More activity!

This time over on http://manifestopresents.blogspot.com/ where we're keeping track of the comings & goings & setlists of our monthly night Manifesto @ The Vauxhall Griffin on the 4th Saturday of every month

Activity!!!

Just not here - I've set up a flickr account in order to post my digital snaps - the first batch from the Love Music, Hate Racism Festival (mostly of Patrick Wolf) and a couple of street art/grafitti pics have been uploaded to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdpreston

The blog may return at some point

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I just had to point you to this article by host of BBC4's Screen Wipes, Guardian writer and all round genius Charlie Brooker - "Patronising, embarrassing, lurid - the high street stores have got their Christmas ads all wrong"

My favourite parts are "the Spice Girls have managed to imbue their long-awaited comeback with all the glamour and class of a hurried crap in a service station toilet by whoring themselves out to Tesco" and on the Morrison's ad "Diarmuid Gavin winking at Lulu as though recalling a particularly grubby one-night stand"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2228707,00.html

Can anybody tell me ...

... exactly what this is advertising:

Hong Kong - One Year On

Well I didn't blog about it last year, and I know a few people still click here occasionally only to be confronted with the Kilburn Bop ... and besides, I've got a new fancy camera so here we go again ...

On our last day in Hong Kong, we headed down to the waterfront in Kowloon for a light lunch consisting of a pork bun and a luncheon meat and cheese bun (a revelation - you have to try one!) and whilst eating our fine cuisine, we were asked if we'd answer a few questions by a couple of local students doing some sort of school project about visitors to Hong Kong - one of those was "What is your main reason for visiting Hong Kong?". Hmmm ... difficult one - I expect a lot of people say shopping, certainly that's what a lot of people expect you to say and speaking to various other people on our trip, does seem to be a reason for some people, but despite all the opportunities, it's something we barely did at all, mainly passing through the multitude of shopping centres as a means of getting to the other side or grabbing a coffee.

Personally I think the reason we visit most place is to soak up the city, the culture, the place, the people - yes, there are sights to see and we certainly do some of that but we don't try to cram it all into a couple of days like lots of people would - we did it over 9 days, doing one or two things, or maybe one area in a day, and then spending the rest of the day meandering, observing, listening and smelling- in some cases a pleasant experiences, in other areas not!

But they were doing a project and obviously wanted an answer that was easier to classify, so after a few seconds thinking I gave the most instinctive answer I could think of - the temples. They seemed somewhat surprised by this and perhaps people who know me would be surprised I gave this answer - I'm by no means a religious person and I don't think people who know me would think of me as a particularly spiritual person, but there's something wonderfully peaceful, evocative and strangely relaxing about these places, even the busiest of them. They are also places that, more than anywhere else, seem to show the contrast between the traditional and the modern - young people coming along to use their prayer sticks to predict fortunes, or leaving offerings of oranges or other food, brought along in designer shopping bags. I associate Hong Kong with Temples in the same way I associate North Wales with castles - after year after year of holidays to North Wales as a child I probably felt that I'd "done" castles after 5 or 6 years ... but after 2 visits to Hong Kong I still want to pop into every temple that we pass by, and they seem to pop up everywhere.

The first temple we went to was one of the smaller ones, but also one of the most evocative, Man Mo Temple in Central (I'm not giving directions - this isn't meant as a travel guide and you can google as well as I can). The temple is fairly dark inside and full of smoke from the giant incense spirals hanging above - I used to hate joss sticks but in the right place, i.e. a temple and not a student house, the heady scent is magnificant. People come in and out to say prayers but visitors are welcome and, whilst you keep your voices to a respectful murmer, you don't feel like you're intruding as you can in a church.


A visit to Sha Tin in the New Territories served the dual purpose of a visit to the Heritage Museum, which was well worth a visit in its own right, and a visit to the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Located at the top of a rather steep climb up 400+ steps, thankfully the multitude of Buddhas that flank the path help distract from the walk up, each Buddha different from the next. Most of the ten thousand Buddhas appear to be in the main temple room, row after row of them on shelves, all slightly different from the next, and an amazing sight to behold. The temple also, as a number of temples do, provides a good place for a cheap but very tasty vegetarian lunch, which can be a blessing after feasting on meat based fare night after night.






I'll be doing another blog about the island of Cheung Chau but this small traffic-less island was dotted with numerous temples. The largest of these, Pak Tai temple, was the only place where we faced a hawker inside the temple, trying to persuade us to buy joss sticks to light. I gave a contribution into a collection box, as we did at every temple, but didn't feel that lighting sticks myself was appropriate - it's not my religion ... although if I was forced to take one up it would probably be between Buddhism and Hinduism (based on my very limited knowledge but I don't normally let such things stop me having an opinion!).

We didn't return to the Big Buddha on Lantau this time, but we did go back to Wong Tai Sin Temple in New Kowloon - this was by far the busiest temple we visited, but despite the numbers still had an air of tranquility about it, and the Good Wish Garden behind the temple afforded space to take time out. At the front of the temple is a long row of fortune tellers where worshippers could take the results of shaking their prayer sticks or throwing their Buddhas Lips, for interpretation.



Like a lot of temples in Hong Kong (and the Big Buddha), Wong Tai Sin is my no means old, being built in the early 70's - and those that are older have often been moved from their original locations - but such is the contrast between these buildings and their surroundings, it seems to almost lend them an air of antiquity even where it doesn't exist.



So that's temples ... Cheung Chau and numerous other Hong Kong based blogs to follow ... and I'll try to make it less than a year.

Off My Rocker at the Kilburn Bop

From the ridiculous to the sublime. After last nights ordeal, tonight saw us visit The Luminaire in Kilburn for the genius of Luke Haines. The contrast between venues could hardly be greater. The Luminaire is up a flight of stairs on Kilburn High Road and the size of a small pub. Perhaps if more people realised how amazing Luke Haines really is he'd be playing in slightly larger venues, or maybe not, who knows. But this was a great show.

Support came from Vinny Peculiar who we hadn't particularly planned on seeing, but coming on stage at 9pm, we were very pleasantly surprised. Ex-Smiths member Mike Joyce was on drums, but the spotlight fell on who I presume was Vinny himself who led the quarter in half an hour of intelligent indie-pop, titles including "Jesus Stole My Girlfriend" and "Everlasting Teenage Bedroom". I shall be making futher investigations.

Luke took the stage around 10-ish and gave us 45 minutes of, as ever, sublime power-pop. The majority of the set was taken from the new album, Off My Rocker At The Art-School Bop, which mainly seems to address the 70's. Leeds United recalls the terrace atmosphere of the time whilst also referring to the Yorkshire Police's hunt in vain for the Yorkshire Ripper; the Walton Hop concerns itself with the (in)famous venue where Jonathan King met a lot of his "young friends" and paints an image of a time of perceived innocence , whilst also (I think, I've only heard these songs a couple of times) addressing the nature of the relationship between young people and the music business.

The highlight of what I've heard of the album is Bad Reputations, a song about Gary Glitter and how he "ruined the reputation of the Glitter Band", but it's not so much about the Glitter Band, but more how many people's memories of the whole era have been altered retrospectively, almost wiped away. In a similar way to how The Walton Hop refers to the youth discos of the time, which must have been great back in the day but have now become somewhat tinged.

We also got the Oswald Moseley referencing Mitford Sisters, with John Moore joining on saw, cult favourite The Dead Sea Navigators, Baader Meinhof, Upper Classes, personal favourite The Rubettes, the first airing I've heard of a new track which I presume is called "Freddie Mills is Dead" (Freddie Mills being a boxer and Krays associate), Unsolved Child Murder (always good to dance to!), the title track - Off My Rocker At The Artschool Bop, and the now traditional finale of Future Generations.

A fantastic show from probably my favourite living artist, a lovely venue, and Fosters at £3.00 a pint on draught!

Over-crowded, Over-priced and Over-there (in Camden)

It's been a while since the last post, so I thought I'd come back with a whinge. I'm just back from seeing The Rapture at Koko, what was once known as the Camden Palace - a venue I'd been singing the praises of to Dawn Right Nasty having previously seen both The Polyphonic Spree and Julian Cope there and loved it. Both these previous gigs were sold out so ... why was it so fucking crowded tonight?!?

Perhaps the crowd was just more laid back and spread out for those gigs. Presumably they sell as many tickets as they're allowed which for a club night with people mingling around, stood at the bar, spread around the balconies might be fine - when you're trying to see a band it's a fucking nightmare, and I'm over 6 foot 1 and not normally one to get that bothered by a bit of a crush at gigs.

And £3.90 for a can of fucking Fosters poured into a plastic glass ... you're having a laugh now.

Shame really cos the band sounded really good, up until the point I left just as the encore started. I'd like to see them again ... in a decent fucking venue!!!

Oh Patti

Oops - went the whole of August without an update - there was meant to be a V Festival entry but somehow it never happened, so I'm doing this here and now before Dawn Right Nasty cuts me off.

During last years Meltdown, curated by Patti Smith, the Royal Festival Hall became like a 2nd home and I've missed it during it's closure, however for your more intimate/arty occasion the Queen Elizabeth Hall will do nicely ... especially when it's Patti there. It's always nice to see her, a bit like greeting an old friend.

Tonight was "The Coral Sea Sessions", building on an evening she presented at last years Meltdown which was one of the few we didn't make it to - this time she's performing it for two evenings and recording it for posterity. The first half of the show consisted of songs, mainly new work, accompanied by a pianist, an amazing cellist and later on the unbilled Jason Pierce/J Spaceman, Spiritualized leadman and all round music god and Kevin Shields, who I'll return to later.

Being September 11th, the date couldn't be ignored and she opened with a typical address, listing the numbers killed on "9/11", the number of US servicemen since killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and various unknown figures, such as those suffering long term affects from their time in service and the number of mothers who'd lost children. This was accompanied by some stunning footage shot by an artist whose name escapes me the night of September 11th 2001 ... it was nicely done, point made without over-preaching and within a few minutes it was time to move on.

New songs followed, most of which would generally be classed as political but Patti Smith claims she's not a political person, she just thinks of the human experience and what it's like for those affected. A song about an attack in Lebanon, from the point of view of a mother who pulled her son alive from the rubble, followed by her daughter who had not survived, was followed by a just written number concerning the plight of a Guantanemo Bay prisoner who was released without charge after 4 years of being chained up, the audience being asked to provide the response of "without chains" during the chorus ... it was an angry but uplifting number, "ironic joy" Patti called it.

She also included a personal favourite of mine, Beneath the Southern Cross, alongside a few more tracks and it was of course interspersed by her wonderful rambling, personal, moving anecdotes. Quite often these involve people lost - her husband Fred Sonic Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, on a previous night William Burroughs - and although she has the occasional emotional moment, these stories are always told with such glee and joy, a celebration of the lives lived, you can't help but love her.

The 2nd half consisted of a performance of her elegy for Robert Mapplethorpe, the Coral Sea, accompanied by another god-like genius, the wonderful and somewhat elusive Kevin Shields, formally of My Bloody Valentine and occasional Primal Scream collaborator. I can't pretend to fully understand what all of the piece was about and in particular it's reference to Mapplethorpe but the effect was spellbinding, Patti intoning over Shields hypnotic soundscape, her voice rising to be heard at times over the thunderous drones.



Walking out some people seemed to think Kevin Shields backdrop was an improvised piece, not neccessarily in fitting at times with the words or images, rising at inappropriate moments - I'd disagree strongly, I thought it all fitted together brilliantlly. It was hard to keep concentration for the whole time, but when the climax came you couldn't help be drawn back in and the end effect was very uplifting and life affirming.

And then they went off and the lights came on - people hang around a little while wondering if they'd return for an encore, as no "house music" came on but that was the end for the evening and I think I liked it that way.

Please come back when the Royal Festival Hall re-opens Patti.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream

So, two weeks later than I originally envisaged, to Clapham Common Ben & Jerry's Summer Sundae on, er, Saturday. Following the success of last years event, they decided to repeat it this year, again on a Sunday but the tickets sold out before I spotted them ... and I wouldn't have been too fussed by Jose Gonzalez and The Wonderstuff anyway. But then they added the Saturday with Echo & The Bunnymen, Badly Drawn Boy and the promise of free ice-cream ... for a fiver ... well it would be rude not to.

We arrived just in time to see The Pippettes on stage but I wasn't over-impressed from what I heard from a distance so we headed off for the free ice-cream instead, starting in the far corner next to the Vauxhall City Farm animals, including a pair of ferrets on a lead who seemed very friendly (but I wouldn't want them down my trousers - sharp teeth!). Cherry Garcia and another chocolate-based one with bits of cookie in .. very nice thank-you ... followed not long after by some Apple Pie ice-cream, complete with bits of pastry ... oops, too much too soon, that's enough ice-cream before I start getting giddy ... time for beer.

Having seen the sites - a gorgeous old (or maybe just old looking?) helter-skelter, various eco-friendly stalls, toe-wrestling, coconut shy, chocolate fountain with marshmallows for dipping, various people dressed up in animal suits - we made our way to the music stage where the recently arrived Larrakin Love had caught my ear.

I knew nothing of them - they're from London and were described as 'troubadours' in the promotional material - not a bad description that gives you an idea of what to expect but I was surprised how good they were. The music was a ramshackle mix of guitars, folk, ska, trumpets, fronted by an incredibly energetic (and bendy) lead singer who
pulled the whole thing together. Having got a bit jaded of the music scene of late, it's always good to come across something new and exciting - last time I got this buzz was seeing Art Brut at the Rhythm Factory. I shall be checking out their last couple of singles and hunting for that hard-to-find first EP.



Echo & The Bunnymen looked and sounded great during their set consisting mainly of hits of yore - The Killing Moon, Seven Seas, Bring on the Dancing Horses, The Back of Love, Never Stop and a blistering rendition of The Cutter to finish. Only a slightly plodding Nothing Ever Lasts Forever let them down.

Badly Drawn Boy is one of those artists I've always loved but never got round to seeing. It was a nice enough set and if there'd been someone on after him, I'd probably have come away with a more positive memory, but it did seem a bit of a flat end to proceedings.

Too old to rock'n'roll

An update is overdue so to start with I'm harking back a week or two ... with numerous rock and roll event coming up, for this weekend a more sedate option was chosen - a day trip to the seaside, Whitstable to be precise for the Oyster Festival. It seems strange having this in July when the native season doesn't start 'til September but hey, it's a nice day out in the (thankfully hazy) sunshine.

I don't generally enjoy train journeys but a Sunday paper passed the hour and twenty minutes from Victoria station, through the Medway Towns, out to the coast. Walking down from the station we first hit the harbour which, being the first place that everyone reached when coming from the station and car-parks, was rather crammed, but a few more minutes walk and there was space, fresh air and sea-food opportunities a plenty.

After a pint by the East Quay, we wandered around looking for somewhere suitable for a late lunch. Somehow we'd both forgotten about the original Wheelers Oyster Bar. In fact, we only came across it due to S's hunt for cigarettes (which I'd had a good old moan about until the bright pink edifice appeared). There are only a few tables in the restaurant section at the back and the hand-written list on an A4 sheet of paper was already full at the day, but we were told the same menu was available to eat at the counter - hooray, fine by us!

But the posh menu didn't seem quite right, and instead we opted to 'graze' from the lighter bites menus - devilled herring roes for S, a cracked crab salad for me, devilled whitebait and oysters forestiere (mushrooms, cream, paramasan and what may have been spring onion) to share ... we opted correctly! There was something quite pleasing about sitting their at the counter as people came in for the tub of whelks, or sat down for a quick half dozen rocks (or queued to sit down).

The evening, as evenings often do, ended at the Retro for some beers in convivial company - all very civilised - perhaps it's the way forward.

Look No Strings!

Last week was the sixth time I've seen Eels live, beating near contenders The Pixies and Beck for most seen artist (it might have been Pete Doherty in his various guises if he'd turned up to every show he was meant to). It was an excellent gig, as good as all the previous ones whilst, as ever, keeping it fresh.

The first time I saw him (for 'tis really him, with a constantly evolving band) was at The Dominion Theatre supporting the 'Dasies in the Galaxy album'. It was all very upbeat, big brass band, people dressed up as animals, Santa Claus etc (cf The Flaming Lips). It was here I first learnt their trick which still impresses and amuses me today, which involves doing an encore, a second encore, maybe a third encore and then the house lights come up and the music comes on ... then about five minutes later, they dash back on stage with the lights up to rattle through one or two more tracks, as people dash back in, coats half on. It feels a bit like a treat for the old fans, those in the know.

So the second time at The Forum, I was expecting a show along the same lines. Not at all ... he came on wearing a duffel coat and huge beard, looking like the Unabomber, and spent the whole show hunched over his keyboard. The show was at the time of 'Souljacker' and the mood fitted the album ... even a cover of 'Get Yr Freak On' was scary.

So the third time, at the Royal Festival Hall ('Shootenanny' era), I knew not to expect anything - what we got was a five piece, guitar heavy band dressed in red boiler suits, E starting the show at the back of the hall, winding his way down through the audience with his harmonica.

The fourth and fifth time (RHF and QEH) was flagged Eels with Strings, so for once we had an idea of what was coming - string quartet, guy on double bass and a drummer playing suitcases, a bin and other assorted items (bit like the Tiger Lillies drummer). These shows, captured on the live 'Eels with Strings' albums were sublime, beautifully showcasing the double 'Blinking Lights and Other Revelations' album, but also re-interpreting many old tracks in new ways - something that he does in each show. The shows were preceded by a wonderful 20 minute Eastern European cartoon and a short montage of footage from previous shows, cut with interviews - including a sublime moment when he was being interviewed by an American pop presenter where he espouses, with a totally straight face, the merits of Britney Spears, which culminates in him declaring her probably more important than Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Kurt Cobain combined.

This time? Well it based billed as "No Strings Attached", and I guessed after the last shows it would be a rather louder affair and so it was. A three-piece band, plus a "security guard" who would come out with one liners between tracks (E didn't speak), play the odd bit of percussion (a bell here, some steel there) and, under the direction of Mr E, give high fives or squirt cream into audience members mouths. Blinking Lights being a double album, I've only ever once listened to it straight through and have generally gone straight to the 2nd CD - this show brought out some of the other tracks not covered with strings - 'Mother Mary' really stood out, but I adore 'Railroad Man'.

I feel like an old railroad man
Getting on board at the end of an age
The station's empty and the whistle blows
Things are faster now
And this train is just too slow
And i know i can walk along the tracks
It may take a little longer
But i'll know how to find my way back

Tracks off 'Souljacker' worked particuarly well - 'Souljacker Part I' and 'That's Not Really Funny', the other track people realise they know apart from 'Novacaine for the Soul' when you tell them it's the theme from Monkey Dust (well they know the instrumental bits anyway) ... and you can usually get a reaction if you say 'My Beloved Monster', you know, that one out of Shrek - covered here in Country & Western style. There were also slower more poignant moments, usually accompanied by E on hammond organ. Only one encore this time ... well, and the extra one of course.

At the usual rate of output we should be due another album and visit early next year ... I shall be there.

Floored Genius

Many a time over the past year or so I've come back from a gig buzzing, full of things I wanted to say, thinking I wish I had a blog to post these thoughts while they were so fresh. That was my original inspiritation for setting this thing up. And now the opportunity has arisen. Of course I've had many a beer, so the spelling may be a tad dodgy, some things could possibly read better, it will probably be rambling but so what - the idea is to capture those thoughts while they're fresh, I'm not trying to write for the NME.

Tonight was the first London gig in a while by The Brian Jonestown Massacre - (in)famous from their part in the documentary "Dig!" following the contrasting paths of themselves and the Dandy Warhols, they, under the leadership of the erratic Anton Newcombe, produce a hypnotic blend of garage rock and psychedlia which at times combines to produce something mind-blowing. I'll do a seperate blog on Dig! itself at some point- I saw it on a flight to (or from, I forget) New York and bought it since but haven't rewatched it yet, but for now the gig itself.

In the same way that The Fall IS Mark E Smith (to more or less quote "even if it's me and yer granny on bongos, it's still The Fall ... ok"), The Brian Jonestown Massacre is more or less Anton Newcombe. That said it was good to see Joel on stage. A lazy comparison would be to call him the Bez of the band, but that doesn't do him justice - yes, he just plays tambourine and maraccas during the shows, but at the same time he holds the whole glorious mess together, and has a nice line in banter to boot.

The show was equally brilliant and frustrating. They took a while to get going but when they did it was everything you hoped for and then ... well then Anton spends 5 minutes fucking moaning to his roadie about the tuning of his guitar and any sense of continuity goes. This happens several times. Later on another guitarist has a go at the same roadie and storms off stage, leaving the roadie to play the guitar. Then he comes back but after being berated by Anton leaves again after a few "fuck you"s .. at which point the (excellent) keyboard player takes over on guitar.

At their best they're exillerating, shiver down the spine - totally lost in the music stuff which is what music, live music, at it's best should be about ... if only they could get their act together you feel they could be fucking massive, and then they start playing up ... it's so bloody annoying, but then you think well maybe this is how it's meant to be ... maybe this is how Anton wants it to be. It all comes back to Anton - he's the creative spark - he's the key - and at the same time he's the one who holds it back ... maybe not consciously, maybe not when he's doing it, but he's got to be aware?

But who wants mediocre ... in the same way Stephen refers to art that makes you feel what it's like to be alive, I think the same about music ... I'd rather a band shot for the stars and failed gloriously than plowed that middle of the road furrow. I left about 20 minutes into the last track tonight, it was down to the heroic drummer, Anton and one other guitarist, playing over a cachophony of feedback - it had been that way for 10 minutes or so - I wouldn't be surprised if they were still playing now.

Anton - I salute you!

iFiller

Need to fill this thing up a bit so, shamlessly nicking an idea from Mark Wood's blog, an iQuiz:

How many songs?
9090

Sort by artist
First artist: µ-Ziq
Last artist: Zwan

Sort by song title
First Song: !!!!!!!!!!!! - The Roots
Last Song: Zuton Fever - The Zutons

Sort by time
Shortest Song: 0:06 - Bright Noise - The Art of Noise
Longest Song: 36:30 - Section 10 (A Long Day) - The Polyphonic Spree

Sort by album
First Album: (I Want To) Kill Somebody EP - S*M*A*S*H
Last Album: Zoomer - Schneider TM

Sort by Date Added:
Oldest Song: Godstar (7" mix) - Psychic TV
Newest Song: The Circus is Leaving Town - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

First song that comes up on shuffle
Houses in Motion - Talking Heads

How many songs come up when you search for "sex"?
27

How many songs come up when you search for "death"?
35

How many songs come up when you search for "love"?
267

The Lowest of the Low

Being disorganised, I found myself with a spare Morrissey ticket on the day that I hadn't got round to offering around and, given the late notice, had no takers for. So, of course, I took it to the venue with me to see if I could get anything for it but, not for the first time, decided I'd rather lose the money than sell it to a tout for £10, only for him to sell it on for £50. Bleeding parasites ... they even had the cheek to use the free shuttle bus service from Wood Green tube up to the venue!

I'm hoping the touts didn't do too well out of this one, as the venue released a late allocation of tickets. Ticket touts are one of my least favourite species, but worse still are the new wave of internet touts who bombard the ticket agency websites and phonelines whenever they see something they think they can make a profit on, immediately marking them up to stupid amounts and sticking them on ebay. The stress involved in trying to get tickets for some events now is ridiculous!

Lately, however, an interesting phenomenon has occured, whereby so many people seem to be doing this, you can often find tickets for events on ebay a week or two before the event cheaper than face value due to the sheer amount of people trying to make a fast buck. I'm sure there are plenty of people stuck with Take That tickets after their Wembley gigs were switched to Milton Keynes and a load of tickets got returned.

Thankfully the government and other interested parties are finally getting together to do something about this. They're not talking about banning selling on tickets, but what they are looking at what measures they can take to cut down on the touting. I can't remember all the details I heard (possibly on the BBC London Breakfast Show when I was barely awake) but one initiative they were talking about was making venues take returns like they do at the theatre. I've never understood why venues don't do this - probably cos they don't care - once they've sold the tickets, they're nothing to do with them any more.

I'm sure it won't get rid of the touts, but anything that cuts them down and makes it easier for people to make a fair exchange of unwanted tickets must be a good thing ... as is anything that cuts down on ticket-buying related stress!

G.

At Last I am Born ...

So about 18 months after initially declaring I would enter the world of blogging, it's finally here - the gdpreston manifesto (title chosen with irony and a nod to Luke Haines).

In the intervening time, so many times have I come home buzzing after a gig planning my inaugural blog post ... but then the moment passes and it doesn't enter my thoughts again until the next gig comes around.

But now, on no special occasion, I have arrived and as it's still relatively fresh in my thoughts, I thought the triumphant return of Morrissey didn't deserve to go unmarked.

The first of this years 4 audiences I shall have with Mozza came on Bank Holiday Monday at Ally Pally. People seem to have mixed views on the venue but if you compare it to your larger venues, it wins hands down. At Wembley Arena you can't drink, smoke or smile within the venue; at Earls Court you can drink but have to be prepared to treck half a mile and queue for 3 songs ... at Ally Pally you can be at the bar and back with a load of draft Budweisers in less than a recent album track.

Not that I wanted to miss the recent album tracks, Life is a Pigsty apart, I think the new album is excellent and a big improvement than You Are the Quarry which was 50% filler. People may hark to the old days, but he's in his mid 40's and making music that fits where he is in his life now - it was great to hear Still Ill, Girlfiend in a Coma and How Soon is Now but the new work deserves a decent airing, which it certainly got. I want Morrissey now, not a Morrissey/Smiths tribute act.

Highlights for me, Still Ill aside, were I Will See You in Far Off Places, In the Future When All's Well and At Last I Am Born.

The last time I saw the same act four times in a year was the return of The Pixies in 2004 - two Brixton's, a Forum and V - each one a different experience, each one f'ing excellent - I'm hoping Morrissey's subsequent Palladium and V appearances work out the same way.

Well here I am - at last I am born - vulgarians note.

G.