Stand Up and be Counted (part 2)

There is currently an important petition calling on the United Nations to revise the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a way that does not implicitly exclude transgender people. Further information and a link to the petition can be found on the Transgender Unity blog. Please show your support and make your voice heard, Stand Up and Be Counted, sign the petition.

Stand Up and be Counted (part 1)

Saxon at the Astoria on 23 April 2006.

The first band I ever went to see live back in the very early eighties was Saxon and I can still remember what an anadrenaline rush this new experience was. Here we are 25 years later and can Biff & the boys get anywhere near that level of excitement? They actually came so close it made no difference.

Starting off with a clarion call of Motorcycle Man and ending with the iconic Denim & Leather they played a set given over almost entirely to their eighties output, the only exception being Lionheart from the 2004 album of the same name dedicated earlier on in the set to England & St George for St Georges Day.

In a set including Dallas 1pm, Frozen Rainbow, To Hell & Back Again, And The Bands Played On, Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law, Crusader, 747 (Strangers in the Night), 20,000 Feet, Princess of the Night, Power & The Glory, The Eagle Has Landed, Heavy Metal Thunder & Suzie Hold On, all delivered with fire & conviction the band once again show exactly how it should be done. If you are into metal/hard rock and have never been to see Saxon, get yourself down to the front and Stand Up and be Counted.

A Turncoat's Tale

Let me set you straight before I start. I have been an Apple Mac user since 2001 and still think that they produce the best computers and the best operating system. Having got that out of the way let me try and explain why I'm writing this on my brand new HP system running Windows XP.

I brought my Mac in early 2001. At that time I was buying my first home computer and had decided on a Mac. Looking around I came across the G4 Cube, a stylish machine with a very impressive specification and took the plunge. With the computer I also bought the first version of Mac OS X (version 10.0) and installed both the OS9 and OS X. I have almost never regretted that decison as OS X has developed through the versions to a powerful but user friendly OS and the current version 10.4 (Tiger) is everything that Windows Vista should be but won't. Come 2006 and my trusty Mac is starting to show it's age. the G4 450 chip is barely adequate but the cost of having a Cube upgraded is too much for the gain. So, time to buy a new computer.

My first thought was to replace it with a new Mac as I would have been more than happy to stay with Apple. However, after my problems with the barely upgradeable Cube wanted to buy something I could easily keep up to date. That kind of restricted me to the PowerMac and here was the problem. Although a very good machine the PowerMac is nowhere near my budget. Even looking at a refurbished Mac it was way out of reach. Which left me contemplating the unthinkable. A Windows computer.

A trip out to local computer stores showed me that I could get much more 'computer' for my Pound Sterling. So, onto the internet for some lenghty browsing and finally, just what I was looking for. An HP Media Centre PC with an AMD Athlon 64 processor running Windows XP Media Centre, CD/DVD writer with Lightscribe, multi format memory card readers for the camera, 200Gb hard disk, HP 17" TFT and MS Office Professional, all for just over ₤800. And am I happy? Well, yes actually. Mac OS 10.4 is a great OS but XP gives me what I need, a wide choice of software to choose from, and all at a lower cost than the equivalent Apple product. So, am I now going to give up my iPod. No way of course.

A better way of life

Monday 5th December 2005 - The Forum, Kentish Town, London

Marillion with Amy Wadge in Support

The usual mile long queue to get in to see Marillion meant that I only caught the last 15 minutes of Amy's set. However, I liked what I heard.

Marillion, I have been going to Marillion gigs since the Script tour in 1983 (20th March 1983 at the Portsmouth Guildhall) but have to say that the boys were in amazing form this time round. Click for a full set list.

The opener was Accidental Man, one of my personal favourites and a great opener, following this the drum loop announced You're Gone and what followed was an inspired selection of h era classics and should be classics that perfectly demonstrate just what a great live band they are.

In particular, Season's End and Neverland are so powerful and moving that I find I'm moved to tears. King of Sunset Town and Quartz however are great upbeat songs that move the body rather than the soul and every time I hear Drilling Holes I love that song more. I can honestly say that the setlist was just perfect.

Finally, having received my Web Xmas CD just 2 days previously, it was great to hear an amazingly daft Erin Marbles as the show closer.

In conclusion, and to paraphrse two of the Marbles t-shirts Marillion, possibly the best band in the world, because you're worth it.

Best gig I've been to in a long while, possible ever.

Another Perfect Day?

Saturday 19th November 2005 - Brixton Academy

Motorhead, In Flames & Girlschool

Unfortunately, I missed most of Girlschool's set as the queue was so long it took a agesto get into the venue. However, I did catch Demolition Boys and Emergency which still raised a cheer. And then a surprise. Lemmy joins in for a rendition of the Headgirl St. Valentines Day Massacre single Please Don't Touch.

In Flames. Very aggressive and heavy. If you like your music loud and your guitars downtuned then walk this way.

Motorhead. Having seen the show at the Hammersmith Apollo earlier this year I was really looking forward to this. All the elements were there with classics like Love Me Like a Reptile, Metropolis and the ultimate show closer Overkill and great tracks from Inferno such as Killers which rocks like crazy. However, tonight it was a case of a great show somewhat spoiled by a lousy sound. Lemmy complained about his mike on several occasions but it never seemed to sound right and the whole live sound just didn't seem to come together. In conclusion, a good show that could have been great.

My previous gig history.

Well, it's 16:20 on Sunday afternoon and here I am still sat at work running go-live testing for a live system upgrade and waiting for a process to complete before moving to the next stage in the go-live plan. So I thought I'd briefly go over some of the other concerts/gigs I've been to over the last few months.

In October 2005 I saw:
Dio at the Astoria - a great show, what a set of lungs he has and he still has a great band.
Dream Theater at the Hammersmith Apollo - amazing, just amazing. The first night was a set drawn from their entire back catalogue. The second night included a performance of the Dark Side of the Moon album, proverbial shivers down the backbone.

September 2005:
Iron Maiden at Hammersmith Apollo - The Clive Burr fund raiser. What can I say, 24 years after first seeing Maiden they are still amongst the best live acts.

August 2005:
Day Ticket for Reading Festival.

Prior to August I have also seen the following this year:
Motorhead (with Saxon & Girlschool in support)
Hawkwind
Judas Priest (with The Scorpions in support)
The Musical Box (a recreation of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway live shows)
The Australian Pink Floyd
Porcupine Tree
Ummagummaa (early Pink Floyd tribute)

I'm sure there are probably a couple that I have missed here.

Watch this space for further concert reviews. I will be going to two gigs later this month.

Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall

Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London for a concert.

The program was:

BERLIOZ - Rakoczy March (from the Damnation of Faust)

SAINT-SAENS - Organ Symphoney

ORFF - Carmina Burana

The orchestra was the London Philharmonic conducted by AndrewGreenwood with the Royal Choral Society, London Philharmonic Choir, Hertfordshire Chorus and Southend Boys Choir.

The soloists were:

Iain Paton - tenor
Gail Pearson - soprano
Grant Doyle - baritone
John Birch - organ

The Rakoczy March is quite a short piece but still makes quite an impact for all that. Saint-Saens Organ Symphoney is a piece with some wonderfully varied music from delicate orchestral passages to passages that use the venue's organ to the full.

After the interval was the complete performance of Carmina Burana. The opening eight bars from the massed chorus to O Fortuna setting the scene for a dramatic performance of Orff's setting of the medieval poems and songs.

The performance was given a personal twist for me as two work colleagues were singing in the chorus.

A Start

This is me:

I have no definite plan about what is going to appear or how frequently in this blog.

First of all, here are a few url's to get started with.

My Flickr account for my photo's

My del.icio.us page to see my favorites/bookmarks.