Update

Just to give you a taster of what is to come; on the 11th November I will be going to the Music in my Head tour in The Hague so expect a bumper review for such bands as Elbow, BRMC, The Departure, Architecture in Helsinki, Clap your Hands say Yeah!, Elle Bandita, Saunawest and sons and daughter.  Also keep a look out for my first art related post later this week.    

Coventry SU:The skid marks on the underpants of the Uni club scene

I fear I may run the risk of being accused of defamation of character but I am not simply picking on a soft target for the sake of being rebellious or outspoken.  While the vast majority of Universities run very successful SU clubs and gig venues, Coventry is really letting the side down, especially to the tune of £4 a time.  I can guarantee I am not alone in this as even the doormen were shocked that a group of lads came from Loughborough uni for a night out.  They were even more startled to find out that these guys had actually been before and chose to return.
The entrance has all the glamour and sophistication of an NHS ward which has failed its government audit and the interior is reminiscent of a derelict aircraft hanger just with more cobwebs and a stickier floor.
While I shall refrain from commenting upon the service or drinks I should simply say that they won’t be winning any quality awards even if they were the only entrant in their category.
I arrived at 11 30 at night and one would expect most clubs to be filled with the sound of high quality dance beats or a track which represented the theme of the evening, I refer of course to themes such as Disco or 60s.  Instead I was met with “the lion sleeps tonight”; don’t get me wrong, it is a great song in itself, especially the Lady Smith version, but it aint what you want to hear in a club.  It certainly wasn’t conducive to dancing but was a positive motivator towards standing around idly and buying beer.  I mean honestly what were they thinking?  Was this George of the Jungle night or colonials and natives?

Perhaps I am being too harsh because you should always give a venue a chance to redeem itself, right?  I’m sorry to say the situation didn’t improve immediately.  The DJ had two chosen methods of cutting between songs.  The first is where he created a huge melee of white noise until the end of the first song had been totally obscured; the audience were left covering their ears (pretty good going in a club) until at last the next track began to take shape out of this cacophony.  The second, and certainly preferable solution was stopping dead one song and switching to the next; this of course being the lesser of two evils.  Anything under 4 seconds was a new DJ speed record.

I would be doing the DJ a great disservice if I didn’t mention that the quality of music and his rudimentary abilities did improve as the evening wore on.  But it was still not without a some what bizarre mix of musical genres.  I believe by following the golden rule of not letting drunk engineering students make requests the whole affair could be immediately improved without expending a penny.    

Playing Feeder "High" 

duet 

solo 

Tenor Sax 

Dear Music fans of the world, Since day one I hav...

Dear Music fans of the world,

Since day one I have loved music and in recent years i have become ever increasingly upset with the trend of music simply manufactured for profit.  Perfect examples include the reality talent(less) shows and the continual stream of production line boy bands.  It is a tradegy that the world over there are wonderfully talented and dedicated musicians who fail to make ends meat but still keep touring and recording simply for the love of it.  

I intend to introduce to you some of the bands and solo artists who I believe are really shaping the world of modern music either in the present day or at any stage in the last 80 years.  If I can suceed in rubbishing some drab and monotone boy bands et al. along the way I shall.
I was brought up on a wide range of music such as Springsteen, Dylan, Van Morrison, Joplin and Mitchell all the way to Lady Smith Black Mambazo, Veirdi and Holst.  To this day I still maintain a vastly ecclectic taste in music covering titles far too numerous to mention but it shall sufice to say that I can find something I can enjoy in any genre of music.

My personal career in music began as a 7 year old clarinetist who wasnt allowed to play the saxophone.  I soon graduated to the musical love of my life, the tenor sax.  Since then I have achieved grade 8 (of 8) and played in and lead a number of district and school level swing and big bands.  For all of those who care I play a French made Selmer Super action 80 from 1982. Most recently I have getting to grips with the guitar and really enjoying performing alot of folk and accoustic songs.  While I was at school I sang with a choir that not only toured Iceland, sung for national TV at the last night of the proms, won a place in the top 16 choirs in the UK and came 5th in the international Eisteddfod in Wales which saw Paverotti made famous.

I have been priveledged enough to attend Reading Festival twice and the North Sea Jazz Festival in both The Hague and Cape Town.  Also I have seen Bob Dylan, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Lady Smith to name but afew big names.

If the fancy takes me I might even be tempted to stray into art aswell during this blog so be warned!

So this is the complete introduction to my blog and I look forward to grilling a shitty act and praising a good one very soon!