The Adelphi

was last night, and I wasn’t dissapointed! great bands, great intimate atmosphere, kooky decor :) and only s tiny short stroll from my house.

methinks I’ll be going back… :) !!

Tonight.. shall be my first visit to the Adelphi. (I know.. I’ve lived in Hull 20 years and never been before. It’s a disgrace)

I want to boogie my arse off. I can’t see myself being dissapointed as the 747’s are playing :)

One man and his bog-Twenty years on the Toilet Tour, The History of the Adelphi

Doesn’t it make your blood boil when you’re stood around in Waterstones for hours and hours searching for those university texts? You know, the ones that have been out of print for the best part of forever and then force you to re-mortgage your house to pay for them once you do eventually track them down? What you should really do is jack your course in (telling the lecturers where to shove those books ought to suffice), form that band you’ve always dreamed off and spend £15 on this book instead.

What it is, is the old, old story of a man who quits the drudgery of his 9-5 job, sets up a music venue and becomes one of the most legendary figures of the toilet tour circuit. Okay so maybe that’s not the old story but you get the picture. Following just what happened to Cause Mr Jackon to be in those several lifetimes of debt he jokes about. From it’s formative years in the 80’s, through to the first decline and renovation in ’95, via the Adelphi’s legendary latrines. If you ask Paul if he thinks he done a lot to help the local music scene he answers “yes”, coming from anyone else it would sound big headed but in this case it’s undeniably the truth and this book stands not just as a history but to mark down in stone just what the venue has achieved through all the years of struggle and hardship now that it’s future is once again uncertain due to some appallingly mismanaged government regulations made by those who have no idea what is going on at the grass roots level.

What you also have is a visually stunning and often hilarious read. The pages are filled with photos of bands and important people from the Adelphi’s past, a fresh-faced Jacko standing on the entrance roof shortly after buying the venue in 1984 and anecdotes of his adventures with the original Sunday night crowd. Giving a unique insight into promotion of the Adelphi are the countless re-produced hand drawn flyers right from 1984 advertising the club as having pool and a refreshing lack of bingo, right through to the flyers we’ve all grown and loved having spent many an hour staring at them intently trying to decipher Paul’s absurdly small hand writing. These give an exclusive look at some of the bands that went onto mainstream fame placed alongside the Hull bands on the simple flyers. So, say a big thanks to Paul Jackson and those involved with the Adelphi over the years and hope that in another 20 years time we’ll all get to read One man and his Bog 2,40 years on the toilet circuit.

Jason Karlson