"No Profit In A Peaceful World" album launch event - Fab Café, Manchester, 27th April 2025
Oliver Hunter writes:
On Sunday 27th April, I arrived at the Fab Café just before 4pm and joined the small queue to get in. Also in the queue were Jon Martin, Gaz Barrett and Dave Fisher - all die-hard BC fans.
We had time for a short chat before the doors officially opened and we were checked in and made our way to the bar to get a drink. We cast our eyes around the film/game themed venue with hundreds
of props and posters etc. everywhere, including 2 scalextric tracks stuck to the ceiling, a 'Star Wars' pinball machine and various game stations. A stage with lights etc. had been set up in one
corner of the bar and, once we had all got a beer, we ended up sitting in the front row together, along with a lady whose name I sadly didn't catch.
John King introduced the event, though unfortunately his roving microphone was a bit dogy and kept cutting out, and brought Tony out, to great applause. Tony said a few words
of welcome and asked for his new album to be played, which is probably his best solo work so far. While that was playing, he worked the room saying "hi" to everyone, chatting
for a few minutes and then spent a while with those of us in the font row signing a whole pile of things that Jon, Gaz and I had brought with us. I checked with Tony if we were
OK to take pics and vids and he said "Yes, of course, you don't need to ask!"
When it was my turn, I pulled out older and older releases with Pete Townshend, On The Air, Music For Boys, The Pretenders etc. for Tony to sign. He kept rushing off excitedly
with them to show various people and then coming back and signing them. It was nice to see him excited about some of his career back catalogue, including what is I believe
his first appearance on a release - "Peppermint Lump". All too soon, time ran out. Tony took to the stage
and held a lengthy, open and honest Q&A session (except for "any questions about his sex life"). I should say that the whole event was being filmed from multiple static cameras
as well as a professional roving camera. So there may be some video released at some point.
John gave the roving mic out (still a bit dodgy, on & off [if you pardon the pun!]) to people who wanted to ask a question, which Tony duly answered, sometimes wandering
off-topic to give some back story or amusing anecdote. I asked a few questions, including which venue meant the most to Tony out of Glasgow Barrowlands and The Shepherd's
Bush Empire. Tony said it was hard to choose as they were both awesome for different reasons. The session kept running until everyone had asked all the questions that they
could think of. Once it was over, Tony came back down the front and sat with us, finished signing the last few of our bits (he was very patient and signed everything I had brought
along with me), and chatted at length to Jon, whilst the support band finished setting up. Just time for a quick picture of the big man with me and Tony had to go backstage.
We hung about a bit until Tony came back out. The crew started to take down the stage and by the time we left at about 10.30pm the bar was back to 'normal' and even more film props and models were visible. We had a quick chat with him, said our goodbyes and made our way back to our hotels.
The next day I received an email with a link to the album to download (high quality mp3s - about 10-12MB each track), request for T-shirt size and advising that the CDs would be in the post. I had thought that they might have been given out at the event, but I guess that wasn't logistically possible. The CD will be available to purchase on his new eBay shop, which is going live soon, with all the details and downloads available on Tony's website:
https://tonybutlertb.co.uk/
If you spot yourself in any of the photos, let me know and I'll add your name!