Hey there sports fans. Just a quick 'what is up' from the Wedding Tour. In Shrewsbury now for some parents on girlfriend's parents action. Barenaked Ladies (along with support from Joel Plaskett and Boothby Graffoe) were incredible on Monday night and if they're in your vicinity I implore you to check them out. Steven Page leaving the band seems to have given everyone else a little more room to shine and the BNL rocked a great mix of new songs, classics and slightly more obscure album tracks. Highlights include an acapella accompanied dance mix of Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas and Justin Bieber, Tyler Stewart stepping out from behind the drums for 'Alcohol' and a full band version of 'When I Fall'.
When else will you get the chance to hear The Big Bang Theory theme tune sung live by the guys who wrote it?
It's been a busy day at Steveitude Towers as we're packing up our bags and heading to the UK tomorrow for a week of frolics. We're in Brighton tomorrow until Tuesday for the purpose of seeing my favourite all time band The Barenaked Ladies in concert (For the first time without Steven Page). After that we head up to Shrewsbury with a Thursday night trip to Liverpool for the Europa League match against Steau Bucharest. Then on Friday it's the wedding of Mr. Simon Wray to Miss. Vicki Jones followed by party time on Saturday. I won't have my laptop with me so my blogging output might be severely reduced but from the week after. It's pretty exciting, Si and Vic have insisted they're not going to have Ushers at the wedding but in my twisted fantasy world it's the job I've been training for my whole life. Peace Up, A-Town Down!
Fantasy Football fans will also be delighted to know I played my Wild Card today and I'm ready to start dominating the league. Things are about to get a whole lot more Drogbalicious.
Last Thursday night my home boys headed down to Cineworld for the late screening of Piranha 3D. Those of you who follow my Facebook status down to a freakish detail might note that I've been looking forward to this flick for some time. It did not disappoint.
If you like boobs this film is for you. If you like gore this film is for you. If you like confusingly long underwater lesbian sex scenes then this film is DEFINITELY for you. Empire described it as the film Snakes On a Plane should have been and they aren't far wrong. It is gloriously over the top from start to finish not a minute is wasted with anything that isn't insanely fun. Maybe the 3D isn't as subtle as Avatar but I think there's room for the form to provide a penis being eaten or a Piranha bursting through a woman's head as well as sensuous detail. At least it bothered to use the 3D which is more than can be said about a few of the 3D conversions so far. Also the casting is inspired - Jerry O'Connell, Kelly Brook, Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames and the coup of all coups Christopher Lloyd. The only thing they missed out on was a lab assistant to Lloyd's character called Scott who says something really insightful to which Lloyd replies 'Great Scott!'.
The film succeeds because it knows what it wants to be. It has an identity. This isn't The Piano and doesn't want to be. In a way it reminds me of Jason X. Yes this is Grade A schlock but it is funny, gory and most of all entertaining. Go and give it a look. Your cash dollars make the potential sequel set at the Full Moon Party in Thailand all the more likely to happen.
So another Jersey Live has come and gone. Another weekend of music, cider and over-priced food. For the 7th year in a row I had an awesome time.
It's interesting how the Festival has evolved. From the first year where you could waltz to the front barrier during the performance for Razorlight to the change to a 2 day Festival and now the multiple stages with a variety of different acts. This year it seemed to be only a few minor tweaks but the toilets seemed better positioned and drinks lines only seemed to be a problem in the Cider tent. I can't comment on the queing issues as we had arrived earlyish both days but I have to say the full body searches on pretty much every person seemed a bit much. Especially when the security guards took Paul's chewing gum. Confusing. I have heard some people complain about waiting for food but again I didn't experience this myself. Maybe because I opted against buying food on the Sunday after a confusingly worded sign led to me spending £9 on a Burrito and Wedges at Amigos on Saturday. Having recommended this stall in the past I can now safely stear people away from these rude and obnoxious rip-off merchants.
The main thing about a Music Festival always has to be the music. As I mentioned in my brief Festival preview there wasn't actually a huge amount I was looking forward to. The exception to this was Biffy Clyro and as expected they absolutely rocked it and for me were by far the best band of the weekend. I also have to say Paul Weller was far better than I was expecting and had everyone going pretty crazy with 'A Town Called Malice'. Professor Green managed to put on a more than competent live performance which can often be difficult when you're performing songs with lots of samples and rapping. The video above is Darwin Deez who put on an incredible performance including a number of dance breaks inbetween songs (Including a crab dance!). I would like to see more bands doing this in future. Can you imagine Thom Yorke shouting dance break and Radiohead then busting some choreographed dance moves to an ABBA song on the mainstage at Glastonbury? I can. Away from the Main Stage the Jersey bands provided plenty of entertainment on the Wild West Tease Stage (Which also had a very accessible bar!). Shout outs to The Mulburys, Hold Your Fire! (Who are playing at the 02 Arena next month! Nice one), Brave Yesterday, Frankie Davies and Hiphoperation who I admired from a distance. In my mind Rhodri Hart is the perfect spokesperson for Pear Wine.
I must also congratulate Tinie Tempah on saying 'Jersey' a whopping 39 times during his less than 30 minute set that included a Taio Cruz song. Hold me closer Tinie Tempah.
All in all I quite enjoyed freedom from my usual single minded desperation to see a long list of bands. It was enjoyable to just wander around and experience the Festival, sit on the grass and drink St Helier Cider. In this respect the glorious weather certainly helped. I think my energy levels are now recovering and I look forward to next year. Hopefully I'll see you there.
BIG WEEKEND! Hello friends and followers. We're back here at Steveitude Towers after a hugely busy weekend with visits from Mr Dave 'Wild Man' Henshaw, Adam 'H-Bomb' Hargreaves, Tom '5th Place' Haywood and Ms Paul Hinz. I'm completely exhausted after Crabbing, Jumping, Bowling, Golfing and Dancing so I'll save the big Jersey Live recap for tomorrow. Instead why not enjoy this excellent photograph of a Crab caught on a crabbing expedition to Archirondel.
If you're a running fan or a running related magazine fan then you may have noticed the article by a Mr Robert Lawrence in the new issue of Runner's World detailing his favourite Jersey runs. I can confirm this is the same Rob Lawrence who Fathered me and continues to be a Father Figure to this day. I'm not at all jealous that his first magazine article has probably reached more people than all mine combined! Check it out.
Here at Steveitude Towers we're getting in the mood for this weekend's Jersey Live Festival. I have to say there aren't really the same number of bands that I'm crazily excited to see as usual but it's hard to tell if this is me or the festival itself. Go back to a couple of years ago and I was struggling at Reading just to fit in all the bands I wanted to see all across the stages nowadays those little known bands I squeezed into tiny tents to catch a glimpse of seem to have either fallen off the face of the planet or become the big names rocking the main stage. I don't really know who their replacements are. I think this could be a good thing though as I should have time to enjoy the festival itself instead of stressing over who I'm getting to see.
The only band I'm massively excited to see are Biffy Clyro. Old stuff, new stuff, they're one of those rare bands where it doesn't really matter what they play I know I'm going to enjoy it (Though I would LOVE Justboy). Also, judging by the last couple of times I've seen them I know it's going to be an awesome show. The other band who would have joined them on this list are Hiphoperation but sadly the organisers have stuck them in the V.I.P tent where pretty much none of their fan base can go watch them .Good work guys!
