Tuesday 17 November 2009

Musicial Musings!

This past week has been pretty busy music wise. Last Tuesday we went to York to see The Holloways at Fibbers. We went early in the day so spent time wandering aimlessly around York. At one point a tramp came up to us and asked for 24p. Since when have tramps got so specific with begging! We then headed to The Terrace to watch Leeds United with the band. After the match we headed across to Fibbers ready for The Holloways to take to the stage. The band played songs albums off both of their albums including new single 'Jukebox Sunshine' and their first album hit, 'Generator'. The crowd were really up for the gig and the temperature kept rising throughout the gig both on and off the stage. The band interacted with the audience well and this created a great gig and a band I'd definitely recommend seeing.

Friday night was the turn of The Paddingtons at Hull's Adelphi Club. The night was in aid of Cancer Research UK with three bands performing. The Hubbards, The Notebook and The Paddingtons. The Hubbards opened the night, a young band from Hull showed potential yet their songs all seemed to merge into one with only a couple that seemed to stand out. One being a cover of The Beatles' Come Together. Next up were The Notebook. I couldn't help thinking this was a case of style over substance with each member having an overly original dress sense with the lead singer dressed like Jarvis Cocker with a suit and large retro glasses. The similarities to Pulp didn't end there. The Notebook's songs sounded heavily influenced by the britpop band and for this matter failed to win me over as a fan. Finally The Paddingtons took to the stage playing Punk RIP, the opening track from new album 'No Mundane Options'. Playing tracks from their newest album and also their debut, 'First Comes First' they also included new tracks set to be released on a new EP in early 2010. Despite amp troubles for guitarist Josh Hubbard, The Paddingtons ploughed through their set with the crowd singing along and at times out singing lead singer Tom Atkin. Highlights of the set included new single 'Shame About Elle', 'Stand Down' and 'Sorry'. At one point in the set Atkin invited a crowd member onto the stage to sing with them, which resulted in bassist Lloyd Dobbs playing the song blindfolded! The Paddingtons showed that they've still got what it takes to keep producing good quality music and also energetic live performances. A great advert for the city of Hull and a great night in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Saturday night and a trip to Sheffield Arena to see Arctic Monkeys on their 10 date arena tour. Opening the night at the 13,500 capacity arena were the Eagles Of Death Metal. Although a similarly different genre to the 'Monkeys', they got the crowd going and warmed them up for the headliners. Lead singer Jesse Hughes interacted with the crowd well in his typical American style! After Eagles Of Death Metal, Arctic Monkeys took to the stage opening with 'Dance Little Liar' from their latest album, 'Humbug'. After the opener, they went straight into second album opener, 'Brianstorm'. Rattling out such hits as 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', 'Crying Lightning' and 'When The Sun Goes Down' they finished the first part of their set with 'Secret Door' which climaxed in large explosions of white and gold ticker tape which created a great finish to their main set. Returning to the stage they played 'Florescent Adolescent' which they broke down half way through with Turner playing solo and going into 'Mardy Bum'. Finishing off their homecoming gig the band wound up on '505'. A great end to a great gig showing Arctic Monkeys can pull off large arena gigs without being lost in the occasion. After the gig we went in search of Sheffield's finest pizzeria, unfortunately the only place we stumbled across was the aptly named 'Perfect Pizza'! The offers on the menu offered "Buy one get one free on all pizza's all sizes", but the offer that really made us chuckle was offer 2. "Free Turkish Kebab with ANY Pizza (special pizza only)". Needless to say the pizza wasn't perfect but the whole event made us laugh, especially when we hid under the counter then jumped up, much to the amusement of the 'chef'!

Monday 9 November 2009

Blog Time

I haven't blogged in ages, 8 months infact! So here I am back in the blogging 'fray'. Me and Alex were talking about blogging and how I haven't blogged for a long while because I have nothing to blog about so although this might seem trivial I'm just going to blog about whatever comes into my head.

You might be wondering why after 8 months I've decided to blog now. The simple answer is that I'm putting off uni work for a few minutes so decided to do a quick blog!

I've been listening to Skint & Demoralised recently and their album 'Love, and Other Catastrophes'. I like that way frontman Matt uses a fairly unique style of singing but also talking throughout his songs and poems. The lyrics incorporate views of real life events but also comedy which makes Skint & Demoralised easy listening but also entertaining at the same time.

Robbie Williams' new album 'Reality Killed The Video Star' has been released today. After listening to the album on Spotify since Friday I think it's going to be a hit. Robbie is definately 'Back For Good' (sorry for the Take That pun!)

Arctic Monkeys begin their UK tour on Friday and the day after we're going to see them at Sheffield Arena at their 'homecoming' gig. Their latest album Humbug has recieved mixed reviews with most people likening it to Marmite. You either love it or you hate it! The gig promises to be a great event with them playing hits from all 3 three of their albums along with B-sides and other rarietes to please the crowd. If you've not heard 'Humbug' yet then I suggest you give it a listen. My favourite tracks are 'Pretty Visitors', 'Secret Door' and the first single from the album 'Crying Lightning'.

Staying with Arctic Monkeys, their video for the latest single 'Cornerstone' has also had mixed reviews and split fans opinons. Most people I've spoke to either think the video is good and funny or others think it's more of a let down and a cheap and poor music video. I'll let you decide for yourself!



The more observative of you might notice that I've changed my blog name from 'The Mighty Blog' to my new title 'JC's Musings' (not moosings!) I thought this new era of blogging could be shown with a change of name!

Anyway that's all for now, hopefully it won't be another 8 months until my next installment!

(All comments and reactions below would be much appreciated!)

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Just A Quick One!

Two blogs in one day, crazy!

On the NME website I saw that the classic 80's band Spandau Ballet are reforming. Who cares! They're an 80's band and that's where they belong, in the past. Surely the crowds are going to made up of 40 year old mum and dads dancing like they're back in th 80's and in their youth. Tony Hadley and the crew are obviously just doing it for the money as it can't be for their love of music or they'd just form a new band playing new music.

With so much good new talent is there really a space for reunion bands such as Spandau Ballet in 2009?

The Wednesday Blog!

So here I am, back in the blogging fray! I realised I hadn't blogged for quite a while now so I thought I'd leave a quick blog now I have the rest of the day off uni!

I never know what to blog about so I thought this time I'd give myself a set topic and see what I can conjure up around the subject. Today's chosen topic is: Music.

Albums
One of the most recent albums that I've got is 'Box Of Secrets' by Blood Red Shoes. On the whole the album is good but you can't help thinking "have I heard this all before?" The catchy melodies keep the listeners attention, but they're also pretty generic.

Yesterday I got Franz Ferdinand Live In Manchester 6/3/09. The album was recorded live at the gig with fans being able to buy the CD straight afterwards. I think this is a great idea and remember when I went to see Keane at Hull Ice Arena they did this there. Being able to listen to the gig on the way home and trying to listen out for you shouting in the crowd adds to the excitement and memories of the gig. The Franz album features all their greatest hits along with new songs from their latest release Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

Gigs
Last night at the Huddersfield Uni Student's Union was the Love Music, Hate Racism gig featuring Jack Hopkinson, Dnile and The Cliques. The night started well with the acoustic set from Jack. Crowd pleasers such as Hey Jude got the crowd singing along with he classic Na Na Na Na Na Na Naaaa! Next up was Harrogate band Dnile. With their matching haircuts they took to the stage and played what I can only describe as 90's dad rock! Their songs had the feel of that type of music that has been heard before and a bit outdated. The band played well and performed well as a group but the style of music left me a little bored. Last up were The Cliques from Hull. They pleased the crowd with their upbeat tunes and their on stage performance which climaxed with lead singer and guitarist Simon standing on the drum kit during a solo. It was a great night for all who attended and helped to spread the word of Love Music, Hate Racism.

This coming Monday, 30th March, Leeds Festival tickets and lineup will be released. Early rumours of headliners are Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and Radiohead. This sounds like three great headliners but whatever bands play I know it'll be a great weekend!

So that's it, this must be my longest blog to date and hopefully it's been educational, informative and entertaining!

Thursday 27 November 2008

Cliff Richard and The Cold!

In the words of Kantar legend Fran Colao, "Gee it's cold" It's both cold and raining, not a good combination! Went out to get a sausage and bean melt from Greggs and came back soaked still cold but with a fuller stomach!! On the positive side it snowed the other day, I don't mind the cold as long as there is a good covering of snow to frolic in! Unfortunately the snow didn't lay :(

Heard some good news today, Cliff Richard and The Shadows are set to reform for a UK arena tour in September 2009 so going to sort some tickets out for that! What I was wondering though is that is there enough old people and The Shadows fans to fill arenas? Will the tour be a flop with them playing for just a handful of people not even standing up because of crippling arthritis!

Anyway, thats all for now I'm going to go and try and get warm!

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Fire Alarms and Firework Showers

Today has been quite fun. Fun being the operative word!! Woke up at 8.03am and realised that I had to go for the bus in 7mins so that was fun. I'd slept through two alarms but luckily, and I don't know how, still managed to get ready and get on the bus in time! So once in uni we had our first fire drill of the year which was another surreal experience! Usually when the fire alarm goes off your instructed to leave the building straight away but here it was more like oh, you might want to leave now if you want!!

Here in Huddersfield they do things a little differently than in Hull. On Saturday night we went to watch the 'Festival Of Light' so after standing in a large crowd for half an hour watching some floats go past we were then showered and I mean literally showered in sparks off fireworks from the parade!! The words Risk and Assessment did come to mind but then of course this is Huddersfield so maybe they don't have them here!

So now I've ran out of things to blog about but as you can tell my life is so fun and exciting at the moment! Fire alarms and firework showers!

Saturday 22 November 2008

The Blog Bandwagon!

So here I am, jumping on this blog bandwagon! I decided as everyone was starting to create blog I thought I might as well give it a go. As Dr Pepper once said, "What's the worst that could happen?" Well the worst thing that could happen is that nobody will read it, and from this first blog that will probably be the case!

I remember a while ago Alex told me that I use exclamation marks too much, and I started to believe that this is true. The title of my blog has one in, the paragraph above has two in and there will probably be more to come! A really inappropriate use of an exclamation mark was the other day when my cousin told me on msn that his cat had been put down his exact words were "my cat had to be put down today!" I wondered why he put an exclamation mark there, was it his way of showing his grief? or was he just generally exclaiming that sentence!

So back to Dr Pepper and the worst thing that could happen, from the paragraph above I doubt anyone will want to continue reading about the best, and worst, use of punctuation marks!