An Evening with John Cooper Clarke

Right, I'm changing tack a bit here. As much as I love the Stranglers, and contrary to what many people think, I listen to other stuff too!

So, a few week ago it was Father's Day and my wife asked whether I would be interested in going to see John Cooper Clarke in Cambridge rather than receive socks/pants/shirt etc on the Sunday. I readily agreed, so on the Saturday night, Gunta, Rudi and myself found ourselves in the very intimate surroundings of The Junction 2 for an evening of poetry.

The entertainment kicked off with a 'set' from Essex poet Luke Wright before the entrance of JCC. I had seen John a few times in the past, including his support slot for the Stranglers at the Roundhouse in 2007. His performance this time around was much longer that I had seen before and the he performed a roughly 50:50 mix of his poety and stand up. A few of the 'hits' were there, but the majority of the material was new to be. An example clip of what JCC in 2011 is included below. The evening rounded off with 'Evidently Chickentown' which ably demonstrated to my 13 year old son that poetry doesn't have to be about love and daffodils! Those that know it will understand.

John Cooper Clarke in Cardiff 2011

Twat