Pynchon

I forgot to do this yesterday.

Belated birthday greetings to Bruce Forsyth. 80 years young and still working. British television mainstay. Light entertainment legend.



Years and years ago my Mom went to see Brucie in cabaret. She was in the front row. A little plump woman in a black dress. She had had her hair done for the occasion. Of course Brucie spotted her and took the piss out of her all night.

("You just come from a funeral, love?" "Was the hairdresser's shut?" "Have you got any kids, love? You've got five?!? Do you need to lie down, love? Actually that's probably the last thing you need to do!")

According to my Aunt my Mom laughed and laughed and laughed.

At the end Brucie presented my Mom with a huge bouquet of flowers and kissed her on both cheeks.

Excellent. A legend.

(Interesting to note that when my Mom saw Barry Humphries/Dame Edna Everage, a couple of years later, very much the same thing happened. My Mom must have one of those faces.)

Labels: Birthday, Family, Gigs

Hello.

I am not even going to pretend that I can be arsed to write anything much just now. I am suffering from a migraine/hangover/headache. Not exactly sure which. Alcohol rich mince pies, just past their sell by date and cider do not mix. All my own fault. In big letters, I REALLY NEED TO STOP DRINKING AND EATING STUFF THAT MAKES ME FEEL ILL.

That aside it has been a nice enough weekend. I saw two movies ("Lust, Caution" or "Se, Jie" and "Dan In Real Life") that I enjoyed for completely different reasons and will write about shortly. I hung out with Lorraine. I went to see Sister 3, who told me that I am going to be an Uncle again, sometime around my birthday. I have read some more of "The Insider". (I really must write about that soon.) I saw my Brother, who wants me to go with him to see The Pigeon Detectives at the Carling Academy. (Are they good? I know nothing whatsoever about that band.)

Yes. I know that the blog is drifting. I will knuckle down tomorrow.

Labels: Family, Gigs, Illness, Movies, Thoughts

I did start to write this last night, but the call of bed proved to be stronger than the call of the blog.

Anyway, "Aladdin".



First a question.

Have you ever been to a gig where you were really looking forward to the main attraction, only to come away raving about the support act?

I must admit that it hasn't happened to me very often. In fact, at this moment in time, I can only think of two examples.

1. Ellis, Beggs & Howard supporting T'Pau at the NEC in 1988. Frankly, Ellis, Beggs & Howard blew T'Pau off the stage. The band were formed by Nick Beggs of Kajagoogoo fame; Kajagoogoo being huge in the UK for about 10 minutes back in 1983. I thought that Ellis, Beggs & Howard were just a fantastic live band. Great songs. Great lead singer. They should have been huge. T'Pau were as dull as dishwater.
2. Ian McNabb supporting Aztec Camera at the Symphony Hall in 1992. Ian McNabb used to be in the Icicle Works. I saw the Icicle Works way back in, I think, 1988 when Zak Starkey was occupying the drum kit and the guy who played bass in Black was on... er... bass. Great gig. Great band. Much missed, by me at least. Supporting Aztec Camera on that night in 1992, Ian McNabb grabbed the chance with both hands and entranced the audience with a mix of Icicle Works classics and his (at the time) new solo material. He joked with the audience. He led singalongs. He invited requests and played them. Simply fantastic and he got a standing ovation. Roddy Frame (who is Aztec Camera), on the other hand, performed like a dead man. I'm surprised that Roddy Frame didn't take to the stage with a white flag. All over bar the shouting.

For the past couple of years Lorraine and I have taken my Niece and Nephew to a show around Christmas. Normally it wouldn't matter if it was something we wanted to see, because it was the kids choice, but this year, as soon as we heard that John Barrowman was going to be heading the panto "Aladdin", it became the only choice for all of us. Lorraine and I are both big fans of Mr. Barrowman and the kids of Captain Jack Harkness.

Ah... John Barrowman. Actor ("Doctor Who" and "Torchwood"), singer (he has worked in West End musicals for years and has released a couple of albums), reality TV judge ("How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria", "Any Dream Will Do"), writer (his autobiography is hitting the stores anytime soon) and Gay icon. At the moment he is a ubiquitous presence on British TV. Lorraine has said that he is making the most of his 5 minutes of fame, but I hope he will last a big longer than that. At least I hope he will last until April, when we are due to see him in concert.

We were really looking forward to seeing John Barrowman in "Aladdin" and... Hmm.. he was OK. No. Wrong word. He was good. Energetic, warm and funny. Engaged the audience. Couldn't dance for shit, but a great performer and singer. The perfect lead for a pantomime.

Except...

Gulp! I can hardly believe I am saying it.

The Grumbleweeds were better. They were a revelation. Absolutely brilliant. Genius. The funniest thing I have seen live in years. They perfectly pitched their performance for adults and kids, which I would imagine is a very difficult thing to do. The Grumbleweeds have been around for years. I remember them on a Seaside Special in the 70's doing a wicked takeoff of Gary Numan. Old troupers. Started as a pop group in the sixties. Became a comedy pop group. TV, panto, cabaret, cruise ships. Now down to the original members - Robin Colvill and Graham Walker. You can read all about The Grumbleweeds here. If you get the chance, go and see them. I thought they were great.

The rest of the panto? Pretty good, actually. You either like panto or you don't and I love it. A 3-D genie. ("Put your glasses on to protect your eyes from the Genie!") Patrick Stewart's uncredited voice cameo. It was definitely him. The Daleks. Ultimate evil and great fun. Don Maclean, the best dame in the business. Peter Gallagher's hissable villain. Terrible jokes, slapstick, comedy and audience participation. Couldn't be better. My Niece and Nephew really enjoyed it. So did I.

"Robin Hood" next year. I want to book now, but Lorraine said to wait to see who is headlining first. Probably sensible.

Labels: Gigs

So, after eating two small beef wellingtons and lots of vegetables, yer Pynch feels better and decides to continue boring the universe.

Where was I? Oh, yes. The Bootleg Beatles at the NIA.



The enjoyment of any tribute band is obviously going to be dependant on how you feel about tribute bands in general. Are they a

a) Bad thing, because they stifle creativity and deny a band the chance to write and play new music?

Or are they a

b) Good thing, because they let the punters indulge in harmless nostalgia, keeping classic music alive and introducing it to new audiences who never have had the chance to see those bands live?

Personally I would go with b), but that is just me. I have seen the Bootleg Beatles 5 times in about 15 years (it would have been 6, but one year I was stricken with flu) and have enjoyed the gig every time. I'm afraid that enjoyment of a gig will win out every time over high minded ideals of music having to move forward constantly.

This time there was some fiddling with the structure of the show. Normally the show is in sections (1962 through 1963, 1964 through 1965, 1966, 1967 and then 1968 through 1969), split by archive footage, shown on the big screen, of the news and music events at the time. This time around the band skipped almost the entirety of 1964 (except "I Feel Fine") and 1966 (except for "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yellow Submarine") which meant that some of my very favourite songs were not performed. ("Paperback Writer", "Taxman", "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "A Hard Day's Night".) Oh, well. Never mind. There were a handful of songs played that I certainly have never heard the band play live before, including "Across The Universe", "This Boy" and "If I Needed Someone" and that made up for it.

The Bootleg Beatles are very good at what they do. Musically they are really good and accurate and crucially it is all done with some humour. How about , "We'll just play another hit before we split up again..." or "Paul needs the money, so we're going to play this one..." or 'John' starting to play "Imagine" before stopping with the comment, "Sorry, I haven't written that one yet".

Well, I thought it was funny.

It was a really good gig. At least 7000 people in the cut down NIA thought so to. Up and dancing from the beginning.

Labels: Gigs

Just checking in. I don't know where the time has gone. Maybe I am crashing. Time is speeding up and slowing down. Two gigs and two films in two days. Late nights and early starts. Definitely not enough sleep and definitely not eating properly. I will remedy that later. I am going nowhere else today.

So, where was I? This might be a bit all over the place, chronologically.

"We Own The Night".



My Brother claims that he fell asleep four times during "We Own The Night" because it was so slow. That's not good. He also claims that the latter parts of the film were good and that it had a strong climax. That is good. I would definitely call that a mixed review.

There have been a lot of mixed reviews of "We Own The Night" in the UK. The general gist of the seems to have been that "We Own The Night" compares badly to other recent crime dramas like "The Departed". Well, I have never seen "The Departed", and obviously cannot comment, but I didn't think that "We Own The Night" was bad at all, and I certainly didn't fall asleep.

Joaquin Phoenix is successful night club manager Bobby Green. At heart he is a decent guy, but he exists on fringes of the Russian underworld, and knows too many of the wrong people. His father Bert (Robert Duvall) is a dedicated and honest career policeman, a path destined to be taken by his brother Joe (Mark Wahlberg), recently promoted within the force to fight the kind of crime associated with Bobby's friends. Bobby has kept his family background quiet, even going so far as to change his last name. Family loyalty is tested when a request for help is rejected and somebody is hurt. Bobby then finds himself in danger and his life starts to unravel.

I thought that "We Own The Night" was a good film, with Joaquin Phoenix being particularly impressive as Bobby, centre stage and onscreen for almost the entire movie. During the latter stages his sense of dread, hopelessness and stress are almost palpable. Add to this great supporting turns from a serious and rigid Mark Wahlberg (be aware he has much less screen time than you might think), a smoking hot Eva Mendes and an aged and powerful Robert Duvall, and you have something really worth seeing.

Ocean Colour Scene at the Carling Academy.



I have seen Ocean Colour Scene live three times.

The first time was at the tail end of Britpop (1997?) where they played at the full sized NIA and Paul Weller guested on a couple of tracks. They were OK, but the venue was too big for them.

The second time was in 2002, again at the full sized NIA. They were supporting Oasis. Frankly they blew a bored and disinterested Oasis off the stage. Just brilliant. A fantastic set of all of their best songs.

The third time was last night.

I cannot in all honesty say that they were as fantastic as they were in 2002, but they were better than in 1997, and as pre-Christmas hometown gigs go it was pretty good. True, I was as pissed as a skunk, my Brother and I having been in the Square Peg for a couple of hours. So much for my Brother acting as a break on my drinking too much.

This is a new one. I have a set list. I nabbed it from one of the sound engineers as the gig ended.

"The Riverboat Song"
"Man In The Middle"
"The Circle"
"Get Blown Away"
"You Got It Bad"
"I Just Need Myself"
"It's My Shadow"
"Robin Hood"
"I Won't Get Grazed"
"Foxy Folked Faced"
"This Day Should Last Forever"
"100 Mile High City"
"Just Got Over You"
"July"
"Profit In Peace"
"One For The Road"
"Travellers Tune"
"Got To Sea Boy"
"Get Away"

"Better Day"
"The Day We Caught The Train"
"Day Tripper"

Now, that was a pretty good set. Mad crowd. Lot's of dancing. Lot's of singing along, in between the drinking. Not bad for a band who are still very tied into a specific point in British music, as are the much more successful Oasis, truth be told. I would go to see Ocean Colour Scene again and I won't leave it 5 years next time.

Here is one of their absolute classics. "We are, we are, we are the Mods!"



At the gig I ran into a guy who used to work at The Corporation and from the way I was greeted you would have thought that I was his best friend ever. I wasn't. In fact he was a miserable shit who made Lorraine's job very difficult. She danced around without her bra on when he finally left. (At home, not at work, more's the pity.) Christmas bonhomie. We shook hands. We chewed the fat. We had drinks. We embraced at the end and he fucked off into the crowd. Sometimes you just have to hold your tongue, don't you?

I am feeling a little dizzy. Probably a good time to stop and eat something. Back later.

Labels: Christmas, Gigs, Movies

One year gone, Benny. I miss you, big lad.

I have finished work now until next Friday. Last night was The Corporation's Christmas Party. I didn't go. I couldn't be arsed. I did leave work with mine and Lorraine's Secret Santa presents. Mine was a bloody huge, heavy parcel, on which somebody had written "Slightly over the budget, but you deserve it, John". (The budget this year was a fiver.) Hmm... I didn't recognise the handwriting. A secret admirer, then?

Instead I spent the evening wrapping Christmas presents and watching "Cabaret" on cable. I haven't seen that film in years. It's a great film. I really should make the effort to go down to the smoke to see the production at the Lyric theatre, starring Amy Nutall and Julian Clary. I have been promising myself that for a long time. Although how Amy Nutall will compare to Liza Minnelli or Julian Clary to the sheer malevolence that was Joel Grey, I really don't know.

I was up at 6am this morning to get shopping done. Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer. The shops were busy, even early in the morning, but I was still all done by 10am. It is a really strange experience shopping for one. I have probably bought way too much.

This afternoon I am going to see "It's A Wonderful Life" at the MAC, and from there it is up to the NIA to see the Bootleg Beatles.

Time for some breakfast, a couple of phone calls and then a nap.

Have a good day folks.

Labels: Chores, Christmas, Gigs, Movies

Lorraine has just phoned. She has got to her destination safely.

Do I need to write about how much I miss her nuisance and about how quiet the house is without her in it? Do I need to write about how cold I felt standing in the hallway on my own and about how I felt so disheartened at the thought of cooking for myself, that all I have had is a mince pie and a beer for my tea?

No. I don't need to write about any of that. I will adjust. I will feel better tomorrow. It's not as if she has gone for good.

Anyway, it has been a busy couple of days. Two films and one gig.

On Tuesday morning I went to see "Enchanted".



Oh, my... Excuse my French, but "Enchanted" is just fucking fantastic. So good and enchanting (see what I did there?) that when the movie was over I practically floated out of the cinema.

Seriously, "Enchanted" is a really great family movie, and this is from a man who hardly ever watches family movies at the cinema. If you like, "Enchanted" is a Disney movie for people who hate Disney movies. Comedy for the kids, knowing in-jokes for the adults and a brilliant central performance by Amy Adams as Giselle, cartoon ingenue come to life, all wide eyed innocence and fluttering hand movements. If you see a more game and better comedic performance this year, please let me know, but I doubt if you will. Amy Adams is just wonderful.

Great supporting performances from cynical divorce lawyer with a heart of gold, Patrick Dempsey, more square jawed that any man in history, James Marsden, villainous hag and evil witch queen, Susan Sarandon and snivelling henchman, Timothy Spall. Not to forget the comedy chipmunk. Or was it a comedy rat?

I think that "Enchanted" is well worth the trip to your local fleapit.

On Tuesday evening I went to see From The Jam featuring Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, at the Carling Academy in Birmingham.



I am going to cheat, because I am feeling lazy.

Let me direct you to a good review of a From The Jam show, written by Swiss Toni a couple of weeks ago, that you can find here, and my own review of the Wulfrun Hall show I went to back in May, that you can find here. If I bothered to write a new review I would mostly only be repeating myself, because From The Jam (again) were just bloody brilliant.

Differences this time.

1. Yer Pynch was not smashed out of his face. His Brother wasn't drinking much, so neither did he.
2. Yer Pynch did not pass out. See above.
3. The band opened with "All Mod Cons" and "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)" (which is the greatest post Britpop song of all time, by the way) instead of "In The City" and (I think) "Thick As Thieves".
4. There were no Suburban Hen lookalikes anywhere in sight. In fact, thinking about it, I don't think I saw anybody of the fair female form anywhere in the venue.

It was a really great gig. I think that Bruce and Rick are onto a winner here. Maybe a Christmas tour will be a regular occurrence, like the annual Madness and Pogues gigs? Maybe From The Jam will produce a new album and it will be fantastic.

Maybe.

On Wednesday morning I went to see "Hitman".

As personality free, vacuous and empty, but gorgeous looking action movies go, "Hitman" wasn't bad at all. True, Timothy Olyphant was a bit miscast as a baldy action star (Jason Statham might have been better) he did his best, but "Hitman" did entertain me and had some great set pieces, and Olga Kurylenko was a beautiful as she was in "Le Serpent", albeit maybe a little thin. I just don't think I understood or got all of "Hitman" in the way I was supposed to.

Before I saw "Hitman" I talked to a guy at work who is a dedicated computer game player and he asked me if I liked the previous computer game adaptation, "Doom". I told him that I thought "Doom" was a piece of shit. He smiled and said that in that case to forget about seeing "Hitman" , because I wouldn't get the references, the imagery or the nods to the game playing scenarios in the original game.

Maybe he was right, but I have always been of the opinion that a movie adaptation of material from another source, should not limit your audience to only those with an in depth knowledge of the source. Your audience should be everybody with the potential to want to sit through your movie. True, you have to be relatively faithful to the source material, otherwise why bother with the source material at all?, but the requirements of making an interesting movie should come first and foremost.

I liked "Hitman" well enough. A decent enough movie for a Wednesday morning, but that was about all. It is not a classic, but I imagine it will make it's money back on sell through.

Labels: Gigs, Lorraine, Movies, Music, Sad

It has been a busy couple of days, but as it is the last evening that Lorraine and I will be spending together until late next week, as tomorrow she disappears down south to spend Christmas with her family, I think that writing about "Enchanted", From The Jam and "Hitman" can wait until another time.

No time to read any blogs, but I hope that everyone is well.

Back tomorrow.

Labels: Gigs, Lorraine, Movies

Crowded House at the Birmingham NEC, 3rd December 2007.



Any band that decides to reform, record and tour after a long layoff (11 years in the case of Crowded House), inevitably will face problems in the live arena. Not problems in being unable to play (certainly not the case here), but in what to play. If, for instance, the Floyd (Hi there Mark!) decided to reform and tour a new record, do you think that the shouts for "Comfortably Numb" would drown out the new songs? I think that it would. Or maybe Floyd fans are more patient than most?

Crowded House released a new album "Time On Earth" in July. It's very good and, quite rightly, went top 3 in the UK. Obviously the guys wanted to play some of those songs live, and they did.

I don't think the (typically) apathetic crowd at the Birmingham NEC were particularly bothered about the new songs. Maybe that's to be expected, but they remained impatiently glued to their seats until the band kicked into "It's Only Natural". Then they were on their feet and dancing and all was right with the world. Really right with the world. Maybe the band should have started with something like "Chocolate Cake" or "Locked Out" ? I think so. Get 'em going straight away.

I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll write the guys a letter. My advice is always sought by discerning individuals.

Anyway, minor gripes aside, Crowded House were just spectacular. Just wonderful. The third time I've seen them in 15 years (the first two times only 6 months apart) and still brilliant. Still purveyors of superior, emotional and evocative pop music, and a fine line in audience participation.

How's this for some of the songs? Not in any order and I have missed a stack out.

"Distant Sun", "Weather With You", "Better Be Home Soon", "Into Temptation", "Don't Dream It's Over", "Locked Out", "It's Only Natural", "Pour Le Monde", "Fall At Your Feet", "There Goes God", "Italian Plastic" (which they dedicated to Paul Hester), "Four Seasons In One Day", "Pineapple Head".

You know those songs, and if you don't, what the hell is wrong with you?

Apparently Crowded House are going into the studio next year to record a new album, so no doubt another tour will happen when that is released. I hope so. I will be there even if my Brother may not. He vanished during the encore, saying that he had to go to the toilet. 8 lagers will do that to you.

Labels: Gigs

I am back from Crowded House. I am magnificently drunk having had, what you might say, a cracking time with my Brother. My sing-a-long vocals were brilliant, thanks for asking.

I am way too drunk to write anything sensible now, so I will do so tomorrow.

Not too drunk to find a great clip off You Tube, though.



RIP: Paul Hester.

Update: 4th December 2007 @ 11:00.
Of course it helps to actually click on the 'Publish Post' button, doesn't it?

Miracle of miracles, no hangover. So, I am off to see "August Rush". Back later.

Labels: Gigs

"Definition: Blog, Blogging. A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links."

Hmm. I think I'll just skip the chronological bit.

********

The concierge that we dealt with mostly at the hotel was a lovely Spanish guy who went by the name of Tomas. Very short, very slim, very young and very dapper. He had a pencil thin moustache, spoke very softly and was extremely courteous and polite, even after we must have annoyed him with a million silly questions.

Such as, from me.

Can you tell us how to get to the O2 Arena?

"Not a problem, Senor. Take the Jubilee line Westbound from Green Park tube station (just around the corner, Senor) and get off at North Greenwich. The O2 Arena is but a stones throw away."

Or from Lorraine.

Can you tell us where the Calvin Klein shop is?

"Ah, Senorita. You are maybe a little early. The new shop will be opening on Regent Street in a couple of months, but you can still find the old shop on Bond Street."

Me again.

Tomas. I cannot tell my arse from my elbow. Can you help?

"I can, my English friend. Your elbow is up your arm from your wrist. As for your arse, take both hands, put them behind your back with your palms on your back and move in a southwards direction. There, you will find your arse."

Thanks, Tomas. You were a real star.

********

On Sunday night we went to see the Rolling Stones at the O2 Arena.




I had an ambition. After many years that ambition has finally been fulfilled. The ambition? To see at least one original member of the 5 greatest British bands of the Sixties in concert.

Those bands, and the members I have seen.

1. The Beatles. (Paul McCartney.)
2. The Rolling Stones. (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts.)
3. The Who. (Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle.)
4. The Kinks. (Ray Davies.)
5. The Small Faces. (Ian MacLagen.)

(You can disagree with that list, and I'm sure you will. Disagreements are always welcome on this blog.)

It will be difficult to write about the gig without dropping into sad fanboy gushing, but I will try.

The Stones kicked off with "Start Me Up" and they finished with "Brown Sugar". In between there was nearly continuious, 180%, up tempo Rock 'n' Roll. If I had to make a small criticism it would be that, other than Keith's growling "You Got The Silver" (probably growling because he had just eaten a cigarette in front of 20,000+ people - no ban on eating cigarettes rather than smoking them!), a slinky "Miss You" and the gentle guitar intro to "You Can't Always Get What You Want", it was a concert without mood or shade or colour. There were none of the big Stones ballads, as a respite from the relentless energy pouring off the stage, just riff after riff.

Amongst others, they played "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "Rough Justice", "Honky Tonk Women", "Tumbling Dice", "She Was Hot" (a great, practically forgotten song, that I never in a million years thought they would play), "Sympathy For The Devil" (woo-woos supplied by a collection of Stones wives, girlfriends and children), "Paint It Black", "Satisfaction" and, of course, "Jumping Jack Flash".

No "Let's Spend The Night Together" or "Ruby Tuesday". Bastards. Didn't matter. Charlie was effortlessly cool. He barely broke sweat. Ronnie looked gaunt, but played like a genius. So did Keith. Smiling. Pointing at the band. Directing events. Laughing. He looked like he was having the time of his life and it was great to see. And Mick. Ah... Mick. How old are you exactly? 64 going on 24. That's how old. Still a brilliant performer and dancer and singer.

If you want to read a proper review, and see some pictures, click here. I am just a sad fanboy. I don't pretend I can write a review worth a damn.

I can die happy. I have seen the Rolling Stones in concert. And it was good.

********

St. Pauls Cathederal is much bigger than I thought it would be. The Tower of London is much smaller than I thought it would be. H. M. S. Belfast is about the size I thought it would be.

********

I had to wear my sunglasses when I walked over the Millenium Bridge. It was such a sunny day that it hurt my eyes to look at it.

The Millenium Bridge still sways when you walk over it.

Labels: Gigs, Hotels, Tourism

Let's try this again, shall we?

Happy Summer Solstice to all you all. Sadly I have been unable to book a dwarf to dance naked around a rock in my back garden at sunrise, but I hope to manage it next year.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Events.

On Monday evening Graham and I went to see INXS at the Symphony Hall.



At this juncture let me direct you here and here for Graham's pretty good reviews of the gig.

It's a cop out, but what is there to add? Very little.

At the present time, with shaven head and goatee, Graham does look very much like Rob Halford of Judas Priest. At one point Graham demonstrated his psycho stare. Actually, very much like his normal stare, but I was too scared to say. The pink tie dye shirt was also a bit disturbing.

We talked about some private things. Very mysterious. We also had a good moan. I think we both like the odd snarl at the world.

The gig.

We missed all of the first band except for their last song, which featured the lyrics "sex you up, sex you up". Graham said they sounded a bit like Ocean Colour Scene, but I didn't get that myself.

What we saw of The English Beat (we were in the bar, where else? "A pint of Strongbow and a Becks please, my good man!") was really good and they played my favourite song of theirs ("Save It For Later", which was never a hit, scandalous!) at the very end of their set. Brilliant. Dave Wakeling may be a little more... er... rotund, these days, but he sang exactly the same as he did in the early 80's. Great pop/ska band; underrated even when they were having hits. Like I said, brilliant.

INXS, and new singer J. D. Fortune, were really, really good. I was surprised because it could have been the lamest spectacle in the entire world. I mean, think about it. A bunch of middle aged rockers, having frankly seen better days, recruit a new lead singer (the original singer - a great front man, by the way - having died whilst having a wank) from a reality show. They then have the gall to go on tour with this impostor, performing the original hits sold so brilliantly by the original singer, and hope that the punters would not notice the difference.

It couldn't work. Could it?

It did work. It worked very well. It was a great show. Great musicianship and great songs. I forgot how many great songs INXS had recorded. You know them. "What You Need", "Need You Tonight", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Suicide Blonde", "Mystify", "New Sensation", "Taste It", "Disappear". They played some new stuff that I didn't know that sounded like, and as good as, the old stuff.

J. D. Fortune obviously has an image of how a rock star should behave. Moves had been carefully digested and studied and adapted. Nothing wrong with that. You can only adapt what has worked before and your own style will come in time. I think it worked, as well. J. D. Fortune was a rock star. He smoked and drank onstage. He wore jeans so tight that Paris Hilton would balk at trying to fit into them. He also, crucially, sang and performed brilliantly. He glided and prowled across the stage. He shook his ass. He connected with the audience and he sold the songs. Yes, it was very slick, and I'm sure every move had been completely thought through, but it was great.

I don't see any reason why INXS could not be a big, worldwide band again. All it would take would be another hit and they could be away.

I was going to write a review of "Ne Le Dis à Personne", but I have run out of time. I will do it tomorrow.

Labels: Gigs

I'm feeling better. In fact I feel kind of great.

What is this up and down bollocks? Some kind of bi-polar nonsense? I've read up a bit about it, but I refuse to diagnose medical conditions that I may or may not be suffering from via the Internet, and I will not allow myself to become a hypochondriac, like my Mom.

I have about an hour and a half before I need to go. Time for some writing and catching up, yes?

Yes. I think so.

Thursday night my Brother and I went to see From The Jam (Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler).



Put your protective clothing on. I have a big statement to make.

From The Jam (Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler) at the Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton was the best gig I have ever seen. Seriously.

Of course, they were not The Jam. They could not be The Jam without Weller, but I doubt that Weller could have made the gig any more powerful, any more fun, any more exciting or any more lively. Lead singer/guitarist Russell Hastings did a perfect rendition of the Weller bark, and he and second guitarist Dave Moore (cunningly hidden behind a keyboard or standing towards the back of the stage, so sustaining the illusion of the 3 piece), played those very tasty power chords perfectly.

Rick Buckler may look these days like the oldest man in creation, but Bruce Foxton has not aged a day, and the greatest rhythm section to come out of the British New Wave played with total passion. Total energy from band and audience, from beginning to end. Just magnificent. A dream come true.

You see, I loved The Jam from the very early days. They were the one band (except for The Beatles, of course) that I had always regretted never seeing. The first single that I picked up on was "The Modern World" (which spoke to me) and from then on they were my band. They became really big in the UK towards the end of 1979, when the "The Eton Rifles" single went top 3 and from then on they belonged to everybody.

I assumed that they were going to play the big singles ("Going Underground", "The Eton Rifles", "Start" and "A Town Called Malice") and they did and they were brilliant, but I hoped and prayed that they would play those songs that I loved. The early singles. The album tracks. The songs that I had never forgotten the words to, even 25 years later.

And they did.

"Thick As Thieves", "The Modern World", "Boy About Town", "Pretty Green", "Life From A Window", "In The Crowd" (sadly without the extended coda), "In The City", "When You're Young", "Strange Town", "David Watts", "News Of The World", "Down In A Tube Station At Midnight", "Little Boy Soldiers", "That's Entertainment", lots of others, and one of my absolute favourites, the song that I wept all the way through while they were playing it, "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)" (by the way, the greatest Britpop hangover song of all time and it was released 16 years before Britpop happened).

This is not much of a post. I find it difficult to put gut feelings into words, because the words are not strong enough. It was a gig that I definitely felt in my gut.

The greatest gig of all time. For me. And I'm going to do it again. We have obtained tickets for the show that From The Jam (Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler) are doing at the Carling Academy in Birmingham, as part of the November/December tour. Tickets still available, guys and girls.

How much of this happy time was down to alcohol, I couldn't say. Let me put it this way. My Brother and I had several brews before we even got to the venue. San Miguel, Coors, Becks, Magners, something else that escapes me. We got to the venue late. Luckily the sound check was still in progress. We had some more to drink, checked out the numerous Ben Sherman, Lambretta, and assorted Union Jack and target tee shirts, before the doors opened and we charged to the front, up against the barriers.

A lady (who looked very much like the Suburban Hen, only about 10 years older) and her teenage son were standing behind us. We engaged them in conversation. I was a silver tongued devil and successfully channelled George Clooney. The lady told me that in 1982 her Dad wouldn't let her go to see The Jam on their farewell tour date at Bingley Hall and that this had always annoyed her. She said that now she ran her own business with her husband. Husband? Pah!

We drank some more. We bought them drinks. They bought us drinks. My Brother told me later that I had pulled and should have gone for it. Rubbish. It was just innocent flirting. I've never pulled in my life.

Going for a piss I ran into a guy from work who was with his mate. His mate had a head like a fish. Huge bulging eyes. I couldn't see any fish scales, but they might have been there. He was scary looking. I shook his flipper and went on my way.

From The Jam (Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler) came on. There was a massive crush. My Brother and I got the lady and her boy, who were being buffeted in the maelstrom, in front of us. I can be a gentleman when I try. We sang. We danced. We got very sweaty.

And something happened, way, way later. One minute I was at the front, singing at the top of my voice, and the next my Brother had me in a vice like grip under my armpits and was dragging me out. (My Brother is only a little taller than me, but he is wide and he is strong. I once said to him that if I was ever in a life or death fight, he was the one person I would want behind me. I asked him who he would have behind him. He said, Mike Tyson. Bastard.) My Brother said I had passed out. Eh? No. Yes. So I saw the rest of the gig (not much of it left) from the sidelines, fresh drink in hand.

It took us ages to find the Metro station. ("Which way did we come?" "Fucked if I know, Bro".) That was a laugh, especially when we found out the the Metro was not going to be visiting Wolverhampton due to a problem with the points earlier. My Brother was extremely pissed off, but I thought it was funny. Eventually we got a bus to West Bromwich and then the Metro to the city centre. We couldn't find any pubs open, so we both went home.

Bananas, water, milk, cereal, toast. No hangover for me, thank you very much.

Great night

3 movie reviews to come, but I have gotta be going.

Everybody sing along now...

"What kind of a fool do you think I am?"
"You think I know nothing of the modern world..."

Labels: Gigs, Music

Bit hung over this morning. Still feeling tired now. I should really go to bed, but I wanted to have a quick surf and post. Last night we went to see "Das Leben der Anderen" and The Electric Cinema Film Orchestra at the Electric Cinema. It was a good night out, and a fair bit of alcohol was ingested by me, but I was happily tipsy and not an angry drunk. Lorraine drank water. I will write about our night out tomorrow.

Although it was a relatively late night for the pair of us, it didn't stop Lorraine from rising at some obscene hour of the morning to go to work to help re-cable the office. Is it her responsibility to do such stuff? No, of course not, but she said that she wanted to make sure it was done properly as she cannot trust the technical clowns to do it right.

So, my day...

I rose late, nursed my head, cleaned the house, went out, did some grocery shopping, came home, had a bath while listening to my MP3 play on random (first song was "Comfortably Numb" by the Pink Floyd, which I thought was quite appropriate), watched "Doctor Who" (both Lorraine and myself think that the Daleks are being a bit overused), watched "Any Dream Will Do", waved goodbye to Lorraine who decided to go to bed and then finally watched "House Of Sand And Fog" starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connolly, which is a really brilliant and dramatic movie and a fine piece of work.

I probably could have fitted a film in somewhere, but nothing I haven't seen strikes me as an essential view at the moment. I may see a film tomorrow, but it is 50-50. It is my Mom's Birthday (she will be 72) and the Pynchon posse (and Lorraine) will be causing mischief at a steak and chips shit hole somewhere in the West Midlands. I may not want to see a film.

Better go to bed.

Labels: Drinking, Gigs, Lorraine, Movies

Let me try this again. I'll be brief. The moment has passed somewhat.

Tuesday afternoon I met up with Graham for a drink.

Graham is a very nice guy and we had a very nice chat. As it happened it was quite a brief chat (an hour and a bit), because I had a gig to go to, but more about that in a minute. Graham and I talked about this and that and the other. It's worth noting that Graham still holds the opinion that "Moonraker" is a better movie than "The Spy Who Loved Me". Of course this is patently ridiculous, but he is a boy compared to me, so I blessed him, kissed him on the forehead, and forgave him (and also admitted that, perhaps, "The Spy Who Loved Me" is not quite as good as I remembered it, because I watched it over Christmas and found it "slow".)

It was the third time I had met Graham. The first time was about 18 months ago. The second time was a couple of weeks ago when we were part of the group of Bloggers that went to the "Game On" event at the Science Museum in London. My overwhelming impression of that first occasion was that I talked an awful lot. Jesus Christ, I just went on and on. An opinion on every subject under the sun was expressed, regardless of whether I knew anything about the subject or not. Why? I think I wanted to show how clever I was and I was showing off. This time I didn't talk so much and it was way better. I'm finding now that with somebody that I know, and I hope that by now I know Graham quite well, I don't have to show off.

After the drink I went to see the Fratellis at the Carling Academy.



Ah... The two F's. Fucking fantastic. I came out of the gig with a big smile on my face and I cannot remember the last time I did that. A really great gig. A really great party, more like.

Good support band, The Enemy. Most support bands are so polite that I hardly ever notice them. They arrive onstage. They play their songs. They shyly talk to the audience. They mention that their new single is out and suggest that we might like to buy it.

The Enemy? None of that. They swagger on, they plug in and say

"Fookin' Birmingham. Are you here to party?"

and then they literally blasted through their set.

I thought that they were great. Really punk. Quite a bit of Liam Gallagher swagger, truth be told, and the audience loved them. (Ah, the audience. I think that most of them were probably born around the time that Oasis were first troubling the charts, which would make me about 30 years older than most of them. Gulp.)

Then a short break and the Fratellis were up.

Big energy, great tunes, great fun. A mix of indie, glam rock and power pop. I don't know what the fuck you would call it, but it was brilliant. Best gig I've been to for ages. You know what it's like when you go to a gig and you can feel it because the power hits you in the chest? It was like that.

Rather good. Here's the "Chelsea Dagger" video. Rock and Roll and pretty girls. Who can ask for more?



I think I'm getting tired. I'll write what I thought of "Blood Diamond" tomorrow.

Labels: Bloggers, Gigs, Music