Preparing For The Nurse

Off to see Nurse With Wound tomorrow in London. They are playing at The HMV Forum in Kentish Town as part of Dave Tibet's 50th birthday celebrations. I am quite excited. It's not often i get to go to "gigs" these days. Living in the remoteness of Devon, bands / artistes just don't make it this far South - and when they do they bypass The English Riviera heading instead for the Marine Barracks and student infested venues of Plymouth. They didn't used to - I remember being down in Cornwall in 1978 and just missing out on a Wire gig in Penzance and going to see Sham 69 in St. Austell (which I never did because I got fed up and slightly scared and caught the last train back to Newquay). Apart from the Muh gig in London back in March the only gig i have been to this year is Tim Vine at Babbacombe Theatre. Damn funny it was too: "Pen behind the ear, Pen behind the ear" (one for Vine aficionado's there).
So, off to the capital we go. I have been preparing myself by spinning a lot of Nurse With Wound sounds when I've got the chance. I haven't got that many releases...but a collection has been building up over the years. Over the past few months the Vinyl On Demand Box Set, the Zero Mix book and Klangallerie 7" have set me back nigh on 200 sovs.! My favourite Nurse With Wound has to be "Soliloquy For Lilith", I fell in love with this album on first hearing. It shall remain an all time favourite.
Back in the early days my introduction to Nurse With Wound was via Sean Rorke. We shared a squat in Hulme, Manchester and he bought everything that they put out from vinyl, cassettes and appearances on bizarre compilations, if it wasn't for Sean I would never have wanted to be a registered nurse and summertime would not belong to me. Thanks Sean. I love the VOD Box - essential, especially for the LP made up of compilation appearances, that brought back great memories. That and the NL Centrum gig. We used to bury ourselves in drugs and cocoon ourselves with Nurse With Wound.
I buy Nurse With Wound in splurges. Apart from NOW the last time I got in to NWW was the early/mid 1990's and the Rock N' Roll Station stuff. I was living in York and become friendly with Colin Potter. Colin produced the first Dieter Muh LP and "supported" us on a couple of occasions in London.

I did actually meet Steve Stapleton once. Back in 1984 in a strip club called "The Fantasy Club" in Digbeth, Birmingham. Nurse With Wound (Or "Nurse With Wind" as Graeme Revell called them) were to support SPK at this gig. The building used to be called "The Tin Can" a semi-famous punk/Goth club, I honestly don't think that the people who booked the gig had realised that the club was now a strip joint....Anyway. Back in 1984 I used to travel the road with SPK. I did in 1983, and now in 1984 I did the same. I was a sort of free hand. I humped, I babysat the kids during soundcheck, I made sure the sound was good at the back etc. So, in 1984, on the 9th of November I was in Birmingham to "support" SPK on their "Junk Funk" tour. It all went titsy skyward when the Fairlight broke during the soundcheck. Graeme lost his temper and myself, Dave Kenny (live mix) and Steve Stapleton found ourselves sat at the back of the club waiting for things to be fixed. Then.....Dave Tibet and Annie Anxiety show. They were doing a benefit gig in another part of Birmingham and popped in for a chat type o' thing. A crate of bottled Holsten Pils appeared in front of me. (Kismet: I am drinking (tinned) Holsten Pils whilst typing this). I remember Steve Stapleton asking me why I liked SPK and I said that I didn't - well, nought after "Leichenschrei", I was there as a friend of Graeme's.....
The (non) soundcheck dragged in to the evening and the promoter (Brummie Strip Joint Owner) was getting pissed off and opened the doors to the club. Graeme was even more infuriated because they hadn't had a decent soundcheck, then Steve Stapleton kicks off because Nurse With Wound have not soundchecked at all. He packed up his tape decks and violin case and with Diana Rogerson in tow headed off back to Brighton. Annie Anxiety, Dave Tibet and the drummer from Flux Of Pink Indians filled in as support. (One for the SPK archivists there).....I don't remember much as I was the only one drinking the bottles!
So tomorrow I shall see Nurse With Wound live for the first time. 26 years later!
I've seen Current 93 live before - we shared the bill a few years back at The October Gallery in London.
I'm also meeting up with some friends from Helsinki that I haven't seen since a fucked up crazy night in Mantsala ten years (almost to the day) ago. Should be a good night out in Kentish Town.

Picture:
!: NWW that got played today!