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Well last night I saw Neil Diamond at Birmingham NIA, its quite difficult to convey just how amazing his show was and the quality of his performance, but frankly it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Genuinely.

He came on stage pretty promptly just after 8pm, a huge band in tow, brass section, 3 backing singers, 2 guitarists, a bassist, a percussionist, a drummer and 2 keyboard players. They were all on small stages on the main stage, with Neil’s mic on a small stage attached to the front, this small stage moved around so it wasnt just in the middle, it went off to stage left and stage right.

My seat was in the lower block 11 and it was a very good seat, really pleased with it and for those not in a particularly good seat there were 2 huge screens either side of the stage.
So the set was pretty much the same as the one that he did in Rotterdam, a greatest hits show with smatterings of Hot August Night, 12 songs and Home before Dark, the omissions that I would have liked to have seen were possibly Mr Bojangles, Play Me and September Morn, but as the set lasted over 2 hours and it was full of hits and great songs, some songs were going to miss the cut. A highlight for me was Solitary Man but it was an absolute pleasure to hear I am I said and Hello again, really really fantastic.

I cant recall how long it has been since I wanted to see Neil Diamond, and now I want to see him again, really stunning, an excellent performer, with a great voice doing a fantastic show.

Britains best band, Camera Obscura are playing some gigs, and you know what for once I am served a little too well.

• 17/07/08 Kings College, London
• 18/07/08 Buttermarket, Shrewsbury
• 19/07/08 Little Civic, Wolverhampton

When I was young, the Ramones were my world, prior to them it was Frankie Goes to Hollywood, that changed when I heard the Ramones though. I have told myself many things over the years but unsure if it was true, I say I first heard them on Peel, I don’t know if it is the case, I heard them late, on Radio 1 and if John Peel played them, that’s where I heard it, but as the first record I heard by them was Bonzo goes to Bitburg, I am inclined to believe it was David Jensen or someone similar. The year of the first hearing I thought was in 86, the release of Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, but Everett True says in his book that was 85. Finally when I saw them, I thought I saw them on the Animal Boy tour, but I vividly recall speaking with some Canadians in the queue about Go Lil Camaro Go, which appears on the follow up, Halfway to Sanity, they toured that in October 87, that makes sense, I probably just turned 17 and would possibly have asked my parents for a ticket to see them in concert, I recall I missed the last train and my father begrudgingly drove to Birmingham to pick me up. He wasn’t happy.

I recall buying Bonzo goes to Bitburg, I was out in Telford Shopping Centre with my friend Jon, we went into the newly opened Our Price and I bought the 12”, I cant recall what he bought, I am tempted to say Prince. After that Ibought whatever I could by the Ramones, money allowing of course.

In around 1988 my entire record collection got stolen, I had just about ever Ramones release by then, every album and most singles, I had no way of replacing them all so all I was left with was the cassette version of Animal Boy, a fine album, but not really the album that you want to be left, not when you hear Ramones or Its Alive, but that’s all I had left.

I had a fair few t-shirts as well, a glow in the dark Animal Boy t-shirt, Subterranean Jungle t-shirt, Too tough to die t-shirt and the classic ramones insignia t-shirt, in white, no back print. I loved that last one, it had Richie on it but I also had a black one with Tommy on it, I preferred Richie as during my time, he was their drummer, well him and Clem Burke, and then Marky, but Richie was the one I knew. I have tried getting a white Ramones t-shirt recently, well the past couple of years, but they all have this tacky back print with hey ho lets go or something similar, I just want the classic design. Those t-shirts have long since gone to a charity shop, they stopped fitting a long time ago.

2 years ago, in my 30’s and as a Christmas present to ourselves me and lisa decided to replace those albums, so I tracked down and bought all the albums up to Animal Boy, I really haven’t listened to them enough and reading the biography, the memories of the songs, pouring over the names on the sleeves and listening to them over and over, I realize that I need to sit down and have a ramones marathon, I realize also I need that t-shirt and for completion I need the final few albums up to Adios Amigos. Lisa wont be pleased.

Saw The Breeders last night, not the first time and it will not  be the last. Last night it was at Birmingham Academy 2, and to be honest if we never see another band in that venue it will be too many. It is horrible, narrow, crampsed, a low stage and boxed in, dreadful, really hated it and someone should mention to Kim Deal that there is a perfectly good venue in Wolverhampton that could accomodate them in the West Midlands.
As for the audience, not only were they all unfeasibly tall, and the taller the people, the more fun it was for them to go and stand in front of the hobbit like wife, so essentially Lisa barely caught a glimpse of The Breeders all night, but then, neither did I.
Enough about the audience though, I didnt pay to see them, I paid for the Breeders. They opened with an Amps song, Tipp City, I am pretty certain that they played that last time they were in Birmingham, also Pacer, another amps tune, delivered really well and perhaps, but only slightly less giggly than previously seeing them. The set was on the whole a greatest hits set, Cannonball, Safari, Divine Hammer, Happiness is a warm gun, Fortunately Gone, Iris, Huffer, No Aloha, New Year, Saints, I just wanna get along, and a nice selection off the new album, Overglazed, German Studies, Here no more, Walk it off, were gonna rise, plus more that I cant remember. Around 20 songs in total. Kelley looked great by the way, slimmer than I recall, happy and all in all the band seemed like a band and not Kim Deal and her hired hands.

I would be tempted to go to the London date if it wasn’t crazy busy at work, but if you get the chance to see them at a club, go see them, unsre how it would translate at a festival.

Time for me to get all Arkwright, its been a funny old year,  first of all festival wise. I made the move away from Leeds and Reading and if it hadnt have been for Latitude it would have been a break from Mean Fiddler and their ilk. 2008 is shaping up to be more like 2007 but certainly not the major ones that depressed me so much.
It was a really enjoyable year for festivals, the rain hardly effected me and when it should have, it didnt, it never bothered us at all. The festivals we did attend, we met some lovely people who I hope I will see at some point in 2008, they not only made me feel welcomed, but also my wife.
Musically, away from festivals at the start of the year I spoke about a gig hiatus, well we almost stuck to it, we saw Hips like cinderella twice, the cribs once and nofx once, which for us is pretty good going. Outside of gigs, the cribs or the view produced my favourite new albums of the year, the evangenitals and pullover did as well, 4 albums I have played considerably. Best festival performance could be the glitzy baghags at Workhouse or Camera obscura at Latitude, just because they played almost the entirety of their last album.

Favourite festival this year would be workhouse or shambala, the line up for the former, everything else at the latter.

Personally 2007 was a really bad year outside of festivals and music, but its only bad in my world, my dog got ill and cost us a couple of thousand to put right and the small print of the insurance policy meant that we could only claim 250. Lisas mum went into hospital for alcohol related illness, where she remains to this day, and you know a few other things. But in the end, its all ok really.

Found out in November that I could be redundant in the new year, so I am realtively focused these days.

And thats about it, an ok 2007, lots of room for improvement, a few highs, shambala, workhouse, my kid starting uni, pullover recording a new album. A fair few lows, but all in all, a good 2007.

Here’s to 2008, hope you and yours have a good Christmas and a fairly stunning 2008.

talking about school/nativity plays reminded me of my foray into the dramatic arts. I was always a bit showy as a child, I went on to have 8 years as a redcoat and my hero was Ted Bovis, that tells you something. In the 5th year of school we were doing Half a sixpence, I had never auditioned for any of the school plays before, my breaks were best served talking to Alex Poulson about a band called Husker Du or out with Jon giggling more than is usual for a 15 year old. We did giggle a lot, Jon did and still does make me laugh more than just about anyone. Any how, in my final year at school I decided to do all the stuff that I had put off or talked myself out of, one being auditioning for the school play, I didnt want a major part, not the lead at all, just somone that had a bit of dialogue and preferably not too much singing.
I got the part of Sid, a supporting role that had a little bit of singing and a reasonable amount of dialogue. No problems really, learned my lines ok, the character was a socialist (as I liked to think I was then) and the only word I struggled with was Proliatariat, I just couldnt get it out.
Anyway, the first night came and my parents came, at the interval they nipped out to a pub and were late coming in. Also in attendance was my friends Jon and Dave and they had sat on the front row in these huge kipper ties and this was in 1987 by the way, not 1974, so I came on for my first scene and I froze, all I could see were my two best friends in these ties giving me the thumbs up and giggling. So I composed my self and cracked on without incident.
I was quite happy then, for that short period, the last year at school, I was living at my nans and I had started to love school.

This morning I have learned that Kidderminster Market Tavern is now a vets. I used to go to a lot of gigs there in the late 80’s early 90’s, notably the gig that Carter TUSM refer to as their worst ever, their drum machine broke. I also saw the family cat there a number of times, nothing but happy thoughts about that place.
I used to go with a few friends that I have now lost touch with and this pains me as there was a lot of happy times with them, perhaps they are on facebook, and perhaps I could remember their surnames.

Here is my best bit of spam from this morning.

“My new guy’s peter is enormous, and my mouth is tiny.

Boytoys always hee-hawed at me and even boys did in the unrestricted comfort station!
Well, now I giggl at them, because I took M E _G_A_D_ IK
for 6 months and now my shaft is greatly preponderant than national.
acquire http://crazylok.com/ ”

I have no fucking clue as to what all that means.

We said at the start of the year that we were going on a gig hiatus this year, no gigs, no festivals.

I said this in February.

“My kid is going to see Reuben tonight, she has seen them loads, as has Lisa, they are ok, nothing special, why have Reuben when you have Biffy Clyro is my opinion, Biffy always left me with a huge grin on my face. We probably, ordinarily have been going ourselves to Reuben but as we fast approach the end of month 2 of our gig hiatus, its not going to happen. That reminds me, the house of love doing the dont look back gig, I was all for buying tickets for that, ditto sonic youth, I was quite restrained not doing it, Slint? well slint are ok for beard strokers, but not for me. I feel that should anyone else be announced for these gigs, it may be too difficult to resist. I keep telling myself why we arent doing gigs and festivals and its important that we dont go, I know its petty but really, I do not want to be bored and indifferent at gigs, I want to be excited. So if I miss things this year that I know I would really really want to go to, ATP Vs the fans, Dont look back, NOFX at Reading, Me first and the gimme gimme’s, I know that next year, when I go and see no mark indie band at the little civic, I will feel excited again.”

Well so far we have seen hips like cinderella twice, we have been to three festivals and ok thats more than we said we would do but its a start. Well anyway, I got tickets to see the cribs in October and NOFX in november.

So it is that time of year, the country goes mad, the papers are filled with rubbish and music blogs and websites talk about nothing else. Yes it is Glastonbury weekend. Clearly aimed at people that dont go to gigs throughout the year and its nothing more than another name ticked off their gig CV. I hate Glastonbury, I hate Eavis, I hate the way it worms its way into the nations consciousness and takes over everything. I hate the people that go to it (obviously I dont hate specific people, just general people) and I hate the way it has turned into a holiday camp for the middle classes, I hate how people tolerate 20 minute avant garde jazz funk solos by tibetan musicians, I hate it so much, and I cant escape it.