toyah

howdy pop pickers


well, this is something of a flashback, look you see. several months, or if you like 3 or so. 4, depending on how you count, really.

back then, to be sure, my (considerably) better half and i did something what we had not done since 2012. no, not that, although i suppose it was somewhat quasi Valentine related. what i speak of is going to a concert performance by an artist.

in 2012, it was, famously so, The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. this time around, i will have you know, it was the wonderful Toyah.

on my travels i caught a glimpse of a poster advertising that Toyah would be performing a concert quite near us; at the lovely Princess Alexandra Auditorium in Yarm, an area of the country celebrated for being really rather posh. when i saw the poster i knew two things - that my (considerably) better half really, really likes Toyah, and that by this point i had no idea what romantic gesture of offering i would get her for the previously mentioned Valentine's Day. later on in the week, i put them two things together and all of a sudden had an ideal solution.

my (considerably) better half grew up loving Toyah's music from thousands of miles away from her stomping ground, never once thinking that she would ever get to see her perform. how absolutely splendid, then, that i should be able to make this so.

as for me, well, i was always aware of Toyah, but not so much for her music. the first thing that comes to mind for me when i think of her, perhaps other than the striking artwork on her albums, is her film career. at a far too early age for it i saw Jubilee purely as it had Adam & The Ants in it, and she was of course also in the superb documentary Quadrophenia.

let it be said that Toyah, whether you are familiar with her music or like me not so much, gives a phenomenal, fantastic evening of entertainment. her passion and enthusiasm for performing would be enough, but as it happens she is also one truly fantastic singer.

it turned out, as the night progressed. that i was a lot more familiar with her music than i might have thought. various mists cloud my memories, but maybe the older sibling of a friend quite liked her back between 79 and 82, say, and i have abstract memories of hearing her music coming from their stereos and what have you.

Toyah invited the fans down, during an instrumental break, to come and take "selfies" and that. the above is one my (considerably) better half took. yes, quite. as you can see she is not quite so prolific as i am in terms of taking selfies, hence her neglecting to feature her fine self in the image. but, still, lovely picture.

would i go and see her again? Toyah, that is, not my (considerably) better half. most definitely.

but did my (considerably) better half enjoy it? as ostensibly it was a quasi Valentine's Day treat, as well as a curious self obtained birthday present for moi, going on the date, i would imagine some of that is important. yes, i believe, yes she did.

perhaps i should limit the words here and give way to the pictures, for those interested in them.

where were the boys whilst we engaged in such shenanigans? off having lots of fun, i believe, with the sensational Harlo gang. cheers for the babysitting services!

no, i don't know if it will be another six year gap between concerts. hopefully not, really. but as time goes on and responsibilities mount, one can't always get off to gigs. also, most are frightening costs. Toyah, i am delighted to say, was wonderfully priced. not that i would not have spent more so that my (considerably) better half may have seen one of her childhood heroes.

and that would be that, i guess. in a sense sorry that it took so long to add these pictures here, but what they hey, as of the day today here they are.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!