The Clash Live: Revolution Rock

Music documentary/performance shows seem to be some of the (few?) good things that the BBC can produce. And this one is no exception. It mainly follows the rise of The Clash from the studio to their now legendary shows at Shea Stadium. Along the way you get a great amount of fantastic live tunes from The Clash themselves and all of it is directed nicely by Don Letts (who also has his own show on BBC 6 Music if you want more of him). Letts does a great job of letting the music speak for itself and does an effective job in making each segment flow well from one to another.

All in all there are far worse ways to spend an hour and if you are even remotely a fan then you will enjoy the hell out of it. Sadly though if you live outside of the UK you won't be able to pick it up from the BBC's iplayer device but I'm sure you can find it by other means if you are creative enough. Watching it though is kind of bittersweet in that it is excellent yet you can't help but feel a tiny sense of disappointment that you couldn't be able to seem them live yourself at the time. Still though, it is the next best thing to able to experience one of the best bands ever. But be quick though, as it disappears on Friday night.

The Subways live at Manchester Academy

This was my second time seeing these folks, which means obviously I enjoyed them the first time round. But they topped that performance with this one. The Subways seem to be a bit of a conundrum in that they are a good, solid band yet haven't really hit the big time or much commercial success, even though this was the biggest of the venues at the Academy and was sold out containing around 800-1000 people. They are still really only have a cult following. Which is strange because their music is actually pretty good and when you think in terms of potential marketing, they cater for both genders in that they have a gorgeous female bassist while the male vocal/guitarist along with the male drummer were more than happy to play the whole show topless. They are a band that definitely deserve to be bigger considering how much rubbish gets played on the radio these days.

The crowd was magnificent all night and really, really into all the songs. It was well worth the money too clocking in at just under 1-and-a-half hours and entertaining throughout. This included a lengthy encore which may or may not have been deliberate because when they were due to finish with Rock And Roll Queen, the lights went out so the lead guy got everyone to point their phones up at the stage to generate some brightness and that was fine but then shortly after they started, the electrics went on the mic, guitar and bass. So they had to improv to the crowd for a bit until it got fixed but that awesome so it wasn't a big deal. Things then sorted themselves and they finished up grandly.

I would definitely recommend checking them out if you like all things rock & indie and they only have two albums, Young For Eternity and All Or Nothing, so it wouldn't be a huge back catalogue to hunt down. I'll leave you with some of their bigger songs.


Rock And Roll Queen




Oh Yeah



Shake Shake

Not the fastest...

When watching the latest episode of the superlative Top Gear (Season 12 Episode 4), something happened that never occurred before. I was disappointed. You see they sent The Stig around the track in the Bugatti Veyron, which is quite possibly the best car ever made and it only came fifth fastest. It was just so unexpected.

But I read a few weeks back that they are making a topless/converible Veyron so when that is all finished up it should be much lighter and therefore faster. So hopefully it will be back for another go and then ascend to its rightful place at the top.

All-Ireland Gaelic & Hurling Draws 2009

So the draw happened a month or so ago which caught me unaware seeing as this year's season had only just finished.

Some points of note in the hurling...

• The Munster side of things should be as competitive as ever, there are no easy draws in that one. Cork/Tipp should kick things off nicely.
• It is strange to see Antrim (from Ulster) and Galway (from Connacht) in Leinster but it will do both teams a world of benefit. Antrim are too good in Ulster but get whipped by everyone else so they will get some experience against better competition. While Galway will get the added benefit from getting a few extra games under their belt. Kilkenny getting a bye is no big worry as it will give one of the weaker teams a chance to have a proper go in their quarter-final match.

And on the gaelic side of things...

• Maybe London and New York will actually win for a change, doubt it as they play the two strongest teams. And with them being kept apart, both Galway and Mayo should make the final.
• Meath and Dublin meeting in their first matches is huge and should be a really good game. If Dublin come through that they will probably walk Leinster again, if they lose it is anyone's for the taking.
• Cork should meet Kerry in the semi-final which means we will be denied a proper final. Whoever wins their clash will be a certainty to win the province.
• Ulster is the toughest province and neither Tyrone nor Armagh could have asked for a harder start. The All-Ireland Champions versus the Ulster Champions is one tasty clash. Luckily Tyrone should have home advantage. Whoever wins will be favourite to win the final but it is not usually that clear-cut.

So there is plenty to look forward to next year but that's a long way away yet.

Millencolin live at Manchester Academy

This tour was in celebration of Millencolin being around for 15 years which is a pretty impressive feat. I think they are a really good band and their albums always have a nice, crisp finish and sound to them even though they are originally from Sweden. In particular I would have to say that the albums Pennybridge Pioneers and Home From Home are a really good listen if you are into punk-rock and the songs usually have a good quick tempo about them.

But despite being around for so long, they have never really hit the big time. It would be untrue to call them an A-list band because they were playing in the third (out of four) biggest room at the Academy and I think it would be safe to say that a majority of people would never have heard of them. It wasn't really a problem though as the smaller venue (think maybe 150-200 people) is a lot of fun as you can really get up close near the front and it has a lovely intimate feel about it.

Overall it was a great show and they played all the great, main tunes like No Cigar, Fox, Penguins And Polarbears, Kemp and Afghan and the rest of their set was great and they came back for a decent length of an encore. The only downside I would say is that there was very little banter about them on the stage. You could argue that English isn't their native tongue but then again, their albums are all in English. That aside, it was a terrific gig and I would definitely go see them again if they were to return.

Here is No Cigar which any skateboarders might remember as one of the tunes from Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 soundtrack all those years ago. It was a damn fine game (as were subsequent ones) that appealed to people outside that particular audience. Anyway...



And another big song of theirs, Kemp...



So yeah they get two thumbs up from me.

A Magnificant End To Summer

Yeah, yeah I know Summer was months ago. Or was it, considering the weather was awful and we seem to have bypassed Autumn and are straight into Winter already. However I wanted a big post to kick things off with and the events of the Sunday 21st September were indeed huge.

You see it was All-Ireland gaelic football final day (and for those who don't know what gaelic and hurling for that matter are, check down some information and videos about it. Because honestly, they are probably the two best sports in the world in terms of skill, excitement and just the sheer quickness they are played at). Anyway it was the biggest day in the Irish sports calender and the match was between my home team Tyrone (going for their 3rd title in 6 years) and Kerry (going for their 3rd in a row). It was a match billed to determine the 'Team Of The Decade'. Here's how the day unfolded...

Croke Park, in Dublin and one of the best stadiums in Ireland, packed with over 80,000 fans and the weather was superb.






There was then all the pre-match build-up including the obligatory giant flags.




One of the best things about Croke Park is that the fans are usually all mingled in together so you get a great sea of colours and it allows for a bit of ribbing but things hardly ever get out of hand.


The two teams then made their way onto the pitch for the pre-match photos and then to get warmed-up.



Flags!


Both teams line up to meet the Irish dignitaries and then parade around the park with the brass band.



Confetti...



...and game on!


So ultimately Tyrone triumphed which lead to an inevitable pitch invasion while the captain made a celebratory speech next to the huge cup.


These two men, the manager and captain, are just fantastic. Mickey Harte is just such a tactical genius while Brian Dooher rolled back the years to put in some fantastic performances.


It was just such a fantastic day, the atmosphere was great and it was a thrilling match. And I've saved the best for last.

Welcome...and here we go!

Well hello there. If you stumbled upon this place don't leave just yet as there is a slim chance you might see something that interests you. I finally pulled the trigger on doing a blog and you can expect to see all sorts of posts on here including items to do with sport, television, film and so much more so hopefully you will stick around. Hope you enjoy!