Gig Description

A ticket for the gig that never happened. Well, not quite the line-up as advertised anyway. I know, because I was the guitarist with the second support act.

This is a while before the Arctic Monkeys had a record deal, but there was already quite a buzz about them. They even had a manager (who they shared with the first support act). However, a couple of nights before the gig, the venue got in touch to say the band's manager had kicked off, saying he'd never agreed to it and that they weren't going to do the show (despite there being contracts signed, tickets printed and sold, posters put up around town and it appearing in the local gig listings). In a bit of a tight spot, they asked us to headline (we'd played there earlier in the year and had gone down well) and also sort out a support act. A tall order with less than 48 hours to go before the show.

So it went ahead, with just Cohen & The Shatner's Bassoon Band from the original line-up appearing. I can't remember who the support was in the end. An acoustic covers band from Barnsley is all I can recall.

A few days later, word got back that Pete Doherty had been in town doing one of his 'secret' gigs at a small venue the same night as our gig (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jul/31/popandrock), the Arctic's manager had scored the band (and support) tickets, so they blew us out.

Their loss.