| Recent books (a selection) |
[09 Jul 2009|07:51pm] |
Nicholas Rankin, Dead Man's Chest - Travels after Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson, An Inland Voyage
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Amateur Immigrant
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
Charlie Connelly, Attention All Shipping
Marc Spitz, How Soon Is Never?
Johnson & Boswell, A Journey To The Western Islands / A Tour To The Hebrides
Alan Sillitoe, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Joseph Conrad, The Shadow-Line
George Simenon, Het bloedspoor in de sneeuw
Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia
Pascal Mercier, Night Train To Lisbon
Yann Martell, Life of Pi
Guy Browning, Never Hit A Jellyfish With A Spade
... Oh, for more time
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[25 May 2009|11:10pm] |
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I found Blackmoss Pot and Sleddale Hall today.
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| Morrissey Live History |
[23 May 2009|11:46pm] |
2009 - Antwerp Queen Elisabeth Hall (8 June), Manchester Apollo (23 May), Hull Arena (19 May), Liverpool Empire (10 May)
2008 - Lille L'Aéronef (19 Jan)
2006 - Manchester G-Mex (23 Dec), Birmingham Symphony Hall (20 May), Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (12 May), Blackburn King George's Hall (11 May), Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall (10 April)
2004 - Dublin The Point (20 Dec), Liverpool Royal Court (9 Sep - stage door), Manchester Move Fetival Old Trafford (11 July), Manchester M.E.N. (22 May)
2002 - London Royal Albert Hall (18 Sep)
1999 - Glasgow Barrowlands (5 Dec), London Forum (13 Nov - autograph), Liverpool Royal Court (11 Nov - shirt)
1997 - London Battersea Power Station (10 Dec)
1995 - Brussels (Dec - cancelled), London Drury Lane (26 Feb), Edinburgh Usher Hall (5 Feb - on stage), Glasgow Barrowlands (3 Feb)
1992 - Dusseldorf Philipshalle (23 Dec), Paris Le Zenith (22 Dec)
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| CC Mechelen, 15 May 2009 |
[18 May 2009|05:21pm] |
Lloyd Cole's visit to a cosy venue not 20 miles away was a nice unexpected treat on my sojourn in Antwerp. He accompanied himself on 2 lovely Taylor guitars (the darker one he was retiring after tonight) and sang softly the songs of long ago and not so long ago. Beautifully depressing. I mean, very nice. I seem to recall he played, among a few others (definitely no 'Perfect Blue', 'Patience', 'Forest Fire', 'Jennifer She Said' or 'Shelley I Do'):
Fool You Are
Tower of Song (Leonard Cohen)
Rattlesnakes
Everysong
Don't Look Back
My Alibi
Brand New Friend
Old Enough To Know Better
That Boy
Morning Is Broken
Man Overboard
No Blue Skies /
Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?
Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
Human (The Killers - just a snippet)
Cut Me Down
Butterfly
Late Night, Early Town
No More Love Songs
Hey Rusty
Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends (Kris Kristofferson)
The Impossible Girl
Lost Weekend
Perfect Skin
The Young Idealists
Unhappy Song //
2 cv
Undressed
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| Liverpool Empire, 10 May 2009 |
[10 May 2009|11:43pm] |
Fantastic to witness another Morrissey show at last. He was moody, broody and in great voice - and these are all compliments. "Are you in the mood? Prove it." "...and blocking your view..." I was designated Row R, but advanced briskly to Row D for the first 4 songs and firmly held position around Row G after being challenged. Set list approximate:
This Charming Man
Billy Budd
Black Cloud
How Soon Is Now?
Irish Blood, English Heart
Ask
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Girlfriend In A Coma
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Seasick, Yet Still Docked
When Last I Spoke To Carol
The Loop
Sorry Doesn't Help
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Let Me Kiss You
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Best Friend On The Payroll
I'm OK By Myself
/First Of The Gang To Die
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| Musing on the strange existence but |
[01 May 2009|10:42pm] |
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The disappointment of having tonight's Smiths Indeed gig in Leicester cancelled due to flooding, was tempered by the prospect of seeing Bob Dylan live. I didn't have a ticket, but I was quietly confident. After glimpsing a sunny morning and waking to a wet grey afternoon, it was wonderful strolling down to the Albert Dock in the evening sunshine. With all the little triumphs of the recent past behind and the tantalising promises of the imminent future ahead, I felt great in the present. What a setting. I got a ticket from an older gentleman loitering by the box office, happy to take a small loss. Lucky me. I chose not to take the seat on the ticket, but one closer to the stage and facing where I knew Dylan would be. He didn't disappoint. Perfect set. He even played guitar on 1 song. Highlights for me were 'Things Have Changed', 'Something' and 'All Along The Watchtower', but that's not fair on the other songs. I walked back through a busy Friday evening town musing on this strange existence but happy to be alive. I bought some alcohol by the bombed-out church and took a taxi home where I played a few songs and then wrote this.
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| Change has come? |
[05 Nov 2008|08:29pm] |
Change has come? Well, maybe ever so slightly more than usual. What do you do when the dream becomes reality?
Still, another fabulous day on Merseyside. Saw 'Of Time And The City' at FACT, about nostalgia, removal & troubled love for this city. Very moving. I was the youngest person in the audience by 50 years, surely - but I didn't feel it.
After another very important meeting in Toni's, I was back in time at Pelham to prepare for the fireworks in Sefton Park. Gin, vermouth & lime. A splendid spectacle of people & lights.
How I love to be a part yet apart.
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| Travel moves |
[23 Oct 2008|08:43pm] |
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music |
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Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)- Guy Lombardo |
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A day in a million. A day to feel wonderfully alive. A blessed life. Despite its unhappy episodes (but why dwell on those?).
Wake up next to one you love. Wash off last night's alcohol and walk to the station to travel, alone, back to Liverpool.
It's a perverse pleasure to observe the business of the morning without having to take part.
A romantic goodbye (or isn't parting romantic?) in one cathedral and you're on the move again, towards another, and two more. "A glorious stirring of the senses."
It's the second leg of the 11th round trip of the year. The Medway and towering St Pancras are soon in sight. Today there is time to explore two new hidden treasures: Camley Street Natural Park and St Pancras churchyard.
The 14.17 from Euston is busy, but as usual you manage to find two seats in the quiet zone. Traveling backwards is a small price. You've bought Country Walking and Uncut and even nod off.
It's overcast, windy and raining in Liverpool, so get into a taxi. The driver is the head stewart at the Anfield Road End and suggests you should apply.
Home. Millie's in fine form. No bad mail. Even a postcard and a letter. There's enough milk for tea. And the paper you found on the train reveals more delight: there's a whole evening of railways specials scheduled on BBC4 later: The Whisky Train, British Transport Films, Elizabethan Express, Palin to Kyle of Lochalsh and Betjeman to Metroland.
Time to play a few songs on the guitar and go for a quick walk in Sefton Park while the rain has stopped. Just perfect.
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| Not entirely sure of order |
[26 Sep 2008|11:29pm] |
Friday, 26 September 2008, Arenberg Schouwburg Antwerp - Billy Bragg with support from Kathryn Williams & Neill MacColl.
The World Turned Upside Down
To Have And To Have Not
Farm Boy
Greetings To The New Brunette
Ingrid Bergman
Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
I Ain't Got No Home
No Power Without Accountability
Sexuality
There Is Power In A Union
A Lover Sings
The Milkman Of Human Kindness
Old Clash Fan Fight Song
I Keep Faith
There Is Power In A Union
Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
------
The Saturday Boy
A New England
Not entirely sure of order, but pretty sure these were played. Perhaps even 1 or 2 more. Billy played, talked & sipped tea for 2 hours. I sat next to the sound man which, it suddenly dawned on me, was legendary early Smiths associate & chronicler Grant Showbiz. Had a brief pleasant chat with Grant afterwards, mainly in praise of Johnny Marr's continuing musical prowess although I did mention being in a Smiths tribute band which he thought must be great fun.
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| Reading, listening, watching, drinking, walking |
[23 Aug 2008|02:42pm] |
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music |
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Easy Does It - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy |
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Reading: 'Exit Music' (Ian Rankin), 'Thirteen Moons (Charles Frazier) & 'Tennis Whites & Teacakes' (John Betjeman)
Listening: 'Lie Down in the Light' (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy), 'Cripple Crow' (Devendra Banhart) & 'Masterworks' (CPeX)
Watching: 'Rebus' & 'Morning In The Streets'
Drinking: Jura
Walking: Sefton Park & Ainsdale
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| "I live in the clouds" |
[26 Jul 2008|01:46pm] |
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music |
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Sky Men - Geoff Goddard |
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"Maybe it's an illness of our century, to want to have an answer for everything. There shouldn't be answers. We live in a world where our senses are dulled by so many images, where we surrender ourselves to little robots. I hate my century, I hate what's going on around me, so I don't participate. I don't have a laptop, I don't have a cellphone, I can't send an email. I'm an imbecile! But I say that with pride. On the wire, I don't think, I do not allow thoughts to come in. It's a strange thing, because I have to concentrate, but not with a blindfold. I have to be very open, I have to look, and smell, and hear, and feel. But I don't think I think. I have feelings, of course, and those are the denominators. It's a magnificent joy, for sure. A joy that is extraterrestrial - and there's no pun intended there." Philippe Petit
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| Riders On The Storm in the storm |
[11 Jul 2008|03:58pm] |
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music |
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I Can't See Your Face In My Mind - The Doors |
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Thursday, 10 July 2008 - Rivierenhof, Antwerp (open air venue) in the rain
Line-up: Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, Brett Scallion, Ty Dennis, Phil Chen, the ghost of JM
Fuel: Tequila Hornitos, Beer
0. O Fortuna
1. Love Me Two Times
2. Break On Through / Dead Cats, Dead Rats
3. Love Her Madly
4. When The Music's Over
5. Peace Frog
6. Moonlight Drive
7. Horse Latitudes
8. Wild Child
9. Alabama Song
10. Backdoor Man
11. Five To One
12. Touch Me
13. L.A. Woman
14. Light My Fire (encore)
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| L'Aéronef |
[19 Jan 2008|11:14pm] |
19 January 2008 - Lille (France), L'Aéronef - Morrissey
How Soon Is Now?
First Of The Gang To Die
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
That's How People Grow Up
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
All You Need Is Me
The National Front Disco
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Billy Budd
The Loop
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Life Is A Pigsty
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
Sister I'm A Poet
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Stretch Out And Wait
Irish Blood, English Heart
/The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
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| Christmas Eve 2007 |
[24 Dec 2007|09:54pm] |
We,
Return from Crinan via Loch Fyne, Loch Lomond, Glasgow Art School & Shap,
Sleep,
Procure provisions at Smithdown & Speke,
The Sefton Park Horror Walk,
'Scrooge' (1951),
Bob Dylan Christmas Special.
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| The Smiths Indeed @ Newcastle Academy |
[07 Dec 2007|11:20pm] |
Support: Seal Cub Clubbing Club
Intro compilation: Sick, Sober & Sorry (Gene), Toys For Boys (Marion), Courageous Cat Theme (New York Dolls), Beauty Of The Ride (Sebadoh), Oscillate Wildly (The Smiths), Love Of The Loved (Cilla Black), How Could I Be Wrong (The Auteurs), Soul Meets Body (Death Cab For Cutie), Night Of The Vampyre (Moontrekkers), Lucky Day (Smoking Popes)
Intro music: Dance Of The Knights (Prokofiev)
Sheila Take A Bow / Nowhere Fast / Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now / This Charming Man / Still Ill / Reel Around The Fountain / What Difference Does It Make / Hand In Glove / These Things Take Time / William, It Was Really Nothing / Cemetery Gates / What She Said / Barbarism Begins At Home / Stretch Out And Wait / Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Ask / Panic
The Queen Is Dead / Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want / Girlfriend In A Coma / Bigmouth Strikes Again
Shoplifters Of The World Unite / There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
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| Hilarious impressions |
[03 Dec 2007|11:25pm] |
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music |
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A Car That Sped - Gene |
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In the early hours of this Monday, we sped back from Bristol through the starry night up the M5 & along the M6, a weekend of terrific gigs behind us. The hilarious impressions flowed freely. As did the sardonic comments. Somebody snored.
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| Great news today |
[16 Oct 2007|11:07pm] |
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music |
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For Little Ones - Donovan |
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I've had so little enthusiasm for stepping out that when I did this afternoon I enjoyed it all the more. Autumn's really arrived in Sefton Park. Leaves are slippery on freshly tarmac'd roads. Looking forward to a few weeks away, but savoured the last day all the more, as usual. Great news today, one of our upcoming gigs has sold out and half a dozen new ones are pencilled in for next year. Hardly any money coming in at all, but it matters not. Because I remember the attic room & the wine & the merry few:
Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."
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| Great magical images in the madhouse |
[14 Oct 2007|11:22pm] |
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music |
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The Ballad of the Gliding Swan - Bob Dylan |
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Brilliant. A televison program about a televison program that doesn't exist anymore, because the original tape was burnt. The Madhouse On Castle Street. Great magical images of the London winter of 1962-1963. "I remember feeling at home." "It was the coldest winter on record: Britain was frosty and grey. Millions of milk bottles were buried in snow drifts, Cliff was number one, and there were two TV channels and three radio stations (all BBC)." It's wonderful to be transported in time like this.
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| Maudlin Rich, The Cavern Club, 11 Oct 2007 |
[12 Oct 2007|01:06am] |
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music |
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Everlasting Teenage Bedroom - Vinny Peculiar |
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From The Caveau (Antwerp December 1999) to The Cavern (Liverpool October 2007) in 9 easy years. The circumstances weren't ideal - they never are, but it was truly savoured despite the usual nerves. Vinny Peculiar & his band were fine company to keep.
Whither Perfect?
Oh No
Crossing
Song To The Siren
Grand Day Out
Post Mortem
Lost, Beautiful & Young
I sold a CD straight after coming off. But that's where the demand ceased. Still, not bad.
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| Thank god |
[04 Oct 2007|11:53pm] |
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music |
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Where Are You Tonight - Bob Dylan |
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I still don't have a steady job, thank god. And so I do whatever I want to tonight. No, not really, but it's enough. "I can't believe I'm alive." I am though, senor.
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