Huddersfield Town Hall 23/01/1990

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Quotes

“This was a weird and slightly depressing gig. My first experience of seeing The House Of Love was at Huddersfield Poly in March 1989 where the band were on fire and all was still theirs for the taking. A mere ten months later, the story was very different! This was my first post-Terry gig, and the gap left by his departure was seemingly expanded by the vast height of the Town Hall ceiling even before the band appeared on stage. The lighting effect was blue, and the first song was Hannah. Probably a wise move as we had not heard the studio master, so any curious comparisons between the very different styles of Terry and Simon Walker were not immediately required. I recall Hannah sounding mighty, but I was more distracted by Chris’ sudden transformation from the shoe-gazer of old to a demonstrative performer, presumably to compensate for the recent loss of Terry’s onstage presence. He surfed the fretboard of his bass as though he was slashing through air. His hair was much shorter too. Regrettably, I spent most of the gig focusing on Simon’s playing. Most unfair in retrospect, but I felt torn. I just wanted Terry to be back up there on the stage, and Simon’s frazzled guitar barbs and squeals lacked the texture and touch that Terry’s playing had. My mate, a fellow fan, was less impressed. “This new guy is shit. I don’t even recognise the songs anymore!” he said before spending the rest of the night in the bar area. I was still rooting for The House Of Love, however. Some moments of the performance still felt tentative, but Se Dest and 32nd Floor sounded solid enough, probably because the studio album versions were still on the horizon, and they did sound like the recent Peel Session versions. And I was quite taken with Simon’s own flourish to Beatles And The Stones. Guy thanked us for sticking by them. It must have been just as unsettling for him. Like I say – a weird gig!” Mark Nicholson