Every now and again I am going to present a track I think you should listen to under the title ‘Listen To This’.
I have written before about my favourite band Arctic Monkeys and their sixth studio album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. My first track for this feature is a Monkeys song, but this one was released as a standalone single in 2006 between their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not and their second release Favourite Worst Nightmare.
It’s called Leave Before The Lights Come On.
I think the band’s frontman Alex Turner is a lyrical genius and the words to this song would fit in very well with their phenomenally sucessful debut album.
That was essentially a concept album about nightlife in a big English city. Turner drew on his experiences of nights out in his native Sheffield to craft a compelling collection of songs that almost everyone between the ages of 16 and 21 in the country could relate to.
Leave Before The Lights Come On basically describes a one night stand. It would have slotted nicely onto the album but it says something about it when a song as strong as this doesn’t make the cut. When the band performed it at Reading festival in 2006, Turner described it as ‘the black sheep of the family… but we love it all the same.’
And how can you wake up with someone you don’t love
And not feel slightly fazed by it?
Arctic Monkeys – Leave Before The Lights Come On
Turner’s lyrics are well supported by the rest of the band. Each of the four members has to work hard on it, and that was one of the things that makes me love it so much. Matt Helders gets it going with his pounding drums, Andy Nicholson (and latterly Nick O’Malley) come in with the bass and Jamie Cook combines brilliantly with Turner on guitar. The song feels very well structured – it tells a story from start to finish in 3 minutes and 47 seconds. If I was in a band, I’d definitely cover it as everyone in the band would have a big part to play.
The music video for the song features the actor Paddy Considine, who was in 24 Hour Party People, Submarine and Hot Fuzz amongst other things.
Finally, here is the band performing the song during their headline set at Glastonbury in 2007.
Craig Overton was the last man out at Old Trafford as Australia retained the Ashes
Australia arrived in England as holders of the Ashes urn and will
leave with it still in their possession. Taking the last of the eight
wickets they needed to win on the final day of the Old Trafford Test saw
them go 2-1 up in what has been a thrilling series with one match left
to play.
The England team captained by Andrew Strauss in 2010-11 was the last
visiting side to claim the urn. Should they avoid defeat at The Oval,
Australia will have won an Ashes series in England for the first time
since 2001 and in doing so inflict England’s first defeat in any home
Test series since 2014.
This is how England can go about winning the Ashes back next time.
On Sunday I went to Old Trafford for the T20 Blast match between Lancashire and Durham.
Me, my mum and her partner at Old Trafford
A week on from England becoming world champions (I will never get tired of saying that), cricket is enjoying a boost in popularity. The Cricket Paper reports that counties have noticed an increase in ticket sales for the T20 Blast as people who maybe haven’t been to a match for a while, or indeed at all, seize the opportunity to see the game in the flesh.
This includes – crucially – children. Most of the crowd in Manchester, which was huge for a domestic game, were families with youngsters. I’m not a big fan of kids – they are noisy, carry illnesses and can’t sit still for five minutes – but they are vitally important for the future of cricket. They all seemed to be having a great time, and that’s key. Children need to think of going to a cricket match as a normal thing to do, and something to look forward to. They will be the next generation of players and fans and will hopefully pass on their enthusiam to their own kids in years to come.
The players warm up at Old Trafford, Manchester about an hour before the start of play
I had been to Old Trafford before, for the Test match between England and India in 2014, and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and friendly stewards. This makes it the ideal venue for 20 over cricket compared to, say, Lord’s which I find stuffy and inaccessible. The emphasis was on fun, with the Lancashire mascot Lanky the Giraffe dancing on the boundary before play began.
As for the match itself, T20 is perfect for those who are unfamiliar with cricket. It’s short and sharp and you get to see plenty of big sixes and wickets. Lancashire batted first in their opening home game of the tournament and amassed 189-3, opener Steven Croft top scoring with an unbeaten 65 from 43 balls. The star of the show, however, was Australia international Glenn Maxwell. The world number one ranked all rounder in T20s hit 58 off 33 balls with four sixes. Each boundary was received with loud cheers and a burst of pop music. It was interesting to see how partisan the crowd was, a lot of the people there seemed to feel for the Lancashire cricket team the same way I feel for Norwich City Football Club. They weren’t just there to enjoy a day out, they were there to see the home side win.
Australia international Glenn Maxwell bats for Lancashire in front of a huge crowd at Old Trafford
Durham never looked like chasing the 190 they needed to win and were all out for 117 within 17 overs. Scott Steel had scored 58 from 46 balls but the next highest score for the visitors was 12. Lancashire won by 72 runs and a couple of run outs were enough to secure Maxwell the player of the match award.
Maxwell played for Australia in the World Cup (having won it in 2015) so he was the main attraction for the kids. They gathered round to watch him be interviewed at the end of the match, taking photos and hoping for an autograph. The occasion was slightly lacking in big names. Both sides were packed with solid professionals and the standard was high but aside from Maxwell only D’Arcy Short, another Australian, would have been recognisable to most of the crowd. Short was not involved in the World Cup but has played for his country, as well as in T20 leagues around the world. Also on show was Keaton Jennings, who has scored a Test century for England but has otherwise struggled at the highest level and has been dropped from the most recent squad.
Player of the match Maxwell is interviewed after Lancashire’s 72 run win
The majority of the England players involved in the victorious World Cup campaign were getting a well deserved rest, with the seven week long tournament soon to be followed by a Test match against Ireland and the five match Ashes series against Australia. Part of me, though, wished that there could have been a way to get those stars involved in the first couple of rounds of T20 Blast fixtures to really capitalise on the current popularity of cricket in this country.
Had those England players been available, the Lancashire side would have featured Jos Buttler and Durham’s side would have boasted Ben Stokes, who was player of the match in the World Cup final. Mark Wood is also a Durham player but is injured and out until September. It would have been fantastic for the crowd to have been able to see their new heroes, but I understand that with a packed schedule it was almost impossible. Wood and Stokes paraded the World Cup trophy around Durham’s home ground the Riverside on Saturday, as captain Eoin Morgan had done around Lord’s, where he plays for Middlesex, on Thursday. I had a faint hope that Buttler might have done the same around Old Trafford on Sunday but it was not to be.
The T20 Blast is a fantastic product. Now in its 17th season, the crowds are big, the standard is high and overseas stars want to play in it. If some of it was on Free-to-air television instead of it all being on Sky Sports I have no doubt it would be a massive annual summer event.
Walking away from Old Trafford, I couldn’t for the life of me fathom why the authorities have felt the need to invent an entirely new format of the game to try to attract new fans. Next year will see the launch of The Hundred, a convoluted version of the game with the simplest part being one hundred balls per innings. Eight completely new teams, based around the major cities and with awful names like London Spirt and Leeds Superchargers, will take part. These teams will have to start from scratch, with none of the existing loyal following of the county sides. The only thing going for it is that some of it will be on BBC TV. It makes absolutely no sense and from what I can see it is doomed to fail.
My visit to Manchester on Sunday was conclusive proof for me that the England and Wales Cricket Board already has everything it needs to make cricket the undisputed second sport of the nation again. I can only hope that their seemingly muddled thinking doesn’t mean they miss the opportunity.
For a mad keen cricket fan like me, 2019 is like a birthday and Christmas present rolled into one. The World Cup is being held in England and Wales, with England the favourites to win it, and in August the Ashes start with England and Australia renewing their famous rivalry.
I have friends who may not quite understand much about cricket and why I’m so excited about this year – so I’ve written this for you.
Hosts England are favourites to win the cricket World Cup
When does the World Cup start?
The World Cup is just one week away. It starts on Thursday 30th May when England play South Africa at The Oval in London. The final is on Sunday 14th July at Lord’s.
How does the World Cup work?
There are ten countries playing in the World Cup. That’s not many compared to other sports. Compare it to the last football World Cup – where 32 teams were involved – or the rugby World Cup later this year, which will feature 20 teams.
Those 10 teams are:
Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh England India New Zealand Pakistan South Africa Sri Lanka West Indies
The teams all play each other once, with the top four going through to the semi-finals. There, 1st place will play 4th place and 2nd will play 3rd. Then, of course, the winners of those matches will play in the final.
There will be one match a day (two on Saturdays) between the start of the tournament on 30th May and the conclusion of the group stage on 6th July.
Where are the matches being played?
Ten grounds will host matches in the World Cup, stretching as far north as County Durham and as far south as Hampshire. They are:
The Riverside (Durham) Headingley (Leeds) Old Trafford (Manchester) Trent Bridge (Nottingham) Edgbaston (Birmingham) Lord’s (London) The Oval (London) County Ground (Bristol) Sophia Gardens (Cardiff) County Ground (Taunton) Rose Bowl (Southampton)
The iconic Lord’s will host the cricket World Cup final on 14th July
How can I follow it?
Every single match of the World Cup is live on Sky Sports, so you’ll need to pay to watch it on TV. Now TV is the best way in my opinion – you can buy one of their devices and buy a Sky Sports month pass for £25. Two of those will see you through the World Cup.
Highlights of every match will be on Channel 4.
If you prefer listening to the radio, commentary will be available on the BBC’s famous Test Match Special on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.
Why are you so excited about it?
This is the first time England have hosted the cricket World Cup since 1999. Back then, I was a nearly-7-year-old who didn’t know what cricket was. England are also the favourites for it, going into the tournament as the number one ranked One Day International (ODI) team in the world.
Australia won the last cricket World Cup in 2015
It’s going to a close run thing, too – out of the ten teams playing, I reckon seven have a genuine chance of winning it. I think Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will struggle but the other seven will be fighting for the four places in the semi-finals. Even those three I’ve mentioned are capable of causing a few upsets.
I hope you’ve found this guide useful and you might indulge in a bit of cricket over the next eight weeks or so. I’ll be writing about the games you should watch as we go along.
Arctic Monkeys Left to right: Jamie Cook (guitar), Nick O’Malley (bass), Alex Turner (lead singer), Matt Helders (drums)
Arctic Monkeys are my all time favourite band. No one else has ever made music that has spoken to me in quite the way they have. I own all six of the albums they have released to date, I know every one of their songs and the brilliant lyrics of their frontman Alex Turner have accompanied me through my highest of highs and lowest of lows.
On 11th May 2018, the Sheffield band released Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, their first new material for nearly five years. It was a completely different sound, led by the piano, which left some fans used to them thrashing on guitars upset. I loved it, however, and love it even more now as it reaches its first anniversary. I’ll tell you why.
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a collection of eleven songs loosely based around the idea that the human race has colonised the moon and opened a hotel and casino complex on it. Yet, the aesthetic feels like the 1970s. You need only to look at the video for the title track to see what I mean.
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is meant to feel like a place you can go and spend a while. Tranquility Base was the name given to the area of the moon that Apollo 11 landed on in July 1969.
I liked the idea of naming [the album] after a place, because to me records that I’ve been in love with and continue to be in love with feel like they’re places that you can go for a while.
Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys
For me, it absolutely achieves that aim. I have listened to the album hundreds of times, often when I’ve got into my car after a tedious day of pushing trolleys around a supermarket car park. Heading to Tranquility Base for 41 minutes is a great way to escape the mundanities of real life.
In these days of cherry-picking individual songs on streaming services, it was a bold move to release a proper album – a collection of songs designed to be listened to as a whole, in a particular order. The end of One Point Perspective actually blends in to the beginning of American Sports to emphasise this.
The album is full of quotable lines. You get the feeling Turner was enjoying himself writing it, relishing the freedom its other-worldly setting was affording him. The genre of science fiction is often used as a method of commenting on our own world, as if taking a step back and looking at it from a different perspective offers the opportunity to say things you might not feel comfortable with otherwise.
Turner does this in the song Golden Trunks. He had always steered clear of politics in his lyrics, but with this album he felt able to have a little stab at it.
The leader of the free world Reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks
Golden Trunks
I don’t know about you, but I get a rather unpleasant image of Donald Trump in my head after hearing that.
Music is saturated with love songs. Turner wanted to give them a swerve after several of them appeared on Everything You’ve Come To Expect, the 2016 album he made with his side project The Last Shadow Puppets. A couple made their way onto this album, though, with the closing track The Ultracheese being the most gushing. It is this song that contains my favourite line of the whole album.
Oh, the dawn won’t stop weighing a tonne I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have done But I haven’t stopped loving you once
The last lines of the album’s closing track The Ultracheese
Whenever I hear that, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It’s such a great observation about love – we mess up sometimes, but we never stop loving.
In September last year, I saw Arctic Monkeys on their UK tour at the Sheffield Arena. It was a dream come true, seeing my heroes in the flesh in their hometown. The aesthetic they had created with the album carried on perfectly – the stage design, the clothes the band wore and even their hairstyles complemented Tranquility Base wonderfully.
Seeing Arctic Monkeys live at Sheffield Arena in September 2018
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a brilliant, mature, visceral album that I will be listening to for years to come. I hope you give it a try.
I’ve been spending a few days in Durham. While Norwich City do in fact play away at Newcastle this weekend (about 18 miles away) my visit is unrelated. I had a week off work coming up, did not want to be at home crawling up the walls with boredom, and my godmother – who works up here – kindly offered me the chance to come and stay at her place.
My Durham Cathedral selfie.
Last night, while out for a walk, I had an idea. I asked my godmother to come up with a list of things that she wanted me to go and photograph the next day – a sort of treasure hunt. When I got up this morning, I had a Skype message from her containing this list:
Whatever is up both of those alleyways (alleyways we had seen on our walk)
The Sanctuary knocker
Harry Potter style cloisters
A cathedral made of Lego
A poem on a stone bridge with the cathedral in the background
A piece of rubbish in an inappropriate place
A large map of the UK embedded in the pavement, made up of coloured stone in a geological manner
Tracy Franklin’s studio
A nice pile of washing up on the draining board
A cup of coffee in your hand
Around midday today, I was ready with my phone to start the challenge. Here’s how I got on.
Whatever is up both of those alleyways
Durham is a very old city. It’s full of narrow streets, listed buildings and hidden passages. On our walk last night, my godmother and I came to one of these hidden passages.
The entrance to one of the alleyways.
It was getting quite late and the alleyway looked rather spooky in the dark, it has to be said. In the comfort of daylight, I headed up the steps and saw this ahead of me:
This is what was up one of those alleyways.
When we had been looking at the entrance last night, a man in a suit strolled past us and went up there. It felt rather narrow and a bit eerie even during the day, so I would certainly not have gone up there at night like he did! The other alleyway I was tasked to explore looked like this:
The other alleyway.
It turns out that this alleyway merges with the other one and they both take you just outside Pizza Express!
The Sanctuary knocker
In case you don’t know, a Sanctuary knocker (or ‘haogday’ but that’s just a weird name for it) is an ornamental knocker on the door of a cathedral. Long ago, if you touched the knocker, you were afforded the right of asylum inside. Think of a medieval Julian Assange. This ended about 400 years ago, so don’t try it the next time you are on the run from the police. Here’s the Sanctuary knocker on Durham Cathedral.
It’s much bigger than it looks here.
Harry Potter style cloisters
The city of Durham is dominated by its cathedral. It looms large over the whole peninsula.
Durham Cathedral looms large over the city.
I knew that the next target on the list would involve a trip inside this magnificent building. I made my way to the cloisters – stopping to take in the awe-inspiring interior – and got the shot I needed.
The Harry Potter style cloisters of Durham Cathedral.
My godmother hadn’t put ‘Harry Potter style’ cloisters on the list just because they look like they should be part of Hogwarts – she put it like that because they are part of Hogwarts. Durham Cathedral was used as a location for the first two films in the series – the Philosopher’s Stone and the Chamber of Secrets. The cloisters are where Ron’s spell backfired and he ended up coughing up slugs. Here is a page showing some of the scenes shot here.
Parts of Durham Cathedral are currently covered in scaffolding as it undergoes major repairs and development. They are calling the project Open Treasure and you can donate to help them maintain this amazing place.
A cathedral made of Lego
Reading the list with somewhat bleary eyes this morning, I did think ‘she wants me to make the cathedral out of Lego!?’. It seems an unlikely request, but you don’t know my godmother like I do. I then realised that there must be a Lego model of Durham Cathedral. After taking a photo of the cloisters, I headed for the gift shop and found what I was looking for.
That’s a lot of Lego.
The ‘182,000’ on the roof of this impressive Lego creation refers to the fact that there are now more than 182,000 pieces of Lego used in the model. And it’s not even finished. People can buy a brick and add it to the model personally.
A poem on a stone bridge with the cathedral in the background
Having left the cathedral, I went in search of this rather specific target. I had heard vaguely before about a bridge in Durham inscribed with a poem, but I had no idea where it was. It turns out it is on the secluded Prebends Bridge. It’s more than 340 years old and features the words of Sir Walter Scott from Harold the Dauntless.
I was pretty pleased to get the money shot of the cathedral in the background too.
A piece of rubbish in an inappropriate place
I thought this one would be easy. Durham is so historic that pretty much any rubbish lying around would be inappropriate. However, it seems the people here know that and so I discovered that Durham is one of the most litter-free places I have ever been to. I was scouring the flowerbeds close to the cathedral for just one crisp packet. I was desperate enough at one point to consider putting a piece of rubbish on the toilet seat in the flat and claiming that as target complete. Eventually, I settled on this:
I get a pass for this one, don’t I?
That’s rubbish. Check. That’s in the front yard of the road leading to the World Heritage Site. That’s got to be inappropriate, right? I do wonder what the people who saw me take that photo must have thought of me.
A large map of the UK embedded in the pavement, made up of coloured stone in a geological manner
This was the most difficult one on the list to find. This is because it’s not in the city centre, but outside the University of Durham’s Bill Bryson Library.
Like Ronseal, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Once you get the idea of what it is and what it represents it’s pretty cool I think.
Tracy Franklin’s studio
‘Who the hell is Tracy Franklin?’ I hear you ask. Good question. I hadn’t got a clue either. Tracy Franklin is an embroiderer, and her studio is here in a back street.
Tracy Franklin’s studio.
I would tell you more about Tracy Franklin and her embroidery, but as embroidery is one of the most boring things in the world, I won’t.
A nice pile of washing up on the draining board
Now this was a very sneaky way for my godmother to get the washing up done in her flat. Being the excellent guest that I am, I did this before heading out this morning. Here’s the proof.
How clean is your house?
Last but not least…
A cup of coffee in your hand
After traipsing around Durham for more than three hours, I was quite happy to complete the challenge with this one. Sat back in the flat, this cup of coffee was very welcome on a chilly October day.
Raising a mug to my successful completion of the challenge.
With that, my photo treasure hunt was finished. It was a lot of fun actually, a great way to explore somewhere you’re not familiar with. I recommend this game the next time you go on holiday.
Thanks for reading, and rest assured normal service will be resumed shortly.
Last night, England played a friendly against Norway. The official attendance for the match at the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium was 40,181 – the smallest crowd to have seen the men’s national team at the ground since it was rebuilt. There are a number of explanations for the poor turnout – expensive tickets, families unwilling or unable to venture to the match after the first day back at school, parents tightening their belts after a summer of spending – but the overriding feeling was that people had simply lost interest in the team. The desperately disappointing World Cup campaign means the players will have to convince the public that it’s worth coming to see them. Only performances on the pitch are going to address that particular issue. A dour 1-0 win, through a Wayne Rooney penalty, isn’t going to do it. The small attendance last night, however, opened another debate entirely – is it time the England team played away from Wembley?The rebuilt Wembley is a fantastic arena, but the England team should tour the country.
The reason why every single England home match is played at Wembley is simply cost. The rebuilt stadium came in way over budget and was incredibly expensive at £798 million. Despite the stadium being in use since 2007, Wembley is still being paid off. The semi-finals of the FA Cup are also played at the national stadium for the same reason. Yesterday, the head of ‘Club England’ Adrian Bevington said it might be “eight or nine years” before England matches can be played away from Wembley. Ignoring the typical money matters, the idea of moving England matches would be beneficial to fans and to the team itself.
Playing games around the country would bring forward the idea that the national team belongs to the nation again. Fans in, say, the north east would be able to go and support the England team if a friendly was at St James’ Park much easier than the weeks of planning it must take to head down to London. There is also a chance that the youngsters would be inspired by seeing the national team play on their doorsteps. The England women’s team already do this, as do the various age group teams. The England cricket team do not confine themselves to Lord’s – every summer fans can see them play as far north as Durham to as far south as Southampton. I wonder if even were Wembley to be paid that The FA would even consider sending the senior team on tour.
Wembley Stadium and Ashburton Grove – a tale of two stadiums
Around the same time Wembley was being rebuilt, Arsenal were making progress on their ground Ashburton Grove (better know due to sponsorship as The Emirates). While Wembley came in over budget at £798 million and about four years late, Ashburton Grove was built on time and on budget.
While Wembley was being rebuilt between 2000 and 2007, the England team did indeed play around the country. Most of these matches were played at Old Trafford, but Anfield, St James’ Park, Villa Park, and even Portman Road played host at some point. I believe that – once Wembley is finally paid off – the idea should be considered again. Even if this is just for friendlies, with qualifying matches continuing to be played at Wembley.
In an article for his paper The Telegraph on the eve of the Norway friendly, journalist Paul Hayward went as far as to claim that The FA should sell Wembley Stadium and invest the proceeds in grass-roots football, coaching and player development. I am not sure I would go that far. I have been to the rebuilt Wembley – first for a stadium tour and then for the friendly against Ghana in 2011 – and there is no denying it is a magnificent arena. Hayward does, however, make some interesting points. Europe’s other top football nations such as Spain, Italy and world champions Germany, do not have a national stadium and tour their countries for all matches. He says the selling of Wembley would not mean it would be demolished or become a white elephant – the concerts, American Football matches, boxing and a whole range of other events that already take place their could continue.
While the selling of the national stadium is unlikely, there is without doubt an angst about Wembley since it has been rebuilt that was not there with the original. It is not universally loved, it is not the pinnacle of every football fan’s season to see their team there, and it is not the undisputed ‘home of football’ it has always claimed to be. I believe sending the national team around the country would be for the good of the game in this country, but ultimately it is for The FA to decide. Anyway, it’s San Marino next month.
LEE PAYNE 