Southpaw is a good venue with good staff and pinball. One game in particular they have is Family Guy pinball. That’s the shit. The magnets on that game are bitchin, u can throw it around like u gotta sometimes in pinball and it won’t tilt on you. I was like 3 games in before I tilted and I was throwin that sucker around every time. It’s got a high ball saver rate with stoppers between the flippers and a tight side chute .

it’s a wee bit lacking on the shoot again side of things and the multiball is a bitch but it makes up for that in other fields, those which I have already mentioned are also complimented with a miniature “stewie game” up top that is reached by dropping the chute on a 6 hit chute repeater with easy access left and right flip. Trapping is a delight cos the flippers are big and the magnets are tight. All in all it makes for a great all round machine, good for beginners and great in the pub when ur pissed cos it’s robust and can take a shoving here and there. Absolutely tremendous when ur getting free drinks from yamaha and there’s 2 japanese otaku on stage demonstrating a new musical instrument that looks like a game of solitaire..

Now I had turned up to see pole. There’s a fair bit of hype surrounding pole, I see him advertised next to modeselektor and they’re tight. Gotta be worth checking out.i’m thinking…….. at least I was thinking that until 2 hours later when pole has been nowhere near the stage and I’m half cut on free lager.

Anyway back to the Japanese geeks. Quite fitting, the solitaire look. The machine was like an electronic chess board, these guys were classic hands on hips , akimbo warriors from japan. the real deal geeks. It was 8 30 we were told the show started. We got there around 945 and there was one japanese geek guy onstage who had a commanding way of pronouncing “ interface “ which made it sound like “in yer face” the classic rave chant of 20 years ago. Walking up the entrance hallway all u could hear was that there was a new in your face machine, pretty cool and commanding it sounded , for around 2 minutes or so. Once the novelty had worn off and this guy had said in yer face 5 times in 2 minutes the whole Japanese lecture from man in jumper thing was wearing thin.

I hit the pinball machine.

“shite, no change…free bar….. mobscene, no chance.

Luckily the pinball is positioned right next to the bar and where the waitresses pick up and drop off . geezer sitting there looks important so I ask him for change. Ordinarily I’d expect the cold shoulder from his type but no, far from it, geezer gets off his perch and goes downstairs to get me my change. I tell him to make it 5 bucks cos he’s cool and also the Japanese pair are now full flow with the shorter guy pulling his jumper carefully over his inyerface headset thru which he’s orating. In for the long haul we rip off our yamaha “you’ve had your free drink” bangles and go outside to re-enter and get another. Works a treat, back to the pinball, (as I’ve already mentioned Family Guy is a healthy game) and remain there for the next hour or so chatting to the tshirt girls and landing a worthy of mention 17 000 000 (million) first ball at some stage.

Pole rolls on around 1:30. There’s around 50 people left, there were around 300 when we had arrived. The floor’s got puddles on it, possibly from the geeks wetting themselves in excitement earlier on at the inyerface machine. Anyroad there’s pools of water and around 10 blokes all facing the front and dancing with their hands in their pockets like everyone did at my school disco when I was 10. Hands in pockets step from side to side go up and grab a burd caveman style and hold hands with her without talking. I digress. It’s pole, let’s check it out.

I had just returned from a weeks vacation in berlin and this was my first gig on returning to new york. There’s a sausage seller in berlin, in kreuzberg, he operates of bleucherstrasse on the junction with the cemetery there. Go check him out cos I think it’s pole. never got the chance to confirm this with the big man. this guy rolls on stage wearing a black jumper and bends over in front of an apple mac . he’s got that bright light shining at him, illuminating his features as he belches quite animatedly and drops some bass. Perhaps pole has been drinking since 945 too, maybe he just ate some sausage, either way he looks like a cold roadie fixing a machine.

It was pretty Baltic leaving southpaw, the doorman deserves a medal. Passing him on the way out I overheard him and his cronies discussing how it sounded like they were working at a film house, the music sounded like a soundtrack from thru the house and it was the point specifically where the guy gets caught by Dracula and savaged. I listened and damn it he was right. This would have been so much better having had something to look at . jumpers , geeks and sausage sellers with bright lights inyerface ain’t cutting it mate. thanks to yamaha.

THE DRIBBLER