October 30, 2000 18:40

BADLY BEHAVED BOY Badly Drawn Boy Tickets

[b]Damon Gough[/b] refuses to leave the stage at his homecoming gig...

BADLY DRAWN BOY DAMON GOUGH made a dramatic homecoming at the weekend after the singer refused to leave the stage on the venue's curfew and played for nearly three hours, claiming to 'rule' MANCHESTER.

The performance, at Manchester Academy on Saturday (October 28), was his first appearance in the city since winning the Mercury Music Prize, apart from a one-song guest appearance at the Twisted Nerve event during the In The City convention last month.

Having taken the stage at 8.45pm, Damon Gough still had several songs to play when the 11pm curfew passed, and when the stage crew tried to close the show, he said, "I rule this town. Forget the Salford mafia, they're answering to me tonight. Has there ever been an occasion such as this since Madchester? I doubt it."

Threatening to keep playing through the amps if the plugs were pulled by the stage crew, a clearly agitated Gough continued: "I'm sorry but this is serious; this is like Altamont. This is my home town and I'll play as long as I want."

Earlier on in the show, Gough had been joined by friend and Twisted Nerve co-founder Andy Votel for a version of album track 'Body Rap', and Votel was joined by his father Tony Shalcross, otherwise known as 'Tommy The Fish'.

The entire show was something of a family affair, with Gough's parents, brother, sister and cousins attending, and his brother bringing 38 friends on a coach from Bolton. When the gig finally ended, he was joined by heavily-pregnant girlfriend Clare, who sported a more glamorous version of Gough's woolly hat and sang on final track 'Epitaph'.

Support throughout the tour came from the hotly tipped, Manchester-based Haven.

Badly Drawn Boy's next single, a reissue of 'Once Around The Block', will be released on November 13.