John’s back living The High life

John Matthews (left) and Andy Couzens

OLDHAM tunester John Matthews is relishing the prospect of a “second coming” with The High.

The former Radclyffe School pupil is 48, and after almost two decades in the musical wilderness will lead early 90s Madchester rockers The High back on stage on May 23 alongside favourites the Inspiral Carpets, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Milltown Brothers and others at the Manchester Academy’s Gigantic All-Dayer festival.

Vocalist Matthews and guitarist Andy Couzens (49) will be the only members of the original High line-up at the Academy — Simon Davies and Chris Goodwin have been replaced by bassist Anthony Meehan, drummer Jack Couzens and keys man Richard Thomas — but the front-man clearly can’t wait to experience that stage buzz again, and what may follow in the future.

Matthews, whose first band was Shaw outfit “Turning Blue” in the mid-1980s, said: “First and foremost we just thought why not do it? I’m totally looking forward to it now, we’re all relishing the prospect to be honest.

“We met with the guy who’s organising it, he was our tour manager when The High was going first time around, so when he asked us to do it we didn’t hesitate. We’ve been rehearsing a lot and it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been looking forward to something so much.”

“There’s a feeling that maybe we hadn’t reached our potential when we stopped in 1993, so I don’t know, maybe we are just picking up from there now. Lots of other bands seem to be enjoying a second coming, if you want to call it that. After that, who knows what’s possible?”

The High formed in 1989 and were signed by London Records after playing just ONE gig — a support slot on an Inspiral Carpets Ritz show in Manchester. The band had distributed a demo recording, but being snapped up so early in their careers was a massive shock.

Matthews recalled: “It was our first gig, the Ritz was sold out, and we were up there on the big stage playing in front of a load of A&R men. We played the gig and got signed that night - to say it was exciting and nerve-wracking would be an understatement, and probably our youth helped. You tend to just get on with things when you’re younger and not give it a lot of thought.

“We were living the dream for around three years, and we did have some success.”

One acclaimed album — “Somewhere soon” — and three other minor single hits followed before The High called it a day in 1993.

Happy memories? Four years on the circuit during one of the most exciting periods for Manchester music did leave its mark on Matthews, who later went on to front local band One Summer with less commercial success.

His fondest memory wasn’t of a Manchester show but of playing a huge festival in Yorkshire alongside some of the major names of the time.

“We played at Leeds’s Elland Road stadium with the Happy Mondays, the La’s, the Farm, Stereo MCs and Northside and it was just a brilliant day,” added Matthews.

“We thought we’d made it then. It was outside, in June, a beautiful day, and because we were on first we were all done by half-past two, giving us the chance to go and meet all the other bands. It was just a great, festival-type feel to the day, and we definitely enjoyed it.”

Tickets for the Gigantic All-Dayer are now on sale, priced £29, from www.manchesteracademy.net.

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