I’ve listened to a lot of crap music in my time, some self-inflicted, some through no choice of my own. Loud walkmans, car radios, in shops, hold music, public spaces… it can come from anywhere. The other night reading Kathryn’s blog I read an entry where she mentioned Bon Jovi. I left an off-the-cuff jokey ... [More]
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of their new album. But not just the usual sitting in a studio, bashing power chords kind of footage — this was a warts’n’all look at the group dynamics involved. The arguments, walk-outs, the laughs, the group therapy sessions, the bits where they ... [More]
There was excitement in the air at the school this morning, in anticipation for tonight’s big school concert. Buses to the rehearsal were lining up in the street, the drum corps had their kit out, classes were lining up to head off to the hall. Much practising on recorders, making of costumes and choreography has ... [More]
Annoying songs I have had going around in my brain recently: Roger Voudouris: Get used to it — he of the red pullover and hair blowing in the wind. Is there any more frightening sight? Billy Joel: For the Longest Time — hangover from that night at the cinema when they were playing his greatest ... [More]
Friday night, the Deborah Conway mini-concert at Tony & Rae’s. Well done Tony & Rob for setting it up. Just a few songs, but they were a few great songs. Very enjoyable. Tony’s got it described in detail. Saturday night at the Palais Theatre… first the support act, Architecture In Helsinki. Perhaps the best thing ... [More]
“Are you seeing them in concert?” asked the JB Hifi lady as I paid for Belle & Sebastian’s startlingly named Dear Catastrophe Waitress. The bloke in front of me in the queue had bitched and moaned to her about trying to return a CD he’d already played, so I was glad I wasn’t feeling her ... [More]
Yesterday afternoon at the instigation of my mother and her partner Peter, I endured raucous Irish folk music. Now, there is a time and a place for everything. Except perhaps raucous Irish folk music. Okay, maybe over a Guiness or five with some mates on St Patrick’s Day. But when you’ve stopped by for a ... [More]
I hate to say it, but school concerts can be just a little… boring. Even when your kid is in it. Seems to me that the teachers push the whole thing just a little bit too far, so it moves from the realm of cute (“oh, they’re playing that well-known song on their recorders!”) over ... [More]
My delayed Valentine’s Day present arrived last night, in the form of tickets to the Paul Kelly concert at the newly re-named Hamer Hall (aka the Concert Hall at the Victorian Arts Centre). A more mixed crowd than your average standing-up gig. A worrying number of oldies. I suppose what you lose on the enthusiasm ... [More]
Tickets for The Who went on sale last Sunday. At $99 to $199. Yikes. I considered booking, depending on whether or not good but cheap seats could be had. But then I found the damn Ticketek web site demanding some long-forgotten username and password (with no hints on the e-mail they had sent me), so ... [More]
Back in my childhood years, there was only one band I really loved: The Beatles. Somehow I found them fascinating through the 70s and 80s, to the point where my mother got sick of hearing my almost-worn-out Sgt Pepper cassette. Then in my late teens, a friend brought over a music video to try and ... [More]
Tardy: The arrival of dishes on the table in the Thai restaurant on Friday night. Superb when they arrived, but boy, you know something’s gone wrong when the entree is the last thing that turns up. Sharp: Maisie The Dog’s claws, in her enthusiasm to greet me when visiting, which went into my wrist and ... [More]