The Legends of the Hacienda had barely exited the grand venue for our panel discussions and talks at Metropolis Festival before the North-West England theme continued, as John Cooper Clarke took to the stage.
On the end of a good ol' grilling from Stuart Clark, he waxed lyrical on everything from his Poet Laureate ambitions - "I'd like to be in the position to say no" - to his opinions on the United States: "It's the world's only fully realised democracy".
Soon, the pair were joined by the master storyteller Johnny Green who - when not giving handy interview tips to our Stu - recalled memories of running gigs at honky tonk bars in Texas. "You were looking for kicks and adventures," he said. "That's all I was ever in it for. Sure, they had to leave their guns in the carpark outside, but we all have to make allowances. It was both terrifying and delightful."
The Good Doctor also mentioned that he always considered the true mark of fame as having performed in Vegas; something he recently checked off the to-do list.
"I saw the Floyd Mayweather fight while I was there," he grinned. "I had to apologise when I got to Los Angeles the next day, because I was hoarse from shouting 'KILL HIM! KILL HIM'...and that was just when Justin Bieber arrived!"