Philly,DC,NYC and/or Portland?

This is the dilema do I do Philly(ticket booked) and/or DC(tix on sale next Thurs) and/or NYC (sold out but hoepfull to pick one up from somewhere). Or PORTLAND last show/hometown gig, jeez that'll be an emotional one.
I've come to terms with the fact that the ladies will be no more. It's the emotional outpouring on the board that's tuff to handle. The people there are just so nice, there's a real scense of community. I feel like I know them all personally, the love is not just for Carrie,Corin and Janet but for each other. I'm finding that difficult to handle.
Anyway (wipes away tear) I'm going to have to seriously think about which shows to attend.

Calmness started to be rejected

This has been a long night (still is)
My first impression here is I must be at the New York show. I can get a flight ok £350 ish
but the show is sold out! E-Bay $250 f**kin c**ts. Ok with fan conections I may overcome that though it is a problem. Also I know the time off work is gonna be tricky. I'll pay someones overtime, f**k it.
How do you justify to people just how much a rock'n'roll band has moved you. I've seen 'em 5 times and twice I've cried they're that good.
I'm rambleing and I'm drunk (unusual for me these days)
Ok It's 04:20 am my alarm goes off in 2hrs 10mins, and I still have a glass of wine in my hand.

Tuesday 27th June 2006

SLEATER KINNEY ANOUNCE THEY ARE GOING ON "INDEFINATE HIATUS"

This is a sad day! I'm quite calm realy, but sad.
My imediate reaction is that I want to go and see one of their last shows. The last being the Lollapoluza festival, that's out so next to last is New York on Aug 2nd. Ok I can get a flight for about £350, the only problem is the time off work.
Lets sleep on this.
I hope this is purely due to 11 years of pretty much constant touring and recording and that they just feel they have done enough. More latter.

Doh!

So I get up this morning 07;08, feeling a bit tired, get ready and tootle off to work. When I get to work I'm greeted with "what you doin' here you're off today" DOH! So I go off into town and buy a couple of albums (therapy)

I've just realised

That the "Pretty Girls Make Graves" album is in my top 5 for the year and they are playing the Manc Academy in a couple of weeks. Ah Shit! lets book it. They are a band I do need to see this year. Ok Booked. So that is now 3 gigs in 9 days, Great!! Jeez I'm a sucker at 3;30 am.

1/2 Year Review!

Thought I'd put together a half year album review (ok sad I know, but it's what I do) So I have 48 "new" albums (this includes 6 download) where to sart? Ok lets put them into "A" list "Bordering A list" "B" list and "C" list. Ok 1 1/2 hours later
Done, mmmm I have 14 "A", 12 "Bordering" , and 7 "B". That's 33 to fit in to a top 20. Well it's just gonna have to come down to the survival of the fittest. Jeez there's another 6 months to go yet.
AS WE STAND "A" LIST IN ORDER (FOR NOW)
Rogers Sisters
Sonic Youth
Gossip
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pearl Jam
Regina Spektor
You Say Party We Say Die
Guillimots
Raconteures
Keith
Giant Drag
Kooks
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Joan as policewoman.

BORDERING "A" LIST (STILL TIME FOR AN UPGRADE)
Broken Social
Clap Your Hands
Quasi
Midlake
Controller Controller
The Organ
Sing Sing
Ladyfuzz
Mogwai
Eagles of Death Metal
Strokes
Joan (EP)

"B" LIST (STILL TIME 1 OR 2 OF THESE MAY MAKE TOP 20)
Howling Bells
Calexico
Clearlake
Karine Polwart
Beth Orton
Gomez
Jim Noir

Slightly worried

Just thought I'd chase up my ticket to see The Gossip. Acording to Ticketline it was posted out on the 9th of May!! So someones had it, and probably sold it on E-Bay. Anyway they say they will issue another ticket for venue pick-up. How do they know I'm not just angleing for another ticket? The cynic in me surfaces again.

Muses & 50ft Wave shows

With ref to the Muses gig anounced for the Iceland festival. It appears that there will be no UK shows. According to BillyO because K has a solo album coming out in Sept they(the record co) won't allow her to play in the UK. This is because they don't want to dent her profile as a solo performer, jeez what a bunch of-- well you know!
To add insult to injury I've just got a message from the TM mailing list saying that Muses are going to play 2 shows in the US, with 50ft Wave supporting. Damn! Damn! Damn!
those are going to be a busy couple of nights for K. I'm not gonna dwel on this for too long cuz this hurts.

Ah! that's me.

So I get a disc sent to me (from "lost", thanks again) of some video footage of the Leeds gig. She was stood quite close to me, so the footage is set from more or less the same angle I saw the show. During One More Hour she just briefly pans and catches the audience and gets my ugly mug rockin' from side to side. That must have been a shock for the poor girl.
Anyway It's a nice memento of the gig.
I'll try to make this the last S-K oriented post for a while (ok we know I'm an obsessive)

S-K setlists

My S-K setlists, on the left is Carries from Leeds and right Corins from Bristol.

I feel bad again pt2

OH! I feel bad again. Sue mailed a reply to my ultra happy mail about my S-K trip.Turns out she's having a real bad time at the mo. Martins back with Miles, no job ect, ect. Damn I feel guilty about having the time of my life following the ladies round the country.
Jeez it puts my life into perspective, well not that much realy but perhaps I shouldn't push my happieness so much.
Anyway more on this later (it's 05:o8 am)

Glasgow 31/5/06

Next leg- I set off from Leeds now with Corins and Carries set lists in my pocket. It was a lovely day too and the train journey took in the famous Settle to Carlisle route. Worth the £79 train fare just for that. I get to Glasgow and discover I have a mild problem, I have a venue pick-up ticket, but with no address of the venue! Hmmm, ok a tourist info at the station me thinks. Glasgow Central is a big station, could I find any tourist info? of course not. In desperation I ask a neanderthall station guard, "Ayyee its a pub off the Great Western Rd"
So with some from of bearings I get a cab to the hotel. Nice place, tidy, pleasant staff. Sort myself out and head off down the Great Western Rd.
Eventually find the place and it's a friggin church litterally a church, S-K are gonna play in church!!. The gig venue is in the basement of this place such a cool venue, they do pick the best ones. This time I go back to Corins side but slightly more central. I get chatting to a lad from Doncaster who it turns out is a Wrexham fan, small world. They open with Fox again then Pompei (yay!) It is evident then that this is a very lively crowd I had to keep my hands on the stage to stop from getting crushed. Sean would have been impressed with that mosh pit.
Great set again but it was during the encore I "lost it" again Turn it on but this time they did a seamless link into Dig me out. That was so good I started to fill up. Damn they're a fine rock'n'roll band. At the end Chris comes over for a quick chat, we're both exhausted and soaked from the full velocity of the show, Idon't think we could put too many words together.
I just wander off into the Glasgow night dazed.

Leeds 30/5/06

So with Bristol still ringing in my ears and Corins set list in my pocket. I set off for Leeds.
Train cancelled. That's a good start, anyway eventually get there (1hr late). The Cockpit is a small club set under the railway arches, just round the corner from the hotel too. I have a quick sniff of it while on the way to the hotel. Once I get sorted I went up to a little pub off Bridgate I remembered from last year. I eventually meet up with Iwannarunaway and Crosby, we have a few light refreshments before getting to the venue early, again as to get to the front of the stage. This time I get the space stage left, right in front of Carrie. They revert back to normal and open with The Fox, again all The Woods (expt Steep Air). The extras tonight were End of You, didn't expect that! One Beat, Everything (yippee!) Light Rail (extra yippee!) Youth Decay, what a great set. When Carrie came out for the encore she just said "Any Requests?". WHAT! I just couldn't get my brain and mouth to function, anyway by popular demand One More Hour. As they finished I leant over and grabbed Carries set list, 2 in 2 nights, this just gets better.
In a daze I make my way to a little pub round the corner from the venue, phew! another great gig. Whilst stood at the bar three people walk in closer to my age than most of the S-K crowd. I notice they have the Cockpit stamp on their hands, so I ask them if they went to the show, they did. S-K virgins too It was their 1st S-K gig, usual reaction "great band live, and that drummer". Yep Janet rocks.

Bristol 29/5/06

Where to start?
The Fiddlers club, a venue in the south end of Bristol in a slightly run down dodgy area. We got there (sorry we being Crosbysleftear and myself) at about doors time to get a good spek.
A good vunue though, an old stone warehouse affair with a corner stage. Got the front position right in front of Corin. With the place being a basic box the ladies had to enter from a side door to an alleyway! Probably had to change in the outhouse. Support act Help she can't swim were ok, must check their stuff out.
S-K took the stage and launched straight into O2. The sound was superb I thought with the place being literaly a stone box the sound would be shit. Janets drum sound was the crispest I've heard it. The set was all the Woods material (expt Steep Air) plus Sympathy, such a great live song. Ironclad, how good is that? and Get Up. They ended the main set as usual with Lets call it love/Entertain, the jam now involes Corin & Janet more and is just awsome. As the opening bars to Entrtain started I grabed Corins set list YAY! I can't remember the encore now but it did include Words & Guitar. After the show I was just stood talking by the "outhouse" door when in walk Corin and Janet, I get to shake Corins and Janets hand and say great show. How good is that?
I mean how much better can it get? my lasting impression of that show is that I don't think I've seen Corin rock out so much in one gig. Janet has reportedly said It's the best show they have ever played.

No words available

Well I don't think there are words in the English language to describe the last 3 days. It's 3am now I'm absolutely knackered so I'll give a more detailed diaristic approach to this subject tomorrow. Other other to say f**k me, this is the best rock ' n 'roll band on the planet by miles. Jeez there is so much to post on this it'll take ages, but hey! this is my unimportant life.