LIVE: The Skints + Support, Leeds Musiquarium, 25/05/13

After months of anticipation, I finally got to saw The Skints live again. This was the fourth time i've seen them, and it's probably my favourite. It's not my favourite set of theirs, or my favourite gig performance-wise (not that they weren't amazing) but the atmosphere at this gig was like no other. I've got a few videos of the night but you can barely see anything - im mainly posting them so you can hear! It was at a venue in Leeds called Musiquarium - it was quite a way out of the city centre, but it was a really cool place. You stepped through a little doorway and there was an outside area, with some wall art, fairy lights all over the ceiling, and a few sofas. When we arrived we chilled here with a pint, it was really relaxed and their was a few people from the support bands hanging around.

After we'd chilled out there for a bit, we went inside ready for the first bands. It was really warm which I thought was pretty normal for a gig but it got a lot worse. There was a bit of a delay - a lot of the gear had stopped working because it was so hot. We met the singer from Outl4w in the crowd aswell. He was a nice lad, we chatted to him for a few minutes.

The first band were Midnight Landing - a ska band who were a lot better than i expected. I'd only gone to the gig to see The Skints and Outl4w - I hadn't really listened to any of the other support bands. But these guys were really good, and we met them afterwards and talked to them for ages, they were really sound guys.

I'm pretty sure there was another band just after these, although I have no pics/videos of them, and can't remember what they were called - oooops. Outl4w played next, and they were sick. (I've written a bit of a post about them but I haven't actually posted it to the blog yet - I will in the next few days, it's got a few of their tunes on). Had a good old jump around to them, was screaming like a madman (I was a bit drunk at this point). They only played a short set, but they did all my favourites - Blackpool to Leeds, Thank Fuck for Randall and Ball and Chain.

After Outl4w, a band called Extra Curricular played. Again, a band i'd never heard of, but wow. Very, very good band. They sounded absolutely amazing, with live horns, and a great singer who really knew how to work the crowd. They weren't really the same as any other band there, but they were still very well recieved. They were Funk/Soul Jazz Blues? I have no idea haha. They had an AMAZING song that everyone there was singing called Last Day, which is ridiculously catchy and since the gig I've listened to it about 20 times. The dudes voice is just unreal. I didn't manage to get it in video, but I do have another video to post.

The crowd really started to build up by now. And it was getting really, really hot. The walls were all padded, which i guess was for soundproofing reasons, but it acted as an insulator too so it was like an oven in there - it got hotter and hotter all night. You can tell in those last pictures - Extra Curricular's singer was drenched in sweat! It only got worse through the night aswell. You can see in this picture that I was sweating buckets.

The Skints were almost an hour late on stage, through no fault of their own - the gear was breaking in the heat! But they took to the stage around 2:15am and they were incredible. As always. They've always sounded amazing every time i've seen them, and this time they didn't disappoint. They played a slightly shorter set than normal (and they didn't play the new single which I was gutted about) but it was still great. I even managed to snatch a setlist at the end which Josh signed.

 'Rise Up'

'Ratatat/No No No' 

'Culture Vulture'

Again, you can see how warm it was. I think they planned on playing for longer but they literally couldnt carry on with the heat. Afterwards I chugged lots of free ice cold water that the bar were leaving out, cos i was actually struggling to breathe. My lungs were killing, it was awful. We went outside afterwards and were lucky enough to have a chat with Josh for a bit! Then later on when they were loading their stuff into the van we got to talk to Jamie and Marci.

So thats about it. Great gig by one of my favourite bands, and I can't wait to see them again soon! Could be a year or so now :( But it'll be worth the wait!

New Music: The Skints

It's been a while since the skints released any new studio recordings! They've given us a few acoustic sessions which always sound amazing (Kiss from a Rose and Passin' Me By have been on repeat none stop recently) but it's been a long time since there's been a proper song released.

Their new song is called 'Out My Mind' and quite frankly, it's brilliant. It has big summery vibes - i'm certainly gonna be blasting this one out loud while i sit in the sun with a beer this summer! It's mainly sung by the guitarist Josh, and it's a similar sound to the song 'Lay You Down' from their album Part and Parcel. The video's great too - I had a massive smile on my face at the end when Marci, Jamie and John show up clapping and singing the 'ba-da Ba Ba' hook! It's a real feel good song and I know any fans of The Skints will love it, and I doubt even people who haven't heard The Skints will be able to stop singing and skanking to this one. You can buy it on iTunes on the 27th May, but you can pre-order it now! I have done, it's only 99p for an amazing feel-good song that you wont stop playing this summer! They'll be sure to be playing it on their UK tour too, so get tickets to that, they're always outstanding live! I give you, The Skints - Out My Mind!



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LCM Year One is Over!

The past month or so has been hectic! So much coursework to do - I've not had time to update here but it wasn't just laziness! My bad.

So my first year at Uni is over. Mental. I feel like i've only been here a few months. Time's gone too quick, its crazy to think im a third of the way through Uni already. It's dawned on me that I've wasted a lot of time this year, and I could have used the time a lot better and got a lot more done. I mean, i've still done quite a bit of music, but not nearly as much as i could have. I live in a city with an amazing music scene but i've still not started any bands or got any gigs or anything, which is what i really wanted to do! I now have close to 4 months with not a lot to do, so im going to make sure i get a decent bit of music made. A quick recap of what I've recorded or helped with recording this year..


Revenge


This was the first bit of coursework I did! I took an old piece that i'd done months ago, and took all the MIDI files and put them into logic, and did a lot of work on it. I extended it, added new parts, used better samples, mixed it all better. It sounds a hell of a lot better than the original.


Lots and Lots of Bedroom Recordings


Lots of bored nights in with my flatmate resulted in these. 5 songs recorded for Tom, 1 recorded with Tom and his mate for his LCM Audition (which he passed), and then 3 songs with me on guitar and Tom singing. Probably a lot more of these to come.


Crimestoppers Dub


I recorded this for the Crimestoppers assignment at LCM - this is the first of 2 pieces. This is one of my favourite pieces i've produced this year - It sounds great and I'm really wanting to make some reggae/dub kinda music soon. Its one of the projects that im hoping to start over the next 4 months.


Mugging


This was the second piece i produced for the Crimestoppers assignment. This came from an idea I had when listening to a song The Prodigy did with Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello. I had this little guitar riff in Logic on a distorted guitar with a wah pedal, and some drums, and that developed into this.

Safari


This is a more recent one that I haven't shared on this blog yet! I had to create a 4 minute piece of music and write a 2000 word essay about it (and transcribe it!) This is what I made. I wanted to do music for a certain purpose so I had more i could write about in the essay. My dad suggested doing music for a David Attenborough programme which gave me the idea to use African instruments, however this is what came. It isnt actually for a nature programme, it just kinda.. tells a kind of story. There's a theme representing a herd of gazelle at the beginning which is repeated in a minor key later to show that something has happened to the herd, theres another theme to represent a predator.. it's all explained much better in the essay!


Babies


One of my studio assignments was to record a cover of a song as a group, and it had to fit into a certain category. Then we all had to do an individual remix. It had to:
Only use the original vocal track.
Use Found Sound Drums (the version i've posted doesnt use these).
Use a synth that we have made from scratch.
Write and Record 2 original instrumental parts.

I did another reggae style remix which I think turned out pretty well! It was pretty hard to do cos the acapella tempo fluctuates from 150 bpm to 160bpm. It sounds pretty good though, I think. I never recorded 2 instrumental parts, which I could lose marks on. But there is different instrumental lines on this so they could count, i'm not sure. For the Found Sound Drums, which I didn't use on this version as it sounds better with the proper kit, I used quite a few weird things around my room. The Hi-Hat was just me ripping up a takeaway menu, then I added a bit of noise, and a lot of reverb. The Snare was me hitting the bottom of a metal bucket, layered up with me hitting a bottle of salt. I added lots of reverb and delay onto to bucket sound so as to create the typical dub sound. The kick was me slamming a cardboard box over my knee, layered up with me punching myself in the stomach. I EQ'd these and raised the low ends so it was thumpier. One thing I didn't do which i didnt think of till after, was pitch shifting the sounds so they were lower. Still, it sounded ok.



So, that's pretty much all the music i've made in my first year at Uni. Expect some more coming over the next few months as I have a lot of free time! I've just bought a melodica, so I'm hoping to use that for a couple of acoustic recordings. I'm also gonna go acoustic guitar hunting this week, so I can record some much better songs. I'm also finally gonna get my electric guitar fixed and get it restrung so I can record some reggae vibes with that! Hoping to do some kind of Skints covers!

Thanks for reading - I'll be posting more regular again from now!

RODE NT1-A

I finally bought a microphone! The Rode NT1-A Condenser Microphone. For 185.00, I got this microphone, a pop shield, a shockmount, and XLR cable, a DVD with loads of studio tips on, and a 10 year warranty. They also chucked in a boom mic stand! Can't wait for some of the stuff i'm gonna be able to record with this! Already recorded 2 songs for my flatmate tom - he's written them, performed them and sang them.





Finally got quite a bit of decent equipment, can record a lot of stuff from home now! I've got:

• a Squier Acoustic Guitar
• a Squier Classic Vibes Telecaster
• an M-Audio Axiom-25 MIDI keyboard
• an M-Audio FastTrack Pro 
• a legitimate copy of Logic  
• a Rode NT1-A Microphone

A decent set-up! Expect some acoustic tracks from both me and Mr. Killeen very soon! Leave any feedback on the tracks below!

Eminem to Headline Reading/Leeds Festival

This definitely took me by surprise a little bit! Leeds always seem to leave it a long time before they announce any acts, so to have already announced acts is weird enough for them. But they didn't even announce that they were gonna announce a headliner until the same day! I also think he's pretty good for Leeds Festival.. they've had some good bands but recently they aren't as big.. My Chemical Romance were not headline material in my eyes. Eminems one of the biggest artists on the planet. Now I don't listen to Eminem a lot, but I do like a lot of his songs so I think he'll be a good headliner. People are bitching that he doesn't fit into the festivals scene/genre.. well for one, he played over 10 years ago and apparently he got the crowd going a lot. And tbh, who doesn't like at least one Eminem song? The Real Slim Shady, We Made You, Lose Yourself.. or my personal favourite, Like Toy Soldiers.



So lately he's sold out a bit, done a few poppy tunes.. he's still done some ok stuff. Fast Lane with Bad Meets Evil, No Love with Lil Wayne was ok too. I think he'll be amazing and definitely can't wait to get my ticket. It's got me thinking who else could be headlining though? I definitely didnt expect Eminem, so will they pull another surprise out of the bag? They tend to have a fairly recent band, a classic band, and someone inbetween (This Year was Kasabian who are fairly recent, Foo Fighters who are a little older, then the Cure who are Classic, The Year before was MCR, Pulp and Muse.)
A few bands that I'd love to see headline.. Rage Against the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim. Other likely bands that could do it that I'm not particularly bothered about.. The Killers, Kings of Leon, Mumford and Sons. I've heard Green Day, who would be ok although I wouldn't be too excited. I really wanna see some other bands there like Frank Turner, Enter Shikari, The Skints. There's 3 new stages this year so there's gonna be more music. I Know Nick Cave has a new album out with the Bad Seeds next year.. they could headline one of the smaller stages? What do other people think, who will be the other 2 headliners, and who else do you wanna see at Leeds Festival?

Thomas McConnell

Just a short post here - stumbled across an artist called Thomas McConnell on another music blog (Rock Revolver), and I really like his music! He sounds very Miles Kane-y, and definitely has a big influence in The Beatles, but I think he has a really great sound. A couple of songs I'd recommend..


This one in particular sounds very Beatles. His voice sounds quite similar to John Lennons, and the harmony/bv's really reminded me of The Beatles. Another good one of his is this one..



Check out the rest of his music on his Soundcloud! - https://soundcloud.com/thomasmcconnell

Got into Leeds College of Music!

After all that doubt of wether i'd get in or not.. I'M IN! I'm going to University.. stress!

Got into Leeds College of Music!

After all that doubt of wether i'd get in or not.. I'M IN! I'm going to University.. stress!

Proud of myself!

This week I've actually got something done music-wise! Got the basic backing for a reggae track made, and I've started a cover of Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds! Got no idea where its gonna go, got nothing in mind but I'll just see what happens!

Sheftival 2012: Saturday 4th August

Words cannot describe how excited I was when I was told about Sheftival. I'd never heard anything about it, then my mate said 'oi raven, Toots and the Maytals are playing sheffield in a couple of weeks'. I couldn't believe it! Toots is a bloody legend, he is credited with inventing the word Reggae in the song Do The Reggay, he's one of the pioneers of reggae. To find out he's playing not far from me for only a tenner, was amazing! Couldn't miss it. There was loooads of people on the line-up, but I only went for Toots, and The Selecter.

I was very hungover from the night before - this was the day after the Skints, and I only ended up getting a couple of hours sleep anyway - so i almost, almost considered not going. But, I put Toots + the Maytals on the stereo, and it gave me the strength to power through my hangover and get the bus into town. I met Max and Alex, and we got the best hangover cure there is:

More Beer. Which quite frankly made me feel extremely ill, along with the train shaking about. But I just about managed 2 or 3. Anyway, we arrived at Don Valley Bowl where the festival was, about 6 o clock. It was the first time i'd been to DVB since the Arctic Monkeys homecoming gig last year (which was probably the best gig of my life).

It was weird seeing The Selecter. I saw them when I was about 3 years old, and it's probably my earliest memory. I remember being held by my mum whilst they were on stage - I don't remember the music, I just remember it being them. So to see them live nearly 15 years later was pretty weird! They managed to get the crowd going pretty well - lots of old Skinheads were skanking! A couple of people were definitely off their head aswell, haha. Their set was only short, 40 minutes at the most, but It was good. James Bond was probably the highlight of the set, along with On My Radio and Too Much Pressure.

After their set, we made it over to the Juju World Music stage. Macka B was on the stage, someone i'd never heard of, but was pretty good. He sang a song about what food he liked to eat, which was bizarre but pretty funny. There was a pretty long wait between Macka B and Toots, so we sat down for a bit and chilled. When he finally came on.. it was so so so so so good. He opened with Pressure Drop, which is a beautiful song!! One of my favourite Reggae songs ever. His set included the classics Monkey Man (famously covered by the Specials), 54-46 Was My Number, Louie Louie, Funky Kingston and many more. It was a great set and i'm so happy I can now say I've seen both The Wailers and Toots + The Maytals live. Arguably the 2 biggest reggae artists ever!

Friday 3rd August: The Skints @ The Leopard

This Friday was great. I got to see one of my favourite bands perform, which is always good. But they actually performed in my home town of Doncaster, which made it even more special. Doncaster rarely sees any big names play here - you could probably count the well known bands that have played here in the past few years on one hand. I've seen The Prodigy here, and Dizzee Rascal, and I think Plan B has played. But none of them were as good as this.

We started the day the same way most of my days out start - alcohol. 20 pack of Fosters, sat in the sun, listening to Reggae - it was good :)

After this we went straight to the venue, and just sat around chatting with people, having a couple of pints. It was fun, although i am having trouble piecing together exactly what happened, because I was pretty drunk. Anyway about half 7, 8, we went upstairs for the bands. This was my first time at The Leopard, which has been around for longer than I have I think. The upstairs part where the bands perform is tiny! But I loved it.. it was such a good atmosphere! The first band that were on are called The Beaus. They're a local band, i'd heard the name but never listened to them. But i'm definitely a fan, their set was pretty enjoyable and i've listened to a couple of their songs since and they're good.



Whilst we were watching these, Marcia and Jonathan from The Skints came out and watched them! I went over and got a photo with them, talked to them for a bit and then they left.

The Skints came on about half 9, and their set was amazing. Being so close to one of my favourite bands while they played live was just incredible! They played all their best songs (apart from Live East Die Young :( thats my favourite), including Roanna's Song, Rise Up, Culture Vulture, and Rubadub. They also played brilliant cover of Bob Marley + The Wailers classic Stir It Up. And, I think they filmed something there, part of a video or something. It was a great gig - they sound brilliant live and I was dancing nonstop all the way through. I'm jealous of their talent!

Afterwards, we hung around outside the back of the venue and just chilled, talked to a few people. Then we saw Jamie Kyriakides, the drummer, just chilling with his girlfriend! So we went over and had a chat - he was one of the nicest guys i've ever met!

We also got chatting to the guys from the Beaus, who were pretty sound, and they gave me a free t-shirt, woo. Me and my cousin Aiden decided to let ourselves backstage, which looking back probably was a bit out of order and I wouldn't have done If i was sober. But, it ended up in us meeting the guys and chatting with them for quite a while! We got a photo with them, but Aiden's camera was pretty blurry, so The Skints' photographer guy took one on his posh camera, and has said he'll email it to me! :D top bloke haha. All in all it was an amazing day, and I will definitely be buying tickets to see them again! They're playing Leeds Festival, so I'll see them there. And they're playing Leeds Cockpit in october - I should be going to University there hopefully, so i'll probably go to that too. I would definitely recommend their live gigs - it was bloody brilliant!

The Skints are my NEW FAVOURITE BAND!

On Friday Night, I go and see one of my favourite bands The Skints, then on Saturday i'm going to Sheftival, to see legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals, and iconic ska band The Selecter. I'm too excited! Tramlines proved to me that the best day out is just one with music, your mates, and beer. That was one of my top days of the summer holidays, so i'm hoping this weekend will be just as good. I'll probably end up posting about the weekend on Sunday, or Monday if i'm hungover.

The Skints are a great band. Marcia Richards, Jonathan Doyle, Joshua Waters Rudge and Jamie Kyriakides are 4 insanely talented people. If you see their live show, Marcia can be switching between Keyboard, Saxophone + Vocals all in one song. They play Reggae/Dub/Ska music, and also a bit of Punk on their first album and first EP. They're just so cool and write so many catchy songs, if you're into reggae at all then I'm pretty sure you'll like them. One of me favourites from the new album is 'Live East Die Young' which is mainly Joshua on the vocals, but it's very catchy and very lively and i'm praying they play it live so i can skank out a bit. Having said that though, there isn't a bad song on the album - 'Ratatat', 'Ring Ring', 'Rubadub', 'Lay You Down' and new single 'Rise Up' are all amazing songs. I definitely recommend it to lovers of the genre.

Here's the new single - make sure you show it to your mates, its a tune :)



..aaaaaand here's a live performance of theirs, a cover of Stop That Train by Keith and Tex - just shows what a talented bunch they are. Check out that harmony:




Link to buy the album.. think the previews alone are enough to tempt you to buy it. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/part-parcel/id501957297

http://www.theskints.co.uk/

@theskints

The Skints Facebook

Lavender Town Project

so, i've finally got my act together and started something on Reason - it's gonna be a song based on the Lavender Town music from the original pokemon games - a song famous for how depressing it was, with one urban myth suggesting it made children commit suicide in japan. lovely.



These are just the basic melodies im gonna be using, i might use these sounds aswell as others, i may use just other sounds and not use these, i'll use some harder hitting drums most likely, add some reverb and distortion on to them.

Tramlines Festival 2012

On Friday, Me, Max and Alex all trekked down to tramlines in sheffield. It's basically a free festival that pretty much every venue in sheffield takes part in, they all put bands on and stuff. And they always get a couple of well known band's/artists playing on the main stage, and a few local ones. Tbh, we only went for 2 bands, the day was more just about dossing in sheffield and having a day out. But it was well good.

We met up in town about 2 o clock. After my footlong bacon egg cheese and sausage subway (which is sort of becoming a regular thing for me now), we all went Tesco's to get our booze for the day. We ended up getting 24 can's of Carling for 16 quid. It.. wasn't very nice. Warm and flat, bloated you a lot, made you burp a lot, and we were all on the brink of vomiting at some point in the day.

Anyway we got our train and had a couple of cans each on there, then arrived in sheffield about half 3. None of us actually had a clue where we were going so we just wandered around. We got to Dev Green (main stage) about half 4ish, and they told us we'd have to drink all our booze before we went in. And we still had about 14, 15 cans left so we couldn't waste em. So we thought we'd just trek around sheff for a bit. We bumped into this guy called Slam - he was about 45, some old metalhead guy. But he was sound as a pound. We got chatting and he was like the coolest possible guy, he shared his vodka with us and everything. We literally just dossed around drinking with him until the gates opened at Dev Green, but we didn't even go in. We sat outside this bloody middle class bar finishing all our beer off. Don't think they liked us, we went in about 7 times to use their toilets. I had to run in at one point cos i almost threw up :( my mouth went watery and i went very light headed and my stomach was turning, it wasn't the nicest experience.

We went in Dev Green anyway, after we'd finished all but 3 of our beers., after that Violet May band which were a bit average by the sounds of it. We got approached by some very friendly lasses who Max was sure they fancied us, but they were definitely just blagging a pint off us because we had ID. Anyway, at this point we lost Slam :-( he said he felt like he was third wheeling so he left us. What a Lad. Anyway the ladies buggered off so we watched most of Dead Son's set - we missed most of it, but Shotgun Woman was amazing. I'll post a few links here now, they're a sheffield band, sound very Arctic Monkeys influenced.





very good. Great band and i proper wanna see em again. After about half hour, Reverend and the Makers were on. And they played an absolutely incredible set. I'd seen em before but they were a support act and i'd never really listened to em, so i didn't think it was great. But this was bloody amazing. Everyone there loved em, theyre a proper yorkshire band. Atmosphere was incredible, there was pits for every song. It was a bit rough but if anyone fell over everyone helped eachother up which was alrate. They opened with Bassline which is alrate but the rest of the set was so much better. You can see me bopping about in this video of it here!



They played so many good songs - I proper love 'Open your Window', and it was made even better cos Andy Nicholson came out and played bass on it! He used to be in Arctic blummin Monkeys! was so good. They filmed their new music video there aswell, so there's a chance we could be in the next Reverend and the Makers video! It's for Out of the Shadows, one of the best songs of their 3rd release.



They closed with Silence is Talking, which is a rate song. Everyone went mad for that, and these wristbands that theyd given out all flashed when it started, it was actually pretty amazing.



Quite frankly it was one of the best gigs of my life! Great atmosphere, can't believe this is the first time i've been to tramlines. Unfortunately we've not been off on the Saturday/Sunday because of either lack of money + throwing up :(. Missed a great band from Sheffield called Wet Nuns last night. Sort of really really heavy bluesy punky rock. They're good.



I will definitely come to Sheffield for Tramlines while i'm at uni. It was such a good experience and I can imagine it being even better when I'm old enough to legally buy a pint, rather than having to down warm beer :( Top Night.

Leeds College of Music

If you follow my blog or know me, you may or may not know that I am applying to Uni, and for the past few months, I have had Hertfordshire University firmed. However, last week, after a trip to the pub (which wasnt the best time for them to ring as I was slightly pissed), I got a call from Leeds College of Music. They initially rejected me, after I made it through 2 phases of the application process - I fell at the final interview stage. The first stage was just applying and they approved me. The second stage left me with a task to complete - I was given 6 little sound bites. I had to use these in my own creative way - Loop them, chop them, add effects etc, and incorporate them into a piece. Here is the piece I produced..



(wtf, not been on my soundcloud in a while, I've just discovered people from Australia, Germany, America and Indonesia listen to my music!)

That track, which I am very proud of, got me through the second stage. I failed at the third stage - I had an interview, where I had to take 3 pieces of my own along that displayed my talent. They only listened to 2, which was a bummer. The third one was really good and I had a lot to say about it. But yeah. I failed.

ANYWAY. I got this call from LCM, and they said they were pleased to inform me that places had become available, and they could offer me a place! I'm absolutely ecstatic. Such a good, prestigious place wants me to study there! And they really do want me. Everytime I call them, they ask if I'm still interested and seem very happy when I say yes, repeating 'Oh, Excellent Raven, Fabulous' and things to that effect. The only only bad thing, is that I have to ring every Uni that I have accepted a place at, and ask to be released from my offer. So LCM really is my only hope once i've done this. By the sounds of it though.. i'm pretty much guaranteed a place there!

I'm a bit annoyed that I have to apply through clearing, which means I can't get anything sorted until results day. I have to redo part of finance, look into and reapply for accommodation. But i suppose i can't complain - I'm almost guaranteed a place at a GREAT conservatoire. I'm a bit nervous however.. it's a specialist place, so everyone there is gonna be great. and seen as i initially got rejected.. i'm only just good enough. I'm a bit intimidated by the fact that everyone there is gonna be really talented.. but I suppose being around more talented musicians can only rub off on me! And the staff there will be better as its a specialist place, so it's definitely gonna be a better place for me. Also I'm a bit dismayed about being closer to home, although when I think about it, it's not a bad thing. I was looking forward to being close to the capital, and I have a mate down there who I was looking forward to seeing haha. But it's easier being this close to home. If i'm skint or need help or owt, i can go scrounge off me parents!!

The Stone Roses @ Heaton Park, 1st July 2012

I bought the tickets for this gig SOOO long ago. Like October or something stupid. I can't remember exactly when. I paid 120 pound for 2 tickets, and the next day, they were on ebay for £10,000. EVERYONE told me to sell them, to just do it, and that I was stupid for not doing it. But I knew it'd be worth it. These concerts were going to be incredible, and I was gonna be one of the lucky few that got to go. I say few - about 225,000 people got tickets - it was the fastest selling gig in history I think! It was a bit disappointing that they announced loads of European gigs before it - i mean these were meant to be the reunion shows - but nevertheless, I couldn't wait.

It was an amazing day. We got the bus into town about 10, got a McDonalds breakfast and then got on our coach. Apart from me and Daisy, everyone on that coach was at least 30 years old. It was clear these were original Roses fans from back in the day. Everyone was drinking, laughing, anticipating the days events.. It was a sick atmosphere! Eventually we arrived at Heaton Park - along with about 40 other coaches. There were Hundreds of people, and a fair few were wearing Reni Hats! Hehe. I remember walking to the queue, and that queue was one of the longest of my life. We were only actually stoof in it for about an hour and a half, but we were SO excited! I was also pretty nervous that we'd get searched and they'd find the vodka stuffed down me wellies. When those gates opened, us and thousands of other people LEGGED IT in. It was pretty funny seeing all these grown adults excited like little kids. We got a wristband that got us into the front pit, then went for a pint. The bar staff that served us were nice - I told them I was underage, and they just said for Daisy to give me her pint, and then for her to buy another one - so that was drinks sorted :P. We went into the front pit, sat down and chilled in the glorious sun, and waited for the first band.

By the time they came on, I was already pretty tipsy! Was on my third pint by this point. Had just enough to be able to dance like a dickhead to the band. They're a pretty unknown band, from manchester, called Dirty North. Reni namedropped them at the reunion press conference. They're an alright band, and they've got one song that sticks in my head so much! It's called Take Me Away.



Although no-one really knew who they were, they entertained everyone. There was a fair few people dancing, which can often be unusual for a support band haha. They were definitely a good opener!

Anyway, they finished their set, we went for what was probably the 5th piss of the day - Because i was drinking so fast I was pissing a lot. Must have been for 15 pisses while we were there. Got another 2 pints, and by the time we were back, The Justice Tonight Band were on. I was looking forward to these, because Mick Jones from The Clash plays with them! Was amazing to see such a legend on stage. Jon Mclure from Reverend and the Makers came on aswell, and they sung Should I Stay or Should I Go - one of The Clash's biggest tunes. Everyone was going mental for that one.

The atmosphere was getting even better at this point - possibly because everyone, including me, was getting more drunk. Infact, my memory after this part of the gig is a lot less clear. We went for 2 more pints and multiple more pisses at this point! I met a fellow Liverpool FC supported by the toilets and we had a good old conversation about all sorts. I remember being annoyed, because the music they'd been playing between bands wasn't that good - then they played True Faith by New Order while we were at the toilets, and I couldn't have a proper dance to it! Hehe. Anyway, we got back to the pit, ready for the third band of the day - The Wailers.

The sun came out as soon as they came on, was great! Of all the support bands, this is the one i was looking forward to the most - I've ALWAYS liked Bob Marley, so to see his band playing all his classics was amazing. I can't actually remember the setlist, but I remember them playing my favourites - Jammin, One Love, Three Little Birds, Exodus, and the highlight of their set, Buffalo Soldier. They were great - the first band of the night which engaged everybody for their entire set. I was definitely drunk at this point too - so I was dancing and singing without caring what other people thought, hehe.

After this, I don't remember what happened. We went for another drink + toilet break I think.. idk, it's a blur. But the main support act for the night, Plan B, really impressed! I was surprised at how good his voice was live - he's really talented! He opened with The Recluse, which is one of my favourites, and he did Prayin, and Stay Too Long. So that was my 3 favourites covered straight away! Then he went offstage, and some beatboxer came on.. and then Plan B and his band came back, theyd had a costume change, and they played some newer stuff - including Ill Manors, which is an absolute BANGER! Went a bit mad for that one.

So he went off.. and then that was it. No more support bands. Forget going for another pint/toilet break, we had to keep our spot, it was a good spot. And the crowd was getting tighter now. Now, and this is why I regret drinking.. I can't remember them walking on stage, which is always a great moment at any gig, but at a gig this monumental.. i wish i could remember it! But I do remember when Mani started playing I Wanna Be Adored.. that amazing bassline, followed by the amazing guitar skills of John Squire.. EVERYBODY was jumping up and down for that song!

Their setlist was amazing. Every song you could have wanted them to play, was played.

"I Wanna Be Adored"
"Mersey Paradise"
"(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister"
"Sally Cinnamon"
"Where Angels Play"
"Shoot You Down"
"Bye Bye Badman"
"Ten Storey Love Song"
"Standing Here"
"Fools Gold"
"Something's Burning"
"Waterfall"
"Don't Stop"
"Love Spreads"
"Made Of Stone"
"This Is The One"
"She Bangs The Drums"
"Elizabeth My Dear"
"I Am The Resurrection"

I already believed it, but after this gig it was cemented into my mind that The Stone Roses are one of the best bands of all time, and are have THE most talented musicians! John Squire is insane at the guitar - yet so cool. He stands there, not a smile on his face, and plays the funkiest riffs. Mani has written half of the top 10 basslines ever - I Wanna Be Adored, I Am The Ressurection, She Bangs The Drums and Fool's Gold are 4 of the best basslines ever! And Reni - aswell as being an amazing drummer, his voice is amazing too, and paired with Ians it just sounds mindblowing. Ian isn't the best singer in the world - he's not even the best singer in The Stone Roses - but he is one of the best frontmen in rock n roll history. He just has a cool feel about him, the way he swaggers around the stage and doesnt give a shit about anything.

They closed with the best song - I Am The Resurrection. What a way to end a brilliant night. 3 Verses building up to that epic chorus - all 75,000 people there were screaming their hearts out to that song. There are no words to describe the atmosphere when that chorus hits - but its one of the best feelings i've ever experienced! They hugged at the end of the night, and stood on the stage in each others arms. As they walked off, Bob Marley and The Wailer's classic Redemption Song played, as a massive fireworks display went off. We watched that, then walked back to the coach. The atmosphere still felt great - and i was pumped full of adrenaline and alcohol which enhanced this feeling! As we got back onto the coach and slept on the journey back, I knew that that had to be one of the best gigs in history. It completely lived up to the hype and was completely worth the money and the wait. I know if I ever do see em live again, it will not be able to match that. Incredible.

How the hell?

How the hell did this get 39 downloads? It's one of my worst song i ever did.. a shameless rip off of a Skepta beat, done very poorly.. and its on 39 downloads and 451 plays?! Jesus haha.



There it is anyway. Definitely not one of my best.. but somehow it got a LOT?!

Having one of them Nostalgic days..

Just listening to music that was my favourite music 3 or 4 years ago. Slipknot were my favourite band.. i remember me and my mate Staley sitting watching their live dvd Voliminal sat in my room just moshing to (sic) and eyeless.. they have some amazing songs haha. Listened to all my favourites today.. remember when i bought the 4th album and being so happy that it was better than the shit third one. Also remembered the day I found out Paul Gray was dead :( someone posted RIP Paul Gray and i was just praying it was a different person.. unfortunately not :/ RIP Paul Dedrick Gray.

I also remember when I went to see them on 9th December 2008 I think it was. Support from Children of Bodom (who weren't great) and MACHINE HEAD. They were amazing.. they played the songs I knew anyway hehe. Phil Demmel passed out during his guitar solo in aesthetics of hate though, so they never played Davidian. Anyway, all I remember is they put on an amazing show, and although it isn't my thing now, I would still go see them if they played the UK - they are amazing. I'm glad they havent completely replaced Paul aswell - having their ex guitarist play backstage while having an onstage tribute to Paul is good. I'm glad I got to see them when Paul was still alive.




Got this on now - amazing song :). Although not my favourite.. my top 10 slipknot songs in no particular order are:

1) Surfacing
2) Sic
3) Liberate
4) Me Inside
5) Disasterpiece
6) People = Shit
7) Left Behind
8) The Blister Exists (the only song I like from the third album)
9) Gematria (The Killing Name)
10) Sulfur

Amazing songs!! Anyway thats enough rambling about Slipknot. I'll leave you with a video from their headlining Sonisphere appearance - dedicated to Paul Gray. They looked amazing at this gig - some of them had their old school 1st album masks on, and the Red (or maybe the orange) boiler suits were the best.

RIP #2.