live music

DVD Review – Snow Patrol Live at Somerset House

/ ninetyeightytwo / Leave a comment

Before things got quite so bad as they are now, bands used to put DVDs out.

Mostly these would feature a recording of a live performance. But sometimes they were collections of music videos, or even specially-made “behind the music” documentaries. The best music DVDs contained a combination of the above.

Each DVD is a time capsule of an era that was very similar to our own, but also profoundly different. This is the era just before the mass adoption of smartphones, and before social media made everyone and everything significantly worse.

Continue reading →

Liverpool Psych Fest Wishlist!

/ ninetyeightytwo / Leave a comment

Liverpool Psych Fest 2016

I recently got back from my third trip to the Liverpool Psych Fest!

You can read all about it on FCK LDN.

Well, not all about it. I didn’t write about absolutely everything, because that would have taken ages, and nobody pays me for this.

I know, you’re right. They should.

As per, I had a fantastic time, and as per, I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.

And what’s more, I’m already formulating a wishlist of the acts I want them to book next year!

Here’s what I’d like to see at Liverpool Psych Fest 2017, and beyond.

Continue reading →

5 Songs That Were Stunning Right from the First Listen

/ ninetyeightytwo / Leave a comment

I have a lot of favourite songs. Some songs are my favourite because they remind me of certain times, places, and people. Others are my favourites because, over time, they’ve sunk under my skin and revealed themselves to be glittering caverns of unfathomable wonder.

Some songs, though, are my favourite songs because, the first time I heard them, I was stunned. Jaw hitting the floor, shaking my head in awe, stunned. Floored, like Brian Wilson, who claims that the first time he heard Be My Baby by The Ronettes, he fell over.

Some songs tend to lose their lustre after a few thousand listens. Not these. For me, they were incredible on the first listen, and they remain favourites because they have never lost their power to stun.

Read on.

Continue reading →

The 5 Best Things At Glastonbury 2014

/ ninetyeightytwo / 5 Comments

Earlier this week I got back from my sixth Glastonbury Festival.

The annual Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is a big deal for me. As I explain over on FCK LDN, I love the darn thing so much that I’ve started to feel strangely Christmassy about the whole ruddy ordeal.

Now, I’ve already done the emotional gushing over there, so I’ll use this space to list the five best things I saw at Glastonbury 2014.

With the benefit of hindsight, I should perhaps have used my own personal blog to share the above personal ruminations, instead writing this here “review” for FCK LDN. But this gloomy place has been dormant for months now, and it could do with a bit of cheering up.

So here we go. Live on Lord Gloom, a list of the five best things at Glastonbury 2014. They’re in ascending order! I think.

Continue reading →