Issue 44 / May 2014

Bido Lito! May 2014 3
Editorial
They say never meet your heroes, and I have to admit that I was a little cautious when I
stepped in to a room of former Tranmere greats the other night. A selection of ex-Rovers players
were convened in honour of our legendary manager Johnny King, who led us from the pits of
anonymity to the brink of the Premier League and its bright lights and piles of cash. Now, some
of you won’t know (or even care) about Kingy’s heroics in turning a bunch of journeymen pros
in to a swashbuckling team that captured the imagination of a seven-year-old me, and I’m not
going to bore you with the details now. Suffice to say, Kingy and his ’93-’94 team of Coca-Cola
Cup and Division One Play-Off semi-finalists will always hold a fond place in my heart.
The event, hosted by the Tranmere Supporters Trust, brought some of the players from
that halcyon era together to honour ‘the gaffer’, and to raise funds for a bronze statue of
the great man (which will be placed outside Prenton Park next season). I’ve no shame in
admitting that I was welling up when Kingy entered the room to a standing ovation from the
fans, flanked by two of his former protégés – Ian Muir
and Pat Nevin. And I couldn’t pass up the chance to rub
shoulders with these characters either, many of whom
I pretended to be during back garden kick-arounds
with my brothers (sadly stopped in 2008): Steve ‘The
Headmaster’ Vickers, still consummately cool and now
working in corporate entertainment at Middlesbrough;
the wily Muiry, Tranmere’s top goalscorer of all-time, who stayed late in to the night to pose
for photos with virtually everyone; Dave Higgins, who chatted to my Dad like an old mate
(nice one Higgy); and countless others.
And then the night’s guest speaker, former Scotland international and BBC Radio 5 Live
presenter Pat Nevin, came and plonked himself down next to Craig and myself. Long-time
readers of Bido Lito! may be aware of Pat’s erudite charms and impeccable taste in music
from the interview we did with him in Issue 23 (June 2012), and so will be able to appreciate
the regard in which he is held by some at Bido HQ. The wing wizard hadn’t dropped in to dish
out platitudes on an aimless circuit of tables; instead, he came to talk music, specifically the
playlist we’d put together for the evening’s entertainment. I can’t quite remember if it was
Camera Obscura’s Swans or Pink Industry’s Don’t Let Go that piqued Pat’s interest, but it did
spark a 15-minute conversation that took in Cocteau Twins, Simple Minds, U2, and whether or
not Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring was putting it on or not during that Letterman
performance (which I’m sure Dr Marc Fadden will be able to explain in fine detail…). We could
have carried on all night.
Characters like this - Nevin and Muir, Higgy and Vicks, Mungy, Eddie Bishop and all those
who attended the event - are fast-becoming a rare thing in football, as overly protective
clubs squeeze any bit of independent thought from their commodities in case they drop
them in it in a post-match interview. This is probably why I was so made up to share a few
words with them. And the reason why I’m prepared to make a small adjustment to that old
adage: never meet your heroes, unless they’ve got great taste in music.
May brings with it the annual music gluttony that is Liverpool Sound City and the start
of festival season, which we’re looking forward to immensely again this year. We’ve tried to
pick out some highlights for you from this year’s bill, in our preview on page 10, but you’ll no
doubt be charting your own route through the three days of thrills and spills. See you on the
other side, however you get there.
Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito
Editor
Features
6
WE CAME OUT LIKE TIGERS
8
HOOTON TENNIS CLUB
10 LIVERPOOL SOUND
CITY 2014 PREVIEW
12
14
16
GLOSSOM
HELIOCENTRIC
THE VIPER LABEL
Regulars
4 NEWS
18
PREVIEWS/SHORTS
20
REVIEWS
Bido Lito!
Issue Forty Four / May 2014
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Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
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Nevett, Josh Ray, Maurice Stewart, Dave Tate, Jessie Main,
John Wise, Patrick Clarke.
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Luke Avery, Adam Akins, Nata Moraru, Hannah Cassidy, Keith
Ainsworth, Tom Horton, Robin Clewley, Aaron McManus,
Gaz Jones.
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T
WOODEN SHJIPS ------------- SPECTRUM ------------- SUUNS ------------- HOOKWORMS ------------- DISAPPEARS
THE GROWLERS -------------- FÖLLAKZOID ---------------- PINK MOUNTAINTOPS --------------- TERAKAFT ---------------
NIGHT BEATS ---------------- ELEPHANT STONE ---------------- MUGSTAR + MANY MORE ----------------------------------------------
6 + 7 JUNE 2014
EindhovenPsychLab.com