Stage Door - St. Georges Hall

I was passing St. Georges Hall in the centre of Bradford earlier today and noticed that the stage door was looking a bit tatty, in need of a coat of paint, and that the step was quite worn. How many people, I wondered, must have crossed that threshold since the building was opened in 1853, famous people, John Barbirolli, Janet Baker, the rock group Genesis. I remember Genesis coming to Bradford, it must have been in the late 1970's, they were probably the biggest rock band around at the time, fans queued all night for tickets, it was a really big thing. I used to sit at the bar in a pub opposite St. Georges Hall, the manager of St Georges would sometimes come in for a drink. Shortly after Genesis went on stage he came in for a drink, astonished pub-goers wanted to know why he wasn't watching the concert. He replied that he did not like pop music, any kind of pop music and that he would rather listen to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf any day of the week, he really didn't like pop music, any kind of pop music, not even Cliff Richard.