## The Attic - Cheltenham
Thursday 16th September 1999

Support: Flipside + Swiss

It was by chance that I picked up a local listings zine for Worcestershire and noticed with extreme delight that Gorky's were playing in Cheltenham on 20th May a warm-up for the support slots with Catatonia at Llangollen. I was thinking of going to one of these but a headlining show was much better. Tickets in hand we travelled down to Cheltenham and walked up to the Attic. We noticed a few people hanging around and as we got to the door we found out why - the gig was cancelled! As you can imagine we were slightly annoyed but not as much as some who had travelled a lot further. We went for a spot to eat and returned to watch the support acts who still played. Swiss were run of the mill britpop fair, nothing special at all. If I had known about this in advance then I would have gone to the Llangollen gigs instead which, looking back were the last gigs John Lawrence did in the UK before leaving Gorky's.

We later found out that the gig was rearranged for 16th September, and eagerly travelled back down to Cheltenham. This time the gig was on!!!!! The Attic is a really good venue and it certainly earns it`s name as you have to go up lots of flights of stairs to reach it. It`s a small place and it`s possible to get good views virtually wherever you stand. First support was provided by Flipside who are an interesting mix of Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys and Pearl Jam. Featuring two singers they provided lots of energetic music with loads of monitor jumping. They are without doubt the most different support group I have seen supporting Gorky's. Swiss came on next and started off a lot better than when I saw them at the postponed date. Unfortunately this first song was a Ride cover and their own songs returned back to the same old britpop formula.

It wasn`t long before GZM came on and I had a prime spot right up at the front. It`s great to get up so close to the stage without a barrier in the way. Megan was back and Rhodri again took up guitar duties. Having Megan back and the extra time together in the new set-up had improved the sound a lot over their Miri Madog appearance. We were treated to all the live faves - Sweet Johnny, Merion Wylt etc. and treated to the Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water cover. It was a shorter set then normal which was a shame as I would have liked more. I had a great time and met lots of people. Gorky`s were back and ready to take on the pop charts.

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