Just when you thought it was safe.
OK so it's been awhile since any of us could be bothered but one of our number has pulled his finger out and knocked up a CD of what he's been listening to lately. The culprit this time is Neil who has lovingly crafted a 15 track trawl through his record collection called Storm Damage.
As
is our way reviews will possibly (but most likely not) appear on the
forum as the CD makes its peripatetic journey around the office. Its
release was delayed for a few days as the first burning suffered from
skipping on the last two tracks (the second attempt plays A-OK however).
Just when you thought it was safe.
There I was at lunchtime, idly flicking through the NME whilst munching on a cheese and onion roll, with not a care in the world. All was good in my world. And then I turned the page. There it was, the news I never thought I'd see. Straight away my skin started to crawl, a cold feeling of dread gripped my stomach and a wave of nausea swept over me.
I read it again. No, it was true. There was no denying it.
James have reformed.
[insert Charlton Heston style NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO like from the end of Planet of the Apes here]
What? What do you mean it's not that bad? It is, trust me. If I hear that bally song of theirs one more time I'll go postal. Or cry. Or possibly both.
*koff*
It's not all gloom though. In a karmic balancing act akin to that of the Mint card adverts I read on the BBC News site that Crowded House are reforming as well. Nice.
Anyway, enough of that.. here's what I found listed in the back of the NME this week:
Foals @ The Joiners, Southampton - 12/02/2007
The Early Years @ The Engine Room, Brighton - 13/02/2007
Duke Special @ Duke of Yorks, Brighton - 17/02/2007
Micah P. Hinson @ Audio, Brighton - 19/02/2007
The Pigeon Detectives @ Audio, Brighton - 04/03/2007
Bromheads Jacket @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 11/03/2007
The Hours @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 12/03/2007
Towers of London @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 19/03/2007
Good Shoes @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 28/03/2007
Enter Shikari @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 28/03/2007
The Waterboys @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 08/05/2007
Ray Davies @ The Centre, Brighton - 26/05/2007
Damien Rice @ BIC, Bournemouth - 09/10/2007
As is usual practice I'll add the above gigs into the SoMC Events Calendar. I've lovingly plucked the gigs below from the calendar as a taster:
Whole Lotta Led @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 26/01/2007
Hundred Reasons @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 30/01/2007
Bluesky Research @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 31/01/2007
Fairport Convention @ The Brook, Southampton - 02/02/2007
pluck @ The Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham - 10/02/2007
Sonny Black @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 15/02/2007
Zoot Money's Blues Quintet @ The Brook, Southampton - 22/02/2007
Frank Sidebottom @ The Alma Arms, Portsmouth - 25/02/2007
A provisional line-up for this year's Wickham Festival has been released. As I alluded to last week the big headline act for the opening night is Jethro Tull; also there this August will be Boo Hewerdine, The Hamsters, Eliza Carthy, Eddi Reader, The Men They Couldn't Hang, The Sawdoctors and (wait for it) Dean Friedman. I'll add a posting on the forum with more information.
This Saturday Portsmouth Guildhall plays host to a rocktastic showcase featuring four local bands. Big Squirrel, Five Mile Drive, Dragon Eye Morrison and Little London make up the bill, tickets are a very reasonable £8.00 in advance (or £10.00 on the door).
And that just about wraps it up for this week; I was going to rant off on one about the NME giving The Decemberists' new CD a measly 6 out of 10 but I predicted they'd do as much months ago. This afternoon I have mostly been listening to The Young Knives, they're a bit bonkers but I like 'em.
The line-up for this year's Wickham Festival, which takes place in early August, has been released. Once again there's a definite folk feel to the proceedings, though the Friday night has been given to the blues.
The Festival fires into life on Thursday 2nd August with prog-folk legends Jethro Tull headlining (what are the chances of curry-loving frontman Ian Anderson paying a visit to the Verandah in the square after the performance?).
The Hamsters top the bill on the Friday night, with Eddi Reader and Kathryn Tickell appearing on the Saturday.
The Sunday session includes Dean Friedman, Hazel O'Connor and Eliza Carthy. The Festival comes to a close with what looks to be a rousing singalong with The Men They Couldn't Hang and The Saw Doctors. Full details follow:
Thursday 2nd August (1930-2300)
Jethro Tull, The Spooky Mens Chorale
Friday 3rd August (1300-2300)
The Hamsters, Maggie Bell & The British Blues Quintet, Hans Theesink, The Spooky Mens Chorale, Les Barker, Ashley Hutchings' Rainbow Chasers, The Mick West Band.
Saturday 4th August (1300-2300)
The Donnie Munro Band, Eddi Reader, Kathryn Tickell, Yves Lambert & Le Bebert Orchestra, Eivor, Lisa Knapp.
Sunday 5th August (1300-2300)
The Saw Doctors, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Eliza Carthy & The Ratcatchers, Shooglenifty, Hazel O'Connor, Dean Friedman, Quimantu, Boo Hewerdine.
For its sophomore year the Festival will be moving a short distance up the road from Wickham Community Centre to a new green field site on adjacent farm land. This will mean more room, better facilities and the organisers won't have to obscure the location on their website (something intentionally done last year as, sadly, a community centre just doesn't have the same cachet).
Tickets are on sale now, with "early bird" pricing in place on weekend season tickets until 31st March.
What's that coming over the hill? It's Niko Kranjcar. It's Niko Kranjcar.
Hello again.
Yes, it's Wednesday, it's long past lunchtime, it must be Gigwatcher time (I spent about 10 minutes working out an elaborate Crackerjack-style opening but it just didn't work. Maybe I should've used Howdy Doody instead).
*koff*
Moving swiftly on; I put my nut cutlet and chilli sauce baguette to one side just long enough to flick through the back pages of the NME, where I found the following:
The Black Velvets @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 27/01/2007
Blood Red Shoes @ The Joiners, Southampton - 29/01/2007
Make Good Your Escape @ The Albert, Brighton - 30/01/2007
Assembly Now @ Unit 22, Southampton - 03/02/2007
Ben Taylor @ Komedia, Brighton - 05/02/2007
Last Gang @ The Joiners, Southampton - 06/02/2007
Aereogramme @ The Joiners, Southampton - 07/02/2007
The Rapture @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 08/02/2007
The Violets @ Unit 22, Southampton - 10/02/2007
1990s @ The Joiners, Southampton - 03/03/2007
Charlotte Hatherley @ The Wedgewood Rooms - 04/03/2007
Ash @ Southampton University - 06/03/20073
The Twang @ The Joiners, Southampton - 28/03/2007 (this is the CORRECT date, the information lifted from NME.COM last week was wrong).
Incubus @ BIC, Bournemouth - 08/04/2007
If I'm not too busy trying to make my Guild Wars character stand like the lead singer of Jethro Tull this evening I'll add those onto the SoMC Events Calendar. The Events Calendar contains a selection of local gigs for local people, all you need to do is log into the forum to access it. Here's a taster of some of the gigs I've stumbled across that I've added in already:
Saiichi Sugiyama @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 18/01/2007
Marmalade @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 19/01/2007
Karmadeva (with Hudson10 supporting) @ Unit22, Southampton - 21/01/2007
I Am Kloot (Acoustic Set) @ The Joiners, Southampton - 28/01/2007
Bluesky Research @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 31/01/2007
Red Letter Day @ Unit22, Southampton - 04/02/2007
Bedouin Soundclash @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 15/03/2007
The line-up for this year's Gosport & Fareham Easter Festival has been released. Amongst the artists gracing the stage of Ferneham Hall this April are Kate Rusby and Seth Lakeman. More information is available here. The bill for this year's Wickham Festival is due to be released next week (I can however let slip that the headline act for the first night will feature a guy who stands on one leg and plays the flute).
There's still time to catch the 2006 Festive Fifty on Dandelion Radio; the station operates a rolling programme over a 16 hour period, check the forum link for the schedule.
And finally, The Obligatory YouTube Thread has had some bizarre Darth Vader skits, new British hip hop and a lot of Eddie Murphy added to it. Well that just about wraps it up for this week. This afternoon I have mostly been listening to Gogol Bordello. Bojemoi!
Giggity!
Well, here we are again. Another year, another Gigwatcher for your delectation and delight. I hope you all had a lovely super smashing Christmas and took the opportunity of the festive break to recharge your batteries. I indulged myself by lounging around the house listening to music, accompanied by a pile of books and an endless supply of coffee. Is there a better way to waste time over Christmas? Probably not.
I also got beaten hands down at Star Wars Top Trumps. I've since have come to the conclusion that it's impossible to lose if you've got Yoda in your deck after the deal (not that I'm bitter or anything).
*koff*
Moving swiftly on, the NME must have pigged out at Christmas and gone on a crash diet; it's noticeably thinner post-yule but it still has a fair selection of gigs coming our way listed:
Loney, dear (supporting The Boy Least Likely To) @ The Wedgewood Rooms @ 24/01/2007
Hot Club de Paris @ Pressure Point, Brighton - 23/01/2007
Clinic @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 09/02/2007
Larrikin Love @ Garden Court, Southampton University - 10/02/2007
Switches @ The Joiners, Southampton - 13/02/2007
The KBC @ The Joiners, Southampton - 15/02/2007
Mika @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 20/02/2007
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 22/02/2007
Howling Bells @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 27/02/2007
The Twang @ The Joiners, Southampton - 28/02/2007
Forward, Russia! @ Garden Court, Southampton University - 02/03/2007
Aim @ The Brook, Southampton - 09/03/2007
The Broken Family Band @ Komedia, Brighton - 11/03/2007
The SoMC Events Calendar is liberally sprinkled with a selection of local gigs for local people, all there for your perusal, and those above will soon be added on. Those below I stumbled across earlier:
Arachnotaur @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - TONIGHT
The Electric Light Orchestra Experience @ The Brook, Southampton - 12/01/2007
Tom Lillywhite @ The Joiners, Southampton - 15/01/2007
Steve Arnott @ The Frog & Frigate, Southampton - 20/01/2007
Bluesky Research @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 31/01/2007
Aereogramme @ The Joiners, Southampton - 07/02/2007
John Otway @ The Joiners, Southampton - 09/02/2007
Portsmouth Guildhall plays host to not one but two local showcases this month. The first is promoted by Native (no, me either), features Before We Left, Jaimison, Run Riviera and Sheilatakeabow and takes place on Saturday 20th January. The second is promoted by Portsmouth Scene Promotions, features Big Squirrel, Five Mile Drive, Dragon Eye Morrison and Little London and takes place on Saturday 27th January.
Online broadcaster Dandelion Radio have inherited John Peel's mantle and taken on the task of producing the famed Festive Fifty. Follow this link to the forum for more information and details on when to "tune in" to the finished programme.
Also on the forum, freshly added to The Obligatory YouTube Thread, is just about the weirdest advert I've ever seen. It's for the Microsoft Musicbrick (aka the Zune) and, well, you'll see if you go here.
Included with the Festive Gigwatcher was the lovingly compiled Most Fantastic Lyric Quiz. Several of you took the challenge and, as promised, it's time to name the winners.
In third place, having combined their efforts with the rest of their office, are Ali and Jim. In second place are the triumvirate of Simon, Claire and Dan; together they solved several of the sneakier and more obscure lyrics included (so I now know I'm not the only person who bought Highway 5 by The Blessing). There must be a winner though, and the soiled chalice of victory goes to Team HSBC (aka Shaun and his chums at the bank).
Congratulations, high fives and tickertape are directed in their direction. As promised there is a prize for winning; sadly Calendar Club had run out of Hollyoaks Babes calendars so they'll have to make do with whatever I can find. I suppose you want to know the answers now? Click this link to get them (they'll be available for download for the next 7 days).
And that just about wraps it up for the first Gigwatcher of the new year, late hitting the streets though it was. This afternoon I have mostly been listening to Girls Aloud's Greatest Hits, ding dang doo!
