Monday 24 November 2008

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.

Saturday 15 November 2008

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.