Something For The Weekend

The Long Blondes

2008-04-19T17:39:00.002Z

Zodiac saw The Long Blondes getting involved with an Oxford crowd and they loved it. Hot sweaty female guitarists in nautical stripes were belting out just about over average tunes. All in all an acceptable gig, not sure they will ever get beyond this though.

Alphabeat

2008-04-19T17:37:00.003Z

Saw Alphabeat last Sunday at the Zodiac - probably the campest euro-pop band on the circuit at the moment.
Not sure they were Tim or Helen's favourite band of the year... but Kunal loved 'em.

David Cronenbergs Wife

2008-02-22T19:21:00.003Z

Not bad, probably better in my head than they were in real life.
Always good to have a chill out session at the Bully.

Stornoway + You and Me

2008-02-01T14:43:00.000Z

Pretty damn good. You and Me appeared to have an actor from the Office in the band singing and Stornoway had their own human fact generator.

Foxes! + Bordeville Duo

2008-01-25T20:14:00.000Z

Another gig at the Cellar, another appearance by Foxes! - it never gets old.
Swarbrick and Woodhouse from Bordville were surprisingly good as well playing an acoustic set... laptops may just replace drummers in the future.

Equitruck 3

2008-01-13T20:31:00.000Z

Hosted by the Jericho Tavern and featuring a lot of good bands such as Frank Turner, Witches, Morrisson Steam Fayre, and others I've forgotten. Nevermind. oh, and Family Machine.

Supergrass

2007-12-21T19:20:00.000Z

In Oxford's lovely town hall. Not bad, there were christmas lights and trees to look at too.

Borderville + Stornoway + Little Fish

2007-11-25T18:16:00.000Z

A surprisingly good night at the Jericho Tavern. Would have been better if baby Swarbrick had descended from above with a small guitar and dark sunglasses for Borderville's encore.

Family Machine + Foxes!

2007-11-24T13:10:00.000Z

Are Foxes! the same without Foxes! Dan? The short answer is no. Without the fashionable glasses and big hair Foxes! turned in what could be described as an 'ordinary' gig at the famous Wheatsheaf compared to the prior exploits of the band who are now residing in Brighton.
This was made worse by the storming performance of Family Machine, who turned out an end of the world type performance. They promised the crowd a special guest, but none materialised, instead they walked off stage after their last song and headed straight to the bar. Now that's rock and roll.

Pigeon Detectives at Zodiac... Again.

2007-11-24T13:09:00.000Z

No Pigeons. No Detectives (to my knowledge). All good music.

Oysterband

2007-11-19T16:11:00.000Z

Highly entertaining trip to the Zodiac.

The Epstein

2007-11-05T16:24:00.000Z

Oxfords favourite indie-country darlings at the Zodiac. They had two guest trumpet players, so that enough to persuade me to offer them the thumbs-up.

Iceland Airwaves Festival 2007

2007-10-22T19:16:00.000Z

Iceland Airwaves - Bloody brilliant!
Unfortunately couldn't see every band over the 3 nights so here's a list of the bands we did see:

Thursday
Boys in a Band
Slow Club
Best Fwends
The Teenagers
Friendly Fires

Friday
Weapons
Sudden Weather Change
Jan Mayen
Prinzhorn Dance School
múm
Of Montreal
Computerclub
The Viking Giant Show

Saturday
Foreign Monkeys
Bob Justman
Lada Sport
Ms John Soda
Steed Lord
Annuals
Bloc Party
Dr. Spock

I may do some reviews for the bands if my memory comes back.

The Cribs

2007-10-15T18:03:00.000Z

The lovely Cribs at the Zodiac (Oxford Carling Academy), a very good night for all.

Los Campesinos! + You Say Party! We Say Die!

2007-10-10T15:18:00.000Z

Very very good gig at the new upstairs part of the Oxford Carling Academy. You know what your getting with the new rave ramblings of You Say Party! We Say Die!, but Los Campesinos! were an unknown quantity. Turned out to be like Monkey Swallows The Universe on speed, some good violin action in parts which I always love. Definitely worth getting the album if there is ever one released.

Not sure why everyone feels the need to use exclamation marks in band names though.

Reverend and the Makers

2007-10-03T22:04:00.000Z

Good gig at the new Zodiac (Carling Academy), just a shame I couldn't find 3 of the people I was supposed to be seeing it with.

Monkey Swallows The Universe

2007-09-03T16:26:00.000Z

Playing at the Port Mahon - an intimate venue that complimented the emotionally charged gig.

The Half Rabbits + The Brickwork Lizards + Witches

2007-08-14T08:39:00.000Z

Nice little gig at the Jericho Tavern.
Witches were outstanding, Brickwork Lizards were forgettable and The Half Rabbits were partially unintentionable forgettable because of Stella (there was a bit of stool standing which me and Tim enjoyed though).

Secret Garden Party 2007

2007-07-30T16:06:00.000Z

Eventful is one word to describe it.

Top 5 Bands of the weekend would be:

1. I'm From Barcelona
2. Monkey Swallows The Universe
3. Battle
4. Alabama 3
5. Echo And The Bunnyman

The Twang + Dogs + Alterkicks

2007-05-26T10:15:00.000Z

Very good night. The Twang were a bit difficult to get into at the start, but they did finish the gig strongly. However the night was all about the genius that is Dogs. The lead singer walks onto the stage with a half full pint with a swagger that screams rock god, but pretty sure the man don't give a fuck. Blinding. Look out for the Alterkicks too, they've got the chance of becoming big.

End Of An Era Party aka. The Last Ever Zodiac Night

2007-05-20T10:26:00.000Z

Thats right, its game over for the existing Zodiac. Now it is time for the men in suits to tear down the walls and replace it with the Carling Academy. Will it still contain the love that bounced around inside? We'll all find out when it reopens in September.
As for the actual night, I think it was always going to be hard to live up to the hype. however a collection of old and new friends (minus Graeme, Rich S and Charlie) gave it the send off it deserved.

Where will life take us now I ask myself?

Last ever Yoursong at the Zodiac

2007-05-17T17:45:00.000Z

Yoursong: A night where local bands perform cover versions of classic songs.

Pick of the night had to be The Evenings who did covers of Micheal Jacksons 'Thriller', Kylie's 'Locomotive', and Queen's 'We Are The Champions'. Genius.

Borderville did a pretty good job on 'Jesus Christ Superstar' as well.

...On to the LAST EVER ZODIAC NIGHT now, I've capitalised it giving it the respect it deserves. I'm actually leaving the house now to go to it.... nnnnnnnnnow!

A few Zodiac pictures requested by Charles Hobson

2007-05-14T15:54:00.000Z

Frank Turner at the Zodiac

2007-05-13T17:31:00.000Z

Good gig, crowd were loving it. Frank was enjoying himself.
Tinged with a bit of sadness however due to the fact that this was the last ever Saturday night at the Zodiac before refurbishment changes it forever and the Carling Academy take over.

...the double sambuka took the edge off though.

The Maccabees and Mayday

2007-05-02T10:28:00.000Z

Around 18 hours of crazy drinking, dancing and general misbehaviour!

The Maccabees were pretty good, bit of a dodgy start but they got better as the set went on. Worth a look.

As for Mayday, well the social group does seem to get smaller every year but luckily Tim got a friend down to join and he was a good addition. Plus we bumped into Dan and friends from Oxford super group Foxes!, so plenty of jolly going-ons in the Cellar till 6am. Then a few more drinks at The Bear after watching the sunrise on Magdalan bridge, culminating in laying in a field and wanting to die.

Great stuff.

The Rakes In Brixton

2007-04-01T14:26:00.000Z

Thats Brixton in London for all you Geography strugglers out there. I've seen the Rakes play better, perhaps I was just off the pace a bit. Especially after an incident that occured earlier, which won't be mentioned here. Went to a SU club thingy near the Thames after, not bad. Cheap and cheerful.

The Sounds

2007-03-25T11:48:00.000Z

Amazing Swedish band who not a lot of people know about, well done Mr Ford for telling me about them. Could this be the last gig I ever go to before the Zodiac is refurbished and its all new and shiny? I wouldn't be sad if it was.

Tilly and The Wall

2007-03-04T15:29:00.000Z

Brilliant! may add some more later, but brillaint sums it up.

Pigeon Detectives at Zodiac

2007-03-01T09:28:00.001Z

6 hours after the Fopp gig went to see these guys again. Absolutley brilliant. The lead singer looked as if he'd been drinking non-stop since I'd last seen him, which was a good thing. Amongst the water fights, the crazy dancing, the crowd surfing and the stage invasion, he actually sung a perfect set. These guys are BIG and will only get bigger.

Pigeon Detectives at Fopp

2007-03-01T09:27:00.000Z

A special in-store gig at music shop Fopp. Turned out to be an acoustic set because they couldn't fit the rest of the equiptment in the store. Not bad seen as they were clearly winging it.

iforward russia! + Cursive

2007-02-28T16:22:00.000Z

Four out of Five. Very Good.

The Enemy + The Half Rabbits

2007-02-22T10:41:00.000Z

The Dykeenies were supposed to support The Enemy as well and were actually the band I really wanted to see, so automatic disappointment right from the start. However their absence meant that The Half Rabbits must have had a longer set and boy did they take advantage. I've seen them a couple of times before and they were nothing compared to the set they did tonight. It was a more mature performance and a seemingly more balanced set.
With such a surprising performance from them, plus the crowd loving it, The Enemy were going to have to work hard to better them. Luckily they stepped up to the plate. The lead singer played and sang like he only had 6 months to live, getting the crowd involved and active. This music was grassroots indie rock, no clever ballads, over-complicated guitar rifts, or new-rave hocum, they were keeping it simple... and all the better. Storming through fast-paced, head nodding, foot tapping songs, and only stopping to shout to the crowd to 'dance they're arses off, because why the fuck not'. Reminding me of an early Oasis, or more recently Dogs and Sunshine Underground, The Enemy have dragged the 90's back into the 21st Century and if these guys haven't made it within the next 12 months lots of music labels need to fire some employees.

NME New Rave Tour

2007-02-14T10:54:00.000Z

Featuring Klaxons, CSS, Sunshine Underground + New Pony Club.
Didn't see New Pony Club, so don't really know if they were any good. Sunshine Underground were pretty good, though not a patch on their zodiac performance. CSS was an interesting watch, they had great stage presence and got the glow sticks waving from the crowd. Klaxons however were a bit hit and miss, they either have amazingly good songs or really bad songs.
Overall a pretty decent night, but nothing supremely special.

Foxes + The Family Machine

2007-02-09T19:01:00.000Z

At the Celler, twas good.
These posts are getting shorter and shorter, well I am a busy man I guess.

The Blood Brothers + Help She Can't Swim

2007-01-29T11:55:00.000Z

Not my usual kind of music, but they got the job done.

Equitruck II

2007-01-22T18:18:00.000Z

Equitruck was the best thing I've been to this year, perhaps a shallow statement since we were only 20 days into it and I'd been out only twice before and that was just to the pub.
Anyway... Bloody great.

2007: Leeds Style

2007-01-02T13:06:00.000Z

Spent New Years Eve in Leeds at the Cockpit, was actually quite good. Well done Charlie.
Hopefully this year will carry on how it started.

The Dead 60s + The Quarter Finals

2006-12-15T19:43:00.000Z

Second time I've seen The Dead 60s at the Zodiac and the first time they were supported by a little known group called the Kooks. This time its The Quarter Finals and if there is any justice in the world they should follow in The Kooks' footsteps hitting the bigtime.
As for the gig it was pretty good, lots of old songs mixed in with new material from the 60s and the crowd seemed to love the ska/rock atmosphere.
The night was made extra special by the fact that the manager of The Quarter Finals gave me a free CD with 3 of their songs on it. Bloody brilliant.

Joan As Policewoman

2006-12-05T16:30:00.000Z

Charlie Hobson quote - 'That was a proper gig'

Completely agree. A different type of gig for a different type of sound. I also got a badge for £1. Jackpot. All the people who visit this blog should go and listen to Joan... which I think is just one person. Hello Catpee! x

Little Man Tate

2006-12-02T13:27:00.000Z

Absolutely Fucking Amazing!
Best gig I've been to in Zodiac for ages (however could be short lived with Joan As Policewoman on Monday). Took part in a stage invasion, as did 88% of the audience, resulting in a loss of microphone for the singer so he ended the gig singing without it which actually worked brilliantly. He also explained a striking association between pulling and sunday league footballers, which actually made a lot of sense.

Hobson gig watch: Where was he?

Hot Club De Paris

2006-11-27T20:53:00.000Z

At cellar. Very good. Bit like The Futureheads. Have to go now, second half of Corrie just came on.

Sunshine Underground + The KBC

2006-11-12T12:46:00.000Z

Classic Zodiac Night, but with bands at the start.

Dufus + David Cronenbergs Wife + Foxes

2006-11-10T16:42:00.001Z

Lead singer of DCW is a legend and my new best friend. Hope he got back to london alright.

Dogs at Zodiac

2006-11-07T19:04:00.001Z

Quiet and then a bit mental.

The Divine Comedy

2006-10-31T10:48:00.000Z

What can I say that hasn't been said already? It wasn't a sold out gig in Oxford, but that didn't matter, every person in there made it sound like there were 4 times as many people in the venue. The crowd waited in anticipation for a sight of Neil Hannon, then suddenly after a tumultuous sound of drums and french horns fit for the arrival of royalty he appeared with his 7-piece band to rapturous applause.
For the next 1 hour 40 minutes we were treated to what can only be described as a phenomenon of music. Most artists would perhaps feel pressure from record executives to shamelessly plug their latest album by performing lots of tracks from it, however Neil Hannon has always been his own man. He picks songs from an extensive 8 album back catalogue and makes them sound so fresh that you'd think he'd just writen them backstage. However this isn't just about the music, this is about the man behind it. There is so much conversation between himself and the crowd that at one point he bursts out into an impromptu song about how his looks are great after someone shouts out that he is 'fit'. While during 'The Plough', which by his own confession should be a sad song, when someone shouts "plough it" while at a silent moment he couldn't help but burst into laughter and let the rest of the band continue part of the song as an instrumental. He continues the performance with such classics including 'Something For The Weekend', 'Becoming More Like Alfie', 'When The Lights Go Out All Over Europe', and finishes with my personal favourite 'Tonight We Fly'. However the crowd are not happy. They Want More, and Hannon doesn't disappoint. He comes back with an encore of 'National Express' sending the crowd into hysterics.
Hannon is not just a singer, a musical artist, or a born entertainer. He is a god.

Swiss Concrete at Port Mahon

2006-10-25T17:07:00.000Z

To be honest I don't understand the Swiss Concrete part of the title. Anyway, I saw Little Eiffle, Santa Dog and Blood Music there. Those kind of bands you're only ever going to see on the local circuit, but that isn't a bad thing. The relaxed jovial atmosphere in the place complimented the bands that played. A nice way to spend a relaxing Tuesday night.
P.S. If you're reading this Charlie you owe me a £1.

Last Minute Gig

2006-10-04T10:32:00.000Z

Quarter Finalists + Speed Circus + The Rifles.

Pretty good all round to be honest. There was good music, a punch-up and a dancing clown. Plus went to a jazz night afterwards for something a little more cultured... well actually just for a few more pints really.

Saturday Gig Time At Zodiac

2006-09-24T12:55:00.000Z

Xmas Lights + Foals + And No Star + Remember The Flood

Foals were amazingly good, probably the surprise of the night. While Remember The Flood are my brothers band, so I kind of have to like them or my mum will hit me. Still, they were actually not bad seen as it was their first gig. The other bands were rubbish, made me consider suicide.

Love Is All

2006-09-20T12:02:00.000Z

Love Is All were a band I had high hopes about. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties with sound and a saxophone player seeming to disappear half-way through the set it never quite lived upto expectation. Although best described as the poor man's version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I think this band have a lot more to offer than what was dished out to the crowd.

British Sea Power and Tilly and The Wall

2006-09-08T13:20:00.000Z

Two great bands, two very different bands. Can't be bothered to write anymore, still have dirty hangover. Just search for them yourselves people.

Yo La Tengo

2006-09-06T16:02:00.000Z

Went to see Yo La Tengo, a band I'd never previously heard of before, at Shepherds Hall in London. They turned out to be pretty good, especially the slower songs. Made me contemplate life a lot.
Anyway, no time to type. I have to go and get ready to see British Sea Power play at the Zodiac in Oxford. Life seems to be going in fast forward recently.

Festival season is officially over

2006-08-29T09:38:00.000Z

Leeds was great as usual, rather than describe how brilliant it was and bore myself and everybody around I'll just write down the bands I saw...

Friday

Metric
Tapes 'n Tapes
Forward Russia
You Say Party, We Say Die
Lady Sovereign
Goldie Lookin Chain
Broken Social Scene
Boy Kill Boy
The Kooks
The Rakes
Maximo Park

Saturday

Fields
The Long Blondes
Pigeon Detectives
Panic! At The Disco
The Subways
Fall Out Boy
Belle And Sebastian
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Kaiser Chiefs
Franz Ferdinand

Sunday

747's
Giant Drag
Plan B
Milburn
Be Your Own Pet
The Automatic
Dirty Pretty Things
Feeder
The Streets
Arctic Monkeys
Muse

3 down 1 to go

2006-08-23T08:40:00.000Z

Secret Garden Party... Best festival EVER! Bumped into Lilly Allen who thought I was a festival entertainer which was quite amusing. Must have met hundreds of random people... this is the festival of the future. Leeds Festival seems like a bit of an anti-climax now though! Oh well.

unplanned gig: Seafood

2006-08-06T12:06:00.000Z

Randomly went to a gig last night, Seafood headlining with The Race and Rock Of Travolta supporting. All quite loud and hot really, but still a success. Bravo.

2 down 2 to go...

2006-08-01T09:10:00.000Z

Global Gathering was absolutely fan-bloody-tastic! You in no way need to be a lover of dance music to enjoy this festival, the atmosphere was electric. So much to do, but so little time to do it during the two days. The absolute highlight had to be Daft Punk's set, allegedly their retirement gig, the crowd were in hysterics, as were we. I think Carl Cox also cemented his place as one of the best DJs in the country.

I don't think I can rate this festival highly enough, which comes as a bit of a surprise to be honest. Next stop The Secret Garden Party...

1 down 3 to go...

2006-07-28T00:22:00.000Z

Truck Festival has been accomplished and now it is time for Global Gathering tomorrow (The other 2 festivals to go being The Secret Garden Party and Leeds by the way). Two festivals that couldn't be further apart in terms of music and participants. A very new experience for me... this should be very interesting ladies and gentlemen.

I'll try to get some pictures put up if I can be bothered and if anyone cares.

1 Year Anniversary

2006-07-20T15:47:00.000Z

Just realised this blog has been going for an entire year now, doesn't time fly. I wish I could say things have changed over the past year, but actually they're mostly the same. Only now I have less friends in Oxford because a few have moved away... I did not drive them away!
As we have come completely full circle it is now that time of the year where Truck Festival rears its head and calls out to me, which is where I'll be heading this weekend with my tent and my Carling. Jackpot.

2006-07-03T23:47:00.000Z

Oh dear.

England vs. Portugal

2006-06-30T22:22:00.000Z

Surely this is our year. I want to be updating this blog with 'England in the Semi-finals!'.
There BETTER be dancing in the street tomorrow night.

Vincent Vincent And The Villains

2006-06-25T10:36:00.000Z

Classic gig at The Pub Oxford. The fact that the band didn't want to play until the Argentina Vs. Mexico game finished made it all the more comical. Although they're never going to make it to the big time they're still definitely a good band to look out for if they're playing in your local.

PS. New Divine Comedy Album 'Victory For The Comic Muse' is GENIUS!

Larrikin Love and The Morrison Steam Fayre

2006-06-07T10:30:00.000Z

Larrikin Love rose above the critics and discovered a new gear playing an exhilerating set at the Oxford Zodiac, cementing their right to be playing at this years Leeds Festival. The crowd absolutely loved it, crowd surfing to the last couple of songs and invading the stage. The lead singer was loving it though. Definitely a band to look out for in the future.

Also got some support from london act The Morrison Steam Fayre, who I have seen before and quite liked. They enjoyed themselves just as much as the headliners and while not playing at Leeds for the moment will be strumming along at the prestigious Truck Festival.

Dance never died... its soul survived!

2006-06-04T15:38:00.000Z

Just purchased tickets for the Global Gathering Festival. Apparently dance music never went away so I'm gonna dabble in a bit of jumping up and down to beats that turn your brain into mush.
I guess its fun to experience different things and it makes up for not going abroard this year.
So far its 3 festivals and counting this year... Truck, Global Gathering and Leeds. Let the fun commence.

Morrissey at the New Theatre

2006-05-29T17:15:00.000Z

Saw a very good Morrissey last week.
Got into a fight with an animal rights protester afterwards.
Kissed a friends girlfriend.
Another average day in the life of me.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2006-05-19T11:52:00.000Z

Yeah Yeah Yeahs played at the Forum in London the other night and they were pretty good. Didn't know many songs previous to it, but will listen to the album a bit more after that performance. They had a lot of energy and despite having to compete with the Champions League final managed to inspire the sell-out crowd to sing along to such hits as 'Maps' and 'Y Control'.

After a night in london on a sofa bed I experienced the Tate Modern and the London Aquarium. Both very interesting in their own seperate ways.

The Upper Room

2006-04-28T10:06:00.000Z

Ok, The Upper Room must be one of THE best bands I have ever heard. Seriously.
If they don't make it to the big time there is something wrong with the music industry.
Songs such as 'All Over This Town', 'Combination' and 'Black and White' have got hits written all over them. Saw them live last night and they played with real energy despite the venue not being sold out.
Check them out now....

http://www.myspace.com/theupperroomspace

http://www.theupperroomsite.com/

Dirty Pretty Things

2006-04-20T16:05:00.000Z

Going to see Mr Carl Barat's new band Dirty Pretty Things tomorrow and I've heard very good things about the ex-Libertines new venture. Whether they can hit the headlines as much as Mr Pete Doherty is debatable, however I guess it should be about the rock and roll really rather than the sex/drugs.
Although I wouldn't be offended if any Kate Moss wannabies want to come up and talk to me during the gig.

Graham Coxon at Zodiac

2006-04-02T11:05:00.000Z

LEGEND!
Thats all there is to say.

OK Go at the good old Zodiac

2006-03-29T09:35:00.000Z

Another band to add to my musical recommendations.
They played a pretty business like gig streaming out arguably the best songs from their two albums, however it was the encore that produced the originality of the gig. Disguarding their instruments they cleared the stage and produced what can only be described as a 'sensational energetic dance off' to one of their songs.
If this intrigues you then you can see a video of similar dance emphatics here... http://profile.myspace.com/okgo

Also look out for the band 'The Bright Space' who supported them, they were pretty good too.

Secret Futureheads Gig

2006-03-02T18:47:00.000Z

Not too much to say about it really. I think the fact that it was supposed to be 'secret' gave it a mistaken sense of brilliance. However I wasn't blown away.

Just noticed that my blog seems to have turned into just a page of gig reviews. Think I'm going to have to think of other things to write about... something political and economical perhaps.

Stellastarr*

2006-02-24T11:29:00.000Z

Brilliant.
Click Here.
Now.
Then go buy their albums.
Here.

The Mitchell Brothers Curse

2006-02-22T17:06:00.000Z

Went to see The Streets at the Astoria as part of a long weekend in London, which had carnage written all over it. However it was support band The Mitchell Brothers that we were really interested in, an up-coming hip-hop act that have caught our eye. Me and my friends have attempted to see them twice before, but due to differing circumstances have always been too late to see their full set. However this time we were prepared. Arriving in london a day early, in the Astoria to even see the second string support band Professor Green. What could go wrong?
Well, 3 songs in and Teddy Mitchell suddenly has a throat spasm, unable to sing anymore, leaving the stage to the disbelief of his brother. They do return to perform 2 more songs, with Teddy croaking through it. Complete disaster! We leave with a determination that we will break the curse, celebrated with getting stupidly drunk and falling over on the dancefloor at 4am in a club.

The Rakes

2006-02-01T10:44:00.000Z

Hot on the heels of the Test Icicles gig (which seemed to be heavily populated with the youth of today/tomorrow) I have the pleasure of heading off to the big smoke tomorrow to see The Rakes at The Astoria.
Definitely a band that will attract us thumb-twiddling twenty-somethings, hopefully they will improve on what was a very impressive gig at the zodiac a few months back.
The lead singer is a mix between Murdoch from the A-Team and the Crazy Frog, with a bucket full of singing talent. Ace.

Test Icicles

2006-01-31T17:41:00.000Z

Decent gig tonight with the lovely Test Icicles at the Zodiac Club in Oxford.
Might buy a t-shirt if I get drunk enough.

Mew

2006-01-19T18:47:00.000Z

No! Not the cute and powerful Pokemon. But the dreamy noisepop band.
I've already alerted patroclus, so I thought I'd alert the entire world... Now go to Mew!

Chaplin does Liverpool

2006-01-02T19:01:00.000Z

For a change new years eve just about lived up to the hype. Walking around Liverpool in fancy dress is surely as good as it gets.

Somethings Coming...

2005-12-24T11:27:00.000Z

Well its Christmas Eve and its almost time for what everybody has been waiting for... The Doctor Who Christmas Special!!!!
Mr Tennant you are a legend among legends. Yes.

Electric Soft Parade

2005-12-21T18:45:00.000Z

Yes. Going to see them play tonight at my friendly neighbourhood Zodiac club.
Part of the Truck Records Christmas Party, which could well be my last hurrah before Christmas Day.

Roxy Love

2005-12-17T13:32:00.001Z

Dogs were brilliant, I managed to crowd surf without kicking anyone in the head. Although some cheeky bugger stole the local Oxford Music magazine 'Nightshift' I had in my jacket pocket, how that could be useful to them I am not sure.
Paul Weller made a special guest appearance as well, odd and nice in the same quantity. Also met the drummer from Razorlight who was watching the gig, nice man.

Went to probably one of the best clubs in London afterwards. Club Roxy has to be one of the best. If not THE best. Cheap entry, cheap cocktails, cheap women. Yet I spent about £60 on the night and had nothing to show for it. I did wake up with 'Love Cock' written on my hand though, I'm not going to explore the Feudian significance of that.

Dogs

2005-12-14T17:35:00.000Z

Going to see them in London tomorrow... The band not the animals.

Monkey Madness

2005-12-02T14:13:00.000Z

How can Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys be named NME's coolest man on the planet?!
The guy is only 19 years old to start with, does that even fall under the category of 'man'. Shouldn't there be a seperate category for 'boy who has only released 1 single'. Don't get me wrong, the guy is pretty cool and I love his music but perhaps somewhere between 4 and 6 would have been a better placing.
...And where the hell was Graham Coxon. The guy is still alive NME!

The Faint

2005-11-24T10:13:00.000Z

The Faint are one of the best bands I've come across recently.
Go and download/buy/steal some of their songs... Now!

2005-11-09T15:35:00.000Z

A brief update... Yes, I'm still great.

Half way through my gig calender now

2005-10-21T12:19:00.000Z

Saw Hard-Fi last night in London and I can only say that I was terribly disappointed. Apart from the singles they released and the odd song from he album they were reasonably average compared to the other bands I've seen, plus the lead singer thought he was bigger than he actually was.
To relieve the disappointment I went to a place called Club Roxy till 3am and got wankered.

... Kids, don't listen to your parents. Drinking is big and it is clever.

Eight gigs in a month and counting...

2005-10-06T15:45:00.000Z

8th - Editors/We Are Scientists
9th - Cassette Boy
17th - The Paddingtons/Sexy Breakfast
20th - Hard-Fi
22nd - In The Flesh/The Space Between
23rd - The Brakes
26th - Shout Out Louds
28th - Bloc Party

Definitely has to be one of my busiest months for gig action. Pick of the bunch has to be Bloc Party though, a great climax to a mad month.
On the downside however there is a fair chance I won't have 50 pence to my name once November comes around.

I've got a million things to say...

2005-10-02T12:22:00.000Z

...but the lights have gone out.

I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. There seems to be some sort of bee buzzing around in my head telling me lots of ideas, yet I can't seem to decipher them. Less than 3 months till 2006 and I seem to be in exactly the same place as I was 4 years ago (sigh).

Anyway, lets stop the depression and think positive. After the success of The Rakes gig last week I have the exciting prospect of an Editors gig this Saturday. It's sold out and We Are Scientists are supporting, its got all the potential of a perfect gig.

The Rakes Tonight

2005-09-27T17:45:00.000Z

Saw them at Leeds without their lead singer and they got a few guest singers on to replace him, most notably the black guy from Bloc Party whose name has escaped me. If someone else could be bothered to find out his name that would be useful, I'm feeling quite lazy.

Anyway, not expecting much tonight so hopefully I'll be pleasently surprised.
I always find that the gigs with the least expectation produce the greatest results.

House Party Number One

2005-09-23T12:36:00.000Z

Ok ok... I'm amazingly hung over, in fact I think I'm still quite wasted because I want to go for a run around the house and do the washing up while listening to Basement Jaxx.
I haven't been to a dirty houseparty in ages so thought I'd make a note of it.

1. Drinking till 6am
2. Lots of pretty ladies
3. Lots of Stella...... it was needed!
4. Two Spanish guys who got kicked out by a mad woman who lives there

Think I'm going to go and pass out now, perhaps on the keyboard.

igrbahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvhhibwrn bijer bjiajre arebgmjt

Sing in French for a change

2005-09-20T18:41:00.000Z

Quel Im la parole, que je dis-il ce que l'usage entre la mort et la gloire ? Je pleurniche dis entre la mort et la gloire ? Les fins heureuses, non, ils ne m'ont jamais ennuyé defin Heureuses, ils ne m'ennuient pas toujours Mais ils, ils ont une façon Ils ont une façon pour faire vous payer Et vous faire l'orteil que la ligne Coupe les matchs nuls parceque je suis si astucieux Mais astucieusement sage.

Baise à jamais Si vous n'avez pas des objections Oh baise à jamais ? Si vous avez mis l'esprit, l'esprit mis,j'ai mis l'esprit, j'ai mis l'esprit.

Oh ce que l'usage entre la mort et la gloire ? Je pleurniche dis entre la mort et la gloire ? Le nouveau travail et Pergatory de Conservateur et aucunesfamilles heureuses.

Oh, donc que je dis Que je dis Non, son pas pareil Son n'a pas supposé pour être pareil que Vous savez decomme ça La façon ils font vous payer Et la façon ils vous font l'orteil que la ligne Coupe les matchs nulsOh, vous êtes si astucieux, votre si astucieux Mais vous n'êtes pas très agréable baise Si à jamais Si vousn'avez pas des objections Oh je suis enfoncé votre esprit.

Mais avoir vous a entendu parler de comme ça, faire vous vous sentez que je doit vous faire bientôt paie Etvous faire l'orteil la ligne, revêtez je Coupe les matchs nuls Oh bien je ne Coupe jamais les matchs nuls Etbaise à jamais Si vous n'avez pas des objections Voyez que je suis enfoncé à jamais Oh je suis enfoncé n votreesprit, votre esprit, votre esprit.

Je n'ai jamais joué ceci sur le radio je n'ai jamais joué ceci sur le radio.

Helens 25th Birthday

2005-09-17T16:21:00.000Z

A picture of the happy day...

Taking over the internet...

2005-09-12T00:16:00.000Z

http://www.myspace.com/roryconstant

...and then the world.

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

2005-09-06T10:27:00.000Z

Can you believe that my PC is still broken! It seems to have new problems every week, I'm starting to think its a bit of a hypochondriac.
At least I can still break into my brothers room and hack into his PC. No one will stop me looking at pictures of Charlotte Cooper... woo hahaha!

Happy Birthday to fellow gorgeous person Catpee as well by the way.
Make sure you make a good wish, you only get one per year remember.

Off to Leeds Music Festival now...

2005-08-23T19:30:00.000Z

Well this should be fun.
I could spout out a load of bands I'm looking forward to seeing, but to be honest most of them are pretty good. Have a look at the line up yourself if you don't believe me.

P.S. May be out of action internet wise for a while as I had an engineer out today to fix the fan inside my computer. Although that was fixed without problem he somehow managed to find problems with the graphics card, the power supply, the sound card adaptor and the hard drive. So my computer is now dead. Thankfully I get all the parts for free, otherwise I might as well buy another computer.

Anyway, see you soon. Actually probably not that soon... x

Brixton Academy

2005-08-22T12:22:00.000Z

I saw The Streets and The Ordinary Boys on Friday, they were pretty impressive I must say. There is something about Mike Skinner that helps generate a lot of energy from the crowd, he is definitely a born performer. Although I'm pretty sure he had a bit of help from the drugs and booze he had probably consumed prior to appearing on stage. Not sure if there are any avid Streets fans around, but if you have seen them live then you'll know what I'm talking about.
It was a good gig to get me in the mood for the upcoming Leeds Music Festival, which should be a classic way to end a summer of doing absolutely nothing constructive.

Top 5 Benidorm photos

2005-08-19T12:19:00.000Z

So far the panel has decided on these...

Post-Benidorm 2005 Message

2005-08-17T09:23:00.000Z

Well I'm back.
I've got lots to say but haven't quite got the time at the moment. Pictures and news will appear shortly...

Pre-Benidorm 2005 message

2005-08-01T13:25:00.000Z

So the summer action continues and I'm off to Benidorm for 2 weeks tomorrow. What can I say, other than that I'm really looking forward to it. At the moment I have numerous articles of clothing sprawled across the bed in the hope that they will magically fit in a suitcase that I haven't got out of the loft yet. I just hope that I come back in one piece, I know I have a lot of adoring fans out there. I'm not sure what you'll do without me for 2 weeks, try reading Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince its really good.

Anyway, a special goodbye to my favourite people... you know who you are.

Truck Festival 2005

2005-07-26T17:32:00.000Z

A fantastic weekend involving music and alcohol, my favourite combination. The bands that stood out from the mediocrity were, in non-alphabetical order, The Magic Numbers, Editors, Yourcodenameis:Milo, The Electric Soft Parade, Fell City Girl, Biffy Clyro and Sexy Breakfast. Well they're the bands I can remember anyway, everything else is a bit fuzzy. I suppose discovering they had a wine tent may have been my first mistake. To anyone who reads this I highly recommend that you think about going next year, its one of the cheapest and best festivals in the music calander.

I'm sure this will get better

2005-07-13T14:41:00.000Z

Hello.
I'm not quite sure how this will work out, they didn't give me any instructions. Its like the time your dad buys something that you have to build yourself from B&Q and the instructions are always missing.
Great. I already feel like drinking some vodka.