"When You're Around Everything's Fun."

With a one star album review in NME and only getting to number 26 in the UK charts, this act may easily be writen off, however Friday 6th November was the gig i'd been waiting for all summer. I was going to see the guy with the best hair cut in showbusiness, Frankmusik at the Cockpit in Leeds, where I'd finally get to hear the song which was the soundtrack to my summer '09 'Better Off As Two' live.

A half filled venue greeted the support act for the night 'Killa Kela', but they more than made up for it in enthusiasm. Check him out on youtube if you haven't heard of him, as he's one of the best beat boxers in the UK at the moment, and since seeing him live i have been obsessed with beat boxing, he's also one of the best support acts i've ever seen. Killa Kela, sang some of his own songs off his new album as well as beat boxing a few more well known songs like 'Boom Boom Pow' and 'Milkshake'. This guy has an amazing talent and i'll definatly be going to see him again.

However he wasn't the person the sixty or so people were there to see, and so as the band took to the stage, with a fluorescent mic stand in the centre, we all knew what was coming. Vince sang most of the songs from his debut album 'Complete Me', although leaving out one of my favourites 'Wonder Woman' which the crowd didn't seem to be too pleased about. He did however sing a medley of his songs at the end of his set solo on his keyboard, slowing down some of the songs he had already sang. He also treated the crowd to an electro cover of Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' and a Pet Shop Boys cover, however the relitively young crowd didn't really get this, although a few older people at the back managed to sing along.(You can always tell when you're a bit too old to be going to see an act when there's no queue at the bar.) A highlight was Vince starting the lyric 'All you want from me...' for the crowd to chant back '..is three little words.' to which Vince replied lets be having it then and jumping into one of his best songs 'Three Little Words', which the crowd went mad for. However the best part of Frankmusik's set was obviously going to be his best song 'Better Off as Two', which I, along with the entire crowd, sang along to at the top off their voice.

As the gig came to an end, i left the cockpit with a huge grin on my face, knowing it was one of the best gigs I had been to all year, for sheer fun and the talent we got to see on stage. It was a shame such a small crowd got to see the show, but it just goes to show that the small gigs can sometimes be the best, and that 'NME' are not always right. If you get the chance to see either of these acts, do it!!!

This Is It.

The day Michael Jackson died I was heartbroken, not just because a music legend had died, and call me selfish for this, I was also heartbroken because I wasn't going to get to see one of my heroes perform live. I had been counting the days until my trip to the 02 arena to see the 'King of Pop', and so on the 25th June 2009, I thought my dream was over.

'This Is It' opens up with dancers auditoning for Michael Jackson, talking of their excitment and how it has always been their 'dream to dance with MJ', you could call this bit cheesy, however it sets up the movies main theme which is dream's, it was MJ's dream to create 'the greatest show on earth' and from watching the film I think you'll agree, he managed to do it.

The film follows MJ whilst rehearsing for his 'This Is It' tour. We get to see how aspects of a show like this are put together, from filming the green screen movies that would play as a backdrop to the performance, to the King of Pop's hands-on approach to the music and choregraphy. Footage of MJ singing all of his greatest hits, are cut together with footage of the backdrop movies, to give the audience a feel of what they would have seen if the shows had gone ahead. Although the footage is only of rehearsal's the performances are amazing, my particular favourite being 'Thriller' with a giant robotic spider, 'Floating Brides & Grooms' and around thirty dancing zombies all on stage. Some people have criticised MJ's voice on the film saying it isn't as good as it used to be, but he obviously isn't going to give 100% at rehearsal's he even says this himself, this footage was never intended to be seen by the public and so didn't have to be pitch perfect, however at the key moments when he needs to be at his best, we get to see why he was named 'The King of Pop'.

The media have reported that many 'fans' don't want to see the film as it doesn't address how the large amount of shows had affected MJ's health, however this film is about celebrating MJ and his great performance skills as a singer and a dancer. There has been enough documentaries telling us 'what really happend', and whether it's the truth or not I don't think people care about that anymore, audiences want to see the 'King of Pop' celebrated for what he did best: perform. Even at 50 his dance skills hadn't changed, he still manages to keep up with younger dancers and he doesn't seem to have any health issues, whilst running and dancing round the stage.

If you're a fan of MJ or even if you just like a few of his songs, this film is definatly worth seeing, even more so at the cinema. Although the film could never portray the atmosphere and energy of a real concert, for the two hours it is on you feel like MJ is alive again, we get to see his passion for his music and I felt like I had finally fulfilled my dream of seeing him perform live. With great songs and spectacular performances, 'Michael Jackson's This Is It' gives you a front row seat to 'The Greatest Show on Earth'.

I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Blog Is About.

'Jamie All Over' is one of my favourite songs ever. In the times when we used to use MySpace, it was my profile song for longer than i can remember, and it's one of about five songs I desperatly want to hear live. 'A Lesson In Romantics', the album the song comes from, is one of my favourites too, it's pop punk at it's best. So i was pretty excited when i saw Mayday Parade's new album on spotify 'Anywhere But Here'.
The theme is the same, love, with the first track 'Kids In Love' setting this up, but the songs just aren't as good as previous albums & EP's. I was hoping for more epic tracks like 'Miserable at Best' and 'Three Cheers for Five Years' (Both tracks sound amazing when done in acoustic), but they just weren't there. The closest track that comes to this is the second to last track 'I swear this time I mean it', which is the only acoustic track on the album and sounds more like it could be on a previous album than any of the other songs. Maybe i'm boring for wanting more of the old stuff, but I think that's when Mayday Parade where best. Don't get me wrong, I've not started hating Pop-Punk since I saw All Time Low (see the previous blog), i thought Boys Like Girls new album was really good, and this album isn't bad, I just think some bands are getting lazy and need to go back to the style that made them popular in the first place.
If Mayday Parade tour the UK i'll definatly be there, but only to hear the older tracks, and to finally hear 'Jamie All Over' live.

Pop Punk Gets a Beating.

Pop punk has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, from older bands like Bowling for Soup and New Found Glory right upto the more modern Mayday Parade and Boys Like Girls, i've always loved listening to them, so when i saw All Time Low were coming into Leeds, I had to get a ticket. They were never my favourite band but if I were to make a soundtrack to my life, with songs that brought back certain memories, there'd definatly be a few All Time Low tracks on there.

Now maybe i should have abonadoned hope of a good gig when everytime someone asked me who I was going to see, they either didn't have a clue who i was talking about or made a pitying laugh after I told them, yet i still had high hopes. Walking past the venue earlier on in the day, a queue had already started forming. About twelve emo teenagers were sat on the steps waiting to be up close to their idols. I should have known then that the demographic for the gig was going to be young emo teens and not me, however I still walked through the venue doors excited.

The two support bands were your average pop punk band of the myspace generation, occasionally stopping between songs to tell the crowd how "fucking awesome" they were and asking them to shout random phrases like "fuck yeah" for no apparant reason. Looking around I could see me and my friends were some of the older ones at the gig, with only a few older people, mainly mums and dads who had brought their pre-teen kids to see their favourite band, which again proved I definatly wasn't their demographic.

It wasn't long after All Time Low took to the stage that we realised they were singing with a backing track, there were just too many "oh oh oh's" in their songs for them to handle so they had to have a bit of help. The band played most of their new album and a few older songs, breaking inbetween songs to again tell the crowd they were "fucking awesome" and at one point to tell us we were "more fucking nuts than Newcastle", to which the crowd started to boo and chant "Yorkshire" with the band mistaking it for "Your Shit", which after this gig, would have been a polite way of describing them. Now to write the gig off as completly awful would be wrong of me, it wasn't all bad, the standout song had to be "Remembering Sunday", I'm a sucker for acoustic songs, and this one is one of my favourites, and i'm not saying i didn't enjoy myself, singing along to every song brought back some of my youth, the problem i do have though is how every song sounded the same and was played in the same way with no variety. At least the support band "The Audition" managed a cover song. To me, it could have been any pop-punk band on stage that night, and the gig wouldn't have been any different apart from the lyrics being sung. I've been to plenty of these type of gigs now, and they're all the same as the last, few songs, a bit of swearing to excite the younger members of the audience, tell us we were better than the last gig and how you want to have sex with us all (which is often worrying as 95% of the audience are under 16) and then finish. A guy was stood in front of me wearing a tee-shirt that read "Pop-Punk Is Not Dead", now i think after that gig, it may not be dead but All Time Low definatly put it in a coma it might not wake up from.

Paolo Nutini.

On a warm Friday evening, as the sun set in Lincoln, a crowd of young and old filled the Engine Shed, to see the artist with the number one album at the moment, Paolo Nutini. The first support act, 'Will and the People', got the crowd into a great mood from the start, with their upbeat pop songs that were easy to tap your feet and dance to, they looked like they were having a great time on stage. The second support act 'The Panics', were equally as good, however thier music seemed to slow the mood down, which isn't always the best thing for a support act as they're meant to get the crowd excited for the main act. As they went off stage, we waited for around thirty mintues as the roadies set up the stage, does anyone else hate this part of a gig?? The waiting always seems to take forever as the roadies pick up all six guitars to make sure they're tuned perfectly as well as all the other instruments, including a saxophone and trumpet, in the end being jeered by the crowd for keeping us waiting so long. Then it went went dark, all except the fairy lights strung across the ceiling, giving it a quaint village fete atmosphere, furthering the intimacy of the small venue. As Paolo stepped onto the stage and straight into his 2006 hit 'New Shoes' the crowd went wild, with dancing and singing which they carried on throughout the entire gig. The stand out songs had to be 'No Other Way' and 'Coming Up Easy' from his latest album 'Sunny Side Up' which he sang with passion and obvious love for his music. His presence on stage seemed big for such a young performer, keeping the crowd hooked on his every word and gruftly sung lyric. Singing songs from his new album as well as some of his older songs, his voice never faulted. In the modern era were you can pay £70 to see Britney Spears mime her songs, you cannot beat a soulful singer like Paolo, singing and playing his own instruments so passionatly in such a small venue. And so as he finished on 'Jenny don't be Hasty', the song that brought him to the public's attention and walked off the stage to the song 'We'll meet again', i hope we do, as the Italian named singer from Scotland gave us a brilliant performance that won't be forgotten by anyone that was there anytime soon, and proved just why he has the number one album right now.

Talk To Frank.

So the 24th of May was Slam Dunk Fest and to be truthfull i wasn't looking that forward to it. None of my favourite bands were there, and all of the good bands that were there i had seen before, so i thought there was nothing to be excited about and that the day wasn't going to be that good. But i was wrong. It was red hot and as we walked in to see Hey Monday playing on the main stage room, were there was no air con, we knew it was gonna be a hot and sweaty day. A few bands surprised me at how good they were live, Hollywood Undead put on a great performance as they graced the stage in their masks, We The Kings, who i'd been told wern't very good live, were one of the best of the day i thought, playing through all their hits aswell as a cover of Jimmy Eat World's 'The Middle'. Kids In Glass Houses wern't too bad but after playing the same songs for over a year now they're kinda getting a bit boring, as were Cobra Starship who although have some good tracks seemed to take up most of their slot talking to the crowd and not getting much from them. YouMeAtSix put on a good show too ,as always, playing through their album as well as playing their new track 'Finders Keepers'. However i think the defining moment of the day for me was meeting and geting snapped with Rob & Rou from Enter Shikari and FrankMusik, who's song 'Better Off As Two' hasn't been off my playlist for the past 3 months. I also got to see Paul Griffiths getting dragged out of the bar his clothing range was sponsoring by security which musta sucked. So to be fair this years Slam Dunk rocked for me, thanks to meeting some of my favourite artists. I think I'll definatly be going next year. can't wait.

"Let me introduce you to a new idea..."

It's called Henry Priestman. You've probably never heard of him. Like i hadn't, until about a month ago when i stumbled across his album on spotify. Being a fellow child of Hull i decided to give it a listen and was hooked. The stories that run through the songs present a bleak existence of redundancy and relationship break-ups but through the use of catchy melodies you can't help but sing along. The stand-out songs have to be "Don't You Love Me No More?" a tale of redundancy and a feeling of being cast aside, and "It's Called a Heart" a catchy tune that's forever on repeat on my iPod. Although the songs may seem to be about situations only the older generations may have experienced, the song-writing allows anyone of any age to emphasise with the singer, and therefore is definatly worth a listen. Clik the link to listen on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5d6cqUAsfrPKc56ZhBvcci

And if judgement day started tonight....

"...at least i'd know i was right, and i'd be laughing at the end of the world." I think that if judgement day started the night i saw 'White Lies' i'd be pretty happy knowing that my last memory would be of one of the best gigs i've been to. As the band took to the stage wearing their usual black outfit, with Harry upsetting the balance wearing a white shirt, the atmosphere was electric. The thumping beat of 'A Place To Hide' kicked off the gig, to a more than excited crowd of all ages which included Simon Rix from 'Kaiser Chiefs'. And from that moment the band took us into their world of lost love, death and all round misery, with their story-telling songs and catchy guitar riffs. Playing through their entire album as well as a B-side and a yet untitled new song, the band ended on my favourite song 'Death'. As the drums kicked in for this final song the crowd errupted into cheers, jumping along to the beat and thrusting their arms into the air for emphasis, of which i was included. And as the song ended and the band walked off stage, me and my friend agreed that there was only one word to sum up the gig, EPIC!

Slam Dunk The Funk (Without The Funk)

So the final lineup for Slam Dunk Festival has been announced, and excluding youmeatsix, kids in glass houses and we the kings, and i know this may seem pretty controversial to some of you kids, but it's looking pretty dissapointing. I had high expectations from last year after some of my favourite bands played including cute is what we aim for!, red jumpsuit apparatus and boyslikegirls however this year looks like its counting on the smaller bands to draw the fans in. The three bands i mentioned up top played last year, and although they did play a brilliant show it would have been nice to see other bands like mayday parade and all time low take to the stage as they dont play many shows in the UK. The dissapointing line-up coupled with the fact Royal Mail seem to have lost my ticket at the moment (hours waiting in call centre queues still hasnt resolved this), may make for a waste of £21. I'll just have to see when the day has finished, if i get there that is!