I'm really no good at updating this blog am I? I was supposed to update this quite a while back now, but due being so stupidly busy (and having stupidly late nights) the past week or so, I haven't got round to it. So now, here's a rundown of when I went to London... over a week ago. I'll get to the subject of the blog title in a bit.
So yes, on 16th May I buggered off to London with some mates to see a j-rock band called girugämesh. First though, and the most obvious stop for me in London, was a quick trip to Camden Town. Now, if you're into rock or alternative styles, then Camden is the place for you. Peronally, it's my favourite part of London, there's so much to see and buy. My wallet now weeps. Naturally, we made a stop into a shop Called Sai Sai. It sells clothes based on the Visual Kei style, a form of Japanese music, blended with a unique fashion style (that's sort of gothy, and heavy on image.) Needless to say, I spent a ton there. They also have a shop over the road from there, the name of which escapes me now, but check them out if you're into that kind of thing!
After a quick drink, we headed to Cyberdog. It's more heavily based around fashion relating to EBM music, Cyber Goth and raving, butI'd deffinitely recommend a visit purely for the experience. As you walk in, there's two suspended platforms with two dancers dancing in them. An escolator trip downstairs, and it might as well be a nightclub that sells clothes/fashion accessories, seriously! UV lighting is used throughout, giving it a high atmopshere, and there's EBM music blasting out the speakers, with a DJ plahing the tracks. Did I mention there's a few pannels that light up behind them? It's brilliant! The prices were a bit ott though, so we left without purchasing much.
The gig was slowly approaching, so we decided to get some food and have a quick chill out. We found an excellent Chinese Cafe, which I can't remember the name of, which is a shame, as I'd highly recommend it. I had a really nice cocktail that had about three types of alcohol in it, and strawberry. And we all shared a few courses. If you're ever in Camden, it's just past the main market, heading away from the underground station. After paying, we headed to the gig.
girugämesh - Islington Academy, London. 16.05.2009
We made it in good time, a few minutes after we arrived, the band came on. There was no support, or any of that nonsense, so it ws straight to the action! We were quite far back, but it was a smallish venue, so that was fair enough.
It has to be said, they put on an excellent show! The crowd was intense, they were going absolutely mental! The band really kept the crowd going, and the action only slowed down during the slower, more melodic songs. For some reason, they played a few of these slower songs later on, which seemed a tad random, surely mixing the setlist up a bit would have worked better? There were a mix of tracks ranging from thier newer material, to a few older ones. Even if things got a little sluggish, they still had the majority of the crowd under thier control.
However, there was one huge problem, the gig finished way to early. They arrived on stage sometime after 7, and the set ended abnormally early, just before 8.30. They could have easily squeezed in about 4/5 more tracks, and that would have been prerfect. The crew spent a while setting up for the encore too... which ended up being a mere one song. Don't get me wrong, it was still a great show, just at a ticket price of £20, you'd expect a tad more for your money.
Setist
INTRO
Break Down
ULTIMATE
FREAKS
Angry Juice
ALIVE
CRAZY-FLAG
Dance Rock Night
Shadan
Enishi
Crime -tsumi
Gamble
DEAD WORLD
puzzleishtar
Patchwork
Vermillion
Smash!!
evolution
--------------
shining
Ross Noble - Things. Birmingham Hippodrome 24.05.2009
If you know Ross Noble, then the reason for the blog title is clear, he is completely out of his mind, but in a hilariously good way! This is easily one of his best tours, he had a lot of great material to work with, all executed in Ross Noble perfection; he had evryone in stiches, me included. There's way too many things (no pun intended) to list that he covered, but trust me, it was all fantastic. It was great to hear he now has a daughter (and all the hilarious shenanigans to do with looking after her), so conradulations to him and his wife! Sadly, his house burnt down, but, as he put it, he's now "techincally married to a homeless person", so at least he could joke about it. Fair play to the man. If you're seeing him on tour at any point, you're in for a treat! If not, then just get the Things DVD when it's eventually released. It's worth it, trust me.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Zombies ate my... Garden?
Time for a very gaming related blog entry methinks...
Before talking about the main topic today, there's a sad issue in the gaming world at the moment; the closure of 3D Realms. They opened in 1987, and developed one of the most iconic characters in video gaming history; Duke Nukem. However, the production of thier last game, Duke Nukem Forever took 13 years, and simply cost them too much. It never saw the light of day. It's truly sad to see an old development studio go down, and a project that's matured for well over a decade go down with them. Of course, the publisher, 2K games still hold the rights to it, so they might pass it on to one of thier other developers to finish off. They're idiots if they don't tbh, Duke is a franchise with a big following. To be fair, 3D Realms should have got thier arses into gear a lot faster, so I guess they had it coming to them! Still sucks to see them go though.
Right, now onto the main topic, a little game I've been playing and couldn't resist purchasing it. the game? Plants Vs. Zombies!
The basic concept is that you have a horde of zombies heading towards your house and you have to stop them by planting flowers and all manner of garden life on your lawn. Some take on offensive roles, whilst others are used for defence. These range from various types of 'Pea Shooters', that (as the name suggests) fire peas out of thier mouths, to the explosive 'Cherry Bomb' and the aptly named 'Wal-Nut' that acts as a barricade. Plants need points in the form of 'sun power' to be planted. In day time levels sun falls from the sky, but there's also sunflowers that generate thier own sun, clicking the 'sun' adds to your points. With that, and all the plants that need placing, this game quickly becomes a real cick-fest.
There's also many zombie types that you'll encounter. As well as normal zombies, there's zombies with traffic cones on thier heads (for extra defence), faster Olympic running zombies that can pole-vault over the first plants they come accross and zombie divers that can swim to your house via your pool later on.
The game boasts 26 types of zombies and 49 plant types. Mixing and matching the correct plants for each round makes this a very tactical challange. Also, with many upgrades available, via cash collected in the levels, there's a lot of insentive to play numerous times to get everything.
Yes, it is as insane as it sounds, developers Pop Cap must have been smoking a certain type of plant whilst developing this. It's the most bizzare game I've had the pleasure of playing for a long time. Although it's obviously a desktop tower defence style game, which there are many of, it's presented with such finesse that it feels fresh. It's colourful, bright and... fun! Yes, you know, fun? Too many games take themselves way to seriously these days, so it's really good to see a game that dares to be silly. Infact, it's silly to the point where it not only crosses the line, but it sprints past it and disappears into the horizon.
My only complaint is that it's a tad easy, but then I'm not even half way through the 50 levels at the moment, so that could change. Plus there's a puzzle mode and mini-games to unlock, which is enough to keep anyone entertained for a while. And the best part? You can get this game for £6.99 via Steam. That price is such a steal for a great game like this.
If you're looking for some silly fun then this is your game. Pop Cap are well known for thier other titles, Peggle and Bejewled, but this game is truly thier crowning moment. This boasts a huge ammount of originality, and is extremely addictive. I'll deffinitely be playing this for months to come!
Steam Demo: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3592/
Buy, Via Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3590/
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
"And pigs would fly..."
Woah, it's been a week since I last updated this blog! I really need to get my arse into gear. Naturally, there's not better way to return to a blog than with a rant, oh yes! I've arrived to this certain debate pretty late, but I've been trying to ignore it. However, its pissed me off too much now, so here we go folks!
Unless you've been living under a rock, or you've been avoiding the news, you might not know that there's a "crisis" going on at the moment. Then again, you probably have heard about it, because everyone and thier bloody dog's heard about this! I'm, of course, talking about this so-called Swine Flu pandemic. Yes, we've all been told to stay alert, they're going to leaflet bomb us, and if we don't comply we're apparently all going to die. What a load of crap.
To date there's been about, what, 28 confirmed cases in the UK? That's nothing! I'd only start panicing if the figures reach quad digits. Yes, it is bad that this so-called virus is airborne, but there's no need to start repenting and calling it the aporkalypse (sorry) just yet. I agree it could spread, which would be bad news, but see that key word, could? If you've got the bloody flu, of course you're going to stay at home! Normal flu is bad enough anyway and can be just as contagious. The government was right to warn people; but leaflet bombing us, the constant warnings and, naturally, the press being all over it? Bloody hell, chill out people! It's being contained well enough at the moment, we're more likely to choke on peanuts than catch this virus! Oh, and there are people surviving it, so it's not as fatal as it's being made out to be.
Of course, the government don't want it spreading, but it's obvious why they're over-hyping it so much; the credit crunch. The crunch is getting everyone down, so what better way to distract population from it than the possibility of a pandemic? The government have done a pretty shit job the past few years and should have done more to prevent the crunch from even happening, so this is a good way for them to cover thier own arses. Ultimately, when this virus is "contained", the government will get all the glory because they "looked after us." Yeah, right... nice try guys.
I actually like a theory that my friend's Dad came up with; that this is just an outbreak of normal flu, but it's being hyped as something totally new. Think about it, if something new comes around that seems threatening, it's a lot more scary than something that already exists. I take this theory with a pinch of salt, but it's certainly something to think about.
However, I could end up eating my own words in a few weeks/moths/whenever, and it could become a pandemic. Fair enough. At the end of the day, it just feels like bullshit propaganda right now, a scare to keep us in our places and to make us forget about how the government are screw ups. It's certainly mysterious timing, given the state of the world at the moment and it's too obvious to just be a simple coincidence.
Feel free to post your own thoughs in the comments....
Unless you've been living under a rock, or you've been avoiding the news, you might not know that there's a "crisis" going on at the moment. Then again, you probably have heard about it, because everyone and thier bloody dog's heard about this! I'm, of course, talking about this so-called Swine Flu pandemic. Yes, we've all been told to stay alert, they're going to leaflet bomb us, and if we don't comply we're apparently all going to die. What a load of crap.
To date there's been about, what, 28 confirmed cases in the UK? That's nothing! I'd only start panicing if the figures reach quad digits. Yes, it is bad that this so-called virus is airborne, but there's no need to start repenting and calling it the aporkalypse (sorry) just yet. I agree it could spread, which would be bad news, but see that key word, could? If you've got the bloody flu, of course you're going to stay at home! Normal flu is bad enough anyway and can be just as contagious. The government was right to warn people; but leaflet bombing us, the constant warnings and, naturally, the press being all over it? Bloody hell, chill out people! It's being contained well enough at the moment, we're more likely to choke on peanuts than catch this virus! Oh, and there are people surviving it, so it's not as fatal as it's being made out to be.
Of course, the government don't want it spreading, but it's obvious why they're over-hyping it so much; the credit crunch. The crunch is getting everyone down, so what better way to distract population from it than the possibility of a pandemic? The government have done a pretty shit job the past few years and should have done more to prevent the crunch from even happening, so this is a good way for them to cover thier own arses. Ultimately, when this virus is "contained", the government will get all the glory because they "looked after us." Yeah, right... nice try guys.
I actually like a theory that my friend's Dad came up with; that this is just an outbreak of normal flu, but it's being hyped as something totally new. Think about it, if something new comes around that seems threatening, it's a lot more scary than something that already exists. I take this theory with a pinch of salt, but it's certainly something to think about.
However, I could end up eating my own words in a few weeks/moths/whenever, and it could become a pandemic. Fair enough. At the end of the day, it just feels like bullshit propaganda right now, a scare to keep us in our places and to make us forget about how the government are screw ups. It's certainly mysterious timing, given the state of the world at the moment and it's too obvious to just be a simple coincidence.
Feel free to post your own thoughs in the comments....
Monday, 27 April 2009
A weekend with Goths (caution, long post)
Well, I got back from Whitby yesterday afternoon, and it was an awesome few days! I would have posted a blog entry sooner, but I felt too knackered to do it. Anyways, onwards to my tale...
Whitby Gothic Weekend, April 2009
Wednesday was pretty normal, I had the day off work, so I got ready, packed and headed out to my mate D's. We chilled and I slept over.
The next day was the journey, which was a painful 9 hours. We caught the coach from Birmingham at 8.40, and stopped at Leeds early afternoon. I have to say, Leeds seemed like a good place, the market is fairly interesting too, it seems to sell loads of random stuff. One stall even had a cheap Wii rip-off for sale, which I found hilarious.
We then had to catch a bus at 2.15. There appeared to be a number of Goths waiting for the bus at the same time. We sat at the back of the bus with them, and by the end of a long journey (that ended in Whitby at 5.37), we were all laughing and joking around like old friends. We passed through the never ending moors, through the village where the show Hearbeat was filmed (incidentally, whilst filming was going on) and, for reasons I'm not going into, I rather hilariously got dubbed "Sheep Boy" by the lot of them.
Whitby is such a nice village, it's quaint and feels very peaceful, just like most seaside villages though to be honest. Still, it's a nice change to be somewhere by the sea, being as I live pretty much in the centre of the country. After getting lost, D and I made it to the cottage we were staying at. Again, that was a nice place, and for around £80 each it felt like a bargain to have an entire cottage for 6 people. We were staying with some members of the band RazorBladeKisses, and a few of thier friends and they're such an awesome bunch of people (if you're reading this, you rock!)
After getting a quick bit of food with D, we all headed out pubbing, ran ito a few of the others from the bus and chilled. The pub, The Little Angel Inn, seemed nice but was unfortunately rather packed, so we had to retreat to the outside area. We met more peeps, including other RBK members and, once the pub stopped serving booze, we went somewhere else. Resolution was where we ended up, which also hand a dancing area (bonus!) After much partying, we called it a day.
Friday was the first day of the Gothic Weekend proper. Naturally, I was up late , around 12.30 in the afternoon, oops. We all had cooked breakfast, got ready and dashed out. The gothic market was pretty good, but it was bloody expensive! If I had tons of cash, I would have deffinitely bought a lot more stuff. Instead, I just bought black nail varnish.
We headed to another market, which sold more elaborate, second hand stuff. I thought it was a lot more interesting, plus it was cheaper! I also saw an amazing punk-esque/biker jacket for sale, which I was desperate for.
at around 9, the bands started. We were a tad late, so only saw the end of Zeitgeist Zero's set. From what we saw, they were rather good, with a rock style, and almost metal-eqsue heavyness with electronica thrown into the mix. So, next up were The Last Dance. Again, another excellent performance. They had a more 80's darkwave feel to them, so it was deffinitely my kind of thing! The last band on was Abney Park, a very Steampunk themed band. The Steampunk style being quite noticeable throughout the weekend, to the point where it became a running joke. They were superb though, and went down quite well. Though at times, I found their musical style not very Steampunk (but then, what the hell is Steampunk supposed to sound like?! Afterwards, there was more partying and then sleep at a stupidly late time.
Saturday, we were up at 11.30, and it was more market browsing again. I managed to get that jacket too, for £20, bargain! After more chilling, RazorBladeKisses had thier soundcheck, the stall was set up and they were up at 9. RazorBladekisses were absolutely incredible. They put on an actual full blown out performance, and had a variety of styles within their music. Seeing them live was a highlight of the weekend for me. Afterwards, The House of Usher were on, and they seemed okay, but a bit dull after RBK's performance. I was too busy hanging out with the band and at the stall though. I saw some of Diary of Dreams set too, and they were great, with a very dark style to thier music. After that, it was a final night of partying mayhem, before heading back to the cottage pretty late. D and I stayed up, and after some goodbyes we had to catch the coach at the ungodly hour of 6.55 in the morning.
Overall, Whitby was an amazing experience, if you're into the Gothic culture, I'd highly recommend going. It made a nice change to see Goths being the majority for a change. Oh, and for anyone who sees Goths as depressing and boring, those thoughts can stop right now. There were so many laughs, I spent most the weekend laughing. I'd also like to thank everyone I met and stayed with during Whitby, you all truly made my weekend! I'm really looknig forward to doing all this again in October for Halloween!
Whitby Gothic Weekend, April 2009
Wednesday was pretty normal, I had the day off work, so I got ready, packed and headed out to my mate D's. We chilled and I slept over.
The next day was the journey, which was a painful 9 hours. We caught the coach from Birmingham at 8.40, and stopped at Leeds early afternoon. I have to say, Leeds seemed like a good place, the market is fairly interesting too, it seems to sell loads of random stuff. One stall even had a cheap Wii rip-off for sale, which I found hilarious.
We then had to catch a bus at 2.15. There appeared to be a number of Goths waiting for the bus at the same time. We sat at the back of the bus with them, and by the end of a long journey (that ended in Whitby at 5.37), we were all laughing and joking around like old friends. We passed through the never ending moors, through the village where the show Hearbeat was filmed (incidentally, whilst filming was going on) and, for reasons I'm not going into, I rather hilariously got dubbed "Sheep Boy" by the lot of them.
Whitby is such a nice village, it's quaint and feels very peaceful, just like most seaside villages though to be honest. Still, it's a nice change to be somewhere by the sea, being as I live pretty much in the centre of the country. After getting lost, D and I made it to the cottage we were staying at. Again, that was a nice place, and for around £80 each it felt like a bargain to have an entire cottage for 6 people. We were staying with some members of the band RazorBladeKisses, and a few of thier friends and they're such an awesome bunch of people (if you're reading this, you rock!)
After getting a quick bit of food with D, we all headed out pubbing, ran ito a few of the others from the bus and chilled. The pub, The Little Angel Inn, seemed nice but was unfortunately rather packed, so we had to retreat to the outside area. We met more peeps, including other RBK members and, once the pub stopped serving booze, we went somewhere else. Resolution was where we ended up, which also hand a dancing area (bonus!) After much partying, we called it a day.
Friday was the first day of the Gothic Weekend proper. Naturally, I was up late , around 12.30 in the afternoon, oops. We all had cooked breakfast, got ready and dashed out. The gothic market was pretty good, but it was bloody expensive! If I had tons of cash, I would have deffinitely bought a lot more stuff. Instead, I just bought black nail varnish.
We headed to another market, which sold more elaborate, second hand stuff. I thought it was a lot more interesting, plus it was cheaper! I also saw an amazing punk-esque/biker jacket for sale, which I was desperate for.
at around 9, the bands started. We were a tad late, so only saw the end of Zeitgeist Zero's set. From what we saw, they were rather good, with a rock style, and almost metal-eqsue heavyness with electronica thrown into the mix. So, next up were The Last Dance. Again, another excellent performance. They had a more 80's darkwave feel to them, so it was deffinitely my kind of thing! The last band on was Abney Park, a very Steampunk themed band. The Steampunk style being quite noticeable throughout the weekend, to the point where it became a running joke. They were superb though, and went down quite well. Though at times, I found their musical style not very Steampunk (but then, what the hell is Steampunk supposed to sound like?! Afterwards, there was more partying and then sleep at a stupidly late time.
Saturday, we were up at 11.30, and it was more market browsing again. I managed to get that jacket too, for £20, bargain! After more chilling, RazorBladeKisses had thier soundcheck, the stall was set up and they were up at 9. RazorBladekisses were absolutely incredible. They put on an actual full blown out performance, and had a variety of styles within their music. Seeing them live was a highlight of the weekend for me. Afterwards, The House of Usher were on, and they seemed okay, but a bit dull after RBK's performance. I was too busy hanging out with the band and at the stall though. I saw some of Diary of Dreams set too, and they were great, with a very dark style to thier music. After that, it was a final night of partying mayhem, before heading back to the cottage pretty late. D and I stayed up, and after some goodbyes we had to catch the coach at the ungodly hour of 6.55 in the morning.
Overall, Whitby was an amazing experience, if you're into the Gothic culture, I'd highly recommend going. It made a nice change to see Goths being the majority for a change. Oh, and for anyone who sees Goths as depressing and boring, those thoughts can stop right now. There were so many laughs, I spent most the weekend laughing. I'd also like to thank everyone I met and stayed with during Whitby, you all truly made my weekend! I'm really looknig forward to doing all this again in October for Halloween!
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Time to go (Bananaz)
Well, I'm off to Whitby Gothic Weekend this weekend, which is a gothic music festival for those of you that don't know. However, I'm heading out today, so I won't be updating this blog for the next few days. I'll have a lowdown on how it was when I return, though I don't know when, as I have to catch the coach back at some stupidly early time on the Sunday morning, so I'l probably be in a zombiefied state.
On a completely different topic, Ceri Levy has released a documentary called 'Bananaz' on the world-famous animated band, the Gorillaz. However, unlike past Gorillaz projects, this is a real-life behind the scenes look at the band in action, so it unleashes them in a whole new perspective. I've been fascinated by the entire Gorillaz concept for years, so I find it interesting to finally see how it all came together, and the (often hilarious) relationship between Jamie Hewlett met Damon Albarn. Oh, and the music is awesome too! It's not a short-lived documentary either, covering the bands' progress from 2000 till 2006, with a 91 minuite run-time. It's a must-watch for any hardcore Gorillaz fan. It's certainly more than enough to tide anyone over till the next Gorillaz album.
The official website can be found at http://www.bananazfilm.com/, and a link to the free streaming version can be found there too.
Enojy your weekends people!
On a completely different topic, Ceri Levy has released a documentary called 'Bananaz' on the world-famous animated band, the Gorillaz. However, unlike past Gorillaz projects, this is a real-life behind the scenes look at the band in action, so it unleashes them in a whole new perspective. I've been fascinated by the entire Gorillaz concept for years, so I find it interesting to finally see how it all came together, and the (often hilarious) relationship between Jamie Hewlett met Damon Albarn. Oh, and the music is awesome too! It's not a short-lived documentary either, covering the bands' progress from 2000 till 2006, with a 91 minuite run-time. It's a must-watch for any hardcore Gorillaz fan. It's certainly more than enough to tide anyone over till the next Gorillaz album.
The official website can be found at http://www.bananazfilm.com/, and a link to the free streaming version can be found there too.
Enojy your weekends people!
Sunday, 19 April 2009
So, who wants to get drunk off air?
I was browsing through the pages of Nerd Love, when I came across this article they linked from the Metro. For those of you too lazy to read up on it, here's the lowdown;
Apparently, it's a bar (aptly called 'Alcoholic Architecture Bar') that doesn't serve drinks, but instead uses a system that shoots out vapourised Gin and Tonic into the air. It's said that 40 mins in the bar will get you tipsy. The bar is open 17th-25th April, on Ganton Street, in the Newburgh Quarter of Central London. Tickets for entry are £5. Oh, and you have to wear a special suit (which is provided), so that you don't leave smelling like a brewry.
I'm sure this concept would go down a storm at nightclubs. Maybe there could be different flavoured rooms, or something? Maybe clubs could even have thier own special branded suits, that could be bought as merchandise. Although I'd expect the time limits within them to be quite short. Oh, and let's hope no one tries to sneakily smoke a cigarette whilst in there. :p
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Two for the price of one!
Bloody hell, I'm actually keeping my word and updating something for a change. The end is surely nigh. :P *Ahem* Yes, moving on...
Being as I've been to two gigs within the past week, I figured I'd review them both in one blog post. What a great way to celebrate the start of my blogging, eh? The first gig I present to you is The Prodigy...
The Prodigy - Birmingham NIA 09.04.2009
My mate and I only had seating tickets for this gig, being as it sold out phenominally fast, but I have to admit, it was still a fantastic view! A DJ, who's name unfortunately wasn't mentioned, did a pretty good job of mashing up tracks between acts, and certianly kept everyone entertained. Drum and bass mixes, 80's music and even a (quite bizzare) remix of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name" were just part of the mix. I also notcied the mixture of different cultures (if that's the right word) hanging around. Rockers, Trendys, Goths, etc were all there, getting along and not fighting for a change. The experience was quite surreal, but great.
First up, for support, was Dizzee Rascal. Now, I don't usually like the majority of rap/hip hop music because most of it involves the "bling bling", "hoes", "gonna shoot ya down" gangster rubbish. However, I was pleasantly suprised. There was none of that to be found in this set, it was actually quite vibarant, fun and, dare I say, enjoyable. Mr Rascal opened with his version of the Ting Ting's "That's Not My Name", which deffinitely improved a bland song, as well as being far greater than anything the talentless Ting Tings could ever do. He also pumped out hit tracks such as "Fix up Look Sharpe", "Flex", "Dance Wiv me", all with a thundering catchy bassline, as well as previewing new material from his upcoming album. The new tracks "Road Rage" and "Dirty Cash"sound fantastic, and certaunly flow well alongside Rascal's other songs. He got the crowd going with a shouting match (see which side could shout the loudest), and even freestyled, proving his talent to the masses. His set ended with his new single "Bonkers", which I'm sure will take the charts by storm once it's released. The bar was deffinitely raised quite high.
After an agonising wait, it was time for The Prodigy's set to start. Now, we all know The Prodigy have been going for a long while, so some might worry that they've simply lost thier edge. Those of you who think that can safely put those thoughts to rest, because The Prodigy absolutely dominated! Starting with "World's on fire" from thier latest album, Invaders Must die, The Prodigy rolled out hit after hit effortlessly inlcuding, "Breathe", "Firestarter" "Poison" and "Voodoo People", to name a few! These fit in prefectly with tracks from the new album, such as "Omen" and "Run With the Wolves", proving that bands can still keep thier old sound, whilst still pushing themselves forward to new heights. Keith Flint and MC Maxim Reality's vocals complimented the set prefectly, and sent the crowd on a mental raving rampage, urging thier "warriors to dance" throughout the set. The Encore was prefect, starting with "Invaders Must Die" and ending on "Out of Space". By the end of the gig, there wasn't a single person seating or not singing along. The atmosphere was simply astounding, and the raving intense. The Prodigy then left the stage for a final time, leaving nothing but the ruins of where the NIA once stood. There could have been a few more tracks played, and the set could have been a little longer (it only lasted around 1 hour 20mins), but that feels like nitpicking in what was a legendary night.
Setlist
Worlds on Fire
Their law
Breathe
Breathe (dub step)
No Good (Start the Dance)
Omen
Poison
Warriors Dance
Firestarter
Run with the Wolves
Voodoo People
Comanche
- - -
Omen Reprise
Invaders Must Die
Diesel Power
Smack My Bitch Up
Take Me to the Hospital
Out of Space
Deathstars - Birmingham Academy 2 14.04.2009
This'll be a much shorter review (promise!) I must say, I had high expectations for this gig. Even though I don't know Deathstars that well, I'm still a big fan of Industrial music. However, it was slightly dissapointing.
To start with, they couldn't have picked a worse type of support act if they tried. The two supporting bands, The Defiled and Marionette, simply did nothing for me. Appart from causing the scene/emo kids, who were blatnantly there just to see those two bands, creating a mosh pit. Big mistake. Especially at a more goth gig. My friends and I ended up having to evacuate to a safer place, further from the stage. We didn't hang around too long for these emo metal-wannabe bands, and just decided to stay outside in the enterance hall till Deathstars came on. We managed to run into some old friends though, which was cool.
Two shit support acts later, and Deathstars finally came on to the title track off thier new album "Night Electric Night". And, yes, they did certianly make up for the tripe that was on earlier. They got the crowd headbanging and throwing thier fists into the air, it was deffinitely a lot of fun, and the atmosphere changed dramatically for the better. They blasted out newer songs like "Death Dies Hard" and "Mark of the Gun" alongside classics such as "Trinity Fields", "Tounges" and "Cyanide". Lead singer Andreas "Whiplasher Bernadotte" Bergh kept the crowd going with chatter on thier time in the country, or as they called it "small island", which led to song intros. The band also pumped up the crowd with the usual hand clapping, getting the crowd to sing along, etc. They performed well, and set a dark, yet fantastic tone, but it felt like there was something missing. Again, (and this'll probably come up a lot, as my opinion on gig lengths quite is baised) the set was a tad short. They deffintely should have played more tracks off thier first album Synthetic Generation too. However, thier performance was still great, and I'd still recommend them live. They just need to add a few more classics to get to the stage of excellence.
Being as I've been to two gigs within the past week, I figured I'd review them both in one blog post. What a great way to celebrate the start of my blogging, eh? The first gig I present to you is The Prodigy...
The Prodigy - Birmingham NIA 09.04.2009
My mate and I only had seating tickets for this gig, being as it sold out phenominally fast, but I have to admit, it was still a fantastic view! A DJ, who's name unfortunately wasn't mentioned, did a pretty good job of mashing up tracks between acts, and certianly kept everyone entertained. Drum and bass mixes, 80's music and even a (quite bizzare) remix of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name" were just part of the mix. I also notcied the mixture of different cultures (if that's the right word) hanging around. Rockers, Trendys, Goths, etc were all there, getting along and not fighting for a change. The experience was quite surreal, but great.
First up, for support, was Dizzee Rascal. Now, I don't usually like the majority of rap/hip hop music because most of it involves the "bling bling", "hoes", "gonna shoot ya down" gangster rubbish. However, I was pleasantly suprised. There was none of that to be found in this set, it was actually quite vibarant, fun and, dare I say, enjoyable. Mr Rascal opened with his version of the Ting Ting's "That's Not My Name", which deffinitely improved a bland song, as well as being far greater than anything the talentless Ting Tings could ever do. He also pumped out hit tracks such as "Fix up Look Sharpe", "Flex", "Dance Wiv me", all with a thundering catchy bassline, as well as previewing new material from his upcoming album. The new tracks "Road Rage" and "Dirty Cash"sound fantastic, and certaunly flow well alongside Rascal's other songs. He got the crowd going with a shouting match (see which side could shout the loudest), and even freestyled, proving his talent to the masses. His set ended with his new single "Bonkers", which I'm sure will take the charts by storm once it's released. The bar was deffinitely raised quite high.
After an agonising wait, it was time for The Prodigy's set to start. Now, we all know The Prodigy have been going for a long while, so some might worry that they've simply lost thier edge. Those of you who think that can safely put those thoughts to rest, because The Prodigy absolutely dominated! Starting with "World's on fire" from thier latest album, Invaders Must die, The Prodigy rolled out hit after hit effortlessly inlcuding, "Breathe", "Firestarter" "Poison" and "Voodoo People", to name a few! These fit in prefectly with tracks from the new album, such as "Omen" and "Run With the Wolves", proving that bands can still keep thier old sound, whilst still pushing themselves forward to new heights. Keith Flint and MC Maxim Reality's vocals complimented the set prefectly, and sent the crowd on a mental raving rampage, urging thier "warriors to dance" throughout the set. The Encore was prefect, starting with "Invaders Must Die" and ending on "Out of Space". By the end of the gig, there wasn't a single person seating or not singing along. The atmosphere was simply astounding, and the raving intense. The Prodigy then left the stage for a final time, leaving nothing but the ruins of where the NIA once stood. There could have been a few more tracks played, and the set could have been a little longer (it only lasted around 1 hour 20mins), but that feels like nitpicking in what was a legendary night.
Setlist
Worlds on Fire
Their law
Breathe
Breathe (dub step)
No Good (Start the Dance)
Omen
Poison
Warriors Dance
Firestarter
Run with the Wolves
Voodoo People
Comanche
- - -
Omen Reprise
Invaders Must Die
Diesel Power
Smack My Bitch Up
Take Me to the Hospital
Out of Space
Deathstars - Birmingham Academy 2 14.04.2009
This'll be a much shorter review (promise!) I must say, I had high expectations for this gig. Even though I don't know Deathstars that well, I'm still a big fan of Industrial music. However, it was slightly dissapointing.
To start with, they couldn't have picked a worse type of support act if they tried. The two supporting bands, The Defiled and Marionette, simply did nothing for me. Appart from causing the scene/emo kids, who were blatnantly there just to see those two bands, creating a mosh pit. Big mistake. Especially at a more goth gig. My friends and I ended up having to evacuate to a safer place, further from the stage. We didn't hang around too long for these emo metal-wannabe bands, and just decided to stay outside in the enterance hall till Deathstars came on. We managed to run into some old friends though, which was cool.
Two shit support acts later, and Deathstars finally came on to the title track off thier new album "Night Electric Night". And, yes, they did certianly make up for the tripe that was on earlier. They got the crowd headbanging and throwing thier fists into the air, it was deffinitely a lot of fun, and the atmosphere changed dramatically for the better. They blasted out newer songs like "Death Dies Hard" and "Mark of the Gun" alongside classics such as "Trinity Fields", "Tounges" and "Cyanide". Lead singer Andreas "Whiplasher Bernadotte" Bergh kept the crowd going with chatter on thier time in the country, or as they called it "small island", which led to song intros. The band also pumped up the crowd with the usual hand clapping, getting the crowd to sing along, etc. They performed well, and set a dark, yet fantastic tone, but it felt like there was something missing. Again, (and this'll probably come up a lot, as my opinion on gig lengths quite is baised) the set was a tad short. They deffintely should have played more tracks off thier first album Synthetic Generation too. However, thier performance was still great, and I'd still recommend them live. They just need to add a few more classics to get to the stage of excellence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)