![]() ![]() Towards the end of this space is the signature bar itself. Along the long side of this space are windows that let in some natural light. There are two distinct spaces above Alpha Restaurant: Beta, which is the long corridor area immediately visibly when you exit from the elevator (or walk up the stairs). It may be smaller than other wedding venues but this oblong-shaped floor plan is surprisingly versatile. For details see .uk.We'd say that the best words to describe Beta Bar are, "a fine balance between elegance and grunge". Their rescheduled tour begins in October. Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott’s new album Manchester Calling is out now on Virgin EMI. And as soon as the audience hears that opening riff, their reaction is absolutely lovely. But since I started working with Paul again in 2014, it’s come around again. You think you’ve got all the time in the world and it’s going to go on for ever. You’re overly confident when you’re young. I’d give anything to go back and live the success of Rotterdam again. I think the people watching just thought – as we did: “What the hell is going on?” All day, I walked up and down, miming and holding a petrol can, with jugglers and unicyclists behind me. The Rotterdam video had a circus theme, and it was filmed on a stretch of disused motorway where they road-tested vehicles. People watching just thought: 'What the hell is going on?' Jacqui Abbott The Beautiful South would come up with ideas for videos and it was like: “Er, right.” I’m thinking of Good as Gold, where there was an elephant in the video, or One Last Love Song, where we all got very drunk up on a hillside in fancy dress – I was a six-foot bunny rabbit. And when you’re in Ireland and you sing the line about “gargoyles dipped long in Irish stout”, it’s just fantastic. Rome, neither – I’ll have to bug Paul about going there too. We’ve never actually sung it in Rotterdam. When you’re singing Rotterdam live, it’s even nicer when you’re in the places mentioned in the lyrics. I remember being with Paul’s best mate, who said: “Jesus Christ, these people are just ridiculously good-looking.” And then there’s us walking through, y’know, these gangly, pasty, beer-drinking Brits with our unsymmetrical faces and teeth everywhere … We once did a festival in Stockholm and in the afternoon, we walked out into the festival grounds. And I knew the sort of people Paul was talking about with the “blond and beautiful” line. I wonder what it would have been like if Paul had found that bar really charming. It originally started off as a love letter to Rotterdam that then became annoyed and turned into quite a cynical song. Paul had written this sweet, very happy melody – but then it had these very biting lyrics. The first time I heard Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) it would have been on a cassette I got from Paul and Dave. ![]() It’s nice to think that song has been special to so many people. It’s sung on the terraces now, by Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield United fans. You know that really annoying dance Genesis did in the I Can’t Dance video? There was a period when, if me and Dave wrote a song we thought was gonna be a hit, we’d do that stupid walk as we went to the pub. But as soon as she sang it, the song made absolute sense, because instead of me banging a table, it suddenly became this calm, scything, scissoring attack on the bar and the people in it. At first, I thought I was going to sing it, because it sounds so like me, chuntering on when I’ve had five pints. The song has that unusual guitar riff, which was Dave Rotheray’s idea. ![]()
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