Yes I have a new blog. Over summer 2 festivals, becoming a godfather and gaining closure on something very prominent in my brain has sent me rather mad so right now this one is going to be about what I am thinking and how things are for me at this point in my life. Stay still as this could be a bumpy ride.
First off on the music side I went to the small 2000 trees festival in Cheltenham and saw 4 particularly great performances, Frank Turner, Sonic Boom Six, the opening band on the final day (can't remember the name) and The Subways. Considering they were acts I didn't know a lot about in terms of depth of material before I was happy to see them. Frank Turner has epic presence and is one of the best folk based acts I've ever come across. Sonic Boom Six don;t do the kind of music I normally like but I love the song 'Meanwhile in the real World' as it is catchy, groovy and at points super heavy as well. The opening act on the Saturday did not have a big crowd but did have good songs and nice presence on top of the nice touch of multiple vocalists all of which were largely quite good. The Subways started off a little slow but Girls and Boys and Rock and Roll Queen were especially awesome in a good spot in terms of being towards the front and made the set good on the whole. But the whole weekend was made by one Kate Byard who found me, helped me set my tent up and made the weekend on the whole generally better for just being there so thank you :).
Next up was Warrior Dance festival i.e the big Prodigy gig at the Milton Keynes bowl. Me and Tom went to that and had a blast. Does It Offend You Yeah opened up nicely with some nice songs but I didn't feel much presence wise but they let the music do the talking and the bassist was female and attractive and me and Lucas Murrin met her just before Chase and Status and she was cool and we got a picture and everything. Chase and Status disapointed me greatly. The only songs I really got into were the Rock Dubstep track 'Heartbeat' and the epic D'n'B number 'Pieces' which did feature Plan B.
Enter Shikari were up next and they did a set of mainly newer songs but included tracks like 'No Swwweat' and 'Stand Your Ground' which followed into their song of the day, the savagely heavy 'Enter Shikari'. Then came quite a long wait and a DJ set by Zane Lowe which did not impress me. What did impress me was Pendulum. A band who I think are better than the headliners and put on a superb set including the live debut of Immersion's 'The Vulture' and a very heavy version of 'Fasten Your Seatbelts'. One disappointment was the technical malfunctions during 'Slam'. Unfortunately we missed a lot of Prodigy's set before the journey home but not before great versions of 'Poison', 'Invaders Must Die' and 'Omen'. Overall it was a great gig but next week and then came Sonisphere, the thing I was most looking forward to.
Delain opened the festival and their brand of Operatic Metal was hit and miss with the crowd as a whole but hit a chord with me personally and they played a very good set. Gary Numan and Europe suprised me with how their set's went. After a fun and painful set by Turisas the songs. 'My Friends Are Electric' and 'Last Look at Eden in particular were stunning while the popular choices 'Cars' and 'Final Countdown' were actually really disappointing. Alice Cooper picked the pace with a great theatrical performance of classics like 'School's Out', 'Poison' 'I wanna be elected and a mega performance of recent single 'Vengence Is Mine'. Only Cooper could pull off playing a set where he dies 4 times and kills a nurse and a baby.
The first full day arrived with stand out sets by Lacuna Coil, goregeoous Cristina Scabbia in tow, Anthrax with a fun set, including the first 2 verses of 'Heaven and Hell' as a great Dio tribute. A heroes welcome for Essex based emo band INME, Apololyptica with thier cello's and a great cover of Master Of Puppets. and (perhaps the most out of place of the weekend) Placebo. Rammstein followed with their brand of epic German Industrial Metal which included a simply amazing versions of 'Sonne' and 'Kiene Lust'. That had replaced Pendulum's set last week as the best set i've ever seen.
The Sunday was however a truly stunning day. Starting with CKY playing a set based on Nostalgia with great versions of '96 Quite Bitter Beings' and 'Flesh Into Gear'. Followed by a stunning set by Skindred there was Slayer and a set of typical nostalgia and pre mid 90's songs. Most impressive of which was 'Dead Skin Mask'. Alice In Chain i have no doubt are a great band with Jerry Catrell being a legend of Alternate Music but their set left me cold as they played slower set than almost any other band of the weekend and I personally used it as an example to move forward for what was to follow.
Following them came an agonising choice of Fightstar and Pendulum, both bands i've seen live before and both whom i loved. I stuck with Pendulum and was so happy. Opening with 'Crush' gave me the idea to get on the swooping camera which made it utterly fantastic as I was on the big screen during the first chorus. 'Self vs Self' was fantastic and they even got Anders Frisk of In Flames to sing it live and it was a stunning moment. However the best moments of the set were 'Crush' and a huge performance of 'Watercolour' making this now the best show i'd ever seen. Then Iron Maiden turned up with thier modern set and just the fact they opened with 'Wickerman' was the best thing ever. A band that experienced backing their newest material is truly great and a sign there is more to come, and a better gig than the Nostalgia trips Slayer and Anthrax went on earlier in the weekend.
Ontop of the great bands there was also the great people we camped with and the sheer amount of cider, sandwiches and laughs we had with them made it the best weekend ever hope all of them are coming next year so we can camp together again :).
Then came towards the end of the Summer there was 2 big ceremonies. The Funeral for my Grandfather Anthony Alexis and the Christening of my Godson Akihiro Alexis. The old man and my immediate family had a complex relationship for a number of reasons but in the end, helping to bury the coffin and reading the bidding prayers gave me a moment of closure which i really needed. Then to the Christening where we realised that whatever happens to Akihiro personally we need to be there for the kid. He is a cute kid who has the whole world at his feet with the help of all the family, including me and my brother as Godfather's he should be absolutely fine.
Lastly as many of you know I gave up smoking recently. It's going to be tough with the cravings but with everything that happened recently and the fact that money is a bit tighter this year smoking is an irresponsible habbit for me to have as much as I enjoy the community shared by smokers, sharing cigarettes and lighters/matches in the ultimate expression of how communism should work. But now i should be healthier for stopping and I can say I enjoyed it, and the thinking time it gave me sometimes while it lasted.
Coming up next I go back to my more topical blogs with reviews of Wrestling ppv's Bound For Glory by TNA and the upcoming Bragging Rights by WWE.
Peace out yo'
Nick
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