180268.com

Bad Times for Meg the Dog!

2012-01-21T07:32:00.000Z

Not been the best of times lately. Thought I'd share....

Got home around teatime on Wed 11th, after 3 long days working in our Nation's capital.

After around an hour of home comfort Meg (Join Meg's Facebook here) started what can only be described as fitting. We quickly bundled her into the back of the car and rushed straight to the local vet. Two syringes of meds later and she was no better. Throwing herself around, but completely off her back legs. Scared doesn't begin to describe it!

Those that know Meg, know we've had her around 5 months and that she's a rescue dog that was found abandoned. We have no idea of her history.

The vets decided there was nothing more they could do there and referred us to a larger vets in Wolverhampton. Back in the car Meg went, and off we sped.

Carrying her into the new vets I saw blood all over her front paws, legs and mouth. Turns out she'd bitten her tongue during the car ride. I was not having a good time. But then, I guess neither was she!

They gave her a different lot of meds to no avail and finally decided on pumping her full of anaesthetic to at least settle her. We were told that she would either wake from the anaesthetic fine or, well, it would be bad.

By this time it was late, we had no choice but to kiss her goodbye and go home and wait.

This may make me a hypocrite, but I prayed that night! You never know, right!?!

After a few calls throughout the night and morning, Jane couldn't stand it so we headed off to the vets to see our baby. Because it was their busy period, operations, etc, we couldn't get into the back to see her but were told she was still sedated, but not well. And could we come back later?

Talk about a long day! Throughout that day, we cried, we talked, we cried some more and I think we both tried to prepare ourselves for the worst.

Early evening came and we headed back to the vets.

We were lead thru to the kennels where we were told there was no real improvement and that we had decisions to make. This is the news that no pet owner wants to hear. Queue more crying!

Thing is, when we got there, Meg recognised us and seemed, well, just calm and a bit sleepy. A millions miles from the pooch that was slamming it's head against a radiator the night before.

Jane wanted to bring her home there and then. I was against it as I was worried about her fitting again and us having to get her back to the vets via a stressful car journey (for Meg, not us). All the time the impending decision was in our heads. It seemed wrong tho. She seemed happy, and certainly not distressed. If I'm honest, there were moments when I just assumed the vets must be right and maybe it would be cruel to let Meg continue to suffer. But if I'm even more honest, my head was so fucked up I didn't know what to think.

After much soul searching and even more crying it was agreed by us and the vet that we would give Meg one more night, with no medication other than a saline drip, and see how she faired. We had to give her that chance. They promised they would only give her meds if she fitted, and that they would call us immediately if that happened. After about an hour of us sat on the floor with Meg's head on Jane's lap, and more crying, we finally headed home. What more could we do?

We called the vets pretty much every 90 mins throughout the night and were told each time she seemed calm. I know Jane was getting her hopes up. In truth, I wanted to but was scared to.

Final call was around 6:30am. We were told that as long as Meg was still "okay" when the vets did their rounds at 9am, there was no medical reason why she couldn't come home. It was at this point I let myself start to feel positive.

They called just after 9, and it was the best news in the world. Meg could come home. We were told she was wobbly, walked like she was drunk, and had a few problems with slow reactions. None of this mattered. She was coming home! We jumped pretty much straight in the car!

On collecting her, her back was all arched and she really wasn't walking well. But she was pleased to see us and were pleased as hell to see her!

We were told that she had suffered brain damage during, or as a result of, the seizure. Both frontal and rear. But.... She was still with us and was going home! Well, once we'd seen the vets bill and picked up a bag of 3 different types of meds. One of which she'll be on for pretty much ever,

We got her home and preceded to pamper her! She tried to climb the stairs, but because her back was all arched she literally toppled backwards as she tried. Half funny, half sad. But second time around she managed to get upstairs with a helping hand under her belly. Took her for a short walk and she looked really weird the way she walked. She also kept falling over. Her co-ordination was shot to pieces.

Over the next few days tho, she really improved. Her back straightened out and she fell over less. She started getting up and down the stairs on her own, and generally just seemed to be getting better.

It's been 10 days now, and you'd pretty much not be able to tell there's ever been a problem. Yeah, she still runs funny sometimes, isn't so good at catching the ball and is still not going on massive walks. But she's happy, eating and drinking well, and is back to farting loads. It's all good :-)

Back in the saddle!

2012-01-06T13:45:00.000Z

First gig of 2012 tonight. Out with Devoted to Rock at The Knight's Quest in Blackheath.
Feel free to come and and give us some support.

2012 Gig List Update

2012-01-01T18:58:00.000Z

2012 gig list updated. Come say hello!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T18:53:00.001Z

Make it a good one!!

Last 3 shows of 2011

2011-12-08T20:24:00.000Z

The next week sees my last 3 gigs of 2011. This weekend I'm out with Rubicon and next Thursday I'm back in the saddle with Devoted to Rock (must learn some more of their songs!).

Feel free to pop along and say Hi!

09 Dec - Quinton RBL, Quinton with Rubicon
10 Dec - The Boatman's Rest, Walsall Wood with Rubicon
15 Dec - Bar Sport, Cannock with Devoted to Rock

It's party time!!!!

2011-11-25T14:10:00.003Z

This Saturday sees Rubicon at The Green Star (Esperanto Way, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 1RE) hosting Lol & Diddy's Birthday Bash.

Feel free to pop along and raise a glass or six!

Weekend of Rock!

2011-11-16T21:12:00.000Z

A full weekend this weekend.

Once again depping with Devoted to Rock on Friday and Saturday, and out with Rubicon on Sunday.
Fri - The Vault, Darlaston, WS10 9JP
Sat - The Bridge, Tenbury Wells, WR15 8AE
Sun - The Red Lion, Burslem, ST6 1DJ

Come say hello!

Depping tonight with Devoted to Rock

2011-11-05T14:07:00.000Z

Tonight at Katie Fitzgeralds!
Come see me busk my way thru a load of songs I've never played before!

Links:
Devoted to Rock
Katie Fitzgeralds

Gig schedule update

2011-09-28T22:19:00.000+01:00

New 2012 Rubicon dates added. Look over there >>>

New Audio Page!

2011-09-26T15:52:00.000+01:00

Have added a new MP3 Audio page to 180268.com. The link is about two thirds the way down on the left hand side for those who can't be arsed to look ;-)

More content will be added as and when....

Meg's been busy!!!

2011-09-26T13:58:00.000+01:00

For a dog she's getting pretty smart!! Not content with opening the bedroom door at 4am to sneak in and sleep under Mom and Dad's bed, she now has Facebook!

Find her at www.facebook.com/meggy.mumu

And when she's not hightening her online profile, she can often be found over at www.youtube.com/barrygwilliam!

We have moved!!

2011-09-26T13:13:00.000+01:00

After a couple of years hosted at 123-Reg, www.180268.com has now moved home and is hosted by those lovely people at DataSphere.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Graham Iles for all the help with the smooth change over.

Another one bites the dust!

2011-09-26T13:04:00.000+01:00

Ye Olde Black Cross in Bromsgrove is no more. Had one more gig with Rubicon booked there for this year, and three for next year. Sadly, these are now cancelled.

Look Mom! I found some water....

2011-08-27T17:58:00.000+01:00

Meet Meg.... Our new pooch....

2011-08-21T21:05:00.000+01:00

This is Meg, the latest addition to the family. She's a 6 year old Border Collie rescue dog.

Loves to play ball, full of energy, cat and chicken friendly and apparently likes yoghurt!

Caribbean Lamb Curry with Coconut Rice

2011-08-20T18:02:00.000+01:00

New one for me! Was absolutely lovely, albeit bloody hot!!!
Give it a go!

Caribbean Lamb Curry
2lb lamb, cubed
4 tablespoons curry powder
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
5 thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon ground allspice
4 bay leaves
1 large onion, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
3 cups stock
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1. Place the lamb, curry powder, garlic, thyme, allspice, bay leaves, onion and olive oil in a bowl, and mix together. Marinate in fridge overnight.

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the lamb mixture and fry over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Stir in the stock and chilli flakes and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover then simmer for about 1 ½ hours, or until the meat is tender.

Coconut Rice
180g long grain rice
1/4 red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons dried chilli flakes
3 spring onions, chopped
40g creamed coconut

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heated pan. Stir in the rice and cook for a minute, stirring until well coated in the oil. Pour in 1 pint of stock and bring to the boil.

2. Add the creamed coconut to the rice mixture. Season generously, give the rice a good stir, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed.

3. Add a little oil to a heated frying pan and tip in the spring onions and red pepper. Cook for 30 seconds or so until softened. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. When the rice is cooked, remove from the heat, gently fluff up with a fork and fold in the softened spring onions, red pepper and dried chilli flakes.

formspring.me

2011-08-16T11:37:00.000+01:00

Go on.... Ask me a question at http://formspring.me/thebazza.... I'm an open book!

Chickens!!!

2011-08-13T17:49:00.000+01:00

New project: Chickens!

Got the chicken coup a while back, now started building the chicken run itself. 10ft x 8ft and 6ft high. All for 4 bloody chickens! Next stop.... A big-ass roll of chicken wire to slice my hands to pieces....

New Lodgers!

2011-08-06T12:37:00.000+01:00

Meet Poppy and Lucy, they'll be staying with us for the next 2 weeks. It's great being a surrogate Dad!

Poppy

Lucy

Lucy helping with the washing!

WOW!!!! What a 3 months!

2011-08-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

And what a 3 months it's been.

My stag weekend in Benidorm, our wedding at the start of June followed by our honeymoon in St Lucia. And then Mark's stag weekend in Magaluf to cap everything off!

Been a bit of a whirlwind and not really had chance to sort pics out yet.

But here's a few to wet the appetite :-)

My Stag Weekend: Benidorm, May 2011. A quiet few days with a few close friends!

Our Wedding: 4th June 2011. Life just got good!

Our Honeymoon: St Lucia, June 2011. Life just got even better!!!

Mark's Stag Weekend: Magaluf, July 2011. Just more of the same really!

Club Congleton cancelled

2011-07-29T14:54:00.000+01:00

Tonight's Rubicon gig at Club Congleton has been cancelled due to the venue having no record of even booking us!! Nothing like a bit of organisation lads!! Won't be seeing you next year then!!!!

More new Rubicon dates added

2011-05-01T17:47:00.000+01:00

16th Sept, The Sitwell Tavern, Derby
6th Nov, The Kingswood Tavern, Nuneaton
20th Nov, The Red Lion, Stoke-On-Trent

Rubicon gig list update

2011-04-27T11:56:00.000+01:00

7th May, Bike and Hound, Hyde
29th Jul - Club Congleton, Congleton (moved from 15th)
6th Aug, Horse And Groom, Derby
7th Aug, The Red Lion, Stoke-On-Trent
26th Aug, No Bull Rally II, Builth Wells
27th Aug, The Kings Arms, Tipton
30th Sept, The Wishing Well, Bromsgrove
26th Nov, The White Horse, Harbourne

YOUFO lose drummer! Kind of careless really!!

2011-04-07T21:21:00.000+01:00

Well, after a week of madness I'm no longer playing with YOUFO. Not going to bore you with any possibly libelous details, but here's a shortened version.

Shit went on behind my back. I got royally pissed off. Certain people refused to be straight or honest with me. Others suggested that things could have been handled differently by those people, and it all could have been avoided. This was followed by ignored phone calls and barefaced lies, and resulted in a stand-in drummer being bought in, despite certain members telling me they were no longer intending to continue with the band. Seems to me those members just refuse to work with me anymore, but don't have the balls to say so. But as they won't take my calls, I'll never know!

Olive branches were offered on my part, two fingers were received.

Shame, but hey! They do say.... It's called the music business, NOT music friendship!

Headway. Live at the Prince Albert, Wall Heath. 26th Mar.

2011-03-25T11:52:00.000Z

Headway's first gig is this Saturday at the Prince Albert, Wall Heath.
Come and see a bunch of kids and an old man make lots of rock!!!

Click here for the Headway Facebook

Rubicon announce new frontman

2011-03-03T13:17:00.000Z

The following was posted on the Rubicon Facebook page earlier today.

Is there a bigger word than ecstatic, cus if there is, we would use it to describe how Rubicon feel about our newest member, Mr Carl Wootton (frontman of Whitesnake UK, and a multitude of other great tribute acts). With his stunningly powerful voice, and wealth of musical expertise, he will add an extra dimension to the band...... LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL!!!!!

Come see Carl's first show with the band tomorrow night, 4th March
at The Longford Engine, Coventry.

formspring.me

2011-02-21T03:45:00.000Z

More social network whoring!!!

Go on.... Ask me a question....

http://formspring.me/thebazza

The show must go on....

2011-02-14T14:29:00.000Z

So last night's Rubicon gig at the Red Lion in Stoke was Eddie's last

show with the band. Well he can definately say he went out on a high,

the gig was a stormer.

So the search starts now for a replacement. Auditions are lined up for

Wednesday, we'll see....

Rubicon start search for new vocalist/frontman....

2011-02-02T15:39:00.000Z

So, it's official.... Eddie has quit/left/retired from Rubicon. Not going to go into the full gory story here, as I'm sure everyone has their own version of events to tell anyways.

Suffice to say, a new vocalist/frontman is required, and I have one less wedding invite to send out....

Anyone who thinks they are up to the task should contact the band via their Facebook page....

Who'd have thought organising a stag weekend would be so bloody difficult?

2011-01-17T10:12:00.000Z

You send 20 or so texts to mates giving them the opportunity of a pretty cheap "lads weekend away" in the sun, thinking most will jump at the chance.

All you're asking for is an initial yes or no, just to confirm numbers.

24 hours later and I'm having to chase responses! Makes you wonder really.... How busy must you be not to bother responding to an invite to a weekend abroad!
Or maybe they're a bunch of pussies and are scared of flying on Friday 13th?

New layout....

2011-01-09T16:46:00.000Z

New layout (I'm still no web designer!) and updates to the Crash, Suspicion, Company of Fools, Love Junkiz, Hearbeat, Cover 2 Cover, Easy, StoneFish, Rubicon and YOUFO pages in the My Previous Bands section.

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000Z

Well here's to a stonking 2011 following a busy, and at times interesting, 2010.

Be good!!

New dates added for 2011

2010-12-08T10:50:00.000Z

Just added a load of new dates to my 2011 gig schedule. 24th June could be interesting!!

RIP Molly

2010-12-07T14:27:00.000Z

Today we said our final goodbyes to Molly.

She passed away in the early hours of December 1st and was cremated this morning.

She will be sadly missed and always remembered.

YOUFO: Lights Out over Bolton, 20th Nov 2011

2010-11-16T12:11:00.000Z

YOUFO will be playing Moses Gate in Bolton this Saturday (20th Nov) as a last minute replacement for the scheduled band.
http://www.youfo.co.uk/

I'm finally famous!!!

2010-10-28T16:50:00.000+01:00

YOUFO YouTube Channel

2010-10-28T13:26:00.000+01:00

Check www.youtube.com/YOUFOtv for live videos from YOUFO :
The UK's only working tribute to the music of UFO

Some people say the nicest things....

2010-10-01T20:26:00.000+01:00

Our billing at Club Congleton tonight.

YOUFO activity this weekend

2010-09-21T16:45:00.000+01:00

Looking forward to a weekend of classic rock this weekend.

Catch YOUFO at the Tackeroo in Hednesford on Friday night and then at The 12 Bar in Swindon on Saturday night.
Also, we will be performing an acoustic set and doing promo for our 3rd October River Rooms gig on The Bridge 102.5 FM between 4pm and 5pm on Sunday with Paul Collins.
Rocktastic!!

2 additional YOUFO dates added

2010-08-10T09:32:00.000+01:00

25th Sep, The 12 Bar, Swindon
22nd Oct, Route 44, Birmingham
I've suddenly become a very busy boy!!

Gig list update! 16 new dates added!

2010-08-09T14:16:00.000+01:00

The boys in Rubicon seem to have mislaid their drummer (very
careless!), so yours truly will be stepping in for the rest of their
2010 dates.
http://180268.com

Review of YOUFO Route 44 gig

2010-08-06T12:12:00.000+01:00

I had been looking forward to this gig, as a previous one scheduled in March had to be cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. And boy was it worth the wait...
What an incredible and talented bunch of guys fronted by a very powerful frontman. They were well rehearsed and you could tell by the smiles that they genuinely enjoy what they do. Judging by the crowd reaction so did they! The set list included "Natural Thing", "Mother Mary", "Self Made Man", "Venus", "Pushed To The Limit", etc. as well as "Try Me" which had the vocals of Graham Knight making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There were also the crowd pleasers like "Rock Bottom" (of which the guitar work of Mark Elder was just awsome), "Doctor Doctor" and "Shoot Shoot. Of the rest of the band, Graham Iles (keyboards and rhythm guitar) and Rob Day-Smith (bass) provided excellent backing, while Barry Gwilliam is probably one of the best drummers on the circuit. The comment of the night was from a guy stood in front of me who said, "I was expecting a dodgy UFO cover band, but that was pure excellence". I for one couldnt agree more.... All in all, a great night and I am waiting for the next gig excitedly.
Mandy Weldon.

Promo for Friday's YOUFO, Route 44 gig

2010-07-28T11:44:00.000+01:00

http://www.route44live.co.uk/pageone.html

Audio/Video update.

2010-07-27T14:33:00.000+01:00

Turns out the audio and video at http://www.180268.com/ I had hosted at Divshare hasn't been playing for the last god-knows-how-long....

All the audio from the Previous Bands section is now linked and rehosted at Divshare (and working).

All the video from the Video Archive is now linked and hosted at YouTube.

Updated gig list

2010-07-27T06:53:00.000+01:00

Finally updated the gig list with upcoming YOUFO and Rubicon shows. Don't forget your rotten fruit!!

YOUFO Updates, new pics and videos.

2010-06-08T11:22:00.000+01:00

New YOUFO pics and videos

Click below for....

Pics from Robannas Sound Stage, Birmingham, May 2010
Pics from Private Party at Base Studios, Stourbridge June 2010
Videos from Private Party at Base Studios, Stourbridge June 2010

Bowling for Soup and Kiss pics

2010-06-08T10:17:00.000+01:00

Pics from Bowling for Soup's Jaret and Eric's Acoustic tour and Kiss's Sonic Boom Over Europe tour have been added to the photo archive page.

Just like Charlie Dimmock, but with nicer tits!

2010-04-26T21:11:00.000+01:00

Well.... The J one has been busy!

Got home from work to find the afore mentioned tonne of purple slate scree delivered, barrowed round the back of the house, laid down and sporting a new patio table and chairs!

She'd even laid some turf as an encore!!!

More ponding....

2010-04-25T17:47:00.000+01:00

Pond edging complete, membrane down for an incoming tonne of purple slate scree.

It's like bloody Ground Force here at the moment!

New YouFO date

2010-04-21T10:33:00.000+01:00

Friday, July 30, 2010

Route 44, Birmingham

www.youfo.co.uk

13 months later! The pond strikes back....

2010-04-18T18:13:00.000+01:00

For those of you with any sort of memory or a sad enough life to visit here often, you may remember the pond episode from last year (Started here March 09). Well.... Summer's coming, so the J one and I have moved things along. In other words, I got nagged and had a guilt trip laid on me until I did something ;-)

A load of grey slate later and we have the beginnings of an edge....

New YouFO dates

2010-04-02T00:41:00.000+01:00

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Diamond, Sutton-in-Ashfield

Sunday, September 5, 2010
The Diamond, Sutton-in-Ashfield

www.youfo.co.uk

YouTube and YouFO updates

2010-03-23T21:47:00.000Z

New YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/barrygwilliam

New MP3’s added to http://www.youfo.co.uk

YOUFO website now up and running

2010-03-19T16:04:00.000Z

Listen to Graham’s warbling, see us all in unglorious technicolor, and join the newsletter….

http://www.youfo.co.uk/

Shitcanned!!!

2010-02-12T10:37:00.000Z

And in other news…. I have just been “let go” from StoneFish by text!!

“Hi Barry. We have listened 2 the recordings & spoken in great depths about the band as a whole. We have decided that we need2 make essential changes 2 make the band work & survive as a pro unit. We have spoken to Paul & have told him about our decisions 2 which he has agreed. We are going 2 have 2 let U go as we feel the root core lies with the standard and quality of the drumming. We have made a replacement and hope that u understand that this is nothing personal. We wish u luck in future ventures. John”

Nice, eh!

Strange really, as my copy of said recording is full of guitar fuckups! Guess one of their mates wanted a drumming job ;-)

Happy New Year....

2010-01-03T07:39:00.000Z

Bit late, but what the hell. Let's see what 2010 brings.
I should really write a long and drawn out recap of my 2009 with deep and meaningful thoughts and musings.... I'll add it to my todo list ;-)
On the upside, I have already kept to 2 of my new year resolutions!! Bonus!!!

Short video added to Rubicon page in My Bands section

2009-11-20T00:53:00.000Z

Didn’t even know this existed. Cheers Pete lol.

Tonights Rubicon gig cancelled

2009-11-06T21:32:00.000Z

Eddie + laryngitis = Cancelled gig :-(

Rubicon gig. 06Nov. Sitwell Tavern, Derby

2009-10-29T12:28:00.000Z

Just got a call off Peter from Rubicon. They need a drummer for a gig at the Sitwell Tavern, Derby on 6th Nov. Apparently it's a bike club bonfire party so should be a good one. Played there before with them, nice rock venue. So.... It'll be one hastily organised rehearsal middle of next week, and then we rock! Have sticks will travel....

Bowling For Soup VIP acoustic set 22Oct09 added to video archive @bfsrocks

2009-10-27T13:51:00.000Z

This was an intimate, 50 people only, acoustic set from Jaret and Erik before the full show at the Birmingham O2 Academy. After the acoustic set everyone got a signed limited edition cd and a photo op with the whole band.

MC Lars, O2 Academy B'ham 22Oct09. Pics now added to Photo Archive. @mc_lars

2009-10-27T00:27:00.002Z

Zebrahead, O2 Academy B'ham 22Oct09. Pics now added to Photo Archive. @zebrahead_twits

2009-10-27T00:27:00.001Z

Bowling For Soup, O2 Academy B'ham 22Oct09. Pics now added to Photo Archive. @bfsrocks

2009-10-27T00:27:00.000Z

The Leftovers, O2 Academy B'ham 22Oct09. Pics now added to Photo Archive. @theleftovers

2009-10-27T00:24:00.000Z

Bowling For Soup at the O2 Academy, Birmingham

2009-10-22T23:57:00.000+01:00

Bowling For Soup with The Leftovers, MC Lars and Zebrahead at the O2 Academy, Birmingham tonight with @matt_gwilliam. Met all four bands. Fantastic night. Video from the BFS meet and greet, and loads of pics to follow once I can be arsed!!

Here's a few tho....

Rockzilla gigs cancelled

2009-10-22T13:38:00.000+01:00

Just had word that the rest of the years gigs with Rockzilla (both of them!) have been cancelled due to "circumstances beyond the band's control". See you guys next year then....

Testing Twitterfeed

2009-10-21T17:19:00.000+01:00

Just a blog post to test my twitterfeed. Nothing to see here :-)

This is how every Wednesday should be!

2009-10-07T10:28:00.000+01:00

As fears rise regarding the effect of WiFi in schools....

2009-09-28T20:53:00.000+01:00

@robmarshall2 has the answer!!

www.180268.com

2009-09-26T10:39:00.000+01:00

Finally got round to it! Now there is a single point of reference to remind me just how boring my life is!
Pics, audio, mp3, video, lots of old stuff.... All to be added once I can be arsed!

Steel Panther @ Manchester Academy

2009-09-14T23:57:00.000+01:00

Steel Panther tonight at The Manchester Academy with @robmarshall2 and @matt_gwilliam.
Awesome dude!!!!!

Pics in Photo Archive

Take a look at My Wena!!

2009-08-02T05:32:00.000+01:00

Buckcherry - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall

2009-07-31T23:37:00.000+01:00

10 years since the last time I saw Buckcherry. Since then, only Singer Josh Todd and Guitarist Keith Nelson remain. That said, the last 2 cd's have lost none of the grit and raunch that made the first 2 cd's so good. Still dirty, sexy, rock and roll :-) And NOT in a gay way, ok!!

Spent the night 2nd row, centre, and it was hot, sweaty and awesome!! Fantastic show. And as @robmarshall2 said afterwards (after hearing them for the first time this afternoon!), the cd's do not do the live show justice. Praise indeed from the Manowar fan ;-)

Pics in the Photo Archive

Happy Birthday @matt_gwilliam

2009-07-20T00:01:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday @matt_gwilliam
Happy birthday to you!!

Rubicon gig

2009-07-18T23:57:00.000+01:00

Gig with Rubicon at the The Royal Oak in Blackpool. Gig went really well. My upper body didn't want to play ball in the first set tho. Everything felt forced and not fluid. I put it down to the pre-show Wetherspoons 5 bean chilli!!! Second half rocked tho :-) And free accomodation!! Whooo Rock and indeed Roll!!

Bowling For Soup Tickets....

2009-07-17T09:17:00.000+01:00

Just scored 2 VIP tickets to the Party In You Pants tour in October. Bowling For Soup, Zebrahead and The Leftovers.
Looking forward to a BFS meet and greet and an exclusive pre-gig acoustic set!
Happy bunny!!

Nine Inch Nails / Jane's Addiction. London O2 Arena.

2009-07-15T23:59:00.000+01:00

Took the boy with me to this one. Long story, but thank you Jane, I love you. And so does the boy!!! His 2nd Nails show, my 9th. Pulled him from school for a, err, hospital appointment. Bad Dad!!!! Just as well I did.... London traffic!! Woohoo!! Gotta love it. NOT!
Finally got to the venue, and finally got our seats. Not half as close as I was last night, but a decent view and OK for pics and vids. Pics lower down, vids, I'm still trying to find out how to condense 2.5gb of vid footage into something I can post on here!!

My short review:-

Missed MEW, shame! NOT!

JANE'S ADDICTION were still amazing to watch, but still a bit dreamy. Wasn't sure where one song ended and another began unless it was one I knew. At least they played "Jane Says" tonight tho!!

NINE INCH NAILS.... WOW! They opened with "Now I'm Nothing" and I nearly creamed my shorts. This was my dream opener. Have never seen them do it live and it is such a phenomenal song. Set list, for me, was better than last night. It's nice to see a band put the effort in and swap and change stuff around. Now.... There'd been a tweet (god, I hate that word!) earlier in the evening that Gary Numan was in the building, so expectation was high that he would join NIN on stage to perform "Metal", as it's one of his songs. What wasn't expected was when they went from "Metal" straight into "Cars". The venue erupted. A real goosebumps moment!
And so.... This will apparently be the last time I get to see Trent Reznor as Nine Inch Nails. He's hanging up his angst and getting married. What a way to bow out!!

Set list:
Now I'm Nothing
Terrible Lie
1,000,000
Heresy
March Of The Pigs
Reptile
The Becoming
I'm Afraid Of Americans
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Non Entity
The Big Come Down
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Survivalism
Down In It
Metal (with Gary Numan)
Cars (with Gary Numan)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt

Pics in the Photo Archive
Vids in the Video Archive

Nine Inch Nails / Jane's Addiction. Manchester MEN Arena.

2009-07-14T23:59:00.000+01:00

Arrived around 4.30 after leaving work early. Got changed in the car park (hope there was no CCTV!!). Met some really cool people in the presale queue. No attitudes, everyone just there for the same reason, to have a good time and to, err, "Wave Goodbye" to NIN. Got led into the venue single file by one of "Trent's guy's". Pretty sure his name must have been Hank or Randy, he just looked very "All-American". Bet he lived on a ranch with livestock! But when he said no running or pushing, there was no running or pushing!!
Once in, I ended up 2nd row from the barrier, prob about 10ft from the stage. Lots of pushing throughout the night but nothing too violent, guessing the pits were a fair way behind me. Kept my spot all night, got some pretty cool pics too which will be further down the post.

My short review:-

MEW were interesting but a little dull.

JANE'S ADDICTION put on a great show but the music is a little dreamy for me. Perry Farrell is an outstanding frontman, Dave Navarro is the epitome of a rockstar, Eric Avery stomps around the stage like Phil Cool's pissed off younger brother and I swear no one does that tribal drumming thing like Stephen Perkins. No "Jane Says" though.......... Set cut short??

NINE INCH NAILS were awesome. But what else am I going to say?? Cutting down to a 4 piece seems to have given the band more raw energy. Trent seems happy to be onstage, Robin is still a star, Justin is just cool and Ilan is a fantastic drummer.

Set list:
Somewhat Damaged
Terrible Lie
Heresy
March Of The Pigs
Piggy
Metal
The Becoming
I'm Afraid Of Americans
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Gone, Still
The Way Out Is Through
Wish
Survivalism
Suck
The Day The World Went Away
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt

Pics in the Photo Archive

First gig with Rockzilla

2009-07-03T23:58:00.000+01:00

First gig with Rockzilla at The Shoulder of Mutton, Barton-Under-Needwood.
What can I say.... It sucked!
Was a lovely warm night so everyone was enjoying the weather outside while we were sweating our cobs off inside!!
Total lack of enthusiasm on stage and I think we all agreed to forget it and move on to the next one.
Can't win them all....

Don't worry, it'll soon be home time!!!

2009-07-03T22:44:00.000+01:00

Live and sweaty!!

2009-07-03T22:41:00.000+01:00

Are we having fun yet???

2009-07-03T20:43:00.000+01:00

Are you sure we have enough guitars???

2009-07-03T20:35:00.000+01:00

New Rubicon pics added

2009-05-24T23:01:00.000+01:00

Just added some more pics from two of the Rubicon Biker Rally gigs.

The BBAT Biker Rally, Llandridnod Wells here
http://barrysblogthingy.blogspot.com/2009_05_02_archive.html

and the NABD National Biker Rally, Cheshire here http://barrysblogthingy.blogspot.com/2009_05_08_archive.html

Feeling happy!

2009-05-24T18:02:00.000+01:00

Nice weather, a few beers, a BBQ (eventually), lovely company, a day of chilling....
Doesn't get much better :-)

Royal British Legion Riders Rally, Oldbury

2009-05-23T21:10:00.000+01:00

6th and final gig (for now) with Rubicon

Four blokes on a trailer!!

Sitwell Tavern, Derby

2009-05-15T23:57:00.000+01:00

Another gig with Rubicon.
We came, we saw, we kicked some ass, we got paid, we went home. Seperately!!

Cheers to Rob for the almost David Bailey-esque quality pics ;-)

Well....

2009-05-09T23:57:00.000+01:00

What can I say? That gig was, errr.... Different! Nice to see Matt and Jo there. I am so glad you two left early tho! Didn't realise a second set could have so few songs in it! Taxi!!!

Cozy!

2009-05-09T21:14:00.000+01:00

The Church Tavern, Quarry Bank.

So which one of you b@st@rds spilt my pint??

2009-05-08T23:59:00.000+01:00

Even more pics....

2009-05-08T23:58:00.000+01:00

More pics....

2009-05-08T23:57:00.001+01:00

NABD National Biker Rally, Cheshire

2009-05-08T23:57:00.000+01:00

Rubicon: Kicking more than a little bit of ass!

Oooh look.... People!!!!

2009-05-08T22:08:00.000+01:00

Getting ready to rock!

2009-05-08T22:07:00.000+01:00

Fame at last.... Err.... LOL

2009-05-07T19:47:00.000+01:00

Just checked the Rubicon website and myspace. Are they a bunch of sweeties saying all those nice things about little old me or what :-) Could of used a more flattering pic tho!!
Seriously tho, cheers to Pete for the nice comments.

Even more pics....

2009-05-02T23:59:00.000+01:00

More pics....

2009-05-02T23:58:00.000+01:00

WTF??

2009-05-02T23:47:00.000+01:00

BBAT Biker Rally, Llandridnod Wells

2009-05-02T23:34:00.000+01:00

Second gig standing in for Rubicon. Went really well. Band went down a storm and everyone was really friendly. Good burgers. Free beer. Bad chemical toilets!!