Bin men rant!

Yet again this lazy bunch of jokers can't be arsed to do thier job just because of a little snow!! 

Christ 20yrs ago I remember bin men wading through snow 2 foot deep carrying.. yes fucking "carrying" cast iron bins full of rubbish 200 yards to the bin wagon and then bringing it back again.. These days you have to leave the bin at the bottom of the drive, but make sure the lid is shut or they wont take it!  Apparently we have to save thier poor little legs from getting tired and make sure they don't have to bend thier backs picking up a little litter that may fall out.  And then to add insult to injury we have to play hunt the bin, cause the lazy fuckers can't be bothered to return it!!

I'm all for H&S at work, but these bin men and thier unions really take the piss..  at this rate we'll be emptying the bins ourselves..

IMO we should sack them all and replace them with polish workers.. at least the job will get done and done properly for a change..

rant over..

My Top 10 CD's for 2010

Eric Bibb – Bookers Guitar

Cradle of Filth – Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa

Black Country Communion – BCC

Black label Society - Order of the Black

Ozzy Osbourne – Scream

Revenant Dead – Two Evils

Alter Bridge – ABIII

Philip Sayce – Innerevolution

Robert Plant – Band of Joy 

Walter Trout – Common Ground

Black Country Communion.

Finally recieved official confirmation that I have a photo pass for the BCC gig on the 29th dec 2010.  To say that I'm quite extatic about this is an understatement..  makes up for the JB / NIA fubar earlier in the year..

The Pretty Reckless @The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton - 15.12.10

Here we are last gig before christmas and I'm raring to go..

Francesqa

Francesqa were the surprise support for tonight’s gig, but to be honest I wish they’d tried surprising us with a block of  ‘Stinking Bishop' or maybe a little ‘Blue Stilton’.    I’d lost interest before the end of the first song and spent the rest of the set listening from the bar, as did so many others.. At best they are unimaginative and uninspiring, but they have developed the uncanny ability to make one tune sound exactly the same as next!  Typical diarrhetic Kerrang fodder for the mindless.   In case you missed the clue, I didn’t like them much!

http://www.myspace.com/francesqa

The Pretty Reckess

It would be very easy to take the route as so many others and dismiss ‘The Pretty Reckless’ fronted by ‘Gossip Girls’  ‘Taylor Momsen”  as just another promo stunt / spoilt Tv star playing rock bitch, without a second glance, but I’m a naïve old codger and will get pretty much anyone a chance to prove the all knowing news media wrong..

The lights go down after what seems to be an eternity after the Franthingies left the stage and this full house erupt as TM saunters onto the stage in typical rock chick garb singing “Does what I’m wearing shock you?”  Which itself receives more rapturous applause.. 

First song for those that don’t recognise that opening line is the Alanis Morissette feel “Light Me” which she performs amazingly well and is a great opening song.  This is followed by “since you’re gone” which gives her the chance to clearly demonstrate the raunchier side of her voice, which as we find during the night can be either sweet and innocent or just plain downright dirty, but in a good way.  It’s a mix of Morrissette, Pink, Courtney Love, Joan Jett and Madonna caressing your eardrums and nibbling on the nape of your neck whilst bathing in chocholate ice-cream.. its fucking heaven, but so so wrong at the same time.. 

As for this young lady herself, her command of the stage and stage presence is second to none.  She exudes confidence and no one else on stage has a chance to compete.  She has this audience eating out of the palm of her hands and they love it.

But its not all positive, fluffy clouds and white picket fencing.. Halfway into the night she covers Oasis’s ‘Supersonic’, which was fine until half way through they decide to go Muse and throw in a little of ‘Time is running out’!   Who’s fucking idea was that?  Whoever it was should be shot because the end result was bloody awful!   You just can’t mix Oasis and Muse, it’s like mixing a fine wine with meths fo fuck sake.. get a grip!!

So other than the Supersonic glitch the question remains; Can this girl actually sing and are we to take her seriously?   Well tonight Taylor put on an absolutely fantastic show and proved to this old codger that she has what it takes in abundance. There are certain people that are meant to act and others that are meant to sing,.. TM is of the later variety and it would be a sad day for female rock fronted bands she decided to follow the acting path. Marya Roxx eat your heart out...

Set list

Light Me up, Since You’re Gone, Zombie, Miss Nothing, Just Tonight, My Medicine, Like a Stone, Supersonic, Factory Girl.

Islands, Nothing Left to Lose & Make Me Wanna Die. 

http://www.theprettyreckless.com/

Hawkwind - The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton - 08.12.10

The Jokers

Hailing form Liverpool, The Jokers have been around for a few years now building up a decent fan base and earning themselves quite a good name in the business as a good “rock and roll” band.. of which there are not enough of IMO..

They come on stage and attack right from the start..  Wayne dressed in leather wearing a a Kevin Kegan perm providing good and confidant vocals,  Paul on lead obviously loving every minute of being on stage and demonstrating his fret skills and showmanship 80’s stylee at every opportunity, with good support from Simon and Cris on drums and bass.The bulk of the material comes from their cd “The Big Rock n Roll Show” which has received some very good reviews and is extremely well produced, but we have the sounds like Aerosmith track, then there’s the sounds like RHCP track etc..  which is a pet hate of mine, but were not hear to review the cd..

In conclusion the lads put on a damn good set.. The only downside for me is that it was far too short and left me wanting to hear more...  

The Jokers one of those bands that you know deep down have the potential to be huge with the right managerial backing and direction..  As it stands at the moment they’re just a melting pot of styles with no real defined identity of their own and although they’re up there playing their own material ‘and doing it very well too’ they still come across as a very good cover band.

http://www.the-jokers.co.uk/

Hawkwind

Im really not the best person to review this band as I’m just ever so slightly biased where Hawkwind and Dave Brock are concerned.. and it’s going to be a fantastic gig, no matter what happens!!

The good ship Hawkwind has been sailing the astral plains now for over 40yrs and from what I can see there’s no sign of them stopping in the near future.   Captain of the ship, Dave Brock presently has , as far as I’m concerned, one of the strongest crews/line-ups this band has ever seen over it’s illustrious career.. with Richard Chadwick (drums) Naill Hone & Mr Dibbs sharing guitar duties and the exceptional Tim Blake on keyboards ..   

One of the main downsides of any Hawkwind gig is that they simply aren’t an exciting band to watch, listen to YES, but not watch.. So to make up for this Brock has always provided secondary visual stimulus.  Originally it would have been an oil light show and the occasional naked dancer, but Brock was one of the first to embrace projector technology to produce visually stunning images whilst not really leaving the original oil concept behind.   We also have the dancers at key parts of the show and the obligatory stilt walkers towering menacingly over the audience.  Old hat maybe, but it simply wouldn’t be a Hawkwind gig without it.

During this near 2hr inter-stellar journey wrapped neatly around the new “Blood and Earth” cd ‘which has received mixed reviews, but I loved’ were taken down paths old and new and as they launch into “Sonic Attack” it suddenly dawns on me how well this music travels in time.. and how comfortably older tacks such as “Masters of the Universe”, “Spirit of the Age”  sit encompassed within the newer material and still retain credibility.. not many other bands can achieve this feat without being boring and Hawkwind are far from boring.  If you think of Hawkwind as a book and each new album is a chapter of that book, then it all begins to make sense and explains why everything flows and crosses over so cleanly through time..

Highlight of the night for me had to be “Spirit of the Age” which is one of my personal favourites..  For Brock who has to be in his late sixties to still be able pull this track off with credibility was a joy to witness and from the best seat in the house too… oh the joys of being a gig photographer.

All in all this was a stupendous night and one of the best gigs that I’ve had the privilege to see this year  and one I won’t forget for a long time..  The band once labelled ‘the peoples band’ are still sailing strong.

http://www.hawkwind.com/

I guess

this is my first blog...

This has to be the most contsructive I've been in quite awhile.. New web-site is motoring along with the addition of this Blog and I'll be incorperating the old website as well..   even had time to take a break and build the wife a new site too.. Ice and Slice

Good new is that I've got my pit pass for tomorrows Hawkwind gig @ The Wulfrun Hall.  To say that I'm happy is an understatement.. these are my heroes...  so plenty of pics to come.. :)