Writer's Block

I've waxed lyrical about Kevin Devine on this blog before, but this was the first time that I'd seen him perform with The Goddamn Band. As I suspected, he's equally at ease at being a rock frontman as he is as an acoustic troubadour. This was a set that grabbed the attention from the get go, as the punkish "Bubblegum" and pop infused "Little Bulldozer" showcased the band's versatility.  Ending with a superb, loud, emotive rendition of "Brother's Blood", this was the most impressive support set I've seen in a long time. I should have the vinyl release of last years St Pancras Church shows soon and I'm very much looking forward to it. The Front Bottoms were given a hero's welcome by a sold out Brighton crowd but couldn't quite reach the heights of their support. It was still a fun show from the indie/pop-punk/disco categorisation nightmares. Their latest record "Back On Top" is arguably their finest effort to d...

Ma* (Brie Larson) and her five year old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) are held captive in a small shed by a man referred to as "Old Nick". Jack has spent his entire life in what he describes as "Room". After his fifth birthday, Ma tells him the truth about the situation and the existance of a world outside and mother and son plan their escape. I can't help but feel my perception of Room is a little bit skewed by the critical acclaim it has received. Larson and Tremblay's performances are both exceedingly good (in particular Larson captures her character's stoicism brilliantly) but I wasn't as gripped by proceedings as I expected to be. The confined nature of the action in the first half of the film provides more scope for character development and a focus on the mother/son relationship. I found this the more compelling section of the narrative. An implausible series of events sees Ma and Jack freed as the film enters its second hour and it loses its ...

Leonardi Di Caprio is Hugh Glass, part of a group of hunters navigating their way through the Louisiana Purchase in 1823. Glass is severely injured after being mauled by a bear. After assuring his captain that he would stay with him until his death, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) leaves Glass for dead in a shallow grave and kills his son. Remarkably, Glass survives and he heads out into the wilderness in pursuit of revenge. I saw this film on Saturday and I really wish it had made a greater impact, as it hasn't really stayed with me. The Revenant's main asset is it's stunning cinematography, as it beautifully depicts its icey North American landscapes. The story leaves something to be desired. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with any of it. Hardy and Di Caprio put in fine performances and one does appreciate the extent to which the latter puts himself through the ringer. Kudos too must go to Will Poulter as Jim Bridger, the young man who struggles to cope with his ro...

I headed to the Brixton Windmill for the first time in a decade for Alcopopalooza, an all dayer organised by Alcopop! Records on the basis that January is shit and we need something to cheer us up. I applaud the rationale but suspect a rather more spacious venue might have been suitable than the Windmill, a 100 capacity sweatbox with space very much at a premium. I showed up in time for the second half of proceedings which kicked off with Ducking Punches. The Norwich folk punkers reminded me somewhat of a more phrenetic Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls which is no bad thing. I will be checking out more of their stuff. Next up were John, so called because the duo of guitarist and drummer both share that name. They conceded this made them difficult to look up on Spotify, or indeed in general. I find two piece rock acts lack the sort of nuance (or indeed bass) that I like from my favourite acts. John fell into a similar trap although their loud garage rock sound is not entirely una...

I wasn't kidding when I said I need to force myself to write. It would also be true to say that little of particular note has happened in my life over the past couple of weeks. The exception might be an unusually profitable weekend where betting success and a deeply implausible bingo win saw me wrack up a small three figure sum. Anyway, last night I returned to the stand-up arena for the first time in five months at The Happy Hour Comedy Club in Camberwell last night. I had some sleepless nights of anxiety in advance which were unjustified. Most of the acts kindly stuck around for my closing set but genuine audience members could be counted on one hand. It was basically a low pressure environment to feel my way back into live performing. I was obviously somewhat rusty and felt my tone was a little more monotonous than usual. But in the circumstances I think it was a respectable showing and some new material looks like it might have potential. My engagement with stand-up will ha...

I got my existential crisis out of the way early this morning before heading out to work. My 10-7  shift today almost felt like something a real person would do. My work anxieties have abated a little too, although won't be completely eliminated until I've been signed off. But in the meantime, I've been getting back into a spot of Netflix viewing. I've been watching F Is For Family, which has a British style six episode opening season. I've written before on this blog that Bill Burr's stand-up doesn't do anything for me, but his acerbic tendencies are channelled to better effect here as he voices a grouchy 1970s patriarch. It's not laugh out loud hilarious but it has a solid thematic arc that has led me to stick with it. Also on the Netflix front, the word of mouth hype surrounding "Making A Murderer" is getting too loud to ignore and I'll be watching that next. This time last year I mainly recall writing about the third round of FA Cup w...

The problem with starting the year with a blog every other day is that I now feel compelled to keep that pattern up instead, even if I still don't have a a great deal to write about. I went to the gym yesterday and it was completely packed. I don't mind the gym in January. In going, I seem more like an obese person who has bravely tried to address their weight issues as a new year's resolution, rather than an abject failure who attends all year round to little real effect. Also, a sizable amount of work related pressure was dropped on my head today and is causing me a great deal of anxiety. But this isn't really the forum for that, so I'm going to talk about Kunt and the Gang. Kunt put out a new live CD before Christmas, Kunt'll Fix It: Live In London. The conceit is that Kunt is attempting to rehabilitate the "'ll Fix It" brand following the actions of its previous owner.   It's a good representation of the experience of a KATG live show, ...