard work of people such as Gabriel Mews, who has lived in the Edge Hill area all his life. Gabriel Mews is one of the local residents who has pushed for the opening of the tunnels for the last six years. He and other volunteers have painstakingly been excavating the tunnels in conditions similar to that of Williamson’s day
It has been a difficult process in the renovation and excavating the site. Dave Bridson, of FOWT highlighted some of the problems faced by the Volunteer workforce,
“Illegal fly tipping has filled a majority of the tunnels. Some of it is building rubble ash and Clinker. There is a whole mix of stuff. This was the trouble when the building work started above.”
The renovation process has also faced problems due to the fact that the pattern of the tunnels follows no logical course and that there are no plans or documents in existence to guide their renovation. It has become apparent that no such plans may ever have existed. Such a document would have a shed a better light on the existence of the Tunnels.
To gain an insight and an understanding into why the tunnels where built in the first place, Its important to find out more of the life of the man whose name has been given to these tunnels and a man who spent the latter part of his life dedicated to the completion of the tunnels.
Many of the details of Williamson’s life are shrouded in mystery, and this has no doubt fuelled the fascination that has grown up surrounding the history of the tunnels.
Joseph Williamson was born on 10th March 1769. It is widely assumed that he was born in Warrington, but that has not been proven. He was born into a poor family and at the age of 11 he moved to Liverpool in search of work.
The Liverpool to which Williamson arrived in 1780 was a relatively prosperous city; due to its thriving seaport he would have had little difficulty in securing gainful employment. He eventually secured work for the tobacco and snuff firm Richard Tate, which was based in Parr Street, adjacent to Wolstenholme Square, near the city centre.
It was a family business and Williamson prospered during his time with the company and he was eventually promoted from runner to a clerk. As well as progressing through Tate’s, he also set up in partnership with Mr Joseph Leigh, as a merchant.
Williamson married Elizabeth Tate in 1802, Thomas Tate’s the sister of the owner of Tate’s. After Williamson’s inauspicious start in life he had started to reap the rewards of a working career that began at the age of 11. Things where going so well for Williamson, that a year after his marriage he bought Tate’s.
Tate’s prospered in Williamson’s ownership and the wealth generated from the success of the businesses that Williamson had built up kick started his move into property development.
The area of Edge Hill that Williamson lived at the time was pretty much under developed. Williamson built his own house on the land at Mason Street and soon after other dwellings followed. The houses that he built were very much typical of the properties of the era, with cellars and large gardens at the rear.
At the back of each of the dwellings there was a large amount of space, but the sandstone bedrock dropped about twenty feet down to the same level as Smithdown Lane. Williamson had his men build brick arches in the sandstone bedrock. The building of these arches is significant, as it was the first part of the completed Williamson Tunnels to be put in place.
From what is known of the layout of the tunnels, it is assumed that Williamson had no clear vision for the tunnels. One idea that has been put forward is that Williamson saw the building of the tunnels as something of a philanthropic gesture on his part, given the hardship that he had endured whilst he grew up. It was around the time of the Napoleonic wars that he started the tunnels as a sort of job creation scheme for soldiers returning from the wars.
Another idea that has been suggested is that he built the tunnels out of a religious fervour and the tunnels where to be a haven underground for an apocalyptic Armageddon forecast for 1841 by a mystery soothsayer.
Frank Hodges from the FOWT takes up the story.
“One of the features of the tunnels is that the brickwork is admired by people in their trade. The accepted story of why he built the tunnels was purely functional to support terrace gardens.
“Another theory is that his wife fell under the spell of a preacher in Hope Street who predicted a holocaust would hit the city. On September 1840. She persuaded Joseph to build the tunnels to provide shelter for the people of Liverpool. Until after the holocaust.”
Like most of the tales surrounding the project, stories like this have probably been exaggerated down the years. It has possibly been exaggerated that he employed thousands of workers at any one time There is no doubt a fair number of men came forward to offer their services.
It is thought that when the process of building on Mason Street was adequately staffed, that he would send the additional men into the arches to extend them by cutting into the bedrock perhaps so that they meet up with the house cellars, to provide a convenient exit to Smithdown Lane.
By the time Williamson retired and sold the tobacco firm, this gave him more time to concentrate on the ever-expanding tunnels. With unemployment rife in the city at the time, he had no other justification for the continuing of the work other than giving work to the unemployed of Liverpool.
Even on the occasions where there was not enough work to do on the tunnels Williamson would still pay and employ the men. It is believed that he would get men to move rocks from one place to another and then get them to move them back again.
In parts of the tunnels, which are accessible today, there is evidence of tunnels being built and immediately bricked up again, alongside fine arches that lead nowhere. All this was purely to keep the men busy, but perhaps Williamson was also getting satisfaction from the opulent surroundings that he was fashioning for himself.
The conditions that the workers often worked in were not easy; it was often dark, dusty, noisy, cold in winter and hot in the summer. The rock men worked with picks shovels and barrows, while the carpenters used axes and saws to build formers for the bricklayers to lay arches underground. Added to these conditions the men often worked by candlelight.
The 1830’s saw the excavation of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line underneath the Edge Hill district, through to Lime Street. It has been documented that Williamson’s tunnels met up with the team excavating the railway line much to each other’s surprise. A tunnel can be witnessed on a train journey into Liverpool Lime Street today.
It may also be the case that the men who served their apprenticeship working on Williamson’s tunnels may well have also found employment cutting the Liverpool to Manchester tunnel through the sandstone of Edge Hill.
Elizabeth Williamson died in 1822, and as a result of her death, Joseph Williamson turned his attentions, even more vehemently to the completion of his tunnels and continued his work for the rest of his life. Williamson eventually died aged 76 on 1st May 1840.
With Williamson’s death also came the end of the excavation of the Tunnels.
The project may well have died but the knowledge of the existence of the tunnels never really died. Most of the Mason Street area was demolished at the turn of the 20th century, and was replaced by the residential property that can be witnessed today. Though some of the tunnels throughout the years where quite visible down Smithdown Lane nothing constructive had been done to them since Williamson’s death.
Even after years of neglect enthusiasts have tried to raise the profile of the tunnels and this interest has culminated in the current chapter in the tunnels fascinating history. Its hard to know what Williamson’s vision was, but after years of construction building by his original workforce, together with meticulous renovation by the volunteer army of the FOWT. August 2002 will see the official opening to the public for the Williamson tunnels.
The tunnels had been expected to open in June, to coincide with the Queens visit to Liverpool, but last minute safety work to the scaffolding inside the tunnels, delayed its opening. A third of this work has now been completed thanks to the Metalworkers and fabricators from Merseyside and Manchester who donated time and materials for free. Chairman of the John Williamson Society, who will run the visitors centre said
“ We have completed the final safety checks and we are finishing off the tunnel bar, which will serve refreshments to the visitors.”
The first section of Williamson’s Tunnels to be opened will be at the old stables site on Smithdown Lane. Only part of the complex will be opened, but it does include the ‘double tunnel’ with its intricate deep workings at the end corner.
The Williamson’s Tunnels is an on going project and is reliant on financial support and other support of such as people helping excavate the site.
Now that the tunnels are near completion, the Joseph Williamson Society who run the visitors centre, are now looking for tour guides, ticket sellers and other volunteers who can help with the site.
The opening of the site is just the end of the first stage of the project. Long term plans and funding will allow the opening up of further tunnels on the stable yard site and on the other side of the railway lines in Mason Street, opposite the Banqueting Hall at Williamson’s House.
Funding for the work has come from sources including the FOWT, European Regional Development Fund, loans from Liverpool City Council and the Community Loan fund. The private sector and individual organisation have also provided sponsorship. Applications have also been, made to branches of the lottery for further assistance with building work and additional disabled recourses. Some donations have also been promised from museums across the country.
It was an entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit, which created jobs and prosperity for the Edge Hill area of the city back in the 1800’s, this spirit, certainly lives on today. Area councillor Frank Doran, from Liverpool City Council believes that Tunnels have been good for the area and will be for some time to come,
“The Heritage Centre is a showcase of the tunnels it will attract people who will spend money, buy books and visit the city. So its inward investment into the local economy.”
After many years of rumour and intrigue the people of Liverpool and from far wide can at last see what folklore said existed, but has been unable to explain or work out why it exists. The fact that members of the public can witness this great site is testimony to the great work of the Friends of the Williamson’s Tunnels and the Joseph Williamson Society. It is also at last long last, recognition of the great work for one of Liverpool’s greatest benefactors to the unemployed of this city.
Sadly no monument exists for this man’s achievements or a grave for people to pay respects to. He sadly lies in an unmarked grave under a car park at the junction of Paradise Street and Park Lane opposite Merseyside Police Headquarters. The fact that his eccentric vision has been lovingly and pain stakingly restored is no doubt a fitting memorial for the vision of the great Joseph Williamson.
One such innovator, and no less of an eccentric is Joseph Williamson. His name has been surrounded in mythology and speculation for numerous years but has lived on through the legacy that surrounds his greatest work – The Williamson Tunnels.
Joseph Williamson’s name is synonymous with the tunnels, which zigzag underneath the streets and surrounding areas of the Edge Hill district of Liverpool. Unfortunately, until now Williamson’s work has been referred to fleetingly in the history of Liverpool.
Without the work of organisations such as the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels, Williamson’s work would have remained merely a footnote in Liverpool’s history.
The FOWT have taken this a step further and are bringing the Tunnels to the surface of the consciousness of the people of Liverpool. The FOWT is a voluntary organisation and also the biggest local history society in Britain
It has certainly been a labour of love for the volunteers of the FOWT and it is without doubt that their endeavours are equal to the effort of the original workers, who excavated the tunnels in the 19th century.
August 2002 will see the culmination of years of hard work with the opening of the first phase of the tunnels to the general public. Following a major excavation and renovation exercise, two of the tunnels in the original stable yard on Smithdown Lane section of the labyrinth will be open to the public as a permanent tourist attraction.
Although some of the tunnels have been lost over the years and are unable to renovated. Many of the original tunnels still exist today under the now largely residential area of Edge Hill.
The opening will be testament to the hard work of people such as Gabriel Mews, who has lived in the Edge Hill area all his life. Gabriel Mews is one of the local residents who has pushed for the opening of the tunnels for the last six years. He and other volunteers have painstakingly been excavating the tunnels in conditions similar to that of Williamson’s day
It has been a difficult process in the renovation and excavating the site. Dave Bridson, of FOWT highlighted some of the problems faced by the Volunteer workforce,
“Illegal fly tipping has filled a majority of the tunnels. Some of it is building rubble ash and Clinker. There is a whole mix of stuff. This was the trouble when the building work started above.”
The renovation process has also faced problems due to the fact that the pattern of the tunnels follows no logical course and that there are no plans or documents in existence to guide their renovation. It has become apparent that no such plans may ever have existed. Such a document would have a shed a better light on the existence of the Tunnels.
To gain an insight and an understanding into why the tunnels where built in the first place, Its important to find out more of the life of the man whose name has been given to these tunnels and a man who spent the latter part of his life dedicated to the completion of the tunnels.
Many of the details of Williamson’s life are shrouded in mystery, and this has no doubt fuelled the fascination that has grown up surrounding the history of the tunnels.
Joseph Williamson was born on 10th March 1769. It is widely assumed that he was born in Warrington, but that has not been proven. He was born into a poor family and at the age of 11 he moved to Liverpool in search of work.
The Liverpool to which Williamson arrived in 1780 was a relatively prosperous city; due to its thriving seaport he would have had little difficulty in securing gainful employment. He eventually secured work for the tobacco and snuff firm Richard Tate, which was based in Parr Street, adjacent to Wolstenholme Square, near the city centre.
It was a family business and Williamson prospered during his time with the company and he was eventually promoted from runner to a clerk. As well as progressing through Tate’s, he also set up in partnership with Mr Joseph Leigh, as a merchant.
Williamson married Elizabeth Tate in 1802, Thomas Tate’s the sister of the owner of Tate’s. After Williamson’s inauspicious start in life he had started to reap the rewards of a working career that began at the age of 11. Things where going so well for Williamson, that a year after his marriage he bought Tate’s.
Tate’s prospered in Williamson’s ownership and the wealth generated from the success of the businesses that Williamson had built up kick started his move into property development.
The area of Edge Hill that Williamson lived at the time was pretty much under developed. Williamson built his own house on the land at Mason Street and soon after other dwellings followed. The houses that he built were very much typical of the properties of the era, with cellars and large gardens at the rear.
At the back of each of the dwellings there was a large amount of space, but the sandstone bedrock dropped about twenty feet down to the same level as Smithdown Lane. Williamson had his men build brick arches in the sandstone bedrock. The building of these arches is significant, as it was the first part of the completed Williamson Tunnels to be put in place.
From what is known of the layout of the tunnels, it is assumed that Williamson had no clear vision for the tunnels. One idea that has been put forward is that Williamson saw the building of the tunnels as something of a philanthropic gesture on his part, given the hardship that he had endured whilst he grew up. It was around the time of the Napoleonic wars that he started the tunnels as a sort of job creation scheme for soldiers returning from the wars.
Another idea that has been suggested is that he built the tunnels out of a religious fervour and the tunnels where to be a haven underground for an apocalyptic Armageddon forecast for 1841 by a mystery soothsayer.
Frank Hodges from the FOWT takes up the story.
“One of the features of the tunnels is that the brickwork is admired by people in their trade. The accepted story of why he built the tunnels was purely functional to support terrace gardens.
“Another theory is that his wife fell under the spell of a preacher in Hope Street who predicted a holocaust would hit the city. On September 1840. She persuaded Joseph to build the tunnels to provide shelter for the people of Liverpool. Until after the holocaust.”
Like most of the tales surrounding the project, stories like this have probably been exaggerated down the years. It has possibly been exaggerated that he employed thousands of workers at any one time There is no doubt a fair number of men came forward to offer their services.
It is thought that when the process of building on Mason Street was adequately staffed, that he would send the additional men into the arches to extend them by cutting into the bedrock perhaps so that they meet up with the house cellars, to provide a convenient exit to Smithdown Lane.
By the time Williamson retired and sold the tobacco firm, this gave him more time to concentrate on the ever-expanding tunnels. With unemployment rife in the city at the time, he had no other justification for the continuing of the work other than giving work to the unemployed of Liverpool.
Even on the occasions where there was not enough work to do on the tunnels Williamson would still pay and employ the men. It is believed that he would get men to move rocks from one place to another and then get them to move them back again.
In parts of the tunnels, which are accessible today, there is evidence of tunnels being built and immediately bricked up again, alongside fine arches that lead nowhere. All this was purely to keep the men busy, but perhaps Williamson was also getting satisfaction from the opulent surroundings that he was fashioning for himself.
The conditions that the workers often worked in were not easy; it was often dark, dusty, noisy, cold in winter and hot in the summer. The rock men worked with picks shovels and barrows, while the carpenters used axes and saws to build formers for the bricklayers to lay arches underground. Added to these conditions the men often worked by candlelight.
The 1830’s saw the excavation of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line underneath the Edge Hill district, through to Lime Street. It has been documented that Williamson’s tunnels met up with the team excavating the railway line much to each other’s surprise. A tunnel can be witnessed on a train journey into Liverpool Lime Street today.
It may also be the case that the men who served their apprenticeship working on Williamson’s tunnels may well have also found employment cutting the Liverpool to Manchester tunnel through the sandstone of Edge Hill.
Elizabeth Williamson died in 1822, and as a result of her death, Joseph Williamson turned his attentions, even more vehemently to the completion of his tunnels and continued his work for the rest of his life. Williamson eventually died aged 76 on 1st May 1840.
With Williamson’s death also came the end of the excavation of the Tunnels.
The project may well have died but the knowledge of the existence of the tunnels never really died. Most of the Mason Street area was demolished at the turn of the 20th century, and was replaced by the residential property that can be witnessed today. Though some of the tunnels throughout the years where quite visible down Smithdown Lane nothing constructive had been done to them since Williamson’s death.
Even after years of neglect enthusiasts have tried to raise the profile of the tunnels and this interest has culminated in the current chapter in the tunnels fascinating history. Its hard to know what Williamson’s vision was, but after years of construction building by his original workforce, together with meticulous renovation by the volunteer army of the FOWT. August 2002 will see the official opening to the public for the Williamson tunnels.
The tunnels had been expected to open in June, to coincide with the Queens visit to Liverpool, but last minute safety work to the scaffolding inside the tunnels, delayed its opening. A third of this work has now been completed thanks to the Metalworkers and fabricators from Merseyside and Manchester who donated time and materials for free. Chairman of the John Williamson Society, who will run the visitors centre said
“ We have completed the final safety checks and we are finishing off the tunnel bar, which will serve refreshments to the visitors.”
The first section of Williamson’s Tunnels to be opened will be at the old stables site on Smithdown Lane. Only part of the complex will be opened, but it does include the ‘double tunnel’ with its intricate deep workings at the end corner.
The Williamson’s Tunnels is an on going project and is reliant on financial support and other support of such as people helping excavate the site.
Now that the tunnels are near completion, the Joseph Williamson Society who run the visitors centre, are now looking for tour guides, ticket sellers and other volunteers who can help with the site.
The opening of the site is just the end of the first stage of the project. Long term plans and funding will allow the opening up of further tunnels on the stable yard site and on the other side of the railway lines in Mason Street, opposite the Banqueting Hall at Williamson’s House.
Funding for the work has come from sources including the FOWT, European Regional Development Fund, loans from Liverpool City Council and the Community Loan fund. The private sector and individual organisation have also provided sponsorship. Applications have also been, made to branches of the lottery for further assistance with building work and additional disabled recourses. Some donations have also been promised from museums across the country.
It was an entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit, which created jobs and prosperity for the Edge Hill area of the city back in the 1800’s, this spirit, certainly lives on today. Area councillor Frank Doran, from Liverpool City Council believes that Tunnels have been good for the area and will be for some time to come,
“The Heritage Centre is a showcase of the tunnels it will attract people who will spend money, buy books and visit the city. So its inward investment into the local economy.”
After many years of rumour and intrigue the people of Liverpool and from far wide can at last see what folklore said existed, but has been unable to explain or work out why it exists. The fact that members of the public can witness this great site is testimony to the great work of the Friends of the Williamson’s Tunnels and the Joseph Williamson Society. It is also at last long last, recognition of the great work for one of Liverpool’s greatest benefactors to the unemployed of this city.
Sadly no monument exists for this man’s achievements or a grave for people to pay respects to. He sadly lies in an unmarked grave under a car park at the junction of Paradise Street and Park Lane opposite Merseyside Police Headquarters. The fact that his eccentric vision has been lovingly and pain stakingly restored is no doubt a fitting memorial for the vision of the great Joseph Williamson.
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