Autograph
Academy 3 (Hop & Grape)
3rd September 1994

Story and image sent in by Dave Marsden.

This is an original 1994 pressing of ‘Grace’ that was autographed and illustrated for me by Jeff Buckley, Matt Johnson, Michael Tighe and Mick Grøndahl after their concert at Manchester University on 3rd Sept 1994.

Jeff Buckley’s artistic preoccupations are crystallised in his doodle: Death, Love and Music.

I first saw the Jeff Buckley band’s set at Reading Festival 1994 after reading a few lines of recommendation in a festival preview. I hadn't worked myself very close to the stage for their show and so, while a crowd was around me, I wasn't getting crushed or pushed. The sun was blazing on the field, but we were in the cool and the shade of a big-top tent. Looking over at the stage the musicians were half hidden, highlighted occasionally by a coloured spotlight as they moved through and behind scaffold, rigging and speakers. Noise commences. One song in and I'm grinning at the sheer gorgeousness of the sound. Clarity, space, originality and power. "The band absolutely rocks! Oh, I can hear every word of the lyrics. This is so so cool!" And so there I was, lined up perfectly for the sucker punch. Delivered from the stage with precision and ferocity. I haven't been left snivelling and shivering in public by a song before, but the band’s performance of “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” saw to that. Turns out, from accounts I've read recently, that my reaction to hearing this song for the first time is far from unique.

Back in Manchester, two days later, I went into our biggest record store to look for recordings. I couldn’t find anything in the racks so I asked one of the sales staff what was available to order. He consulted the till screen and asked me if I could wait while he checked. He disappeared through a door at the back of the shop. A few minutes later he came back not with an order form but with an LP that pictured a very beautiful man clutching a vintage microphone. I bought the LP.

I was excited to see the band was playing in Manchester later that same week. I bought two tickets and badgered a friend to come with me. On concert day I scootered into the city with the LP sleeve and a silver pen in my backpack. The venue is small and this time I was close enough to see the faces of the band. I tried to put names to what I was seeing and hearing. I saw Jeff swooping between goofball and angel, via Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Maria Callas. Jeff joked between songs with Satriani style trilling on his guitar and a “yes-we-can” expression on his face.

After the concert I waited with other fans, front of stage, to ask for autographs. The band emerged after the hall had cleared, finished packing their equipment, and came over to speak to us. Jeff signed my LP sleeve and sketched some figures in a thought bubble above his picture. He gave me a curious look as I said, “Oh! You’re a lefty too!” I’d noticed, of course, that he used a pen left-handed and a guitar right-handed, “just like me”. Mick signed, sketched and quipped on Jeff being the (spitting) image of Sid Vicious in the back cover photograph. Michael picked up Mick's riff and added his own signature. Matt was still stashing his cymbals but let me interrupt and autographed the LP for me too. I packed up my things, waved goodbye to the band and their friends who were chatting at the side of the stage, and left the venue.