6th July 2025
For years people said it would never happen. The chat boards would be full of rumours and theories. Would it ever actually be possible to get them on stage together again? Hopes would be raised before being cruelly crushed and it seemed that the two ships may have sailed off again in to the distance putting miles between the two parties and the lightbulb of chance would fade again. Then, it happened, the unimaginable, the unthinkable, the holy grail. I rejoined Paradise Lost! Oh, and Noel and Liam put Oasis back together too.
As you know I am very proud of my Manchester roots. I like living here and as an adopted member of this Yorkshire Clan I could be seen as the fly in the ointment, the spoiled milk in the Yorkshire tea or the blemish on the white rose. Rivalries can be transcended. The border between Lancashire and Yorkshire can be overcome, barriers dropped and when it comes to it we have the same values, humour and, while United are so utterly rubbish, two shit football teams.
There has always been something special about a home town gig for me. We travel the world playing to new crowds in new countries but the anticipation of playing in your own neck of the woods, to your people in venues you have paid to watch your favourite bands over the years with your friends and family there is a great feeling. I was excited for this and it didn’t disappoint. It was an amazing sunny day in Manchester and I wanted to savour every minute
We rejoined up with King Diamond’s excellent crew. It was great to see them all. Muller, Jari, Renee, Dan and especially my buddy Nick Frick who is King Diamond’s touring carpenter making sure their extensive stage fits perfectly every night. I got on with Nick immediately, as did my Will, so we would hang out a bit. He is a busy guy and works a long day. Based in Silverlake, Los Angeles, Nick has worked for System Of A Down, Travis Scott (where he would also enter the stage every night dressed as a gorilla whilst avoiding flame throwers!!) and was heading on to a South American Avenged Sevenfold tour after King Diamond. We fulfilled a promise to meet for dinner in Manchester so we pushed the boat out and headed to Weatherspoons which Nick noted was just like Dennys with a bar.
My long term mate Dave Morrissey works at Manchester Academy and it was so good to see him. Dave was a big part of the Manchester scene in my formative years and was the DJ at the Phoenix, a Sunday night venue where we would recover from our long weekends by getting completely hammered again. Many a good night was had there with many tales to tell, and remember, no good story starts with a salad and a bottle of water.
The gig was packed and flew by too fast. I loved it. Sometimes you just wish you could slow time down, take it all in, but also we should just live in the moment. After pack down and a shower I was able to meet up with my visitors. Rachael, Alfie, Will’s girlfriend Lily and also some mates. Deeksy, Chris Naughton and Heather, Dom, Mynetaur, Benno and Neil C.
I headed home for the night but we had an early start for London. Manchester certainly is special and the people are one of a kind. A quick tale. I remember playing a festival in Austria where we were late. My good friend Dave Monck was our monitor guy. Dave is great, a good one for sure and is as Manc as they come. We were late and were throwing the gear on stage. Dave asked me to check my in-ear monitors but when I inserted the ear pieces there was just loud white noise. I shouted over, “ Dave! They’re buzzin’!” at which point he simply replied, “Nice one….Steve…bass!”
Next was London Roundhouse. A lovely venue with great crew. It was so hot in London. It was really uncomfortable. I nearly had a moment in the van on the way down where I just simply overheated and thought I was going to faint. I was moments from a panic attack but was able to move and calm down a bit. It was pretty scary though. Backstage was so hot and there was nowhere to really go to escape it. We did head to Camden’s Dennys with a bar on Nick’s request. There was one more King Diamond show after London. That would be the time to say our tearful goodbyes as Will and I had to pack down and run to get a train after the show. I needed to pick up my car so I could get to our new video shoot, next day, and bring my equipment back. All the next PL gigs were flying shows and I had two Kill II This shows coming up in mid-July.
My kit has been so awesome on this tour and I will miss it on the flyers. For those interested I endorse a British Drum Company custom grey Legend series kit and I have a personalised custom snare, simply called ‘The Jeff’. Minimal tuning, great sounding and great looking. The kit has it all. I use a Yamaha Hex Rack with Yamaha hardware, Remo drum heads, Drum Workshop 9000 XF pedals, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth custom model sticks, a Porter and Davies bone conduction seat, Cympad washers and very importantly Hardcase drum cases. I am proud and appreciative of my sponsors, some of who I have been with for over 20 years. Without them I couldn’t do this and I am grateful to every one of them, the companies reps and teams. Thank you from the bottom of my heart
We were packed down in 15 minutes, at Euston in 45 mins and back in Manchester by 1.30am because of delays but we did it. I enjoyed a bottle of Henry Westons on the way back, the world’s finest cider!
Finally back to the subject of borders and rivalries. My Alfie and I have season tickets at Manchester United and once we played our big rivals, Liverpool, in the cup. On the tram on the way he asked if he could swear at the game. We go everywhere. We even went to watch them pre-season in Los Angeles. I told Alfie, who was 12 at the time, that I had heard him swearing on his PS5 with his mates and I knew he heard people swearing at the matches we went to. So, being a liberal parent I said he could swear at the game but NEVER in front of his mum or grandmas. It was embarrassing, he was stood on his seat all game going mental like a crazed banshee! One lady in front spent more time looking at him rather than the game. Low and behold, in a moment of pure joy, not often seen at Old Trafford at the moment, we won with a last minute goal. The Theatre Of Dreams erupted and we went home happy and a little shell shocked. On the way home I asked Alfie if he had enjoyed himself to which he nodded. I told him there had been some ‘language’ coming out of his mouth, to which he nodded. He then asked in his hoarse little voice if he could ask me a question to which I nodded. “Dad,” he asked, “What’s a Scouse Currant?” I didn’t answer!
I would like to finish this ode to Manchester by saying that some things will transcend boundaries, some things are bigger than football or music and I just wanted to pay tribute, with a tear in my eye, to Diogo Jota the Liverpool footballer killed in a tragic car crash. What a player. He graced any football field and will be sorely missed. My heart goes out to his wife and 3 small children. Some things are just bigger than everything else.
Noel and Liam, take note. We don’t know how long we have, so enjoy every precious moment.