Take Pictures

'So sick and tired of all these pictures of me, everybody's dying just to get the disease'



Well, I guess I’m picking up the dirty baton again then…

I was going to put a few pictures from the Dublin Castle gig up (taken by Stu the Pearly Legend!) however, blogger seems to be having some problems. There should be a load more on the website soon but for now, this is it.

Oh well.. I tried. At least the one I put up is OK.. there are a couple of pretty bad ones! Ha! Ha!
When asked to comment on this Photographer Stuart Hogben had the following quote: 'Yeah, well you can't polish a turd can you?'. Mr Hogben is available for hire (there are some good ones too!), I'll get his website address up here somewhere..

Other things
Saw the Eels at the Royal Festival Hall - It was probably the 4th best concert that I've seen of their's, it was also the funniest but definitely the most expensive.. £30! Still, I guess Queen impersonators don't come cheap.. Here are 2 quite gushing reviews:

http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,2260139,00.html

http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2984356

In my humble opinion, it was an entertaining show but a bit disappointing from a music point of view as the stripped down versions of some songs seemed a bit half-arsed to me. I would have preferred a full band assault.. blah blah.. £30!... blah blah.. has become more about him than the music... blah blah.. I could bore myself and you, dear reader, writing about this shit so I'm not gonna bother.

Come to our gig on Friday if you can, we're on at 11ish.. we have a great new song that goes 'You got big plans.. Yaaeeahhh-Errrr' and it rocks.
Details here: http://www.pearlyband.co.uk/gigs.htm.

Take it easy.

WFA

‘I wont always love these selfish things
I won't always live not stopping’

And so.. a full 4 months on since our last proper post, I’m picking up the dirty baton that is the band blog and running with it.. and sticking down another proverbial (insightful/thought-provoking/interesting/completely pointless - Delete as appropriate) marker flag of a post to let people know what is going on with us. Thank you to anyone who has taken the piss out of us for not updating this regularly enough, please keep doing it as if you hadn’t, it would have been summer before we’d written again.

The gig on Saturday went well despite the 2 other bands that were supposed to be playing pulling out, one on the day.. in fact we still do not know what happened to them. We hope they are ok.

Things that stick in my brain about the gig/night..

People singing and dancing!! Woo-hoo!! Singing and dancing from the audience! In Camden’s fashionable Dublin Castle even!! I may consciously try to write for the singing and dancing masses now, so I guess expect some disco tunes.
The Strawberry cider available there.. lovely.
Pondering the question.. Why do bands have managers if they don’t relay messages about equipment sharing onto band members?

Music..

Bobby Gentry – How have I not known about her before??
The Weakerthans – Song writing genius.. songs written from the perspective of a cat anyone?
Sample lyric:

‘I swear I'm going to bite you hard and taste your tinny bloodif you don't stop the self-defeating lies you've been repeatingsince the day you brought me home.I know you're strong.’

One of my favourite lyrics of theirs is ‘I’ve got more faults than the state of California’.

Pinback – This band should be known by more people. They make such great songs out of building up sparse intricate melodies and harmonies
Radiohead – This band should be known by.. oh that doesn’t really work does it?.. I like the new album a lot, it feels like a concise piece of art which is cool. However, I just wish that they would get round to recording more of the stuff that everyone knows they have. I love the songs that clearly come out of jams but I also think that they leave everyone behind when it comes to flawingly magnificent songs like Nude (although I preferred the ending on the Meeting People with the mini rock bit..). It just seems quite funny that a band who probably have over 100 songs on the back burner only put 10 on one album. Songs I’d like to hear recorded properly on an album: Lift, Big Boots/Man-O-War, True Love Waits.. but hey, I’m just one more fan happy that they’ve released another album.
Jimmy Eat World – Their new album is very good. I’m going to see them soon… woo-hoo!
How about that Feist lady – I was naturally suspicious due to that song being used on an advert.. but I saw her on Jools Holland and she rocked it, she played a couple of wicked guitar solos. I never understand female performers who play guitar allowing some guy to get all the solos when they play live. Anyway, I think her album might be on a mid-price re-release drive at the moment.

New Bands We’ve Seen on Our Travels

www.myspace.com/sevendayslater - Saw these guys at The Purple Turtle, they were very good. They have a strong Biffy Clyro influence(a very good thing in my book) and I heard a little bit of Soundgarden in there too. Good riffage, they rock hard and the singer has a good voice. If you like a bit of good quality British rock check ‘em out.

Things I’ve Learnt:

Rufus Hound the comedian is very very funny.
You can get a black eye from playing 5-a-side football.
February seems to like to make up for January’s quietness.

Anyway, band stuff.. the site should be updated soon with new news. I’m going to be turning my room into a little creative factory this evening in an attempt to try to finish some of the half finished songs we have floating around. I’m a lazy bugger when it comes to finishing songs. Sometimes I like the fact that the individual ‘mini idea’ is sometimes more interesting on it’s own rather than adding anything.. much like a parent in love with their child at a young age, I just don’t want them to grow up too fast.. Ha! Ha! I want to have a brand new tune for the next gig so I’d better get cracking! The most promising things are one thing we jam which has a working title of ‘Zombie Girls’, a piano thing with an orchestral arrangement waiting to happen and a big lovely Chorus I have which is looking for a Verse with a GSOH for fun and frolics.
That’s right my room is a singles event for song ideas tonight, let’s hope a few ‘love connections’ are made.. Ha! Ha! Wish me luck.

Who wants the dirty baton? Who? Come on you blaggards!

WFA

Summer Hols

‘Why should you want any other
When you're a world within a world?’

Band members have scattered for a week or two for much deserved holidays, hence a lack of band activity.
It was my birthday last week, I am trying to make it last for about 5 weeks.
I have moved flats and now have a room that I think will be a big, lovable creative space for quite a while.. in fact the flat might be big enough to have a gig, which can only a good thing right?

Music I have been loving of late.. Prince, Elliott Smith, Biffy Clyro, Captain, Metallica, Nellie McKay.. some songs by these artists will be on the competition winners mix CDs that I will be making, hopefully this evening to send, along with all the other stuff that is.. so hopefully before Christmas!! Ha! Ha!

Things I have learnt in the last couple of weeks:
Always be aware of the time when planning to catch a last train home.
Don’t go to clubs in flip-flops, you might get a cut foot.
How some women must feel when sexually harassed by men on a night out.
Time flies when you’re playing Poker.
Sleep helps generally.
This is a cool website: www.songmeanings.net

Our next gig is at The Dublin Castle in Camden on 22nd September.. many people I have told about this have thought that we are actually playing in Dublin rather than a dirty corner of Camden, which is quite funny as some people discussed looking at Ryan Air flight prices! As far as I am aware, Travelcards are still roughly about £5… Buy a Magners/Bulmers/Gaymers (or even a White Lightning) and close your eyes and I’m sure you’ll feel the same if it was in Dublin for real.

Anyway, hope you are enjoying some kind of break.. like I said: Sleep helps generally.

WFA