Wednesday April 23
 
09:03
 
The Ugliest Band In The World

Last night I went to see what can only be described as the ugliest band in the world - Biffy Clyro. They are, however, a band full of surprises: they are Scottish but sound American; they’ve been going for years and I’ve never heard of them; and, most importantly, despite being hideously ugly – beards, unkempt hair, tattoos, etc and despite me not particularly liking the CDs that I’ve heard from them – they are one of the few bands that has blown me away live. I can’t remember any time in the past when I’ve heard new material at a concert and instantly liked it – usually I need to hear music on CD first.

Maybe now the CDs with grow on me, … though if I can’t get the image of the band out of my head, that’s very unlikely!

Wednesday March 26
 
23:49
 
This Is Becoming A Habit

Last night I went to see The Pigeon Detectives – one of my favourite British bands – in Tokyo.

They played a long set and the music was fantastic, but there were two huge problems.

Firstly, they didn’t play my favourite song “You know I love you”:

You know I love you
Take off your clothes
It’s alright
It’s alright

This is the song that got me into The Pigeon Detectives – a surreal experience of being in Woolworths, possibly the most bland and boring and safe chain shop in the world, and hearing a song about trying to seduce a woman into having sex being piped through the store.

This happened when I went to see Bjork in Japan also – she didn’t play my favourite song. It’s becoming a habit, dammit. Luckily the next band I’m going to see in Tokyo – Biffy Clyro - I’ve never even heard, so no problems there. I’m only going to see them because (a) they are Scottish playing in Tokyo, and (b) my brother will be here at that time, and I want to show him different sides of Tokyo. What better way to treat a guy flying to Tokyo from Scotland than to show him a Scottish band?

But The Pigeon Detectives not playing my favourite song was made even worse by the fact that they didn’t play an encore. So here was me standing thinking “Well, they’ve kept the best till last, right?”

What band doesn’t play an encore? People hung around for over 15 minutes waiting for them to come back out – even the venue owners thought they’d come back out, because they didn’t raise the lights. PATHETIC. Leave lots of little Japanese disappointed – way to handle your international fanbase guys.

Thursday February 28
 
00:24
 
Portishead Are Back

I’ve just found out that Portishead will have a new album out in April. Fantastic news.

“It’s more evil,” they say.

Can’t wait.