I have some jams on tape from this period with Tats on drums. Including a ropey version of the above Faith no more track!
In 1990, I finally left home and moved to Bristol to go to university. I spent two years there before going on to complete my degree at Coventry. So I ended up doing three courses over 5+ years.
University for me was possibly the best time of my life. Living away from home, I met some people who would be friends for life. I was in several bands. I was president of the Rock Society for a while.
I studied hard and played hard and had the best time.
Bristol was ideally suited for me being at the M5 / M4 junction. Within easy reach of London, Cardiff and Birmingham. I blew all the money I'd saved in the first term going to gigs in said places.
Including Queensryche twice in a week. (Cardiff and London).
Living Colour
Blur (in the student Union).
Kings X (still one of the best gigs I have ever seen)
Plus bands like Extreme, Billy Idol, Guns and Roses and loads more.
I had a couple of attempts at forming bands in Bristol. None never made it to gigging. Which was a shame.
Musically, my tastes was still on the rock side. One of the guys I shared a house with got me more into Hendrix. But other than that, the only real band I really got into, after seeing them support Guns n Roses was Nine Inch Nails.
In 1992 I moved to Coventry to finish my degree and do a Masters. Soon I was in a band called "Reheasal For Murder", with four wonderful friends. We often rehearsed without cymbals. Which made it hard!!!
Grunge was in at the time. I was already a fan of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
Alice in Chains
plus we did some Rage against the machine and possibly some nirvana. Fun times.
I did get to see Soundgarden and Alice in Chains live (both at Rock City). Never got to see Pearl Jam.
Coventry was good was getting to gigs, in Nottingham, Birmingham and London.
The highlight of the week was the rock disco. Where (when I still had hair) we would dance along to tunes like this
X-CNN
X-CNN was one of the bands who played the student union. (We didn't bothering going to see Oasis after seeing them earlier in the day on the telly).
Plus one of my favourite tunes / bands of the 1990s. Therapy.
and The Wildhearts.
though I was also a massive Honeycrack fan.
Die Cheerleader
I saw Die Cheerleader live supporting Terrorvision in a pub in Coventry. The singer accused me of trying to chat her up. I don't think I was. Honest!
So in late 1995 I finally finished at university and took two months off back in Cornwall, before moving back to Coventry to look for a job.
Ending up in Telford, writing software for Gas and Electricity meters. Not very rock n roll. Though there was a bunch of rockers working there, who even almost twenty years later, I still see at (or go to with) gigs.
The late '90s for me musically, was more about industrial rock.
Nine Inch Nails
Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson
A lot of the rock I was listening to was due to having cable TV and being able to see the videos on the telly.
Obviously the mid 1990's was the time of Britpop. To be honest, a lot of it passed me by. I kept out of the Blur v Oasis debate, listening to neither. Though recently I have gone back and listened to Blur a bit. I still don't get Oasis.
The only two / three bands I really got into at the time was
Mansun
Mansun are in my top three favourite bands of all time. I was lucky to be able to do a Mansun cover version for last years tribute album for the Mansun Convention.
Radiohead
Placebo
Stereophonics
But to be honest I was starting to get bored a bit with rock. Finding solace in the old music I listened to in the '80s. The Howard Jones, Tears for Fears, Suzanne Vega, Hazel O' Connor, Stiff Little Fingers, All about Eve etc.
Anyway that is for the naughties to the present day. Which will be the subject of another blog.
