overlap

I've been not posting much for a little bit - partly because I've been busy getting on with stuff, and partly because there's no easy way to get into it. Read on at your own peril. It's no secret in certain circles that my connections with my family are limited, and that that is a matter of my own happy choice these days. Nevertheless, and however natural it may be for parents to die, I can hardly describe this as a great fun time. This is the end of a period of prolonged hospitalisation at the end of years of illness, and the natural, inevitable conclusion despite the efforts of many medical professionals who've done the best they could, so it's hardly unexpected or surprising news, and I'm fortunate to have had plenty of time to get used to what's been coming for quite a while. It speaks for itself that I'm here posting about it rather than with people somewhere else, and that's something I make no apology for. I can't say that I'd recommend it, but I can say that I've known what I'm doing and what the likely consequences of decisions I've taken were and despite the opportunities to change my mind, I haven't done so. I made my peace some years ago, and as I think I noted on here at the time, circumstances worked out a couple of months ago that I was able to make a brief hospital visit, which was my first time in contact in person for something over two years. The world can judge me as harshly as it sees fit, but I don't feel I need to defend a preference for having left it at seeing a fairly perky person having one of his better days rather than put myself through witnessing the gradual decline into someone barely there and machine-operated. That last visit upset me enough as it is, and utterly selfish as it may seem, I'm just not prepared to put myself through all the other stuff that inevitably goes with the usual obligations at such times. I'll be judged a bad son for not being there, just as I'll be judged a bad person for not making the funeral but I'm not about to start worrying about anyone else's approval. As it works out I won't be in the country in any case, but the truth is that I'll make my own commemoration in my own time, and in my own way. For now it's enough to mourn for a little boy who couldn't finish a packet of sweets without leaving one on the window sill for his father when he got in from work. We stopped being those people a long time ago, but tonight perhaps it doesn't quite feel like it.

Last June I posted effusively about finally seeing Journey, and tonight I've done it again, and guess what comes tomorrow? Tomorrow I get to see Danny Vaughn on the same stage where I first saw him perform in 1986, which I imagine doesn't need spelling out is a very long time ago. As for tonight, DV and Tony Marshall take two acoustic guitars and two voices to warm up the crowd, and do admirably. It speaks well of the quality of the Tyketto material that three songs from the 1991 debut album Don't Come Easy, and it's great to hear Danny's voice is as strong as ever. The new material sounds great, and there's a CD of the new album spinning away as I type. I was in two minds about what to expect from this Journey - having seen JSS as part of Soul SirkUS and failed to enjoy it especially, I was prepared to be disappointed. As it is, he seems to have that extra bit of power Augeri lacked and that comes over clearly in the stuff that needs a bit more open throttle, Edge Of The Blade, Escape, Separate Ways and so on. What Augeri perhaps had was that little bit more subtlety, and there is a notable difference when Deen takes lead vocals on Who's Crying Now, Still They Ride, Open Arms and Faithfully. JSS knows how to work a stage, he's definitely not over-awed with the weight of this material, and at nearly a head taller than almost everyone else on the stage he's unmissable as he strides around it. I'll find out tomorrow whether to be cynically dismissive or impressed at the work done to make a local-specific impression, but one thing is for sure and that's that nobody's going through the motions. It's perhaps a more relaxing thing about just touring rather than touring-the-new-album that they get to play the full range of whatever they want rather than have something they need to plug. Either way, and whatever one's position on the lead singer, it's one hell of a note perfect live hits jukebox, and I never saw Perry so for now I'll take all the Journey karaoke I can get. Where it goes from here in terms of writing new material is anyone's guess, but it'll be interesting to see if anything develops. And in the meantime there's plenty of back catalogue to enjoy. Now, where did I put my copy of Don't Come Easy? Forever Young remains a bona fide rock classic, and I haven't listened to it in way too long.

In the time since my last post on the subject, I've managed to get to
grips with shooting video on the bike, got myself a youtube account
(see below) and managed to rule out the possibility of
doing any more (non-handheld) bike video with my proper camera. No big
deal, and no bad thing when the mini video camera I have in mind is
suitably weatherproof in a way my camera certainly isn't. I've already
achieved what I wanted, namely to work out whether it's possible to
produce onboard footage that'll be discarded 90% of the time, and for
the remaining 10% to be of sufficient quality to be worth sharing.

As I also mentioned, my bargain heart rate monitor watch is providing
lots of fun and opportunities to monitor what effects exercise is
having, and now I know what I'll be doing with my holiday this year
that's of more than academic interest. I was wondering if it was going
to be an extravagance, but it's turned into one of those things I now
wonder how I ever did without. Time will tell what difference a bit
more exercise and training makes, but even if there's no big
improvement it's a good start to know exactly where I am.

Not the first charity memorial gig I've ever been to, but certainly the most memorable and personal. In some ways it was a retrospective of my adult life, these bands and some of these people have travelled a fair number of similar journeys with me over the years - I'm just looking up how long ago our respective paths crossed, see below. Hours on the motorway in torrential rain was no fun, but you know, it was entirely fitting that the rain fell like bullets from a gun, and despite the delay I had not used up all of the margin for error time I had allowed. Seeing a car off the side of the motorway and on its side was enough grounds for caution and I was on the same tube as Steve Lamacq so my timing was spot on with the professionals! In order of appearance then. Midway Still I have no memories of whatsoever, beyond a passing familiarity with the name. But that's one of the great things about this sort of multi-act greatest bits show, there's only four tracks to stand through before someone else comes along. They sounded good enough, no complaints. Andy Cairns of Therapy? - I've been listening to Troublegum a bit recently, and to get a solo acoustic run through Nowhere, Screamager and Die Laughing was fantastic. The first moment of chills running up my neck was him finishing his set with the Mega City Four's Miles Apart, a song he'd previously played with Wiz and made a mess of. No worries this time, a great set and fitting tribute. First seen by me 1992. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - always give good value, and this is no exception. Pure sweaty fun, and a reminder that next time one of their occasional shows is a practical proposition I really should make the effort. As it turns out to be the same place and on a thursday night, that's not something I'm rushing to commit myself to right now. First seen by me 1989. John Kastner - not listed on the original publicity material, this turned out to be a very special surprise. Sometimes not reading the back of the t-shirt you've just bought is a good thing. Thrashing his way through the Megas' Peripheral with just the accompaniment of his electric guitar was a cracking start, and equally ending with Revolution is a fine way to close, and worth his journey over from the States for the show. Senseless Things - where everyone was expecting Mark Keds to do a solo acoustic set, the first whole performance in many years of the Senseless Things (apart from Morgan) is what we got, and in some style. Lashing into Homophobic Asshole, for my money one of the most important songs of this generation of bands along with Credit To The Nation's Enough Is Enough, this was absolutely fantastic and I was rocking like nobody's business. I don't recall ever seeing them have a great show back in the mists of time, and this time that song alone is enough to make my night. First seen by me 1991. Reuben - a few listens to their Very Fast Very Dangerous album last week meant I had an idea what was coming. And I pretty much got what I expected, it's not something I'll listen to every single day, but I'll definitely make the effort to see them again. And you just know that any band that'll record a song called Every Time A Teenager Listens To Drum And Bass A Rock Star Dies must have the right idea. Jim finishes off nicely by saying that when he goes he hopes he can fill a room with as many people that love him as Wiz has, and I have to say I don't rate my own chances! Carter USM - Well, what can you say? I saw the ever expanding line up of Carter on the final tour, and I don't know quite how many years it's been since they last played as a two-piece plus technology. It was obviously some people's highlight of the night, and sure it was great to see Jim and Les doing their thing together again after so long. First seen by me 1991. Mega City Four (version) - with vocals handled by Chris, Danny, and John Kastner for one song each, and Spider singing all the others (when he wasn't busy drinking water away from the mike), this could have been disjointed karaoke. As it was, the quality of Wiz' songwriting and the musicianship of Danny, Gerry and Chris shone through. From the first bars of Who Cares, I was on my toes and bouncing like a mad thing in a way I haven't done in years. One of my new toys is a watch that tells my heart rate, and in a brief pause after Props it was hitting 160. I wasn't the only one giving it my all, and it was heartening and a worthy celebration to share in someone who wasn't a household name being appreciated in such fine style. The full set ran as follows; Who Cares, Awkward Kid, Props, Finish, Iron Sky, Android Dreams, Peripheral, Messenger, Cradle, Miles Apart. I can't say I knew the man well, though I met and chatted with him on a number of occasions, but Wiz's music spoke to me like nobody else's has ever done. And I'm obviously not alone in that - between us we raised another eleven grand for charity on merchandising sales on the night. I'm never far away from one of Wiz's songs, and there's no danger of him being forgotten in this house. Getting home at 3.30 and getting up four hours later to go to work seems as appropriate a tribute to someone whose band was always on the road as anything else I can come up with. Cheers Wiz, you were definitely of consequence to someone, to many someones.

Labels: Darren Brown, Mega City Four, Wiz

And all that driving to make the Franks gig seems highly appropriate on the weekend where the next thing taking up my time and petrol money is this. It's sure to be a great night, and a late night. Rock on!

Well, that was quite some day. Up early to race off and get my car serviced, going a bit out of my way to place an order for somethingI'm unable to locate close to home. Did some work to fix (or at least improve the performance of) two different computers at the garage while my car was worked on. Then it was off to the football for the first return visit of our former manager and a couple of our former players, which is usually a recipe for disaster. Given our current perilous position in the league table, it was especially pleasing then to see two fantastic goals see off our visitors and lift us out of the relegation zone for a bit. Racing back to collect the now serviced car, I still had to go and visit someone else and explain aload of stuff and make plans for dealing with it before getting back on the road back home. My inital plan had been to stay there, which would have cut down on my petrol expenditure and driving hours, but that plan was discarded at a late stage once I found out The Frank & Walters were in town. There's something slightly nervy about gigs in unfamiliar venues, especially when a walk past the outside a couple of days ago showed no signs of posters or other confirmation the gig was actually on. And there being no pre-sale tickets available either meant that I at least stood a theoretical chance of racing all the way back and not making the gig. As it was I walked in nearly 90 minutes after doors opened, to see a small stage set up for a three piece band, and a handful of posters on the walls confirming the gig - a bit late, but there you go. I had a nice restful hour or so being reminded of the whole business of conventional going out, surrounded by people who'd put a lot of effort into how they looked, and this time with the sure and certain knowledge that at least some of these were bothy young enough to be my children and old enough to be drinking legally, which is a mildly sobering realisation! We had nearly an hour of the Franks, a satisfying mix of old and new material, including a total of four goes at We Are The Frank & Walters, the last of these an encore version without bass as Paul had disappeared into the crowd and with guest vocals by someone celebrating his birthday! It's been a while since I saw such a cracking corner of a crowded pub gig, and indeed since I turned up sufficiently early (despite my paranoia) to be inside before entry was being charged on the door. And then I came home to find a magnificent view of the lunar eclipse just after coming out of totality, and a request on flickr to use one of my pictures for some artitstic purpose. Busy days really don't get a lot better than this.

Not for the first time, this evening I've been to see Half Man Half Biscuit. Not a band I'm a diehard follower of, but definitely a fan and of some longstanding. In a perfect world, Nigel Blackwell would be hailed in the same breath as the likes of Ray Davies as a chronicler of the ways of Englishness, and I'm certain nobody else has ever combined as many geographical locations with their music, except perhaps Julian Cope. It's an appropriate sign of Nigel's appreciation of place then that the band play a major Welsh city on St David's day, and for the first part of the gig the headstock of his guitar features a daffodil. For the encore there's even a fair effort at Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (yes of course I checked, one typo in my original version ain't bad). Familiarity always helps, and there's only a couple of things played which I don't have my own copies of. All the same, I haven't heard Running Order Squabble Fest or Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off for years, and the additional verses in Paintball's Coming Home are a forgotten treat. It's easy to play the fantasy setlist game, but hugely pointless and ultimately frustrating, and I'm more than happy with what I got. And then I got in the car and the next song on the radio was The Cocteau Twins' majestic Bluebeard, which is also a source of nostalgic warm fuzziness and another song that I hadn't heard in years. Great night out!

Labels: HMHB