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Thanks very much to Paul Burke at Forest FM in Dorset who playlisted our track The Neverending on his show on Friday. A few more like that would be nice!
New dates for the diary (although both to be 100% confirmed) are Thursday 17th December at The Varsity Bar in Reading, and Sunday 28th February at Bournemouth Folk Club (yes, another folk club gig!)
Wednesday 28 October 2009
Random MJ Ramble
Its 34 degrees in my office. The air-con has packed up, and with all the windows in the building unable to be opened due to health and safety (even though we’re only on the first floor and you’d be lucky to break a leg if you jumped), it’s pretty damn uncomfortable.
As luck would have it, I (Phil) have little work to do this afternoon so I’ve just been reading the reviews online of the new Michael Jackson concert film, released internationally last night. The consensus is a bit hit and miss, some of it is good, some bad – in some of it you can see his genius shining through, whereas in other bits he just comes across as a frail man with what seems like the whole world on his shoulders. As expected, every paper, news website etc has a comment on it – which is of course to be expected.
I personally am a little uncomfortable with the fact that this film has been reviewed in exactly the same sort of way any other cinema release would have been. It’s blatantly obvious that this material, however good, was never intended for mass viewing - at the very most a 10 minute segment as part of the extras DVD of what would have been no doubt a tremendous live DVD after the shows had been completed. The fact that respected film critics for national and international news agencies can criticise the filming techniques is a little out of line. I’m sure had they known the bloke was going to drop dead before the opening night, they would have got the finest camera and sound crew available to capture every last detail of the show……but they didn’t, so this is all we have, and maybe we just need to be thankful we even have that – but I suppose that view doesn’t sell papers.
The one thing that is certain is that everyone is in agreement this was going to be some show – so lets hope we actually see it one day, with the worlds top performers taking on the Jackson role.
Anyway – in other news, it looks like we might have finally sorted a date in Reading. After almost 2 years of searching for the right venue, it looks like we’re going to be playing The Varsity Bar on Thursday 17th December, alongside two as yet unnamed acoustic based acts. So, if you’re from the Reading area, like most of us are – stick it in the diary.
As luck would have it, I (Phil) have little work to do this afternoon so I’ve just been reading the reviews online of the new Michael Jackson concert film, released internationally last night. The consensus is a bit hit and miss, some of it is good, some bad – in some of it you can see his genius shining through, whereas in other bits he just comes across as a frail man with what seems like the whole world on his shoulders. As expected, every paper, news website etc has a comment on it – which is of course to be expected.
I personally am a little uncomfortable with the fact that this film has been reviewed in exactly the same sort of way any other cinema release would have been. It’s blatantly obvious that this material, however good, was never intended for mass viewing - at the very most a 10 minute segment as part of the extras DVD of what would have been no doubt a tremendous live DVD after the shows had been completed. The fact that respected film critics for national and international news agencies can criticise the filming techniques is a little out of line. I’m sure had they known the bloke was going to drop dead before the opening night, they would have got the finest camera and sound crew available to capture every last detail of the show……but they didn’t, so this is all we have, and maybe we just need to be thankful we even have that – but I suppose that view doesn’t sell papers.
The one thing that is certain is that everyone is in agreement this was going to be some show – so lets hope we actually see it one day, with the worlds top performers taking on the Jackson role.
Anyway – in other news, it looks like we might have finally sorted a date in Reading. After almost 2 years of searching for the right venue, it looks like we’re going to be playing The Varsity Bar on Thursday 17th December, alongside two as yet unnamed acoustic based acts. So, if you’re from the Reading area, like most of us are – stick it in the diary.
Thursday 22 October 2009
London dates for the diary
We have 3 London dates coming up in the next few weeks. We'll be at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell on Saturday November 7th, then a return to the brilliant Icarus Club at The Station Hotel in Lewisham on Thursday November 12th, before making our debut at The Halo Bar in Battersea on Tuesday 1st December. Full details on all these gigs can be found in the gig section of the site, as well as on all our other random pages!
Getting back to it
Well, we’re back gigging tonight for the first time since we finished the summer album tour in Finedon near Kettering at the beginning of September. So much has happened in the last 6 weeks that this gig seems like an age ago – but we’re somewhat refreshed (well, some of us are) and really looking forward to getting back playing tonight.
We had our first rehearsal with all 5 of us present for the first time in two months on Tuesday, and ended the session with a new song, which we plan to have a crack at tonight. Those of you who follow us regularly will know that the rate of our output is not exactly what you would call prolific – but two new songs in as many months isn’t bad going, although I make no promises that this will continue…..
So it’s Folking Live tonight, which is actually the night I (Phil) run. The fact that I’ve booked us for it does reek of complete self promotion I admit, however it’s a nice little gig to get us back in to the swing of things and The Cellar Bar at South Hill Park is a really nice cosy little venue with great sound – although pretty horrendous toilets it has to be said!
The bill is really good (even if I do say so myself…) with one of the best bands I’ve seen in ages coming down to play. If you do one thing today, check out Lewis Garland & The Kett Rebellion – www.myspace.com/lewisgarland, it’ll be well worth your time and effort.
So, be good to see some of you there - £5 on the door, 8pm start and you should be able to get back for at least half of Question Time.
The rest of the year looks pretty solid, with a few London dates confirmed – and no doubt more writing to be done. It’s nearly Christmas, and then it’ll be on to record album number 2…..hectic!
We had our first rehearsal with all 5 of us present for the first time in two months on Tuesday, and ended the session with a new song, which we plan to have a crack at tonight. Those of you who follow us regularly will know that the rate of our output is not exactly what you would call prolific – but two new songs in as many months isn’t bad going, although I make no promises that this will continue…..
So it’s Folking Live tonight, which is actually the night I (Phil) run. The fact that I’ve booked us for it does reek of complete self promotion I admit, however it’s a nice little gig to get us back in to the swing of things and The Cellar Bar at South Hill Park is a really nice cosy little venue with great sound – although pretty horrendous toilets it has to be said!
The bill is really good (even if I do say so myself…) with one of the best bands I’ve seen in ages coming down to play. If you do one thing today, check out Lewis Garland & The Kett Rebellion – www.myspace.com/lewisgarland, it’ll be well worth your time and effort.
So, be good to see some of you there - £5 on the door, 8pm start and you should be able to get back for at least half of Question Time.
The rest of the year looks pretty solid, with a few London dates confirmed – and no doubt more writing to be done. It’s nearly Christmas, and then it’ll be on to record album number 2…..hectic!
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