Writer's Block

Jimmy Eat World for the most part write great rock song. In particular, they have an aptitude for epic album closers. "23" from their record "Futures" may be the finest of them all. On Futures, they built on the more accessible sound of their previous record "Bleed American" to produce a heavier, more technically accomplished record*. Over seven minutes in length and utterly compelling, the guitar solos (in particular, the one at the five minute mark is absolutely superb**) and swelling string section give the feel of floating through space. I'm seldom convinced that my interpretations of lyrics are correct, but for me the song is about both relationship anxieties and the problem and sense of being ill equipped to deal with the problems that arise in one's early twenties. The lyrics "You'll sit along forever if you wait for the right time, what are you hoping for?" resonate strongly with me, perhaps for obviously reasons. I find ...

From the moment Against Me! launched into "True Trans Soul Rebel" last night, I had shivers down my spine. Showcasing a number of tracks from last years superb "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" record (concerning singer Laura Jane Grace's transition), this was a 45 minute din in the best sense of the term, concluding with a triumphant rendition of "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" (my favourite track off their "White Crosses" album). They have many admirers in the room, as the frenzied reaction to tracks like "White People For Peace" demonstrates. Punk rock has seldom been as passionate, vital or enthralling. The Gaslight Anthem are too good to be upstaged by their support, although it's true to say that I enjoyed this set less than their Brighton gig a couple of months back. It's a solid 90 minutes of rock and roll with some stand out moments, like the entire crowd bellowing the chorus of "Old White Lincoln" back to the b...

This week has been a pleasing throwback to the days of my youth, when bands playing Reading and Leeds would do warm up gigs in London in smaller venues. Tonight, The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me! have a show sandwiched between their festival appearances at Shepherds Bush Empire. My friend James confirmed at the second New Found Glory gig this week that he was attending Reading, with a sense of weary resignation.  I have to admit that I felt too old for it in 2013 at the age of 25 and not purely because I was surrounded by scores of idiot children. The experience is very much like paying for the tasting menu at your local restaurant while your fellow diners insist on spitting in your food. Still, Biffy Clyro on the final night were terrific and I found Eminem's Saturday night headline set to be curiously life affirming. Ending with "Lose Yourself" was especially memorable, its iconic guitar riff pulsating through the night sky. I've always wanted to see Green Day...

Trainwreck concerns Amy (Amy Schumer) who works at a trashy magazine and lives a promiscuous single life in New York City. Having broken up with her occasional fling Steven (John Cena), she is sent to profile the talented sports surgeon Aaron Connors (Bill Hader). She spends the night with him and they begin to fall for eachother. Will she jettison her old life and refute her father's maxim that "Monogamy isn't realistic"? I expected more from this, I suppose. I like Schumer and Hader as screen presences but it didn't quite come together. There was a more interesting (and funnier) film in here somewhere, but it's buried under a lot of waffle. It's a little disheartening that our unconventional heroine eventually submits to the most conventional of Hollywood romcom endings, as the second half of the film collapses into a series of cliches (via Amy hitting a personal nadir that probably had conservative America bristling). Still, Tilda Swinton looks like...

The Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations have been released, with eight acts up for the main award and seven up for Best Newcomer. In my view, there are some particularly strong candidates this year. James Acaster has been nominated for the fourth consecutive year and frankly, I hope he wins it this year. He has made a consistantly outstanding contribution to the Edinburgh Fringe and to UK comedy and would be a deserving winner. Having said that, I've been impressed with Nish Kumar in the past and will try and catch his show at some point. Likewise Joseph Morpurgo, whose character driven lunacy I enjoyed last year. Lunacy is also an apt word to describe the work of Sam Simmons. Hopefully, I'll be able to see all three before the year is out. I was also one of Trygve Wakenshaw's many admirers at this year's festival and his nomination for the mime based fun of "Nautilus" is also well deserved. Seymour Mace and Sarah Kendall have been a bit below the radar thi...

So predictable. Look, sometimes in life you get the opportunity to see your favourite band two nights on the trot. And sometimes you have to take it. Dublin's Only Rivals opened the show this time around with half an hour of alternative rock. The set builds to a rousing conclusion but doesn't inspire any great feelings in me, positive or negative. True to their word, New Found Glory return for night 2 with 12 different songs and put on an equally terrific show. A young band throwing multiple copies of their demo onto the stage provides the perfect segue into "Ready and Willing", a track off their new record about following one's dreams. "I hope this life I've led will wake you up, so you could do it again", Pundik sings before launching into the chorus one last time. It's right up there with the band's best work. Elsewhere, we get a reprise of "Failure's Not Flattering" and it's absolutely enormous synth line which get...

New Found Glory are my favourite band. They are not the most technically accomplished band in my music collection (Coheed and Cambria), nor the most lyrically eloquent (The Divine Comedy), nor the most innovative (Say Anything). But they have brought me more joy than any other band I've listened to or gone to see in the past 13 years. Quite simply, New Found Glory write and perform anthemic pop-punk songs. Great ones. And there are few in the business who are better at it. Some of the people I've spoken to about the Islington Academy are rather sniffy about it, but the acoustics are solid, the sight lines are good and the gigs I've seen there have largely had good atmospheres. So I headed to N1 with a good deal of anticipation. Trash Boat were on first. My opinion hasn't changed from the Less Than Jake gig in Brighton last month. Decent riffs, too loud and fast, too much like they're ripping off The Story So Far. They seem like nice lads and I'm not saying t...

I have no real time to write a blog today, so this is going to be one of those cop out ones where I'll say "I'll fill this in later with some details and content" but not actually get round to doing it. Back to the volunteering grindstone today, but with the sweetener of going to watch pop-punk mega legends New Found Glory at the Islington Academy tonight. Lovely stuff. Prior to that, I'm going to have my beard trimmed as I have become one of those people who wants to have a beard but not actually take responsibility for the demands of follicle maintainance. Frankly, it looks ridiculous. Congratulations to Richard Gadd (along with Ian Smith, Ben Target and Ed Aczel) for winning the Amused Moose Comedy Award 2015 for "Waiting For Gaddot". I can only assume that my appearance in his preview had a galvanising effect on his subsequent Edinburgh run. I am loathe to use the word "buzz" but the show has had a great deal of positive press and critica...

A rest day today. I've mostly been readjusting to the pleasures of sleeping in a real bed and watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles, wondering to what extent I've begun to resemble John Candy. I've also been reflecting upon the past week at the Fringe. In the past few years, there have been August based events to drag the thoughts of Fringe participants back into the real world, like the passing of Robin Williams, the Olympic Games and the London riots. Moreso than usual this year, I felt fully immersed in the Edinburgh bubble. I suspect part of that was meeting up with a friend who is working as a publicist at the festival. I heard a few tales of the stresses her and many others are under and the desperate clamour for reviews and features. When you're in the city, you have a greater appreciation for that sort of thing. There are hundreds of comedians, all vying for attention and making sacrifices both in financial terms and in regards to their own wellbeing. Sat ...

Back home to the horrible reality of life in south east London. There's a lot of ground to go back and cover this week but I'll start with yesterday. The Stand is my favourite stand-up comedy venue, probably full stop. An intimate basement room with the audience packed close to the stage, there are few atmospheres like it. It proved a fine setting for an hour of Mark Watson's work in progress musings. The show appears to be based around identity and a flight to Australia where Watson was uncertain of entry due to a passport issue. It was a relatively loose structure upon which to hang some winningly self-deprecating material and sharp observations. Even in warm up mode, he's an absolute pleasure to watch. It was fitting that the last show I saw was Tom Parry's "Yellow T-Shirt". I'm a huge fan of his work with Pappy's and eagerly anticipated his debut stand-up hour. Predictably, he's channelled the silliness and spirit of his work with the s...

Thursday then. Firstly, Simon Munnery at The Stand. The alternative comedy legend had a typically odd entrance, being dragged on stage by foot by an imaginery horse. I've found Munnery's lack of focus frustrating in the past but this was a pleasing blend of solid jokes, offbeat ideas and interesting anecdotes, with the story of his time at the Aspen Comedy Festival with Billy Connolly and Robin Williams proving particularly insightful. I normally refrain from quoting other comedian's jokes in full but will make an exception for this belter: "Feminism without socialism is like make up without a face".  Afterwards, it was off to The Voodoo Rooms for the sharp tongued David Mills, with some catty commentary on modern life. I enjoyed the extended set he did at Angel Comedy earlier in the year a bit more, but it was still a decent hour with some musical flourishes, including an enjoyable rendition of Hole's "Celebrity Skin" to close. Finally, James Ac...

New blog goes here, later

New blog goes here, later

I had my first spot at the festival yesterday, doing ten minutes at Camden Comedy Club's lunchtime showcase at Whistlebinkies. It was a decent sized crowd and I was generally happy with the response. A solid set but not quite on top of my game. The punters were very kind about it afterwards though, a nice start to the day. I'm back there tomorrow. Save for my traditional trip to Jimmy Chung's chinese buffet, I sat the rest of the afternoon out. At 7, I took in Ian Smith's show, hopeful to avoid the disruption from punters that blighted my experience last year. We're now both wondering if I'm some sort of curse, after one particularly belligerent punter interrupted the show to leave in the most conspicuous manner possible while acting very aggressively towards Ian in the process.      I will return to this subject in a later blog because I don't really have the time to write what I would like to today. But Ian pulled the show back round,  a show that up u...

I headed across town to the Voodoo Rooms early on Sunday to catch Danielle Ward performing as "Dani Frankenstein", Nottinghamshire's third best lady hiphop MC. We were treated to an hour of sexy songs with Frankenstein dancing across the stage in some sort of skeletal onesie. An amusing energetic start to the day, the highlights being anti-rape anthem "Don't Put Your Dick In Me" and a creepy "duet" with Robin Thicke exposing the inappropriate nature of his lyrical content. Then a low key work in progress hour from Pete Johansson over at The Hive,  with some interesting musings about what it is to be a good and virtuous person and some broadsides at US gun culture and the film "San Andreas".        Alfie Brown's hour over the Assembly was an enjoyable affair, if less captivating than last year's outing. It's nice to see a comedian questioning the nature of left wing politics and general political discourse, culminating in a...

It transpired that on the walk I described in yesterday's blog, I accidentally blanked comedy's Ed Gamble, before (in his words) "cutting up" Dan Fardell outside Cowgatehead. I apologise to them both and will resolve to work harder in terms of winning friends and influencing people. I hope Gareth Morinan doesn't have any lingering resentment over what I would have described as a cordial chat in Hunter Square.  Anyway, I kicked my festival off with Pat Cahill at The Hive, its Bunker room an appropriate setting for an hour loosely based around wartime and isolation. It was terrific, daft, joyous fun. The bar has been set now. Will anything else this festival make me laugh as much as Cahill's wartime song medley?  I then headed to the Pleasance Dome for The Americans Are Coming, a free show recorded for Audible. Despite being Australian,  Brendan Burns found his way onto the bill. There are pleasures to be had listening to his acerbic views on gender politics...

It's good to be back in Auld Reekie. Stepping off the train at Edinburgh Waverley, heading up towards the Royal Mile, crossing through Hunter Square and down onto Cowgate towards my accommodation, it's a walk that still gives me a tingle of anticipation of what's to come. Part of it is the relief of getting off the train I suspect, the best part of 6 hours this time out. Electing to take the more circuitous route for financial reasons seems like a good idea at the time, until the day comes and you're on the train and trying to sleep because you got about 2 hours last night but you can't because the announcer keeps announcing the next stop every ten minutes and it turns out your train is stopping at every major station in the Midlands and then a boy from Warrington gets on and asks his 50 year old mother why she won't have any more children.   Anyway, never mind all these run on sentences. I am off to see ALL THE COMEDY.

A relatively quiet day at the Ben Uri exhibition today. Came home to watch Aston Villa vs United, a match shifted to Friday night because Birmingham's police are required to cover a march by the English Defence League. The EDL are allegedly concerned with protecting English values, but apparently that doesn't extend to protecting the value of a 3pm Saturday kick off. The upshot was another uninspiring 1-0 victory to follow last week's home match against Tottenham. Adnan Januzaj has been linked with a loan move to Sunderland (as a fan of both teams, I wouldn't exactly be against it) but came up with a timely intervention in the first half, forcing the ball past Brad Guzan courtesy of a deflection via an incisive Juan Mata pass. The rest of the match was pretty inconsequential. Wayne Rooney delivered another indifferent performance, while Memphis Depay should have opened his United account. United exerted more control second half over a rather flat Villa side but are ...

Day off today. Precious little to report again.  I finally got round to watching the episode of "Fake or Fortune?" concerning Winston Churchill last night.  They spoke with Churchill art expert David Coombes about whether a scene of a French town had been painted by the former Prime Minister or not. He expressed his doubts, questioning the quality of the figures in the painting and claiming that it lacked the (difficult to quantify) notion of "courage".  I think Coombes means that his attitude to painting was often reflected through his style, in particular his use of bold brushstrokes. I met him once at Chartwell (he's a lovely man) and told him that I was a studio steward. He asked me "Don't you find it terribly boring?". If the man who has spent 50 years compiling a catalogue of Winston Churchill's artwork thinks it must be boring, what chance have I got of convincing visitors otherwise? Although I'll concede there are days where he mi...

Very little of any note happened today. I went into Central London to do a considerable amount of scanning and processing. The institution in question seemed surprised that I had managed to finish them all in the time I had, so I can only assume that's a plus point. One more shift at the Ben Uri exhibition on Friday, then it's off to the Scottish capital to look at massive posters of my former contemporaries and endure a few long dark nights of the soul*. I've also read some more Trip Advisor reviews of my place of work, something that I enjoy. I won't pass comment on any particular details in a public forum. Although I would like to refute the claim that "The younger staff as always are rather snobby and rude which seems to be the norm across NT sites". I am a charismatic bundle of politeness. *Or go and see some top class comedy and hang out with some friends. But hey, we'll see what transpires.

Much to my surprise and delight, Kunt himself tweeted the link to my Croydon show review, resulting in more views than for virtually all my other blogs combined. I hadn't entertained the notion that anyone was reading this blog, let alone the people that I write about. If I'd have known 260 people would be reading my review, I probably would have proofread it and embellished a bit more.  Anyway, I'm happy to do what I can to promote the word of Kunt. It would therefore be remiss of me not to point out that Kunt And The Gang will be performing two shows at the Edinburgh Festival on 28th and 29th August at 9pm at New Empire Bingo, before touring throughout the autumn. See katg.co.uk for details. Yesterday I completing a tentative schedule for the festival. I realised there are far too many shows that I'd like to see to get round to or write about, so I'm going to dump a huge list of previously unmentioned names below who I think are worth seeing at this year's...

"By the waters of the Thames, I resolved to start again" begins "Positive Songs For Negative People", Frank Turner's sixth full length studio record. We pick up where "Tape Deck Heart" left off, lamenting our hero's lost love on the river's edge, before kickstarting a set of songs about picking yourself up off the ground and going again. The record bursts into a strong opening salvo of "Get Better" and "The Next Storm". The latter is an enjoyable pop single but gains added potency in the acoustic version available as part of the deluxe edition. Elsewhere, there's enjoyable throwbacks to earlier Turner. The folk infused "The Opening Act Of Spring" is rendolent of "Love Ire And Song", his second record. "Out Of Breath" is a foot to the floor punk rock inspired whirlwind that can be connected to "Back In The Day" from "Sleep Is For The Week". In other hands, you suspect th...

Kunt And The Gang's "Kunt'll Fix It" tour hit Croydon last night. Support was provided by Kunt's manager, Mike Gibbons, playing some off colour ditties on the acoustic guitar. It was a passable 25 minutes. It was a KATG show much like any other KATG show, a bloke from Essex singing filthy lyrics over jaunty synthesizer/keyboard/pop tunes.  It's the sort of act people really love or completely hate, the definition of a cult artist. It really shouldn't work, but it does, due to the undeniable craft that goes into the tunes. It's certainly not music for the easily offended or the politically correct ("That's Why I'm Voting UKIP" won't win any plaudits for cultural sensitivity either). When you think you've got to grips with Kunt's formula, he'll wrongfoot you with a silly musical flourish, like a saxaphone solo in the moody "A Lonely Wank In A Travelodge" or autotune in "Period Pants". Kunt dispens...

HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH, SUNDERLAND? HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH? Edit: I've calmed down a bit now. Myself and all the other Sunderland fans foolishly believed that a new season would equate to a new start. What we've received is a reminder of the paucity of quality in our ageing squad, badly exposed by shipping four goals away from home to a team who will also be struggling at the bottom of the league this season. If you were to ask me right now, I'd say that this is very much looking like the year where Sunderland's luck finally runs out and we drop through the relegation trapdoor. But Christ, I've said that so many times. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it transpires that we've made some sort of Faustian bargain to stay in the Premier League but at the expense of watchable football. Oh well, 37 more fixtures to go.

I got home at 2:10am this morning after this gig. I'm getting too old for this shit. But Frank Turner was having a release show for his new record down in Kingston town, so what was I supposed to do?  Support came from singer-songwriters Chaz Palmer-Williams (quirky but likeable songs about payphones and getting too old for drink and drugs) and PJ Bond (like a young, less angry Tim Barry with a soulful southern US voice). I had anticipated a brief solo performance from Frank at the "New Slang" club night but was treated to what was essentially a full band headline set. Starting with a raucous, brilliant rendition of "Get Better" from new record "Positive Songs For Negative People", it was a winning blend of fresh tracks and "the hits" (Frank threatened to play "Bat Out Of Hell" in its entirety, which I'd genuinely like to see him have a crack at). I'm planning on writing a review of PSFNP soon, but the songs showcased las...

i will come back and fill these in honest to god. Stuart Broad's just taken 8 wickets for 15 runs in the 4th test in the ashes, absolutely ridiculous.

I neglected to mention that the brief interview I had last week proved to be successful and I'm now doing some volunteering work for the finance department of the National Army Museum. I wonder if there's an National Army Museum in the USA and if so, whether their acronym troubles them. Anyway, I spent about three straight hours in front of a photocopier working on invoices and receipts to be filed, so I'm now quite tired. I also secured a ticket for pop-punk heroes New Found Glory's warm up show for Reading and Leeds Festival at the Islington Academy towards the end of the month. They are probably all things considered my favourite band and their small club shows have frequently been a source of great joy to me.  A week in Edinburgh, then NFG, The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me!. August is shaping up nicely. Frank Turner's new record "Positive Songs For Negative People" is released on Friday and I'll be heading back down to Kingston to the Hippodr...

today was uneventful. going to bed now. bye. there will be content later maybe.

A low key day today. Mostly admin. That and reading the various posts from comedians heading up to the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe which starts proper on Saturday. One year I will join them for the run in its entirety, but this is not the year. I'll be up from the 15th-21st to watch some shows, do some spots and sympathise with my more frazzled colleague. Below are some of my recommendations for the festival. This is by no means a full list and expect at least one more blog later in the week when I have nothing else to write about. Ian Smith: Whereabouts. Pleasance Courtyard. 7pm Goole's finest, "Big Smiddy" returns for his third Edinburgh show. Expect silliness, PowerPoint and some sophisticated structural gambits. Alfie Brown: -ism. Assembly George Square. 7:20pm Alfie's show last year was a late night gem and he's quickly established himself as a distinctive comedic voice. I suspect the subject of fatherhood might come up. Pat Cahill: Panjadrum. Heroes ...

I took another pleasant trip down by the river to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham vs Crystal Palace. The new season starts in six days time so there will be more of these sorts of blogs, sorry. It was not so long ago that Fulham were the established Premier League side and Palace were confined to second tier obscurity. The two teams' roles are very much reversed as we head into the 2015/16 season with Palace buoyed by the arrival of Alan Pardew in January and Fulham looking for a significant improvement on their 17th place finish in last season's Championship. It was Fulham who struck first, Ben Stokes' strike from the edge of the area evading Wayne Hennessey at the new post on 6 minutes. Hennessey was later fortunate that the referee took a sympathic view that he had been fouled prior to handling the ball outside the area. Palace's star signing, Yohan Cabaye was clearly struggling for match fitness and contributed little other than a couple of shots in anger to a firs...

I had last night's gig at Up The Creek in my diary for a long time. Having won at their "Beat The Blackout" Thursday night show twice, I was eager (if somewhat anxious) to see how I would fare with a rowdier Friday night crowd. I was quite pleased with how it went, with solid laughs throughout. I threw in a couple of adlibs and topical jokes but by and large it was my strongest, most accessible set. I had tried to record it on my Iphone but badly misjudged the amount of phone capacity that would require, leaving me with only a couple of clips of the event. Ah well. Save for a boisterous group at the back of the room, it had been a much more settled room than the Friday night gig I'd attended there three weeks previously. They were also treated to the low-key eloquence of Tom Allen, a whirlwind performance from Sarah Callaghan and the old school gags of Gavin Webster, calmly held together by Quincy as the MC. All in all, a very good night and one where I felt I held ...