rivers2cross

The Gathering is my annual pilgrimage to see Mike Peters and The Alarm. My favourite band for coming up to 41 years now going back to the release of The Stand, which I first heard on John Peel. This was my 22nd consecutive UK Gathering in a row alongside a couple of New York Gatherings. Anyone who knows me will be aware of how my Alarm experience has dramatically changed in recent years. From being very much a loner at The Gathering until 2017, things have completely turned around for me. I now have many wonderful friendships and I could probably go to a gig almost anywhere and be sure to know someone there. To be part of this very special family is a real privilege. It has certainly enriched my life and made it the better for it. I have been quite open about what happened, so if you don’t know I’ll give a brief recap. In 2012 my mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer and after a successful operation to remove the tumour I began the fundraising. In 2015 I self-published the Lives & Times charity book and I managed to meet all the original members of The Alarm for it. At The Gathering in 2017 the interest in the book and support for it went crazy! No more hiding in the shadows for me and it was really at that point that I began to meet and make the many friendships. I have never looked back… Sadly, Mum died of bowel cancer in 2016, but I have kept fundraising with a passion, which is why you will still see me plugging stuff to raise money for bowel cancer charities and Love Hope Strength. Anyway enough of my historical ramblings, let’s talk about the recent Gathering in Cardiff.

I suppose The Gathering week for me started in London on the Wednesday night seeing Eddie play at The Troubador. A much changed venue since those wonderful nights watching the late Billy Franks of The Faith Brothers. Ably supported by Paul Evans and Billy Liberator, Eddie was doing his own celebration of the 40th anniversary of Declaration. It was a good opportunity to meet up with a number of Alarm friends with a special mention to those overseas friends who changed their plans to be able to see the gig before heading down to Cardiff. Eddie was on top form. He certainly didn’t try to impersonate Mike and had come up with a number of new arrangements. He performed the album in its original running order except for Blaze of Glory which he finished with. He played a 12-string electric-acoustic and put his heart and soul into it. A very enthusiastic audience was also in fine form ensuring that the set was well received. It was a terrific evening and was a perfect warm up for me ahead of Cardiff.

Friday is always my start time for The Gathering. A combination of work and arrangements for my popular sidekick Prince mean that the Thursday is never possible for me. This might well change in the future, but for now it’s a 48 hour blitz trip for me. I leave the Thursday events in Cardiff for others to recount. On Friday morning I caught a virtually deserted 11.40 train from Reading which arrived in Cardiff at 1.15. After all the years of the 4 hours drive to North Wales this did make a welcome change for me. I was determined to keep my mind open about the change to Cardiff and I have to admit that the greatly reduced journey found favour with me.

First point of call was a pint in Wetherspoons, as I couldn’t get into my hotel until after 2.00 and then having sorted myself out I headed away from my hotel by the station towards the centre to see what was happening. I know that is has been mentioned that the city location has kind of detracted from the community feel of Llandudno which is a fair point, but I have to say from my point of view it made little or no difference. As soon as I headed out I bumped into friends and this continued all weekend, so for me the weekend retained that sense of community and Alarm family. We might not have taken over the city centre, but there were enough of us there to make a pretty big dent!

The Old Arcade was my first stop on the way to the venue. This designated Alarm pub was terrific as it always seemed to be busy with a great buzz and vibe, but never overly rammed. I never actually made it to The Temple Bar over the weekend which appeared to have problems on Thursday and post gig in terms of capacity. Having caught up with a number of friends I left to head over to Gassy’s where Ellis was hosting One Step Closer To The Gathering. Bad timing for me as by the time I got there things were winding down, but what a magnificent effort by Ellis to welcome newcomers to The Gathering and for people to meet up. His own fundraising raised over £200 for LHS which is bloody brilliant. Well done Ellis! So, I moved on to The Pen & Wig for one final beer before heading to Y Plas at Cardiff University for the Friday night gig.

You can always expect something different from Mike at every Gathering and this year was no different. The stage had been turned into the flat on Emu Road and Gaz Top introduced Mike in all his guises as The Toilets, Seventeen and then The Alarm. Now, at this point comes the only downside to the whole weekend for me. The layout of the venue… Unless you were standing in front of the mixing desk it was difficult to see, and I reckon perhaps half the audience had restricted views. I ended up watching the gig from the back peering through the mixing desk and the two guys filming it. This meant that I saw very little of the video content or the backdrop. It just was not a very good venue for such a large crowd. I hope that if we are back at that venue for the Friday night in 2025 a few changes are made to allow everyone a good view of what is going on. I couldn’t fault the sound and of course Mike blew us away with his performance.

I had been lucky enough to go to the 68 Guns 40th anniversary gig at The Red last September and the Friday night was loosely based on that brilliant night. In Cardiff Gareth and Mike took us on a journey from the days of The Toilets and Seventeen through to The Sound & The Fury setlist from 1984 and the release of Declaration. Those gigs in 1983/84 were just amazing and the adventures we had going to those old London ballrooms. Mike chose to recreate the sound with the use of newly recorded backing tapes rather than have the band play with him. I think it would have been very hard to recreate the sound with the current band and no doubt been subject to much scrutiny and comparison, so I didn’t have a problem with this. Mike’s attention to detail in recreating the original arrangements was extraordinary. To hear those songs played like and being transported back 40 years was pretty special. Highlights for me were For Freedom and Unsafe Building, which back in 1983 was played with such power it was great to hear this recreated. It was a brilliant gig!

The t-shirts on sale this year were first class. I would normally buy a couple, but I went for 3 this year and it took a lot of effort not to buy 4 or perhaps even 5! As ever a special mention to the merchandise team who work so hard every year. After the gig some of us headed back to The Old Arcade. Mike had mentioned heading to Temple Bar, so unsurprisingly that was packed. As it turned out this worked out really well as there were so many familiar faces in The Old Arcade and it made for a really nice end to the evening and we left there after it closed at 1.00…

I must admit that I woke up on Saturday with a slightly thick head. I rarely drink these days and I had 5 pints on Friday, which is a lot for me these days. Once upon a time I would have drunk triple that amount plus shots and maybe some wine! I went to Wetherspoons for a lazy breakfast and joined Lily and her friend Mike, who were already there. I then walked up with Lily to the venue for Mike’s annual address. Saturday daytime was also the time for me to sell a few Fields of Dawn albums. The support from Alarm fans for my music and fundraising in general remains amazing. I didn’t push it too hard this year, but even so the generosity of the fans ensured that the total amount raised so far by Destination Unknown has gone past £600 now. Hopefully it can continue to creep up over the next few months. I also met up with Smiley to collect my vinyl copy of his new album which he signed for me. It’s a cracking listen too. Unfortunately when I got home the vinyl wouldn’t play properly as it looks slightly warped. So, the vinyl is now under a couple of packs of floor tiles in the hope it might flatted out and play! However, I did also buy the CD so I am able to listen to it. Anyway, the main reason for being there was Mike’s speech where he would update us of what’s been going and most importantly plans for the year ahead.

Firstly Cardiff was confirmed as the venue again for the 2025 Gathering. The 40th anniversary of Declaration is to continue with an expanded release of the album. The extra tracks are coming from studio recordings of the time, whether this means they are tracks previously unreleased or from the radio sessions perhaps we don’t know. He did say that album would have a much rawer sound more in tune with how the band played live at the time. The second album is linked to their MTV celebration tour to the States. He was pretty secretive, but tracks played before the band came on stage in the evening seem to suggest that it will be a covers album of iconic MTV videos. Plenty of touring to come this year both as the band and as MP solo. It’s going to be a busy year,

A pre-gig meal at Wetherspoons with 8 friends was a great start to the gig preparations. Although the weather was deteriorating, I decided to walk to the venue and myself and Mike Starner had a drink at The Old Arcade on the way and another chance to catch up with more friends. We got to the venue in good time, but the queue was building due to the soundcheck running over time. But it soon got moving and by the time MP came on stage to do a short solo set the atmosphere was great. Mike had found a great spot in front of the mixing desk, so I joined him there. A great set from MP and you got the sense he was really up for the night. The Alarm were just terrific and if I had any lingering doubts about Friday they were totally blown away over the next couple of hours. The Great Hall was the perfect venue for the gig and the atmosphere and audience singing was as good as I have experienced at an Alarm gig in a long time. The sound was absolutely spot on and of course Badge did a great job with the lighting. Most of all the band were on fire, playing out of there skins. It really was amazing that for a band that hasn’t played a great deal in the last couple of years, that they were as tight as they were. I’d have to say that for me it was the best Saturday Gathering gig in a long time and justified the decision to switch the event to Cardiff.

I made a brief appearance at the after show party. I was shattered but wanted to bid my farewells. One thing that might need to be looked at was the limited capacity for the party which would have prevented some people from getting into it. I prefer it when everyone is included. I left the venue to falling rain, but enjoyed the stroll back to the hotel picking up a nice kebab from chip alley to finish a brilliant day.

No walk on Sunday for me as I was on an early train back to Prince and was home just after midday. As ever it was a brilliant weekend. I know the choice of Cardiff will continue to be a source of debate. I love meeting up with so many friends, so I would travel anywhere to see The Gathering. I like Cardiff as a city and I still felt a great sense of community throughout the weekend. Great bars and eating places and it was pretty easy to meet up or indeed bump into friends. I probably spent less time on my own than I have ever done at a Gathering. I’m sure the MPO will look at everything and make some tweaks for next year. Just the venue on Friday or more the layout of it for the Friday gig would be the one thing I hope they alter. Overall a really enjoyable weekend! See you all next year x