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MEMORABLE: Richard Oakes returning with Suede to Poole Arts Centre in 1999

"LIFE is what happens while you are busy making other plans," John Lennon famously said.

This quote, along with many other pearls of wisdom, used to be daubed across the walls of my old history classroom at school.

Sort of like those tacky pubs with the oh-so-clever quotes everywhere by Oscar Wilde that all seem to relate to getting drunk.

For years I sat staring at those faded words on the wall, while my teacher droned on about the farming methods of 18th-century Britain.

As far as I knew, he'd taught that same course for the last 20 years and whatever had inspired him to pin up Lennon's quote had quite evidently died out long ago.

Life was happening outside the classroom window and I was stuck in a quadruple helping of history.

The other day I had a tiny reminder of that restless feeling, when I found a cassette tape at the back of a cupboard.

It was Suede's single Animal Nitrate, which I'd played to death during those heady school days.

Not having anything in the house to play it on, I sat outside in my car and listened to the tape.

It reminded me of my first proper concert nearly 15 years ago this month, when I went to see Suede at the Poole Arts Centre.

Animal Nitrate was riding high in the charts, it was a school night and my friends and I spent the whole time pogo-ing up and down in a sweaty heap.

We were too young to drink or smoke, but old enough to know this was better than a bouncy castle.

It was an historic night and the ringing in my ears afterwards felt more real than the history lessons at school.

At that Suede concert in 1993 was Richard Oakes, who was several years above me - it was also his first taste of live music.

He sat in the same classroom with the quotes on the wall, but a year later he was playing lead guitar in the band after sending off some demo tapes.

Perhaps there was something in those words after all?

7:00pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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