Modest Mouse - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall May 25th 2007

Last week we went to see Modest Mouse at Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall. I love the new album ‘We were dead before the ship even sank’ whereas Lisa loves The Smiths so took this opportunity to check out new Modest Mouser ‘Johnny Marr’. Supporting was ‘Wild Billy Childish and the musicians of the British empire’, so we got there early.

Only Wild Bill didn’t turn up, and no reason for this was announced, turns out we had a different support act instead, The Crimea. I’d like to say how these were, but the sound quality was dire so I decided that any judgement I made would be unfair.

This carried through to Modest Mouse’s set also. It took them an age to come onstage, frustrating the audience to no end. When they did arrive, the sound was appalling. You couldn’t hear Vocalist Isaac Brock over the aural soup that the sound-desk was making out of the two drummers, synths, bass and Johnny Marr’s distinctive guitaring. Oh yes, Johnny Marr. If you’re a sound engineer, and you have a guitar legend in the band you’re working for, you must wash out all audible sound with the guitar hero’s playing. Which is fine for a track, but unfortunately not fine for the entire gig. I say entire gig, we left after about an hour as the sound was doing disservice to the band who were evidently playing their hearts out.
Hopefully next time they tour the sound problems will have been sorted.

(PS: Is it me, or is Johnny Marr looking more and more like a short-haired Alice Cooper lately?)

Richey Edwards beats the other three in Kirsty's world.

I’ve been listening to a lot of old Manic Street Preachers this week. Today I put on a DVD of theirs, as Kirsty asked me why there were four members and now there are three.
I tried to explain how Richey was sad, because his head was poorly, and how he vanished without a passport and his car was found near a big bridge. I explained he may be dead, but no body was ever found which (for Kirsty's sake), means he's probably hiding away somewhere. A few hours later she came up to me and said “the band are all sad because their friend has hidden and they can’t find him, like hide and seek”. A funny quote thats sad but in an ideal world, true.

Pet Shop Boys - Wolverhampton Civic Hall - 25th May 2007

(the abscense of campness and flailing limbs suggests my pic was took five years ago!)

Last time I saw the Pet Shop Boys in Wolverhampton, the backdrop was non-existent, there were many people on stage, and they all played instruments. It was a departure from the usual PSB show, and one that appealed to me, as I loathe backing singers and dancers. The kind of concert set-up you usually see on a Barclaycard advert or something.

This time round, I had an inkling that they’d gone back to the ‘theatrics’, but thought the venue wasn’t big enough for the overtly theatrical, and maybe it’d still be a band set-up. It wasn’t.

Opening with the terrible ‘We are the Pet Shop Boys’, on plodded the PSB’s, along with four dancers, who proceeded to writhe around like East 17 video’s never happened. Track two kicked in, ‘left to my own devices’. More awful dancing, and the introduction of a wailing bint who looked like Missy Elliot if she’d had a fight with Alan Titchsmarsh, such was the metallic tree thing on her head. I’d like to say it took your attention away from the wailing, but that’s impossible. Even if it were possible, your attention was soon dragged back to those fucking dancers.
‘I’m with Stupid’ came next, followed by ‘Suburbia’. During Suburbia, the dancers had a bit of a dance off, and I seriously considered a fuck off. I lasted the track, despite the return of Metallic Tree Woman, only to find the next track was ‘Can you forgiver her’. Tarrar. I liked the PSB up until ‘Very’, and then they went too camp for me. Homosexuality I have absolutely no problem with, but I can’t stand cliché’s, and campness is such a big one.

So, four tracks in I put on my Beastie Boys jumper and headed to some bemused looking doorpersons, who told me if I leave I can’t get back in, “that’s the plan”, I replied, adding that I needed to leave for the sake of my sanity. One of them pointed out the Beastie Boys jumper and says I got the wrong ‘boys’ gig, something that never occurred to me when choosing such garment for the gig.

My mate Graham came out to the gig with me (click the I Brummie link on the right for his review). Graham stayed to watch the entire set, as he’s not fussed by backing dancers and the like, which is fair enough as, despite my tastes, the band were no-doubt brilliant.
The thing is, I think Chicken is brilliant. I just don’t want to eat it if it’s covered in flamboyant colourings and additional spices!

The boys are back in town

Sean Gallagher, Me, Tufty.

Reunited for a short while this week!

Manic Street Preachers - Wolverhampton Civic Hall - May 21st 2007

Every time the Manics return, it’s on the promise that the new album has bought out the best in them, and that the last album was merely just a slip-up.
This time round, all those cliché’s are present and correct, but they’ve gone one step further by re-introducing the typeface from 'The holy bible' period of the band, the pinnacle of their career. They have also re-adopted the military garb, and produced and album of ‘Generation Terrorist’ style rockers.
New album ‘Send Away The Tigers’ premiered with the digital release of ‘Underdogs’, and I’m thinking that maybe they’re telling the truth this time. Then I hear the album and alas, I realized I was duped. Again.

With every Manics album since 'Everything Must Go', I’ve took out tracks and replaced them with brilliant b-sides and come up with a great alternate version of the album, whilst moaning that they’ve “lost it”. I now have a different viewpoint, which is the Manics indeed have lost it when it comes to producing great albums. They can however create some fantastic tracks, and I’ve come to the realization that for me, this will do nicely.

When seeing the Manics live though (which I’ve done many a time), I’ve found myself walking out of many a Manic gig (admittedly the last time wasn’t the bands fault, because unbeknownst to us at the time, Lisa was pregnant), and the reports come in that the latest tour is the Manic’s ‘back to their best’. Again.

So were they?

Sorry, nope. The Manics at Wolverhampton were not the Manics at their best, but don’t be alarmed. The Manics at Wolverhampton were very nearly at their best, they were certainly the best I’ve seen them in ten years. This isn’t down to the addition of tracks from 'Generation Terrorists', as there was a genuine fire in the belly of the band tonight, even if James Dean Bradfields vocals were a bit off the mark at times. Old tracks mixed well with new tracks, and thankfully, tracks from ‘Know Your Enemy’ and This Is My Truth’ were sparse. ‘Lifeblood’, which the band now claim to dislike intensely, was left out altogether which was a shame as I feel it’s one of their better albums.

But who am I to judge!

Tracklisting: RED tracks were great, BLACK tracks were good, BLUE tracks were awful.

You Love Us

Imperial Bodybags

Motorcycle Emptiness (never understood what was so good about this track)

Winterlovers (Bon Joviesque crap)

Faster

La Tristesse Durera

Send Away The Tigers (really opressive backing vocals)

Everything Must Go

From Despair To Where

Rendition

Born To End

Ocean Spray

Your Love Alone Is Not Enough

If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (Like the album it's culled from, dire)

This Is Yesterday (Solo/Electric)

No Surface All Feeling (Acoustic)

Sleepflower

Autumnsong

You Stole The Sun From My Heart (Way too much keyboard action)

Little Baby Nothing

Condemned To Rock and Roll/Motown Junk

A Design For Life

Weeend P2 - Merry Hill and the Crooked House

On Sunday we went to Merry Hill, where I bought a limited edition Badly Drawn Boy album (£23 at Virgin, £10 at fop! Result!!), and I took the kids went to the park. We finished the weekend with a trip to the Crooked House pub in Lower Gornall. Home of the wonkiest pub in Britain, which makes you as dizzy as hell. Unfortunately, it’s also home to the most miserable bar-staff in Britain, so we didn’t stay too long.

Weekend P1 - Fifi and the Flowertots

Despite having an arm that feels like Leatherface has taken a shining to it with his rusty chainsaw, AND a cold from hell, I took off to the local Busy Bee’s nursery on Saturday, so that Kirsty and Elizabeth could meet ‘Fifi’, from the kids TV programme ‘Fifi and the Flowertots’. This was a big deal for Elizabeth as it would be the first time she’s met a TV character in the flesh. As such. I wondered if she’d be shy like her sister Kirsty was when she got the opportunity to meet the Tweenies.

This Wasn’t the case, as she clang to Fifi for dear life, which thankfully didn’t annoy the other parents too much, as Elizabeth was easily the youngest child there!
After meeting Fifi, it was time to play in the nursery.

Gigs and life roundup

ONE –I can’t remember this at all, I think it’s an error, as you’ll see, Zoe came down not long after this, and I don’t recall seeing her twice in a short period of time.

TWO – Folk Implosion – Nottingham Rescue Rooms

I took Roy along with me to the above venue where we were to watch the first gig in the area by ‘the new’ Folk Implosion. I also arranged an interview, which was unbelievable for Roy as he’s such a fan. Roy always took the mickey out of my job at the time, which was as a personal assistant/carer for people with spinal injuries. It was a job I loved, and after our interview ended, Lou stuck around for half an hour whilst we had a chat. Turns out Lou used to do the same job, and if his music career was to end it’s what he’d go back to as he can’t see the point in any other job. Take that Roy.

THREE – Folk Implosion – Leeds Cockpit
Met up with my old school-friend Abby at her place in Wakefield, and we took off to see ‘the new’ Folk Implosion in Leeds, this time for pleasure. As such.Had many a drink, caught up with Lou for a bit, and then went back to Abby’s on the train. Was hammered.

FOUR – Gonzales Pretirement Party at London Astoria.
Roy and me took off to what was billed as a Pretirement Party. Gonzales has played gigs since, but they have been solo piano concerts. This was the last time (so far) Gonzo played a ‘classic gonzo’ set. This being Gonzales though, there was a twist.
Chilly G invited his friends and fellow musical collaborators Peaches, Feist, Louie Austen, Mocky, and Taylor Savvy to perform each others songs, a big musical jamboree as such. At the end of the gig Chilly G asked for everyone to leave whilst he stayed onstage watching every last person leave. Brilliant and Funny.

FIVE – Zoe Visits.
This time Zoe did come down. I met her halfway in Stoke and she came down for the weekend. We decided to go to a backwards pub, where I bumped into a one night stand who tried to humiliate me, thinking Zoe was my partner. She wasn’t, and the one-night stand girl ended up completely humiliated and left the bar in tears. I drank loads, and Zoe kept bounding over the bar during the lock in, to pour her own pints. Smashing everything en route, to the sneers of the locals. A good night out.

SIX – Joan of Ass – Birmingham Custard Factory.

Joan of Ass is basically, Lolita Storm with Disastronaut. Sleazy rude filthy Electro. Thing is, only half the band turned up. It was chaos. They gave away ten-inch records ‘Kiss My Ass EP’ as a gesture of good will. If memory serves correct Fidel Villeneuve was on too. Wearing Cricket Trousers. Very Odd.

SEVEN – Killing Joke – Wolverhampton Wulfrun
Plain Appalling. Me and Roy went, and we left not long after. Absolute Trash, which was a shame as they were good. Once. Many Moons Ago.

EIGHT – Sebadoh at Cecil Sharpe House, London.
Me and Roy hit London for the celebrations of Domino Records, and the reformation of Sebadoh, in a turboacoustic show. Earlier in the day, if memory serves correct, (the catch-phrase of this blog), we did what many other Great Britons did. We saw David Blaine hanging in a box, and shouted obscenities at him! It was big, and it was clever. The shouting of obscenities that is. We had a nightmare finding the venue. We got lost in the pitch dark of a huge park. We were attacked by a load of joggers, we got a black cab whos driver hadn’t got a clue where he was. We finally got a cabbie that did know, and took us the half a mile from where we were completely lost, to the venues door.
The gig was great, it was in a folk club hall, which made it feel like a school assembly. We were seated. It was hushed but intense.

NINE – Sebadoh at Nottingham Rescue Rooms

More of the same, this time in Nottingham so no getting lost. We caught up with Jason Lowewenstein afterwards, who is one of the nicest blokes you’ll meet. We gave a lift home to a sebadoh mentalist fan, and the car broke on the way home. We managed to crawl home with very dodgy steering. The next day I had to get the CV Joints fixed. It was not cheap (is it ever).

TEN – Hot Hot Heat at Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Lisa and I had heard, and loved Bandages, Hot Hot Heat’s single at the time. I downloaded, then bought the album. Along we went to the Wulfrun. The support band was Franz Ferdinand who we thought were really good. During Franz’s set, the singer (Who’s name I forget) came on and did a track with the Ferdinands.

ELEVEN – Jane’s Addiction – Wolverhampton Civic Hall
The reformed Jane’s Addiction had just released their first single in an age, ‘Just Because’, a great record. I remembered Jane’s Addiction as being a great live band, based on what I’d seen on TV.
At this gig, they were absolutely crap. We walked out half-way thorough, not stopping to buy a top for a whopping £40

TWELVE – Grandaddy – Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
This turned out to be the last time I’d see Grandaddy live. The first time was with Roy, the day he had his ears syringed, proving agony for him. Then they were brilliant. This time round they were still really good, but lacked something. That said, it might be just down to having Lisa with me who HATED it, thus ruining the atmosphere a wee bit. And like uncle Russ Abott, I love a party with a happy atmosphere.

THIRTEEN – Blur – Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Blur were absolutely dire too, they made Jane’s addiction seem interesting. Graham Coxon was out of the band by this point, and had been replaced by some dullard or the other. His vocals were replaced by big black gospel singers. Nothing against them, but they’re not exactly coxon. Lisa and I made a joint decision to get the hell out of

FOURTEEN – Marilyn Manson at Birmingham NEC
Lisa and I had only been officially together a short-while, but I bought these tickets a few months before we officially got together, as I knew she loved Manson. I like him a lot, and I like Peaches who was to support (the peach is a bit off these days, I feel!).
Peaches went down like a lead balloon. The Neanderthal contingent to the audience (roughly 80%) couldn’t handle a woman with a strap on. They were shocked. Manson didn’t shock though, it was very Spinal Tap. Good gig, but an odd atmosphere. My sister Lucy and her bloke Dave went. They were seated right at the back of the cavernous venue. Luckily we were standing so we got right down the front.

Gigs and Life (1)

Is Blogging killing the use of diaries? Whilst checking out some stuff earlier I found two old diaries. Here they are, edited for your pleasure. The red numbers correspond to a tale and maybe a pic too! Look down below!

ONE – Monkey Mafia
Monkey Mafia were playing a rare gig to support their debut album ‘Shoot the boss’ at the Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle. Julie, Stephen, and me decided to hotfoot it down there. I sorted out guest list duties and did the driving. We scored some speed and hotfooted it down to London. Once parked up in East Finchley, we dropped the speed and scooted down to South London. We got into the venue with ease, and were gob smacked at how small the VIP area was. A corridor basically. A small corridor. So, we hit the dance floor, and the speed started doing bizarre things. It felt more like PCP than Speed, super-strength. I took off to see Monkey Mafia in one room whilst the other two stayed on the dance-floor. When the gig finished, I was in a right state, sweating like mad. I thought I was going to have a heart attack so I decided to chill out in the VIP corridor. When there I drank water and ate Extra Strong Mints, thinking that would bring me down a bit. It did a little bit, so I headed out back to Ste and Julie, only for someone to stare at me and make explosion gestures with his hands, in reference to my eyes! Up I came again. I found the other two, and immediately Ste saw me and cracked up as he was in the same boat.We stayed there till we came down, then got a black cab to East Finchley, and listened to Jazz FM on the way home early the next morning.


TWO – The Beta Band at Wolverhampton Civic Bar.
This was odd because they had a Mesopotamian vibe going on-stage!


THREE– Southport Dance Music Weekender
I scored us the VIP passes and off to Southport we went, were we found out there was a 24hr bar with free beer. We stayed in a B&B in Southport, the town was hosting a clown festival so we had some clowns staying in our place of residence. We also had a Tina Turner lookalikey who was doing some stars in their eyes act. The first morning, after a very VERY heavy night before, we were awoken to the sound of the landlady outside our door saying “Coco, meet Tina turner”. Bizarre.


FOUR– Reading Festival
Again, I scored the VIP passes. I managed to get Prim a VIP camping upgrade, as she tagged along at the last minute. She bought the biggest bag of coke you’ve ever seen in your life. I’d never done any. The whole weekend was a complete blur. Lot’s of drink, Lots of the aforementioned, and not many bands, which was problematic, as that was why I was there, to review them. I managed about 6 or 7 bands over three days. To this day I only remember Page and Plant, and that wasn’t because of the music.

FIVE – Spike Milligan at Wolverhampton Civic.
Plain Bizarre. First half rambling, break, last half rambling poetry.

SIX – Marilyn Manson – Wolverhampton Civic
This was on the Antichrist Superstar tour. Sheryl was meant to be my +1 but was too busy getting leathered at her local. My mate Roy tagged along instead, along with Nick. The gig was good, I got very drunk and nearly got on the tour bus because of some roadie acquaintance from the Therapy? Touring days, only for an idiot behind me to get jealous and start a fight. I didn’t get on the bus due to this, but wasn’t harmed!

Prequel to Bank Holiday - Brett Anderson, Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall 05/05/07

I completely failed to mention the game we had finding a babysitter on Saturday evening. Lisa and myself were off out to see Brett Anderson, formerly of Suede, and The Tears. Everyone and their dog were busy that night, but thankfully Lisa’s parents came good in the end. I say thankfully, but at the time it didn’t seem that way, as I really am not a fan of Brett Anderson. Once upon a time I was at the Reading festival and Suede was headlining one of the nights. My friend nick really wanted to go to see U2 at Wembley Stadium. I didn’t like U2 either, but they were the worse of two evils, and he was paying.

I saw the tears with Lisa, and it wasn’t too bad. I’ve heard some of the new Brett Anderson solo album and it’s failed to grow on me. So far.

So Lisa’s parents kindly baby-sit so that Lisa can enjoy Brett whilst I arm myself with something to whinge about (in writing, I wouldn’t want to ruin Lisa’s time!).
We get to the venue just in time for Brett to take the stage. When we saw The Tears, he was very stationary, but this time round the first thing I noticed was that the posing was back. This was proper Freddie Mercury posing. Between tracks he kept urging us to liven up, after all, we’re from the home of rock right?

Right.

Which is why no one was to keen on dreary ballad after dreary ballad, which is unfortunately what was being peddled over the first 30 mins of the gig. After this though, the Brett Anderson Live Experience transmogrified from bland to blasting, and were fantastic. Belting out Suede track after Suede track, followed with some stuff from The Tears, followed by more Suede stuff. There was an acoustic interlude, which worked (they so rarely do), then finally ‘Beautiful Ones’ which sounded like a souped up hardcore-suede. The gig ended up surprising me, and it was well worth waiting through the solo-ballads which no doubt will grow on me and sound great in the right environment, such as chilling at home, rather than in a live venue.

Bank Holiday Action

This bank holiday weekend, Lisa changed her hours so we could go to a car boot sale on the Saturday. At the boot sale it was business as usual, Lisa picked up loads of baby clothes, and I got hold of baby books and toys, along with Quake (Nine Inch Nails Soundtrack Version), and a giraffe’s head.


On the nighttime, me and a friend that I haven’t seen for a few years went to see Spiderman 3. We decided on Star City so that I could get some drinks from the Casino, as they’re free free free (Soft drinks that is). Unfortunately, Spiderman 3 had sold out, so we decided to try Showcase Erdington. It had just started, so we snuck in. We missed the first 30 mins, but it seemed like we hadn’t actually missed anything of importance, (I’ve now seen the first 30mins and my prognosis was correct). What a let down Spidey3 is. The tacky 70’s homage had me cringing. I didn’t mind the ‘too many villains’ aspect, I just thought it lacked the depth I was expecting it to carry. I made a mental note to watch Batman Begins again, to right the wrongs!

The next day I got some new trainers from Sports World. in Tamworth (not the branch pictured, consistency fans!), where the price on display turned out to be cheaper than the price given to me at the till, by one-pound. When I bought this up, they called the manager over, who implied that I had moved the price so to get a one-pound discount. What an idiot. I asked her to follow me to where I got the trainers from, and proudly pointed out the offending price ticket. The one that is about seventeen foot from the floor, the one I had to get a staff member to REACH for me, because it’s off floor level. She caved in and gave me the trainers at the price displayed. I know it’s only a pound, but it’s the principle. And to imply I was price-ticket swapping!!! That’s illegal. But at Sports World, it must be okay to imply all your honest customers are in fact criminals.

Having my mate back home for a few weeks, gave me the perfect excuse to go out for a few drinks, something I haven’t done since Ibiza with Roy, and something I haven’t done in my hometown for about three years. You would think that I’d grown unaccustomed to drinking and would be staggering about drunk, making a fool of myself in no time. Alas, this was not the case. It seems that drinking is like driving (what a purposely bad choice for a metaphor!). Once you learn, you don’t forget, which meant that a quick pint of Guinness turned into a pub-crawl. Lisa was in bed when I got back, so we drunkenly ate up a Chinese and watched South Park and Chappelles Show. My mate crashed on the couch and was rudely awoken by Kirsty 6 hours later

The next morning, a mild hangover beckoned. This was cured with a dose of ibuprofen, diet coke, crisps, and Batman Begins. Once the Guinness murk had lifted, we took a trip to what is now known by us as ‘the rudest place on earth’, the One Stop Shopping Centre at Perry Barr, Birmingham.

A while back, a survey was done to find out where the rudest place in Britain was, and Birmingham won. I never understood this as I know there are other places far from brum where I’ve encountered much ruder people (Scotland), but now I realise the people doing the survey must have been in the Perry Barr region of Birmingham. Many, many people, got in our way, and refused to move. Not one person behind a till produced any variant of a ‘please’, or a ‘thank you’. When we were in aisles, and people wanted to get past, they just stared and tutted, or said ‘scuse’. The shopping centre is grim. The people are grim. I walked away empty-handed, yet with the knowledge that I may be many things, but impolite is surely not one of them!
So, it’s now Tuesday, the bank holiday is over and it’s business as usual, Kirsty at School, Lisa ready for work, and I’m going to do the ironing. All exciting stuff. At least the vacuuming has been taken care of:

Where is my mind? (Derren Brown, Enigma live - Hanley 2007)

Last night, Lisa and I went to see Derren Brown – Mind Reader ‘an evening of wonders’, at the Birmingham Hippodrome. The Hippodrome is a fantastic theatre, in that the lobby and layout is so small you can just leave the theatre at the interval, and wonder off for a drink from a shop, at a reasonable price. You’re not held captive in their bar, paying extortionate prices for drinks. The theatre itself is fantastic. We had the best seats in the house (in my opinion) smack bang in the centre of the circle, giving the best view of the stage, and out of the way of being picked on (this turned out to be false, as Derren uses frisbee's to choose participants). We sat on the very front row last week for Scooby Doo, and the stage was too high, the circle is definitely the place to sit!

Both Lisa and I are big Derren Brown fans. Lisa likes the whole package (leave it), whereas I am particularly intrigued by the psychological aspect. We’ve seen all his shows, and I have also read one of his books, have his ‘trade’ videos, and have even studied psychology. When we watch his TV programme (next one this Friday, channel 4, 10.30), I always try to figure out how he’s manipulating his subjects, ‘psychologically’. Lisa tries to figure it out by looking at the whole thing on as a whole. We rarely suss his tricks out.

Live, Derren is something else. Probably due to the fact that these tricks feel a lot more ‘hardcore’ when they’re done just a few feet in front of you, where the audience participation is random. You’re away from the safety net of TV where you can have doubts about the participation of stooges or plants. This proven to be an absolute impossibility in Derren’s latest live show. Over two hours, he tricked us into not noticing a man in a gorilla suit stalking the stage for a banana, got a man to lose a 5000 wager, and a whole other manner of tricks, all of which led up to the second half.

Whereas the first half was more trickery, the second half was heavier, and the show tried to recreate the 30’s, when people flocked to see ‘Oracles’. Derren has made it clear on numerous occasions that he doesn't believe in psychic abilities. He has displayed this in his one hour specials, such as seance, and goes into greater details about how 'psychics' employ their techniques in his 'trick of the mind' book. For the Oracle act, members of the audience throughout the interval, wrote questions, and sealed them in a black envelope, with just their initials and row number on the envelope. They then put them in a bowl onstage. After setting the scene by doing a levitation trick with a table, and table-shifting (all done through subconscious physical pulses, as explained in his book ‘trick of the mind’, Derren gave the answers to the questions within, by what I guess was using cold-reading. It was astounding.

I won’t mention the finale in case anyone reading this is going to see him, but me and Lisa tried to suss it out all the way home (a one-hour drive), then went through it at home, then we went through the programme looking for clues that may have persuaded us. We come up with nothing. I then couldn’t sleep for thinking about it, and when I finally succumbed, I had a dream I was in the auditorium, and Derren was sitting behind me, hitting my head with a stick.

I woke up with a headache. Literally.