October.

So where did September go? I have no idea! Long time since I've updated this but I've just been so busy that I haven't had time.

Bought a couple of new books recently - both autobiographies - by Chris Evans and Ozzy. Should both be a good read.

Currently listening to a lot of Deep Purple and Rainbow. Not really sure why but at least it's decent music. Will update this for sure at some point next week. Happy Weekend! :)

August Already?

Busy weekend for me with lots being done (but nothing really productive).

Simon came down on Friday night while Ross and Ashleigh were visiting their gran at her caravan in Saltcoats. Went to the pictures (for the first time in seven years) to see “Moon”. It sounded really good, but we both left disappointed. A few beers in the town (although not in The Solid) and then home. He left on Saturday morning to head back to the caravan, but he might be back again this weekend.

Saturday was Top 100 day in The Solid, so lots of silliness was had. The regulars table was packed out, but it was all good fun. The annual Air Guitar Championships were had again with me being cajoled into participating. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) I was eliminated in my first heat – not helped by the fact Frankie was playing the “guitar” with her boobs! Ended up on the tables rockkin’ on to this years number one song: “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC. The Top Ten was filled out with Metallica, Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, KISS, Iron Maiden and more AC/DC.

Sunday was spent in Edinburgh with mum and dad and the rest of the folk from Tyneside who came up for the weekend. The afternoon was nice just sitting in Princes Street Gardens listening to a succession of Jazz bands in the bandstand followed by a barbeque at Alec’s house. Katie and Janet both turned up with the kids, which was good as I haven’t seen them for ages.

Pre-AC/DC at Hampden Park

Tonight is the big night for any self respecting rock fan in Glasgow – or should that be Scotland. AC/DC roll into Hampden Park as part of their “Black Ice” World Tour and the anticipation is high. I’ve got a few mates from Dundee coming down as well as one from Stevenage coming up for the gig, so it’s a logistical nightmare trying to fit everyone in for drinks before we head off to Hampden.

The Solid is bracing itself for a day of madness, as it’ll be busy from early on until about 5:00pm. It’ll be interesting to nip into the pub tomorrow at about 9:30pm when AC/DC are in the middle of their set – interesting to see how empty the pub is on a Tuesday!

Wednesday Thunder are playing The Academy as part of their (second) farewell tour. I’ve seen them a few times (including the previously mentioned farewell tour) and am still thinking about going to see them one last time.

Thursday I’m out again, this time seeing Northern Ireland’s The Answer for a gig re-scheduled from April. The band are supporting AC/DC on their current tour, so they should be good doing a longer set.

Weekend in Dundee.

So I travelled up to Dundee on Friday night after work and went out into town for beers with Scott and Euan. We visited Paul at The Phoenix and then back up the road. Late start on Saturday due to the excesses of Friday but we still managed a pub crawl round Dundee city centre. Unfiortunately Paul wasn't out on Saturday for beers, but I'm sure we'll see more of each other the next time I go up or they guys come down to see me.

Disappointing result for Ferrari in the British Grand Prix, but Sebastian Vettell did a good job for Red Bull - notching up his second win of the season.

All was going well today, until I went into the spare room to find some low life piece of s**t had decided to chuck a stone through my window (again!). I'm quite concerned about this to be honest, as it's the second time in 6 months it's happened - almost like I'm being trageted (or is this just paranoia?). Of course I don't know who it was that did it, so can't do much about it - the annoying thing for me is that I have to pay another £200 to get the damn thing fixed.

Newcastle Visit

Took a wee trip down to see the parents at the weekend again and to see Katie and Nathaniel who are over for a wee holiday. As always, it’s nice to see Father P doing so well and Katie and Nathaniel seemed to be having fun too. The main reason for going down was to see them all before their imminent depature to Spain for a weeks holiday.

I managed to escape into town on Sunday night where I tried to get into Trillian’s (the Newcastle version of The Solid) and turned up at 3:30 only to be told that it should have opened at 3:00pm but strangely – wasn’t! I have the feeling that the rock fraternity of Newcastle was venturing down to Castle Donington for the Download Festival to see bands like Slipknot, Anvil, Thunder, Whitesnake, Faith No More, Journey and Sunday’s headliner’s Def Leppard.

Ended up at a place called The Percy Arms which was kinda rockkin’ so not a bad night all in all.

Def Leppard’s Donington Set List: Rocket, Action, C'Mon C'Mon, Make Love Like A Man, Too Late For Love, Nine Lives, Love Bites, Rock On, Two Steps Behind, Bringin On The Heartbreak, Switch 625, Hysteria, Animal, Armageddon It, Photograph, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Rock Of Ages, When Love & Hate Collide and Let’s Get Rocked.
Whitesnake’s Donington Set List: Best Years, Bad Boys, Can You Hear The Wind, Love Ain't No Stranger, Guilty Of Love, Lay Down Your Love, The Deeper The Love, Is This Love, Got What You Need, Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City, Give Me All Your Love, Here I Go Again, Still Of The Night.

This weekend coming I’m off to Dundee for more beers with Mr Scott and Mr Dave (if he turns up), then we’re all getting ready to get onboard the “Rock N’ Roll Train” heading for Hampden Park on 30th June. :)

May Bank Holiday.

Busy day on Sunday for me.

First off was the (now) annual Doctor Who Event at St Andrews In The Square (http://www.standrewsinthesquare.com/Flash/saints.html). It was my first time there and it’s a very nice venue (much better than the tacky Central Hotel, where it was for the last few years). I got to meet some nice folk connected to Doctor Who including Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury and Nicholas Briggs. There were a couple of “local” guests too – Andrew Smith (who wrote “Full Circle” in 1980) comes from Rutherglen and Stephen Greenhorn (who wrote “The Doctor’s Daughter” in 2008 as well as creating “River City” for the BBC) who comes from West Lothian.

Met up with a few mates too – Scott, Dierdrie and John so spent sometime in the downstairs bar with them – I was on the coffees, by the way, as I was driving! Nice menu there and very pleasant surroundings.

The trains back home finish early on a Sunday and the reason that I was driving was because I was heading off later in the day to see Blaze Bayley and his band playing at Ivory Blacks (the old Strawberry Fields, for those who know Glasgow) as part of their World Tour to support their “Man Who Would Not Die” album. Seeing Bayley live is always fun – and never predictable – and it’s nice to see him in a small venue close up with deafening sound.

Blaze Bayley's Set list: The Man Who Would Not Die, Blackmailer, Smile Back At Death, The Launch, Lord Of The Flies, Born As A Stranger, The Brave, Tenth Dimension, Identity, Kill And Destroy, Ten Seconds, Alive, Ghost In The Machine, The Clansman, Samurai, Voices From The Past, Stare At The Sun, Futureal, Leap Of Faith, Robot


Waiting for my "Flight666" DVD to arrive! ;)

Star Trek.

So, Mr Simon came down from Aberdeen and dropped off the kids at Saltcoats before heading back into Glasgow to meet up with me so we could go and see the new Star Trek movie. We were both looking forward to it, but we ended up being disappointed as by the time we went to buy the tickets, the showing was sold out! Quick walk to the pub for a few beers and a chat and then he was off back to Saltcoats.

Ended up in The Solid where we belatedly celebrated Mr Gray's brithday.

Wednesday Night Out.

It was such a nice day yesterday that I decided to go out for a few beers after work. Ended up in the Solid's sister pub Rufus T Firefly on their new roof garden – which I didn’t even know existed until I got there. It’s a small decked area on the roof with gas powered heaters and wee speakers nailed to the walls – not to mention the retractable roof in case it rains!

Generally a good night was had, with me ending up in the famous Lauders Bar. For those who don’t know, Lauders is across the road from where the old Apollo concert venue was (now a multi-screen cinema) and was the pub of choice for the discerning rocker in the 1980s before nipping across the road to see a band on the Apollo stage . Strangely, this was my first time in the pub and I happened to know some of the bar staff. Looks like Lauders in firmly on my list of pubs to drink in from now on! Last train home was pretty quiet and then the next thing you know it's time to get up. Quiet night planned for tonight.

May Already?

Took a wee trip down to see the parents at the weekend. Nice to see Father P out of hospital and the weather was good enough to sit out the back and have a few glasses of wine. We went to the local Woodland Centre at Winlaton Mill on Sunday afternoon which was quite nice. Lots of child friendly activities and lots of walks to be had – although with a wheelchair, some accesses proved difficult to negotiate. Will head down again in a few weeks if I can manage it.

What is going on with the Ferrari F1 Team, I don’t know. All credit to Jensen Button who’s having a good season so far (despite not knowing if he would ever get an F1 drive again after Honda put the team up for sale), but he’s doing a great job for the Brawn Team in their maiden season. Hopefully Ferrari will be better placed to gain some points in the latter half of the season. World Championship this year for us? Not a chance!


Was planning on getting the grass and the hedge cut last weekend, but the torrential rain on Saturday meant that this wasn’t possible. Really nice weather today, so I’ve decided to leave work early and get it done tonight. I can’t do it this weekend as I’m off to Aberdeen. Finally set about arranging a trip to the Doctor Who exhibition at the Kelvingrove – looks like it’ll be 26th June. That’s the day the school’s break up in Glasgow so hopefully we can be in and out (and on the way to the pub) before the place is invaded by children.

30/04/2009 – Saxon.

So, last night I finally got to see Saxon (ably supported by Doro Pesch) and it was well worth the wait! What a fantastic night – full of old style Heavy Metal. Can’t be bothered putting Doro’s set list up cos she didn’t have a sparkling set – except for a novel re-working of the Judas Priest classic “Breaking The Law”.

Saxon Set List:Battalions Of Steel, Heavy Metal Thunder, Demon Sweeney Todd, Ride Like The Wind, Requiem (We Will Remember), Strong Arm Of The Law, Valley Of The Kings, And The Bands Played On, Hellcat, The Eagle Has Landed, Come Rock Of Ages (The Circle Is Complete), Machine Gun, Never Surrender, Wheels Of Steel, Live To Rock, Motorcycle Man, Crusader, 747 (Strangers In The Night), Denim And Leather, Princess Of The Night.

The Answer/Books.

I was suppost to be going to see The Answer (the self proclaimed best rock n’ roll band from Northern Ireland) on Saturday night but unfortunately, the band has had to reschedule the gig as the drummer has broken his hand. Shame really as I wanted to see them before I saw them supporting AC/DC (probably the best rock n’ roll band from Scotland) at Hampden Park in June. Never mind, at least I’ve got Saxon to look forward to next Tuesday.

On the subject Irish things, I was in Tesco’s at the weekend when I noticed that Eddie Jordan has a book out that I didn’t know about. Eddie was, if you didn’t know, the Team principal for the Jordan F1 Team for a number of years before selling the team (which currently races as the Force India Team). It’s his autobiography and was published last year so I thought I’d give it a go – looking forward to an interesting read. Of course, if I bought that, then I’d have to buy Jackie Stewart’s autobiography (he was plugging the paperback version on the BBC’s One Show) earlier in the week. Two more lovely books to add to my collection. By the way, I’m still reading Tony Hancock’s biography and am now up to 1967. It’s a good read - albeit a bit sad at times and not looking forward to reading about his final months as I think it’ll be quite harrowing.

Standby Flights.

So Mrs Karen was going back to Northern Ireland last night when the unexpected (for her anyway) did happen. Her brother Mr Rodney works for Flybe and so Mrs Karen gets a discount when she flies. She did offer it to me but I turned it down as you don’t have a booked seat – you’re on standby. So we’re waiting at Glasgow Airport for her to get booked in when she’s told that a cancellation at Edinburgh Airport means that a bus load of passengers due to fly to Belfast will be boarding the Glasgow flight. The flight is therefore fully booked and she is (technically) stranded in Glasgow. This why I prefer to book a seat – at least you’ll get one!

Anyway, we managed to get her booked onto the first flight this morning, which necessitated me driving her to the airport first thing in the morning, and she flew back home to some very unhappy children. Like I said to her last night – these things happen and there's no point getting stressed about it.

Also realised that it’s 17 years today since a group of us travelled all the way down to London’s Wembley Stadium for The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert featuring Metallica, Def Leppard, Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey – in fact, click on the link below for more details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Freddie_Mercury_Tribute_Concert

The Blaze 500.

I am now officially one of the Blaze 500 – “what does this mean?” I hear you cry. Well, it’s all very simple. The Blaze Bayley Band released a new DVD recently ("The Night That Would Not Die") and there were 500 limited edition versions available where you got a special wristband and exclusive t-shirt along with a copy of the DVD fully signed by the band – all for just £20. Nice actually because the standard DVD will be costing £20 so to get the extras (unavailable anywhere else) is nice.

So everyone who got this limited edition version also got the magic number – the number being the bands’ mobile phone number! Quite amusing really but I don’t see the point of calling it as I’ve nothing to say to them – it’s just a very novel idea.

Anyway, the rear diffusers on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams’ F1 cars are legal then are they? Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo must be furious that this has been missed by their designers and they are now lagging behind as they have no points from two races, and will have to redesign their current diffuser in order to be competitive. Hopefully they’ll be more competitive for the European races starting in June.

AC/DC kicked off the first part of their UK Tour last night at the O2 Arena – judging by the set list, the Hampden Park gig on 30th June will be fantastic – even though this may be the bands' last tour.

Set List (O2 Arena):
Rock And Roll Train, Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be, Back In Black, Big Jack, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Shot Down In Flames, Thunderstruck, Black Ice, The Jack, Hell’s Bells, Shoot To Thrill, War Machine, Anything Goes, You Shook Me All Night Long, TNT, Whole Lotta Rosie, Let There Be Rock, Highway To Hell, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).

Easter Special - "Planet of the Dead".

Back to work after my long weekend. Had a nice time, the wather and the company was good and I even managed to slip in a few quiet beers in Romas (http://www.romas.co.uk/) on Saturday night. Didn't have the chance to meet up with Mrs Lilly and Mr John as they were having the family round - but maybe next time we can meet up properly.

The Doctor Who Easter Special (the first of Tennant's final stories) was, if truth be told - a tad disappointing. Lee Evans was good (and funny) and Michelle Ryan did a good job too although the story itself was a bit flimsy. Also, I don't see the point of the crew travelling all the way over the Dubai so they could film in a desert - what's the matter with a good old Welsh quarry or somewhere in Wales with a lot of sand?

Currently reading "Black Knight" - the autobiography of Ritchie Blackmore (from Deep Purple and Rainbow). Very interesting read, this one. Didn't know, for example, that he auditioned for a group as did Jimmy Page - only for Blackmore to get the gig. Up to 1964 at the moment with tales of Lord Sutch, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. :)

Montrose Music Festival?

When did this happen – and why didn’t it happen 20 years ago when we lived there:

http://www.montrosemusicfestival.co.uk/

Easter Holidays are approaching, so I’m away for the weekend to Northern Ireland. Nothing planned except for Saturday night when we’re having a “Doctor Who Night” after the broadcast of the first special – “Planet of the Dead”. Matthew asked me to bring a couple of DVDs across, so I asked him which ones he wanted – turns out that he wanted me to bring *all* my Doctor Who DVDs with me!

I’ll be back on Monday and all ready for work on Tuesday.

Spinal Tap World Tour.

So it’s been announced that Spinal Tap are starting a World Tour at Wembley Arena on 30th June. They are also finishing their World Tour at Wembley Arena on 30th June. I was actually thinking about going, but I’ll be at Hampden Park in Glasgow watching AC/DC on their "Black Ice" World Tour.

As funny as Spinal Tap are, doing a World Tour in one day doesn’t seem like that much of a silly idea.

Back in 1991, Status Quo did a whole UK Tour in a day (starting at BBC TV Centre in London before heading out to Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham and finishing up at back at Wembley Arena, a little over 11 hours later) – a feat which put them in the Guinness Book of Records.

Def Leppard performed three concerts in three continents in one day (Tangiers, London, and Vancouver) on 23rd October 1995 – which got them into the Guinness Book of Records too.

And, who can forget that on 24th September, Roger Taylor played a gig at his home (well, it was actually in the converted barn beside his house), to support the release of his “Electric Fire” album which was broadcast on the internet (and latterly released on a video that was available exclusively through Virgin Radio). This gig too got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the biggest ever online concert.

Maybe The Tap’s idea isn’t actually a bad one!

Malaysian Grand Prix/Status Quo.

Yesterday was, of course, the Malaysian Grand Prix. I was planning to go on and on about how great Ferrari are doing this early in the season, but with two races gone and not a single point scored by the team – I don’t think I will say anymore about them. What I will say, though, is that it’s good to see Jenson Button and the Brawn GP Team doing so well. All those years at Ferrari have taught Ross Brawn to master the art of strategy within a Grand Prix, and this is paying dividends. The less said about Liar Hamilton – the better!

So, today is the 6th April, and I realised over the weekend that today ten years ago, I was all excited after meeting Status Quo (the whole band) for the first time and was waiting to see them play live in The Solid as part of their “Under The Influence” Pub Tour to promote the album “Under The Influence” (pub – “Under The Influence” – geddit?). I do remember the day very well. I became an honorary member of The Solid’s bar staff that day and was even allowed to stay in the pub after the band asked for it to be closed so they could eat their lunch and do a sound-check in privacy. To commemorate this occasion, I’m wearing the t-shirt I bought that day. Yes, I know its ten years old, but I’ve only worn it once and it looks brand new! Maybe I should go down to the pub after work for a beer?

Not Metal enough?

So, I went back to the Doctor’s for a check up (this was the first time he’d seen me since I went into hospital) and he wanted to check my blood (as he suspected I might be low in iron), so he sent me off for blood tests. Turns out that I’m not as metal as I thought I was, because I am indeed deficient in iron, so I'm still on iton tablets and will be for the next 3 months. Maybe I should drink more Guinness!!!

Anyway, despite not being metal enough, I still made the Metallica gig at the SECC. The set list for the ‘Tallica and Machine Head are below, but should point out that this gig was the second time *ever* that “My Apocalypse” was played and the first time “Turn The Page” and “Die, Die My Darling” have been played in Glasgow. The cherry on the cake was “Trapped Under Ice” which has been played live, literally, 5 or 6 times since it was written in 1982 – cue many younger fans: “Oooooh – it’s a new song!”!!!

Metallica: That Was Just Your Life, The End Of The Line, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Of Wolf And Man, One, Broken, Beat And Scarred, My Apocalypse, Sad But True, Turn The Page, All Nightmare Long, The Day That Never Comes, Master Of Puppets, Fight Fire With Fire, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, Die, Die My Darling, Trapped Under Ice, Seek And Destroy

Machine Head: Clenching the Fists of Dissent, Imperium, Halo, Beautiful Mourning, Descend the Shades of Night, Davidian

Metallica-Time (Part 2).

Well, it here – Metallica’s World Magnetic Tour touches down in Glasgow tonight. It’s the first time for 13 years that the band has played indoors in Glasgow (I was, of course, at the previous indoor gig in the Barrowlands in 1996). Looking forward to a good night and hoping to get (my personal favourites) “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Creeping Death” played tonight as neither were played in Newcastle earlier in the month.

As mentioned, the weekend will be taken up with all things of a Grand Prix nature. Will Ferrari be able to hold onto the World Championship Constructor’s trophy and will they be able to wrestle the Driver’s trophy from the hands of McLaren Mercedes? Only time will tell (it always does). Could be an interesting first race with all the rule changes since last year – thankfully the FIA have reverted to the old points scoring system instead of the new one they suggested.

Right, I’m off for lunch across the road in Wetherspoon’s and then off to The Squalid for a few beers with Mr Garry before heading down to the SECC. Rockkkk On!

Almost Famous!

Well, Scotland on Sunday had a rather large piece on Doctor Who fans last weekend, and I even got a name check! I do have a paper copy (thanks to Mary Jo at work!) but for those who missed it, it’s online at the link below. My bit’s in paragraph 13:

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum/Tales-from-behind-the-sofa.5094307.jp

Good weekend with Dad’s party. Lots of lovely food (of which I didn’t get much) and lots of wine drunk (which I did do my fair share of drinking!). Petrus the Pirate enjoyed himself, and the weather was good so he even got out into the garden for a while.

Apart from that, it’s a quiet week for me – with the exception of Metallica, Machine Head and The Sword at the SECC on Thursday and The Sword headlining King Tut’s on Friday with support from Diagonal and The Black Cherry Group.

This weekend will mostly be spent watching the Australian Grand Prix qualifying (Saturday) and the actual race on Sunday. It’s the first time for 12 years the BBC have done the coverage so we’ll see how it goes. Thankfully we won’t miss any action due to advert breaks and I’m sure David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan will do a good job with the commentating!

Happy 70th Birthday - Father P.

Today is, of course, Father Petrus' 70th Birthday - Hope you have a lovely day, Sir! :)

St Patrick’s Day?

It is, of course, St Patrick’s Day today – and you’d have to be hiding in a hole not to notice! Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles wouldn’t shut up about all things Irish this morning, Metal bands like Slayer and Metallica are offering special "St Patrick's Day" branded merchandise just for the day, a lot of the music channels on TV are showing special countdown shows of the Best 100 Irish this and that and, of course, all the Irish theme pubs all over the UK are making the most of the day! It’s strange cos I don’t remember any of this fuss on 17 April 2008 (St George’s Day), 1st March 2009 (St David’s Day) or 30th November last year to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. Why do the Irish seem to make more of a fuss!

Didn’t feel well on Sunday afternoon, and struggled into work yesterday but only lasted until 3:00pm. Straight home and straight to bed. Feel a bit better this morning, but still not feeling 100%. If I had £5 for every time someone mentioned I was maybe having a relapse – I’d have £35! I don’t think I am, but if I continue to feel rotten I’ll make a Doctors appointment.

Happy Tuesday!

Signed Venom cover.

Venom's "Hell" CD signed by the geordie rockkers (Cronos, Antton and Rage) themselves. Cronos has signed his name backwards - how cool is that! :)

Birthday Girl/Comic Relief.

Happy Birthday to Mrs Kate who is 38 (count ‘em) years old today. Here’s hoping she has a lovely day.

Over here and it is, of course, Comic Relief day. The BBC seem to battering Comic Relief into our conciousness with special programmes and interviews with those celebs who climbed Mount Kilamanjaro, special episodes of programmes like “The Apprentice” and “Two Pints” as well as retrospectives on previous years – but tonight is the “big” nigfht when you aren’t suppost to go to the pub after work but instead should donate the money to Comic Relief, whilst having a good laugh at the shenanigans on the TV. Guess that means I’m going straight home after work tonight! :)

Happy Friday everyone.

More Doctor Who Nonsense.

Quite an interesting wee night last night as I went for a couple of beers in The Crystal Palace with a couple of mates to meet a journo from Scotland on Sunday who’s writing an article on Doctor Who to tie in with the exhibition of props being held in The Kelvingrove Museum from 28th March 2009 – 4th January 2010.

Good chat was had about Doctor Who in gereral, fandom in Glasgow and the upcoming exhibition as well as the Doctor Who event being held in Glasgow on the 24th May. The article should be published in the 22nd March edition of Scotland on Sunday. The journo had asked us to come dressed up as a Doctor Who character and was quite disappointed that we all turned up in normal clothes. We all had the same reaction when asked to dress up – “We might like the programme, but we’re not sad to dress up as The Doctor or a Cyberman!”.

Apparently the exhibition is still getting set up, but the Face of Boe is there (still under wrapping at the moment) and some Daleks as well as a couple of Weeping Angels from “Blink”. Quite what else is there couldn't be divulged. The Kelvingrove are trying to get “someone” Doctor Who related to open the exhibition as well as try to arrange for Tennant to turn up sometime while it’s on.

Belated Happy Birthday to Simon who turned 37 yesterday and was treated to a meal out with Shirley followed by a visit to His Majesties Theatre to see comedian Al Murray.

Goodnight Sweetheart & Venom.

I remember "Goodnight Sweetheart" from Sunday nights on BBC1 and its being repeated again on ITV3 at the moment. Basically, it’s a sitcom where a TV Repair man finds a hole in time and traverses between his 1990s life and wife (Yvonne) and a girlfriend he’s got in wartime London (Phoebe). Missed the first episode, but quite enjoying the series so far. I was thinking about getting the DVDs (all 6 series available for £30) but not sure whether to actually buy it or not.

Got a CD through the post last night from Newcastle’s biggest Metal band (well, they did define and name the Black Metal genre with their 1980s song – “Black Metal”) - Venom. Didn’t pay for the CD as I saw on their website that the band were selling signed copies of their new album through a web store in America. I did query this with the band office are in Whitley Bay, and got a reply saying they were sorry the CD wasn’t available in the UK, but have a signed copy free. Nice! The interesting thing about the CD is that Cronos (Bass player and Singer – real name Conrad Lant) has actually signed his name backwards!! I’ll put up a scan of the cover soon.

Rossi's New Hair Cut.

Heard rumours about this in about September/October last year. Francis Rossi was hinting during the initial stages of Status Quo's UK tour that the ponytail might be going - as of today, it has finally gone. Click on the link below for more info:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article2309123.ece

Got a text message out of the blue from Geraldine who I knew in Dundee many years ago. She's still in Aberfeldy and her son, Johnny, is now 10 years old. Nice to hear from her and totally unexpected.

16 days to the Metallica gig in Glasgow but in the meantime, I have a few things bubbling under which could be construed as beimg quite cool (for me anyway) if they come off - more as and when they happen! :)

Friday Again!

Well, that’s another week gone and what a week it’s been. With the excitement of Metallica earlier in the week, who would’ve thought my week could get any better. Arrived home after work to find my new Doctor Who DVDs, (“The Rescue” and “The Romans” starring William Hartnell) waiting for me, and an envelope from BBC Wales. I had previously found out that the BBC produce promotional postcards for Doctor Who (like they did in the 1980s), so I thought I’d write to them to find out if they have any for the new series. They do indeed, and inside the envelope was a selection of postcards – including one personally signed by David Tennant. What an unexpected surprise!

Just getting ready to purchase the birthday cards for March people. That’ll be Simon Maxwell (37), Katie (38) and, of course, Father Petrus is 70 in a couple of weeks.

Status Quo have announced their Winter Tour. Glasgow’s scheduled for 13th December while they arrive in Newcastle on the 16th December. They’re playing the City Hall in Newcastle which I saw on Kevin Whatley’s episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” amd it does look very grand – can’t imagine a rock n’ roll band playing there although several have. Might give it a wee go this year.

Right, off for my lunch – Happy Weekend, everybody!

Newcastle - Done and Dusted.

Well, that’s me back to work after a hectic couple of days – the most exciting thing was going down to Newcastle to see our heroes. It’s been some 13 years since I last saw the band indoors (the Glasgow Barrowlands in 1996) and two years since I last went to a Metalli-gig (Wembley Stadium, where Machine Head also supported).

I’ve seen quite a few pictures from the current tour, so I suspected that it would be a really good night, which it was. Spectacular laser show to open the performance followed by explosions, real fire and more metal than the Forth Road Bridge! Highlights included “Harvester”, “Blackened” and “Killing Time” (by Sweet Savage who will currently be touring with Saxon), although I couldn’t really complain about anything on the night. Machine Head were pretty good, and The Sword sounded good although I didn’t see them as I was in the bar!

Newcastle:

Metallica: That Was Just Your Life, The End Of The Line, Harvester Of Sorrow, No Remorse, One, Broken, Beat And Scarred, Cyanide, Sad But True, No Leaf Clover, The Judas Kiss, The Day That Never Comes, Master Of Puppets, Blackened, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, Killing Time, Whiplash, Seek and Destroy

Machine Head: Clenching the Fists of Dissent, Imperium, Halo, Beautiful Mourning, Descend the Shades of Night, Davidian

I also managed to catch and take home one of the Metallica Beach Balls that falls down from the ceiling during "Seek and Destroy" - it's currently deflated, but will try and re-inflate it. It is quite big, so it'll take a fair bit of human puff to get it fully inflated!

Looking forward to the next installment in Glasgow on the 26th March!

The "Bells" Are Back in Town....

Night number two of our heroes UK tour, and the set list is looking better every day, especially with the addition of “For Whom The Bell Tolls” – let’s just hope it stays in for the rest of the tour! That’s the problem with Metallica – because they change the set list every night, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to hear!

Manchester Set Lists:

Metallica: That Was Just Your Life, The End Of The Line, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Wherever I May Roam, One, Broken, Beat And Scarred, Cyanide, Sad But True, Turn The Page, The Judas Kiss, The Day That Never Comes, Master Of Puppets, Blackened, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, Blitzkrieg, The Prince, Seek And Destroy

Machine Head: Clenching the Fists of Dissent, Imperium, Halo, Beautiful Mourning, Descend the Shades of Night, Davidian.

On the train home last night, I heard two students talking about rock albums when one piped up that “Let It Bleed” (the classic 1969 Rolling Stones album) is “the best guitar album in the world – ever”. Quite obviously the person in question has never heard any post 1968 Pink Floyd albums. All those albums could be contenders for “the best guitar album in the world – ever”. This is, of course, with the exception of “Atom Heart Mother” from 1970. I’m sorry, but there’s no room in rock n’ roll for an orchestral brass section! Even Roger Waters wishes this album had never been recorded!

Out with Mr Garry tomorrow for a few drinks in The Solid. I haven’t seen him since the start of January so that should be a good laugh. Nice couple of days off before traveling down to Newcastle to check in with the parents and check out our heroes in the flesh. Looking forward to that!

Happy Weekend everybody.

"Look Out - it's The Fuzz!"

I thought an episode of The Bill was being filmed outside the house last night – two squad cars appeared and a bunch of folk in the street arguing! Next thing you know, another two squad cars come flying up the street withtheir blues and two's on. Turns out that a few of the neighbours had a disagreement, and decided to take it outside into the street. Her majesties finest hovered about for a while before whisking the two offenders off “down the station”, although probably not for tea and cake!

Whilst all this was going on outside my house, the mighty Metallica were laying waste to Nottingham’s Trent FM Arena on the first night of the UK tour. I’m reliably informed that The Sword kicked things off at 7:00pm, followed by Machine Head with Metallica coming onstage at 9:30pm and coming off at 11:40pm.

Machine Head: Clenching the Fists of Dissent, Imperium, Beautiful Mourning, Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden cover), Halo, Davidian.

Metallica: That Was Just Your Life, The End Of The Line, The Four Horsemen, Leper Messiah, One, Broken, Beat And Scarred, The Judas Kiss, Sad But True, No Leaf Clover,
All Nightmare Long, The Day That Never Comes, Master Of Puppets, Fight Fire With Fire, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, Breadfan, Helpless, Seek And Destroy.

This is the same set that Machine Head played at Wembley Stadium with Metallica in 2007, but it’s still good for the 45 minutes that they have. Metallica are now playing 6 songs off the new album and like the US tour these do change every night. Sadly no Creeping Death or For Whom The Bell Tolls, but hope these can be slotted in for Glasgow taking out (the eternally boring) Sandman and the ubiquitous Sad But True.

Serious Update?

Well, I've not been taking this whole blogging thing seriously but thought i'd update it today with a quick round up of what's been happening with me.

Nearly March already, so the gigging season is beginning. Metallica (plus the awesome) Machine Head and relative newcomers The Sword are coming to the UK as part of Metallica's Death Magnetic World Tour. First stop for me is seeing them in Newcastle next week and then again in Glasgow at the end of March. The Sword are also playing a headline show in King Tut's in Glasgow on the 27th March, so that's another night out.

British metal veterans Saxon and Motorhead are also scheduled to tour this year - which is good because I missed them when they played a joint show in Glasgow in November, as well as AC/DC, Blaze Bayley, Heaven and Hell and the ubiqituos Status Quo gig later in the year.

Donington's Download Festival (previously called the Monster of Rock Festival) is in June with Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Slipknot, Trivium, Marilyn Manson and Killswitch Engage amongst the bands as too, is Anvil - who are currently undergoing a resurgence in popularity thanks to their film The Story of Anvil. Could be worth a shot - but i haven't decided yet.

Health wise, I've given up the brocolli (I just hate the stuff!) but am struggling through my brussel sprouts - still horrid, but less so than brocolli! Still hovering around the 9 stone mark but eating more fruit and vegetables on the whole.

Apart from that, everything seems to be going along quite nicely on the whole - Happy Days!

Back To Normal?

Well, it's been a long time since I updated this due to the obvious reason that i've not been well. I've never been off sick for so long in my life, but it's nice to know that after three months off from work, I have been missed. I now hold the record for being off sick the longest in the office - not sure whether to be proud of that or not!

After numerous complaints (Steven and MJ - I'm talking about you two primarily!), I'll make sure I update this a bit more often from now on.

Keep on Rockkin'! :)