Sunday Bloody Sunday....

So Sunday rolls round again. Sunday Bloody Sunday. Which track by U2 is incidentally covered in a rather poor fashion by Saul Williams on his rather brilliantly titled album The Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust. I was, sadly, disappointed with his latest offering, particuarly because he had Trent Reznor on board, and the collaboration has hardly gone off with a bang. It's good up to about track 8 and then it all gets a bit ridiculous - see the U2 and Earth, Wind and Fire cover.

Leonard Cohen was sublime at the O2 on Thursday night. I have possibly never seen such a professional, humble and gracious performer as him and his band. And I really really hope at age 74 I can still run around and bend my knees like he does. Highlights of his mammoth three hour set include Hallelujah (as it should be), First We Take Manhatten, Take This Waltz and some spoken word stuff. The review is in progress...has been since I scribbled a few thoughts down during the show...which I now can't read.

The O2 as a venue didn't really hit the spot for me, and as Leonard Cohen put it himself, it's 'the other side of intimacy'. It literally is like being in a huge cavernous space with some tiny people at one end making a nice noise. It also wasn't particularly loud. It was fine where we were, but an further back and I think you'd be struggling. They also had some huge screens hanging from the ceiling, which I see as a blessing and a curse. I mean, it's nice to see some close up detail, facial features, hell even what colour suit he's wearing. but then it's also like watching the performance on tv, which really does defeat the purpose. And there's no chance of plummeting to your death from some ridiculously steep bank of seats if you're at home.

I (hopefully) have a new job, writing some fashion blogs in Aldershot. The work at the out of school/holiday club is sporadic and unreliable at best, especially as there's no firm rota in place from week to week. So hopefully I can just fit it in around this blogging job, because it's far more like what I want to do, as opposed to finger painting and lego. Although I do enjoy that in my spare time... Might be doing some other (paid!) writing work as well, but I need to come up with 500 word pieces on celebrity trends and fashion, which quite frankly I'm struggling with a bit. Perhaps I need to invest in OK or Hello. Answers on a postcard....celebrity postcards? Probably not.

Also if anyone has a cure for asthma, again, answers on a postcard, because mine is rearing it's ugly head (or lungs/windpipe?) at the moment and I am really struggling with the breathing thing which really is inconvenient.

Toddles

I sincerely apologise for all the trouble I've caused...

You find me in the company of Guy Garvey this evening. On that radio that is. As if I'd be sat here blogging if Mr Garvey was present. Anyway, enough Garvey-gushing. You also find me in the company of my exciting new wireless keyboard, which is making it much easier for me to type. I should've got one ages ago really. Laptop keys are just too delicate for my 'aggressive' speed typing.

This week has been rather dull. I worked a grand total of 4 hours. That equates to less than £30. Not good. And it's looking the same for this week. Hopefully my hours will go up by about 500% when the school holidays kick in.

I have the amazingly titled new Saul Williams album to review - The Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! Only he could get away with that. And it has List of Demands on, which is one of my favourite tracks by him. Also incredible to listen to when running/working out!

I really want a tattoo but I don't know what to get! Argh. I sort of want lyrics a la Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro (he has 'god only knows what I'd be without out across his chest). Also, Simon Neil is married! I am devastated. And slightly surprised. His wife must be one tough lady, dealing with all the time apart, and pulling him through the recent death of his mother and stuff. Apparently he was doing some pretty dark stuff. I guess it's that kind of stuff that makes you realise you're in it for the long run! Anyway, yeah lyrics - the ones I want are too long and I can't choose between them. I'm swaying towards 'I sincerely apologise for all the trouble I've caused' - the name of David Ford's first album, but I'm not sure. I'm also thinking about maybe a little heart or flower or something. Apparently there's a big feature in this month's Vogue on tattoos so I'm going to check that out. I definitely want it on my back though, pretty high up, on one side. Not on my shoulder blades though, cos they stick out a bit and apparently it really hurts to have it on bones.

I need to get back to running 5/6 days a week. I just wake up and think 'oh I can't be bothered'. Lazy. And as a result, my stomach is looking like there's a rubber ring residing round it. Have started using one of those fitness ball things - and man do they give you a good workout. I did the whole DVD that went with it, it was about 45 minutes long, and I felt SO good after, like all my muscles had been stretched and everything. Especially my back, which is good because I sometimes have trouble with it. Anyway, those babies are not just for bouncing up and down on, you can do some serious work with them! So hopefully I will be well on my way to getting a nice six pack soon haha.

Anyway, back to Mr Garvey.

'Pip pip.

Idlewild experience mid-life crisis?

I went to see Idlewild last Thursday night at ULU in London. Despite having been together for more than 10 years the band still look remarkably young, not least lead singer Roddy Woomble who was looking rather dashing in a shirt/jeans/pointy shoes combo. Lead guitarist Bob was sporting his 'summer wardrobe' which seemed to consist of light blue garments only. Anyway clearly the band had spent all their many on their new clothes, because they decided they couldn't afford a support band. Instead they took to the stage roundabout 8:30pm with acoustic guitars and bass and proceeded to play a short but sweet acoustic set and effectively support themselves. Highlights included a beautiful performance of El Capitan and American English. I think about a third of the audience wouldn't have minded if they played unplugged for the whole evening, a third were itching for electric guitars and drums, and a third didn't realise until about 3 songs in that the band on stage were actually Idlewild. But that's a London crowd for you. After 'sitting in a room for a wee while' the band returned fully plugged in and with a ridiculous hike in volume. Launching into a frenzied set that included old favourites, B-sides, rarities and the odd actual hit, it seems Idlewild have almost come full circle on themselves. Their first 2 albums were rather post-punk, heavy sounding affairs, with Roddy plumping for a more Americanised accent than his native Scottish. More recent albums, Warnings/Promises and The Remote Part have seen the band embrace their Scottish roots and mellow somewhat, making more lilting, folk music, but still with that unique Idlewild soaring sound. Roddy released his solo album, full of traditional Scottish folk music, and mainly all acoustic. Naturally when touring the last two albums, the band played heavily from both, with fairly little old material aside from the ones they couldn't get away with omitting, like Roseability. However, having caught them live a couple of years ago, and last week, the band are now playing more material from their earlier albums, giving a completely different dynamic to their shows. It's almost like they feel they need to prove they're still young and rock n roll. None the less, it makes for an engaging and certainly energetic performance, resulting in much crowd-surfing and over-familiarity at the front, mainly participated in by men who are old enough to know better, and were clearly there first time round. Playing for close to 2 hours altold, Idlewild prove they certainly haven't lost their touch later in life, and are just as passionate and rock n roll as when they first began with 'Chandelier', which received one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Also, from my rather enjoyable vantage point in the front row of the balcony upstairs (who knew there was a balcony at ULU?! Not me until Thursday) I was able to get some half decent pictures, and a more than half decent view of the entire stage.

In other news...started my new job last Thursday in a rather disorganised, shambolic fashion. My boss was 45 minutes late and then she literally chucked me in the room with the kids, luckily there were other play workers present! However, I don't have a staff t-shirt, ID card, time sheet... I don't even know what my hourly rate is. I really should've gone looking for her when I finished at 6 but I had to get to London for the Idlewild show... and I would've been kicking myself if I hadn't made it in time for their 'support'. So she e-mailed my mum to ask if I could work tomorrow and Tuesday... clearly she didn't even have a contact number for me. Hopefully things will get sorted tomorrow... although I can't even remember how to get to the room the kids are in.

I saw my lovely cousin in a production of Oliver! on Saturday night. She's only 11, so naturally the part of Nancy would've been a bit ambitious for her, but she was a brilliant workhouse girl/flower girl/general chorus girl. And kudos to all of them for performing it all week and then two shows on Saturday without collapsing. My aunt, who had been acting as matron (not in the show, backstage...the kids have to have one 'matron' to a certain number, generally just a looker-after!) and seemed to be absolutely exhausted! The guy who played Fagin was cracking, he had the weird eyes and did a brilliant Russian/Jewish accent. And was probably quite young as it was a youth theatre production. What fun musical theatre is, dahlings...

Toodles