Well, An Cafe was fun.
Had a nice fun queue, chatting with a few random bods. J-Rock gigs do seem to have exceptionally friendly queues. I'm not sure why.
Scary thing is I'm starting to recognize people, and some of them recognize me. Encountered a few bods from LM.C inside and out, including a rather strange young thing who only refers to me as "awesome dude". Ahh, if only she knew the truth...
Anyway, fun with happy random peeps, and once more I will no doubt grace the facebook pages of complete strangers, which is frankly starting to become a bit of a habit.
But anyway, the gig itself. What was it like? Well to sum it in several words I can only say this;
I can't believe they actually played duck no magical adventure. Seriously.
Of course it was good. It was however quite short, with everything wrapping up around half nine or so. But then I guess thatsto expected with no support band. But they played well, worked the crowd, beat the security guards with hammers and a good time was most definately had by all. They played a lot of new songs, which although I didn't know were all cool, and are certainly making me look forward to listening to the new album.
I really should be able to say more than that, but frankly I'm incredibly tired. I've been having a rather shitty few weeks at work and have been stressed out of gourd for quite a long time. Tonight was a fun diversion from all that, but it has left me rather drained.
Drained, but Nyappy.
And Nyappy is half the battle.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Saturday, 14 March 2009
[old blog import] FTINMWTFSBWWTA
Lat night I dreamed that I was getting a train in Japan. Carrying my 72" Biogenetic Bone Spear and a large plastic dustbin.
When I got on the train there was a video advert thing that featured footage of me and those other poor unfortunate souls I went to Japan with getting off a coach.
Later, or possibly earlier, I think there was something about piercings, but I don't really know what.
Interpret THAT if you dare.
When I got on the train there was a video advert thing that featured footage of me and those other poor unfortunate souls I went to Japan with getting off a coach.
Later, or possibly earlier, I think there was something about piercings, but I don't really know what.
Interpret THAT if you dare.
Friday, 6 March 2009
[old blog import] Opera-tion. You're the Doctor. It's so much fun to play
I awake this morning with a mouth that feels like a war crime. The product of a late night kebab? Or perhaps some mystical biological interpretation of the current themes of nuclear destruction that seem to attend my various cultural forays?
Okay, it was probably the kebab.
Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that I went out to the opera last night. We saw a little piece called Doctor Atomic, which is about Oppenheimer and the lead up to the detonation of the first ever nuclear bomb.
It was, all things considered, rather good. Obviouslly my experience of opera is somewhat limited, so my judgements are skewed accordingly and scarcely professional. But then I'm writing in my internets blog, not a reputable journal of cultural discussion. So who cares?
The first and probably most impressive thing about the performance was the visual impact of the whole thing. Utilising a simple but versatile movable scaffoldy type job and a couple of bits of furniture and whatnot they achieve a remarkable dynamic between the settings of various scenes. Intelligent use of lighting and clever projections enhance the whole thing greatly. Mad props also go out to the direction. There's almost always a whole load of something going on in the background. It's almost like an episode of Trapdoor in terms of the amount of movement going on. Awesome stagecraft. I was most impressed.
The acting is kind of hard to judge, as in this context it's really part of the music. I've already mentioned the sheer amount of buisness going on though, which does count in the department quite significantly. The performances were all pretty good, though not being a particular expert in this field it's hard to pick out particular highlights or dissapointments. I will however say that the lead role was being covered by an understudy, as the normal guy was off sick. I didn't think this detracted from the performance in any way, and the guy who was playing the part was good. Indeed, I have the opinion that an understudy is in many ways going to give a better performance than a big star, since this is a big chance for them and they'll be trying harder.
Musically it was pretty interesting, and certainly gave of a good range of ambient doominess in places, with a fairly soundtracky vibe. I'm such a philistine I know, but there was one movement that really did make me think it would work well on a chase scene.
There is one major sticking point with the piece though, which is what can only be described as "the hair sniffing scene". It was wrong, creepy and overlong. There are lengths to which one can push a metaphor. This scene pushed it past the point of no return, off a cliff, and several miles out to see. Going on at length about haory women that smell like sailors is just.... well, you see what I mean.
Sorry mate, your poetic licence has been revoked.
Other than that particular bit of sheer perversity, all good. Didn't really seem like it was about 3 hours long, which was good, but also kind of weird as it did feel rather padded in places.
I'd say, all in all, that it was a fun and interesting night out. I'd recommend doing something like this easily, and would probably go see an opera again if one took my fancy.
That however is with the proviso of price. I got the seats for this on special offer. They only cost me £10 each. The RRP on them was more like £70. If you're wondering what it is exactly thats stopping the masses from appreciating the arts, then let me point out that nobody is going to check something out for £70+. Get me some reasonabley priced seats however, and I'll be there.
Culture, motherfuckers. Try it.
Okay, it was probably the kebab.
Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that I went out to the opera last night. We saw a little piece called Doctor Atomic, which is about Oppenheimer and the lead up to the detonation of the first ever nuclear bomb.
It was, all things considered, rather good. Obviouslly my experience of opera is somewhat limited, so my judgements are skewed accordingly and scarcely professional. But then I'm writing in my internets blog, not a reputable journal of cultural discussion. So who cares?
The first and probably most impressive thing about the performance was the visual impact of the whole thing. Utilising a simple but versatile movable scaffoldy type job and a couple of bits of furniture and whatnot they achieve a remarkable dynamic between the settings of various scenes. Intelligent use of lighting and clever projections enhance the whole thing greatly. Mad props also go out to the direction. There's almost always a whole load of something going on in the background. It's almost like an episode of Trapdoor in terms of the amount of movement going on. Awesome stagecraft. I was most impressed.
The acting is kind of hard to judge, as in this context it's really part of the music. I've already mentioned the sheer amount of buisness going on though, which does count in the department quite significantly. The performances were all pretty good, though not being a particular expert in this field it's hard to pick out particular highlights or dissapointments. I will however say that the lead role was being covered by an understudy, as the normal guy was off sick. I didn't think this detracted from the performance in any way, and the guy who was playing the part was good. Indeed, I have the opinion that an understudy is in many ways going to give a better performance than a big star, since this is a big chance for them and they'll be trying harder.
Musically it was pretty interesting, and certainly gave of a good range of ambient doominess in places, with a fairly soundtracky vibe. I'm such a philistine I know, but there was one movement that really did make me think it would work well on a chase scene.
There is one major sticking point with the piece though, which is what can only be described as "the hair sniffing scene". It was wrong, creepy and overlong. There are lengths to which one can push a metaphor. This scene pushed it past the point of no return, off a cliff, and several miles out to see. Going on at length about haory women that smell like sailors is just.... well, you see what I mean.
Sorry mate, your poetic licence has been revoked.
Other than that particular bit of sheer perversity, all good. Didn't really seem like it was about 3 hours long, which was good, but also kind of weird as it did feel rather padded in places.
I'd say, all in all, that it was a fun and interesting night out. I'd recommend doing something like this easily, and would probably go see an opera again if one took my fancy.
That however is with the proviso of price. I got the seats for this on special offer. They only cost me £10 each. The RRP on them was more like £70. If you're wondering what it is exactly thats stopping the masses from appreciating the arts, then let me point out that nobody is going to check something out for £70+. Get me some reasonabley priced seats however, and I'll be there.
Culture, motherfuckers. Try it.
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