Keepers of the Faith

Brudenell Social Club is perhaps not the easiest venue to find. I took the train from Leeds to Burley Park and emerged into a post-apocalyptic landscape inhabited by cockroaches, students and menacing-looking small business owners. Nobody seemed to know where the venue was and even Google Maps was reluctant to help me navigate the mean streets.

Rebellion Festival Day IV

The last day finally arrived. It’s getting to the stage where you expect to see Punxsutawney Phil on this blog (incredibly current film reference). As it was the last day I decided to try and see as many bands as physically possible and to prepare for this, I took a trip to the Pleasure Beach and rode a few vomit-inducing, pant-soiling rides and screamed obscenities really loudly.

Rebellion Festival Day Three

The third day started and long days and lack of sleep were starting to take their toll on me. There were no must-see bands on my list today, so it was all about discovering new stuff. I got talking to a bunch of Lancashire lads outside the venue who were drinking Skol (I had no idea they still made that) and I joined in with the early drinking by dumping a quarter bottle of vodka in my McDonald’s Coke. Notes were compared on bands we’d seen and bands that were still to come.

Rebellion Festival Day Two

The second day of Rebellion Festival started where the first one left off for a lot of people, judging by the level of drunkenness I witnessed outside the Winter Gardens at 12:30. The first band I happened upon seemed to be suffering too and I left after about a minute.

Rebellion Festival Day 1

As if I’m not busy enough attending Rebellion Festival this weekend, I’ve chosen to blog about it while it’s all still fresh in my mind. Complete lunacy.

The Duchess of York

When you hear the words Duchess and York, you probably think of flame-haired money vacuum and “author”, Sarah Ferguson. You probably don’t think of the venue in the city of York which hosts a regular rock night.

Punk In Drublic

Hello blogfans, it's been a while. For the benefit of those of you who couldn't decipher my drunken ramblings on Twitter last Wednesday evening, here is the full story of the concert I went to.
I hadn't been to Newcastle for a few years and I was delighted to see nothing much had changed (13 year-old mothers in tracksuits, morbidly obese men without shirts). I chose to stay at Heroes "Hotel" due to its cheap price tag, but was thrilled to see my room resembled a prison cell and came without towels. Unperturbed by this, I necked a half bottle of Jack Daniel's in about an hour and headed out to the venue.

Dedication's What You Need

When I was 16 I decided that I should buy records whenever possible instead of cassettes or CDs (for younger readers, records are large black CDs that you play with a needle and break if you even look at them funny). Way back in the early 90s, vinyl was still relatively easy to get your hands on and I quite often rode my penny farthing to the local record shop to pick up some new releases.

Cover Me

Some people say that cover versions are just laziness on the part of bands who can't be bothered to be original and write their own songs, but not everyone agrees with my mother. Pretty much every band ever formed has played cover songs, especially at the start of their careers, and some of them are better than the original versions.

Acting Like A Maniac

I saw Metallica for the first time at Milton Keynes Bowl on 5th June 1993, but this story actually starts the previous evening.

The Best Of 2011

Happy New Year blog fans! I know it's been a while, but I was busy/couldn't be arsed during the hectic festive period. Anyway, it's a bit dusty in here, so I'll tidy up a bit and then we can start.
2011 saw a number of fantastic musical releases and an even greater amount of dross. Without further ado, I give you my top 20 of 2011: