Tag Archives: music

Iain

Great gigs: Oasis – Irvine – 1995 (Iain)

September 27, 2019 twinbikerun

Have you ever gone deaf? Have you ever experienced ringing in your ears so loud it feels like your head is an alarm clock? Have you ever seen Oasis play live?

I’ve seen Oasis. They were the first gig I ever attended. It was 1995 in Irvine and it cost me £12.50. Nowadays some concerts charge that for a pint of beer.

Oasis where not the first musical act to visit the Ayrshire coast. Elvis Presley’s only UK visit occurred when his plane landed near to Irvine at Prestwick Airport. He did not get out of his plane. Do you want to know how bad Prestwick Airport is? Even Ryanair has stopped flying from there. No wonder Elvis stayed on the plane.

I went with Andrew to the gig. It was one of our first trips by ourselves away from home. I remember standing outside the tent. I was as excited as I was terrified. Thoughts rushing round my mind – “Will they play Live Forever? Will I get crushed in the mosh pit? How will I get home? Do I look cool with my Liam haircut?”

The answer to the last question was 100% no. Thankfully, the 1990’s are an era I have very few photos of as the word had not yet invented “selfies” or “doing it for the gram.” I have no record of my dubious haircuts or fashion decisions.

The last thing I said to Andrew before going into the tent was “Stay together but if we get separated meet me at entrance.”

We headed into the tent. These days when I attend a concert I want a comfy seat, a good view and an interval at half time so I can go for a lie down. Back then all we wanted was to be right at the front of the stage so I could jump, sing and go deaf due to being too close to the speakers.

We managed to stay together…until the music started. The crowd started moshing, Andrew was dragged off to my left and I found myself spinning round in a circle in the middle of the tent.

This was amazing. My mind was blown and so were my ear drums due to the noise.

I cannot remember anything of the gig after this point. Which means it must have been good!

Afterward I waited for Andrew at the entrance. He didn’t turn up. This worried me. Not because I was worried about him but because he was the one who knew how to get home. I was also worried because I couldn’t hear properly. There was an incessant ringing noise in my head drowning all other noises out.

I waited as long as I could but eventually had to run to catch the last train to Glasgow. Thankfully someone showed me the way to the train station. I got there just in time. I jumped on the first carriage that had space in it. I sat on the only empty chair on the carriage. I turned to see who I was sitting next to – it was Andrew!

“ALLRIGHT?” He shouted. In the manner of a man who couldn’t hear himself properly due to deafness.

“PARDON!” I said. Not being sure what he said due to the ringing in my ears.

It was three days later before we could properly hear each other.

It didn’t stop us going to concerts and as its the off season for racing I’m going to recall some of the good, the bad and the I can’t actually believe I paid money to see Brittney Spears gigs.

OASIS GIG REVIEWS (FROM MEMORY)

Aug 4th 1996 – Loch Lomond – Great show despite crowd issues.
Jan 21st 1996 – Ingliston Showground – Terrible Show.
April 26th 1996 – Maine Road- Best gig I ever saw them do
Dec 14 2005 -SECC – Terrible show.
Nov 13 2002 – Braehead Arena – The best I’ve heard Liam sing.
When the were great they were GREAT but when they off form….oh dear.
Oasis gigs I can remember attending. There might be others that I’ve forgotten about.

Andrew

Music 2019 (Andrew)

December 18, 2018 Andy Todd

Someone told me that you lose interest in music when you get to 40. Can’t remember who it was, can’t remember why we were talking about it, but, it stayed with me. I love music. And when I heard it I thought: “Not me, grandad, I’ll still be buying CD’s and tapes when I’m 100!”

I was wrong. I haven’t bought music in 10 years – thank you, Mr Internet! And, apologies to all those struggling bands not getting paid any more, I promise I’ll buy a ticket for your live show!

But, as I’m now 41, and officially older than 40, I do try and listen to as much new music as I can to prove that comment wrong. I do sometime wonder why this comment stuck with me and not a useful one like “you’ll lose interest in cases and statutes when you get to 40!” and I would now be working furiously to be a top notch lawyer to prove them wrong. But, hey ho, I got music.

So, in a challenge similar to Iain’s – see his post – I also tried this year to listen to different types of music. I tried jazz, opera, classic, techno and Abba. All the ones I would normally avoid (except country because no one should listen to country, not even for a Christmas timed music blog). And this is what I learned:

I hate jazz.

I hate opera.

I hate any form of metal. Death. Thrash. Doom or -icca.

But… I did discover a love of modern classical, obscure German techno that goes BOOM, BOOM, BOOM and Kylie. (Who doesn’t love Kylie!)

Most of all I learned that music doesn’t have to end at a specific age because hearing new music is easier than it’s ever been. There’s millions of songs just a click away and the challenge now is not just to remain interested but to actually listen to music more than once. As soon I listen to an album, I listen to another then another and then it’s the next week and there’s more albums out and more tracks and I never get back to the songs I liked just seven days ago.

So, this year, when I was thinking of what music I loved, my favourites are those I returned to again and again such as:

Daithi – Have To Go

Calvin Harris should sue for plagiarism.

Sarah Blasko – Heaven Sent

Richard Marx should sue for ‘Hazard’.

Pictures of You – HMLTD

Lady Gaga should sue.

(I’m noticing a theme)

Confide In Me – Kylie (from the Abbey Road Session)

An original. Well, a live version of an original.

Teleman – Cactus

Finally, an actual original. Pity the rest of the album didn’t equal this.

Brockhampton – BOOGIE

And neither did this. But this is P A R T Y with a capital [expletive deleted – parental advisory warning]

The Joubert Singers – Stand On The Word – Larry Levan Mix

Praise the lord, this list is nearly over because we have the two best songs of the year.

Let’s Eat Grandma – Donnie Darko

Ten minutes. Doesn’t get going for two of them but, when it does, does it beat…

Sufjan Stevens – Visions of Gideon

And it does. While Visions of Gideon is pure heart breaking Sufjan Stevens it has the in-built advantage of me loving everything Sufjan has does for the last 10 years. So, in the spirit of new music, this year’s best song is….

Donnie Darko and here’s a video of it live with an awkward Dutch man in the front row wishing that he was anywhere else.

Uncategorized

Top Of The Pops 2018 (Iain)

December 10, 2018 twinbikerun

When I was 18 I wanted to be in a rock and roll band There was only one problem – I couldn’t sing. I had this confirmed when I auditioned for the school choir. The choir master asked me to sing “Doe Ray Me Far Sew La TeaDoh!” I got as far as Ray before he said “NEXT!”

In fact there was two problems. I also can’t play a musical instrument. I bought a guitar when I was 18 years old. 23 years later I still have it. I’ve never changed the strings on it. It sounds the same now as it did back then – bloody awful!

Whenever I look at the guitar, I remember what the great philosopher Homer Simpson said “If something’s hard to do, then it’s not worth doing”

I often wonder what would have happened if I had formed a band. What would the name be? It’s a tricky choice. The name would have to reflect both my personity and musical syle. I don’t think I’m shouty or angry enoughto carry off the name “Tropical Fuck Storm.” or am I prog rock enough to call myself “King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard“

I could use my own name but someone has beaten me to it.

All the band name’s I mentioned above are real names of bands! Surprisingly, Tropical Fuck Storm are not as punk and angry as the name suggests.

So in ourannual brak from sports blogs here’s my top 5 tunes of the year:

5. Neon Church by Tim Mcgraw

I like going musical exploring in Spotify – I choose a genre I don’t normally listen to and then try out various random songs and artists in it. I recently started listening to random Country & Western songs to see if were any I like. Whilst musical panning for gold I’ve had to listen to allot of nuggets of rock but this a great pop rock country song with a catchy chorus.

4. Don’t Fuck With Joe by The Blackwater Fever

I discovered this song at the same time as I discover Tim. Its a bluesy/rock blast. When played on daytime radio the lyrcis are changed to Don’t Mess With The Crows. I also work with a man called Joe so it has some relvance.

3. Lovely Stornoway by Calum Kennedy

I’d never heard of this song until this year but as I’m from Stornoway it has to make my top 5. My only complaint about the song is the lyric

Make your way to Stornoway,
On the road to Orinsay,

Orinsay is not on the road to Stornoway! Orinsay is an island! He should sing

Make your way to stornoway.
On the ferry to Orinsay.

2. Eat Shiitake Mushrooms – Let’s Eat Grandma

The worst named band on the list but probably the most musically interesting is Lets Eat Grandma. They mix musical styles from all out pop to drone rock. The amazing things is they are Teenagers. At their age I was getting rejected from the school choir.

1. Danny Nedelko by Idles

I don’t normally like punk rock. It can be a bit one dimensional but Idles delivered the most intelligent and prescient album of the year with songs dealing with toxic masculinity, immigration and the loss of a child. The description sounds somber but the tunes are surprisingly upbeat.

Iain

Top of the Pops (Iain)

December 21, 2017 twinbikerun

There are three types of twin – identical, fraternal and Jedward.

Identical twins are… identical (no surprise there, the clue’s in the name). Fraternal twins are brother and sister. Jedward twins are f&%ing mental! Two untalented brothers who hang out together, have the same hobbies and laugh at each others jokes.

Andrew and I are identical twins!

Ignore anyone who says: “are you sure you aren’t Jedward twins?” We are identical but there is one thing we differ on – music.

I read with interest his top 10 of the year. I’m not sure he was entirely honest with the readers of this blog.

Andrew has a giant picture of Justin Bieber on his bedroom wall. He’s a member of the Belieber fan club. He took Spanish lessons just to understand what JB was singing in Despacito.

What I’m saying is that it was surprising that JB’s no 1 fan, Andrew, had a lack of Bieber action in his top 10.

Andrew, it’s okay! You’re amongst friends. You don’t have to pretend you like cool London bands like The Horrors. Embrace your inner Justin and scream “baby, baby, baby, ooooooooooh”

So, instead of his list, here’s my selection. Which I have not filtered to be cool!

Arcade Fire – Everything Now

I don’t normally like Arcade Fire. I saw them play Glasgow University on there first ever visit to the UK. The drummer had a wee bird flapping about inside his drum kit. I couldn’t enjoy the gig because I kept wondering:

A) Did he put it there? If so, that seems very cruel.

B) If he didn’t put it there, should I have told him there was a bird trapped in his drum?

This though is a great upbeat song with hints of ABBA. Pity, the rest of the album was rubbish.

Bon Appetit – Katy Perry

This song follows the great American song writing tradition of writing about sex whilst pretending to be about something else. It goes back to Chuck Berry singing about his ding a ling, 50 Cent discussing his lollipop and just about every song on an R Kelly album.

This song is not cool or clever but it does have great production and it always makes me laugh because like all the other songs its pretty blatant what its actually about.

Richard Ashcroft – Hold On

Back in the 90’s I loved britpop. I grew my hair to look like Liam Gallacher. Thankfully only one photo existed of this. I look like a twat. I destroyed the photo.

This was a great return to form for Richard Ashcroft. Who’s mostly stayed out of the limelight since the end of Britpop. He can still write a great tune.

Plan B – Hearbeat

Plan B wrote the greatest song of the last ten years – Ill Manors. An angry punk/rap song that was a retort to David Cameron. It’s accompanied by a self written/self directed film of the same name which showed exactly what its like to grow up in London of ‘Broken Britain’. It’s not an easy watch but check it out if you can.

He’s also been out of the limelight for a few years but this showcases his talent: great vocals and great tune.

Galway Girl – Ed Sheeran

Is this the worst song ever made?

It certainly elicited the best review of the year (in The Guardian)

“The people of Galway must be hoping a nuclear bomb goes off in their county to save them the embarrassment of having to say – yes that Ed Sheeran song is about us.”

It’s a song so awful even his record company begged him to not include it on his album.

But my song of the year is Galway Girl because I admire a man who released a song even though he knew everyone would hate him. That’s more punk than any punk song. Just don’t make me listen to it!