Category: Gigs

Garbage , Jezabels ,@ Manchester Academy 3-7-12

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This one got very messy…once in Manc land we had quick pint at the station. Checked into hotel & then off to the venue. The Crobar was en route & they were doing 2 for 1 cocktails. It soon all went downhill.P1010314 P1010321

We were basically in there all afternoon/early evening. There were a couple of us who had to collect tickets from the box office. I naturally assumed we’d collect, then go through the door that side. Oh no, they wanted us to go to the back of the main queue ! Well fuck that for a game of soldiers. I went & talked with security & eventually the head guy came over. I told him i wasn’t impressed ! Said we’d been here all day (bending the truth a little lol) & shouldn’t have to go to the back. He said “OK when doors open, just jump in here” I then told him there were about 6 of us… ” Not a problem..” . Looking back, it wasn’t the nicest of things to do, but hey, if you can wing it why not ? I’m amazed they didn’t realise how drunk i was tbh 😉 It all worked out. Got down the front. During the gig i went out to get 4 pints ( I NEVER leave front row) for the lads. Shows how confident/drunk i was. Of course, when i got back, after navigating the crowd & losing some of the beer along the way, i got the imortal line off Rob ” Can i have a full pint next time ?!!”

Download festival , @ Donington Park, Terrorvision,Little Angels, Opeth, Nightwish,Slash, Halestorm, Ginger Wildheart,Turbonegro,Red White & Blues, Steel Panther,The Mission, Metallica, We are the Ocean, Reckless Love, Edguy, Firewind, Ghost,Sebastian Bach, Ugly kid Joe, Shinedown, Black Sabbath 8/11-6-12

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Truly fucking AWFUL weather in general. Even going INTO the festival on first day, the “roads” were a bloody mess. They should have had tracking down in a bunch of places, but they didn’t. The arena was late opening due to it being partly flooded. The little amount of straw they laid down was virtually pointless. Download took the piss. With all the money they must be making, why not invest in certain things to make the experience better when it’s these conditions?? I was & still am, disgusted with the whole experience (I’ve not been since). Even despite there being some great bands over the weekend, this one just left a nasty taste in the mouth.

Amaranthe , Soen , Dynazty , The Garage, London 22-5-12

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I’d been wanting to see Amaranthe for a while & decided to go to London. Took day off work & went to venue early in the hope of meeting the band. Whilst waiting, i surfed the net a little & came across a competition to meet Amaranthe, so i entered it….& won ! It was for two places, so i went & asked the guy who’d been queuing ages if he fancied it. Of course he would 🙂  I did briefly meet Elize & Olof outside the venue (before the M&G). The organiser was saying they were waiting for another person** to arrive for the M&G….& it’s funny how there ended up being a connection with her later on 😉 The band signed posters etc & i’d also took my cd booklet from my Japanese edition. Somehow i temporarily “lost” said booklet until someone realised they had more than they should have lol. I showed the band a couple of bootlegs i’d got through from Japan, they were quite impressed  😉 I’d imagine they were the first bootleg cds released by them.  Eventually the band left & we were told to go back outside & join the queue. Exsqueeze me?!! Nah, i want my cake & to eat it. A quick chat with Dante & both myself & Carlos were able to stay in there till doors opened 🙂 The first band ” Dynazty” were ok….but have seen it all before ! (sorry). “Soen” were next up & i didn’t like them (at the time). They were such a mismatch for this gig, but of course they were also Spinefarm 😉 I was just wanting everyone to get off stage so we could see Amaranthe ! Once they were on stage, all was forgiven by me haha They played most of (if not all) the album. They all seemed to be having a decent time up there. I never have been much of a fan of this venue as the lighting points out from the back towards the crowd

** So the person who was late…you couldn’t make it up really…a few days after i’d got back home, was talking with an old school mate & he was saying how a work colleague went to this gig. We put 2 & 2 together lol. We then got in touch & over the last few years Cat has become a good friend & we’ve been to numerous gigs together. It’s a small world for sure…