Shepherd's Bush Empire

I thought it was really good, and like barely anyone came to see it, and I lost loads of money as, as everyone does going to Edinburgh.

Um, and I went from that to like two years later we sold out Shepherd's Bush Empire, um-

Wow

... which is like, is it's a kind of, it's like Sunday league to Premier League sta- It's like made up.

Not, not, not far on from three years of when we started.

Um- Yeah, we did like a full nationwide tour.

We've sold out, like I said, the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

We sold out kind of quite big rooms in Manchester and, and Glasgow and stuff.

It's crazy, isn't it? Because you think, like, the, the run that she's had with Choosing Texas, 24 weeks at number one on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and you're like, maybe she is straight to Wembley.

But it feels insane to even say that because she's not even done Shepherd's Bush Empire.

[laughs] Do you know what I mean? Like, love the, love the Empire.

Love it.

was he doing at that point then it was an album called

mistral or something like that i think um it was 87 summer of 87 so whatever his new he played a lot of songs off his new stuff and it was before i'd even heard this velvet underground and nico album anyway um but he didn't play any songs off this album at all he played sweet jane he played rock and roll off um and White Light White Heat which was at the time the only song he played that I knew because I knew that from the Ziggy Stardust live album where he plays White Light White Heat and he played he went off and the crowd were shouting for an encore or some of the crowd were shouting for an encore and he came back after a very very long time I think everyone had given up on the fact that he was going to come back for an encore he came back on and did Walk on the Wild Side which was another song that I knew at the time and And then about ten years later, 1996, April 1996, when he was promoting the Set the Twilight Reeling album, he played Shepherds Bush Empire.

And as I've mentioned before on the podcast, I had lots of friends who worked at the Shepherds Bush Empire at the time.

About half the set was from Set the Twilight Reeling, which, in my opinion...

I don't mind some of Lou's 90s albums, but I'm not particularly keen on Set the Twilight Reeling.

Plan that one for Steve Story out there today.

He was at the Shepherds Bush Empire last night to see Harold Melvin's Blue Notes.

Hope you had a great night, Steve.

And also this afternoon, say hello to Sharon Morris.

Come on.

Venue vibes, green or gone, playing a massive sold-out night at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire or an intimate club sweaty basement gig?

[laughs] Oh, they're, they're both great, but I go with the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire.

It was amazing.

Green light, O2 Shepherd's Bush.

It really shook up the indie scene back in the day.

Right, and he's performing it in full at Shepard's Bush Empire exactly 20 years to the day since it first dropped.

That's some serious commitment.

Totally.

I think your breakfast show is now the most watched show on YouTube of any other breakfast show.

You very kindly invited me to your fantastic gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire, which was great to see you taking to the stage as well, treading the boards.

And now you've launched... essentially a TV channel on YouTube with UK Live, which you must do check out if you haven't already, which is essentially a streaming service where you get multiple hours rather than tuning in once a week or once a day to watch your show.

Great new shows hosted by people like Kelvin McKenzie, Liz Truss.

A big thanks to Nish Kumar for joining me on the show today.

He is currently on tour with Angry Humor from A Really Nice Guy, with dates across the UK through September, October, and November, finishing at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

The Skater Dance Club night is back this Saturday with guest DJs Prima Queen at the Shacklewell Arms, and our film night is back at Picturehouse Central on Thursday the 24th of September with a very special screening of Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave, the acclaimed Manic Street Preachers concert film, followed by a Q&A with Sean Moore and the director, Kieran Evans.

I'll be back next week when my guest is the Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin, who joins me to talk about her excellent new album, The Gent.

Yeah.

the 10th anniversary of Billy McKenzie's sort of passing, you know, and at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, I did like four songs and I just managed to get through it.

I said, but I haven't got the piece.

He said, well, just, you'll be all right.