Gig Review: KISS at Wembley Arena. May 13th 2010.

When I first saw KISS 2 years ago at Download 2008 it seemed like a total one-off. A singular date, no plans to record any new material and a set relying on the seminal Alive album. It was a hell of a show but I was left with the feeling that was the one and only time I would see the 'Hottest Band In The World' in a live environment.

Fast forward 2 years and not only have KISS just completed the UK leg of their new European tour they are doing it on the back of a new (and acclaimed by both fans and critics) album in 'Sonic Boom'.

When KISS first announced the tour though myself and friend Andrew sort of just left it. We had heard the album and knew how brilliant it was and obviously we knew what an amazing live act KISS were but we just sort of left it. Until about 2 months ago when we realized how annoyed and miserable we would feel if we were sat at work or at home knowing KISS were playing live in our country!

So off we headed to the sold out Wembley Arena on the last night of the UK leg of the (deep breath) 'Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom Tour'.

After getting there we were pleasantly suprised to find the merchandise stand outside the arena, which would save valuable time in getting a good spot at the front. After getting our shirts we waited just under 2 hours outside and were let in about quarter past six.

But before we could see KISS there was the small matter of the support band Taking Dawn. While this were OK, their music was quite average and generic and you could plainly see the only reason they got this slot was due to the influence of their record company the ever powerful Roadrunner Records. Not even the singer jumping off the stage into the crowd at the end of their set (which closed with a painful cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain') could keep the interest up.

A few minutes after they had vacated the stage the huge KISS curtain dropped and we had the agonizing wait for the band to hit the stage...then the lights went down and this happened...

Launching into the first track from 'Sonic Boom' Modern Day Delilah was a fantastic opener that sent the crowd into a frenzy with the entrance over Eric Singer's drumkit.

Proving it was from 'The Beginning' they continued with a song from the self titled first album - Cold Gin and followed that with other early gems Let Me Go, Rock N' Roll and Firehouse.

It was back to the Boom for the album closer Say Yeah which was then followed by another cut from the debut album with the brilliant Deuce.

Then it was suprise time. A song that the band aren't massive fans of (and this was proved by Gene Simmon's rather bored backing vocals) but it is KISS' biggest selling single in this country. Of course I mean Crazy, Crazy Nights. A song also that hasn't been played on any tour since the Hot In The Shade Tour of the late 80s or possibly the Revenge tour of the early 90s. It went down a storm.

After another 70's era highlight in Calling Dr. Love it was Tommy Thayer providing vocals for Shock Me which led into Tommy's guitar solo and Eric Singer's drum solo. Which included both of them being levitated on platforms and shooting rocket launchers. Brilliant.

The final new song of the evening was I'm An Animal and then it was Paul Stanley's brilliant vocal display in the "song we always play...because it's good!" 100,000 Years.

Instead of going up to the rafters for 'God Of Thunder' Gene Simmons now goes up to I Love It Loud after his blood spitting bass solo. Our position was such that we would have got cramp if we looked up at him for too long. It's a great song though from the often forgotten 'Creatures Of The Night' album.

The hits kept rolling with Love Gun, Black Diamond (which included a segment of Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin) and the main set closed with the ubiquitous Detroit Rock City.

After a brief break KISS returned promising "the longest encore you've ever seen". It wasn't but it was the most brilliant!

Kicking off with the title track from 1983's Lick It Up they carried on the one of rock musics ultimate party tracks Shout It Out Loud before Paul Stanley got on the zip line to the back of the arena for the always fantastic I Was Made For Lovin' You.

Another big suprise was the inclusion of God Gave Rock And Roll To You a song not heard on these shores since the early 90s! I remember this song when it first came out (Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey!) and it was just mind blowing to hear it live. I may have welled a bit.

What else could KISS finish with but Rock And Roll All Nite? And that they did, blasting the arena with confetti cannons...I swear I must have ingested a couple of pounds of the stuff.

It was a hell of a show, and surpassed the Download 2008 performance by a mile! Paul did promise they would return and I hope they do. He is 58 now (you wouldn't know it from the nights performance) so they can't leave it THAT long!

Although to be honest I never thought I'd see KISS once let alone twice, and the second time sop close so I can always live with that.

That setlist in full...

1. Modern Day Delilah
2. Cold Gin
3. Let Me Go, Rock N' Roll
4. Firehouse
5. Say Yeah
6. Deuce
7. Crazy, Crazy Nights
8. Calling Dr. Love
9. Shock Me (with Tommy and Eric solo's)
10. I'm An Animal
11. 100,000 Years
12. I Love It Loud (With Gene's solo)
13. Love Gun
14. Black Diamond
15. Detroit Rock City
16. Lick It Up
17. Shout It Out Loud
18. I Was Made For Lovin' You
19. God Gave Rock N' Roll To You
20. Rock And Roll All Nite

There's A Fever!

No, not that one.

Election Fever is upon us like never before. For the first time that I can remember the race is actually interesting for once and could be won by anyone! Which actually gave me interest in the whole matter. A foregone conclusion is not interesting and more importantly not what this country needs.

In one corner we have Gordon 'Gripper' Brown. A politician not afraid to beat the shit out of his staff and call his supporters such things as "bigots" "tossers" "cock-noses" and "cuntstains"*. A man who no one actually voted for at any point. At all. Ever. A man who truly defines the old saying "ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag".

In the second corner we have David Cameron. Who does look a bit more like a politician than Brown. I'm sure he has some other stuff going for him. Like his hair maybe. Seems indecisive, and I still physically shudder when I think of the last Conservative government we had. But it's got to be better than what we have now right? Right?

In the final corner (I'm imagining the three main ones in a triangle, alright?) is Nick Clegg. The subject of the current wave of Cleggmania. There are many things that sound good when you add 'mania' to the end of. Clegg is not one of them. Not wanting to put forward my opinions too much - as I strongly believe voting is YOUR decision to make - but I think he has my vote.

On the subject of being influenced, it actually scares me sometimes how much hold the media has on this thing. After last Thursday's debate (the second one) The Sun declared the winner (although it's not actually something you win, that would be the election itself) was David Cameron, who to put it kindly put forward a shoddy performance in my opinion.

But seeing as Rupert Murdoch is for Cameron that means The Sun is for Cameron. He could have got his dick out and bashed one out over the front row and The Sun would have still awarded it to him.

But the startling reality is that a lot of the general public are clueless about this sort of thing and go to media sources such as The Sun or The Daily Mail (get to them in a minute) and take whatever they say as the God's honest truth and will base their votes on that. That isn't someone voting - thats the media controlling someones vote. I honestly believe that people who aren't intelligent enough to make their own decision about this sort of thing should not be allowed to vote.

But yes, The Daily Mail. They always seem to go that extra mile in the ways of bad journalism. Check out this story from last week > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/election/article-1267921/GENERAL-ELECTION-2010-Nick-Clegg-Nazi-slur-Britain.html

Yep The Mail actually say "his Nazi slur". Based on what? Saying this country was living in the past about the War? I'm not trivializing the Wars for one second but it ended in 1945. That's 65 years ago. Literally a generation. A generation of Germans who want fuck all to do with that part of their history, hell probably 2 generations now. And here we are. Every St.Georges Day, out come the old war songs. As we continue to cling to it. Kids continue to make Hitler 'taches with their fingers. Where do they get that from exactly?

Same shit applies for the 1966 World Cup. I know England isn't the most winningest country but to cling on to these like they didn't happen all that time ago is something truly sad.

A rant about Politics these days isn't anything without mentioning the BNP. You may not have agreed with all I have said in this, but I think we can all get together on the BNP being a bunch of bigoted pieces of shit. Check out this Party Election Broadcast that was shown the other night...

OK let us bullet point all this...

• The War! There was a war on! Yeah, it was 2 generations ago but cor blimey, love a duck, apples and pears, we'll meet again, rub a dub etc. Yeah I made that point. But it's a cheap way to go for votes. From a cheap individual
• Where did he get the medals from behind him?
• "We don't hate anyone" Er...yeah you do. Anyone who is even tanned by the sounds.
• What would Churchill think? I don't know but I'm pretty sure the immigration problem is not caused by a sudden influx of Germans.
• We may have not been fighting for political correctness in 1945, but thats no excuse not exercise some.
• All these 'everyday folk in the street' are actors. Painfully bad actors.

And a final point on that...they only abuse Nick Griffin because he "refuses to toe the political line"? Huh. It's probably more that he's a small minded ignorant cunt.

Till next time - don't forget to vote, you won't be able to bitch about ANYTHING till next time if you don't!

*He may have only said the first one.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Hyde Park 28-6-09

A look back to my Facebook blog from last Summer...

Managed to cross another 'must see band' from my list (which doesnt have much left on it now!) at the 'Hard Rock Calling' festival in Hyde Park - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!

Had a pretty patchy support lineup to get through first...

Opening the show was Beauvoir/Free who I had no godly idea who they were. Some post research shows they are Jean Beauvior who was an ex member of the Plasmatics and produced albums for the Ramones, and has written songs for KISS, The Pretenders and Lionel Richie! Micki Free was in Shalamar! Anyway they played for a while and were quite entertaining but ultimately pretty forgettable.

Next up were The Gaslight Anthem who were fantastic, the crowd loved them and they played their arses off. And then they brought Bruce out to join them on 'The '59 Sound', a great set and a great atmosphere throughout.

Following that sadly was James Morrison. Imagine you had just seen a great set from an up and coming band which had generated a great atmosphere. Then imagine someone comes onstage after and shoots a puppy. He was fucking shit and I have no idea whose dick he sucked to get on the bill because he had no business being there. One dreary 'not quite indie' song followed another with only a few pockets of support from the obvious housewives. It also rained from when his started to when it ended. Which couldnt come soon enough. Urgh. What a twat.

So it was up to Dave Matthews Band to turn things back around which they eventually did. I really liked them and will have to get their albums. Matthews is a great frontman and by the end they had the crowd loving them too. Good stuff. They played...

Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Don't Drink The Water
Why I Am
Funny The Way It Is
Crash Into Me
You Might Die Trying
Alligator Pie
Two Step
Ants Marching
All Along The Watchtower

Then it was time...Boss Time! I do not have enough superlatives for how amazing it was. Songs I never thought I would hear live...ever! Over 3 solid hours. The singer from The Gaslight Anthem joined the band for No Surrender. The place going mental for Born To Run, the atmosphere for Racing In The Streets and Jungleland. I may sound like a Vietnam vet but you had to be there maaaan. The only downside I read is that Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were gonna come onstage for a song but the curfew meant it had to be axed! Never mind, doesnt detract from the show. The heartstopping, pants-dropping, houserocking, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, Viagra-taking, lovemaking legendary E Street Band played...

London Calling
Badlands
Night
She's The One
Outlaw Pete
Out In The Street
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Good Lovin'
Bobby Jean
Trapped
No Surrender
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Racing In The Streets
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
--------------------
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Hard Times
Jungleland
American Land
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark

Half Ton Stunned

For the last couple of weeks now I have been staying with my Mum in Thetford.

As I don't have TV at home in Norwich (over 1000 DVDs in the flat - is there any need?) I really don't see that much on it.

Since being here I have got slightly addicted to the documentaries of the grotesque and obscene.

The first of these was Half Ton Dad. I had already seen Half Ton Son with my friend Stacey last year and we wowed as he was towed out of his house, shat himself and how his arse turned chair shaped when he sat down.

Bu that was (dare I say it) small fries compared to Half Ton Dad. Who weighed it at 73 stone or 1032 pounds.

By far the best bit of the documentary was when they had to cut the large fatty deposits off that had grown on his thighs. These required cleaning beforehand, and the cleaners discovered wounds on these deposits. And shit had got into the wounds and dried. That's bound to be worse than salt.

I may start saying that: "There's no need to rub dried shit in the wound!"

But HTD did lose a lot of weight - in fact he lost 12 stone in 2 weeks! Bear in mind that's what I weigh. He lost a Thom.

But nothing could prepare me for this evening. I saw the title of the show - Embarrassing Bodies, but its a Sunday evening at 7pm on Channel 4 what would it be about? A big nose maybe, a bit of stomach podge, stubby fingers...

Well no.

First up was a woman with a massive vagina. Bit racy to say 'vagina' at 7pm on a weekend evening. Well all bets were off when they showed you a closeup of the wizards sleeve in question. The fact you could back in a petrol tanker, with 2 Ka's either side and have all 3 vehicles open their doors as wide as possible was almost trivial!

Isn't Songs Of Praise on the other side?? What if someone aiming for 1 hit the button below? Expecting the Antiques Roadshow and get a good old look at what could only be described as a clowns pocket!

Next up was a woman with one boob bigger than the other. She got them out almost instantly. I know the shows excuse is that its medical, its educational, who would find this sort of thing attractive...but some people like amputee porn. Just putting that out there.

So the woman with a slightly bigger (or smaller, I'd say the former I'm a cup half full kind of guy and that pun was meant with extreme prejudice) nork. Cue the graphic surgery as they stuff in the implant then cut off her nipple and move it up a bit!

Then came a gentleman who had to piss 20 or 30 times a day. He had a hand shoved up his arse and had his prostate massaged. Guys - if anyone ever offers to massage your prostate...fucking run.

I guess the shows writers felt there had been a lot of female nudity so there was literally a penis montage. One guys was so small he could neither have sex or masturbate. I don't know what happened to him, but I probably would have suggested suicide. Or switching sides.

We also had one of the shows presenters having a wank to see how is sperm was. I had pretty much tuned out in shock by this point.

I turned off before the end, but not before we saw the woman with the massive vagina again - I think they had just seen Madeline McCann in there, but she disappeared beneath a giant beef curtain.

I'm going to be staying in Thetford for another couple of weeks and I think in a sick way I'm going to miss these trashy documentaries (others included Tourettes and I Want Fake Boobs and Dirty Pervs online pay for them if I get my tits out in photos) when I go back to Norwich!

Till next time (and with the rate of these shows that will be very soon).

Dad

On Tuesday March 9th 2010 my father John sadly passed away.

I had been thinking of the ways possible to cover this on here as Dad was a reader of my blog (I remember his reaction when my brother showed him the one about prostitutes...he thought I was creative yet mental).

I was going to talk about him at length but the wonderful talk the Humanist minister did at his funeral far surpassed anything I could ever write. So I am simply going to publish a poem he wrote many years ago that we found the day after he died that has been such a help and comfort to me. I hope you like it.


When time has come for us to go
And leave our loved ones behind,
Let not their hearts be filled with woe
And life to them unkind.

For when we sleep this dreamless sleep
And venture on beyond,
In our hearts our love will keep,
Their troubles will be gone.

Then we meet our loved ones
Who left us in days gone by,
And joyous will be the meeting
With tears of joy in every eye.

To the dear ones whom we have left
With sorrow and heartbreak pain,
Do not weep for us, for we are but asleep,
To be born again.

By John Downie.

Quite simply I wouldn't have the sense of humour I have today if it wasn't for Dad, and will continue posting stupid, random things on here in his memory because I know wherever he is out there, he is shaking his head and laughing at me.

Thanks for reading.

Nailed!

Was at work today, doing my thing out the back, listening to the radio and that as I finished up the days work, almost clocking off time - wonderful.

Then someone comes up to me and sticks his thumb out which has half a nail hanging off and he says to me "Can you just pull that off for me before it catches on something?"

WHAT THE FUCK? NO!!!

I start to worry while I am umming and erring about it - what will he do? Slowly put his thumb in my mouth De Niro in Cape Fear style?

Luckily I think on my feet and ask why he can't do it. There isn't really a satisfactory response to that so I just come out with some absolute bollocks and say I can't do it because I'm squeamish about things like that (not because I don't want to touch your rank fucking nail you fucking psycho) and hightail it before my breakfast and dinner come back up to say hi.

I ask again - WHAT THE FUCK?

Thom's Tangents II

Yes already. Not as long this time, just heard a few bits today I wanted to comment/pass judgment on. Think of it like the old saying "you wait ages for a bus then two turn up at once". How anyone could be waiting for two buses at once is beyond me though. How the fuck would you know which one to get on?

A Norwich man was sentenced yesterday on charges of being drunk in charge of a vehicle. The court was told that the man took his three children to the cinema and proceeded to drink an entire bottle of vodka and leave the screen with his kids still in there. The children later refused to get into the car with him. You see this is exactly what happens when you go and see any of the Twilight films.

Australian band Men At Work have lost a plagiarism case against the Girl Guides over the song 'Land Down Under' which is said to be similar to a song written by a Guide in the 30s catchily entitled 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree'. They sound nothing alike. Sadly Men At Work have been forced to pull all forthcoming live shows as 'Land Down Under' is their only song.

Lot of controversy about John Terry. People worrying about negative effects on England's World Cup chances. I think the fact that England are shit should be the more pressing factor though as it goes to that.