Wednesday 31 August 2011

Reading! Sunday n' tingz

Sunday was a good day for music in Reading,

I kicked my day off with a visit to main stage to have a bop to Enter Shikari. Enter Shikari is a British post-hardcore band with elements of electronica, dubstep, and drum and bass, formed in 2003, they put on an amazing show and got the crowd moving; human pyramids, walls of death and circle pits were visible throughout the set.


My favorite songs of theirs would have to be "Sorry You're Not A Winner", "Juggernauts" and "Jonny Sniper" and I would definitely have you check them out if you are not already accustom.

Next up I we went over to the NME/Radio 1 Stage to see a band I have always had a secret admiration for, Panic! at the Disco. Panic! at the Disco are an American alternative rock band and have been around since 2005, they played an excellent set and the NME/Radio 1 stage's tent was packed to the brim.


Favorite songs would include "There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet", "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", "The Ballad of Mona Lisa", "Let's Kill Tonight" and "Nine In The Afternoon".

Next up were The Streets. The Streets are a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by Mike Skinner. Sadly it was their last ever set this year at Reading Festival. Mike Skinner and the rest of the group performed an excellent final set during which Skinner said "I die tonight. I'm going to leave you now, I've got other things to get on with and I'm getting too old.".

It really was an awesome set, an excellent set list and an admirable atmosphere within the arena, a little sad at times knowing that The Streets are no more, Skinner couldn't of been more thankful for his fans support over the years, at the end of the set he spoke to the crowd, "Thank you so much for listening to me chat shit once more."...before leaving the stage he pulled a respectful moony and said "All the laser crew, all the original gangsters, please take care of yourselves kids."

I fucking love The Streets, notable favorite songs would have to be "Turn The Page", "Don't Mug Yourself", "Weak Become Heroes", "Fit But You Know It", "Dry Your Eyes".

I feel bad for anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to see The Streets live they really are a great bunch to see and I for one will be sad not seeing them around. I wish Skinner all the best in his ventures, I think he wants to do some acting or whatnot and I am sure he will be just as good in that field of work.

The final band of the night and pinnacle of the weekend were next up, Muse.

If you have not heard of Muse, you really do need to climb out from under that rock! Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. Known for their AMAZING live performances and excellent stage presence. I was mind blown when they started, the stage setup and lights etc were amazing. Here's a few snaps.

All in all an epic weekend, will be doing a post later/tomorrow with shout-outs to friends I made and shiznitch!!! For now though I must head off!
Posted by SweetCheeksMcGill at 08:15 5 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Reading! Saturday n' tingz

I kinda don't recall much from Saturday as I must of been very hungover or utterly gazeebo'd..

After some casual racist slurs from my tent and wolf-pack banter and plenty of drinks we regrouped to see madness,

Madness are a British pop/ska/two-tone band from Camden Town, London, that formed in 1976. They have some massive hits and are an all time favorite, even today they are still kicking ass and making the crowd move and skank.


Madness played an awesome set and Graham McPherson (Suggs) the lead singer was really working the crowd and having a bit of banter with the band, I have to say they are one of the best bands I have seen live (more than once might I add) and are always a laugh, he and the other members must be about 50 years old..yet still provide an excellent atmosphere and stage presence, definitely a must see.

After Madness was one of my favorite bands ever, I first heard of them on One Tree Hill (sad I know, right?) and then got hold of the complete discography, instantly falling in love.

Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind. Songs you may have heard would be "Hear You Me" (as mentioned, from One Tree Hill) or "The Middle" and "Sweetness" which reached many charts after release.


They really are an amazing band, some excellent music. I will not lie to you as I was listening to them the hairs on my arms stood up tall and a little tear was brewing in my eye, many of their songs mean a lot to me and make me think of my past, my potential future and various things that have happened along the way, they are indeed one of my favorite bands and I definitely recomment you give them a listen if you are not already accustom to them!

Later that evening the wolf-pack went on a prowl, tonight's pack was made up of Myself, Pete, Chard, Jackone, Liam and Adam. We got tanked up and grabbed a few road beers before going for walkies, along the way we had some excellent banter and even created a game for any and all to play, we even gave it a little theme tune.

We took the well known game "JimJam! Cock Or Ball?!?" and took it to a whole other level, (Multiplayer) 5 of us would approach potential players with a one liner asking if they wanted to play a game which required no contact just visuals. Many would decline but the odd few (weird bunch of lasses) would agree to play (verbal contract, no suing us!).

We would give a little introduction song which follows the tune of two and a half men. As the theme tune ended the 6th member of the wolf-pack would step forward with ..well cock or ball! Now we are not getting naked for randomers it's merely a game where you stretch a bit of skin and the contestants have to guess which of the two it is, we had a few good players who nailed it straight away. We also had the one lass who pulled out her torch to have a 'better look'...all in all provided to be a fun night.

We also bumped into one lass who had previously lost the game and chatted for a bit, she was out of her face and was a laugh, we left her on her way then as we were walking away we hear a banterish scream behind us, and I turn to see this lass stood there with her top pulled up and jumping about, I am not sure if the others got a full views but eh, was a laugh.

I think it was about 4-5am before we went to bed...all in all was a banterfilled day even though I did only see two bands.

Posted by SweetCheeksMcGill at 13:28 3 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Monday 29 August 2011

Reading Festival : Weds-Fri Summary (more to come)

Well I don't know where to start as I've had a fucking epic weekend, probably one of the best weekends of my life so far!

It all kicked off Wednesday with an early start and me getting my haircut and sorting out camping equipment and packing all my shiz up ready for a long weekend of fun times.

The plan was for me to meet a lad I went to school with at the station at 12:00am and the rest of our soon to be "wolfpack" (plus the wench).

[fairly normal journey goes here]

We arrived in Reading at decent time and only queued for like half hour to get in, the crew so far was as follows:

Myself, Pete, Chard (Richard), Jack (Jackone, pronounced Jackwon), Duffy, Rachel(Duffy's wench)..wet set up camp and got utterly gazeebo'd.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty much just getting so drunk and wandering around the campsite to meet with random people and have a good laugh make some new friends and get messy.

We had some excellent banter, we as a group introduced a few new things to the Reading experience firstly was a simple "Hiya" (pronounced 'I-Ya') you would literally just say it to anyone and everyone, after the first day everyone camped around us was accustom to this.

Secondly was yelling "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard" (or a variation of) this was an excellent way for us to find the lost hobbits within our group during sets, or whilst lost in crowds. Others were "Auto-bots Roll Out!"....and the favorite "Activate Beast Mode!!"


There was also a lot of casual(or not so) racism, but hey we are in reading and floating jackets are for win!

Fridays music was ace I will run through the bands I saw and give you some info on them along with my opinion on how the performance went and shiznitch.

First up was the Architects to open the main stage, they are a metal band from Brighton and I had not heard much, if anything, of theirs in the past but I was impressed with the performance they gave and I will be investing in some new tracks of theirs in the few days to come, I feel they did give it their best in getting the crowd going even though the weather was shit during their set.



Next up was The Blackout, they are post-hardcore band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, formed in 2003, may be known for supporting Lostprophets on their Liberation Transmission Tour. All of the lads said we should go to see this band. I had not heard any of their songs but was willing to give them a chance, I am glad I did, I loved the set and was well into the band.


Third band of the day was one of my favorites over the whole weekend, New Found Glory!

New Found Glory are a rock band from Florida who I use to listen to as a wee nipper and had seen in 2009, I absolutely love all of their albums and loved the set list and had a little sing along and bop in the crowd, was hands down one of the best bands I have seen live, great bunch of lads and an excellent show.


Not to mention lucky bastard Chad Gilbert (Lead guitar/backing vocals) who is dating Hayley Williams (paramore)..Damn she is hot!


The fourth band I saw of the day was yet another I was not all that familiar with, I had heard a few songs of theirs but nothing more, Bring Me The Horizon who are a modern metal/metalcore band from Sheffield, played an awesome set and I would definitely recommend them!


After BMTH I left the wolfpack and headed back to camp to get tanked up before Sub Focus and then the Nero set, my good pal Tommy from uni managed to grab a ticket last minute so we arranged to meet up,

Nick Douwma, known as Sub Focus is an electronic music producer (Drum n Bass) who drops some pretty sick beats and excellent music for throwing shapes and having a good time. Sub Focus played a pretty darn sexy set with some crazy lights and the lark! Was great fun.


Next up we had a Nero DJ set, Nero are a duo of electronic music artists, best known for producing house, dubstep and drum and bass. This was also epic! Nothing better than a nice dubstep workout with friends and strangers, bopping and throwing shapes completely off your rocker.


Next on the Agenda was 30 Seconds to Mars, 30 Seconds To Mars is a band from Los Angeles lead by the actor Jared Leto, their music is difficult to categorise, being associated mostly with progressive rock/metal and post-grunge but also included electronic music, space rock, post-hardcore and synth rock into their music. I really Love their albums and think Jared in one sexy mofo, the entrance to the stage and the act itself I thought was great but by gosh did they drag the songs on and on and on a hell of a lot longer than I felt was needed.


I also felt it was just a massive ego trip for Jared, I mean I love the guy but you didn't get a glimpse of the band it was all him and him alone, I loved the songs and the effects and the show as a whole but in general felt that stretching each song to about 10 minutes longer than it's originally meant to be is a bit off and him parading around on stage like he's gods gift was a wee bit over the top.

Lastly for me on this faithful night was a band I wasn't all that keen on, I liked a few of their songs in the past and knew the words to others, My Chemical Romance.


My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey who have been around for the last ten years, I am glad I went to watch them as they played an amazing set with all the songs I knew and liked and played them well, some great effects and lights to go with a great set list.

Awesome end to an awesome day of music, 8 sets in one day, not too shabby.

So tired, writing up Saturday and Sunday tomorrow!
Posted by SweetCheeksMcGill at 10:55 4 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 21 August 2011

Housing - Reading Festival - Back Soon!

Hello folks,

Right-O Keeping this short and to the point!!

I am heading down to Worcester with my ol' pal 'Lord Robsworth Pettington' tomorrow to look at a 2 bedroom place for us to live, then off to "Reading Festival" on Wednesday until the following Monday so sadly I will not be blogging. I whored the line-up off the site, have a ganders.



See you in a week!!
Posted by SweetCheeksMcGill at 14:32 3 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)