More music from a CD that came free with a magazine, this time (again) Mojo in 2020. The disc, titled The Cold Open, was a collection of tracks acting as a sampler for Belgian label Le Discques De Crepescule Factory Benelux and took in several Factory related artists- Section 25, The Other Two, Shadowplay, Stephen Mallinder- plus some Factory adjacent acts- Paul Haig, LoneLady covering New Order's Cries And Whispers, Pauline Murray- and a bunch of others. Tucked away at the end are two low key and moving pieces of music. Firstly, Alan Marks playing Erik Satie's Vexations...
Satie never performed Vexations in his lifetime- it only came to light in 1949. On the manuscript Satie left the note, 'in order to play the motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities'. Since the 1960s therefore it has been interpreted that the music on the sheet must be played 840 times but this may not be what Satie intended. I'll leave that decision up to you.
The second piece of music is a recording of The Durutti Column playing at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham in 2004, Vini playing guitar for a few minutes in his own inimitable style. No day is ever worse for having a little Durutti Column in it.
I saw The Durutti Column live a few times in the 00s, once at The Comedy Store in Deansgate Locks, Manchester (27th April 2003 according to the internet). Vini came on stage with a ghetto blaster, made a joke about telling jokes in a comedy club, and then played along to a tape backing. After a couple of songs he was joined by Bruce Mitchell on drums and a keyboard player, possibly Kier Stewart. The venue, not a large one, was only half full.
In December 2003 and again in April 2005 we saw them at Manchester Academy 3, a small room at the university student union that used to be called The Hop And Grape. Vini was in explosive form, building in volume and noise as the gig unfolded. I found this photo on the internet a while ago from the December 2003 gig. We saw Vini and DC play on a couple of other occasions too I think. At the time, like many things, we took it for granted that Vini would be playing small venues in Manchester to small but appreciative crowds of fans and that we'd be able to stand and watch him conjure up magic from his guitar.
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