Just back from Amyl and Sniffers, their second of three sold out gigs at the Roundhouse. Simple songs and although a well shaped blonde lady in short shorts and small bikini top belting out songs was not sexy ( in my opinion). What I did see was a tight band with a lead singer giving 100% to all songs. Reminded by my daughter that I don’t like shouty girl singers, Amy was so committed that I did like her. A reminder of original punk , X ray specs come to mind but with a bigger back catalogue. Really enjoyed the gig a reminder that I should see more bands ( probably not as many as steelsie but still)
Glad you liked them New album turned up yesterday Out on the piss (no tequila) with 9 other like minded souls tomorrow so might get a chance to listen to it on Sunday
Glad you enjoyed it pal, told you she put on a good ahow. Only three gigs next week! English Teacher, Shed Seven and IDLES
Recent stuff on TV.... Shoot to Kill - Excellent documentary about the shooting of Jean Paul de Menezes including testimony from the cop that shot him. Recommended. Lucan - Another fascinating documentary following Neil Berryman's search for the killer of his mother, Sandra Rivett. Recommended. The Day of the Jackal - Only watched one episode so far, but it looks an excellent thriller. Tentatively recommended. Wolf Hall - Superb production and beautifully acted, but ultimately boring. Day of the Jackal, it ain't. Rivals - Jilly Cooper novel adapted for Disney. Only watched one of these too, but won't watch any more. Good cast, but just awful.
Don't know where your nearest showing would be at @Hoop-Leif but this is out next week...think all the showings are on Tuesday and Wednesday. I can't make it, which I'm fairly gutted at because I imagine it would be immense in a cinema... https://linktr.ee/IftheStarsHadaSoundUK
Oohhh that looks good. Walsall is probably nearest to me but i don't think i'll have a chance to see it. Won't be the same but will have to wait until it's televised somewhere. Definitely want to see that.
I'm watching ' The Day Of The Jackal ' and it's excellent. Superbly acted, directed and produced. I've just finished episode six and have now got to wait until Thursday for episode seven, and subsequent episodes after. God knows why ? The cinematography is akin to that of a Bond film, the only thing I'm not sure about is The Jackal having a family, I'm not sure you can do that if that's your profession.
I've recently watched the original, it's excellent other than the ending. I also found myself rooting for the bad guy.
Stourbridge pub crawl. Lured here by a CAMRA magazine article. I’m not really into the real ale stuff but am willing to be lead. 5 pubs visited. 1. Duke William. Epic. Great beer (Craddocks, phenomenal) great staff and allegedly Robert Plant nips in occasionally. 2. The Mitre. Horrible. Just, not nice. Worse than the Conningham though similar. Avoid. 3. Royal Exchange. Outstandingly epic. Bathams bitter and mild, the bitter great, the mild is truly nectar, brewery which is very local, great vibe. 4. Queens Head. Very good I think, memory a bit blurry 5. Seven Stars. Very good, huge choice, but I was not in the best place to judge. First time to Stourbridge, described by Robert Plant as ‘the Beverly Hills of the Black Country’. Great, I’ll be back. None of the pubs visited served food other than bar snacks and cobs. Brilliant.
Busy week....three gigs and a trip to the Highlands so a chilled Sunday for me. Monday night went to see newly crowned Mercury Prize winners English Teacher. I bought these tickets ages ago, originally for St Lukes in the East End of Glasgow, holds about 600 but once they won the Mercury the venue was switched to the QMU which holds 900. Thought we'd get in early to catch a bit of support and get a decent place to stand...seemed a bit quiet outside, but it seems everyone else had got there early too as it was rammed, busiest I've ever seen that venue. The band came on, and it took a couple of songs for the sound engineer to get his levels right, but after that it was a superb show. They're a very young band, early 20s I"d think and just at the start of their career but Lily has an amazing voice and captivated the audience. Mrs SM came along not knowing any of their music and thouroughly enjoyed it. Friday night and the return of Shed Seven to Glasgow. They've been on the go for 30 years, and have had two No1 albums this year, the second a celebration of their back catalogue with orchestral arrangements. This was at the O2 Academy, not one of my favourite venues in town, but it was filled to the brim, 2500 capacity. Friday night in Glasgow...exactly what you"d expect. A loud, expectant crowd all excited to see this band and a lot of veey drunk people. I've lost count of the times we've seen them, but it's definately in double digits and they have always put on a great show and this was no exception. The crowd singing eveey word of all the songs - stand-out moment when the opening chord of On Standby was played and the crowd sang for about 2 minutes whilst the band just stood on stage and watched with big grins on their faces - spine tingling. The addition of the brass section and strings added to the occassion - what a night. Last night, off to the corporate hellhole that is the OVO Hydro - max capacity 14500, although sone sections were cloaed off last night and there were probably 8-10,000 there to see IDLES. I've seen this band several times, fron venues holding only a few hundred, to the middle range with a couple of thousand, so wasn't sure how this would go down. Very different crowd to previous gigs this week, and the Young Team (my son and his pals) came along as well. Was a bit gutted with the support for this one as they had Chalk as support for their Irish dates (seeing them next week) and Lambrini Girls for their English dates but we were stuck with Willie J Healy - I'm not a fan, so we didn't bother getting their early. Thankfully no pro-Palestine protestors outside this week, so nice a quick in to the venue. Looked like it was quite empty until about 2 minutes before they came on stage, when it filled right up. Band were excellent, loads of energy, crowd surfing, a lot of anti-Tory rhetoric, a plea for a ceasefire in the middle east as well as their new chant against the ruling classes. Really enjoyed the night, but the venue is not the place for a punk gig....give me three nights at the Barrowlands instead and I'd be much happier! All in all a good week of gigging - two gigs next week, a double header of SPRINTS and Chalk on Thursday, whilst my sons band have been asked to support The Muldoons at their new album launch party on Saturday night...
Gail’s Bakery. This chain is spreading like a hydra from its trendy London hipster zone roots to every market town with a Lib Dem MP. Never really fancied it, but was walking back from dropping the car off for a service and had promised to get croissants, so I looked in. The croissants were bloated, shiny things looking nothing like anything I’ve seen in France going by the same name. And they cost £2.65 to take out. With a derisive snort I walked 100 yards to M&S and bought a couple of still warm, tasty and normal looking croissants for £1.20 each. Turns out the wife has been to Gail’s and she reckons both the croissants and the coffee are ****. I just hope that this corporate greed machine doesn’t squeeze out our local, independent, bakeries* and coffee shops (the ones that have survived the onslaught of Starbucks, Costa, Nero etc etc). * none open at 8:30 this morning which is why I resorted to M&S. Though the little shops aren’t great value either.
Brava La France for repairing, and judging by the pictures, improving Notre Dame in just 5 years from the fire and at a cost of £580m. It looks stunning, and involved fantastic craftsmanship. If you get a chance to visit @daverangers, let us know if it’s as good in the flesh. Meanwhile it has been estimated that the cost to renovate Parliament could be £22bn and that it will take……76 years. An ex colleague was attending a meeting in the House of Lords on Monday evening. The Lords were stuffing their faces and slurping the wine down as dozens of mice ran around their feet. It’s an ugly building anyway, typical Victorian Gothic. Knock it down, turn it into a park and move Parliament elsewhere, where the cost of ‘second homes’ is a fraction of London. Middlesbrough is apparently good value for property. Hammersmith Bridge was closed for ‘safety reasons’ five days before the Notre Dame fire. The long term plan for its repair is still ‘in development’.
