CONGRATS to organiser Matt Panesh and the team at the Morecambe Poetry Festival which took place a couple of weeks ago. I am proud to have performed at all three annual shindigs (the right word!) they’ve put on so far and it’s by far the best poetry festival I’ve ever been invited to, which is saying something since I’ve done hundreds in the past 44 years. It’s utterly brilliant. Here’s why: 
 

- Every featured poet has material which is accessible and in the widest possible sense relevant to everyday human experience;

- Every featured poet is capable of delivering their work audibly, addressing the audience rather than their own feet, and, if under the influence of alcohol, imbibed at a level which aids their performance rather than turning it into a total shambles;

- The many open mic sessions are brilliantly run and the general standard is ace;

- There’s proper beer, not just WINE;

- The whole thing is promoted in places where people who wouldn’t normally think of going to a “poetry festival” have a good chance of finding out about it.

 
This is not always the case. As Adrian Mitchell once famously said, most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people, and Morecambe doesn’t ignore anybody apart from pretentious dingbats spouting word salads. Matt Panesh should run the Arts Council. 
 
The morning after my performance I wandered down to the seafront, saw the tide coming in, had a brutal flashback and wrote this:
 
MORECAMBE BAY
I stand and watch the tide come in:
The tide come in at Morecambe Bay.
The fastest one I’ve ever seen.
I think back to the fateful day 
When Chinese cocklers in a gang 
Lost in an unfamiliar town 
Were stranded on these shifting sands 
By profiteers who let them drown.
 
At Southwick, tides are calm and sure. 
Familiar rock pools slowly fill. 
A lugworm cast sandcastle falls.
I find it fascinating still. 
But every coast has different ways.
They didn’t know, and so they died.
So mighty in its mystery. 
Respect the sea. Respect the tide.
 
Last Tuesday I spent much of the day on a train from Southwick to Hull for a five minute spot on stage — and it was an absolute honour to do so. Owner Paul “Jacko” Jackson had invited me to take part in the 40th anniversary celebrations of the day he opened the doors of his utterly legendary independent music venue, the Hull Adelphi, for the first time. 

“If anyone can tell the story of this place it’s you, John.” 

So, I went, and I did. My first gig there was soon after it opened, my last in February of this year, with around 30 in between. I love the place. Jacko is a hero. 
 
The list of bands who have played in that wonderful hollowed out terraced house next to a second world war bomb crater and gone on to “bigger things” is absolutely enormous and vindicates everything that Mark Davyd and the Music Venue Trust say about the vital role of the grassroots music scene in nurturing global UK talent. 
 
But I represent the other side of that argument, one which is in my opinion even more important. I’m a DIY performer who has earned my living in grass roots venues for more than 40 years and there are many like me (maybe not many for quite as long, but you know what I mean). This circuit is our place and our culture in its own right. Not your stepping stone, to coin a phrase. 

 
[[{"fid":"69943","view_mode":"inlineleft","fields":{"format":"inlineleft","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Credit: John Bain","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineleft","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Credit: John Bain","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"alt":"Credit: John Bain","class":"media-element file-inlineleft","data-delta":"1"}}]]Last Tuesday we celebrated The Adelphi and the circuit it represents for what it is, and Paul and his helpers’ achievement in making it so for four decades. And what a night it was! Wonderful, emotional. Great opening set from Ruth Theodore; then my heartfelt tribute followed by an astonishing, blistering performance from Hamell On Trial. Packed solid. 
 
Look at this flyer for a flavour of Adelphi history. And don’t ever let the grassroots die.

For further info please visit https://www.facebook.com/attilathestockbroker and/or https://attilathestockbroker.bandcamp.com/merch