... this run in pictures....

It's been awhile since my last post and I have actually been preparing for this one but time hasn't allowed me complete this until now. This is a running post with some photographs thrown in to attempt to show why I love running so much and how it inspires photography or maybe it should be simply how the course inspires the runner.

I joined several of my runs together to create a 10 mile course all within a short distance of Aylesbury. At any time, this course is within 2 miles of the town whereas my previous 10 milers would be 5 miles from town at the furthest point. It is not a run to do in wet conditions as I have run through river water shin deep and it is extremely cold and hard to run through. It has mud passages, tarmac, fields and stony paths, a mixed terrain course that circumvents Aylesbury, taking in a river, canal, lakes, fields and country lanes along with housing estates and a village. In short, it is the best run ever, lacking only in woodland and hills. Unfortunately it is only a Summer run. I was so in love with the course that over 3 runs I took my camera with me. The downside is that the first half of the course was in darkness and I don't run with a tripod so this is the second half of the course, mile 5 and onwards.

Mile 4-5 - There is a choice, through the field or Riverside.

Field

Riverside

Both routes are stunningly beautiful but for very different reasons.

Mile 5 is interesting as it becomes a macro lesson its own right, spider webs galore, dew and frost and various flowers and a pair of swans that make interesting subjects

Mile 6 is through a housing estate but passes 2 lakes first.

Mile 8-9 is a country lane and it was here that I injured my ankle in January. This stretch of road is magical to run down at any time of the day or night. The other weekend I was up and out by 5am, it was crisp and icy and felt like the middle of the night but this stretch of road was surreal and beautiful, it made me remember why I love running so much. The first shot is of hay bales that have been left out in the field to rot. It was a conflicting picture, bright and beautiful sunshine with bales that are steaming and rotting.

Mile 9-10 are down the towpath of the canal. Nearly every run that I do finishes with this final mile and a half stretch because I adore it.

 The warm down walk home is depressing in daylight as the town is not particularly pretty.

So that charts my dream run or around half of it. The other half, run in darkness, is slightly different, it has paths for 3/4 of it with 1/4 of the run being through a small copse of trees and across a field normally full of cows and occasionally a big bull.

I really wanted to capture this run in pictures to show how lucky I am to have such an inspiring and pretty course.

Soundgarden are back.

A belated update on Soundgarden as time has been against me and I actually have more posts that I also wanted to get written but Soundgarden had to be first.
Have I ever doubted them? Well, actually yes. Hyde Park was a welcome return and a solid performance but Soundgarden don't translate as well as they should to a larger audience. I think Chris Cornell is a gentle soul and his friendliness is soft, at odds with the hard edge of Soundgarden but he carries his goodwill like a torch and it translates well in more intimate surroundings, so they came across as aloof at Hyde Park.
Now Shepherds Bush Empire was a whole new page in their history. We wanted it, they wanted it and together it was a night that couldn't fail. I've been on these kind of nights before and they've nearly always failed. It's abit like odds of 1,000,000 to 1 to fail, they always will.....except tonight.
Tonight was special. I had a limited ticket along with everyone else. We had all heard the new album and had all been blown away, Soundgarden were back and as good as they ever were, all they had to do was deliver.
They sauntered on stage and kicked off with a new song, "Been away for too long" and we were off and running. It was hard, intense and uncompromising, a night that took me back 20 years but gave me an older and better band that started looking 20 years younger at about the halfway point. I could see echoes through time, poses that hadn't been thrown in 16 years, notes that hadn't been played in context for even longer and it all felt right.

The crowd were loud, leary and ready for them and the band matched us, beating us around the head with new songs and old songs, "Blackhole Sun" "Rusty Cage" "Incessant Mace" "Outshined" "Rowing" "Worse Dreams", it was amazing. They didn't play "Jesus Christ Pose" a bit of a shock but having seen it at Hyde Park, I was OK with that.
Soundgarden are back. The live show was as good as it will ever be, the musicianship was spot on and solid, the voice was amazing, as usual and in such a small venue they came across and you left with the feeling of camaraderie, we were all in it together.

The new album is brilliant. It isn't immediate but it does grow on you very quickly. I can't stop listening to it and couple that together with the show and it has left me a bit of a mess, evangelising like a teenage boy on his latest fad although this fad is 20 years old. Mind you I am living with an album and two gigs that I never thought I'd see again and my children have witnessed the band of my youth and the real legacy of Seattle, forget Nirvana, it's Hendrix and Soundgarden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMriZomnS2o&feature=relmfu

....getting excited about Soundgarden all over again.

Back in '92, myself, my girlfriend of the time (now my wife) and some friends, saw Soundgarden at the Town and Country Club (now the Forum) in London, on the "Bad Motor Finger" tour. It was just as they were about to break, the gig was sold out and it was a great night.
Chris Cornell became my hero, a real ROCK GOD, he had the looks, the voice and the band, here was someone I could aspire to, except I didn't have any of his attributes. I was never a musician, I was the listener searching for a talent that despite repeated attempts was never a musical talent. I couldn't sing, couldn't write a song and I have since found out that in my home town, I was a bit of a rock god but didn't know it. That is the story of my life...."I didn't know it"... all the various things that I could have done, been or gotten in to trouble for but didn't know it at the time. I guess that means that you miss some of lifes adventures but on a positive note it meant that I was never really an ego, I wasn't the "in crowd" I was just a known face and friend.
As the great listener, I was always picking up on new bands and Soundgarden were one of those bands, probably the only one that I still follow.
16 years since their last album, there are on the verge of releasing a new beast. I have pre-ordered it and because I did that, I was given access to a code that gave me dibs on tickets to see them tonight at Shepherds Bush Empire. There are certain gigs that become legendary for those in the know, Marilyn Manson at Reading in 2001, Iron Maiden at Donnington in '88 and smaller gigs like Iron Maiden performing as Charlotte and the Harlots in a school hall or Pearljam playing at the ULU on the "10" tour. This is a major band, fresh from headlining a festival, playing a tiny venue on the outskirts of London. It is minutely close to being legendary.
The pre-release was open for 2 days to those that had pre-ordered the album and then the tickets would go on general release. I called in first thing and got my 2 ticket allocation at a cost of £40 per ticket. I was expecting £20 but was reminded that that was the cost 20 years ago...the last time I saw them. The tickets were all gone by the close of play that day. I am taking one of the friends that came with me 20 years ago, it seems right and fitting as he also bought the pre-release album but lucked out on the tickets.
So I am in the midst of getting excited about Soundgarden all over again. I must be too old by now surely? The inner child still has those rebellious feelings but I am no longer sure what rebellious is, it became mainstream when I wasn't looking. It is funny how things change but remain the same. I am older, I can see that in the mirror but I am none the wiser. I still listen to the same old stuff but have bolstered it with the music of my Father and of his Father (The Andrews Sisters and the Chordettes have just made it on to my phone). Rather than going forward, my musical taste is in regression to the extent that I am uncertain about Soundgarden releasing a new album, after all, I am still listening to the older albums, why do we need a new one? It was then that it hit me, rebellion is moving backwards not forwards. Listening to easy listening or old time rock and roll is far more rebellious than listening to My Chemical Romance or Paramore. Rock is now mainstream and image wise it can't move anywhere that hasn't already been done so what's left? Let me tell you, Andy Williams and Ella Fitzgerald will be the new rebellion.

PS. Just heard the new Soundgarden album, god it's good to have them back!!

...Kings X have always rocked, I just forgot.

Around 1989 maybe 1990, I saw Kings X at Milton Keynes on the "Gretchen....." tour and it was absolutely incredible. Throughout the years I've always bought their albums and seen them live until around 2 years ago and I almost stopped going to gigs totally.
I hadn't listened to Kings X for a little while. I had certain tracks on my phone but I am busy loading it up with various songs and dug out their "Please come home....Mr Bulbous" CD. I had always considered it one of their weaker albums but on listening to it again I suddenly realise that Kings X have always rocked, I just forgot.
This is what they do best, harmonies, great musicians, can all sing, write great songs and are an awesome live band. This is called "Move me" and they really do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43KfWDaI4wQ

PS. Just found my 2002 album by an Aussie band called Rollerball. If you like your rock with that dirty '70's vibe, this track slays:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoG7xKHlgdI

.....that they are special is beyond doubt.....

I will make this post short and let the pictures do the talking. In a simple few words, I went to see the Red Arrows for the first time since I was a child. This was between Olympics and they were incredible and I found it very moving. It takes 1,500 flight hours and at least one combat tour before a pilot can even consider trying out for the Red Arrows. Two pilots were killed in August and November last year. I was attending the White Horse County Show in Wiltshire, a fraction over a year since the death of "Red 4".
The Red Arrows are a flight of 9 but in commemoration to their fallen comrades, they flew as 7 on this day. In the pictures you will a few shots of them flying with white smoke and the outermost pilots are trailing red smoke in their honour.
Words cannot express my pride in the dedication and skill of these pilots, that they are special is beyond doubt but the fact that they still have the power to take your breath away is incredible, that and the fact that they silenced a 16 year old teenage girl for the duration of their show, a testament to their skill if ever there was one!

Just to answer one question that you will be about to ask: How did you get such close shots?
Well it was like this.................

Yep, they made it too easy for me. On with the show.

 

The Red Arrows, yet another reason to be proud of Britain. I promise not to leave it so long next time.

Car had trouble starting and didn't quit smoking...

I bade farewell to my car last Friday. I am not a car fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, usually going for practical and comfortable cars and my last vehicle was a Vauxhall Zafira. It wasn't fast but it was extremely comfortable and spacious and I adored it.
I had run it into the ground, owning it for close to 10 years and it had some mechanical faults that meant it was beyond economic repair. Mind you at 217,000 miles, it had done its fair share of travelling.
It had been as far North as Aberdeen, on several occasions. Newcastle a couple of times, Cumbria a few more times, North, Mid and South Wales a few times, East Anglia a couple of times, Kent and Sussex region a few times, Somerset and Devon a few times and Dorset numerous times but Car had never been to Cornwall.
I used to visit Cornwall regularly but haven't been down there in 10 years and I found it a little sad that Car had visited so much of the UK with me, it has travelled as far North, East and West of the UK as I ever have been, but not as far South. It has been a good companion, safe and dependable and very easy to drive.
Last Friday I drove Car down to the canal and sat there with a coffee and had a cigar. It was cold but sunny, very fresh feeling, my favourite kind of day. It is stupid to get so attached to a piece of machinery but it is the distance that we had both travelled together, the shared experiences. Getting towed out of a field by a tractor in thick mud, having to pack the tyres with mud and stone when I got stuck in snow, watching the other cars slide down a hill and getting up it first time, driving back from Hebden Bridge with hardly any brakes and metal to metal grating all the way home. Then the more euphoric first views of Cumbria or first trip to Dorset or revisiting childhood memories like Kenilworth Castle and Stonehenge, it becomes more than metal as driving is the ultimate freedom and by default the car becomes an extension of you.
I am now in a faster car that my wife has called Jack, although it being a French car, I am sure it is a Jacques (with a silent "Pah!". It is very pretty and has lots of lights, lots of automated things, 6 gears and white dials. Everyone seems to love it and I can't find fault with it except that it's not Car. Car had trouble starting and didn't quit smoking last year, infact Car woke up to a cloud of black smoke every morning. Car sounded like a tractor and steered like one too. Car had decided that it needed new tyres every 6 weeks and was eagerly waiting for a new steering rack, track rod ends, clutch and many, many engine parts.
This is simply my fond farewell to my favouritest car ever, OV51WBP, bye Car.

Aylesbury celebrated, boy did it celebrate.

Let's backtrack a couple of weeks to the opening of the Paralympics. The spiritual home of the Paralympics is Stoke Mandeville and it was honoured this year with the Olympic flame travelling from Stoke Mandeville to London on the last leg of its journey.
Aylesbury celebrated, boy did it celebrate:

Aylesbury really did itself proud and the turnout was fantastic. I don't often praise anything to do with Aylesbury as many things are just not right but they delivered a night to remember.

...wave upon wave of euphoria as we celebrated a champion.

I have a few updates to do so I am going to work backwards for a few posts, starting with yesterday. Apologies in advance for the uncharacteristic gushiness of this post.
My daughter had her bi-yearly St Thomas's Hospital appointment. As we were both spending the best part of the day in London, I had to take the day off work and she had to miss a day at school, I thought we'd make a day of it. I had a plan:

Can you guess what it is yet?

Yep, it was a sizzling Thursday, fantastic weather and an even better line up of events at the Olympic Park. It was finals all the way and we had three favourite competitors that were looking good for medals, Hannah Cockroft in the 200m to add to her 100m Gold, David Weir in the 800 to add to his 1500m and 5000, Golds and Jonnie Peacock in the 100m.
There are a couple of things that occurred to me over a small space of time. The first is that at some point in the last two weeks I've stopped noticing disabilities and I've started watching athletes. Most of that is down to David Weir. He is a wheelchair racer and has become my hero in a very short space of time. Gutsy and determined this is the man that trains with the cyclists and finishes the London marathon ahead of the runners. 26 miles powered by his arms!
It was the 5000m that did it for me, man and machine made one. A huge barrel chest, massive shoulders and arms and an absolute passion and determination to win, here was a man that was not prepared to lose. He then did it again in the 1500m. It was at this point that I realised I was hooked on the T54 races, I was failing to see a disabled race and watching a race with some incredible athletes, it was a complete shift in perspective and appreciation for what I was seeing.

I realised that with my new found appreciation disabled suddenly seemed like the wrong term as it implies that a level of sympathy is required. Oscar Pistorius had well and truly proved that he needs no sympathy from you or me and had also proved that Blade Runners look very cool, no longer was I looking at an amputee, I was looking at an engineered athlete, the peak of physical and engineering perfection, a man that can perform to the World class levels of able bodied and disabled athletes.

Anyway, enough of my fawning ways, let's talk sport. The Olympic Stadium is fantastic, the helpers are the most friendly of people and I was sitting in the gods without a zoom lens due to my reading of the regulations, sorry, flawed reading of the regulations.
Hannah Cockroft came out to rapturous applause. I really cannot describe to you the level of cheering and tangible raw emotion that accompanied every British athlete. The noise was deafening so I can't imagine how it must have been for the athletes. Hannah was dominating, thrashing the field in the 200m final.

I have never experienced anything like it in my life. The screaming, shouting, cheering, flag waving and the wave upon wave of euphoria as we celebrated a champion.
There were other races and other events, Cerebral Palsy races, Partially sited and Blind races with guides, javelin, discus, it was all going on and to top it off was the medal ceremony for Hannah. The first medal ceremony I have ever been to and it was emotional. The presentation of medals, the national anthem, what more could you want, a British Champion and a sing song.
Late in the evening came the Men's T54 800m. David Weir's third Gold. He was a man that refused to lose, stronger, more powerful and more determined than anyone else. I did take photos of the first lap but then it was too much and I became part of the single minded beast that was willing him to victory.

And to end an almost perfect evening, young Jonnie Peacock, poster boy for these games, showing Britain who he is and running his way into our lives. The crowd were chanting his name, something they haven't done for any other athlete and the look on his face was priceless, the amazement and, well embarrassment. The finish of the race, he had won but didn't know it, we did and it took a minute or so before the result came up.

 

So the night was ended with a double ceremony for David Weir and Jonnie Peacock, 80,000 people raising the rafters in celebration to two great victories and to an event that we may never witness again. I couldn't have been anymore proud of our athletes, the helpers, security and the Olympic Committee that organised one of the greatest evenings of my life.

PS. To the Nations that aren't behind the Paralympics, bear in mind that many of the competitors are wounded soldiers. Show them that you still support them, they are tough and still have a contribution to make to their Country.

...the Olympic spirit really does exist....

So it's over and I am devastated. What am I going to do now? The evenings won't be the same with normal television. The vibrancy, excitement and buzz of the games is over. Normal life resumes and the deep funk that comes from the highs of emotions is upon us.
It has been amazing. I was thinking this morning that we have been intent on calling ourselves English, a reaction to the push and pull of UK life, the devolution of Wales and Scotland and our search to find our national identity outside of the UK but I have spent the last two weeks proud to be British.
Britain is a wonderful ideal and national identity within that framework can only be positive so long as we recognise ourselves as British as well.
So, my highlights now that it is done and dusted, I won't mention every medalist, just the standout occassions. All the rowing team, all of them heroes (Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins).
All the cyclists for amazing performances (Brad Wiggins, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny). The emotional goodbyes to our cycling heroes, Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton. There is the slightest hint that Chris Hoy may be tempted by another Olympics, let us hope!
The World's greatest Olympic sailor, Ben Ainsley, incredible achievements and his fight back to win was beyond belief, a nail biter.
Greg Rutherford in the long jump, unexpected but amazingly welcome, and a local boy to me.
Jess Ennis had so many hopes on her, the pressure must have been crushing. We have seen some of our athletes falter under this pressure but she rose to it and made a nation proud.
Mo Farah was another poster boy and favourite of these Games and he delivered, creating two of the favourite moments for the press and commentators across the UK. A brave and self assured couple of runs. He is running my current distances and I have to say that looking at the times, his titles are safe from me this year.
Tom Daly had a rough ride coming into these games, and he had some scary moments, scraping into the final. He fought hard and produced some phenomenal dives, in any other competition he would have won gold but David Boudia was simply out of this World. There are moments in time when people are invincible, I think David Boudia could not have been beaten on that day by anyone ever, he dominated the final.
Finally for me the Triathlon. The UK had two brothers entered and they came in first and third. What an amazing achievement for that family.

I didn't just watch the UK win, I watched David Rudisha win the 800 metres. What an incredible athlete, such a smooth style of running, effortless, I can see why Seb Coe had been singing his praises.
I watched the men's marathon, a fantastic run by Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda. That was an Olympic moment, an athlete that no-one expected to win, from a nation that hasn't won a medal in 40 years, takes on the Kenyan athletes and wins at their distance. His welcome home must be that of a conquering hero.

I watched large nations crushed by island states, heart and soul poured into tired limbs in that effort for more, proud winners and gracious losers and an effort on the part of the authorities to keep the Olympic spirit alive, punishing cheats and reviewing scores and bouts to ensure that fairness prevails. I saw the curse of the Olympics plague the Brazil football team in the their loss to Mexico and in that match, possibly the finest referee'd match I have ever seen. I saw favourites beaten by younger athletes and experience triumph over youth. In this gladiatorial arena we saw the triumph of hope and spirit. Long may the future hold these keys.
It is amazing that the Olympic spirit really does exist, despite the cyncism and pace of modern life, the Olympic spirit is, I am proud to report, alive and well and living in the UK at this moment in time.
Roll on two weeks until the Paralympics start and I can do this all over again!

Olympics 2012: view from the UK.

I am speechless. As with the rest of the UK, we weren't really behind the Olympics until the opening ceremony took place and, oh boy, the UK is now 100% Olympic mad.

I loved the opening ceremony, it was eccentric, interesting, probably confusing to anyone outside of the UK. I have no idea what the reaction of the rest of the World was to the ceremony but it was amazing in the UK and the reviews are incredible, Danny Boyle did the impossible, he captured us. It was incredible to see the Queen featured, she was wonderful and what a great sport she is.

So we were geared for the medals. Mark Cavendish, a dead cert in the road racing so I settled down on Saturday, cleared my itinerary and spent 5 hours watching a race that made no sense to me at all but was still thrilling. I was devastated for "the Cav" when he didn't get his gold but pleased for the Lizzy Armitstead and her silver that got us off the starting blocks on the medal front.

Day 2, still no gold, Day 3, still no gold. The Sun said, "Wanted: Gold medal, any sport will do". We were getting worried. Our Olympic superstars were failing to deliver....except that Hannah Miley hit the nail on the head, she finished 7th in her swimming final and was pleased. As she pointed out, she was 7th best in the World, up 4 places from last time. 7th best in the World?! That's an incredible achievement, it suddenly puts the results into perspective. Still we were waiting for that elusive gold....and then it came and it was amazing, Heather Stanning and Helen Glover in the Women's Pairs without Coxswain. It was described as a procession rather than a race, UK's first ever women's medal in rowing and our first gold. And the day got better, Bradley Wiggins won gold in the cycling time trials, winning by 43 seconds and in third was Chris Froomes, yet another medal for team GB. In the evening Michael Jamieson won silver in the 200m breaststroke and it was proclaimed, "It took a World record to beat him" and you know what? It did.

Today is more rowing and we have a silver already, the cycling starts this afternoon and we are already banking those medals.....stupidly.

My Olympic moment so far, is Chad Le Clos beating Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps was a gracious loser, a mark of a true man, although I'm not sure I would call silver losing. It was Chad's reaction, genuine and uncontrolled and then his Dad, Burt Le Clos, unbelievable. He was interviewed by the BBC and all we could hear from him in that gruff South African voice, was "Unbelievable" and then "There he is, my beautiful boy, isn't he beautiful!" It was funny, emotional and a truly magical moment. It's probably available on youtube somewhere but those two have endeared themselves to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYa0r43Xn-8

I am not a huge fan of the big underdog syndrome where we welcome the biggest loser as a hero. Big hearted athletes with the competitive spirit that finish the race no matter what, is wonderful. Competitors that have earned the right to sit at the table of champions and compete for that place in the final is wonderful, the wild card that goes to Third World Nation and they enter an athlete that isn't in the same league as a competitor that has put in the years of training either through funding or ability, it seems grossly unfair that we welcome them in minutes after the other competitors and call that the Olympic spirit. This is Olympic spirit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbl6wt8kjJM, watching an athlete saunter home 3 minutes after the rest is embarrassing and patronising. Give them the equipment to train a worthy competitor based on ability and qualification, let them compete with dignity rather than feeding them the crumbs from the winners table. The Olympics is about how you participate and the ability to win the ultimate prize in your chosen field.

We are about to become a nation of keen swimmers and cyclists. The first break in the weather and thousands of beer guts will be squeezing into skimpy speedo's, a nation of aerodynamic whales, displacing huge quantities of water with our racing dives, getting banned en masse from the leisure centres up and down the UK as we run, bomb and splash our way to a week of fitness before ditching it all for fat hugging lycra as we irritate our piles on the razor bladed seats of racing bikes, buckling the paper thin wheels on the lousy roads and bunging up the hospitals with the multitude of scratches, scrapes and broken bones as we try and relive the historic Olympic moments of Wiggins, Pendleton and Hoy. 
However, the general message behind this Olympics is "Be Inspired". And you know what? I am.

2012 is the year of the UK, what an absolute blinder of a year for us and I hope that if you have the chance to visit us, you do, bring a raincoat though.

Hyde Park Calling: Friday 13th

Where to start, well as this post is about Friday, let's begin. I had a call from a friend the night before letting me know that he was also going so we all went together, me, the girls and my friend. We arrived in torrential rain just as the first band hit the stage, Kids in Glass Houses, a band that my kids wanted to see. Off they went, a-runnin' through a field of wood chips and mud towards the stage in the distance. I hate to say it but I really don't remember them, this means they can't have been bad but I did spend half the set tracking down my daughters.
I was a good Dad and kept my girls in sight but didn't stand with them. Next up were Black Stone Cherry, they were the "headbangiest" band of the day. I wasn't familiar with them but it turns out they are a Florida Southern Rock band. I know exactly what that sounds like and they lived up to it. The band were good and a great way to start a mini fest. A special shout out to the drummer, he was fearsome. I've never seen a drummer hit as hard as that, he broke so many sticks it was incredible. The only thing I would say is that the Americans don't get the English way, sunglasses are for sunny days and then only outdoors, shades are not cool indoors, at night or on rainy days, they make you look like an ass. That aside, I enjoyed them: Blackstone Cherry
Next up were Cold Chisel. I knew the name from years ago but nothing by them. It turns out that it was Jimmy Barnes original group. He has a gutsy voice and when you find out they are Aussies, his voice makes sense. Then you find out that they are huge in Australia, bigger than AC/DC and then you hear them.....very light weight and country-ish, very not me. I can't slate them, what they do they do well and the vast contingent of Aussies in the crowd can't be wrong......However, when a 60 odd year old man with a paunch hits the stage in skintight leather pants, I felt it was time to grab some food.
The kids got their T-Shirts and food and decided they wanted to watch Cold Chisel. I know that they wanted to secure a place at the front for the rest of the festival and let them go. I saw some of Turbogeist and they were good and a little bit of Skindred who were also very good but it was Iggy and the Stooges time so back to the mainstage.
I couldn't see my kids so I dropped them a text to find out where they were and to let them know I would find them. I got this response:
Please we having fun you know where we are, don't come over pleeeeeease

I had this sudden flashback to Knebworth 1985, my first festival. My Dad took me and I abandoned him pretty quickly. This was exactly the same and I knew exactly how my kids felt. I let them be, today was their day not mine. I had some concerns but knew roughly where they were.
Iggy took to the stage, all 65 years of him, bare chested looking like a man wearing someone else's skin, bony and caricature-ish. Ron Ashton looked arthritic but played superbly and James Williamson looked distinguished. This was the Stooges, the guys that influenced everything after 1973, Punk and Grunge owe these guys a huge debt and here they were. I am almost at a loss for words. Iggy is a legend and a true rebel, polite and funny and really not giving a sh*t about what you may think of him. He was incredible. The Stooges were tight and can really play. Hell, they kicked off with "Raw Power"
Iggy headed down to the crowd midway through "I wanna be your Dog". I looked at the huge screens eiter side of the stage and my 14 year old daughter was right on the barrier, screaming and reaching for Iggy. I found out later that when he was holding out his hand to the audience, she grabbed it and hung on for dear life. Throughout the set they kept showing the crowd that side and she was always there, screaming and reaching out, a star struck teenager:
Iggy the legend  No, I don't feature on this video.

On to Soundgarden, it amazes me how similar in attitude Iggy and Soundgarden are. They both do what they do on their own terms. What I had forgotten was how heavy Soundgarden are. They don't need to thrash or trash it out, the music is measured and as heavy as it gets, heavier than Maiden, as heavy as Sabbath and Priest. I can not tell you how happy it made me to see them playing again. They were tighter and more accomplished than the kids I saw playing in '92. Chris Cornell's voice was incredible all the way through but I have some bias here as you know but I think this clip shows the range and power of the man: Beyond the Wheel
Now I haven't been to a festival in a good many years and forgot about mosh pits until one opened up around me. It was filled with the idiots that we used to be, guys my age reliving a youth long past. I bet they hurt in the morning. I was shoved around a bit but it was more good natured with just half of them being a*seholes. It did make me a little concerned for my girls though. Two hours worth of Soundgarden, it simply flew by and by the time they finished their encores and the curfew kicked in, it seemed too short, way too short. Still they did promise some new material later this year and a return visit.
So in a nutshell, Hyde Park Calling is brilliant. It is small for a festival, shorter than a full festival and incredible value for money. As I mentioned, I hate festivals but as this was smaller, I enjoyed it more. Sure I got wet from the constant rain and was caked to the knees in mud but it was worth it.
My girls survived it too and both really enjoyed the whole day being undecided whether Iggy or Soundgarden won the day, decided on a tie.
Black Hole Sun

...the x whatever winners become the voice of this degeneration...

As I've gotten older, I've become more insular. I don't go out or socialise, I don't drink or eat takeaways and seldom go to gigs anymore. I used to go to an obscene amount of gigs, following bands from town to town, sleeping rough sometimes and going to work straight from the street but as you get older, the rough and tumble of youth gives way to the need to do things in a more leisurely and refined way. A case in point was seeing Rush with my Dad a few years ago (R30 for those in the know). We went for dinner first at a small Italian restaurant and then on to the concert. I do miss the thrill and sweat of the small club gigs sometimes but where I used to resent seated gigs, I don't have a problem with sitting nowadays and politely applauding after each song.
The other thing that goes is excitement. I used to get excited about gigs but now I have trepidation, it could be a mild case of agoraphobia. I have dreaded gigs for a number of years, I enjoy them once I'm there but the lead up hasn't been fun.

With all of this in mind, tomorrow is Friday 13th, about as unlucky a day as it's possible to have. The weather forecast is rain all day and I am due to stand in a field all day in a huge crowd of people at  a festival. How much worse could it be for me?
However this morning after my run as I climbed into the shower I had "Spoonman" by Soundgarden running through my head and I actually felt the hairs on my arm standup and I laughed....I am finally going to see them again. I saw them in 1992 on the "Badmotor Finger" tour but missed the next tour which means that their big hit, "Blackhole Sun" I have seen Chris Cornell perform solo but never with Soundgarden so tomorrow will be the first. On "Badmotor Finger" the band were in the ascendancy, there was everything left to play for, the next album, "Superunknown" was their White Album, experimental and pulling in different directions, a truly great album, none of which I ever saw Soundgarden perform live. I've seen Chris Cornell do them but to even intimate it is more or less the same thing would be disrespectful to a truly momentous and legendary band that owe more to Black Sabbath than the Grunge scene that they developed from. You already know my thoughts on Chris Cornell and he is simply a fantastic singer and songwriter but Soundgarden completes part of his character, I am thinking of the power, the anger, the venom, the growls and the curdling screams of "Jesus Christ Pose" (fast forward a minute or so to get to the vocal).Laid bare like this, it shows that even without instruments, the song stands up and what a voice.....

To put my relationship with this band in context and segue into my rant, you grow up with the influence of older bands, the music of your parents generation shaping your way. As you get a little older you discover your generations music and your view becomes that of your peers, the music of your age. Guns and Roses and Soundgarden era was my peer generation of music. The shame for me is that the current younger generation still hasn't found its voice. It rehashes the brilliance of yesteryear and is steeped in the dross of reality TV so the x whatever winners become the voice of this degeneration and Glee is the new Fame but without a shred of originality, deconstructing the once brilliant songs of bygone ages, releasing them as substandard karaoke mush that will forever play in lifts and shopping centres.
We had Stock, Aitken and Waterman, the equivalent to Simon Cowell's stable of manufactured pap but they didn't rule in the same way, there was still room for growth and expansion. Pop pap Cowell has stifled the music industry and any creativity or individuality that threatens to rise, couple this with an industry that is afraid to cultivate new talent, what hope does this current generation have? I haven't heard anything new in 10 years, my kids are excited to be going to see a band that split up 16 years ago when they should be excited to be going to see a rock band that I find objectionable and don't understand.
The one saving grace out of all this may be the rise of online music and the ability for people to release songs without the need of a record company. I had this rant a few weeks ago and I mentioned Ginger Wildheart and Pledgemusic. Ginger released his album and made the national press and TV when his album peaked at number 5 in the UK National Chart, outselling Coldplay, Rhianna, Paloma Faith and the other 92 of the top 100.
C'mon kids, start recording and releasing songs, let's have something original and exciting. Don't leave it to the monsters of rock to show you how it should be done. Soundgarden should be relaxing and showing you how it used to be done but instead they are riding in as the saviours of rock, something "new" and different for the kids of today to own and be cool for liking. Soundgarden bucked trends and sold millions of albums as a result and I am sure they will continue to do so but I get angry that it takes a group of middle aged men to create something fresh. Ginger is the same age. Why is it taking older people to show the younger ones that it can be done and it is okay to do it? Do they really need permission? I am trying to address a generation that has more opportunity to pursue their dreams yet they get bogged down in fame for fames sake and all original thought is rinsed from their heads as they toe the line of no talent TV tryouts.
They spend time looking for a gimmick so they can make it when the only gimmick they really need is originality. To hear something new with a spark of fire in it would make my day. I don't even have to like it, infact I would prefer that I don't like it, I want my children to have their musical rebellion without my record collection being involved. I don't want to understand it and I don't want them looking to me for approval. I want them to come home wearing the T-shirt that says "This is it and if you don't like it f**k off because this goes up to 11" because that is effectively what my Dad did to his parents and I did to him (except he is a music lover and understood the rebellion bit).

Music is a huge part of my life, infact my life has a soundtrack, I can play songs that will reflect my life at any time. Jerry Keller "Here comes Summer" charmed the little boy with it's 1950's feelgood way, a feeling that stays with me to this day. Thin Lizzy "Dancing in the Moonlight" for a teenage boy waiting for life to begin, not understanding that it had already started. Guns n Roses "Nightrain", the sound of a weekend of excess all areas, gigs and alcohol, the sound of an immortal young man. Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" reminding me of heartbreak and tough times and so it goes on, songs for moments, songs for passages of time and songs for memories. Just so you can see where I am coming from, this rant isn't the half baked ramblings of an opinionated fool who knows nothing of music and its effects on....OK, it might be, it may also be the ramblings of an old guy that wants to hear something new or possibly it's a rant of an older guy that was listening to Soundgarden in the car on his way to work, excited about an up and coming gig and it suddenly dawned on him that his kids may never have this feeling unless something changes in the music industry. They will never have the history that comes from growing up with bands.
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, U2...all bands that someone has grown up with in some form or another, each of them adding to the rich fabric of music, taking it and twisting it in a new and exciting way. Can you imagine the first listen of "Bohemian Rhapsody"or "Saturday night's alright for fightin"? There aren't many songs that change the face of music and none that I've heard in a few years that have created something new. Muse have brought something new but they've been around for about 10 years, Lady Gaga brings the image but the music is good but not new, Marilyn Manson and NIN brought something new but again, old people.

It pains me greatly to say this but it is time to put my generation in a box marked special memories and lock us away somewhere while the younger generation have their day....make sure that Simon Cowell, Glee and all that crap are also put somewhere, a bonfire appeals.

Rush had keyboards and everything, I wasn't interested.

Music is a very subjective thing. I adore Sarasate, Kreisler, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and many other classical composers. Through my eldest daughter's involvement in Jazz bands, I have been exposed to areas of jazz that I previously have avoided like Django Bates and anything modern but they have proved to be excellent once I gave them a chance.
My enduring love is Rock. For me it started with Elvis and Eddie Cochran. Elvis kind of fell by the wayside for me as his output was patchy. Such a great voice and ultimately such a shame, the man that had it all.....

1968, still the MAN!

1977, a mere 9 years later......









Eddie Cochran is the legend. He died in his prime as a young man and his appeal is timeless. He never goes out of fashion because he was a true talent and innovator. He pioneered studio techniques, was a great guitarist and a superb songwriter and in death we were left with the "what if's?"

.....and he looked cool...

I still listen to his songs and still think that he was the true inspiration for the generations of rock musicians that have existed since. George Harrison became a guitarist after seeing Eddie Cochran. The Sex Pistols covered "Something Else" and the Who, amongst many others, covered "Summertime Blues". Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats is a big fan and has covered many Cochran songs and I would say that his own output shows a positive hint of Eddie Cochran and I mean that in the most complimentary way.

My love of rock extended in to Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, both of whom I still adore. Early AC/DC is unsurpassed in attitude and grit by just about anyone with a few exceptions, Rose Tattoo, Hanoi Rocks and the Angels from Angel City. I suppose that the New York Dolls and Iggy deserve a place there but it was a different kind of understanding, I got the Antipodean (and Finnish) dirt but missed the point of the American sleaze and punk scene.
I took up guitar at somepoint but it wasn't rock music that inspired that, it was Cat Stevens, the Band and John Martyn. I didn't buy an electric guitar, I bought an acoustic. My love of guitar has extended to electric but the acoustic is my preference when I play. I have recently been inspired by Duane Allman, a song called "Little Martha" and some live footage of John Martyn playing "May you never" and some acoustic footage of Stevie Ray Vaughan handing Satriani his a***e on a plate on MTV by playing an acoustic version of "Rude Mood" on a 12 string. Those are the magic moments that are inspirational to a music lover, the moments that make you say "I want to play like that."

This all kind of came about because Classic Rock Magazine are doing a few special issues that include a full magazine dedicated to whoever or whatever band and include their latest offering as part of the package, a month before the official release. I bought Slash's albums this way and last month took delivery of the latest Rush album. I have been a Rush fan since I saw them on the "Signals" tour in 1983. On listening to them I didn't like them, how could I? I was listening to Bon Scott sing about women and booze, Phil Lynott singing about being a Renegade in the gypsy romantic Irish way of his, and here was a band singing about trees and Tom Sawyer.

Bon Scott, the bare chested rock god with a voice akin to gargling with broken glass and the swagger of a guy that wouldn't take any sh*t.







Phil Lynott, a modern day poet, a lover
and a fighter.

 Rush had keyboards and everything, I wasn't interested.



Then I saw them live, my second ever concert and they were incredible. I was in awe and a convert, I understood. I bought all their albums prior to "Signals" and have bought everything since. I have seen them on all subsequent UK tours (apart from the last one) and they have endeared themselves to me and become old friends through their music in the way that only music can.
Not every album has been great but they have been consistent. Oddly though, as they get older the albums have got heavier. The latest album, "Clockwork Angels" is bombastic and big, not quite stripped down but it is certainly a revitalised sounding Rush.
I listened to it for a couple of weeks then put it down. I picked it up again this morning and it sounded absolutely brilliant. It has the signature Rush sound but it is truly a mix of 1970's Rush with 2012's Rush, it has the brilliance and passion mixed with the darkness and heavy guitar and keyboard work that they excel in. As an aside I would recommend Rush as a band to run to, I have a few of their numbers on my ipod and they help when the going gets tough.
This is a band that has made 20+ albums, all have gone platinum yet no-one, apart from the fans, have a clue what they sound like This is a band that has forged a career despite the record companies, no singles and no marketing, I guess this makes them the biggest cult band in the World. They have changed styles, sound and image, been reclusive and appear cold from the outside. A band that wasn't known for its humour but we, the fans knew better, here was a quirky Canadian band and for anyone that knows Canadians, they are a humorous bunch, unlike Americans they get sarcasm and can dish it as well as take it. Rush have a gentle humour. On stage it can be seen in the washing machines and chicken roasting machines that festoon the back line, it can be seen in the insong jokes that crop up or the films that run between some of the songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo4ii38tWzw&feature=related or in a candid video of the three of them having dinner and getting drunker and drunker and just having a very nice time together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfjQ_EF_8U0

If you haven't experienced Rush before, I am pretty certain you won't like them. They are a band you either love or hate, in some ways an acquired taste but once they filter in, they will stay with you. They have, in my opinion, the greatest drummer ever, a percussionist that is always rated in the top 5 drummers ever and in the last poll I saw, missed out on the top spot to Keith Moon and came in ahead of John Bonham, if proof were needed a Drum solo. The other two guys are no slouches either, the bassist is also the keyboard player and singer, often performing all three tasks simultaneously. the guitarist is severely underrated, a creative soloist and superb rhythm player, he may not be Satriani or Vai but his body of work is far superior to them both.
There is a picture somewhere of Brian Warner/Marilyn Manson in a Rush T-shirt, the Manic Street Preachers are huge fans and Chris Cornell did break into a Rush song during an acoustic interlude at an Audioslave gig.
Rush have their share of closet fans as they are a band that no-one volunteers to liking as they are constantly unfashionable and I like that about them. There is nothing they can ever do to appeal to people so they are in the position of being able to make music only for themselves, what an absolute pleasure that is.
Some bands follow and some lead. Rush do neither, they simply are, and they do it very well.

"Summer's going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away."

Time Standstill  Rush (Lyrics by Neil Peart)