Manchester End-of-Weeker I

Thursday marked the start of another trip to the city of Manchester to view some musical people doing their thing. This time the bands involved were Theory of a Dead Man, Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge and Dimmu Borgir.


The MEN Arena do not have a separate standing entrance on the floor like most venues, so you have to walk through the lower tier seating to show your standing ticket and be let onto the floor. This idea is fine, however there is opportunity for fail. This occurred on Thursday, as myself and Mikey got to the top of the stairs the house lights went out to signal ToaDM taking the stage. This made walking down an unknown number of stairs in pitch darkness incredibly dangerous. This could be easily rectified with a luminous or lit strip at the edge of each step. The perilous walk was made happier as South Parks 'Blame Canada' was ToaDM's choice of entrance song.

ToaDM headlined this tour over in the States, I presume they are popular over there. Over here, not so much. It could be because they were the first band on rather than the fifth (the American tour had another 2 bands opening). But they were just boring to be honest. Musically they seemed OK, but for me they seemed to be an opening band doing an opening set and not bothering to start a fan base over here. They did cover Eric Claptons Cocaine, that was cool. Overall, enjoyable to listen to, but I won't be in a hurry to see them again.

 Next up were Black Stone Cherry, a band I have seen previously and always enjoy their sets. This one did not disappoint either and I'm coming to the conclusion that they simply get better and better each time. From the moment they set foot onstage until they left, BSC poured out pure Rock'n'Roll energy. The crowd really responded to this and sang along with every song.  Lonely Train ended their set and the crowd matched the noise coming from the stage with their singing. BSC are playing in the UK again next year, I will likely be writing a review about them then too.

The headline band for Thursdays gig was Alter Bridge. I have seen AB once before at a festival and enjoyed what I heard. Since then I have listened to the band a fair amount and have to say, I'm a huge fan. I had seen the setlist for this tour previous to the gig and was incredibly excited about what was to come. And AB didn't disappoint from the opening bars of Slip to the Void until the final notes of Rise Today. I really enjoyed the songs I Know It Hurts and Metalingus. Myles Kennedy announced it was the biggest headlining gig ever and was completely in awe of the crowd reaction. I thought they had been loud for BSC, but that was nothing compared to their reaction to AB. Constant singing, cheering, clapping and in general, a real party atmosphere. My only gripe with the band was what they did in their encore. After coming back out to a rapturous applause they played Open Your Eyes, then Myles paid tribute to Freddie Mercury and what I can only describe as a guitar duel broke out between himself and Mark Tremonti. This was cool to watch, however it went on too long and the fact that most songs include a guitar solo, it seemed to be unnecessary showing off. I felt the time could have been better used by playing another song. Or if they wanted to pay tribute to Freddie, why not play a Queen cover or just a guitar medley of their songs? Just a suggestion. No matter though, AB were superb and I won't be surprised to see them  back here in the not to distant future.

Friday it was the turn of Black Metal in the form of Dimmu Borgir. This gig was at a new venue for me and Mike to visit, Manchester Academy 3. The 3 Academy venues are all in the same area as each other on the Manchester University campus. Academy 1 is a seperate building and I will be going there in the new year to see Seether & 3 Doors Down. Next door to this is the Manchester Uni Student Union, this building is huge, and on the second floor is Academy 2 and on the 3rd floor is Academy 3.
We walked into Academy 3 and my first thoughts were that it reminded me of the size of the Wedgewood Rooms here in Portsmouth, possibly even a little bit smaller. This was a little worrying as I feared for my hearing, turns out the volume levels were perfectly set.

The gig was named An evening with Dimmu Borgir and it involved them playing 2 sets with no support act, I am very much in favour of this sort of gig as, although you don't see new bands perform in support slots, you see more of the band that you paid the ticket price to see.
The first set was an album played through in full, voted for by the fans before the tour. The album that won was Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. From the time Dimmu took to the stage the crowd were electric, throwing horns and cheers towards the stage for the entirety of the gig, including times that Dimmu were off stage. The first set was played with fierce energy and the band looked very happy to be playing to such an engaged crowd.
The second half of the gig had Dimmu playing songs from their entire collection. They came back onstage following a drum solo, this was cool and didn't annoy me as Alter Bridges guitar duel did because a) it didn't last longer than 5 minutes and b) drummers don't get to highlight their talents as much during songs, so it's awesome to see them go all out on their kit. The 2nd set was awesome and included 2 of my favourite Dimmu songs with Puritania and Serpentine Offering. It was an amazing gig and definately worth the extra nights stay in Manchester.

I will be seeing Dimmu again next year at Wacken. Where they will be playing with a full orchestra, I cannot wait to see this great band again. Black Metal Lives!

Volbeat Review

Last Saturday myself and Mikey T headed to London to see Volbeat.
I have commented in this blog before about how excited I was to be going to this gig, especially after they cancelled last year and I saw them open the main stage at Soni earlier this year.

The train up was uneventful, as was the tube to the venue. Which is much easier than previously thought. In fact, once at Waterloo, you jump on the Northern line and 9 stops later you're in Kentish Town and there is the HMV Forum!

We grabbed a light dinner at Sainsburys and then joined the queue to get in, which was very long but moved quickly even which everyone being searched on entry.
Inside, the venue resembles the HMV Apollo in Hammersmith, although instead of a sloping floor it is tiered. We headed down to the lowest tier and found a spot very close to the stage at the left hand side and against a staircase which supplied some nice leaning comfort.

The support band were Black Spiders, I was certain I had seen them before but wasn't sure until they opened their set with Stay Down. Black Spiders were awesome and a great choice of band to open for Volbeat. They belted out their songs and the crowd really responded to them. Me and Mike both commented on the fact that the drums seemed to overpower the other musicians, this could be due to our locality near to the stage or the aesthetics of the venue. Either way, it didn't disrupt the enjoyment of an awesome band who I would gladly see again.

After the interval, Volbeat took to the stage and all I can say is 'Holy Hell!', they were amazing! The crowd were bouncing, singing, cheering and clapping throughout the whole set. I had seen the setlist from other gigs on this tour and I don't think I would've changed a thing. The band were clearly happy to be in London and continually involved the crowd. During one of the inter song chats, Michael Poulsen (lead singer) asked what the crowd wanted to hear, cue unintelligible shouting from the crowd. So Volbeat played some bars of 'Tallica & Motorhead, before Poulsen said that one of his favourite bands are Napalm Death. This lead to them playing a ND song and then saying something which I didn't hear. What he said became clear when they began playing Evelyn and  Mark “Barney” Greenway from ND walked onto the stage to provide the screaming vocals for the song. They played out the rest of their set, with time to play a tribute to Queen, with the same ferociousness that had been the theme throughout the night.

Favourite songs from the set -  All of them! I cant even pick the best one, they were just that superb.

This is easily one of the best gigs I have ever been to and I really hope to see Volbeat again, either in a main festival slot or on their own headline tour.

Update much?

I haven't posted in a while as I haven't had much to say.

Pompey playing shit again, work's still shit and nothing else has changed.

There are, however, a couple of new developments that have taken place within the last week.

1. I am now the proud owner of an iPhone 4. This makes me incredibly happy as I have wanted one since they were introduced. The other reason for this new phone is to help with my second situation change.

2. I am going to quit smoking. The main reason for this is financial as I'm in a low paying job and basically can't afford to keep the habit up. I also want to stop for health reasons. I am an asthmatic which means being a smoker is a ridiculous thing to be. However, my asthma is in extreme remission now I have grown older and after a recent medical, was told that being an asthmatic smoker my lungs are exceptional. Even so, I want to quit. And apparently prove to some friends that I can do so.

Mike is also currently in this circumstance and he is writing a blog about his daily feelings and the like on quitting. He has added me as an author to this blog which can be accessed here I'm done with smoking

So those are the 2 major things going on in my life at the moment.

I am really looking forward to the gigs I have coming up soon, same list as posted on an earlier blog. Added to the fact that 3 Doors Down and Seether have announced a tour, which will mean another Manchester trip, very excited about that!

Also the Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in New Zealand. I have watched as many of the games as I have been able to and will continue to do so until the end of the tournament. England have had a very slow start but ended very strongly against Georgia this morning. I just wish whoever decided to make time differences was shot! Going out at night, getting home at half midnight and then setting your alarm for 6.30am is not a fun thing to do on a Sunday!

But never mind, That was just a quick insight into what is happening in my life at these current times.

I'm sure I will be back soon and will also be posting into the non smoking blog.

That's all for now, byes.

All for one, All for METAL

A Wacken 2011 festival review

So last Wednesday myself and Mike headed to Germany to watch some heavy metal. This was the second time we had been to this festival and by the time we left for the airport I was incredibly excited. After a great breakfast at the airport and a not so good one on the plane we arrived at Hamburg airport and ventured outside to make our way to the central train station. Then came the small problem that after 3 years neither of us remembered what the next step was. In the end we decided to go for the S-Bahn (underground) and found it was incredibly simple and cheaper than the bus! We then got a direct train from Hamburg to Itzehoe, albeit with a small delay for some reason, only known to those who spoke German. Which was nicer than having to change at a small station called Elmshorn as it means less moving with baggage. Had a small wait for the bus to the festival but once there, the ticket exchange and camping spot finding were both relatively quick and simple. We set up our tents and then began our Wacken festival.

We decided to watch the football tournament as it gave plenty of laughs last time. It was enjoyable but we decided to have a stroll around the village to see what else was going on. We ventured into the part of the arena that was open to have a look in the tent and found that they had more of the side open so it would be much easier to get in and out, this put smiles on our faces after the last time when we only saw 1 band in there and vowed never to go back. So we walked over to the newly extended part of the festival site Bullhead City. There was a huge crowd outside the tent so we walked to a nearby screen which showed what was on stage at that time, the answer on this occasion was boobies! It appeared to be a group of strippers who ripped off their clothes before the water even touched them and then made out with each other.  After that entertainment we strolled back to the football pitches to watch the conclusion of the tournament and saw some great football and fantastic goals. Once the final had concluded we went back to the Bullhead and were able to get into the tent. It was a very good size with a wrestling ring in the middle and a walkway linking that to the stage. We were there to witness the football trophies being awarded but were there a little early and so caught the act before. Big mistake. It could be that we didn't speak German but whatever was happening on stage was not cool. It was the Masters of Comedy, which included a guy dressed as a dog, an invisible motorcycle rider and an invisible pilot, mixed with "stand up". It was extremely awful! But that finished and we managed to move ringside to applaud the triumphant footballers and then to watch some wrestling. I enjoyed the wrestling as much as you can enjoy amateur wrestling, along with the earlier strippers dancing around and showing off their boobs once again. There was an English wrestler there called Robbie Brookside and it would be cool to see him here one time. After this the second Miss Wet T-shirt began, this time it appeared the strippers were replaced by members of the crowd. All of whom seemed happy to lose their clothes to huge cheers from a mainly male crowd. We then left the tent and walked across to the Beergarden stage for the first bit of live music of the festival.

(Stages key: Bullhead City Tent - BC, Beergarden - BG, Headbangers Ballroom/W.E.T Tent - WET, Party - P, Black - B, True Metal - TM)

Mambo Kurt - BG - 4 - We were looking forward to seeing Mambo Kurt as the stuff we had heard before the festival, unfortunately it transpires to not be so fantastic live. We stayed for a couple of songs and then headed back to the tent after an interesting first day.

Thursday

We woke up and decided to grab our festival merch before the music began. This decision was made due to the massive queues that were at the stand the day before. So surely they'll be a lot smaller this time? Not so much! However, after a 90min wait, I had my shirt and was very happy with it. We dropped the merch back at the tent and decided to chill for a little bit. This meant missing Ski's Country Trash but nevermind.

We then headed to the arena to start the festival day with some bands from around the world.

Sacramental - WET - 6 - These were the Metal Battle (MB) winners from Latvia. They were very enjoyable and it was easy to see why they won the chance to play at Wacken.

Seven Stitches - WET - 6 - MB winners from Portugal were also very enjoyable.

Achren - WET - 6 - The MB winners from here in the UK were very good and can quite easily become a major force in British metal. However, they need to work on their crowd interactions as all I heard was growling and therefore couldn't tell you any of the songs we heard.

Exquisite Pus - WET - 2 - MB winners of Spain, um yes, that's it.

Kvelertak - BC - 8 - We strolled into the Bullhead a little earlier than we planned seeing as Exquisite Pus were really that bad. We heard a small band outside so went to investigate. Blaas of Glory, a metal marching band were playing outside the supermarket and we heard Highway to Hell, very funny and enjoyable. Then we couldn't get into the tent so went to watch on the screen. Kvelertak were incredible to listen to and I reckon had we been in the tent the score would've been higher.

Skyline - B - 8 - Since we were outside the tent we decided to stroll back into the arena and watch Skyline & Guests. These included Doro who I now want to see at her own show. They played what I assume were a couple of the Wacken hymns. U.D.O's and GraveDiggers lead singers also performed with the band.

Severenth - BC - 7 - We then headed back to the Bullhead to see this band who turned out to be English, so helpful when you understand the band! They were very good and I hope they tour near Pompey at some point in the future. Preferably coming to Portsmouth. It was a shame they had a small crowd but those that were there seemed to enjoy what they saw/heard. I know I did.

Onkel Tom - BC - 7 - This band were very good and a lot of fun. They tapped a beer barrel and 2 very good looking girls were handing out cups of beer to the crowd. They got a great reaction from a crowd that had grown massively. German bands are popular in Germany, who knew?! Mike made a new friend in the form of an extremely drunk dude who was falling asleep when trying to take a swig of beer. I say beer, Wacken is sponsored by Becks, probably the only bad thing about the festival.

Hayseed Dixie - BG - 10 - What can I say? Once again Hayseed were incredible. I always enjoy their set and the banter. The first 10 rating of the festival was well deserved and I can't wait to see them again.

Helloween- TM - 6 - We caught a little of their set as we made our way to get a spot for the next band. They sounded pretty good. I don't know much of their stuff but would probably check them out if the chance arose again.

Blind Guardian - B - 9 - I have wanted to see this band for ages, and I was not disappointed when I finally did. They were fantastic and I would happily see them headline their own tour. They were the perfect band to have on before the headliner of 2011's Night To Remember.

Ozzy Osbourne - TM - 9 - The king of heavy metal. And performance wise he was, I was expecting his voice to be frail and not as strong as in his Sabbath days. However, he was very surprising and I enjoyed his set list which included all the classics I wanted to hear. Unfortunately, I have a couple of gripes about this set. One, your Ozzy Osbourne, you're going to get a crowd reaction. You don't need to constantly ask for one after every song. Two, if you're given a 90min slot, don't disappear for 20mins in the middle of it leaving your band to jam. To then come back on, sing a couple of songs and then go off ready for your encore. If you can't manage a full headline set, take a lower less time slot. Other than that, Ozzy was brilliant and I'm so happy to say I have seen him live.

Friday

Everyone should start their day with Power Metal!

Primal Fear - P - 8 - What a wake up. Another band I have wanted to see for ages and another band who did not disappoint. They were brilliant and had a decent sized crowd for an opening band.

Suicidal Tendencies - TM - 7 - A band I didn't know too much about and now I have seen them, well still don't. They're kind of like a better LimpBizkit. And they did play one of the two songs I know of theirs, Subliminal. They were good at what they did and kept me entertained throughout their set. Although, they continued every song after the crowd had clapped and cheered. I'm not sure if this was to fill time or to get a bigger reaction but it was a little annoying.

Morbid Angel - B - 7 - We split this set with another band that we wanted to see. What I saw of MA I really liked.

Van Canto - P - 7 - 4guys, 1girl, 1drumset. How will this work I hear you ask. Very bloody amazingly well is the answer. Watching guys beatbox the bass and guitar to Master of Puppets and Fear of the Dark are memories I will have forever thanks to this band. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

Sodom - TM - 8 - I sat though this set as my left ankle was trying to give out. They were a very good band and I enjoyed chilling out and listening to them. Apparently this is Tom Angelrippers (Onkol Tom) other band. That guy has a great voice!

As I Lay Dying - B - 9 - According to Mikes 2008 review and photos we saw this band at that festival too, not that either of us remembered that. However, they were brilliant. I really enjoyed watching them and found myself entertained throughout.

Trivium - TM - 10 - A thoroughly deserved 10 rating. The previous times I have seen Trivium I have really liked them but this was something special. They were so together and tight on every song. It was the first time I have heard them with their new drummer but he may well have been there since the creation of Trivium! They played a few songs off the new album, all of which sounded brilliant. I'd quite like to see them at their own headline gig again soon.

Heaven Shall Burn - B - 9 - HSB were awesome. A very energetic front man in Marcus Bischoff, a lot of pyro and a strange video show as their backdrop. I really liked their set and would be happy to see them again. Great band.

Judas Priest - TM - 10 - We saw the first 3 songs of Priests set before shooting off to see another band for half an hour. To be honest after the first 3 songs I was happy to disappear. Frankly they were boring and just didn't seem to be on form at all. However, after we came back to see them they pulled a 10 performance out of the bag! I don't know what happened whilst we were gone but I enjoyed every song after that break. They were miles better than when I saw them at Wembley and I was singing and bouncing along a lot by the end of their set which included 2 encores. So much so, I ended the set by sitting on the floor so that my left foot didn't itself snap off.  Quite why the crowd sang the whole of Breaking the Law I don't know. Maybe Halford swallowed a fly.

Sirenia - WET - 10 - WOW! During Priests set we wandered into the tent to catch Sirenias half hour set. And I'm so glad we did. They were fantastic! Symphonic/Operatic metal is definitely my favourite genre of music and I am glad to have found another band to add to that collection. Absolutely brilliant. Well worth getting away from the beginning of JP.

Accuser - WET - 8 - We were going to wander to the Party stage to see Kyuss Lives but with the amount of people and distance of walking we decided to just duck back into the tent as that's where we would be ending up later. Accuser were very good, one of those bands that you can enjoy as background music without getting bored.

Skindred - WET - 10 - Finally I have seen Skindred!! A band who I have wanted to see for years and every time the opportunity arises I have either money issues or can't get time off or whatever. But, now I have seen them and they certainly didn't disappoint! I asked my left ankle to give me a couple of hours standing time, however you cant stand at a Skindred gig. From the first beat to the last you are moving and loving it! I will definitely be seeing this band again and hopefully they will be back at Wacken in a bigger slot one day.

Airbourne - TM - 10 - We were going to stand at the back for their set but as we left the tent we pretty much got carried out of the arena. So we stood outside the entrance and watched on the big screen. They sounded brilliant as Airbourne usually are. We saw Joel climb to the top of the stage and continue playing as is his gimmick. And then our feet were killing so we strolled back to the campsite listening to these guys. They got a 10 based on their sound as they seemed phenomenal.

Saturday

Visions of Atlantis - P - 9 - As I said for Sirenia I love this genre of music and Visions certainly didn't disappoint. A great set and a great band. It was a brilliant way to start the day and I'm happy to have found another band to enjoy. They are more of a  Evanescence/Lacuna Coil style with the harsher male lyricist and that is another reason I enjoy this genre, soft vs harsh vocals are win.

Crash Diet - TM - 4 - Instead of trekking across the festival site just to come back again we decided to stop at the True metal stage to watch Crash Diet who are a sort of Glam Rock band. Well, I guess that's what they are. I just call them shit. The only reason they got a 4 was that they used a harmonica. I'm probably being unfair but the guitars drowned out the singing and if your on the big stage you get time to sound check and erase those problems. It was so bad that I didn't realise there were backing vocals until I noticed the guitarists leaning into their mics. Very poor showing but awesome pyro.

The Haunted - P - 9 - We saw these guys back in 08 and they were awesome then, they were awesome this time too. A great set and some good banter including the colour of shirts being changed from black to lavender.

Torture Squad - WET - 7 - These guys are pretty damn good. I think they will become quite a force in the metal world with more gigs like this. Only managed to catch a few songs but they had a lot of energy and a great reaction from the crowd. It also meant missing Dir en grey which makes them heroes.

Stormzone - WET - 8 - You know when you just sit down and listen to a band you've never heard of? That's what we did here and I'm so glad we did. Stormzone were brilliant! Mike likened them to Maiden and I agree with him. I hope they tour in the UK as they would be a great headline act in a small venue.

Mayhem - B - 3 - And that's a very generous 3! I enjoy black metal but not this. I can't say anything about this set other than there were guitars, drums and a guy screaming or groaning or something. At times on screen it looked like he was screaming but nothing was coming over the speakers. I was extremely bored with this band and won't be seeing them ever again. EVER!

Iced Earth - TM - 10 - Brilliant, fantastic, awesome. I really like Iced Earth and glad I have seen them, especially as it was front man Matt Barlows last day with the band. It was actually quite emotional watching him say goodbye to his friends and band members but what a great atmosphere to be caught up in. And it did not disrupt an awesome show by a brilliant band.

Sepultura - B - 8 - I liked this set. I like their music and Derrick Green is a good front man, keeping the crowd entertained and playing drums when he feels like it.

Then as we were waiting for the next band the screens showed an advert for next years festival, including announcing 7 bands. Myself and Mike had been toying with the idea of Wacken again but decided it would be line up dependant. This first announcement made us decide there and then, Wacken 2012 will be happening for us.

Avantasia - TM - 10++++ A*** - Fuck music genre. Fuck pop. Fuck hip hop. Fuck rap. Fuck metal. This was a celebration of music and one of the best live shows I have ever witnessed. This was absolutely stunning. Tobias Sammet is an incredible front man and I am gutted that this was the last ever Avantasia show. Although I feel honoured and privileged to have seen it. Tobias looked so astounded at the reaction he got from the crowd that I can't see why he would want to stop. However, I didn't know he was the lead singer in Edguy, who have a new album out and a European tour happening. That is a lot to balance but I do hope he pulls Avantasia out of the wardrobe again one day as it is so incredible to see. Every song was awesome live especially The Story Ain't Over and Lost in Space. I keep watching the video taken of this set and think I will be for a long time yet.. Here it is . Unfortunately it cuts off the very beginning where they played the opening bars to Twisted Mind behind a curtain. And the end of the set but those songs are spread out across youtube.

Kreator - B - 10 - Kreator were amazing when we saw them in 08. This time, they were better. I really enjoy watching them live and it was a fantastic way to close the festival. What with still being on a major high from Avantasia. I enjoyed Violent Revolution and Enemy of God and am sure I will see Kreator again in the future.

Motorhead - TM - 10 - We decided that sleep was needed before the day of travel that was to follow so we left after Kreator and just listened to Motorhead on the way back to the tents. They sounded amazing! Much better than when we saw them at Sonisphere earlier this year and so we awarded them a 10 rating. As I tried to sleep I could still hear them belting out songs so just lay back and listened until they finished, although falling asleep during their last song Overkill.

Sunday

I awoke to some epic rainfall on Sunday morning, this is the last thing I wanted as having to pack away a tent and trudge along with a bag in the rain is by no means fun. However, when my alarm went off the rain had stopped and in fact the sun was trying to come out. Packing went smoothly enough and after some fighting with the tent, we were ready to leave Wacken 2011. We got to the bus stop after negotiating some gloop and jumped straight onto a bus waiting there.
At Itzehoe station the conductor sorted us with a ticket although I'm sure it wasn't what we wanted as a) it was cheaper than going and b) it didn't say Hauptbahnhof (central station) but no matter. This time we did have to change at Elmshorn. So after having a nice 4 seat section of a train we ended up being crushed into the door section of the train into Hamburg. Not much fun for me but I was fairly grounded on top of my bag, Mike had a little trouble with peoples bags and his meat & veg region but you can ask him about that. At Hamburg we decided to just get to the airport so that we knew we were there in plenty of time and wouldn't be rushed at all.
Once there we checked in, Mike had a shower and we flew home. Mikes parents met us at the airport and the final leg of the weekend began back to Portsmouth.

I am so happy that I went to Wacken 2011 and now cannot wait until the 2012 festival for which not only do we have tickets but they will likely arrive on Mikes doorstep within the next week!! Now that's efficiency.

The, now 9, bands announced for 2012 are; Scorpions, Ministry, Forbidden, Axel Rudi Pell, Hammerfall, U.D.O., Cradle of Filth, Amon Amarth & GammaRay.

I seriously cannot wait to see who else they book. I know plenty that I would like to see but I know that whatever happens, Wacken 2012 will be incredible.

Thanks for reading.

Sonisphere Sunday Review

So yesterday I ventured to Sonisphere Festival for the day. Still wishing I could've been there for the entire festival seeing as I hadn't been since I went on the Sunday in 2009. Myself, Hartley & Drew left on Saturday night and drove up to Hatfield services. We were going to park here for the night, get some sleep and then continue onto Soni in the morning. That was fine apart from the policeman that asked if he could search us. We agreed and then he just walked off! But never mind, we then bunked down for the night. I was lucky to get the whole backseat to myself, unfortunately the backseat of a KA isn't that big. But, after some re-positioning, I fell asleep.

Woke up and used the service station to have a wash and feel slightly more human after a cramped sleep. Then it was onto Soni, I was already bubbling with excitement and just couldn't wait to get there. Parked with ease and took the trek through the car park so my journeymen Hartley & Drew could pick up their tickets from the box office. It was whilst I was standing there waiting for them that I was looking out over the campsite and began to feel like a kid at Christmas. Once they had their tickets we strolled up to the arena, the hill between campsites seemed a lot steeper than before. Got into the arena and I don't know how I wasn't bouncing all over the place. Being back at Soni was such an amazing feeling and I was so happy to be there.

And then the first win of the day happened. As I said in my previous blog, I can't wait to see Volbeat, who were opening the main stage at 11am. As we were strolling to the Apollo (main) stage, we stopped by Saturn (2nd) stage to watch the crew setting up Bill Baileys gear, and the man himself was there. Hartley took a photo and then a guy down the railing from us shouted and asked Bill if he would come down. To which he replied 'yeah' and then did. He moved along the barrier, signing autographs, eating peoples chips and having photos taken, he also brought down his cameraman who filmed it all. Then he got to us and had a photo taken and signed my ticket. I think I could've gone home right then and been over the moon!
But I wasn't going anywhere except to the Apollo stage to see Volbeat.

(All ratings are out of 10 and based on sound, stage show/presence and how much I heard)

Volbeat (Apollo) - 10 - What a start to the day! Not only was I at Soni, not only had my ticket been signed by Bill Bailey, but I saw Volbeat! Finally! They were as awesome as I expected, and extremely good at prompting reponses from the crowd, since it was 11am and most festival goers are tired/hungover/waiting for the headliner at that sort of time. They played an additional 10 minutes which made me even happier and are just a fun band who know how to rock and entertain people. Really can't wait to see them at their on show later this year. I also met up with Mikey at this point which was handy as we were seeing the same bands during the day. Plus, he was extremely hungover which made for some laughs.

Black Tide (Saturn) - 3 - Mike told me that he didn't want to see Black Tide as he had heard they had shifted to Black Metal, and not done it well. I was fine with this plan as I had completely forgotten we were seeing them. But as we went to grab a drink I did hear them playing Hit the Lights which is the only song I cared about seeing anyway. It sounded good so I was going to give them a 5. Until I heard some of their new stuff, I say heard them, it could've been a cat being raped by a polar bear, either way they get a 3 and they can live with it.

Arch Enemy (Apollo) - 8 - I have seen Arch Enemy before and enjoyed their set, this time I still enjoyed them but found something lacking. They didn't seem to have the energy they had before, and Angela Gossows mic needed turning up. But they played We Will Rise and Nemesis so they still get a high score.

House of Pain (Saturn) - 6 - We sat on top of the hill for this one, the sun was beginning to beat down so a relaxing sitdown was very welcome. I only know that House of Pain did Jump Around and this was the only reason I was seeing them. They were quite enjoyable as background music whilst I caught up with Mike, Miller and Wilson and updated them with what was happening in the world as they were at Soni for the weekend. As the set went on however I found the songs were very similar in sound and got quite boring.

Parkway Drive (Apollo) - 4  - Awkwardly, these began playing on the main stage before House of Pain had finished. And being on top of the hill we could hear some of their stuff whilst HoP were quiet. They sounded pretty good, I dont know much of their music but quite liked what I heard. So the score isn't a poor reflection of the band just that I could only hear certain bits and only for about 3 songs.

Kylesa (Bohemia) - 7 - We stood outside the tent whilst they were playing, just enjoying the breeze that had kicked up. I don't know much about this band either but they sounded quite good and heavy, which is always good. There was then a festival wide 2 minute silence in memory of Paul Grey, Slipknots bassist who died last year. As we were near a campsite entrance there wasn't a lot of silence apart from people who had been near the tent and heard the announcement. Although this was always planned if people hadnt noticed the time they can't be blamed for not adherring to it. I prefered Mikeys idea of 2 minutes applause or cheering as this would work better in a busy festival environment.

InMe (Bohemia) - 9 - I saw InMe in 2005 and I don't remember them being that heavy! It was an awesome set though and they had a much bigger crowd than I thought they would get. I forgot how good this band were and am really glad I went into the tent to watch them. They get a high score for 2 reasons, 1) I really like InMe and wish I could've seen a longer set. 2) They really were that good, especially combining screaming and clean vocals so well. Credit to Dave McPherson for mastering the art that so many can't.

Then it was time for the funnies. (All in the Bohemia tent).

Andrew O'Neill (MC) - 7 - Having a metalhead annoucing comedy acts at a metal festival was a fantastic idea. He got the crowd goin by havin a lot of sing alongs which were awesome.

Jason John Whitehead - 8 - Canadians are not known for their comedic value but this guy was awesome. He spoke a lot about the break up with his ex-girlfriend. And then proceeded to rip on women for most of his set. When he spoke about sex toys a member of the crowd got hers out and waved it around. He got her to throw it to him and then carried on with his set waving a plastic penis at the crowd. Until he decided if he held it any longer it would turn him gay.

John Rouse - 7 - This is one sick individual! Including his own sound effects. But it was a funny set that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. It would be interesting to see him do his own set, I think.

Brendan Burns - 8 - I was looking forward to seeing this guy as his stand up I have seen in the past has had me rolling on the floor crying. I fully expected him to score a 10 but something wasn't quite right. He was very funny, especially taking the piss out of America. But there were times that I was just straight faced because I didn't find the joke that funny. Nevertheless, he was good and I'm happy with the standard of comedy I saw.

Airbourne (Saturn) - 9 - Only heard a couple of songs and didn't see too much other than part of the screen. But what I heard has put me in a very excited mood for when I see them at Wacken. Joel O'Keefe apparently did his usual climbing up the highest bit of staging he can find to continue playing.

Motorhead (Apollo) - 10 - 'We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll', this was Lemmys opening line and how true it is. They have also set the world record for loudest band, which doesn't surprise me since the speakers sounded like they blew up around 5 times during the set. They announced that their previous guitarist Würzel (Michael Burston) had sadly passed away the morning of Friday 9th July 2011. And then proceeded to tear Sonisphere a new one. I sat for most of the set as my legs were telling me too but this is another band that I now cannot wait to see again at Wacken.

Opeth (Saturn) - 3 - I have seen this band on 3 occasions previous to yesterday (thanks for the correction Mike) and had no interest in seeing or hearing them again. I don't dislike them I just don't like them either. However, the parts I did hear impressed me. They sounded like they had it together and I was tempted to give them a 5 until Mike told me that they had a fail. I was expecting this to be a guitar fault or something similar, but no. Lars Mikael Akerfeldt, the lead singer, apparently asked the crowd 'are you still with us Donnington?'. Woops! I'm sure the crowd watching didn't care too much as they probably went to see Opeth for the reason that they like them. But to me,  this is a schoolboy error. Especially not helped by the fact that your standing on a stage emblazoned on every side as Sonisphere. He didn't even need to say Knebworth. So, their score drops and so does my opinion of them, again.

Cancer Bats (Bohemia) - 8 - We went to go into the tent to see this band but there was very little chance that would happen. Security had already closed a few entrances as people streamed in to watch them. So we just sat outside and listened. I'm quite glad we didn't get inside because it sounded mental! They sounded extremely good and un-surprisingly drew the huge crowd. Even causing people to jump the barrier and run in. Unfortuneatly, it began to rain when we were outside, only spots though and rather cooling after the hot and muggy morning.

Alestorm (Bohemia) - 9 - Everyone needs Pirate Metal in their life. They are such a fun band and everyone was dancing, skanking, head-banging, just doing whatever they wanted and enjoying the songs. I was surprised they didn't play Leviathan but no matter. Captain Morgans Revenge was as good as usual, as well as Wolves of the Sea. I hope I can see them again soon, it's always such a fun time. The rain was swinging from non-existant to pretty heavy by now. But it didn't dampen my mood as I knew I still had a few hours left at Sonisphere and rain never hurt anyone.

LimpBizkit (Apollo) - 5 - Heard a little bit when we were inside the tent but once we left they decided to play Rollin' which made me very happy. Rollin' was one of the songs that really shifted my musical preference into a more alternative one and so I always enjoy hearing whether on cd, radio or live. It's just a fun song and a mainstream one that everyone knows. As we were the complete other end of the site it did sound like they were having technical difficulties though. I found out from Hartley later that Wes Borlands guitar broke and he had a hissy fit and walked off about 30 seconds before the end of Rollin'. So that could've been what was heard. But I wasn't going over to see them.

There is a band I have heard good things about but never had the chance to see them, it was a shame they were clashing with Bill Bailey but after lengthy discussions, myself and Mike decided to see half and half.
So, to a stage and band that I have never seen before.

Fozzy (Jagermeister) - 9 - Chris Jericho (WWE wrestler) is an awesome frontman and the rest of his band are amazing! 'Fuck the rain and get moving' was Jerichos shout and so they did. They had a lot of energy and the heavy riffs were greatly complimented by Jerichos vocals. We only stayed for 3 or 4 songs, but they are a really good band and I'm really tempted to go and see them at their own show later this year.

Bill Bailey (Saturn) - 10 - Only saw him do 2 songs but I was already jigging and laughing just with that. The Hokey Pokey in German is fantastic. He also announced that another record had been broken as it was the biggest crowd at a comedy gig ever in the world. I like being part of new records. It was a shame I couldn't see more of Bill, but after meeting him in the morning I was quite happy. He then said that he would be finishing with a video which is the same as at the end of his DVD so Mike & I moved off to get a decent spot for the main event.

Slipknot

(Apollo)

Infinite is the only rating I can give Slipknot for their performance last night.

When I saw them at Hammersmith in 2008 I think it would've been the same rating but yesterday they were just amazingly awesome, incredibly brilliant and completely phenomenal. 

They played an awesome setlist and the crowd loved every second of it. Corey Taylor said how much they love coming to the UK and how special it was last night as their honoured their deceased brother Paul Grey. The entire crowd clapped and cheered when Corey was talking about it being a celebration and that there would be no negativity and they certainly responded by going nuts with every song. I was extremely happy to hear them play Left Behind, which is one of my favourite Slipknot songs. Corey thanked us for bringing some typical English weather since the rain was not going to cease through the whole set. By that point I didn't care if it snowed. Slipknot owned Sonisphere yesterday and the tribute to Paul Grey at the end was very touching. Standing his old boilersuit and guitar at the front of the stage and saluting the backdrop which was a giant number 2, Pauls number. They used a lot of pyro which must've been interesting to the planes passing overhead. A few people decided to leave when the band left the stage before the encore which they really shouldn't have because if Slipknot had been giving 100% throughout, then when they returned to stage they cranked it up even further. Surfacing closed the incredible set and whilst they completed their tribute, 'Til We Die played over the sound system and just heightened the feeling of family and togetherness.

After that I headed back to the car, very difficult to find someone elses car in the dark by the way. But, soon enough we were on the road. We thought it would take a while to get out of the car park but by some luck we were parked next to the main route to exit the car park. We got home around 2am after continuing to rock out to Slipknot and just revel in what an awesome day had been had by all.

Sonisphere is a brilliant festival and has delivered exceptionally once again. Hopefully I'll be able to attend for the whole weekend next year but it will, as always, depend on line-up and personal funds.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at 9am, and it will be held 6th-9th July 2012

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On a small sidenote. Why do people go to festivals and spend all that money just to continue spending money and getting so drunk they don't know whats going on? Answers on a postcard please.

 As I was walking to the car park one guy was saying how amazing Slipknot were. But when asked about Metallica he said 'I don't know, was so obliterated I don't even remember being there'. What was the point then sir? I'm all for having a good time at a festival, drinking included. But I would do it at my campsite in the evening/early morning, then grab a few hours sleep and if I have a hangover, go watch bands and deal with it (like Mike did). Not waste the day getting so drunk I can't even walk. If you've paid all that money you may as well make it worthwhile. Or give the money to me and I'll go.

Peer Pressure

So this summer I'm looking forward to going to Wacken Festival in Germany and Zante. They were my holidays booked and budgeted for. Then, as happens every summer, bands began to announce their tours. Volbeat were a band I have wanted to see for ages and when they cancelled their tour last year I had to find a way of seeing them again. They have announced a set of dates which I have purchased a ticket for so that problem is solved. I saw Alter Bridge at RAR 08 and thought they were very good and would really like to see them again. So when they announced a co-headlining tour with Black Stone Cherry, that ticket was snapped up soon enough. Then I was told that Rammstein are going to be touring the UK again early next year in what will likely be a greatest hits tour, this will be attended once tickets go on sale.So after all those purchases I was very excited about the future after the summer.

I did want to go to Sonisphere this year but unfortunately had already fixed this summers excursions and was low on money. I decided that I couldn't afford to go and resided to hear about it from a number of friends who are going.

That was until a trip to the pub this week, one of my friends is now able to go and that had put a dampener on my mood as the times had been released and I had gone through a plan with Mikey, so now really wanted to go again. Our friend Hartley then told me that he was only going on the Sunday now and would be driving. So, after checking finances, I am now going to Sonisphere on the Sunday. As much as I would like to have been there on the Friday for The Big 4, the Sunday is the best day in my mind and is being headlined by Slipknot. For which might be there last tour together after the sad passing of Paul Gray.

And another band that I will be seeing when I arrive is Volbeat, I was so happy when I was informed that they were playing the Sunday and I think I will be seeing around 15 bands and comedians, which, for £80 I think is quite reasonable.

This was decided after everyone was trying to get me to go for the whole weekend and peer pressure won. Fortunately for my bank account only choosing a day ticket with easy, cheap travel.

So I am now looking forward to a week Sunday for my first festival experience since 2009 and will prepare me for the weekend in Germany.
This is a list of the activities in chronological order:
Sonisphere Sunday
Wacken Festival
Zante
36 Crazyfists
The Answer
Volbeat
Rise Against
Alter  Bridge/ Black Stone Cherry
Rammstein (hopefully)

So that's the new blog with a little insight into my summer and future of musical activities. Its a bit cobbled together but meh I hope you enjoyed it.

Twick, Trains & Terrible Hats

So yesterday was the Aviva Premiership Final. I still don't quite understand the concept of this as the top 4 sides in the table play 2 semi finals (1st v 4th & 2nd v 3rd) of which the winners go on to play the final at Twickenham. I'm not sure why, if you won the league you could then lose in the semi final against the fourth place team and therefore win nothing, seems crazy to me. But never mind, as it meant I went to Twickenham again for another incredible game of rugby. As it happens between the top 2 sides Leicester Tigers & Saracens.

Before the game was rather uneventful, train to London was fine as was the train to Twickenham, and then the stroll to the stadium, which included Mike tripping up twice and almost made this blog title 'Mikes triple trip to Twick', alas he didnt trip a third time.
Once inside, Mike & I found that sitting in the lower tier really gives an amazing view and we will be trying to get tickets to sit down there from now on. We quickly realised that there were far more Saracens fans then Leicester.
A good first half ended with the scoreline Tigers 9 - 16 Saracens. It was a half that belonged to the fly-halves Toby Flood & Owen Farrell who were both kicking well from penalties. Flood was showing signs of weariness after a long season and was poor when tryin to force it into touch. But Sarries had broken through with the only try of the game so far with James Short diving over in the left corner. The ref went to the video ref to make sure his legs hadn't gone into touch, but the replays showed he was clearly in and the try stood.

Two early penalties in the second half kept the sides evenly apart. And then disaster struck for Tigers, Flood missed 2 relatively simple penalty kicks which would have brought them to within 1 point of their rivals. As the old saying goes, third time lucky and so it proved for Flood as he hit a 37 metre kick through the posts, by far the most difficult out of the 3 kicks though. Again, Farrell pulled Saracens back to a more comfortable 7 point lead. Just 2 minutes later and Flood kicks over again to try and pull Leicester back into it, but it seems those 2 missed kicks have ruined their chances of retaining the Championship. With the clock ticking down Flood kicked into touch near the Sarries try line and forced an attacking lineout. With the score tightly hung at 18-22, a try would seal the turnaround for Tigers, Sarries just needed to hold on. The crowd counted out the last 10 seconds of the game, not realising how much was left in this game. As Tigers had control of the ball on the pitch the ref allowed the game to continue for a full 8 minutes past full time as Leicester tried and tried again to force the ball over the line. But, Saracens discipline paid off and after thwarting every attack, one that seemed inches from the try line, they were awarded a penalty and the game was over. Well done to Saracens for a triumphant season and thank you for an extremely entertaining game, although their fans might not have any nails left after the end. We stayed to see the trophy being lifted and then headed off back to the trains.

Once we got back to Waterloo and realised there was 2 hours until our train home left, Mike and I decided to go in search of a pub that was hopefully showing the champions league final. We found one and after paying £3.45 for a fairly decent pint of Fosters, grabbed a spot in front of a tv. Now, I have a slight understanding of fashion. But why wear hats indoors? Caps are to help keep the sun out of your eyes and hats with fluffy ear flaps are to keep your head warm, not in a pub that is stuffed with people and more like a sauna. And especially not when you are tall and standing directly in front of the tv!! Although the guy with the ear flap hat was extrememly drunk and by half time he was swaying majorly, would have been very funny to see him fall over like a felled tree. So we watched the first half and then got some eats and jumped on the train home. Another uneventful journey apart from the loud idiots behind us who got off at Petersfield after we had been wondering why anyone would ever go to Petersfield, let alone live there.

I really cannot wait for the world cup to start in septmber now.
Thanks for reading, I'll be back soon.

Away Days

So, I haven't posted in a while, no particular reason other than I haven't had too much to talk about.
There was the whole AV referendum which I was going to post about but then just, well, didn't.

Anyway, that's all over with now and FPTP is staying as the electoral form for this country, by a very large margin of the public vote.

The football season is over now and Pompey are staying in the Championship for another season. The last few results haven't been amazing, as for the games, neither were they. But, I travelled to Scunthorpe yesterday for our last game of the season and there are some things I want to write about this.
The journey up there was pretty simple, we got stuck on the M1 just outside Chesterfield due to an accident and as we went past, realised the roof had been cut off the car but no idea what had happened.
For any League 1 team supporters, Glanford Park could not be easier to get to. As your on the road into Scunthorpe you can see the floodlights, then as you go into the roundabout you can see the gates.
So we parked up and then had 2 hours to kill. We walked back through the gates and over to the shops that are located next to the ground. These included; Tesco 24hour, Toys'R'Us, TKMaxx and some others. There isn't much else to do around this area so we went back to the stadium and waited for the gates to open.
The inside of the ground is quite nice, completely enclosed and very close to the pitch. The only problem with this is that if the ball is struck at goal and misses, it flies straight into the fans at incredible pace, so be careful.
After a very dull game and a lucky 1-1 draw we went back to the car to wait for the crowd to die down. We met a nice family from Scunthorpe, of which the father was actually a Pompey fan as his dad was from Portsmouth. Shook our heads at the drunken idiots shouting abuse across the car park, then made our way back home.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day out and now Ive been to Scunthorpe I never have to go back!!

That's all I'm going to write about today, I'm sure Ill come back t annoy you again soon.
Thanks for reading.

Happy Mothers Day!

Just a quick check in to say Happy Mothers Day to all the mums out there. I hope you all have a great day and get spoilt.

Unfortunately, some mothers cant be with their offspring today for a number of reasons. Many have sons and daughters in the armed forces who are posted all over the world. And in sadder times some have had them taken from them. Both through natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, miscarriages and problems during birth and because of the acts of others. Obviously I mean because of murder etc.

So an extra thought to those who will be saddened by this day.

Priced out of Football?

This blog will mostly be about the new season ticket prices released by Portsmouth FC, there is a petition at the end of this blog that I would very much appreciate all my lovely readers to sign.

Here is the new pricing of season tickets as released on Wednesday 16th March.. New prices

So, I sit in the North stand for which I paid £425 for this season. A completely reasonable price considering we had just been relegated from the Prem, were in administration and fighting court battles to even have a club! Now, I completely understand the need to increase prices, most clubs do this to bleed some extra money from supporters to bolster the teams purse. I'm ok with this concept as long as its a fair increase and that you know your going to get something for your money. So, if I renew my season ticket before the end of this month I only have to cough up an extra £25, not too bad i guess, it still works out at nearly £10 cheaper than buying a ticket on the day. But why do i get 15 days to do this! Surely this should have been announced a month ago. All they needed to say was 'Hey, next month, season ticket early bird, watch this space'. Instead it was fortunate that I spotted something about it on the social network site Facebook and spoke to my mum that she looked online to see that this was announced! I then informed a couple of my friends who are season ticket holders and they were extremely grateful as they had no idea this was happening! That is terrible planning on behalf of the club and will only infuriate fans further. Also, you are unable to pay by direct/credit card for early bird, even when it charges a £5 admin fee. So, you want me to stroll around Portsmouth with £450 in my pocket?! Cheers!
And if I dont go and renew it by the 31st, I have to pay £500! No thanks!! Thats over half a months wages for me. The club have released a Q&A page which I will post here and then talk about that....  Q&A

So VAT has gone up. Yes PFC youre right, everyone knows that and is already feeling the pressures of increased prices. However, I like the fact they explain that it is still 20% cheaper than the 09/10 season, which had 4 less home games. This is true but you could look at those games as being Man Utd, Chelsea, Arenal, Liverpool, Man City, Spurs etc. Although our Premier League season tickets were very expensive there was a reason for that! Now we are playin the likes of Scunthorpe, Preston, Barnsley etc (no offence to those teams) its understandable that people arent going to pay as much to see them!
The debit/credit card situation is laughable, we couldnt do it last year because of the clubs status. OK its a year later, don't you think that maybe you could've re-negotiated by now?! Poor business Pompey.
So they're my gripes as to the new season ticket prices. But, what about the new match day prices?
The club are now putting games into categories again, although only 6 will be Cat A this season. So, this season you could sit in any stand for any game for £23 and £20 in the Milton stand. As the price list shows, next season there is no seperate prices for stands and for Cat A its £30. Thats £7 more than this season! Ok, its only for 6 games (or so they say) and 3 of these games are likely to be the relegated Prem clubs. Wait, so if they did that this season it would have cost people £30 to watch Hull and Burnley?! Um, no thanks! I had to endure both games, which we also happened to lose! And I would've demanded a refund! Cat B are £27, so an extra £4 on last year. Not so much of an increase but as some of my friends have already said, they won't be going as often next year as they just cant afford to keep shelling out more and more money.

As I mentioned at the start of this blog there is an online petition against these prices and the link is here, no matter who you support I would appreciate it if you could sign it and show the footballing world that the fans aren't happy about all these constant increases and they should remember who the game is really for... Pompey Petition

Thank you for reading and showing your support.

Respect part deux

So last time I was very lazy and just used a friends blog to make my point. However, I'm now going to add to that with some events from last week. I might rename this blog 'Refereeing - How to cock everything up'.

So Havant & Waterlooville were playing against Dorchester and some twat decides to interrupt the game in a mankini. Dumb as this is, the stewards fail to control him, or do anything at all, and so he's running around like the douche he is. Then one of the Dorchester players takes him down, not maliciously, just grabs his shoulders and wrestles him to the ground before the inept stewards lead him off. And then the ref decides to send off the tackler, no pun intended. Heres the video just to show you what the player did. I say player, turns out hes the clubs player/manager..... Video times

Now, by the letter of the law the referee should send him off as he acted violently. But, surely common sense should kick in there and say 'hey, he stopped the guy, this is a good thing'. He didnt punch/kick/headbutt the guy, just got him on the floor so the stewards could take him away. So, the ref sent off the player/manager when the game was poised at 1-1, H&W went on to win 3-1. Although Dorchester did have 2 more players sent off.

Then in an incident between Barcelona and Arsenal, Robin Van Persie was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. This happens constantly in football games and you know when a player does it deliberately as they usually throw their arms in the air and then boot the ball away. RVP didnt do this and seeing as the Nou Camp is a very large stadium with a lot of passionate fans, so it is entirely possible that he didnt hear the whistle. However, on the video that I have for all you lovely people, you can hear the whistle. This may be that the microphone was closer to the whistle than RVP, I dont know, but have a watch for yourself... Aren't videos fun

So either, he was right to be booked for kicking it away or all refs should agree on the punishment for this act. As it happens in every game and mostly goes unpunished. And I must talk about the referee yesterday who was easily the WORST referee I have ever seen! I dont think he got one decision right. At one point, our striker Dave Kitsons shirt was being stretched into a XXL and he got a free kick against him!! So Phil Crossley, Fuck you! Go read a rulebook and then maybe you can ref in the local Sunday league.

There needs to be a review of referees and their assistants as this is getting ridiculous. As Mike said they have started this 'respect' campaign but there is nothing to respect. In Rugby as soon as the whistle goes the players break apart. They dont surround the ref and they take every ruling as it is given. Maybe footballers should start doing this and we can just forget that the twat in black is even there.

So it has been another awful week for football referees and another blog slating them for their decisions.
Thats all for today, I'm bored of moaning about a lack of common sense or knowledge of the rules in the game. Something needs to be done for the good of the game, but knowing the FA nothing is going to happen anytime soon.

Goodbye all.

Respect from a lazy point of view

I went to the Portsmouth v Sheffield United game last Saturday, its handy when you have a season ticket.
Anyway, I'm not going to talk in depth about the team...In fact I'm not going to write anything more really.

My good friend MikeyT (who's blog can be accessed from the links on the right of this page) decided he was going to write a blog about Respect, in majority the campaign by the FA to look after their precious men in black. So, very shamelessly and I will owe him a pint for this! Here is a link to his blog about Respect that covers everything anyone needs to say on the issue.

MikeyTs Respect

(Many thanks mike)

So that's that, I hope you enjoyed his blog :)

Talk soon.

Taxi for Pompey

Its been quite quiet in my head lately, mostly just random bits of songs over and over but I thought I would write some more stuff down for all you lovely people.

I have 3 topics to talk about today, Pompey, Taxis and the Rugby.

So up first Portsmouth Football Club. I am really starting to think that the team have been reading my blog. As since I wrote about how fucked we were and the possibilities of League 1 action next season, they went unbeaten in February. So, well done guys. 1 draw and then 4 wins and 4 clean sheets on the bounce! That is an amazing run of results in one month and I really hope the league notice this and reward Steve Cotterill with the manager of the month award. I'm extremely happy with how things are going on the pitch at the moment and hope that they continue.
 Sky Sports News showed a special report on PFC the other night. It was an interesting watch although didn't overly show anything that us fans didn't know about. But anyway, hopefully the future is looking brighter. People are now talking about making the playoffs, my view is 'I don't want to get the playoffs'. My reasons for this are that we are still not financially backed by an owner who wants to run the club. And if we get back into the prem now, it is quite possible that stupid wages and transfer fees will be banded around and we could slip straight back into the awful situation we've been in not so long ago. Also I am enjoying travelling to different and smaller stadiums, paying reasonable prices for tickets and I'd like the team to be stable with long term players tied down before we try to make it in the big time again.
Still, I will leave Pompey alone now and hopefully will not need to write about them until the end of the season...fingers crossed.

Taxis. A great mode of transport when you need it and cant be bothered with buses/trains/walking etc. Prices of taxis have risen since i was a wee lad but that's understandable as the cost of living continues to increase. I admire taxi drivers for how they make their earnings, I certainly wouldn't want to drive drunk people around at 3am on a Saturday morning (especially from the people I saw last night!). And it annoyed me when people were moaning when we had the snow and ice and taxis were adding £1-£1.50 on top of the fare. If you don't want to pay the extra, Walk! They are doing a service in severe weather conditions that I sure as hell wouldn't drive in. During last Jan/Feb when we had the first snow I got a taxi from my friends house and the operator told me it would likely be around half an hour. That was fine by me as it was warm in my friends house and I wasn't in a rush. We decided to play some Fifa and by the time we had turned the Xbox on, there was a knock at the door and my taxi was there. So half hour was more like 3 minutes! Awesome. I gave the guy a £3 tip as I wanted to get rid of the change and was very grateful of his speedy service. So please don't moan at drivers when they are doing you a favour, unless they're a cunt. Then by all means give 'em hell.
But that story leads me onto my major gripe with taxi services. When you phone up and the operator says 'oh yeah, bout 5-10 mins' don't believe them! It winds me up when they do it because then you don't know whether to wait outside, by the window or if you've got time to cook a 3 course meal! Either have a system in place that allows you to know exactly how long its going to take or just say, I don't know.

But I cant be angry anymore as this morning has made me incredibly happy, and fortunately leads me into my third topic, the game of egg-chasing.
Firstly congratulations to England who have kept their Grand Slam 6 Nations dream alive by beating the current champions France yesterday. The final score was 17-9 and it was a fair reflection of the game. England played a sloppy penalty ridden first half but whatever Martin Johnson said at half time worked a treat. Almost from the restart we scored a try and held a solid defence for the rest of the game. Both teams could have had 2 tries in the second half but some extremely good officiating meant they were ruled out.
Secondly, it has always been a dream of mine to visit the home of English rugby, Twickenham stadium.
                         
This dream will become a reality on St Georges day this year when myself and Mikey T will go and watch London Wasps take on Bath in the Aviva Premiership. And if this wasn't enough, with tickets costing £20. I will be returning to Twickenham for my second visit just over a month later to watch the Aviva Premiership Final!! I was expecting this to cost a lot more however there were tickets available for £40 and this allows me to sit in the lower tier! I'm so happy that this chance has arisen and will be incredibly excited when the day rolls round.

That's all I wanted to say today. Many thanks for reading and I shall be back soon with more thoughts for your reading pleasure.

Humble Pie, well, the crust at least - Delays Possible

So last week I had a rant at PFC. Yesterday I travelled to Doncaster to watch us play Donny at the beautiful Keepmoat Stadium (if you get the chance to go, do it!!)
Especially as an opposition fan as the Donny fans didnt sing one song yesterday!! An awful showing from the home crowd.

And Pompey won. Not only did Pompey win, they kept a clean sheet. Not only did Pompey win and keep a clean sheet, they played very well!

So I retract the sentence that we're fucked from last week. We still need a lot sorting, especially in the boardroom but the team played well. They ran for each other, passed well (ish) and defended...ish.
But what was amazing was our first clean sheet since early Dec came when Carl Dickinson, Ibrahima Sonko and Aaron Mokoena didn't play! except CD coming on as an extra defender in the 83rd minute, but whatever. Lawrence was a good captain but needs to learn to keep passing instead of trying to twist and turn out of the middle of 4 players!

Our new loanee Jonathan Hogg was sent off in the 88th minute, this was very unfair as the deliberate handball only happened as he jumped. And as everyone says, when you jump your arms come up as leverage. but the reason it wasn't deliberate was Hogg turned his back to the ball as he jumped, so couldn't have seen where it was going and therefore couldn't move his hand to block it, therefore it wasn't deliberate. Just saying.

But a wins a win.

So well done lads, just keep playing like that please!!

That's enough about PFC as I spoke in length about them last week.

This week I wanted to talk about roadworks, I say talk, I mean rant.

There are a lot of roadworks going on at the moment. I don't mind if the government want to widen roads or improve surfaces, this is obviously a good thing yes?

Well yes but if you are going to start roadworks and lower the speed limit to 50mph with average speed checks along long stretches of roads. DO SOME FUCKING WORK!!!

Twice now this year, I have travelled North and returned the same day. Going up at 7am and coming home at around 6pm onwards. And there's no one at these works ever!! So why am I going 50mph on a 3 lane road when there's no one around?! Dumb asses!

Also, if your going to CLOSE a stretch of the m25 on a Saturday night, TELL PEOPLE!! So to let all my readers know, the m25 will be closed between junction 9 & 10 every Saturday from 10pm until 6am until the end of March 2011. This would have been good to know before the 4 lanes got pushed into 1, and of course all the idiots driving past thinking they can sneak in further up causes a bottleneck at the junction and so increases the delay.  Twats!!

I'm getting angry again now, so I will leave you all to your lives until I bother you again.

Thanks for reading and as always, comments welcome.

Portsmouth Football Club: A Disaster Story

If you do not like football, or PFC, stop reading now. This blog is about the club I have supported all my life and my feelings towards the situation we are in at the moment.

Right now there are 2 words I can use to explain what is happening with PFC, We're Fucked.

We haven't won a league game since 11/12/2010 away at Norwich, which was also the last time we kept a clean sheet. We haven't won at home since 30/10/2010. These are startling facts.

We are paying for a few seasons of success, an FA Cup win, our first forrage into European competition and some high Premier League finishing positions. This was an incredible time to be a Pompey fan but last year it began to unravel and this is why I am writing this blog.....
We were relegated from the Premier League last season following a points deduction from entering administration. I, for one, did not have a problem leaving the league with the situation we found ourselves. It gives us time to rebuild and restructure the club. This is beginning to happen, although the guy that owns the club, Balram Chanrai has said that he doesn't want to keep the club. However, if you do want to sell an asset you need to make it an attractive prospect to buyers. PFC are currently 5 points clear of the relegation zone. Not the kind of position I'd look at if I wanted to purchase a team. So, if I were Baloo, I'd invest some money into the team whilst I owned it. Maybe upgrade the facilities or buy a few low-grade players to show that we have a squad with a lot of depth. But that's just me.

One question I have been pondering this week is, Would relegation to League 1 be that terrible?

Understandably, revenue would likely drop. TV money would be less, gates and replica shirt sales would fall, although PFC do boast an extremely proud fanbase.  But, if the team did well in the league, as Brighton are this season, you would expect more fans to come to games. it would be interesting for fans to go to other grounds and likely cheaper than PL and championship tickets and travel. So, I am not adverse to dropping another league as long as the men upstairs are prepared for this and have some solutions to build a squad etc. As we would have to sell the likes of Nugent, Kitson, Lawrence and so on. But that can be helpful towards bringing in revenue and gambling on buying low budget players from the conference/lower leagues. There is also this funny little list that shows all the players who are currently available to sign for free, why haven't we looked at this and gambled on a couple of the younger players. Ill post a link to the list in a second but you will see that there are some players released from the likes of Notts Forest academy. Teams like this boast incredible standards from their academies so we should look into it! I know wages will be a matter but if you offer an unemployed 18yr old pro footballer 5k a week, I'm sure he'll bite your hand off! Anyway, here's the list. Free Players, right here.
This would be a great way to build a decent League 1 team and challenge for promotion on a budget.

Moving on to talk about the current "team". I really don't know where to begin!!
How about the fact that we have 2 very good championship players under contract who we wont play for the rest of the season?! Um, WHAT!!
The reason we wont be playing them is that if we do, they instantly get a new contract next season on their current wages (estimated 20-30k a week). Which we clearly wont be able to afford, especially if were relegated. However, I have a few options that could be discussed whilst these 2 are sitting around doing sod all.
1) Drop the clause, they both know our situation and I'm sure they would understand that right now we cant promise to be able to pay those wages next season.
2) Keep the clause but ask them to take a pay cut to 15k or whatever we can realistically afford.
3) Apparently teams were looking at Michael Brown in the January transfer window. If he isn't going to play the rest of the season, teams wont be able to see how he's performing. So, tell him and Hughesy to play to keep them in the shop window so to speak. And to keep tabs on any clubs interested in them.

As for the rest of our squad at the moment, STOP DROPPING YOUR HEADS WHEN YOU MISS OR CONCEDE! This is going to happen in a game of football. Yesterday, when Derby scored, Liam Lawrence went ballistic at the defence. This was understandable as we always make schoolboy errors to let other teams score. But, just shake it off, its a game, we conceded, fine. Get the ball back on the centre spot and go for it! We eventually equalized and that's fantastic. But, we now need to look at keeping clean sheets and winning games. Realistically we need to win the next 4 home games and hopefully pick up points away as well. To do this we really need a new back 4, Hreidarsson is getting old and does not have the pace to play at left back against pacy younger right midfielders he faces. Sonko, well, um, yeah that's enough said about him. Moko is a decent CB but keeps booting the ball forward rather than looking for an outlet, who has an excellent partnership with Ricardo Rocha (when he's fit) but shouldn't be captain. Halford is a good player but keeps on getting caught out with players running across him, this has happened in the last 2 games when we have conceded. Up front, Kitson is useless, flicking it on to nobody, I'm not sure what happened to him as he used to play well when he first arrived. Nugget is a good player who knows this is his level but needs target practice to know not to put it at the keeper every time.

That's enough for now I think. We really need to start playing well and do everything we can to win games and stay in the championship. Easier said than done I know but I will use the same argument that everyone in the pub uses. Your job is to play football, one dream a lot of people would love to come true. Your making money in a week that some people don't even make in a year. Think about the fans and play out of your skin for them.

So I bid you all farewell, I hope you enjoyed reading my gripes and possible solutions for the club.

I will always support PFC whether we're relegated or whatever happens.

                  Portsmouth til I die. Play up Pompey, Pompey Play up.

\m/ WACKEN!! METAL!! WACKEN!! \m/

So, as the title says, Wacken is a metal festival. I went there in 2008 and after a lot of nagging from my ex-RRP co host Mikey T, I am going again this year. Mike purchased his ticket a while ago and in the previous week they announced they were into the last 10,000 tickets. This news + Mikes nagging + overtime pay = Wacken ticket for me :D

I didnt do any festivals last year which was a little bit upsetting as I do enjoy them. So this year I have taken the plunge and will be making the trip over to Germany once again to listen to some of the finest metal bands of this time.

However, this morning I have been sampling each of the announced bands for Wacken (there are more to come) and have got a little problem. Out of the current 64 bands that are going to be playing, I like about 60! Which is a very good thing as I am going to a festival where I will enjoy 96% of the bands. Here is a link to the current announced bands Wacken Bands....so far. Unfortunately, I will not be able to see them all. So myself and Mike will have to have a long discussion about who we will see when the times/stages are announced.

I'm very happy that I will (hopefully) be able to see Ozzy Osbourne for the first time. He wasn't on my Bucket List but I still want to see one of his shows and not pay the prices for his individual shows, problem solved.

The reason I like festivals and the whole festival season in general is it gives you the best opportunity to discover new bands and new genres of music. This year I will likely see Judas Priest, Airbourne, Devildriver, Kreator and others not for the first time but purely as I really enjoy their music. But i will also see bands I hadn't even heard of until today, i.e. Sirenia, Blowsight, Sodom etc. And for me that experience of discovering new music is just brilliant as one of my favourite hobbies/things to do is just sit back and listen to music.

If you have before or get the chance to go to a festival, do it!

And now I bid you farewell until the next time I have something unnecessary to tell you all.

WACKEN!!!!
(sorry, just a little bit excited)

Floods & Protests done quickly

Both Brazil and Australia have been suffering horrific floods in recent times.

As I spoke about in my last post the weather and/or natural disasters affect a lot of people. The last I had heard the death toll in Brazil has now risen above 600 and 1 dog shown on the news. That particular video showed how terrifying floods/mudslides can be. Dogs are notoriously good, strong swimmers and yet when the owner couldnt hold on anymore, the dog never even resurfaced.

I have a friend in Australia at the moment and spoke to her the other day, it seems Australias floods are affecting lower levels due to increased rainfall but she is ok.

I hope both areas are alleviated of their problems soon and there is minimal more loss of life.


Onto Tunisia, Wah!! Now thats how you protest!! I dont know many details on this subject other than the Tunisian population weren't happy with the corrupt government so decided to do something about it.
Since the protests started the president announced on 14 January he was stepping down "temporarily". He then fled to Saudi Arabia with his family - France reportedly rejected a request for his plane to land there.
But the protests havent been organized by any individual, it has all been done through social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
British authorities have advised that noone should travel there even though no threats have been made to tourists out there.
One traveller spoke about his return trip that he could see tanks as his plane took off.

Thats all I can say on this matter but I will write again soon.

So that was 2010 eh?

Havent posted for a while as nothing has really grabbed my attention that I thought was worthy of boring you with.
However, we are now into a new year so I will share a quick insight into 2010 with you all.
I started 2010 with 3 hopes for the year, 1) To move out of my parents again, 2) To get a new job, 3) To get a girlfiend.
All 3 of those wishes had come to fruition by the time March rolled around.
Unfortuneatly they also came crumbling down as my girlfriend decided that whilst I was on holiday that she would bed another man, feel guilty about it and so, send me a text message saying it was over. The flat that I had moved into with a friend is proving to be much more expensive per month than originally intended. This has not been helped with the new job that I started deciding that when there isnt a lot of work on, 3 day weeks will be sufficient for the workforce. Meaning an average working month paid £576. But I am back on a full working week now so that grumble is muted for now.

Therefore, this year I would like 3 things. Yes, you guessed it, Girlfriend, New habitat and a New job. Although I am looking for more of a career now, this year I will turn 24 and so would like to make something of my life.
I am also going to try and quit smoking for longer than 3 weeks. Fingers crossed.

To any of you with New Years resolutions, Good Luck and stick at it.

So that was my hopes and their outcomes of last year. And my aspirations for this year. How about the rest of the world?

There was the Chilean miners trapped and subsequently rescued. Then the explosions at a New Zealand mine that unfortuneatly did not offer the same happy ending for those trapped.

The former labour government were ousted after years of...well shit decisions really! But after the very first live television debates, the public did not know which way to vote. This resulted in the Tories and Lib Dems forming a Co-alition, the jury is still out on this government but, personally, I think they are doing the best with what they were left with.

The world cup took place in South Africa and I think they put on a fantastic tournament, with Spain the eventual winners. England? Wah, enough said!

And the ash cloud that covered most of northern europe from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajoekull.

 

I won't say much on this subject as the fucking thing made it impossible for me to travel home from holiday! I was stranded in San Francisco for a week and ended up on the first flight from the West coast of America allowed into London. Every cloud (no pun intended) and all that I guess!

And a quick mention to some of those who passed away during 2010:
Leslie Neilsen, Bernard Matthews, Tom Bosley, Simon MacCorkindale (who I didnt know had died!), Sir Norman Wisdom, Tony Curtis, Alex Higgins, Stuart Cable, Dennis Hopper, John Forsythe, Harry Carpenter, Keith Alexander.
RIP to all that passed last year.

I was going to write more on the happenings of last year but have decided to end it there. You all lived the previous year so if you don't remember some events, lay off the crack!

I'm not sure what my first 2011 post will be relating to but I will let you know when the moment arises.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL