Ligger

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Liggers. Ligging. A popular term from the late 90s, sadly now fell out of usage. Did you ever lig? Do you know any liggers? Can you remember celebrity liggers?

Discussing ligging in all its forms here.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:15 (twenty-two years ago)

the band/crew catering room at brixton academy has a big sign that says something along the lines of, "MEAL TICKETS REQUIRED! ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTION! NO LIGGERS!"

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

my ligging is restricted to the occasional rider beer

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I spent a great deal of time from about 1993-1997 being the uber-ligger of Glasgow courtesy of a friend of mine who was well in with the Britpop massive thanks to a well-connected cousin of hers. I enjoyed the free beers, but other than that, saw no real point to it. Wait a minute, free beer WAS the point, surely...

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

otm

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Ligging died in the mid-90's along with music journalism.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I have shared beers with 60ft Dolls, and been on a tour bus with Heavy Stereo. That would have been the bottom of the barrel being scraped, I imagine.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

i drank one of the Vines' beers once.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

i think i coined the term 'liggerazzi'

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i guess ligged the last time i was at the aforementioned cafeteria there so take that, academy! i had a blue cheese and walnut salad and several mini battenberg cakes.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Nowhere online has details of the Sun's "Liggers League", sadly. However, it does reveal that Jarvis Cocker was a one time table leader.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

then there was the time that i walked out of a venue in switzerland with a roast chicken wrapped in newspaper in my purse... i should stop now. the stories get increasingly ridiculous.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sure I have related elsewhere the tale whereby I left a gig with a pineapple given to me by Ben from Curiosity Killed the Cat.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:35 (twenty-two years ago)

just to clarify the defintion, a ligger has to be someone who constantly blags stuff through someone else's merit only? riding on the coat-tails etc. - no?

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:37 (twenty-two years ago)

that's what this phenomenon is called?!?!?

― hstencil, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:38 (twenty-two years ago)

The thing about ligging is that you can only do it while:

a) drinking Carling/Red Stripe
b) talking loudly through shit indie music in a Camden venue
c) attempting to unstick your shoes from the carpet

I think ligging died with Britpop, sadly. It's a decidedly lo-glam thing, anything more glitzy is blagging or, even better, schmoozing. If of course, you are proper famous, you are laughing at this thread.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:38 (twenty-two years ago)

But hey! I have free tickets for the My Morning Jacket/Junior Senior/Keane gig tomorrow night! Aren't I cool?!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:39 (twenty-two years ago)

is a roast chicken too glitzy?

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

no, but i'd go if i had one

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

bizarre crosspost

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

is a roast chicken too glitzy?

we stole some of Coolio's rider once - it was all beer, KFC and Vienetta...ha ha ha omg this is my best anecdote ever why don't i use it more often?

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha, by stevem's definition (which is pretty much as I see it) I win, as I wasn't even the coat-tail-rider - I rode on the coat-tails of another coat-tail rider. But, hey, free beer, folks...

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:43 (twenty-two years ago)

What kind of Vienetta was it, Stevem? Vanilla, mint, one of the other flavours...?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

fuckin' regular - UHSU were cheapskates

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:46 (twenty-two years ago)

we stole some of Coolio's rider once

WTF?!!!

You owe it to ILE to tell this story in its entirety.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

http://webgoddesscathy.com/images/travel/kyoto/FH020024.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

just to clarify the defintion, a ligger has to be someone who constantly blags stuff through someone else's merit only? riding on the coat-tails etc. - no?

hmm... i usually have a (fairly) valid reason for being around, but not for pillaging other peoples' hospitality. hiding behind pillars from irate crew/tour managers: c/d?

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

what's the worst an irate tour manager can do?

― hstencil, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

on second thought, don't answer that.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

take your free beer from you :(

(xpost)

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I can think of worse, so just forget I asked.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

good, i was just about to say... for instance, you've never met the welshman - YIKES.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

does he have a blog? YIKES.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

god, i hope not. he has a big scary mr.clean bald head, though.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 23:02 (twenty-two years ago)

WTF?!!!

You owe it to ILE to tell this story in its entirety.

Coolio and his delightful entourage bizarrely, miraculously you might say, played at our Summer Ball at Herts ~~Poly~~Uni in 1999. at the time i was editing the uni paper so was hoping to secure an interview - as was a freelancer who supplied us interviews with top popsters and was at that point was the greatest blagger i knew (e.g. knocked on Noelly G's door one day asking for an interview, Noel said 'come back tomorrow', he did and got one) - AS were the runners of the uni radio station who were running the hip hop/r n' b show on that, AS was another writer for the paper who usually just did a one page political column but was always interested in interviewing black entertainers. So there was about 6 of us languishing backstage while Coolio did his actually-quite-good show in the temporary Marquee - he came off and we all started following him into the VIP area (another tent) for his entourage - place strangely deserted (the entourage were out in the crowd getting mobbed i think). Coolio's manager agreed to give us an interview provided he got some fags. I went to get him some but when i came back Coolio went off to the student bar to get a drink(!) and round up some groupies. back in the VIP tent we all gave up and started shovelling the barely touched rider goodies into our pockets and bags. good times (not really but y'know...).

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought this thread would be about a lesbian version of wiggers. I'm kind of disappointed, to tell you the truth.

― sym (shmuel), Thursday, 5 February 2004 00:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Vienetta - the classiest dessert ever punched out by a stainless steel machine.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Thursday, 5 February 2004 01:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ligger is anyone drinking free booze at an after-show (the lig), regardless of their reason for being there (whether you are the principal or the plus-one or a VIP). But ligs are often full of blaggers, so there.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:07 (twenty-two years ago)

what's a blagger?

― Orbit (Orbit), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:11 (twenty-two years ago)

a blogger with a bladder problem?

― Orbit (Orbit), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Blagging is what you are doing when you fancy a night out and you haven't rung the press officer or club promoter to get on the list, so you turn up and talk your way in.

Blagging is also convincing someone to give you free stuff, or it is talking your way into a more favourable position.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 09:34 (twenty-two years ago)

i include getting on the list as blagging too, tho perhaps this is wrong

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 5 February 2004 10:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha, I'm glad I'm not the only Heavy Stereo ligger!

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 5 February 2004 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I spent a great deal of time from about 1993-1997 being the uber-ligger of Glasgow courtesy of a friend of mine who was well in with the Britpop massive

Calum?

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 5 February 2004 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Liggers With Attitude
My friend works for the BBC
She can get in anywhere for free
Top of the Pops
Hey we're on TV!
Chorus:
Baby don't you think we're rude
We're just liggers with attitude
My friend works for a magazine
guest lists plus ones
a real cool scene
gets more passes than i've ever seen
my friend works for a record store
he's a cool nerd an indie whore
give me CDs
give me More More More!
my friend works at EMI
we ask him all the time
when can we get signed
take us backstage cut us some lines

my friend he's a real rock star
fender gives him free guitars
buys me drinks
at the met bar

Yes, guilty as charged. I think that was the reason we ended up starting a band, it increased our Ligging Power. If you cannot actually remember the last time you actually paid to get into a gig, you are a ligger. Congratulations.

― liggers with attitude, Thursday, 5 February 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

No, not Calum. My friend was well-connected in real life, not just in fantasy land...

Blagging is surely a necessity if you are a poor student, and dead easy if you know the names of a couple of people at the appropriate record /PR company. Door staff being stupid helps a bit too.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 5 February 2004 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Ailsa, was your friend in b!s? If so, ;-), good people.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 5 February 2004 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

No, she is related to a journalist.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 5 February 2004 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought for a minute Dom's photo was of the most incompetent line-snorters in history.

i think i coined the term 'liggerazzi'

-- stevem (bluesk...), February 4th, 2004

Your search - liggerazzi - did not match any documents.
No pages were found containing "liggerazzi".

Some work to do, steve.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 5 February 2004 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

However, the right term, LIGGERATI, matches 13 documents!

Ker-ching!

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

liggerazzi = journalists who spend more time partying with the band than interviewing them cos they're wannabe rockstars - i blame Lester Bangs and Cameron Crowe

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 12:08 (twenty-two years ago)

liggers with attitude - ha, i was gonna post that!

we once left an aftershow with audioweb's carrot batons and their 2l bottle of diet coke. is that the shittest blagswag evah?!

― emsk, Friday, 6 February 2004 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

*nods*

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Can you remember celebrity liggers?

Meg Matthews to thread...

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Ligging... I suppose I did it a little bit in my youth, but hanging out with Moonshake and Th' Faith Healers is hardly coke-snortingly glam, is it?

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:16 (twenty-two years ago)

in the ass?

― johnny fitz (johnny fitz), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy shit fitz just FUCK OFF FUCK OFF LOSER FUCK OFF.

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, Mark, I did that too. Do you know Loretta and Chris who did PIAO!?

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Honestly,
I started in Music Journalism cos it was the easiest way to Lig!? I'm not ashamed! It's true! I'm not to going to try and rationalise some sort of superiority over other liggers though, I mean let's face it a lig is a lig, a blag's a blag, and so long as you don't try and ingratiate yourself with some preening muso whats the harm (and even if you do...)!

I agree that proper ligging died with britpop, perhaps it now exists in RnB, imagine stealling Nelly's rider Kristal, caviar, cigars, LUCKSHUREY, the ligs oF today, LUCKSHUREY, we had to wait in queues to lig in mah dey, LUCKSHUREY, packet crisps and a lift into town, tha were all we cud expect, none a' this jet n limo, rims n benjamins (hmm i wonder if 50 cent ever thought of the extreme homo-erotic reading of this constant reference), kristal n mercedes, LUCKSHUREY!

― Chief Boabab (Chief Boabab), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Suzy, God, I don't know if I can remember anyone's name now. God, even my best chum - what was she called? Queen of the Faithfull girl - we used to write to each other and everything! I am a bad friend with a worse memory.

(was she called Ros?)

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Mark, you might be talking about girl with long blond hair and huge boots and always hoop tights, bit of a cider girl, big smiley mouth. Loretta was Spanish-English and had a lisp and was in riot grrrls. Delia from Mambo Taxi was always around too. Moonshake I knew 'cos of Margaret being in them and such, also liked Tom Faith Healer to chat to.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

That sounds about right :) Ros was lovely - she was older than me and knew bands and cool and crazy. I was very impressed (though never infaturated - I saved that for Roxanne and Margaret).

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

hahaha best Margaret story ever is when we were in college, she took acid and after a while went outside to pet the nice kitties on the lawn...oh bugger actually skunks not nice kitties at all. Tomato juice application urgent and key.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:55 (twenty-two years ago)

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