1116th
Jun

First matter of the day, as always, is gigs. I actually had a break from gigging last week when I went to see a musical instead! It was the national touring production of Spring Awakening at the Greenwich Theatre, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I missed out on the west end version a few years back as I had stupidly assumed it would be there for a while, so I’m glad I managed to catch this version. I took a friend who had never seen a musical before and it was pretty amusing to watch her reactions.

Even more must-see gig tickets have been released this week and last, and I’ve had to put a fair few on my to-buy list as I’m currently saving my spare change for Glastonbury. The list includes Amanda Palmer, Patrick Wolf, Yuck, Bombay Bicycle Club, Combichrist and possibly Arctic Monkeys at the O2 Arena.

Of course there was a gig last night as well; We Are Scientists at Koko. It was a sell-out show and by the time I arrived around 8pm, the floor was already packed with eager fans. I only caught the second support act, Tall Ships, but I was very impressed by them. They were a bit like Biffy Clyro crossed with Radiohead using loops to intricately layer their guitars, definitely one to watch in the future. We Are Scientists managed to pack a surprising number of hits into their hour and 15 min set, so much so that the teenagers around me barely stopping pogoing in excitement. It was a lovely mix of tracks, with each album getting a pretty equal representation. Their trademark stage banter added to the entertainment and I was particularly amused by their tales of how they claim to be a band from London now that drummer Andy Burrows has joined their ranks. I’m pretty sad that they aren’t at any of my festivals this year. I’ll be needing some form of Autumn gig to keep me going until the next album.

Nice Guys
Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
I Don’t Bite
This Scene Is Dead
Impatience
Rules Don’t Stop
Break It Up
Inaction
Pittsburgh
Chick Lit
Dinosaurs
It’s A Hit
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The Great Escape
Can’t Lose
Jack & Ginger
Foreign Kicks
After Hours

It’s all busy on the jewellery etc. front, as I have some exciting new ideas for designs and canvas bags. I may be selling at a Craft Market in Brick Lane in July too, so look out for more information on that.

Next week I will be MIA for a while as I’m off to Glastonbury Festival. I’m pretty excited as it’s my first time going, and not even the predictions of rain have put a dampener on my spirits. Although I’ve bought some new wellies as a precaution.. I’ve been working out my timetable of bands to see, although I’m still not sure how many of them I will get to. It’s easy at Reading as nothing is more than 5 minutes away, so you can watch half the set of one band and then sprint to another stage for half of another. At Glasto I’ve been told it can take up 30 mins between stages, and that’s in good weather! I think I’ll just have to take it easy and go with the flow, and as long as I see Queens of the Stone Age I don’t really care!

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113rd
Jun

I got paid on Tuesday, which seemed to be just in time as every gig ticket in the world appears to have gone on sale this week or last. I have spent a large portion of my wages on tickets for Friendly Fires (Brixton Nov 26th), Robots In Disguise (XOYO Jul 27th), IAMX (Heaven Oct 13th), CSS (XOYO Aug 23rd) and Death From Above 1979 (Brixton Oct 7th). Unfortunately I missed out on Incubus and Miles Kane, but that’s what ebay and Scarlet Mist are for.

I have also booked our dealer table for the London Film and Comic Con, so I need to work on building my stock back up again. I got a bit excited when I visited their site and saw all the guests they have (Karen Gillan, Christopher Lloyd, Walter Koenig, Sean Maher, Mark Sheppard, Brent Spiner to name but a few) and I have booked myself photoshoots with Karen Gillan and the TARDIS, and Christopher Lloyd and the Delorean! I may also get some things signed by a few people. How will I even have time to sell jewellery inbetween? Come over and say hi if you are planning to attend, we will have free lollipops on the Saturday.

Lastly, I went to see X-Men: First Class on Wednesday and I was so pleasantly surprised. I’m a massive X-Men nerd and X-Men: Wolverine pretty much shattered my confidence in the films. I was dubious that they would be able to pull First Class off, but they did and I’m so pleased with it. I can ignore the usual canonical issues (Some of the mutants would be the wrong age and wouldn’t even be in the first class, Moira has been bastardised and they are ignoring the fact that Havok is Scott’s brother) and focus on the tasty bromance between Erik and Charles. It has gotten me in the mood to read some more of the comics so I have ordered volumes 5 and 6 of Astonishing X-Men from Amazon. Now I just need to see Thor and I will be happy.

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1126th
May

If Only

Posted in gigs | life - (0 Comments)

I am currently in France and the weather has been glorious! 30 degrees all week and blazing sunshine, it’s like being on a proper holiday. I’ve only been here for a few days but we’ve managed to pack a lot into that time. We went to a theme park yesterday and it was practically empty, so we had the run of the place. It was nice to go on all the water rides and cool down a bit. Afterwards we drove to Strasbourg for the Queens of the Stone Age gig, and the venue was even smaller than I had imagined; only about 1000 capacity. There were steps taking up the back half of the room so we stood on those to get a good view and to not get crushed in the crowd down the front. I was a bit apprehensive about the gig as they were going to be playing their self-titled album in full, and its really not one of my favourites, but they managed to pull it off well (even the bizarre Hispanic Impressions) and before I knew it, it was the encore already. We got a nice selection of tracks in the encore including Burn The Witch and Monsters In The Parasol. They ended on No One Knows, and I would have preferred to hear Go With The Flow instead, but it was still good nonetheless. I imagine they will play a lot more hits and mixed tracks at Glastonbury anyway. Overall it was a great gig and it was good to be so close and to see a rarely played album live.

I have an early flight tomorrow (4am UK time, oh god why) and then I pretty much have to sprint home, grab my stuff and get to the Excel Centre to set up. I have a feeling I will be living off Relentless tomorrow, but I am looking forward to it anyway.

Regular John
Avon
If Only
Walkin’ On The Sidewalks
You Would Know
How To Handle A Rope
Mexicola
Hispanic Impressions
The Bronze
Give The Mule What He Wants
I Was A Teenage Hand Model
You Can’t Quit Me Baby
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Hangin’ Tree
Burn The Witch
Monsters In The Parasol
Long Slow Goodbye
Little Sister
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No One Knows

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1120th
May

Not much has been happening this week, as I have mostly been recovering from all the gigs and parties from the last two weeks. I went to see Atari Teenage Riot last Thursday at the Islington Academy, and it was great fun as I expected. Kap Bambino were supporting so I made sure I got myself there nice and early and was on the barrier for them. They got a surprisingly long set (I think it was about 50 minutes) which meant they could pack in a ton of new songs as well as some old favourites. The new tracks sounded awesome with a slightly more mature sound, and obvious influences from a much wider spread of dance music. There were a few other fans in the audience so I didn’t feel too out of place rocking out hard to a support act! After they finished I moved off to the side as I was anticipating quite a crush for ATR. Turns out I was pretty correct, although it was more of a happy pit of dancing people than an aggressive one. Atari Teenage Riot played tracks that spanned their career and also showcased some material from their new album. It was extremely infectious and I soon found myself dancing along without abandon after a few minutes. The crowd kept yelling for more and they ended up going over their curfew, but it was all worth it as they played two encores and ended the night on the anthemic Revolution Action.

Activate
The Only Slight Glimmer Of Hope
Black Flags
Shadow Identity
No Remorse (I Wanna Die)
Into The Death
Too Dead For Me
Atari Teenage Riot
Destroy 2000 Years Of Culture
Sick To Death
Ghostchase
Re-Arrange Your Synapses
Midijunkies
Is This Hyperreal
Codebreaker
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Blood In My Eyes
Speed
Start The Riot
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Collapse Of History
Revolution Action

Next week I have the whole week off work, and I’m going to France for a holiday to visit a friend. I’m going to see Queens of the Stone Age at a ridiculously tiny venue in Strasbourg as I couldn’t get tickets for the Roundhouse gig, and then when I fly back I have to immediately make my way to the Excel Centre for the MCM Expo. It should be busy!

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1112th
May

Long time no see! (write/post/read/etc) I’ve been pretty busy over the past month as my table at the London MCM Expo has been confirmed, so I’ve been making lots of jewellery, sending off new designs and coming up with exciting ideas. I did have a minor setback, where I accidentally ordered a design sheet in pink instead of red, so I now have a load of pink Star Trek engineering insignias. Luckily all the other designs work just as well in pink, so I just need to reorder the insignias in the correct colour.

There have been so many public holidays over the last few weeks and I have spent them lazing about in the sunshine in parks, having BBQs and going to house parties. I will do a big photopost soon to recount my adventures.

There have also been lots of gigs which have all been awesome. I went to see Tim Minchin at the Royal Albert Hall on the 28th April, and although I was late arriving I luckily only missed the first two songs. It was the same show as at the O2 Arena last year, but to be honest I had forgotten half the new songs already so it was still just as funny and captivating. The show was being filmed for a DVD which was exciting, and I had seats that were really close to the stage, so maybe I will be able to spot myself!

The next gig was one I had been looking forward to for most of the year; Death From Above 1979 at the Forum. Due to some last minute spare tickets I ended up going with some friends, which really made the experience even better. We got there early and bagged some nice places on the railings behind the pit so we had an awesome view without getting squashed. The crowd were hands down the most mental I have ever seen at a gig, and the amazing thing was they kept going from the first song to the last. You could literally see the steam rising off the mass of bodies. DFA played pretty much their entire discography, bar two or three tracks, and kept the talking to a minimum. It was exactly the comeback it needed to be, just the audience and the band connecting over the tracks that have made them such a cult favourite over the years. I highly anticipate their set at Reading Festival, along with their inevitable future tours and hopefully a new album too.

Turn It Out
Dead Womb
Going Steady
Too Much Love
Cold War
Black History Month
Go Home, Get Down
Little Girl
Blood On Our Hands
You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine
Pull Out
We Don’t Sleep At Night
Romantic Rights
Do It!
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You’re Lovely (But You’ve Got Lots Of Problems)
Losing Friends
If We Don’t Make It We’ll Fake It

Coincidentally, while I was at the DFA1979 gig I managed to blag tickets for an intimate Friendly Fires show on the Monday. God bless Scarlet Mist! It was at Heaven and was a small warm-up gig to preview their new album, Pala. I was confident it would be amazing as their self-titled debut was one of my favourite albums of 2009 and they had always been great when I had seen them at festivals. Luckily it lived up to my expectations and we danced away an hour in the sweaty arches of the venue with no cares in the world. The new tracks sounded great and they had a ridiculous light show full of lasers, spinning colours and confetti to accentuate the carnival atmosphere. They ended on Kiss Of Life which elicited a loud cheer from the crowd and we all shook our hips along with Ed before it was time to leave.

Lovesick
Blue Cassette
True Love
On Board
Chimes
Skeleton Boy
Show Me Lights
Live Those Days Tonight
Hurting
Jump In The Pool
Pull Me Back To Earth
Paris
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Hawaiian Air
Kiss Of Life

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