Moose weekend: Suzanne

Good lord, I'd totally forgotten the Yamaha Band Explosion - a 1991 new band event. If my mind isn't confusing itself, it pulled on the promotion might not just of Yamaha but also Nescafe, back when Nestle were going through one of their attempts to try and convince the kids that drinking cheap instant coffee is a lifestyle choice. The NME were involved, too - a small, glossy magazine promoting the event dropped out of the magazine one week. And, presumably with management happy that the event would have happened any way, it wound up all over the TV and radio. Which is why we now have Gary Crowley introduing Moose, doing Suzanne, at the Marquee:



[Part of Moose weekend]

Didn't see that one coming

The dream of resurrecting the name of The Marquee has its tits now pointing slightly upwards. Of course, putting a venue in a shopping centre was a dumbass idea in the first place, but more to the point - where was the value supposed to be in reviving a name? Sure, in Liverpool the faux Cavern does good business, but it knows it's a nostalgia brand.

Expecting The Kids to get excited about a place because it had the same name as a place their grandfathers went to is pinning rather too much hope on the brand; certainly the acts booked weren't going to attract people who enjoyed the real Marquee.