XTC Back Porch

Blushift

Per posted this up in the APE forums, but I'll put it here too in case some of you still haven't ventured over to see it.

Looks to be like the Gatherings we've had, but by the originator of the Conventions of the 80's/90's.

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Discuss!

ColinEd · Drums and Wires Joined: 12 May 2008 Posts: 59

Looking forward to getting involved and have mailed him about Fossil Fools, but no response as yet.

sticksman3 · Mummer Joined: 09 May 2008 Posts: 351 Location: Londonium

As a red-legged Partridge once said before his demise... "I'm game!" Smile

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Omnibus · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:09 pm Post subject:

I'm really interested in this gathering, as it seems nothing will happen in 2009… The occasion of discovering Manchester… Wink

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Permanently at the sea…

Bill Wikstrom · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:13 pm Post subject:

Just curious.

When was the last time XTC fans "got together" en masse
as they did in Canada in 1991, Illinois in 1993, etc?

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I've Been Up With The Larks...

Blushift · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:40 pm Post subject:

Omnibus wrote:

I'm really interested in this gathering, as it seems nothing will happen in 2009… The occasion of discovering Manchester… Wink

Meeting with Omnibus again is reason enough for me to want to go. I hope finances and opportunity can meet at the right time.

Blushift · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject:

Bill Wikstrom wrote:

Just curious.

When was the last time XTC fans "got together" en masse
as they did in Canada in 1991, Illinois in 1993, etc?

That would likely be the 2005 Swindon Gathering, although we did meet again there in 2007 with smaller numbers.

Omnibus · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject:

Blushift wrote:

Meeting with Omnibus again is reason enough for me to want to go. I hope finances and opportunity can meet at the right time.

Thanks Blu, see you again would really be a great pleasure!! [ though same think for finances for me too! ]

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Permanently at the sea…

Bill Wikstrom · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:51 am Post subject:

That's actually very nice to hear.

And nice that the U.K. fans can randomly select a date and time and simply meet. Whereas U.S. fans cannot? Or don't care about XTC anymore? I guess after their lack of exposure since leaving Geffen, U.S. fans bailed which is a real shame. And sadly telling as well (the seemingly very American out of sight out of mind practice).

I hope I'm wrong about this but something tells me I'm not.

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I've Been Up With The Larks...

Blushift · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:03 pm Post subject:

Bill Wikstrom wrote:

That's actually very nice to hear.

And nice that the U.K. fans can randomly select a date and time and simply meet. Whereas U.S. fans cannot? Or don't care about XTC anymore? I guess after their lack of exposure since leaving Geffen, U.S. fans bailed which is a real shame. And sadly telling as well (the seemingly very American out of sight out of mind practice).

I hope I'm wrong about this but something tells me I'm not.

I think you may be judging too quickly again, Bill. The 2005 gathering was initiated by Youie, who lives in New Zealand. There were many of us Yanks who made the trip over there, but it was more of a holiday trip for us since it was a full weekend packed with activities. The fact that England is roughly the size of Wisconsin makes it a bit closer for fans there to meet than travelling across the US.

When it comes to the Gatherings we have had all over the world, some have only been two people meeting over a dinner, some have been a couple hundred, like in 2005. For my part, I love XTC's music, but the gatherings have never been about talking about XTC to me. It's been about meeting the people who also love XTC's music. The meetings we have had have waned over the years, but that probably has to do more with the ebb and flow of the forum members and Chalkhills subscribers.

My very first meeting, years ago, was on a trip to London. I posted a note to the Chalkhills digest asking if anyone in London would like to meet for a pint. One person answered, which was Belinda, who was a little girl in the "Dear God" video. When we met, she ended up giving me a walking tour of the area around Liverpool Street Station. We talked about XTC very little. We had a great afternoon.

You can probably blame US radio and also XTC's strike a bit for the seemingly lessened interest in the band over here, but there are too many factors to narrow it down to just that. In any case, there is nothing preventing you from trying to get together a few or more XTC fans in your area. I even encourage it. I would suggest that it shouldn't be an in-depth meeting to analyze XTC though. Those who are fans sometimes have more interesting stories about themselves. One request: If you do meet, make sure there are photos taken to share.

Omnibus · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject:

Well said Blushift! What a positive guy… Cool

Mr Wilkstrom, a good amount of mini-gatherings already happened in the US, actually… true, I've seen pics! Wink

Better a mini-gathering than nothing… Due to large distances, I know it's harder to organize something big in the States, but it's up to you to try.
You know, I'm not a Brit, I don't live in the UK, but I've made it 3 times to Swindon! (as a good bunch of american pals did, at least once).
I'm sure you'll agree: Impossible is not… american

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Permanently at the sea…

Bill Wikstrom · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:26 am Post subject:

Very cool! Small-gatherings where not what I had in mind., but fan gatherings are always nice.

A domestic flight to Milwaukee is substantially less-expensive than an international flight going anywhere. So a U.S. gathering would still be nice for that and that alone (for U.S. fans, obviously).

I have to admit that the years of The Little Express was really special and really were instrumental in bringing people together. It's nearly ironic that since the time of the world wide web really taking off (some) interest in XTC-related gatherings (on large, substantial scales) have waned. The gathering in Canada in 1991 had (small $) auctions for XTC-related things which was very cool and had lots of memorabilia on display and rare footage of XTC was projected. It's sad to think that things like that won't happen again.

But yeah a group of fans can always meet at a bar and shoot the sh@t, as an afterthought. That's actually always fun. As fine a suggestion as it is, I doubt any serious debating would take place under these circumstances in any case. More drinking and and bs-ing about favorite albums and people's experience(s) with XTC. I still find these stories to be interesting (even if they're marginally so, I still enjoy them).

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I've Been Up With The Larks...

donavan · Apple Venus Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 1751

I think meeting up to talk about XTC is a bit odd, meeting up to chat shit is OK though. Smile

Bill Wikstrom · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:34 am Post subject:

Well if you actually give it some real thought the entire notion of fandom itself is a bit odd. But isn't that why we're all (posting) here?

I still believe that being able to converse about XTC is a bit of an anomaly, whereas anyone can talk about The Beatles (and in varying degrees as that goes). If I can actually talk with someone else who has even a hint of knowledge about the band as I do, that's kind of cool. Even better if they're a fellow musician. Only about a half-dozen or so of my friends are even familiar with XTC and their work.

And also, it takes very little to to BS with a random anybody about anything (with no point of reference that is).

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I've Been Up With The Larks...

donavan · Apple Venus Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 1751

Any more news on this event?