I'm with the band

The few remaining band t-shirts in my possession. I was convinced I owned a 1993 Charlatans shirt and a PWEI one too, but can't find them.

Curve: Doppelgänger

Alfie. Lovely first album. Never heard from again.

Very Britpop Charlatans shirt

The Wedding Present, c. 2004. I always liked the 'My girlfriend's from further North than yours' shirt.

Attila the Stockbroker. Punk poet who when I saw him was waxing nostalgic about East Germany - a step too far even for me.

Here's his fantastic poem 'A Bang and a Wimpy' from the late 1970s.

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

Melt Banana!

The Nightingales. Or 'my colleague Alan and his disreputable mates' as I think of them.

The nicest juvenile delinquents in the world

I had a real Mark Corrigan (sorry about the ads) experience last night.

As I walked through the Monkmoor estate in Shreswbury, wearing my warm old-man's clothes and dragging my fencing bag behind me, I met a group of kids, who must have ranged from 8 to 12 years old. 'Oh no', I thought to myself. 'I've seen this episode. They ask menacing questions then call me a paedo and kick me up the bottom. Then I lock myself indoors and resign myself to a lifetime of bitter hate and fear'.

Sure enough, they gathered round me shouting something. I remove my earphones (Philip Glass's Heroes symphony). They're not calling me a paedo or laughing at my garb. They're asking if they can throw snowballs at me. I'm so stunned that I find I can only reward their good manners by acquiescing. 'Sure', I tell them. 'But not the face'. They keep their side of the bargain, and we all walk away happy, and reassured that society hasn't yet descended into barbarism.

Here's another similar experience from the sublime Attila the Stockbroker.