John Cooper Clarke
I Wanna Be Yours
Grimsby Central Hall
23 September 2023
At 73 years of age, Dr John Cooper Clarke still pulls a crowd for his anarchic, chaotic and side-splittingly funny poetry gigs. With over 350 others, I enjoyed a night of culture ona different level at Grimsby's Central Hall on Friday night. For decades, JCC has occupied a place in the hearts of those of us of a certain generation. He rose to prominence as a people's poet during the punk revolution in the 1970s and his star has continued to burn bright ever since as he has survived changes in fashion, taste, politics and entertainment. He has experienced addiction, heartbreak and myriad frustrations but he has continued to inform, educate and most importantly entertain audiences over all those years.
This was no solo performance by the good doctor, he came with his travelling entourage whose presence and performance enhanced the evning immensely. The show opened with JCC''s long-term travelling companion Johnny Green whose blunt introductions left us in no doubt that this was a night of spoken word entertinment unlike any other the town may have seen.
First man up on stage was Mike Garry, who rather than being in awe of the venue and the crowd uncertain of who was to perform, embraced the wonderful acoustics in a way that was impressive and unexpected and he sang a short song about the sea acapella. He voice carried to the very heights of the Hall's ceiling and even when he moved away from the microphone, he remained audible. The fact that he opened with a song introduced the theme behind his poetry - don't look for meaning in poetry, enjoy the musicality of it. He recalled his school days and how his teachers had imposed their understanding education and meaning on the words of poets down the ages, something which fails to allow the pupil to enjoy the poetry in their own way, but he rebalanced teh criticism by deidcating a poem called Signified to his old teacher ,Mrs McComb. His rich poetry was cast to the heavens and we heard an ode to his son Connor, now living on the other side of the world and the delivery of the tender words bore resemblance to a religious chant as the words echoed from the ceiling and tehe back wall of the hall. I also enjoyed his poem decidated to the memory of the legendary Tony Wilson. Eventually, he closed his set having wona host of new fans within Grimsby.
Mike Garry was followed by a poet with a very different energy, Luke Wright. Looking like an older version of Yungblud replete with guy liner and dressed in an outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place in Elvis's Jailhouse Rock routine, Wright change the tempo and the dynamics quickly and with great wit and style. I was extremely impressed with his univowel poetry, a form borrowed from the French school of poetry in which the poet is only permitted to use a single vowel in any line of the poem, no other vowell is allowed to feature. Wright made the task look easy as he masterfully led the audience through Ron's Knock Off Shop, a witty and surprisingly-clever, technically impressive poem. His mimicry of Stewart Lee was absolutely on the money and several of his poems resonated with me. I loved Reading For Pleasure and Are Murmurations Worth It? By the time Wright perfromed Judge Crush, he had won me over as a fan and I would love to see him perform his work again.
After an interval which allowed the audience to meet the opening two poets who signed the books they had on sale with quips, dedications and the occasional cartoon-ish doodles, the audience returned to the hall for the main act, the self-confessed poet,movie star, rock star, TV & radio presenter,; comedian,social & cultural commentator that is Dr John Cooper Clarke. The wiry poet ascended the stairs to thse stage at the Central Hall and dressed in a suit that might not have looked out of place in a Sixties movie, he looked sharp and stylish from his oversized cap to his winklepickers. Say what you will but the good doctor has style.
The ramblings of a former drug addict between poems could leave an audience wondering what the hell they were watching as he breaks into refrains of long-forgotten songs and implored the audience to join in with songs such as I Forgot To Remember To Forget Her. And yet, every word, every syllable that sprang forth, seemed calcuated and designed to enhance the genius of this punk performance poet; the man who once stood alone on stage in front of hostile punk audiences at gigs by The Clash and The Sex Pistols and won over the most ardent haters at the time. A man whose quirky verbiage has stood the test of time and repeatedly found new fans and new audiences.
JCC mocked his own "weight fluctuation" claiming that he and Luther Vandross shared the same problem, despite remaining an angular, whippet of a man to this day. His set was peppered with bad jokes such as the rambling tale of a Trifle Bazaar but each only served to demonstrate the wit and precision behind his own words as he strode across the stage with the audince hanging on his every word. He claimed to have a song for every occasion repeatedly and sang the praises of secular hymns in this former Methodist Hall.
His poetry is timeless and when delivered with the speed of a horse racing commentator on a wet Saturday afternoon on Channel 4, with customary Mancunian drawl, it is difficult not to get drawn into his world. From The Luckiest Guy Alive, to Bedwetter Blues, from Lydia to I Married a Monster From Outer Space, the audience was loving his performance. His claim to be Mr Integrity whilst advocating for everything from his own merch to Sugar Puffs and gin was attention-grabbing and his set built and built as he progressed. His work Home Honey I'm High and You'll Always Get a Guy With a Pie were wonderful examples of his surreal drug-infused wit.
After I've Fallen in Love With My Wife, he closed with a trio of poems that included Chickentown, Twat and the titular I Wanna Be Yours. This was, most certainly, a night to remember. To bring a talent such as John Cooper Clarke to Grimsby is quite an achievement. To draw a crowd so large, when competing with the arrival of Viking longboats on the River Freshney as the opening of Grimsby Falfest, is a testament to the resilience and longevity of the talent of this brave, funny and inspirational poet. Grimsby Central Hall is to applauded for its ambition and it was a delight to see such ambition richly rewarded.
Andy Evans 25 September 2022
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