Armistice Day - the mud, the blood and the green fields beyond.

The mud, the blood and the green fields beyond is the flag of the Royal Tank Regiment, brown, red and green. Like the RAF, they were a new weapon of WW1 and like the RAF, they were instrumental in ending the War to end all Wars, working closely with the ground troops and creating a line that moved forward beneath a rolling barrage, with the RAF spotting for them, keeping the communications open to a degree that had never been seen before that, decisions were made faster than ever and up to the minute intelligence was on hand for the Generals to make informed decisions that would save lives. It ended trench warfare forever.

Now we can do nothing but reflect on a generation that gave their lives so that we might live, free. It is odd to think that as we look back over 100 years, at the time of World War 1, in 1915, they could look back 100 years to the Battle of Waterloo. How the technology had changed, gone was the thin red line, replaced with the thin brown worm-like lines of the trenches. This was war on an industrial scale, machine guns, long range artillery, tanks, planes, chemical weapons and flamethrowers. A war of Land, Sea and Air. Let's not forget the Royal Navy and the Battle of Jutland, arguably a victory or a defeat but the German Navy never sailed again until they were moved to Scapa Flow.

I went to Greenwich and the Naval Chapel. Before 11am the Last Post was played and then the silence, the remembrance of those that "will never grow old". The chest of the old men and women, laden with medals and some younger, this is not a celebration of War, this is a commemoration for those that gave their lives, those from all the Countries of the Commonwealth, the Anzacs, the Canadians, the Indians and Africans and some Americans that came over early, to fight for the Motherland. My Greatfather served in both World Wars and his sons followed suit in WW2, career soldiers that joined early, my Grandad was in the British Expeditionary Force in WW2, he wasn't evacuated when France fell, they fought their way south and boarded a ship to Africa where they served with the 7th Army and Monty in the deserts of Egypt. He never spoke of it.

That may be the saddest of things, we stand upon the shoulders of giants, people that made this land Great yet it is history to us. Ancient tribes believed that previous generations stayed with them and lived with them, in the spirit realms but we have consigned them, all that knowledge and experience, to a folder that we drag out as a commemoration, to honour our dead.

I went to Weyland's Smithy in the Summer. A long barrow, a burial mound for our ancient people and I couldn't help but think that I was walking in the footsteps of my ancestors. Their bones, long gone but making up the land upon which I stood and my bones would one day mingle with theirs and future generations would walk the same path and someone would wonder, like me, about the nameless people lost in history, that created this most beautiful and rich tapestry of a landscape that I was looking out on. History seems so final, as if death was the final chapter but as the World turns, all that we achieve in life contributes, positively and negatively to those that come after us, our names may be lost in time, but our lives make up the bricks of this Nation.
It's a shame that our commemoration for the people that sacrificed themselves on the fields of the Somme, Ypres, Amiens and the many other battle grounds of the First World War as well as those of Dunkirk, Dieppe, the Atlantic and the skies of Britain and France and those that have died in the Falklands, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, that it is just once a year that we remember them and the ultimate sacrifice they made for us to be able to determine how we will live, as a free thinking and sovereign nation.

Let me finish with my favourite poet, Wilfred Owen, the man that changed the face of writing leading into the last century, the romanticism and naivety was gone and the realism and starkness took over. Beautiful words that housed death and brutality, there was no heroic deaths in the World of Owen and the trenches, just another death. He was killed a week before the Armistice was signed and as the bells peeled throughout the UK to mark the end of the War, his family were being told about the loss of their son. And as with all the lost of WW1, we mark them in every city, town and village across the UK, memorials to the fallen. I always took them for granted until the realisation dawned, the scale of the remembrance and massive loss that every community must have felt. It keeps them alive and with us.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
— Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Are we living in the time of the green fields beyond the mud and the blood? I am not sure that we are...

Trafalgar Tide.

I am not a religious person but I did attend the Chapel at Greenwich on Sunday for their Trafalgar Tide service. As it is the Naval College, all things Sea are within their domain.
As Trafalgar was one of the momentous occasions in the history of the UK, arguably the last time the shores were threatened with invasion (although the Battle of Britain has an equally good claim). It is very likely that had Nelson lost that battle, we would have been fighting the Napoleonic forces on the beaches of Britain.
He faced off against the combined might of France and Spain, 33 ships of the line to Britain's 27 ships of the line.
Prior to the battle, Nelson knew this would be his last stand but insisted on wearing his uniform, marking him as the prime target for sharpshooters.

I shan't go into the details of the battle, that has been written about by people far more knowledgeable than me but sufficed to say, the British didn't lose a ship and captured 22 of the Spanish-Franco ships but they did lose Nelson, a man of indomitable and sometimes rebellious will, reckless and brave and Trafalgar was his epitaph.

He was laid in state in Greenwich Naval College upon his return, so it was moving to know that on the date of the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21st 1805, to the day in 2018, we commemorated his victory and his life.

At that time, France was ruled by Napoleon, a dictator and Spain by it's Monarchy, in contrast, we had our Monarchy but Parliament was the ruling force. It was by no means perfect but as with all democracy, it was a work in progress. Nelson was possibly the first person to use the press to state his brilliance and ensure that he was a man of action when other Naval Captains were sitting at home waiting for a command. He pushed the right buttons to get his way, taking the public with him. He was a great sailor, commander, and, for the times, a reformer of the Navy, his sailors were better treated than most and his innovations in the methods of Naval combat were important to keep the Colonies safe and the Franco-Spanish fleet blockaded, a superior number of ships that didn't want the battle with the British ships, such was their reputation. Bear in mind that this was a time when to breach the defences of Britain, you needed to come across the sea. That elevates the importance of the Navy, at that time, over the other Armed Force, the Army and secures the Battle of Trafalgar as a Battle for the safety of the United Kingdom, in much the same was as the Spanish Armada and Sir Francis Drake had been a few hundred years earlier.

We were blessed to have at that time, some heroic and breathtaking commanders of our Forces, the two most well known being Nelson and the Iron Duke, Wellington. We had many more at the time and since, but none have commanded the devotion of the Nation in the same way. It may just be that the press needed heroes at that time or maybe the other heroes were just more self effacing.

I guess Trafalgar Day may not have the same importance to others, younger people, people of other Nations but falling so close to Armistice Day, it is overshadowed, but it is also a symbol for those that gave their lives for our way of life, for our democracy, to ensure that we had a say in how we lived our lives.

It puts the petty bickering and the shutting down of debate that we are currently going through, to shame.

I hope that on Sunday 11th November, at 11am, when the guns fell silent, that people will remember what the Wars were fought for, for our freedom to have a say in how we live our lives, to respect each other more and to be grateful for the sacrifices of the people, known and unknown, that died so that we might live free of dictatorship and tyranny. Take your good fortune and stop fighting, make your personal space better and by association that will follow on to the next person.

I have no doubt that "smoke" will get in my eyes on 11th November but remembering the sacrifice of Nelson and the epitaph that was built for him, a monument that watches over England, I am proud to be English. A small Island Nation that has always punched above its weight, it has always delivered when needed and has always bred the men (and I have no doubt that in the 21st Century, the women) that lead in times of crisis.

(Recommended reading on Nelson are two wonderful books by John Sugden "Nelson: Dream of Glory" and "Nelson: Sword of Albion".)

Who objects to democracy? Not me.

I had a few options on this next blog, I did consider writing about how much I hate football and this World cup has been engrossing. I could have whinged and whined about too much sunlight and too much heat and how much I long for the olden days when we had rainy summers but the coming visit of the Donald to the UK has rattled my cage.

I have my politics and I am reasonably open about them but I try and keep my nose out of the controversial issues, so if you read this, read it all before hating me.

When Trump ran, I probably would've voted against him, given what was said in the UK press, but the more flak he took and the more I understood that his vote wasn't the upper and privileged classes of America, the more I kept my mouth shut, after all this was an election that wasn't my own, my opinion counts for nothing and if America votes for the Donald, it is their democratic right and who am I to say anything about that? Who objects to democracy? Not me.

When the election results came in, it was a shock to the World, including me but then we had had Brexit relatively shortly before, so not much of a shock. Like Brexit, the privileged few were in tears, they had no clue how any of this could have happened but no-one bothered to step out if their own bubbles and see what was happening in the respective Countries at large. Trump knew exactly what he was doing, he saw Brexit and he saw that it resonated from the bones of the UK, it wasn't a City wide thing, this was a call deep from the heart of the Country so he targeted the heart of America.

People like Sadiq Khan, someone that is meant to represent London, is getting involved in International politics, Trump has absolutely nothing to do with him, why is he so intent on using his platform to air his personal vendetta against Trump? The man should spend his time on knife crime but is strangely absent from our television sets, sending minions out to take the abuse for him...yet he finds time to argue with Donald Trump on twatter.
I am struggling to understand why people are taking to the streets to protest a democratically elected leader of what is meant to be one of our closest allies, his policies at home are nothing to do with us and yet they are trying to make hay out of policies that have zero affect on the UK. If this is humanitarian, where are the protests about the execution of the street children in Brazil or the 795 million people currently starving across the World?

Brexit supporters and Trump supporters are tarred as racists and bigots even though they are the majority. The press is generally biased and simply doubles down, digging faster and more furiously even though it is going the wrong way.
I used to watch the Last leg and I was a great fan of Adam Hills and his team, but comedic shows reflect a metropolitan society, they don't reflect the feeling and mood of British people. They are still harping on about Brexit and Trump. Surely we are at a time when the tears have to stop and these people that are still crying over a vote 2 years ago, when they need to pull together with the rest of us, to heal the divisions rather than feeding them.

Democracy is everything and respecting the will of the majority is what an election is all about, whether it is a referendum or a general election. The votes are cast and we all shut up and get on with our lives, whether we won or lost, the margins are not actually of any consideration, it is black or white, win or lose. We protest wars or policies that we object to but we seem to be living in an age where crying is rewarded rather than just embarrassing. Neymar, the Brazilian football player is a case in point, he spends so much time lying on the pitch that I wonder why he doesn't bring a pillow, and yet he is feted as one of the greatest football players in the world. He's a cry baby and needs to stop crying and put on his big boy pants and grow up. The same goes for all these people that are going to protest Trump, where were you when the Chinese visited or the Saudi Princes came over? Where are you when the troubling cases of FGM and child marriages hit the press? Why aren't you taking to the streets and social media in greater numbers, and protesting the things that directly affect us, our children and protest dictators and minority groups that encourage FGM and child brides?

As I said in an earlier post, I draw my world in around me and care about the things I can deal with. I have no interest in Trump but I do get sick of the irrelevancies that seem to take over people's lives, the lives of the people with the passion to change things but they canon around, directed by whatever media is fashionable and think that protesting democracy will change the World. Do you know what, it will change the World, it will make dictatorships, it is already shutting down free speech, it is already dictating what people are allowed to say and do. We are heading into minority rule and that is an horrific thought, all those wars over the millennia to put us in a place where we have a working democracy that does it's best for all of society and it is being trodden on and abused by the privileged few that think they know best, taking us back several hundred years to a time where a few made the rules for the majority.

I'll probably get hate for this post but I am beyond caring, what is happening frightens me and I wish that the youthful passion of the world changers would put it to a more focused and better use, to benefit all rather than their blinkered view on what they think we all want...the various elections and referendums have already decided that...

The Damned Darkness that spawned the Hollywood Vampires.

It was a night that could've been a very expensive glorified karaoke, a headliner blown away by superb opening acts but instead it delivered 3 different gigs and some poignant moments as well as a new found respect for a band that should live forever.

Let's start at the beginning, this all stemmed from my youngest daughter missing out on the Damned at Koko and, through what has been a tough time for her, I bought her tickets to see the Hollywood Vampires at Wembley, supported by the Damned and the Darkness, to cheer her up. I was fairly ambivalent about it all, viewing the Hollywood Vampires as more of a tribute act and not being a fan of the Darkness, I would've been going to see the Damned and as I now have tickets to see them in November, I wasn't too fussed but Anouska does view gigs as a Daddy/Daughter thing and this one was important to her, she loves the Darkness and is mad about Aerosmith so seeing Joe Perry was a major part of this. I have to admit that I've never seen Alice Cooper so I was interested to see him.

The first issue was seeing that the Damned were coming onstage at 7pm and I work in Buckingham. A generous boss and an extra 15 minutes meant that I was in the gig shortly after the Damned came on stage, missing a minute or so of the first song. They were amazing, easily good enough to headline this place by themselves, Dave Vanian, master of the dark arts, a voice that is a gothic baritone, crooning his way through some of the songs and using the venom and bite of the erstwhile punk that still dwells somewhere within, to bring attitude to the likes of "New Rose", "Neat, Neat, Neat" and "Love Song", songs that couldn't be recreated by any of the new "punk" bands. But the Damned were never just a punk band, from the majesty of "Eloise" to the urgency of "Ignite" and the 50's noir of the last single "Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow", this isn't a band that is standing still, this isn't a tribute act to an age past, this is a revitalised and exciting prospect that confound and surprise. Let's put it this way, my daughter was absolutely amazed by them.

The Darkness are not a band that I have much interest in, I don't like Justin Hawkins' falsetto although I do think he is a very good guitarist. However, more recently, the songs I've heard have been really good, I've really liked the last couple of singles but they are still not a band that I would see through choice..but that was all about to change...
Simply put, they were refreshing, so enthusiastic, a real throwback to 1982 and the excitement of the NWOBHM, they are a classic English rock band, running through a set of killer songs that work so well live. I am a convert, they were fantastic live, funny, rocking and outrageous, I finally got them. The great thing is that I couldn't make a comparison between them and the Damned, it was like I was at 2 separate shows, so totally unrelated.
The Darkness are a good time rock band, they are immense fun to watch and you can't help but smile, they are endearing and, like the Damned, quintessentially English. There is a dearth of headline acts for the big festivals coming up as the older bands will be finished over the next few years and maybe the Darkness need to up their game and get back to the big stages, they are the natural heirs to headline the festival circuit and they will do it fantastically well.

On to the main act and a sold out Wembley had been rocked by the best support acts I have ever seen, the headliners had a show to put on.
The strains of "Bela Lugiosi's Dead" by Bauhaus eerily echoed across a gothic and fog laden stage and then roar of Joe Perry's guitar started the show. It was truly epic, exciting and poignant. Alice Cooper was the ringmaster, the focal point of the show and what a truly dazzling frontman he is, captivating, part Freddie Krueger and part vaudeville, a man of many faces, all of them Alice Cooper, baton twirling, top hat wearing and timeless. Joe Perry looked great and his guitar playing is as loose and natural as ever. Johnny Depp was part Jack Sparrow, a smile here and there, some very good vocal duties and a man all over the stage but Alice Cooper...he was the master of the stage, an actor, a singer, the consummate performer, he was just incredible.

Cooper channeled Jim Morrison as the backdrop showed the Doors and their fallen frontman, various stills to honour the dead. A biting version of "Ace of Spades" sung by the bass player (great voice) and various other Hollywood Vampire songs and each showed the rockstars that we had lost, Lennon, Lemmy, Cornell, Prince, Lynott, Scott, Nilsson, Bonham, Moon, a list that is far too long and it did hit home and I finally understood what the Hollywood Vampires are, they are not a karaoke act, they are a tribute to friends and heroes that have died throughout the years, an act of love and respect. This is a band that has been around as a tribute for a few years and they have a revolving membership, but they were a band that didn't tour, they played shows with whoever showed up but this was taking the show on the road and I really hope that it is a band that continues to release and tour, constantly evolving as members "leave" because I think they are amazing and I love the idea behind it, this is no ego trip, it is an homage and I get it and love it. This is the other band that should be headlining festivals across Europe, who wouldn't want to hear Bowie's "Heroes" played by this band and sung by Johnny Depp and his understated vocal, just as Bowie sang it. Who doesn't want to hear them play "School's Out" to close the show, seguing into "Another Brick in the Wall"? It was brilliantly realised.

This was a genuine event, more than a gig, and with three such great bands together to form this unholy trinity, I would leap at the chance to see this all over again but UK festivals spring to mind, the Hollywood Vampires have the associated rock stars to enable them to headline the festival circuit and because they are such a unique prospect with the band's personnel and the songs they play, they would have a huge appeal. My idea of fun is not standing in a muddy field, it would take a lot for me to do that again but maybe I would for this lot...

I hope that Ginger can overcome his demons...From gigs to depression and back again.

Monday night I went to the Craufurd Arms in Stony Stratford to see Ginger Wildheart touring his "Songs from the Tanglewood" album. This was a mellow, country flavoured album, not to my usual taste and I am not a country fan but the album does have some cracking songs on it and Ginger live, is always a joy to behold.
I'd not been to the Craufurd Arms before and my initial feeling was what a nice bunch of people. I flagged down a random person outside the venue who was kind enough to tell me where the nearest Chinese Takeaway was. Getting back to the venue, the person I had asked was Nathan, Front of House Engineer for the venue and a genuinely nice guy. He is a huge Wildhearts fan and was seriously chuffed to be hosting this gig and entertaining Ginger.
The venue is great, the pub part has a pool table and some "stained glass windows" with some proper rock n toll saints portrayed in them:

As a venue, they were really laid back and pretty chill about what they allowed. I asked if I could take my DSLR in and they said that it should be OK but be prepared that if there were any objections from the band, I would be asked to stop and it was a definite no to using a flash.

Prior to the gig, they had a big screen in the main pub to show the England vs Tunisia game. What a borefest, when a member of staff came round to tell everyone that Ginger would be on 15 mins earlier and I did ask if he could come on earlier than that so we could stop watching the goddawful match.

Anyway, I enjoyed the gig, it is always a pleasure to hear Ginger but he was not in a good place and I am pleased that he is honest with us about how he feels. He is a man with depression and he does the right thing and talks about it, it is all about changing the perception of mental illness, changing the way we don't talk about it or highlight it. Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington are 2 high profile cases where an awareness of mental health might have made a difference, or maybe not, but we'll never know. Ginger is open about his issues but there is still a severe lack of understanding, he tells us how he is feeling and the well intentioned response from the audience is a cheery "We love you Ginger", it is sincere and well meant but it sounds all wrong, if treating mental illness was as simple as telling someone they matter, we'd have cured it by now!
On one level, it would be easy to criticise Ginger for telling us his problems but the reason he has the support he has, is because he is honest, he wears his heart on his sleeve and the "Tanglewood" album is about mental health, so on some days he feels sh*t, I would rather he aired it than bottled it up. This got a bit more serious than anticipated but then I did leave the gig with a more serious head on, he finished the set telling us not be a c**t like him and if we have mental issues, to take the time off and talk with someone.

Anyway, it wasn't the best gig in terms of Ginger's standards, but it was still a great night. I enjoyed the set, it was great to see Jase Edwards from Wolfsbane on guitar (one of Britain's finest, I kid you not) and the songs always make me happy and then drag me down the next day as I start to feel like something is missing in my soul, ask my daughter, she feels that too after a Ginger/Wildhearts gig.

Here are some shots I took with my DSLR:

I hope that Ginger can overcome his demons, he deserves some respite and I hope that other people with these problems will talk to a professional, that is the only way to deal with the mind, speak with someone that understands the various conditions.
I have limited experience with depression, I know what it is and felt it once but it was more like plunged into depression and out again, rather than having depression (cutting out a few family members cured mine). It doesn't mean that I have any idea on how to speak with someone that has depression, I learned more about it last night than in the whole of my life and I have to say that it was jarring to witness but makes me all the more grateful that I don't have mental issues and also more helpless because it is something that I will encounter in my life, through personal experience or friends, and I will have no way of helping the situation.
I have had a couple of friends commit suicide but being younger by many years and in what feels like a different age, we put it down to life's tragedies and not mental illness. Could I have made a difference? I think on one of them I could have stopped it if I'd recognised the signs, I knew there was a problem and suicide did cross my mind but I put it down to a stupid thought. Unfortunately a mere few hours later it was real, but we all have those stories, even my eldest daughter has been through it a few times and I can't help but feel I am just now sitting in the sunlight blinking and wondering why all of a sudden I can see and why aren't we addressing these issues? How odd that a gig seems to have taken the blinkers off issues of mental health for me.

Despite how this all sounds, Ginger is a great live act, he has written and continues to write some great music and it is simply criminal that he isn't a huge star. He is definitely one of the hardest working people in music as this current tour adds extra dates everyday and it will overlap with the Wildheart shows over the next few months or so.See how schizophrenic this blog is? From gigs to depression and back again.

Here is some live footage from an instore performance: Daylight Hotel

And a video from an earlier album: If You Find Yourself In London Town

Greta Van Fleet- the new Messiah's of Rock or just very naughty boys?

Was it the hottest ticket in town? I suspect it might have been. The Electric Ballroom in Camden was sold out, I have never seen it so packed. It was a hot sweaty box of all ages, old and young, all to see some jumped up youngsters of 21 and under, play like Led Zep, or so the comparisons go.

It is an interesting night, the comparisons are close in some ways and off in others. I found them somewhere between led Zep and the Black Crowes and somewhere between contrived and exciting. They came on to an audience that knew the words to all 8 of their songs and an audience that hung off every note, they really couldn't have failed tonight if they'd come on playing ukeleles and reciting George Formby songs, so worshipful was their church.
My initial reaction was that they were contrived and I started to point it out to my friend who didn't wholly agree when the guitarist started to play his guitar behind his head...my point was proved...for now.

They had all the moves of Led Zep, a singer that could hit the same notes but lacked the conviction that Plant put into his notes, he had all the same moves but it felt rehearsed, like someone had watched "The Song Remains the Same" too many times. As the night wore on, they loosened up and my misgivings seemed to fade into the night. There were so not so great moments when the set seemed to drag a bit but many more moments of excitement. For all my whining, I had many moments when it felt like I might be witnessing the new Kings of the Rock, they found their groove and they could do anything but they need time and more songs. Live they were great and my youngest daughter would love them to bits. I am sure that the album due early next year will be spectacular and I can honestly say that they way they ended their set was amazing, as they played the last song, they segued into the opening number, not something I've ever seen before and a really nice touch that just shows how well rehearsed they are. The encores were excellent and showed an audience in great voice.

I have my misgivings but that is something that time, experience and an albums worth of material on top of the two EP's that they currently have, will fix.

Are they the new Messiah's of Rock? I really don't know and I think it is too early to tell but they are definitely what the kids of today need, something of their age that mixes the old into the new. I shall probably never see them live again, not because I didn't like them but because they should be the band for the kids and I will donate my ticket to someone of the right age, someone that can do the band justice, not an old fogey that will pick holes in them because they are mimicking the old school when they are probably exactly what rock needs right now. That is probably the truth, I am too old for them!

We cling to each other because it makes us feel like we not alone...

I, like 18 million other Britons, watched the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan. Being a recently lapsed Royalist, it did bring on that warm and fuzzy feeling that the Royal family gives.

Bizarrely, there was an article, late last week, detailing how the death of the Queen would affect this Country and how devastating it would be, economically and emotionally. It did get me thinking, she has been Head of State, the Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth, for longer than I have been alive. I have only ever sung "God Save the Queen" and I am not sure how I will cope once the inevitable does happen.

This does tie in with some thoughts I had about events during the Wedding and my own personal, reflective thoughts.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful but I did get very sick of people making some big deal about a woman of mixed heritage, marrying into the Royal family. It strikes me that she is a woman that a Prince fell in love with and to view it any other way, to bring in colour or ethnicity, is simply making this about something it is not, people getting married because they love each other has nothing to do with colour or race.
Surely in 2018, we just accept someone and move on, that is what equality is, bringing up anything else makes an issue out of a totally irrelevant "point".

I did listen hard to the words of the American Preacher and whilst his sentiments were good, I found myself disagreeing with his central tenet about love and love being a collective thing because I see love as a very personal thing.
No two people feel the same types of love, there are similarities but love is an individual thing. As an example, those of us that married for love, we know how we felt, looking at Harry's face during the Wedding on Saturday, I knew how I felt at that time, it was probably very similar to way he felt, I could see it in his face, but all I am doing is cutting and pasting how I felt, on top of his feelings, it's all any of us can do.
We all feel love differently, it is not a collective feeling, it is a unique feeling generalised to the collective in the word "love".


So, the collective love of other people, of other Nations, of other Religions, how can you love something or someone that you really have no opinion of? We can't truly love people we don't know, we can't force ourselves to love. We can force ourselves to be more tolerant but that doesn't really have the same ring as the Christian value of loving your neighbour. Be friendly to your neighbour, like your neighbour, tolerate your neighbour, none of those have the same ring to them, but for those of us that think literally, to tell me to love something is a step too far, something that I can't do, an impossibility, besides, love can never cure the ills of the World, love has started more wars than it has ended, love of power, property, even the love of a woman, if the tale of Troy is correct. Even in the Bible, love lays a strong man down, it did to Adam, Samson and King David. I am not sure when love ever ended a war, usually someone is too beaten to continue, too much blood has been shed or an intervention by a stronger military power stops it.

The vast majority of the UK is Royalist and I am sure we will all mourn deeply when the day comes and maybe that is a collective love, the deep rooted ache to the very core that I get at certain times, Armistice Day, when I see the Red Arrows or the BBMF, certain days when I am at one with the Country, to feel how deep my roots are, to feel the ancestors beneath my feet, to know that we are a part of a very unique group of peoples with a recorded history of thousands of years, a nation of stone circles and mysticism, of leylines and magick, of culture appropriation and cultural absorption and I feel that deep rooted ache but is that love or pride or both? I suspect both and expect that many people also feel similar, but I am not sure how I would know.It is not that feeling of love that I have for my family, it is something in my bones, not in my heart, a part of what I am, is that love?

The reality is that love is a lonely road, you only think that you share it but you never do because your love is different to the love your spouse feels, your feelings don't match or mirror because we are all different, all unique, all individuals muddling through a World of confusion, trying to make sense out of chaos. We cling to each other because it makes us feel like we not alone but we are.
I know that love is real but it is a term that we flout around, much like the words genius or hate. I love cheesecake, I love my valve amp, I love my guitars, I love ice cream. We overuse and devalue words until they become a hollow meaning, you say love and can almost hear the echo, where the value of love used to be.

Nowadays we "love" so much but care so little. We are all desensitized to feeling anything regarding the state of humanity, too overloaded with spam emails telling us that we can sign a petition and fix the World, that £3 a month will save a life, provide water, provide education, stop abuse, delete as applicable. We are weary of social media, of the email abuse, of being told what to think, of the bleeding liberal biased new reports. And then someone tells me that the World would be a better place if I loved more...

What should I love more? Who and why? Is it an ideal? If so, what is the ideal. An impassioned plea for 14 minutes just makes me question what you are asking me to do. You want more love in the World but you can't begin to tell me how to make that happen. I can't feel love for a stranger, not even a twinge of affection, indifference maybe but then I keep getting told that a signature or donation will fix things and I have reached the point of f**k it, I don't care, I am too stretched and pulled by people wanting a piece of my goodwill or finances to care.
I feel my world becoming smaller as I draw in the things that I love and consolidate my position of indifference. This is what happens when empathy reaches extinction point, it dissipates, no big bang, just a feeling of resignation, this is how the World is and it's no different to how it was 30 years ago, nothing has changed, we are all still praying for peace but are really more concerned with our own little corner of the World, too cynical to care anymore.

How did I get from a Royal Wedding to this? With a great deal of romanticism, cynicism and a soupçon of suspicion of religion.

I would say just one nice thing though, draw those you love in close, you may be alone but loving is never a lonely thing to do, infact it is the only thing to do, just keep the scale small and you will be able to look after the things that really matter to you. Your heart can never be big enough to care for everything,just care for those you love and the World is a better place for having you in it.

...here we are, a year to the day since the death of Chris Cornell.

It's been a year and I am still stuck for words. I've not been able to listen to any of his music until the last month or so but here we are, a year to the day since the death of Chris Cornell.

Whilst everyone else was getting off on Nirvana, I was listening to Soundgarden, the slow, heavy intensity of "Badmotor Finger" still one of my favourite albums of all time.

This is the year I first saw them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0s1g9L6FgU

This is from Hyde Park Calling just after they reformed, I was there with both my daughters, amazing to see them as it was something I never thought I'd see again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkGHMdqDMW4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-yvE3MJjeo
This song, despite being called "Like Suicide", isn't about suicide...so don't judge me, I just love the song.

I have already been reaching out to my other friends that will be feeling today, making suggestions as to what needs to go on the playlist. If this is the biggest hurt that I have today then I am living a privileged life, I am thankful for many things, including Chris Cornell and his music.

Long live the greatest voice in rock

Lunchtime drinking and return of the LA scene...Love Hate.

I made drunken plans. Alcohol is not the best way to make decisions, that is a statement of fact, but sometimes these plans can work out.
Friday was one such occasion. I did imbibe a few alcoholic beverages with some good friends and talked myself into going to a gig that one of them mentioned, that was taking place on Sunday. Please bear in mind that gigs are horrifically expensive things for me, it's always 2 or 3 tickets (myself, my youngest daughter, sometime my wife), my daughter always wants a T-shirt, food and drinks, plus travel costs, so a gig usually costs me in excess of £150. I have been going to around 2 gigs a month this year...ouch!
I had planned to do nothing on Sunday, it was to a recovery day but I ended up on the 8 O'clock train to London. I ended up sitting through the Church service at the Chapel in Greenwich and then I ended up taking my youngest up to Camden for lunch. We went again, to the Temple of Seitan. As I joked with my daughters, they may well eat and drink the body of Christ in Chapel but in Greenwich we eat Seitan. I laughed, they didn't.
I had their cheeseburger with bacon and we split a large chips and gravy. The burger was OK but I do prefer their Spicy Temple Burger. The large portion of chips was enough for 3 people and they were delicious. Again, the Temple of Seitan never ceases to amaze me, the food is great (despite my burger review - it was still very good) and it is such a find for vegetarians/vegans and GF folk. If you fit into those categories, go and try the Temple of Seitan, it is the future of animal free fast food.

I had an unexpected call from one of the 2 friends that was coming to the gig and he'd arrived early. We met and he took us to the Devonshire Arms, a dingy pub that is festooned with skulls and rock posters and the inviting motif above the door, "Come to the Sabbath" with a a horned rams skull beneath it. Here is the bar:

It had Trooper on tap so all was not lost to those that entered. The music was pretty death metal but they allow the patrons to request tracks and Anouska went to town.
We had a fantastic afternoon, drinking and chatting, Anouska winding up my wife by telling her that my friend Darren had dragged me to the toilets to be sick as I'd drunk to much and watching the panicked reply. Anouska thinks this might become her new local. We met a fellow Wildhearts fan, Paul, a Geordie living in London, close to my age, and he too, saw the Wildhearts and left early, missing Reef, agreeing that it felt like the end of the night. Anouska socialised and made some friends, and late last night was messaging some of them on social media and they told her she had friends there if she wanted it.
We had such a nice time that we agreed that we would do something like this regularly, take a day once a month or so and find a pub we don't know and go for a lunchtime drink.

We met my other friend Rai and Elizabeth a bit later and went for a drink in the World's End and was served by a really miserable barman. I have no idea why some people go into customer facing jobs, if you can't keep your bad attitude hidden, go and find another job.

On to the Underworld, the venue for the night, and despite it being a venue that many bands have played, it is not somewhere I had been before. I wasn't a fan, the sound was pretty poor and it wasn't a great venue. However, Love Hate were from the 80's LA scene that spawned Guns n Roses and are pretty much the last man standing (although Love Hate only have 1 original member now). They tour quite regularly and I always um and ah about whether to go and when I do go, I am always blown away at the numbr of good songs they have that I have forgotten and last night was no exception.
Jizzy Pearl was always an exceptional frontman, he always had the appearance of good times but he is a clever man and a brilliant writer. He documented the rise and fall of Love Hate in a blog and it was engaging, funny, sad but never bitter but I believe he took it down and possibly released it as a book that is now out of print.
Anyway, he was promoting a new album and the 2 songs he played off it were brilliant. The rest of the set was made up of Love Hate classics including the incomparable and dumb "Why do you think they call it dope" a genius song that is as catchy now as it always was and is an absolute scorcher of a song live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6odiltGGz_Q

It was a spur of the moment gig, following on from a really good Sunday afternoon, glorious sunshine, great company and it felt like we were entertained by an old friend in the evening. Some days are just meant to be.

A weekend of 2 halves Pt2 - The vegan walk and the Wildhearts!

So on to Sunday. A late night followed by an early morning and catching a train at 7am to see both daughters at the Chapel in Greenwich.
Breakfast at Honest Burger is always a pleasure, crushed avocado and garlic mushrooms on toast, all sprinkled with a touch of chilli and some greenery and a very nice cup of tea. Elizabeth had the GF option, the same but on GF buns.

After Chapel, Anouska and I headed to Kings Cross and from there walked across to join the Canal, heading left. It was a glorious sunny day and we were both hungry. I had promised to take her to the Temple of Seitan to try the GF vegan options they have and then go on to Camden so she could try the cheesy chips from Young Vegans.
We had visited the Temple of Seitan the weekend before but it had been closed due to technical problems, on this fine day, it was open. Situated almost on the Canal, right in the middle of nowhere in particular, it is 10 minutes outside of Camden. I had the Spicy Temple Burger and it is fast food for vegans, a take on KFC and delicious in it's junkiness. Anouska had the option of 4 types of wings or a wrap and she opted for Buffalo wings with gravy that actually tasted like beef gravy, it was scarily close. She absolutely adored it and is planning on paying them another visit on her birthday, with some other GF friends.
Here is my burger:

This burger has the right amount of bite to it and is just tasty. I do like my junk food and to be able to have such an excellent meat alternative, it is worth a trip to London just for this.

From the Temple of Seitan, we continued down the Canal  and walked the 20 mins into Camden where we had another meal at Young Vegans. Last week I tried their seitan and ale pie and their cheesy chips and was impressed enough that I wanted Anouska to try their cheesy chips. They have a cheesy style sauce that is simply delicious. This time around I decided to try a Cheeseburger Pie:

We started to walk the 2 1/2 miles back to Marylebone, down the Canal and it is a beautiful walk. It was reasonably busy with people but not crowded. The water side thoroughfare is scenic and so far removed from the busy streets of the Capital that you could be anywhere, it feels a world away.

Our intention had been to walk down to Little Venice and visit the Cafe by the Water, a misnomer as it is actually a barge on the water. Unfortunately there was some kind of festival going on and it was jam packed with people but I do recommend that Cafe on the Water, it has a lovely atmosphere and after the long walk, it serves nicely chilled drinks and a good cup of tea.

Then it was across to Hammersmith and the Wildhearts. This was actually a triple header with 3 headline acts, Terrorvision, the Wildhearts and Reef. I was never a huge fan of Terrorvision but they did a stirling job.

The Wildhearts were on next and they meant business. The usual banter was kept to an absolute minimum and the performance was razor sharp, ferocious, vocal and tighter than I think I've ever seen them play. They were totally on form and ruled the Odeon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Amu48O1TqA&index=2&list=PLsuX5oMLdlXsZtdjUgMZfC1hkQLehdcyP

It was great to see Danny back on bass so this was the original Wildhearts in all their glory. I did want to see Reef and I owe them a huge apology but after the Wildhearts, it just felt like home time, as if the show had finished, so we went home. I have never felt like that before and Anouska felt the same, no arguments, it was simply time to go home.

All I can say is what an amazing weekend and roll on July so I can see the Wildhearts again and then again in December.

I am also looking forward to the Hollywood Vampires, Myles Kennedy, The Damned, Killing Joke, Rose Tattoo and Greta Van Fleet...

A weekend of 2 halves Pt1 - Thanks Tony

So it was a bank holiday weekend and I over booked myself. The weather forecast was amazing so I had a list of jobs to do. My brother in law and his family were due at my in-laws for a barbecue and I had arranged to meet my friend Graham and watch the Bellew/Haye fight together.

I headed into town first thing and on the way stopped at the Bookmakers and cashed in the bet I made on George Groves when he humiliated and embarrassed Eubanks Jnr, another fight where the obvious was ignored and the favourite was the man who hadn't fought anyone of quality, was smaller, had even turned down a World title shot after calling out the champion, but hey, who am I to argue if it means I get better odds on an obvious bet. My £10 stake netted me a total of £23.75 and I put the whole lot on Tony Bellew to beat David Haye. Bellew beat Haye a year ago and still wasn't the favourite.
I spent much of the day doing chores and the temperature was on the rise until I was a melting mess. It was perfect for the barbecue and I took along some "Pulled Oumph" and the kebab variant. It is vegan and gluten free and tastes amazing off the barbecue:

The kebab one works so well as a kebab, it isn't the same but it is close enough that stuffed into pitta bread with lettuce, coleslaw and chilli sauce makes for a very satisfying eat.

So my friend Graham came over and I had beer chilling in the fridge (Trooper beer...of course)

Before the fight started, as I was going to see the Wildhearts with my wife and my youngest the following day, and as this wasn't an event that my eldest would be interested in, I promised her my betting slip if Bellew won.
I joked with Graham that Haye would injure himself getting in the ring, so injury prone has he been

Rounds 1 and 2 were close, Bellew had come into the fight looking more like a big super middleweight, obviously he was conditioned for speed where Haye was far bulkier. I thought Haye looked a little ponderous and whilst he did catch Bellew with a cracker of a shot, Bellew took it well. Round 3 started and Haye started to unravel. Bellew was the lighter and faster man and retained the power in his right hand. Haye was put on the canvas and looked in pain (I thought he'd damaged his ankle again) and he managed to finish the round but the writing was writ clear, time was not on his side. He survived round 4 but come round 5, Bellew put him on the canvas again and despite managing to get up, the ref stepped in to stop it.
David Haye showed tremendous heart but he also showed signs of age, his body couldn't match the speed of Tony Bellew where once he could have. It didn't help that Tony Bellew read this fight 100% correctly, he showed great ring IQ and ability. I wouldn't write him off against anyone bar the elite heavyweights.
It looks like my eldest daughter gains around £60 from this and my betting record is 100% after 3 fights. Maybe I need to retire undefeated?

The Damned and the Temperance Movement...Well I'll be Damned, two awesome nights.

Last month I saw the Damned at the Koko and didn't write a review on it. Things have gotten hellishly hectic so I've not had the time to really write anything and as I am going to another event tonight, where the Damned will be performing, I wanted to get my review in first.
This is actually a double review because I also saw the Temperance Movement a few weeks ago and they are worthy of some serious praise, but first, on to the legendary Punksters, the Damned.

How the hell can they look so youthful and healthy? These are men in their 60's and they looked incredible. Captain looks the same as he did performing on "Top of the Pops" and Dave Vanian must surely be a vampire.
On to the show, to put it simply, they were on blistering form, the Koko suited them as a venue, an old theatre that has been renovated to it's former glory, all reds and golds and small and intimate to a band as seasoned as the Damned. They were magnificent, no signs of age or slowing down and they seem to have found a balance between what they were at the start, what they became and what they are now. The new tracks were prime Damned, having a 50's feel to them, kind of David Lynch but with a modern feel. I felt so bad that my daughter couldn't make it, I got her tickets to see them supporting the Hollywood Vampires. I wouldn't take them out as a support, they are far too good and the relationship between the Vanian and Sensible, is on top form, joking with each other and the banter is unrehearsed and funny, very much like Morcambe and Wise. Were there any highlights above the whole set? It's impossible to pick out particular songs from a band that has a history of 40 years worth of music, they were prolific and on the whole, excellent songwriters. OK, at a push, I was always a sucker for "Ignite", "Anti Pope", "Smash it up", "Eloise", "Dozen Girls", "Neat Neat Neat" and the newish single "Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow" but I only pick those few at a push...

I strongly recommend that you see this band while you can, I have seen them a few times but not recently and they have never let me down, they always put on a good show and their songs are not what you expect, they moved well beyond the limitations of punk early on and have written some all time classic songs.

Anti Pope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc_McPqw15c

Dozen Girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7HjCbTZUIw

Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad6ENngpqGc

On to something newer but equally as timeless. I have been aware of the Temperance Movement for a few years but haven't fully invested in them. For some unknown reason, they announced a tour and I bought tickets for myself, my wife and my youngest daughter, I just thought they would be good live. I loved the title track off their second album, "White Bear" and the single "Midnight Black" and the single off their last album, "Built-in Forgetter". They were brilliant, old school 70's rock with a modern feel and twist and lots of energy. The crowd were dancing, not something I am used to seeing at the gigs I go to and the performance was worthy of a headline act at any festival. There were hints throughout the set of what they will become, brief moments of absolute electricity and when they learn how to harness that, they will be extremely special live, beyond the excellent that I saw.

My daughter had an amazing time and my wife drew the comparison with Thunder, another top live band that plays that 70's vibe rock music and they also have a great singer. I didn't mention the singer, Phil Campbell, a powerhouse voice that is one of the best live voices I've heard (alongside Dave Vanian) in a while. He has the grunt and guts of Joe Cocker and can turn it on it's head in an instant and conjure up a ballad that made one man wave his lighter in the air, how we laughed at the throw back to another era, smokers eh? This band have some serious songs and it all comes to life onstage, they may be a relatively new band but the members have been around the block and the professionalism shows, they know how to meter a show and they definitely know how to rock out. Support this band, they deserve to be massive and you will be doing yourself a favour. I would say they are for fans of the Black Crowes, Thunder and that 70's vibe of Bad Company/Free with some soul thrown in and an alternative feel.

A Pleasant Peace I Feel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw9iV4gHX00

A Deeper Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XpHDXqWEhU

Anyway, the reason I had to rush this post in is because tonight I am going to this:

It’s 8 MASSIVE ACTS PERFORMING LIVE! Rock’n’roll icon Shakin’ Stevens makes a rare appearance! Members of The Damned will be playIng live with our all-star band The Vive Le Rockers and will also pick up their Band Of The Year award! UK SUBS legend Sir CHARLIE HARPER will give us another kind of blues, Hanoi Rocks supremo Michael Monroe will rip the roof off, Ginger Wildheart will play a special set, TV Smith will open the show and… just what will The Professionals play??? Wait n’ see….!!!

The Damned, Ginger, Michael Monroe and Shakin' Stevens...bizarre and my kind of night!

...what 3 rock songs would be the greatest ever?

I was watching a YouTube video of Dave Grohl waxing lyrical about the first time he heard Soundgarden's "Blackhole Sun". He bumped into Chris Cornell who asked him and the other members of Nirvana if they wanted to hear their new record. He said that on first listen it was a gamechanger, it incorporated Beatleseque harmonies, a more mellow and surreal feel and he could see that they had written a perfect song, the song that would make them huge.

It got me thinking about the greatest rock songs of all time, in a list of 3, from any decade, what 3 rock songs would be the greatest ever?

Now I am 4 days into this question and I am struggling to even define the question. Is this a purely personal choice based upon what I like or is it to with what constitutes a classic rock track or what is influential or a mix of all 3? 

I put the question to some friends and there responses were varied, one came back with "Teenage Dirtbag", I suspect he was joking. Another was in the US and was stranded as he'd run out of "gas", whatever that is and his selection was eclectic.

Another came back with:

David Bowie - "Life on Mars"

Jane's Addiction - "Ted Just Admit It"

Alice in Chains - "Would"

Another selected:

Queen - "Brighton Rock"

The Who - "Baba O' Riley"

Led Zep - "Whole Lotta Love"

And I still can't even define the question!

So, another friend suggested top 3 rock tracks from the 70's, 80's and 90's and then see if that narrows down to the personal greatest 3 tracks ever, selecting one from each decade, plus a wildcard.

One came back with:

70's

Queen - "Brighton Rock"

The Who - "Baba O' Riley"

Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"

80's

Faith No More - "Epic"

Guns 'n' Roses - "Paradise City"

Jane's Addiction - "Ted Just Admit It"

90's

Motherlove Bone - "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns"

Pearljam - "Alive"

Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the Name of"

Another:

70's

T-Rex - "20th Century Boy"

Led Zep - "Black Dog"

David Bowie - "Life on Mars"

80's

Guns 'n' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"

Metallica - "Battery"

Jane's Addiction - "Ted Just Admit It"

90's

Alice in Chains - "Would"

Soundgarden - "Fell on Black Days"

Stone Temple Pilots - "Crackerman"

I'm struggling with this because it genuinely isn't what's on the list, it's what is left off. Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Freebird" or "Sweet Home Alabama" deserve to be on any list of rock's greatest songs but then so does T-Rex "Get It On" or "Children of the Revolution" or Slade or the Sweet or Iggy Pop or the Stooges or the Damned or the Sex Pistols, all of these bands and many more that I love and adore (Thin Lizzy, UFO and Judas Priest!) all deserve to be on the list. I had to make the list based on merits and I based it upon songs that I love, bands that should be included because of what they are and what they achieved.

So, 4 days of thinks and I've managed the first 3 names for the 70's list:

David Bowie - "Rebel Rebel"

AC/DC - "Down Payment Blues"

Black Sabbath - "Spiral City Architect"

Bowie was a given, he was glam, that song is riffy and I remember it as a child growing up, I loved it then and love it now and my daughter's both love that song. And it's Bowie...

AC/DC influenced the sleazier side of rock n roll, arguably there would be no Guns 'n' Roses without them (Aerosmith deserve joint credit for them as well). They were the dirt under the fingernails, the boys that kept it real and they are solely responsible for Aussie rock, something that just keeps giving the World seriously kickass rock bands. "Down Payment Blues" is their finest moment, riffs, humour, life on the wrong side, it is raw like an open wound and whilst I would say that it is more serious than AC/DC usually are, it is a monster song off an underrated album.

Black Sabbath were a tough one to not include because they are the start of heavy metal. They were the beginnings of the music that I love and despite songs like "Paranoid" being over played, when I hear it for the first time after a few years, I get those feelings that take me back to my discovery of heavy metal, a new scene and of my first real musical love that I discovered for myself, a music that consumed me for life. I was torn as to what to pick as there are so many Sabbath songs that I love "Children of the Grave", "Into the Void", "Sabra Cadabra", "NIB", "Paranoid"... I decided to go with an unusual Sabbath song to show their diversity, that they weren't the pure doom merchants they are portrayed as, they had layers and levels that people on the outside didn't see.

My list is far from right, I am already trying to work out where to put Led Zep "Kashmir" and my daughter has suggested "Bat Out of Hell" should be in there and someone else asked where Pink Floyd is.

Despite being a huge audiophile, I can't make a list that I am happy with, even now I am taking my list apart!

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

A Damned fine evening planned at the Koko.

The Damned tonight, so in anticipation of that, here are some songs to get me in the mood and make you jealous!

Love Song
Eloise
Smash It Up
Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow
Little Miss Disaster

My youngest daughter was desperate to go to this gig but her colab have their concert tonight so she can't go. This meant that I had to buy tickets to see the Hollywood Vampires as the Damned and the Darkness are supporting them, just to make her feel better.
My wife, a huge Damned fan, is away on a course so it looks like it's all down to me!

I last saw them play the White Horse in High Wycombe, just as the Captain came back into the band and that was an incendiary night, it was the night when I finally understood punk.
As an aside, we were there when the Captain and Dave Vanian made up their differences. The Phantom Chords were playing Brighton on a weeknight and we drove down there to see them. The Captain lives in Brighton and showed up to the gig and afterwards the 2 of them were in deep conversation. Next thing, he was back in the Damned. I got home at 4 in the morning and had work. I was younger then!

"Smash it up" is performed with Kris Dollimore on guitar. I saw him touring in the Damned at somepoint and he also toured with Adam Ant the same year. He is a great guitarist with real attitude and excellent stage presence.

"Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow" is the new single from the soon to be released album and it really bodes well for what is to come. The Damned were the first punk band to release a record but they were also the most ambitious and talented of all the punk bands. They were never content to be just a punk band but go and see them live and all that pent up energy seems to seep through the walls and floors into the audience to create a melting pot, it is punk with a huge difference, more like thinking man's punk.
I've not seen them in a few years and the years seem to have been kinder to them than to me but I am looking forward to seeing one of the originals, there aren't many originals at anything but this is one of them, and they are the last great punk band, still touring, still releasing music and still doing exactly what they want to do.

Thank you Pledge Music, I will be receiving the new album on vinyl and CD, both signed.

Have a great weekend but I can guarantee that mine is very likely to be better than yours!