HEYWAITAMINUTE

Today is a good day for finds. I found converse trainers for only 28 yoyos a pop. 2 pairs of nice new shoes later (1 pair white high tops, 1 pair black not high tops) im at home on the internets and look what i found:

THIS! (Clue: We Are Scientists)

i'm halfway through "Inaction", from 2003. i keep going back to..well, all of it. but especially

Bomb Inside the Bomb which is a track from Safety Fun and Learning (in that order), 2002.

and

Secret Handshake and Selective Memory

[cliquez the links pour ecouter aux chansons!]

dudes. I had no idea this band has been around for the past few years. I thought they just exploded out of nowhere.

KABLAM!..plop = We Are Scientists.

But, no. Hurrah!

But Who am I Fooling, I Like Airline Food

I just loved the latest email update from the Strokes. It was quite fabulous. I dunno, its like getting the news from home. There's mispellings, nicknames and warm sentiments.

So, First Impressions of Earth will be released in Germany (..& Austria & Switzerland) first, swit swoo. (is the title alluding to like, the meteoric rise of the band from the success of their last two albums and now like, they've crash landed back on the "workd", with this new album to show for the experience. ??? !!! ("meteoric rise" surely must be the most cliched music review phrase, EVER, probly.)

Though, I'm not yet sure if i'm buying this one. I was taken aback to learn that the Juicebox single is their first no.1 ever -- for some reason I thought surely they would have had one before now. Ryan wrote:

"THANK YOU to all the fans in the U.S. who have given us our FIRST #1 in... well.... basically anything!"

So their first chart topper is from this strange and unfamiliar sounding troisième sortie..not even Last Night? Dudes. Maybe theyve had European no.1's? I dunno. My very first memory of them is from a few years back. There's not much to it, and it sort of correllates slightly to how im feeling about First Impressions of Earth (though i started liking Juicebox after seeing it liiiive.) So, this one day I came home from school & flipped on MTV. There was a sepia toned video for some song at which i grimaced, switched off the television, turned on my heel and stomped out of the room. Modern Age! Wow. I cant remember how long it was after that that I became a fan. I'm guessing that Last Night got me. Got me good.

I like this paragraph from Wikipedia:

The Modern Age (EP) was released in 2001 and sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock and roll band in years. Subsequently, The Strokes became the subject of enormous hype, causing a great divide amongst rock fans, albeit mostly hipsters and independent magazines, as to whether they were the saviors of rock and roll or simply a bunch of rich kids, with cool names, ripping off the Velvet Underground.

I've lost my Room on Fire CD...sometime / somewhere when i was moving house one of those eleventy gajillion times in the last few months -- Portstewart to Portrush; Portrush to Dublin; Dublin to Limerick; Limerick to Sligo; Sligo to Dublin; Dublin to Berlin...which is total pants because I love listening to the music of a band whose gig I've just been to. I was dying to put it on and relive their show at Maria. But, no. It's wierd, I lost the album cover when I moved home from France in '04...now I have nothing.

I have been thinking that I have had a pretty fucking great year. I wish I was one of those people who could keep track of ticket stubs, concert photographs and other mementos. I have such a jumble of music memories, it's a mess! Some pictures & tickets end up blu-tacked to the wall, or glued inside notebooks, others left in piles here and there...Deliberating over my favourite albums from the year, a rush of memories from gigs went through my head instead. I started remembering way back in January for example, the Willy Mason gig in the Sugar Club in Dublin. (where's my ticket stub from that night?!) It was oversold. That venue is small enough, and seated, and the seating is quite spaced out too -- plush red velvet couches & stools. Once those places were taken up people got comfortable on the stairs (tiered seating = lots of stairs) the place was jammed. I was lucky to get a ticket for that one. That's one thing I love about Berlin, sometimes even at the last minute for a show it's always possible to get a ticket. I used to be buying tickets for gigs in Dublin months in advance.

Being broke has meant that I don't have a very up to date stash of new albums humming happily in my boombox. I haven't had any downloading facility for the last few months either; I've been relying on Radio Eins to keep me going while I'm broke & spending my cash on shows instead of CDs. The last three neu albums I bought were from the Cribs, Kanye West and STARS...although, I lost Late Registration in an apartment move -- Prenzlauer Berg to Kreuzberg..got to stop doing that, fuck!) I've missed out on alot of others, though in most cases -- Beck, Devendra Banhard, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Editors, Brendan Benson, the Go! Team -- at least I got to see the show. I haven't even got Bell X1's new album, Flock. That hurts. I was hugging the radio in the kitchen when their new song came on the other day. Le sigh.

Why Won't You Come Over Here? We've Got a City to Love

It's not even up on their website yet, but We Are Scientists are coming back to Berlin! I have been very reliably informed (email from Chris -- bass guitar + backing vocals) February 21st at Magnet.

I'm going to be so broke in the new year. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are coming back to Berlin aswell -- 16th February at the Postbahnhof.

Plus, the date for the Chalets might actually be their support slot for Art Brut.

Swoon, thud.

Holiday Girl (Don't Die Just Yet)

In case I wasn't already excited enough to be getting back to Berlin -- 10 days! 10 days! -- i just found out about some rather splendid upcoming gigs. Hurrah.

Arab Strap 13th Feb Magnet
My Morning Jacket 31st Jan Magnet
The Chalets 14th Jan Magnet
Hot Chip Jan 26th the Watergate (DFA party with Delia and Gavin and Tim Goldsworthy and Tim Sweeney, apparently.) ***

Ooh, I'm really excited to see Arab Strap play. Coincidentally, last night I was told the Chalets are coming to Sligo..I couldn't quite believe it, Sligo has been a very singer/songwriter town as far as gigs go -- David Kitt, Jape, Mundy, Josh Ritter.. But now the Chalets are going to stomp all over those whiny boys. Even better though, they are also coming to Berlin! I saw them play before at the Bud Rising Festival in Dublin last June, supporting Art Brut and the Rakes. The girls are kind of annoying but I like the music alot.

***I recieved this date directly from Hot Chip to my inbox at Myspace. They also are considering sticking around to do a dj gig on the 28th aswell. Hurrah!

I've Been Hit, I've Been Hit, I've Been Hit

I missed out on We Are Scientists when they came to Berlin to play at Rosis, a little over a week ago. I remember seeing a flyer on the ground somewhere or a notice in Zitty or something and their name caught my eye, but i didn't pay any more attention. AND THAT IS REALLY BAD BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY GOOD. It's A Hit, Great Escape, Nobody Move, Inaction = great songs! And dammit, their upcoming tours are only in America and the UK. Their website is fun. I've just watched the video for "Great Escape" probably ten times. Talking about the director of the videos, Chris added "the good parts of the videos are always his idea...damn him."
Damn why did i miss that gig? Fuck.

O! The Irony! Download "inaction".

"Not Shy" -- I've been listening to this record a bit alot these past few days. I bought it last May when I was just finishing up at uni in Northern Ireland (where there are loads of great second-hand stores.) The album is by Walter Egan & was released in 1978; apparently one of the songs on it, "Magnet and Steel", was a hit -- according to his official website:
"Twenty-five years later, Walter's signature song is a staple on the radio, and can also be heard in feature films and on television."
Stevie Nicks sings on alot of the tracks, Lindsey Buckhingham and Mick Fleetwood also appear on drums/guitars, so the sound is very Fleetwood Mac-y. Whatever about "Magnet and Steel", there are two really great songs on it. "I Wannit" and "Make it Alone". They're making me feel like it's summer and not winter. Which is confusing, but good.

Open Mic night was on tonight; it was strange. It used to be on in my favourite bar, but now...well, the bar is all changed and stuff. There are some new owners or something, and they just went and ruined the only good place to go dancing / hear live music. Fuckers. They left the dingy furniture but took out the circle bar; changed the Funk Up to the Shindig; instead of Open Mic night taking place in the small and intimate cosiness of Bar Eile (a smaller bar-space adjoinging the main bar of the Garavogue) it now takes place in the main bar area. Which is pants because however difficult it sometimes was to keep a small roomful of people quiet when somebody was braving the fairy-lit stage, now it's absolutely impossible. The Funk Up has been moved downstairs too. Which is wierd, because upstairs is mostly dancefloor. But downstairs is mostly seating -- albeit with a bigger dancefloor than upstairs...it's just wierd. Didn't stop us though. Oh no. Saturday night, Karl C played Amerie, Nerd, the Doors, White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Talking Heads...

I mean the positive thing about these changes is that more people can dance, and more people get to experience Open Mic night. But i know performers will be put off because the small and friendly atmosphere of Bar Eile is no more. Though it was nice the way they crowded comfy couches around the stage. And well, nobody cares about their dancing when they get drunk enough so im sure the Funk Up will continue to be the funnest dancing on a Saturday night evereverever. I thought I wouldn't even get to go to ONE Funk Up while i was home, but it was on at the weekend! and there's another on Stephen's night! Usually its only on the first weekend of every month, all special like. Coincidentally, this evening at Open Mic as i was recoiling in horror at the photographical evidence of our dancefloor hooliganism from Saturday night, local hero / singer/songwriter Wayne O'Connor was singing a new song about being drunk and looking stupid, with the repeated, damning line, "the state of you." Ha HA! Other notable performers from tonights Open Mic were Anthony Mannion (lovelovelove his "Stiletto" song) and Billy "the voice" (from the Deadflags) -- fulfilling a sort of dont-get-off-the-stage-yet-! request, he sang "This Charming Man", some people prefer it to the real thing.

I'm just pissed. I miss Berlin really bad. I can't stop listening to one of Cat Powers new songs, "the greatest", which is so fucking sad and beautiful. I've been home nearly a week and haven't found somewhere to practise drumming and my favourite bar is all changed. Boo.

The Strokes live at Maria, Berlin; 12th September 2005

awesome photographs by Drea Augustin

Hanging Around, the Streets of Your Town

JUST got home from Berlin a few hours ago. Opened up my mail. First thing was the 2 invites to the Future Kings of Spain party last week, that i missed.












Le pang.

Second thing was a mix CD (YAY GURI!) so the Von Bondies C'mon C'mon was the first thing I listened to. Then I flicked through the small stash of vinyl I have here, and decided to put on a Billy Holiday record. Kind of suited my mood. It was the first piece of music I bought in Berlin, back in June when I was only in the city for barely two days. Le deuxieme pang avec le grand sigh.

OK I AM GOING TO HAVE A REALLY GOOD TIME AT HOME FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AND NOT JUST BE SULKING BECAUSE IM NOT IN BERLIN GOING TO SEE THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS AND STUFF. NO.

Even Though It Was Only One Night, It Was Fucking Strange

There was no massive queue outside the Maria, and inside not too many people were hanging out in front of the stage yet, so by about 8pm I was there, with a glass of wine in my hand, standing in a good spot. Me and my friend stood about six rows from the stage, expectant smiles on our faces as we waited. The music on the system was some dreary tuneless noise that I didn’t recognise. It made waiting harder…The band were due to come out and play at 8.30pm but that time-slot came and went, with only a haze of smoke engulfing the stage. I was already in awe. The microphone stand that was only a few feet away seemed to be ten feet tall, and Fabrizzio’s drums appeared to be absolutely massive.. I had this image of a giant sized Julian, Nikolai, Nick, Albert and Fabrizzio taking to the stage and blasting us all away. Last time I saw them was summer 2004 at Oxegen. Memories of that performance filled my head before this show at the Maria.
-Nikolai wearing a groovy ‘70s headband, standing practically offstage, facing to the side for the whole show.
-Julian mumbling incoherently in between songs (and during songs too) inaudible words, so you get confused and can’t sing along properly, and laugh alot.
-Fabrizzio & his red Coke t-shirt.
-Albert tripping over a wire and falling onto his back, but not missing a note and not stopping his playing to get up either.
-Nick, just being cool and gorgeous, leaning back with his foot planted on the amp as he delivers those killer riffs, a skinny rock star vision.
The place filled up, apparently only 350 tickets were sold for this gig, im pretty sure everybody turned up, and then some. Suddenly the music was tuned out, the Strokes came onstage, the crowd erupted into an out of control mess and there was a frenzied surge towards the stage. Myself and Drea managed to get out of it in one piece, but I saw others being dragged out unconscious. People were emerging from the mob looking drained and dazed. Not put off by this, as many as escaped the frenzy went right into it, eager to sacrifice themselves. The energy the Strokes invoked from the crowd was phenomenal, everyone was drenched in sweat and the Maria became steaming hot. People seemed to calm down a bit after the first few songs..but throughout the gig the crowd was just riotous, especially when they played an oldie.

So, Nikolai was all facing the crowd, it was nice to actually see him. Julian was skinny and bedraggled, his singing was the best I’ve ever heard it. Sometimes he was singing with his eyes tight shut and his fingers drumming together frantically. Dude needs a tambourine! I remember his chit chat in between songs was hilarious that time at Oxegen -- I mean, unintentionally so. His mumbling could be percieved as nervousness, but I think he really likes communicating with the crowd, at least showing that the band is aware that all these people have come out to see them. Several times during the gig at the Maria he ran around the stage as if to go over something with the others, they did some unplanned songs; requests that fans were shouting up at them, like Last Night. He said they hadn’t planned to do it, but somebody asked them, so. Once, Julian’s mic stand accidentally fell towards Albert, but with a deft arm movement he was able to deflect it, just as they finished up a song. Their music sounded really bang on tight and dancing to it was irreresistible!
The difference between the old and new songs was so clear to me, although that is probably just because I’m not very familiar with their new material yet. First Impressions of Earth seems to have a new sound that makes a definite break from the similarity that connected their last two albums.The mix of old & new covered “Juicebox”, (which sounded so good live) “Razorblade”, “15 Minutes of Pain”,“Take it Or Leave It”, “Last Night”, “The End Has No End”, “Soma”, “New York City Cops”, “12.51”, “Hard to Explain” (lovelovelove)...and more new songs that I dont know the name of, and some old songs i have left out im sure..it was such a good show. The band came back onstage for an encore and played an extra four songs. Julian thanked Berlin for the warm reception, muttering something about being chased down the street. I think its cool that the band got to spend some time actually hanging out in the city, instead of just arriving to play and then leave. Even if they got chased by crazies.
Practically all the dates of their upcoming European tour have sold out. I’m not interested in that tour anyway -- the Strokes will be playing a lot of major cities in a lot of big, charmless venues – arenas, halls and domes. This gig in the Maria was special.

Photographs soon!

Darling, Your Head's Not Right

In my last post I made a mistake. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's album is actually just being released on vinyl on January 24th next year. It's already been out for ages. And as 2005 draws to a close this album is sitting prettily on many a shelf, it's being shuffled through many an iPod -- it was the number 1 seller at Insound this year. No news as to a new album release date yet. Their eponymously titled debut album will be released in UK and Europe on January 23rd. THATS WHAT I MEANT TO SAY, NOT THAT THEY DIDNT EVEN HAVE AN ALBUM OUT YET. Cos they totally do. Just on the other side of the world. I did this before, I got all excited back in October for the new Stellastarr album that was out since the middle of September. I would like to say, sometimes i get confused. However, im afraid i'll just have to leave it at i get confused.

Last night i went to see the Strokes. I don't know how to put it in words yet.

Imply The Other Guy, and Scandalize the Lion

Le Strokes, LIVE! @ Maria am Ostbahnof this Monday. Like, in 3 days. I GOT TICKETS! Normally, I am not the type of person to go and queue for hours for music tickets. Music is my life, but im not fanatical like that (oK. had i known in time, i would have done it for Radiohead when they did that small venue tour around the time they released Hail to the Thief.)However, yesterday I popped into the ticket shop and enquired about this secret Strokes gig happening next week. I found out that a) the tickets were going on sale at 9am today b) they would be only available at the shop and c) alot of other people had been asking too. I figured that no Berliners would be camping all night in front of the shop, and lucked out when this morning i got up at 7am and traipsed down to the ticket kiosk on Oranian Straße, where there were only about 30 or 40 people that had shown up by that time. 2 hours later the queue behind me was hundreds full.

When I was deciding whether or not I should go to this gig I was thinking, "Pah. It's only the Strokes." But then i was also thinking that it would be a bit fun to see those shiny NY boys in a small venue for a relatively small price (23€), and that argument won over. I've only seen them once before, the summer before last at a music festival in Ireland, when they put on a really good show and ever since I've wished to see them play somewhere smaller -- where it isn't raining and there is no stink of port-a-loos. They are indeed embarking on a European tour after this string of "secret" dates, but they will be playing massive venues. I have been assured that it will be cosy at the Maria.

So, last night I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The Mudd Club is quite tiny, and was filled up to squish capacity. There was no support band, and by the time the band came onstage it was after 10.30pm (doors had been open at 9) and the crowd seemed pissed. Nobody clapped or said yeah much at first. The band -- or maybe it was just their singer-- seemed blase about this gig (in comparison to the last gig i saw at the Mudd Club, which was Brendan Benson. he had an awesome support band and seemed so happy and excited to be playing that show in Berlin.)I dunno, that was my impression anyway, that this was no big deal. I thought it would have a bad effect on their performance but they played really well, so no it didn't at all.

They played several new songs, which i thought was funny because they haven't yet released their first album, i believe (new release date January 24th). The song which stuck out the most for me from the setlist was one such brand new track, "Satan Said Dance". I'm singing it all the time, it's so catchy, i think this is what the crazy Germans call an "earworm"..it is going on the best-song-to-dance-to-ever list along with "House of Jealous Lovers". I cannot wait to hear it on the dancefloor! hopefully some night soon. Their singer's voice is scratchy and high and strange. He sounds like he couldn't give a shit when he's singing, but the sweat that broke out and trickled down his face sort of gave away the energy he was putting into the performance. Plus the throbbing vein in his temple. At times, their music reminded me of the Pixies, Talking Heads and Devendra Banhard.

Slight digression -- I see from their website that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is playing a New Year's Eve gig with the National. I actually went to see the National last week or so...it was a strange gig. I'm not sure why exactly..the crowd was totally into them and knew all their lyrics, but none of their songs were familiar to me. Before the gig, I had this notion in my head that they were an Irish band. When i saw the fiddle player onstage, i was even more convinced. But they are totally American, squeaky voices and everything. Sometimes they reminded me of Bell X1...who i love. But I dunno, I just wasn't into this band. Their support that night was Film School, who i did like, quite alot. They hung out in the crowd when the National took to the stage, I wish i had talked to them, they seemed cool and approachable. But i just ogled..So anyway, that is interesting that those bands are gonna play together.

Back to last night's gig: My first bad experience at a show here in Berlin happened to be last night at this Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show. There was this one dude who was creating havoc, all by himself, lurching backwards and forwards with a beer bottle in his hand, pushing and shoving everybody and yelling really loudly, especially when they played "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)". The crowd was already so tightly packed that his violent behaviour was being inflicted on alot of people. It was a horrible feeling to be pushed around like that, i was holding onto a shelf trying to keep myself from falling over, so frightened that my busted leg would get kicked or something. He wasn't just jumping around having a good time, but was really aggressive and violent. He was totally oblivious to everyone staring angrily at him, this goonish smile never left his face. He nearly caused a big fight to break out among the 4 or 5 guys who were around him but he seemed to disappear after a while and the show was too good to be spoiled by one drunk asshole. Funnily enough, I spotted this guy ahead of me in the queue for the Strokes tickets this morning, beer bottle still embedded in his hand. I wanted to go over and stamp on his foot or something.


I should go and see Stereolab tonight, but that might cut my food budget in half for my last few days in Berlin before going home for Christmas. Tomorrow night is J.R Ewing at Pffefferbank with the Locust. I'm excited, and probably scared a little.

Tonight I am missing a big party in Dublin. Future Kings of Spain are having a big mad party to celebrate the completion of their new album Nervousystem. This is an exclusive opportunity to hear the new album first hand, but it’s not an album launch – it’s a party, they said. The band are gonna be playing the new stuff, and the djs after will include the new stuff in their sets. I was invited, but im sort of in Berlin and not Dublin so...that is sad and terrible. I love this band! I did a good thing though, and passed the tickets on to some appreciative souls. I hope it's a good night. Can't wait to hear their new stuff.

if you look here that is what my right leg looked like when i got run over in September. Like, totally.

'82

Last night I had a real treat. At a vernissage I attended last weekend I was introduced to Max, who it turns out makes electro music. A couple of nights ago i recieved a rather exciting text message from him that said:

ON SUNDAY: Brand new show, brand new tracks: Max Krefeld & guests live @ Club Mama, Alte Schoenhauser Str.39, 10pm. LETS DANCE."

So the gig was last night in Mama's, a sort of venue. Only sort of because the place is actually an apartment that has been fixed up as a performance space. Mattresses are held in place against the window in an attempt at soundproofing, a pole-dancing pole marks the centre of the room, and there are several massive old fashioned televisions set up with Pac-Man, Super Mario and Sonic nintendo games (that you can actually play!). The makeshift bar --serving punch & beer -- the seating area and dj spot take up most corners of the room, and the art fixed to the walls lends the chipped plaster a little dignity. Fearing that the party would be busted up early on and move somewhere else, we arrived on time, the gig was supposed to start at 10pm, so we got to see most of this being put into place. Apparently Mama's was moved to a different venue before and has only returned to take place at the apartment again since about a month ago. The turnout was still pretty good, the room was packed.

The performers arrived late, around midnight, and finally began their set, to everybody's delight. Max makes catchy electro music and last night he had two different vocalists --Mario and Isaac -- singing (live) on his tracks. Mario opened up with his song, "'82" which he wrote himself, and which he told me is a lovesong about travelling back in time. I liked it immediately. Isaac was up next. I remember a line from one of the songs he sang on, "I am so afraid of you / I don't know what to do" repeated over and over. The way he sang, and the lyrics of his songs seemed dark and sinister, in contrast to the blips and beeps and melodic sound of Max's electro beats. Unfortunately only four songs into the set the police arrived, there must have been 15 of them. Only about 40 of us. Really, it was a private party, alot of the people there were friends of the boys doing the show. We were turfed out of Mama's into the freezing cold where the police wouldn't even let us huddle together on the pavement outside the building to wait for everyone else to make it out, and i think they threatened us with some fairly serious charge though my German does not yet extend to angry-german-policeman-vernacular. I wish i had some photographs, alas no. Maybe next time.

Still waiting for the Strokes to announce the date & venue of their "secret" Berlin gig. How secret is it exactly i wonder? It's definitely sometime after December 9th, which is the date in Sweden...and it better be before the 15th, the day i fly home for Christmas.

I Wrote My Feelings Down in a Rush, I Didn't Even Check the Spelling

Maximo Park / 26th November 2005 / Postbahnhof

Tom English - Drums
Paul Smith - Vocals
Archis Tiku - Bass guitar
Lukas Wooller - Keyboards
Duncan Lloyd - guitars

Once again, i was running late for a gig. Me and my friend were scurrying towards the Postbahnhof when we heard Paul's distinctive singing and broke into a run to get inside. I've been to a few gigs at this venue now, and usually there is still a crowd of people hanging out at the bar during the show, watching it on the screen there i suppose (WHY?!!). At this gig, there was nobody who wasn't jam packed in front of the stage. it was CRAMMED full in there. Maximo Park had the place in riots. Their set was intensely loud, energetic and surprising. They played everything, plus new songs, "I want you to leave" & "Wasteland" (on a new Warchild album). My music is still in storage back in Dublin, so I havent been able to listen to "A Certain Trigger" for a few months now. I had forgotten how much i totally love the album, totally as in every single song on it. Maximo Park don't do filler. Graffiti, I Want You to Stay, Once a Glimpse, I Kiss You Better, Postcard of a Painting, Now I'm All Over The Shop, Going Missing, The Night I Lost My Head, Limassol, the Coast is Always Changing...they saved "Apply some Pressure" til last and their new stuff went down really well. Paul Smith doesn't stay still for one moment, his feet hardly touch the ground as he spends most of the time in the air, and by the end of the gig he looked so exhausted, pale and drenched in sweat, I felt exhausted just watching him. Lukas Wooller becomes an extension of his keyboard when he is playing, his fingers never leaving the keys, plugged in almost, he dances in jarred, robotic moves, cutting the air with his free hand and stamping his feet on the ground.
After the show, Lukas came down to the bar and I was lucky to get a chance to talk with him. When I first heard Maximo Park i knew it was a different band to the Futureheads, but at the same time i was astounded at the similarity in sound. At the time I didnt notice that the media had picked up on it. But since then I guess things have changed, Lukas said the media would love the bands to go at it with eachother, but the situation is quite the opposite actually. I asked him about it saying, obviously there were differences between the two groups, "well, we have a KEYBOARD." he pointed out. I hadn't meant to put it so simply. The difference in vocal techniques and lyrical content is very distinct, the Futureheads take an abstract approach in their lyrics, where Maximo Park seem to prefer a narrative. So I was standing there beside Lukas and thinking of the video for "Hounds of Love", and there is nobody running through the forest with a keyboard. Who came first, the Futureheads or Maximo Park? If you work it out tell me what you find.

That was Saturday night. The GO! team played in Magnet on Sunday. This venue is so tiny, and the Go! Team are SO BIG. They have two drummers, three guitarists and their amazing singer/mc dancing like a go-go girl for all she's worth. the GO! Team are making music that sounds like something from a long time ago. I suspected alot of sampling when I heard them first. But it's all live instruments and vocals at the show. The more shows I go to here in Berlin, the more I realise that the crowd loves to get involved. The Go! Team really like to get everyone to take part, giving the audience words to shout so we could join in on the new songs, they had us chanting, waving lit up phones & lighters, everyone was dancing, jumping, clapping and singing along, everyone knew the words. The new songs they played were taken up immediately by the crowd. Especially "Doin it Right". Their set seemed a little short, but all the good ones were in: Ladyflash, Everyone is a VIP to Someone, The Power is On, Huddle Formation, Junior Kickstart, We Just Wont Be Defeated, The Ice Storm (a b-side). There was one song that one of the drummers came out to sing, in the sweetest voice. The rest of the band left the stange and she was left with two of the boys on the keyboard. It was beautiful. Coincidentally, the Go! Team have contributed to the Warchild album aswell, with "Phantom Broadcast".

I don't know what this support band curse is that i have, but I fucked up on the way to both these gigs, distracted by a vernissage on Saturday night and misled by the door times, then the U-bahn got the better of me on Sunday, so I missed Her Space Holiday. I caught the last few minutes, it was a good five minutes.

After this weekend my hearing is fucked, my heart is beating really fast, my wallet is empty and im still hungover. I'm out.

The Strokes Set to Play Secret Gig in Berlin!

Albert Hammond Junior-

"We'll do eight new songs and leave, just like how it was with the first record, with no one knowing any of our music. We thought it would build some excitement,"

Neverevereverdid

Architecture in Helsinki are crazy bastards. 8 of them stomped onstage brandishing trombones, trumpets, those little keyboards you blow into, guitars, tambourines..in other words, lots of shaky, bangy things that make ALOT of noise. Making alot of noise i believe could possibly be the ethos of this band. Though it must be said that they also know the charms of subtlety, see: the clarinet, hand claps and mouth pops (y'know, when you blow your mouth up with air, then pop your finger in the side of your mouth?!) The stage was pretty small, they played in Bastard. It is a pretty cool place, as i have found most music venues in Berlin to be. Dimly lit by an assortment of old fashioned light fixtures and with walls papered in colourful images, though it is a small place, the ceiling is high and so you get the intimate feeling of the small venue, with a big sound assaulting your ears. AND WHAT A BIG SOUND THIS BAND HAVE! After they tromped onstage, they had to find somewhere to stand that wasnt taken up by cables or the drums or either of the keyboards. i mean 8 members yo, on this tiny stage. While they were grabbing instruments and arranging themselves everyone clapped and cheered to welcome them and then waited for the show to begin. SUDDENLY, there was a blood curdling roar that seriously must have shook the foundations, which turned out to be the band, all of them screaming terrifyingly into the microphone, saying hello to us or something. A typical Aussie greeting perhaps?

Their bio is pretty fantastic to read. Here!

The main singer-boy (there was a main singer-boy and a main singer-girl, he yelled alot and she sang sweetly) towards the end of the show took to the centre stage and seemed as comfortable there as if he was in front of his own mirror (up until then he had been kind of hiding at the left hand side of the stage...It was quite odd to hear this massive voice seemingly boom out of nowhere.) He sinously wrapped himself in the microphone lead, and there was not so much yelling, as he actually has a delicate voice that is strong even when he's hitting the high notes. He also has a massive head, and sure enough he addressed the crowd and asked if anyone there had the same surname as him, something terribly complicated and German. He said, "as you can see, i have a very German brow. Are there any Hefiansalodowieqwegers here?", or something like that... The band came back onstage twice for us, by the second encore they had run out of songs, so they did some rather fantastic covers. "Love is the drug" by Roxy Music and "Living Without You" by Randy Newman.

I think they have two albums, "Fingers Crossed" and "In Case We Die". I had never heard anything by them before this show, and can't give a setlist here. IT WAS REALLYREALLY GOOD THOUGH!

The support was from Jenny Wilson, who seems to be some crazy, French lady. Ohnowait, she is Swedish! She sang these mad, electro-pop songs. I got the impression that she probably owns the whole Human League back catalogue. She wowed us by tapping on a little wooden box along to the beat of her music for the first song, but then her guitar came out. (i haven't seen one of those wooden box things that you tap since my junior infants classroom. yay!) She had her sister onstage playing electric guitar aswell, and...i don't think it was a backing track, i am sure it was something else..a little gadget that had all the music of her songs, except for the guitars on it. What is that called? i saw her sister switching tracks each time.

Anyway, this lady really grabbed my attention. Now i find out she has worked with the KNIFE! I simply must get her new album, LOVE AND YOUTH. I must have it, yes i must. From the lady herself:

"LOVE AND YOUTH contains 12 songs/short stories with ingredients as: Nosebleed, love, fights, despair, the awful schoolyard-blues and - of course - sex! Drumbeats's next to electric guitars, dramatic & beautiful choirs, vibraphones and acoustic guitars."

Thank you Jenny wilson, you are probably crazy and i thought you were French but you are Swedish. I should have known, French girls don't smile as much as she did for us in the Bastard that night. (Plus, see how pretty she is! - main picture.)

While this unbelievably cold winter is just beginning, I am lucky to have a stack of good books as my excuse for staying in under the covers. The last three books i happened upon have turned out to be the best books i have read in a long time. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by Dave Sedaris, "Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maugham and "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. For one reason and another i picked up these books. I had never read anything by any of these authors before, the cover of the Somerset Maugham book nearly put me off (Bill Murray doing his best "whats that smell?" expression..) and since the Virgin Suicides is one of my favourite films evereverever the chance to read something by the man behind the book behind the film is a treat i could not pass up. English books in berlin are either overpriced imports- albeit as part of a usually good selection to be found in most bookstores- or eclectic and musty collections on sale in the 2nd hand bins at flea markets and also bookstores. I can't believe my luck, and now that I've discovered for myself three new writers that i thoroughly enjoy, i can look forward to hunting down more of their works...It was wierd, in the Dave Sedaris book, he is the main character and it was all about him. In the Somerset Maugham book, the story was from the author's point of view also. In "Middlesex", Jeffrey Eugenides description of his main character pretty much matches what he looks like, though they have different (but similar) names, and its obviously not about his life.

I just finished reading "Middlesex" a couple of days ago, so it was kind of cool that i came upon this interview: Jeffrey Eugenides being interviewed by Johnathan Safran Foer.

Tonight: Decemberists.

Do You Realise, That One Day Everyone That You Know Will Die.

i have to run away in a minute to see Architecture in Helsinki, so i wont have to time to go over this and check for spelling mistakes and stuff like that. OK? a funny thing happened the other night when i went back to see "Fearless Freaks! The Improbable Story of the Flaming Lips". First of all, it was actually on. I used my free ticket and bought a huge box of popcorn. This time the theatre seats were teorquoise, and full. Within 2 minutes of the film starting, i knew it was going to be GOOD. and it is great. The bit i cant forget is the 5 minutes spent on Steven Drozd shooting up heroin. Or rather, telling Bradley how he got addicted, and what his life is like right now, broken up with longterm girlfriend, wasting every cent on heroin, worrying everyone to death that he will die. they left out the actual injection. i was squirming in my seat hoping they wouldnt show it. this part of the film made me cry, whereas i couldnt help smiling madly at the rest of it, beaming at big shiny Wayne Coyne with his mad hair and rumpled, blood stained suit. That was another unforgettable piece. he related seeing a photograph of miles davis this one time. Miles Davis was doing a concert, and before he went on he stepped outside for a smoke, whereupon a policeman beat him over the head. A photographer took some great photographs of Miles after the incident, and he happened to be wearing a yellow brazer, which showed the blood up real good.

Oh, i really i ahve to go soon.

When the film was over everyone started clapping. This was good, I totally wanted to clap, but i also wondered why..Til the director stepped out in front of the screen! He was there to answer questions and talk abuot the film. He seemed kind of nervous, and i couldnt think of anything to ask, so i tried to look reassuring if he happened to look at me. Other people asked interesting things like, "did you diret steven in that part where he shoots up?" and bradley answered something like, "no. i was nervous going to see him. when i got there he said, "you gonna ask me questions?" and i didnt know what to say. I thought it was going to be really awkward, but then after a few minutes, i realised for him this was a simple activity like making a cup of coffee. It was pretty gruesome, there was 45 minutes of footage of Steven trying to find a vein..in his arm, in his foot, in his hand..he was bleeding."

I learned about the Flaming Lips' feature, something about aliens..and that the singer of Mercury Rev used to be in the band. I think the Flaming Lips don't know how great they are.

Novembre, C'est Chaud

Fri 18th Architecture in Helsinki, Bastard Club 10pm.
Sun 20th the Decemberists, Magnet 21h.
Mon 21st, Rufus Wainright, Kesslehaus, 8pm
Weds 23rd Misty's Big Adventure, Roter Salon, 10pm.
Thurs 24th Nada Surf, Kalkscheune, 9pm.
Sat 26th, Maximo Park + New Pornographers, Postbahnhof, 8pm
Sun 27th, the GO! Team & Her Space Holiday, Magnet, 9pm.
Sun 27th I Am Kloot, Postbahnhof.
Mon 28th, Anthony and the Johnsons, Folksbühne, 9pm.
Mon 28th, Teenage Fanclub, Postbahnhof.

Last night i tried to go and see "FEARLESS FREAKS! The improbable story of the Flaming Lips"....but it all went totally wrong. It's showing at the Eiszeit cinema, but they had some shitty DVD copy of the film or something, and it wouldn't start. Then it did start, but it kept stopping. So they moved us to the other theatre, for more of the same unfortunately. After about 30 minutes of this they gave up. We all got our money back and a free ticket. So i'm gonna go back tonight and see if i can see it.

Someone Said They Saw You, In The Night And On Your Own

Last night the Editors played a fucking great show. They cut me up and put me back together.

It was only a short time ago -- at the beginning of September -- that they were here taking part in the Popkomm festival, playing a show with Stars and Supergrass. That night they were given a slot pretty early on in the evening, which confused me into thinking that they weren't that well known here yet. Maybe it was just that there were 10 other gigs on that night of the festival, because even that great line-up didn't really attract a full crowd. However, last night I was reassuringly proved wrong, with a really great turnout for the last gig of the band's European tour. The standout tracks of the night for me were: Bullets, Munich, Blood, All Sparks, Fingers in the Factories, Someone Says, Fall. I was smiling the whole night, and once brought to tears. Playing Munich and Blood one after the other is almost too much, and the chorus of Fingers in the Factories really riled up the crowd. Tom Smith's crazed is-he-going-to-throw-his-guitar-at-us-or-isnt-he-antics on stage were once again in evidence. Often times he would come right to the edge of the stage and just stare out at everybody, it was a little disconcerting. Usually it seems like musicians do their utmost to avoid letting the crowd know that they know there is a crowd watching them play. Chirs Urbanowicz's seemingly cool and detached appearance was broken down when they played Munich, he was actually sweating. He also nearly smiled during the encore.

The special guests were the Howling Bells, a four piece rock group, i think from Australia. Their debut album was produced by the "Coldplay producer" Ken Nelson, swit swoo. I really liked them, alot. They have a very cool website. They have listed influences that range from Sigur Ros to Beetle Juice. So yeh, I don't know what to say about them, but they are good. Their lead singer is this tiny, gorgeous girl, Juanita Stein, with a voice that was kind of scratchy at first but when she warmed up, it was powerful and strong. The rest of the band sing along to all the words, even those without microphones, with their eyes closed, which I always think is a good sign.

After the gig there was a huge queue for the cloakroom, the merchandise desk, and the toilet.. The only place there was no queue for was the bar. I decided that instead of standing in a big crowd of people for half an hour waiting for my jacket i'd order a glass of wine and hang around at the bar for a bit. Which was fun because there were lots of interesting people about and the dj was really good. Then I decided I would like to buy a pin, so I went over to check out the stuff they had on for sale. You had to buy a t-shirt to get a pin, which was pretty disappointing, but I happened to look down and found one on the ground. So I went back to the bar and sat down. I had bought my ticket at the door on the way in, and it was just a crap little square card with the name of the club hosting the night on it, no mention of who was playing that night or anything. While I was sitting at the bar, I noticed that Tom Smith, the lead singer of Editors, was talking to some fans so i scooted over to say hello and he fixed up my ticket, signing it with "Tom" and "Editors" (no THE..) During the show, he had asked if anybody in the crowd had been to see them at their last show, during the Popkomm festival. Noone shouted back, but im sure there were plenty of people who had been. Then he said "Good, it was really fucking bad." I asked him why he thought it had been a bad show but he just said, "ah, it wasnt so bad. things just werent going well." I came back to see them because of that show, whether or not he thought it had been bad, it made me want to come back for more. He said they would be back in Berlin in February, which is not too far away at all.


As the sun goes down on a broken town
And the fingers bleed in the factories
Come on out tonight, come and see the sight
Of the ones you love and the ones you love
And you
Keep with me, keep with me, keep with me, keep with me

..and the last kiss had a foolish cause...

On a whim yesterday i decided to go and see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I could blame it on the U-Bahn, but once again i arrived late, and so missed most of the set by the wonderful Gliss. They are dirty rockers. The lead singer moans breathlessly on just about every song, waving his arm in the air flamboyantly and swinging his guitar along to their awesome dirty rock. The drummer slumps and hides behind her poker straight blonde hair, a brief glimpse of her pale face reveals no expression, but her eyes close and her head falls back as the denouement of the song crashes upon us and her intent is clear.

BRMC announced themselves with a short slot by lead singer (or co-singer?) Peter Hayes who by himself recieves a huge welcome from the audience. He delivers a full sound, playing beautifully on the harmonica and guitar, the plaintive country sound conveying a depth of feeling sometimes a whole band is not capable of. It's only my third time there, but I have never seen the Postbahnhof so crowded, the place is really packed. As Hayes finishes up the last of the songs he will play by himself, the three other members of the band arrive, more noisy applause and hooting. They launch into their set and the response is almost instantaneous. This is my first time at a gig in germany that i've seen jumping, moshing, crowd surfing and such rowdy behaviour. I'm not really into mosh pits. It might be cos of that one time I got kicked in the head. Or that other time my leg nearly got bent back the wrong way. Anyway, right now the injury on my (same) leg has not yet totally recovered from the bike accident, so im sort of keeping myself safe, just to the right of the unpredictable crowd that sways en masse randomly this way and that. Its obvious that the band like to have this affect on their fans, and sure enough, bassist Robert Turner smiles down at the crowd and yells into the mic "this is the best fucking time we ever had in this city!" He likes to stand right on the edge of the stage, with his leg raised and his guitar pointed to the crowd, a mass of arms reaches up to him. From where im standing it looks like hes playing on top of the crowd. The drummer Nick Jago knows the right way how to make alot of noise and his pounding batterie more than once steals the show. By the end of the night he has thrown two sets of drum sticks into the crowd, and faked a stage dive.

Songs like, "Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)", "Aint no Easy Way" and "Spread Your Love" are undeniably great, but more than once I was bored, anxious for the next song, and even thinking about leaving, which is very rare for me. It was a shame "At My Door" was left off the set list...Seeing how much they were getting out of playing the show, plus the fact that they left "Spread Your Love" until the encore kept me rooted to the spot though, and i did stay until the end.

Walking home along the East Side Gallery, and across the beautiful Ober Baum Brücke, it didnt matter that i kept taking the wrong turns, so my 10 minute walk home turned into an hour long trek. BRMC have infectious energy, and with my ears ringing i made it home, and fell into bed happy to have felt the force of it.

You're Like Me, We're The Same

Brendan Benson is a band, so Brendan Benson says. And that band is made up of himself and his merrymen. I learned recently that in the studio, Benson does everything himself and he also produces for other bands (Blanche, the Greenhornes)which is wow. I also heard something about himself and Jack White making an album together next year. Very wow indeed, !!! I was at the Hurricane Festival in June and managed to be up early enough to catch his performance, he was on first that day. The band had quite a short slot and sometimes it just seemed like something was missing from the songs. The gorgeous piano on "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" was totally lost in the festival setting, it just seemed to take something away from the music. So i was really excited when I found he was coming to play in Berlin, I knew it was going to be a great show.

Benson came onstage and greeted the crowd with "yeh! this is a proper fucking berlin gig!" He seemed pretty happy to be playing in the city. The show was on at the Mudd Club, which i only managed to find by following some people I thought were going to the same show as me. At the end of an alley and past some scaffolding, down some rickety stairs and through a door with a cracked pane of glass leads you into the Mudd Club. Its really small with a bar running along the left hand side wall, and a seating area on the other side. Kitty Wu were onstage when I arrived, they were really great and I wish I knew more about them!

Normally I like to watch from the side, but somehow on this night I ended up in the very front row for the main attraction. Being so close was slightly unnerving, but also quite thrilling. I was overcome with dodgy impulses like taking pictures of Benson's trainers...And unfortunately I sneezed at a rather quiet moment at the end of a song, whereupon Benson looked down and said "Bless you...uh, gezundheit." It seemed like the set list was the best combination of songs ever. "good to me", "cold hands, warm heart", "folk singer", "gold into straw", "spit it out", "alternative to love", "between us", "im easy"...Then something strange happened. During the encore a man came onstage from the side and got the bass player's attention, they huddled in what looked like a serious conversation. The police had arrived! Benson & his Merrymen were making too much noise. They looked so sad. Brendan said, "we have to quit". Everyone roared, "NOOO!". Then someone down the back shouted, "PLAY ACOUSTIC!", so that is what they did. The band wasn't sure what to play though, so they turned to the crowd for inspiration. Someone shouted "YOURE QUIET!" and so we got a strange sort of acoustic version of it. Kind of ironical.

I would love to see them playing again, its a pure joy to watch them perform.

Tonight: The Arctic Monkeys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Mirror Kissers

At other music blogs, you could (if you're quick enough, yo) download gorgeous out of print Miles Davis Quintet music, or not even in print yet material from the Strokes, or "The First Day of My Life", (swoon, thud) if you wanna. However, here, um, you can hear about something that i heard about, and maybe live vicariously through my blog to experience the thrills and spills of all shows i go to! Wee! Lucky you.

(Evannah, was that you who left me demented multiple messages a few posts ago??!! Dude! Hollaz at my twin.)

Stellastarr* HAD A NEW ALBUM OUT SEPTEMBER 13th, 2005. Almost 2 years later to the day that "Jenny" was released we are getting new music from Shaun "wierd voice that doesnt match his pretty face" Christenson and his boys and girl. You can sample some new songs at their site. Go!

The Cribs say, "Take drugs, don't eat, have contempt for those you meet." Normally, I would not take such advice. However, these boys play the violin, they embellish their loud, in your face, punky tracks with the recorder and in their liner notes, thank Edwyn Collins for the "help" with their debut album. Swoon, thud. I am in deep smit with this record and find it hard to remove from the stereo. I am sure having a song on the O.C has not done them any harm, I just hope people look past that "hit" and don't think of them as a one hit wonder, they have alot more to offer. The New Fellas takes no prisoners, yells in your ear, "YOU'RE NOT ALL THAT, YOU ARENT ALLOWED TO SAY YOURE BETTER" and in the same song the humble recorder is allowed to handle the breakdown, before a slamming drum shake-up. WOAH! They might like us to think that they are well 'ard, but then we are not fooled, there are hand claps and "la la la la's" a plenty on this record.

They wear their influences on their ripped stripey sleeves, and have definitely upped the ante with lyrical content that taps straight into what we're all thinking.

Sufjan Stevens Steals Our Hearts

Sufjan Stevens and the Illinoisemakers = quite possibly the most fun band ever. These boys and girls, six in all, wearing bright orange and navy gym class/cheerleader outfits (complete with sweatbands) bounded onto an altar bedecked in trumpets, banjoes, drums, keyboards, a piano and guitars, jumping around and smiling like mad. They had a cheer choreographed for every song, and there was even a human pyramid at the end of the evening, !!! This was all slightly at odds with the venue, the dimly lit church, the Passionkirche, complete with a massive gleaming organ in the background.

So this is the WEST COAST TEAM SPIRIT! tour which Sufjan & his crazies have embarked upon. This gig attracted a big crowd, the pews were packed out and people were sitting on the floor. Before each song, Sufjan talked a little about the city he would next sing about. Then, after the "history lesson", he would plant his hands on his hips and yell, "oK!", a little uncertainly at the rest of the troupe and they would all perform a cheer before going into the song. Too! Much! Fun! This one time, something technical went wrong onstage, and instead of standing around making small talk, the band stayed in character and all started doing clumsy warm-up stretches til whatever broke got fixed. T'was a sight to behold.

The crowd demanded an encore by pounding on the floor with their feet and slamming their hands on the balcony wall, and we got the Illinoisemakers back for a few more songs from Seven Swans and a few solo turns by Sufjan.

now i know how to pronounce his name properly, and i have learned lots of little bits about Jacksonville, Decatur, Metropolis..

C'mon Now Sugar, Bring It On, Bring It On

Brendan Benson is coming to town. Okt 25th at the Mudd Club. Dirrrrty.

LOVE.

The past few days I have spent rummaging in flea markets and shady street stalls. In Germany they have a "special" genre of music called Schlage, easy listening, i believe. SO there is ten tonnes of those records everywhere, you really have to dig.

Today i even visited a plain old music store. on my way out the door, a big poster with big letters caught my eye, "DANDYS SAY SMOKE IT!". it put the song in my head straight away.

SUFJAN STEVENS AT THE PASSIONKIRCHE!!!!WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!!!SEE YOU THERE!!!!

Why Don't You Close The Door, And Shut The Curtains

no wonder i like stripy t shirts so much, it's pirate apparel!

THE FIGURINES NEW ALBUM IS OUT NOW AND AVAILABLE IN GERMANY, DENMARK AND SWITZERLAND. IT IS CALLED "SKELETON". SO GO TO GERMANY, DENMARK OR SWITZERLAND AND GET IT. IT IS FAST AND WHINEY AND IT WILL MAKE YOU THINK, "SAY WHAT?" AND THEN WANT TO SHAKE YOUR BONES. HAHA IM ALREADY IN GERMANY I CAN GET IT RIGHT NOW IF I WANT.

There are some interesting things happening in the world. Yesterday was John Peel Day. I didn't know til it was too late...Although, for some reason I was thinking about Pulp alot. Tonight there is an Elliott Smith tribute night. I am scared to go because it is being held in a venue called "Bastard". At the moment in Berlin, on the other side of town in Charlottenberg, there is an exhibition of photographs of James Dean. Dead people, yay! Also recently was Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Audio Bullys have a lovely new song out. It is different to their other songs that I have heard. It is about looove. It has violin and tinkly piano bits. These contrast nicely with the singing: a gravelly eastender barman type voice. "Everyfing I say I say for you. Everyfing I do, you do it you". You can totally listen to it here. Lavly Jabbly.


oK, is everybody making new songs that are different to their other songs that I have heard? What is this "Juicebox" that the Strokes have made? I am not sure. I am enthralled by the duh na nuh na guitars...Julian's "fast singing" is atrocious.


OK AFTER YOU HEAR SKELETON YOU WILL PROBABLY BE THINKING, "OH JESUS, WHERE CAN I GET ANOTHER RECORD BY THE FIGURINES??!!" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WELL, THEN IT WILL BE PRETTY EASY FOR YOU TO FIND ANOTHER RECORD BY THEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE ANOTHER ALBUM, CALLED "SHAKE A MOUNTAIN". I WUOLDNT SAY THEY WERE GOOD IF THEY WEREN'T.

People Are Fragile Things, You Should Know By Now

Quote of the day,

bossblog, "this song just took my pants off." hoorah!

The last show i went to was about 4 weeks ago, but I got run over by a mail truck the next day so I couldn't really write up my experience of the night. I've missed an absolute tonne of shows, art brut, the magic numbers+shout out louds, tom vek....Pang.

Anyway, The Editors put on such a great performance that night I'm so happy they are coming back to Berlin, !!! (See below). The singer in the band, Tom Smith, jerks around the stage in crazy demented movements, sometimes raising his guitar over his head as if he is about to smash it into smitherines. "Blood" and "Munich" were amazing moments. They took to the stage in a line-up that went like this:

the Figurines
Editors
Stars
Koufax
Supergrass

I had never heard of The Figurines, they were an absolute delight. They have been jamming together since they were about 10 years old (seriously..) and put the band together officially in the early 90's. Imagine if Interpol made music for dancing to, like the Rapture. I see they are touring Denmark at the moment with Oh No Ono and I am Bones. Add to this the fact that the dole in Denmark is a whopping 800 euros a month, I think I want to move there.

...nah oK I'm staying in Berlin.

STARS! I can't believe I saw STARS! They are so great! They broke my heart. I was lurking sort of on the right in front of the stage for most of the night but when they came on i scrambled to the front, swoon. Sometimes Amy's voice was a bit lost, but hey. i was sad they didn't play "What the Snowman Learned about Love" but very delighted that "Elevator Loveletter" made the cut.

I don't know who Koufax think they are (Ed harcourt, probly) but their only redeeming moment was when they sang "Stepping Out", this song from the '80s. Every other song they played made me want to puke. I can't believe someone has ripped off Ed Harcourt, while he is still playing crummy support slots, and Koufax had a lovely spot right before Supergrass. I love Ed Harcourt, who does not make me want to puke, at all.

these hot dates are hot. on fire! all red and shit.

Babyshambles am 11.11. im Columbia Club
The Go!Team + Her Space Holiday am 27.11. im Magnet
The Duke Spirit am 13.10. im Magnet
Sufjan Stevens am 19.10. in der Passionskirche
Maximo Park + The New Pornographers am 26.11.05 im Postbahnhof
Editors nun am 13.11.05 im Postbahnhof
Franz Ferdinand + The Rakes am 08.11.05 im Tempodrom

Fuck Forever is the best song ever.

PS what is that Bloc Party song? something about `only two more years?´ its...kind..of..not..good...

And Through The Noise I Heard A Song

I've been away! In a strange faraway land. I was held hostage by some toothy pirates in a cave, I managed to escape by the light of the moon twinkling on the waves rolling in upon the shore. Yarrrr.

Berlin, Berlin. So great it's the cheapest capital city ever in the whole wide world. (probly, right?).

Well, more to come soon. Hard Fi were playing tonight but i went for Indian food instead. Final Fantasy is gonna be here Monday night, I totally want to go. Hope that works out. Talk to you later.

Fell in Love With a Band

I was so distracted by making sure the Xylophone player got a mention in my last entry about the American Analog Set that I forgot to even write about the support group that night! It was The Go Find, who are pretty good, very like the No Twist. Hurrah. There was absolutely no Xylophone last night at the Wilco show, so Johnathan Rice holds a very good chance of making it into this piece.

Johnathan Rice. I got lost on the way to the venue so I missed most of his set. The first song I heard the whole way through was introduced by Johnathan asking the crowd if they understood the term "passive aggressive", because this song was his passive agressive way of dealing with past heartbreak. "I sing the pain off my face", he sang. His speaking voice is soft, with a southern drawl, in contrast with the rather heavy and low vocal that he delivers. (well, actually, the passive agressive song was sung in the style of Johnny Cash, he told us.) At the end of his set he thanked everyone for coming and "being so damn polite" and the hearty applause didn`t stop til he came back onstage for an encore. "Lucky i wrote more than 7 songs. Um, what shall I play?" he said, and he actually look flummoxed for a moment or two trying to think of a good song to play. He was rubbing his chin, scratching his head saying, "this doesn`t happen often". He is scruffy and charming and reminded me a little bit of Ryan Adams.

Wilco are amazing. Their set blew me away. With 6 of them onstage their sound is just so powerful and they are such great musicians and work together so well. Their songs have so many stop-and-go moments and nobody is ever a step off beat. The musicianship and skill of Wilco serves as a perfect delivery to complement Tweedy's lyrics. "The ashtray said you were up all night", "His aim in life was to be an echo", "I got my name from rock n roll", "I look like someone I used to know". I kind of dont know what to say really, they were just wow.

Their set went something like this.

Hell is Chrome
Muzzle of Bees
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
More Like the Moon
Jesus, Etc
At Least, That's What You Said
Summerteeth
Via Chicago
Hummingbird
War on War
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Misunderstood
Late Greats
Sunken Treasure
Airline to Heaven
Kingpin
I´m a Wheel
I Shall be Released

I was sad they didn`t play "Heavy Metal Drummer" or even "Theologians". There were 2 encores. Throughout the night, Jeff didn`t say anything to the crowd until halfway through the first encore, when he said "hey, howya doin?". Then, "for the first 45 minutes it was just pure art. Now we can do all the 'hi Berlin!´ bullshit". He said normally they don`t say this but the crowd was the best ever. Well, they were the best ever.

dear Wilco,

i <3 you.

Punk as Fuck

The American Analog set not only came to my town this week, they came to my neighbourhood! On Tuesday September 6th (which coincidentally was the release date for their new album in Europe) they played the Magnet Bar, in Prenzlauerberg, Berlin. It was hard to track down tickets to the show beforehand, and I was afraid I was going to miss out when I saw a big gang of people outside the venue when I arrived, but it was all OK and I got in.

It was really hot and sweaty, the place was packed to capacity probably. It was only the second night of the tour for the band, and they seemed very happy and energetic. Their set was like a hitlist of really dreamy psychedelic 70's sounding songs that you get totally lost in. It seemed like their songs had very abrupt endings - the getting lost in the dreamy pop bit is such a nice feeling and it seems like it should never end. Indeed, one member of the audience shouted "TOO SOON!" this one time when they finished a song. It's like you're dozing away a hot sunny afternoon in a hammock, and then someone just comes along and twists it so that all of a sudden you fall on your ass. Or something. They played an extra two songs for us in the encore.

The band played some older songs like "Kindness of Strangers" and also new stuff from their new release, "Set Free", which sounds quite lovely. The band's frontman, Andrew Kenny delivers each song in his soft and sad voice, and they have a dedicated Xylophone player/Maracas shaker which I have the utmost respect for. On their website some live downloads are available, "Punk as Fuck", "I Must Quit This Scene" etc etc.

I love the radio here in Berlin. I wake up and turn it on and it's Phoenix and the Knife, then I come home at night and there's a live set from Nada Surf. They played Munich last week, and as there was no stage in the venue, they clambered up on tables to give their performance. At the end of the show I heard on the radio, they recieved three encores! I hope I`m still here in November when they come back.

Art Brut are the cover boys+girl for the German Rolling Stone at the moment. It will be fun to see them again when they play here next week. The band are taking part in the Popkomm festival, which is an industry showdown, sort of like SXSW.

Upcoming Goodness: Wilco, tomorrow night!

Crayon Smith Reveals All in Just Got Back From Holidays Shocker!

In the happy days following Crayonsmith's great live gig at Crawdaddy, I wrote to Ciaran aka Crayonsmith and asked for a little interview via email action. Here's the goodness:

(Ok, so imagine i am serious, professional journalist from Rolling Stone magazine.)

Q1. So, what is that machine that you record all the noises on?
A.Its a drum machine that I got in America about four years ago.

Q2. Do you have time to listen to other people's music at the moment? If so, what are you listening to?
A. Yeah, I just spent a week travelling around Ireland on holiday listening to Mates of State, Cursive,The White Album,Abbey Road,Pavement and Pedro the Lion.


Q3. If i said your music reminds me a little of David Kitt, what would you think?
A.I've had those comparisons in the past, as people would mention the whole "one guy with a guitar and a mini-disc/drum machine" thing.I have his first two albums and I think there's some very good stuff there. If you're told that you sound like someone who you yourself bought and liked, I guess it's a good thing!


Q4. Do you like pineapple?
A.Yeah, especially on pizza.

Q5. Where can one obtain a copy of your EP "You Get Down Here"? How long did it take to make?
A.One can obtain it at gigs.It's like a sampler kind of thing.The songs are on my debut album which I just finished but they've been re-recorded. The album took a year to make as I had to learn so much about recording and mixing and all that.


Q6. Do you write your songs from personal experiences, or just make stuff up?
A. About 95 % from experience and 5% from fictional and imaginary situations. So I dip into both areas until I have a complete picture in each song.


Q7. What is your favourite instrument to play?
A. Guitar.With different tunings the opportunites are endless.


Q8. Are you going to Electric Picnic? If so, who are you going to go see?
A. I can't afford to go!I'd love to see Kraftwerk and Nick Cave.I've seen The Flaming Lips and LCD Soundsystem before and I loved them.Oh, and best of luck to The Chalets!


Q9. Do you ever get nervous before playing live? What helps you calm down?
A. It's more of an adrenaline rush as opposed to nerves and I don't try to go against it or calm down at all.I think you should definitely feel SOMETHING before you go on stage because you're transmitting that to the audience.


Q10. Which has been your favourite gig so far?
A. Actually, the Crawdaddy one where you saw me. I don't play with a mini-disc anymore and this was the gig where I moved closer to where I want to go using drum machines, keyboards, guitar and beats and noises in between songs .I knew very few people in the crowd and the fact that by the end of the set you can hear strangers cheering and moving closer to the stage is extremely satisfying, but at the same time humbling.


Q11. It is very impressive to see you play all the instruments onstage by yourself. If you could have anybody, ever, play in your band, who would it be?
A.Oh, thanks!My friend, Ruadhan, from Hermie in Tweed is playing keys and doing backing vocals with me now and thats all I need for the moment until I feel the urge to add more people.If I was to get someone to play bass it would be Ronan Jackson from the Coldspoon Conspiracy - he's amazing!

Wasn't that great???!!! Thanks Crayonsmith! You're the bestest. Hurrah.

Don't You Remember You Told Me You Loved Me Baby

berlin loves me. look see:

SOUP FESTIVAL!
Kreuzberg Löffelt (1)
3rd September, 2pm, Wrangelstraße

Tom Vek September 26th, Magnet Club

Supergrass, Stars, Editors 14th September, Postbahnhof

Art Brut, 15th September, Roter Salon

The Magic Numbers, Shout Out Louds, 23rd September, Magnet Club

Talib Kweli, 27th September, Knaack

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, The Cribs, 28th September, Postbahnhof

just for fun i put up a picture (that i actually took! woohoo) of the Kills from when they played a show at the Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin last June for the Budweiser Rising Festival. Anyhoo, they are pretty scary onstage. Check out those demonic red eyes! It's totally not a result of my amateurish camera skills. OK.

Wanna Disco, Wanna See Me Disco?

Ladies and gentlemen, set yourselves on fire!

Yesterday we found an Oxfam charity shop, of course i rifled through the cds, and found one from my "youth" i.e 7 years ago when I was 16 and used to go out more times a week than i had hot dinners and dance, dance, dance. Novy V Eniac "Superstar". The video was this blonde chick having the best time ever dancing.

At the time, there were only two places that played good music. I was wierd. I was listening to Blur and Pulp at home and then out all night dancing to Delerium et al 4 nights a week. One place was a regular nightclub with a back dancefloor called The Garden, of course it had vine leaves and flowers painted all over the walls. If you paid in you could eat for free in the restaurant, that was bizarre, but good. The other was the nightclub of a hotel. All mirrors on the walls, dodgy alcahol at the bar, a shiny disco ball and fancy seating area.

..a little bit of nostalgia for 1 euro, donated to charity and all.

My legs are so dead from riding my bike all over Berlin today in search of a place to live. I got one (there's a balcony that runs the length of the apartment!) and I also got the new album from Stars. "Set Yourself on Fire". I love Stars. Who else would depict a naked chick wearing a pink balaclava and holding a blowtorch on the cover of their third album? STARS! Lovely. Ok so I love it. They haven't strayed too far from the sound of "Heart". There's more, though. More happy, more urgency, they have given us alot more with this new record. I just love the juxtaposition of Amy and Torque's singing voices. A standout track for dream days and evening sighs is definitely "Ageless Beauty". Ok they all are. It was a brave/stupid decision to leave all my music behind me in Dublin, but I had to really. There may not be logic in simply gathering another collection while I'm here. I am very happy that this album is the extent of my music collection right now. I shouldn't have written about it when I'm stil only in the middle of my first listen. but HOORAY! It's just gorgeous. Dreamy pop indeed.

Sprechen Sie Deutche Baby?

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative.

In aid of Unicef, this project is going down with the help of -amongst others- Beck, Devendra Banhart, Jimmy Tamborello, Karen O, Feist, Buck 65 (above, albeit blurry), (Win & Regine from)Arcade Fire, Thurston Moore and Malcolm McLaren. THEY ARE MAKING A HALLOWEEN VERSION OF "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS", YO.

You can listen to it here!

Berlin is a really good place to be next month, what with Wilco and Stars stopping by.

September 10th, Wilco @ Postbanhof
September 14th, Stars @ Maria

Buying fun beads with Le Tigre in the background is always a good time. Hooray for Tukadu bead shop in Hackesher Markt. Afterwards we stumbled into an alleyway with wooden tables taking up the space between the two graffiti-ed walls. This might be Cafe Bravo. Hot chocolate in a bowl with lots of sweet cream, outside on a bench or inside where it's dark, the furniture is antique (see 1 ornate couch and 1 white piano) and the walls are papered with magazine covers.

Wir Sind Helden. They are German. They make nice songs. Like "Gibt Mir Ein 'O'. They have a band-member called Jean-Paul Tourette. In another language their name means, "We are heroes". Hooray!

Hip Hip

Some stupid band was billed to play with "special guests" last Saturday 13th August at Crawdaddy. It would turn out to be a very exciting night, before said stupid band ever got to the stage. It happens on occasion that the “special guests” do not live up to their lovely description, but on this night the special guests were very special indeed. (Much special-er than the main attraction, !!!) The first performer reminded me of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake- fatalistic, beautiful, and haunting. His voice conveyed pain and emotion, despite a little nervousness, quelled I hope by an appreciative crowd who got a shy smile in return for their applause. In direct contrast, next up was noisemaster Crayonsmith. He was wielding all the right tools: a noisy guitar, a drum machine, Xylophone, one of those gadgets that he could record noises/vocals onto so that it repeated while he got on with the rest. He is a fearless character, not afraid to actually look at the audience and say "COME CLOSER TO THE STAGE YOU BIG EEJITS", except he was a bit more gentlemanly about it than that.

I remember late one Sunday night on the radio a few years ago, Jay Aherne mentioned something about indie-tronica, and I believe Crayonsmith has something to say about it too. He has put together an EP called "You Get Down Here". Two of the songs he played that night, "Scarytale" and "Unnatural" are available as mp3s on his website.

The "headliners" at this gig do not deserve any space here. They trundled their way through their set like a group of karaoke singers at Vera and Jack Duckworth's vow-renewal ceremony. Life is too short for bad music, and I escaped out into the warm night. Whew.

Pirate/Jesus/Devendra

i heard Devendra was up to no good after the show he played in Galway. I thought Joanna Newsom was his lady? Pirate to the core, Jesus would never do a thing like that. Tsk tsk tsk.

Ed Harcourt is coming to Dublin but im pretty pissed about it. He is performing as the opening act for a little popstrel that has had a couple of hits over the summer. BLEUGH! He should be the main attraction!

i should be shot, I am going to miss this years Hard Working Class Heroes hootenanny in Dublin on the 27, 28, 29 August. Boohoo. I would lovelovelove to see 66e, Betamax Format, Fred, Mainline, Me in the Park, Ann Scott and Jape. It looks to be a blast.

I'm Not That Bad...I'm Worse

Herm (& the selves) hit Crawdaddy's this Saturday at 8pm. I'm going. Herm are signed with Catchy Go Go Records...I think, the site doesn't seem to have been updated for the past couple of months. Maybe they are away on holidays. Actually this Herm gig is proving to be rather elusive, it's not even listed on the venue website. Popping up now and then on Dan Hegarty's playlist, Herm sound different, although they also sound like Ben Kweller.

Herm @ Crawdaddy, 13th August 2005
Show starts 8pm
Adm: ???...Mysterious price. Find out on the night! Can't wait.

I'm going to Germany soon. Don't be like me and miss out on these these shows:

the Cribs, Whelans, 22nd August
Saul Williams, Crawdaddy 25th August
Jurassic 5 Vicar Street 28th August

Us Kids Know

The 1st Saturday of every month is a special date in everyone's diary in Sligo. The Funk Up takes place, upstairs in the Garavogue bar. It's a night of possibilities, an event that brings out the strange and wonderful people, a different kind of crowd than a normal Saturday night, probably. The best spot is beside the dancefloor, at the extra large window-sills that overlook the river. You're close to all the action: you bump into everybody there, you can stash your stuff and when your favourite song comes on, the dash to the dancefloor is so close (mind the steps). There is a cosy corner with couches and chairs and tables to sit down, if you can resist the dancefloor. Tonight the mix was random and very good indeed."Need You Tonight", "Teenage Kicks", "Summer in the City", "1 thing", "Jackie Wilson Said", "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", "Rebellion (Lies)". Nobody stopped dancing when the lights came up. The music played on. Everyone clapped and hooted for more. Nights like this are special because they don't happen that often, or at any other venue in Sligo. We are lucky for this once monthly funk up. Great.

Twinkle, Twinkle...

STARS are coming to town! September 10th @ the Sugar Club.

This is the best news ever in the whole world. Their new album "Set Yourself on Fire" has apparently been available as a US import since last March but it will get it's European release here on August 15th. Pretty soon, but not soon enough!

I'm also starry-eyed about these upcoming dates:

Nada Surf 6th September @ the Village
Tom McRae, 25th September @ the Village
Super Furry Animals, 27th September @ Olympia
Bloc Party, November 7th @ the Olympia
Sigur Ros, November 11th @ Olympia

Ouch, the Editors gig in Dublin is all sold out.

Put Me in Your Blue Skies, Or Put Me in Your Grey

On a terribly rainy evening in Dublin last Friday 29th July, I traipsed across the city with a friend in tow and my heart all a-flutter in anticipation for the gig by Devendra Banhart in the Village. Though i know several songs by Devendra, i don't own any of his records. Yet. So i felt that going to see him live was special for me. Even though i only knew a select few tunes, they are enough for me to know that Devendra Banhart is something special, and definitely worth checking out when the chance arises to see him live.

When we arrived there was a huddling crowd outside the entrance, smoking, and also a queue for tickets. Squelching past everyone and heading inside, I hadn't expected the crowd to be so big, I was excited to see that so many people had come to see Devendra play. My expectations of the gig were that it would be quiet, i imagined that Devenrda would be by himself, just him and his guitar, gently serenading a contemplative crowd from the dimly lit stage. Well, it wasn't exactly like that. When several hairy men walked onstage and the crowd let out a joyous roar, I realised we were going to get a whole band experience- drummer, 3 guitarists and keyboards (i think) and that this crowd was good and rowdy. Devendra said hello and introduced himself and his band as "Hairy Fairy". The boys are all very hairy indeed, with their beards, moustaches and luscious long hair. One of the guitarist boys and the drummer were a little less hairy than the others, and took turns wearing a fake beard.
hee hee.

Devendra is totally gorgeous. He sort of looks like Jesus - he's tall, with shoulder length mad curly shiny brown hair and a nice beard. He also looks like a pirate, with his beard and hoopy earrings. However, the similarity (sort of) ends there, with his skinny frame, thrift store threads and child-like eagerness and enthusiasm, Devendra is really a wonder to watch perform. His unique voice and unforgettable lyrics made for a really enjoyable show for everybody there. In the crowd there was alot of smiling, laughing, clapping, singing along and hollering requests at the stage. Devendra and his Hairy Fairies played several songs from his new album 'Cripple Crow', due for release in September which has a very generous 22 songs. There were many stomping, jingly jangly tunes played that night. A good mix of the old, like "Will is My Friend" and "Little Yellow Spider" from Devendra's previous albums Rejoicing in the Hands, and Nino Rojo and the new, like "I feel like a Child", "Long Haired Child" and some Spanish songs, all featuring on "Cripple Crow". Devendra grew up in Venezuela, speaking Spanish as his first language. His artistic creativity as an artist shines through in the beautiful Spanish songs on the new album which Devendra played for us that night. They went down really well, and that new record will do very well i imagine. When he played "At the Hop" everybody sang/shouted along, "Cook me in your breakfast, and put me on your plate, cos you know I taste great". I have to say my favourite song from the set list that night was the one about the transgendered schizophrenic. A masterpiece.

A nice moment of the evening was when Devendra asked if there was anyone in the crowd who had written a song lately that they would like to share. A lucky young man was picked to go up onstage and he sang a song about being a stalker. It was a really great song, he wasn't a bit nervous and the Hairy Fairies even stayed onstage while he played, bopping along. Devendra sang along to the chorus from the wings and the drummer provided some gentle percussion.

i wouldn't do Devendra the injustice of posting up any of the photographs i captured that night with my camera phone. (em, i don't know how to anyway..) i can make out the big hair, but that's about it. so i hope you enjoy this other image of him that i stole. (see the hoopy earring?!!)

Picturing Devendra doing his out of sync shimmy onstage, with his band
all around him, singing and playing their hearts out, i can't help but have a big smile. It was one very special evening for all those lucky enough to be there that night. The band were really great and worked really well together with their pirate captain. Though it didn't seem like work at all. It was like magic.

I Hope I Can Forget You, After You Go

Not many bands can have every girl in the crowd singing along to their "misgoynistic" lyrics,

"i beat my woman, just to keep her in line / i'd leave my woman, but she comes
back every time"

but the Dead Flags are not one of many! they are Billy "the voice" Fitzgerald on vocals, Dave "Ice" Power on falsetto background vocals & shouts and also bass, Kevin Lowry on drums, and especially for us tonight the band also featured the inimitable Johnny Fun on Xylophone (yes, that is really his name- i asked.) and a bongo player whose name i could not hear over the roar of the 100-odd ruffians present at the gig tonight. WHAT A SHOW! A regular perfomer at the 'Open Mic' held every Monday night in Bar Eile, Fitzgerald has earned himself a reputation for reputable performances, tonight attracting a full-capacity-plus-a-few-more-probably crowd to McGarrigles.

the setlist included many f$%!ing awesome tunes, including "After You're Gone", "Woman", "Girls", "Here be Love", "Best Friend's Girl" and "How Long". The wordical genius of Fitzgerald's lyrics never failed to impress, or make us all blush, rhyming "indie chick" with "my dick". Every song is a passionate testament to scorned lovers, fearless unfaithfulness and the pain and suffering and sexual encounters that boys and girls everywhere experience in the search of their own indie chick/boy. Billy doesn't have that middle knickname "the voice" for nothing. those strained neck muscles made me squirm in my seat (a very uncomfortable bar stool...but i had a great front-and-centre view, of the bulging neck muscles, yay!)

Very super opening act was Cillian O'Kelley, who is on the internets, he says. www.somethingsomething/cillianonline.com. (sorry). He says there are photographs. The crowd was lit on fire byh O'Kelly with his performance of "Mouse of the Rising Sun" and other songs, one in particular inspired by a review which reviewed Cillian as "feeling like you're being taken from behind by Salvador Dali." I could never come up with anything like that. Cillian sings, writes and plays real good. How's dat? Also, there was a song in honour of Keifer Sutherland's ability to not pee in "24", and a rather unforgettable rendition of "I'm Keeping Your Poop", originally by Hayseed Dixie. No lock of hair, or lip-stick stained coffee mug would do??...

the Dead Flags opened their set for us tonight with a short film of their shenanigans - tonight it was sort of a goodbye gig as the boys are all going off to university to forget how to play the guitar, further enhance their embittered, ironical view of the world and leave us all a bit sad that they're not around. But we have the CD to listen to, with "not final versions of the songs hence the, at times, crappy quality."

Appropriately enough after all those tales of love, sex, heartache and girl-hating, the boys finished up their set with "Love Shack" by the B52's. Bringing a gorgeous girl on-stage to help with the vocals, they got everybody up off their uncomfortable bar stools to shimmy down to their last song ever, maybe. Despite the heat (only because there were so many people!) the understaffed bar, and the disruption in the form of one drunken middle-eastern political activist, this night was definitely not dead for the Dead Flags.

i hope we don't forget the Dead Flags, and i hope that they come back to us.

The Boy Is Back In Town

Arcade Fire have a new song, "Cold Wind", which they made up especially for the "Six Feet Under" soundtrack. I'm in love with Arcade Fire at the moment, and this one makes me swoon.

Joy Zipper have a new song, "1", and it is real cute.

Ed Harcourt is releasing a rarity/b-sides thing in August called "Elephant Graveyard".

I'm really looking forward to the Dead Flags show tonight. It will be so great to see Billy "the voice" with a full band. On the poster some unusual instruments were mentioned...

Biffy Clyro & everyone who ever played guitar with Thin Lizzy will hit the Point theatre in Dublin on August 20th. This gig ties in with, at long last, a statue of Phil Lynnott that is being unveiled on Grafton Street on the 19th. That's gonna be so cool.

(this one time in June when i went to visit Kristina in Hamburg, we walked around the city one night. One of the places we walked was through the underwater tunnel of the river Elbe, and that message was at the entrance. )