Knowing your spots from your Strypes

One thing you should know about me, is that I pride myself in finding new music. The music industry is an immensely decorated canvas of different styles and bands just waiting to be found. Admittedly, it's nice to find that one good band before anybody else does, so you can hold the insignificant mantle of 'I listened to them first'. Of course, that means nothing. Really, I just like to find good music, and I like to pass this good music onto my friends, who then also start listening to this band and the love affair begins. The first stage of listening to a band is pretty special. Especially when you find one that ticks all the right boxes. Enter The Strypes.

Now, i'm not saying i'm the first person to discover this band, as they are liked by a fellow 16,000

The Strypes' EP

people on facebook. But still, they're relatively unknown, but The Strypes give me that feeling that they're going to go on to something huge. A quick scour of the internet and other blogs are also tipping them for international success. Maybe a bit early for a band that is made entirely of 15 year olds.

I just happened to discover The Strypes through a gig that i'm hopefully attending in July. The Courteeners are performing an outdoor festival, and are supported by 3 acts on each day. Because we were originally meant to be attending the Friday, I thought i'd give The Strypes are listen and was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. Now, we've switched to the Saturday, so as to catch Reverend & The Makers, which leads me a tad disappointed not to be catching this young band and hopefully seeing them being just as good live as they are on record. But no matter, an opportunity will arise to see them again in the future, and maybe with a bit of luck they could be announced for Leeds fest on one of the smaller stages.

All I can say at the minute, is go listen to their EP (Young, Gifted and Blue) and keep an eye out for them in the future. Watch this space...

ML - Top 10 live songs of 2012

1. When You Were Young - The Killers
When You Were Young led into the encore when I saw Killers in November. I'd absolutely hammered the Battleborn album before seeing them, and was really excited to see songs such as Runaways and Miss Atomic Bomb, but completely forgot about The Sam's Town album, which in my opinion is their best album. When You Were Young was a phenomenal sing along, and was the perfect song to lead into the encore. Despite being a little disappointed they didn't sing 'River Is Wild', this song made up for it completely. It really was phenomenal. 


2. I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons
The second song of the night, and we'd only been stood there for about 2 minutes when they started to play I Will Wait. I spent more time watching the audience up in the seating area than the actual band simply because of how loud they were singing. I thought The Killers was loud but this particular song was something else. Probably would have been number one had it been either place in the encore or the song leading into the encore. Still, absolutely epic, and Mumford deserved the adulation for such a spectacular song. 


3. All My Life - Foo Fighters
Posted this video on my Top 10 acts of 2012 post, and that was the Reading performance, in my opinion the Leeds performance was better. However, as already stated, not the biggest fan of the Foo Fighters, but I like a couple of their songs. The set was fantastic, but this song was incredible. Dave Grohl is a fantastic front man and put his heart and soul into this song and the crowd responded. Great live song, and it was great being there. 


4. Common People - Pulp
Probably the ultimate song to hear live. We danced, we drinked, we screwed, because there was nothing else to do. The words echo around your head, and it's so relatable to us 'northeners' as we are the common people. It was great to have a sing and a dance to, and Jarvis was in his element. A little disappointed that the show was one of their last, but they can't keep going on forever, and signing off at a hometown show, doesn't get much better. 


5. Not Nineteen Forever - The Courteeners
Again, another brilliant sing along. Made all the more brilliant that I was actually 19 when we saw them, so there was a tiny bit of relation to the song. The Courteeners are an amazing live band, and i've already booked tickets to see them in March next year in Sheffield. I will never ever tire of seeing them, and anticipate the new album Anna, released around the time of my birthday, which is when i realise that i'm in fact, not nineteen forever. 


6. "45" - The Gaslight Anthem
The song that got me into Gaslight. Despite being badgered constantly to listen to them, I finally started liking them after seeing this song live. Lead singer Brian Fallon couldn't stop smiling throughout the performance, simply because how much the crowd loved it. They were bouncing, they were singing and it really was an incredible song to see live. Can't wait to see them in March next year in Manchester, where i'm hoping for more of the same.


7. Disco 2000 - Pulp
'Now we're warmed up, let's have a bit of a dance' were the words that lead into Disco 2000, and it was true. We'd had a couple of songs to bounce around to, and get ourselves in the mood, then Jarvis & co. blurted out Disco 2000 to a packed Sheffield Arena. A magical moment. As said above, disappointed that I probably won't see them again, but Common People & Disco 2000 will always be great live songs that I saw. 


8. I Always Knew - The Vaccines
I avoided putting The Vaccines in my previous post about my 10 best live acts, as i'm unbelievably biased and will always love their live performances. I've loved The Vaccines since day one, and they're probably always going to always hold the mantle of my favourite band. Henceforth, it would be silly to exclude them from this list, and I Always Knew was a personal highlight from their gig at Doncaster Dome. Me and my friends have a running gag that the song would be perfect to play while riding on horseback, so when the song came on, we all trotted on the spot pretending to ride on horses. 


9. Polar Bear - King Charles
King Charles doesn't even get a mention in my other post, which in hindsight is a little unfair. The thing that made the gig so annoying was how exhausting it was. We arrived early and were queuing outside for around half an hour, then had to endure four support acts. It really was too much for somebody as little as King Charles, so by the time he came on, my feet were hurting and I was pretty tired. However, Polar Bear was pretty epic, and i'm glad that I can now cross him off my list. Polar Bear, I can't even describe, was just unbelievably epic singing along to.


10. Spaceman - The Killers
The Killers sneak in again at number 10, with Spaceman. The Number 10 slot could quite easily have been Runaways or Miss Atomic Bomb but chose Spaceman because of the cool graphics they had going on in the background. It was also a really good singalong, but then again so was the entire concert. 

ML - Top 10 acts of 2012

2012 has been a pretty mental year. I've seen some absolutely amazing acts. Here is a list of my top 10 with a brief description of why it justifies my top 10. I've included videos where appropriate. Although I did really enjoy The Vaccines, I decided to leave them out of my top 10 as they're my favourite band and I'm a little biased.

1. Pulp
It was a funny little story with Pulp. I should have seen them at Leeds Fest in 2011, but was too lazy to go back to the arena after a tiring weekend. Looking back on the YouTube clips of the performances, I was gutted that I'd been so foolish. One of my biggest regrets in life today. However, by chance I happened to go on the Pulp gig list and saw they had planned a homecoming gig in December. Perfect! I bagged tickets in pre-sale, and managed to get standing tickets which is always better. It was genuinely the nicest, homeliest gig that I have ever been to. There were nobody throwing beers, no idiots stood next to us, we were all there for the music, and Pulp delivered. It's sad to think that they aren't going to be around for much longer, if at all, but I can finally tick them off my list, after one and a half years of regret.



2. Mumford & Sons
Like The Courteeners, I saw Mumford & Sons twice in 2012. The first time was in Greenhead Park in Huddersfield. Looking back, I can't even remember how I found the tickets, but despite the rain it was an amazing day out. Singing and dancing in a field under the moon light to Mumford's music was perfect. The second time was equally as special. We arrived just as the band started due to our train breaking down, but that wasn't going to dampen our evening. Mumford said that this was the biggest venue that they had played in the UK, and boy did the crowd response. I Will Wait was absolutely epic, the whole place from top to bottom was singing back to them. Absolutely incredible. I said in a previous post I don't think they're big enough to headline Leeds festival, well I take all that back. Would be very happy to see them at Leeds. 

3. John Bishop
I wasn't expecting much from John Bishop. Despite being a big fan of him, he's not my favourite comedian and I was quite apprehensive at not being able to understand his thick scouse accent. As well as this, we also ended up buying tickets a long time after they went on sale, and our seats were pretty poor. However, Bish pulled out all the stops and was by far the funniest of the 3 comedians that I saw in 2012. The show itself was executed brilliantly, which made it all the more special. Would urge everyone to buy his new DVD, his best tour by a country mile. Looking at the acts below, it's a testament to how good his show was that Bish placed so high in my rankings. 


4. Foo Fighters
Despite not being the biggest fan of Dave Grohl's band, I was really looking forward to their headline set. A close friend of mine is the biggest Foo Fighters fan, so I maybe didn't enjoy the set as much as he did. Yet, they still put on an absolutely amazing set, and despite it being a little on the long side and being painfully tired about half way through, I'm so glad that I stayed to the end. Worth every penny to see live. All My Life was absolutely brilliant live, and I get chills watching the Reading performance of it. 



5. The Courteeners
I was lucky enough to see The Courteeners twice in 2012, and the Manchester born band certainly didn't disappoint. Brilliantly enough, I also saw them both times while I was aged 19, adding to the specialness of the song 'not nineteen forever'. The first time at Leeds festival was special, however a third slot on the NME stage meant they had a painfully short set. No worries though, I somehow managed to clinch standing tickets for their homecoming to the MEN arena, and wow, what a night it was. It was basically just a longer version of their set at Leeds fest, and Liam's acoustic solo in the middle of the arena was pretty special. Gave people who weren't near the front to get a bit closer to him. Got hit with a couple of drinks, and had this woman stood next to us who was adamant to offer every single small person to get on her shoulders, but it wasn't ruining the night. Perfect performance from a perfect band, can't wait for the new album.

6.  Kasabian
This was my second time seeing Kasabian after seeing them in late December last year. I knew they were going to smash their headline slot at Leeds festival, and they proved me right. It's amazing how everyone at a Kasabian concert just happens to bounce at the same time, and it's an extraordinary feeling to be part of that bounce. No more words, just go see them if you haven't already. You're missing out. Watch the video below for unreal chills. I will never tire of seeing them.



7- The Killers
I cannot put into words how loud everyone sang along to The Killers. I've liked them since their first album, and their newest album Battleborn is getting back to The Killers that we know and love. So glad that I went to see them on this tour, When You Were Young was a personal highlight, and was easily the best song of the night. Closely followed by Runaways and Spaceman. The amazing thing about a Killers concert is that the songs are so popular it's impossible not to sing along, and like I said, the noise from the crowd was deafening. Absolutely outstanding gig. With a shuffle around of a couple of songs, and playing my favourite song 'River is Wild', they could have easily placed in the top three.

8- Kevin Bridges
Without a doubt, the funniest man to ever walk this planet. I've been a big fan of Kevin Bridges since seeing him in his early days on Mock The Week, and i've followed him ever since. His appearance on Would I lie to you? is perhaps one of the funniest things i've ever seen. We bought the tickets to see Kevin, 14 months before the actual event. So the wait was a long and excruciating one. It was well worth the wait though. I'm not going to try and replicate any jokes that he told, but I seriously recommend you buy his DVD, for many laughs. Only placed so far down the list because of the small venue and being sat behind a human giraffe. I'm hardly one to talk but I had to keep leaning just to get a decent view.

9. The Gaslight Anthem
A nice surprise that I never anticipated would get on to this list. I went to their show at Leeds festival simply because a friend was a massive fan of them. Their live show also turned me into a massive fan, and I disappointed myself that I'd not listened to them sooner. I punched the air in jubilation when news came out they were touring the UK, only to be let down that they clashed with first placed Kevin Bridges. Of all the days, in all the months they just had to be on the same day. Regardless, i'll still be seeing them the next time they tour, and so will many of my other friends who are also turning into massive Gaslight fans. Booked tickets to go see them next year after their stellar performance at Leeds.

10. The Black Keys
Number 10 was hard, I didn't realise how many bands I had seen this year. Leeds fest amounting to most of them, but to leave out bands such as Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs and The Vaccines (my favourite band ever) was hard. However, The Black Keys just sneaked in due to being part of a great day at Leeds festival. I'd only got into The Black Keys a couple of months before Leeds Fest but the bluesy rock stole my heart and I listened to them as much as I could before I saw them. Loved every second of their performance and knew every single song they sang. Kicking myself that I didn't go see them again in their own tour, supported by The Maccabees! I have no idea why I didn't get tickets, but i'm sure that i'll see them again.

So there you have it, been an epic 12 months of music. Hopefully, 2013 will be just as good. Probably going to do a post of the top 10 live songs of 2012, just to keep the blog rolling.

ML - My Leeds Fest wish list

With the announcement coming today of acts appearing across the Leeds Fest weekend, it got me thinking who i'd like to see there in 2013. This years line up seems to be introducing a different variety of acts with hip-hop acts already being introduced, and Black Sabbath being strongly rumoured to headline one of the days, if efestivals is to believed.

I'm suppose what you categorize as a typical 'indie boy', but I hate being type cast so i'll just say that my preference music is quite varied. I do sometimes lean more towards bluesy rock, but generally my music library consists of the indie anthems.

Since I experienced quite an extraordinary leeds fest experience last year (read the write up of my weekend here), this year was always going to be difficult to top. Last year had The Courteeners, Kasabian, The Black Keys and The Vaccines, which are 4 out of my 5 favourite bands. All it would have took was a headline slot for the Arctic Monkeys to make it my perfect festival. With more announcements expected in the following months, and with pay day tomorrow, i'm already tempted to buy my weekend ticket. I'm just going to hang tight for a second though, just to make sure the line-up isn't a complete catastrophe, even though i'd still enjoy the festival regardless of what music played. Here's my wish list of who i'd like to see at leeds festival this year.

Probably worth noting that this isn't just a list of my favourite bands, but bands i'd like to see and who I believe have a very good chance in playing.

1. Franz Ferdinand

I don't really remember how I got into Franz Ferdinand, but i'm glad that I did. I listened to them a lot when I was a lot younger, and only got back into them around this time last year when I heard one of their songs being played in HMV. Thus, I was slightly disappointed that they weren't at Leeds 2012, after they had been rumoured. So, hopefully they'll be there this year on the back of being absent last year.

2. Mumford & Sons
The folksy band have been bandied about to headline the iconic Reading and Leeds festival. Despite already seeing them once, and will be seeing them again in a couple of weeks, I don't think they're quite ready for a headline slot. They're on a similar par to Florence & The Machine, so I reckon subbing a pretty big band could be a real possibility. Seeing them at a festival would be pretty special, they're the perfect festival band and a band I would very much like to see on the line-up.

3. The Fratellis

I've been a massive fan of The Fratellis ever since they released their first album, Costello Music. They failed to live up to the hype of this album with their follow up of Here Me Now. Their music is incredibly catchy and I was devastated to hear that they had broke up and that I could have possibly missed a chance to see them live. Luckily enough, after a couple of hoax's, Jon Fratelli revealed that the band were getting back together. I was unable to convince any of my friends to part money to go see the show, so to see them at Leeds would be pretty epic. I also think that they are a pretty big shout to play, considering that they fit the festivals 'demographic'.

4. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Would be a very unpopular announcement, considering that most people think that he is living off his past success in Oasis. It's hard to disagree when he plays all of our favourite Oasis songs in his set lists. I don't think many people could argue that Oasis' songs are brilliant to have a sing along to, and have defined anthems of our generations. It's impossible not to love one Oasis song, and you'd be hard pushed to find somebody who didn't know the words to Wonderwall. We haven't got Oasis, so Noel is the next best thing. Would love to see in a subbing slot, but I don't think it would go down too well.

5. Blur

I cannot describe how happy I would be if Blur were there. They're a band i've grown up listening to, and I honestly believe that they would smash the headline slot. I'd have loved to have seen them at Hyde Park, but the tickets were ridiculously expensive and just not worth the money, despite being a pretty big fan. Leeds would be perfect for me to see them, although deep down I have a feeling that they won't be playing.

6. Biffy Clyro
I'm not that big of a fan of Biffy, but their latest album did steal my heart. A quick listen to their earlier work though, put me off paying money to see them in their own show. By now I imagine you're getting a good feel of what my music taste is about. Biffy would be a brilliant addition to the line-up and from what i've read they put on a brilliant show. A band that I definitely need to see live, even if i'm not a big fan of the majority of their music.

7. Frank Turner

All my friends absolutely adore Frank, but I never give him a chance. I don't really know why but i've never sat down and listened to him, and I know that I did I would probably enjoy his music. I think he could very well be another Gaslight Anthem, and that it'd take a live performance to win me over. Seeing as i'm not the sort to just buy a concert ticket to someone on the chance of liking them, a festival is a great place to discover new music as well as listening to the music you already know and love. He gave leeds a break last year, so I very much expect him to be there this year. I also missed him in my first leeds festival, due to watching Cage The Elephant, so come on Frank, get back to Leeds.

8. Radiohead
I admit, this one is a shot in the dark. I keep having Radiohead phases where I just listen to them non-stop and I would be over the moon were they chose to headline. Sadly, I can't see it happening, and reading up on a few reviews of their live performances, they've disappointed in their recent years. Plus, their announcement brings about little kids going 'who der fuq r radiohead?', so it'd probably be best if they didn't play. Still a pipe dream of mine though.

9. Arctic Monkeys
They were the only thing missing from a perfect Leeds 2012. With a new album on the cards, it does seem likely that they will play after seemingly playing every other festival in the last couple of years. It does seem like it's Reading and Leeds turn to grace the Sheffield born band.  What does make them unlikely is that their last performance at the festival they claimed to not 'enjoy it', so that being said, could possibly mean that they'll never play the festival again. That seems doubtful though.

10. Dog is Dead
A little band that I got into last year due to working out i'd have a gap at that point in my day, and I needed to see someone. For one reason or another, I ended up not seeing them. I think I saw Enter Shikari instead, but i'm not entirely sure. Anyway, I'm not hung up on not seeing them last year, but it would be nice to see them and now they have an album out, I anticipate that they'll put on a good show.


We'll have to refer back to this blog post when the line-up is completed, to see how happy I am. I think i'll be happy with 4/10 of the list being at the festival.

ML - The train ride of Locomotiv Northcliffe (1/4)

Locomotiv Northcliffe were founded in 2012. A small 5-a-side team from Huddersfield, who play in the Soccer City Wednesday Student League, this is part 1 of 4 of our journey. 

Our first game was against a team named Lord Wilson FC. Since our team name contained Lord Northcliffe, it felt like a rivalry, however, less said about this game the better. We huffed and we puffed, and ultimately got trounced 7-1. It was a harsh lesson in what was to come, however we were offered some reassuring words that Lord Wilson FC were one of the best in the division and that a team 'no better than us', had won 9-0. So hope was still there. We had no substitutes which we eventually realised was a necessity in these games. Taking no credit away from Lord Wilson FC though, they were a well drilled outfit. We were 11th out of 12 teams, with only Team Heskey below us.

If you're thinking it couldn't get any worse, then you'd be foolish for thinking so. Our second week we couldn't even pull 5 people together to actually field a side, so was given a warning and a 6-0 defeat. On the contrary, we should have done more to play the game, but 6-0 seemed a little on the harsh side. We were staring into the abyss. We were rooting around at the bottom of the table with a -12 goal difference and only one goal scored, which came from a penalty. Hardly anything to cry home about. We stayed 11th in the table, propped up again by Team Heskey. The sooner we played them, the better.

Our next match was against Thai A, a classic 6 pointer. Thai A, had also lost both of their opening fixtures, so maybe this was the time to turn things around. Our 3rd game was also the first time we had an extra man, meaning a substitute could roll on and roll off for us Northcliffe's who were unfit and out of shape. It was a scrappy game, but we came out on top with a 7-5 victory. Our first win, and we were joyous. It wasn't to be our last win, either. Yet, in that moment we were happy to have not only won a game, but scored a goal from open play. A look at the fixture list showed us that our next opponents were 'Team Heskey', a quite frightening name for a football team. Our first win sends us up to the dizzying heights of 8th.

Team Heskey were also laundering near the bottom of the league, however, we turned up on the day with only 5 players, as our captain Peter, was back home in London town for reading week. Despite an opening scare of going 2 goals down, we turned it around and triumphed 9-4. Team Heskey were the whipping boys of the division, along with the chinese teams, and admittedly we should have scored a lot more goals. Although we were all very fatigued by the end and were happy with the 3 points. Goal difference was becoming a very important thing to look at in this division, but luckily we have both chinese teams to boost our goal difference. Somehow, we stayed 8th.

With two wins on the bounce, the train was unstoppable. 'T.F.G' were up next, a team that were above us in the table, so our thinking was if we can win these, then we're a decent mid-table outfit. The warm up before the game sent nerves jangling as they looked a decent team, and were rocketing shots in from all angles. They had the look of good footballers, and it was a pity that this look was not transcribed into their actual footballing skills. The only word to describe it would be 'decimation'. Once we got into our stride, we were firing goals in left right and centre. They looked good at shooting, and admittedly were quite good on the attack, but they were absolutely terrible at defending and we should have had a lot more than the 12 we ended up getting. 12-3 was a fantastic win for us though, and confidence was sky high. An even sterner test was next, Thai B. Despite our decimation, we only rose one place to 7th.

We'd already conquered Thai A in a scrappy 7-5 win, and Thai B were the better of the Thai outfits. A look at the form guide showed that they had drawn their first game of the season and gone on to win the next 4. Not playing any of the top 2 (Toads and Lord Wilson FC), but still they sat comfortably in 3rd, while we were floundering four places below them in the league. An opening turn and shot from Greg and a penalty from myself sent us 2-0 up. Could this really be happening? Are we to inflict Thai B's first defeat, and are we going to go unbeaten in November? They hit back though, scoring 3 goals and retaining the lead. They were workhorses, and just didn't stop. Nothing was stopping this train though, and we rolled out goal after goal and ended up winning 9-6. We adapted the Tottenham Hotpur method of 'we'll score more goals than you' but it was working! Admittedly, there were some quite dirty time-wasting tactics from me, and I also threw my body about a bit. Yet, it worked, and people in the league were starting to sit up and take notice of us. We're up to 5th, after conquering Thailand! It's also useful to point out at this point we'd scored 38 goals, (the second most in the division), and we still had to play 2 of the 'whipping boys', and missed a game coincidentally against the team who had scored more than us.

Despite a shocking start to the season, we are slowly turning it around. Being unbeaten in November was something that I don't think any of us expected. Our next 5 fixtures are Chicken Cottage Allstars (the team who in the second paragraph were referred to as 'no better than us'), Chinese FC One (expect a whipping), Internationals, Chinese FC Two (another whipping) and Toads (top dogs at this moment at time), before we play them all again. Going to do these season blogs in 4 parts. 22 games played in total, so 6 games then a blog post. 5 games then a blog post. 6 games then a blog post. 5 games then a blog post. Jump on the train ride of Locomotiv Northcliffe, it should be a fun ride.

ML - And so it became known as

As we twiddled our thumbs, awaiting our next seminar, a group of us students at university got onto the topic of our blogs. The outcry of not bearing enough time on our hands to write honest and heartfelt posts that our readers lovingly deserve. Being up to our necks in presentations and assignments, and our blogs are unnecessary weight that are not helping keep the sinking ship afloat. So, we shed the excess weight and our blogs are on the back burner until Christmas rolls around and we have that precious spare time to blog to our hearts content.

Yet, despite my writing being quite coherent and whimsical, my speaking today wasn't. A slip of the tongue led to me saying my blog was 'edible' as opposed to the intended 'editable'. An honest mistake, but a couple of jokes later we were soon describing my blog as edible chocolate which had 'wit sprinkles'. The name stuck like no-nails.

There's something about the simplicity. The sprinkles make for light heartedness which 'scoping the universe' didn't quite convey. It doesn't quite blanket cover the entirety of my topics like my previous blog name did, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass. A blog name with a story behind it, a real conveyor of the true values of my post, wit. Now, I have to live up to the blog name and right beautifully written ice-cream like blog posts and add delightful helpings of witty sprinkles. Marvelous.

ML - Drivel

Flashback to my first year at university, and we were all encouraged to set up a blog to show off our writing skills. My blog has to be described as 'infrequent' at best, but I kind of like it this way. Posts only come about when there's something that worth writing about. I'm not going to write drivel, because nobody wants to read drivel, and I don't want to write drivel.

This blog is meant to be a showcase of my writing qualities. I could quite easily write a post every day about how i've eaten a sausage roll today, but who wants to read that? I guess my general feelings towards my blog is that it's 'quality' and not 'quantity'. When I walk into a job interview, I want to showcase some excellent writing, rather than a story about how I ate a sausage roll a few years ago.

Also, reading back at my posts, I do notice that there are some slight typing errors or a few grammatical errors but my reasoning for this is that I try to type everything on the first copy and refuse to go back and change. I want to get into the habit of being a really good writer, and going back and correcting mistakes is something that you can't really do in the industry. So, if I can start getting it right first time, then, it sets me up in good stead for the future.

If you're currently in the thought process of setting up a blog, then think about your target audience. If you want to post every day, then go for it. I'm not going to stop you, but I probably won't read it either. Your blog isn't about the number of page views you receive, or the amount of money you receive from it, it's the editorial content that matters.

ML - Where we stand

My posting has been sparse, I know, i'm a very bad person. However, I have reasons for my lack of posts, so don't worry, as i'm here to explain and hopefully set myself up for most posts. After checking fellow students blogs, I noticed how disheveled my blog looked in comparison, some of theirs looking extremely professional and racking up views in the thousands. Whereas, i'm still here, with an amateur looking blog, although there's a good blog in here somewhere, I just need to find the right pieces to the jig saw.

Anyway, I recently started back at university, meaning that there's a lot of buzzing around, trying to get my time table sorted and trying to get lessons on time and in the right room. A task that is a lot harder than it sounds. Added on top of this, after purchasing the 5th series of the big bang theory, I decided to watch the entire series from front to back, which occupied a lot of my time. I know, i'm not proud of it.

I have some blog posts that i'm currently working on, as well as some other ideas which are floating around my head. I'm going to try to get this blog up to a professional looking standard but don't expect any miracles anytime soon. Also, I need to set about posting my blog posts through from my previous blog, so at least then there is a continuous wave of posts.

However, for the minute, my week seems to be quite a busy one. It's my first week back at university, I have a lot of shifts at work, coupled with a football match, a night out and a gig at the weekend, I can barely see any time for a brand new post, so it may be a little while longer. But, sit tight, it will be worth it. Okay, it might not be worth it, but, you get the drift.

Here are my blog posts that are festering in my head, I just need to write them...

• A post on Dimitar Berbatov and his ability to propel Fulham from mid-table obscurity.
• The Big Bang Theory, fitting considering how much time i've spent watching it.
• Starting university, it may be a little late, but you can still have a read
• The current predicament of Barnsley football club, local team

I'm also considering another category to do with music, reviewing gigs and albums, but it might be too much on my already mounted plate. Just an idea.

Peace out x

ML - This is war

In a twist events, that shook the night to it's very core, a standard Friday evening with friends, where we enjoyed a meal and drinks at a quiet pub on the edge of town, we were thrust into what can only be described as anarchy. 

The stage was set. A group of 12 of us had booked a table at a local pub, with the full party (barring one) tucking into a 'tex mex', a monumental dish made up of ribs, chicken legs, chips, corn and the cob, and other delicious sides. You didn't know whether to eat it or climb it. The meal was a marathon, not a sprint, members of the party clipped their ankles and fell, but I crossed the finishing line and held the mantle of finishing such a monster of a meal. A feat that only a few of us managed.

After the meal, we congregated outside and sat about mulling over pots of lager, discussing the feat of a meal that we had just been laid in front of us. It soon became dark, and the night was presumably coming to an end. Friends fell, just like they did in the race to finish the 'tex mex' and a healthy group of 12 soon became condensed to 8. Of the remaining unit, one brought up that her younger sister was having a house party. We laughed and joked about turning up, reliving our past shenanigans in the process. The laugh and the joke soon turned into a more serious idea, and it was decided we would embark to the house party, more to keep things in check, than to enjoy ourselves. Alcohol was still bought.

Before we'd even arrived, we'd been pre-warned that it was already out of hand, but we'd seen it all. We'd all had our younger days, and been to our fair share of house parties. We arrived just shy of 10 o'clock, and the night was still young, the party having only started at 8. Had it been us in this situation, it would have still been pretty mellow, however, a combination of alcohol and young adolescents unable to handle the drink, meant that the pre-warnings were right. It was already out of the hand, so far out of the hand, that you were doing kick-ups with it.

Entering the war-zone, we headed straight for the kitchen, the safe haven of any house party. Anything put down, was pounced on immediately like a care package, so those in the group who were drinking, hid their alcohol in the washing machine. A necessary precaution to keep it out of the grasp of inebriated juveniles.

We eventually ventured out of the kitchen cautiously, setting up camp in the conservatory, declaring it the 19+ room. This didn't last for long, and we were soon invaded by 15 year olds. We soon caught the eye of some of the more aware party-goers and we were questioned as to who we were, and what we were doing here, with a side-order of attitude from the sprouts. Obviously, never heard of treating their elders with respect. We explained that we were friends of the hosts sister, and were just keeping on eye of things. The cockiness continued throughout the night. In all honesty, some of them were nice enough, and were quite polite in talking to us, but most of the house was full of drunken idiotic morons who were acting more drunk than they actually were. I felt like Bill Oddie, I felt old and I felt like I was watching wildlife. 'Fascinating'.

Seen as the kitchen was the 'safe haven', and the conservatory was the recently invaded 19+ room, the living room was clearly base camp for the fledglings. Quite an army had regrouped in there, and stood their ground for the most of the night. This was war. We tried to keep at bay the barrage of grenades that they had to throw at us. We pushed people outside who were throwing up, cleaned up smashed glass and tried to keep everyone downstairs. The biggest guy in our group set about the task of sending people home, I accompanied him around briefly, being the Robin to his Batman. Fighting crime against rowdy 15 year olds who didn't know where they were, but knew quite clearly they couldn't handle their drink. Not many put up an argument, accepting that it would be better if they went home, all we needed was leather jackets with the inscription of 'party poopers' on the back, and we could have formed quite the sensible gang.

The night soon turned sour, more-so for the younger ones. After a few throwing ups, plenty of smashed glass, a semi-trashed house, and the house party getting too much, even for us patrollers, the Mum and Dad arrived home at around 11:30. Screams of 'calm it down now' soon echoed around the house, but it wasn't enough and the head of the house scared them enough that they scampered out of the house, their shadows not able to keep up with them. Of course, not before one young treasure attempted to throw up out of the window, and missed quite miserably. The living room had quite the stench for the rest of the night.

We set about cleaning up the mess, picking up flung cans and strewn bottles that had been cast aside in a fit of hurry at the parents arriving home, and cleared out the rest of the kids who had been too dazed and confused to even know what had happened. We were then invited to gather on the sofa, and watch television and await for our taxi to arrive. A quiet end to an evening of such manic. We were all young at one age, but you can quite easily enjoy a house party without trashing the house. The parents didn't deserve to come back to a trashed house. It's a wonder that we were there, to put up a battle, otherwise who knows what bomb-site the parents could have returned to.

ML - My Leeds festival experience

It's mad to think that this time last week, I was at Leeds fest. The time flew while I was there, and it's still flying now that i'm back. I can still feel the repercussions from lack of sleep and festival food, but i'm slowly adjusting to the idea of sleeping in a bed after spending my night on the internet, as opposed to sleeping in a tent after drinking round a camp-fire with friends. 

This was my second time at the festival, and I had it in my head that it was going to be my last. After one of the best weekends of my life, i'll make sure that i'm scraping all my pennies together so that I can go again in 2013. There is nothing better than spending 5 joyous days with your friends getting sloshed in a field, while cozying around a camp-fire. The music, a nice little bonus, and sees you get your moneys worth. Regardless of the line-up, i'll always enjoy myself at festivals as some of the best stories come about when you're drunk, but this years line-up made it perfect with bands such as Kasabian, Vaccines, Black Keys and Courteeners appearing across the course of the weekend. Four out of five of my favorite bands across the space of three days, almost seemed too good to be true.

The mini-bus, taking 14 of us to Bramham park, arrived promptly and on time. Nobody was late either, meaning we were all gathered giddily by 9:45 discussing the bands that we were going to see across the weekend. A novelty group photo was taken, and before we knew it, we were belting down the M1 on course for one of the best weekends of our lives. We all purchased early birds meaning that we could enter the festival on the Wednesday and get set up, as opposed to scurrying in on the Thursday and struggling to find camping space. With around 25 people camping in our group, an early bird was essential in getting a good spot, and getting us all camped together.

No matter how carefully you plan, the walk to the festival is excruciatingly painful. Lugging all your stuff to the festival gates is painful and tiresome. It feels like you've been there for hours and no doubt the worst part of the weekend. Not helped by the volunteers who kept informing us that we had to keep moving, not realizing we were all dragging 5 days worth of alcohol, tents and various other essentials that make up for some very heavy luggage. Also, the walk was made worse this year by the moving of the entrance, meaning we had to zig-zag around to entrance that was further away. Not very well planned on behalf of Festival Republic. Annoyingly as well, we were told that to get free beer we had to go to the right hand side, once we got the beer, we were again forced right, even though it would have been so much easier to go left. After about an hour, we finally made into the festival and to the spot where we planned to camp. A gym bag full of alcohol meant that I ended up with a very severe bruise on my right knee, but nothing was going to spoil the weekend. Once everybody is in, the weekend begins. The worst part is out of the way and you can set about enjoying your weekend.

Wednesday night was a bit of a blur, we had a few walks to the village and a quick walk around the campsite, showing people around in our group who'd not been to the festival before. The set up was the exact same to the year before, so it didn't take us long to familiarize ourselves with the set-up. Due to the tiresome day that everybody had endured, we all retired to our tents pretty early in the morning, after having a few drinks and getting acquainted with the people who we didn't know who we were going to be spending the weekend with. I can't really remember getting into the tent that night, but I can remember what happened next.

Five of us were camped in our 6 man tent, meaning one person camped on themselves and two groups of two. I was in the right hand compartment along with a friend. I chose to sleep closest to the door, due to me being a light sleeper and often being the first one awake on a morning. In contrast, the guy in my compartment slept so much over the weekend that we had to check on him a couple of times just to see he was still breathing. At about 4 o'clock in the morning of Thursday, I was awoken to somebody unzipping my compartment, testifying how much of a light sleeper I am. In an awoken blur, I saw somebody reach over the top of me and start feeling around in the pockets in our tent, and having a feel around in the bags. The group of friends that I am camped with are well known for a laugh and a joke, so I thought it was a friend messing about, so playfully pushed him out of the compartment (if ever there was an advert for my masculinity, it was me playfully pushing away a would be thief/murderer). As it turned out, it was a complete stranger looking for stashed booty. He subsequently ran out of the tent, and I decided not to bother giving chase considering that he'd not taken anything (to my knowledge) and he'd most probably have beaten me up if had I caught up with him.

My thoughts finally settled after about 5 minutes of being awoken, and I realized what had just happened and how some scum of the earth was looking to steal from the unsuspected. I checked my valuables which were at the bottom of my sleeping bag, and noted that he'd got away empty handed. I woke up my friend and made sure he still had his valuables, and he did. I put my head back down, thinking about how some people can do such a thing and are willing to ruin some peoples weekends just for personal gain. I fell asleep that night with my hand clasped on both zips, and woke up with my hand still on the zip.

The Thursday was spent much in the same way as the Wednesday had. Although, this time, we'd all had a good nights sleep (me excluded) so we were more vibrant and willing to stay up later. Drinking started early and carried on throughout most of the day, a few of the group took the shuttle bus to Tesco to stock up on supplies, but having brought half the house with me, I stayed round the camp of general merriment. We seemed to be camped in quite a bad spot this year, in terms of people around us. We met a few lads from a few camps over who seemed a good laugh but barely talked to them over the course of the weekend. Of the 3 camps closest to us, one was full of 16 year old lads who were obviously drowning their sorrows at GCSE results (who we ended up having a stand off with on the Saturday night), a camp full of people around our age but seemed a little odd, one of the boys offered to sell us MDMA. Then the final camp from Scunthorpe, who seemed nice enough, who I occasionally talked to throughout the weekend and had a couple of drinks with. I suppose one out of three isn't bad.

The rest of Thursday is somewhat blurry, but I can assure it was filled with good times and drunken merriment. Singing football chants until early in the morning is a memory that sticks out, but apart from that, the alcohol had took over and it was soon Friday, accompanied with a steady hangover.

Friday
So here it is, the first day of music, a few friends who weren't able to afford weekend tickets joined us for the day, and we set about starting drinking again, trying to get as drunk as possible before the music started, to avoid the festival beer prices. I also tried to sneak a few cans in to the arena in the back of my wellies, but was caught out by the butch man who gave me a very thorough frisk. I must have looked shifty as every time I entered the arena over the weekend, I was given the full body search by whoever I went to. He found the cans in my wellies and told me to throw them away. It was worth a try.

The first band of the weekend I saw was Eagles of Death Metal, a band that I wasn't too familiar with but I ended up enjoying their performance and knew a couple of their songs which was a nice bonus. The Gaslight Anthem followed. Again, not too familiar with any of their music, but really enjoyed their performance, so much so that I bought their album when I got home, and now consider myself a fan. I'd gave them a quick listen before, and decided that they were average but after seeing them live, i'd happily go see them again.

Not being too bothered about any other bands until Kaiser Chiefs, a few of us returned to camp to continue the drinking. A couple of cans down the neck, and a couple of hours passed, we headed back to the arena. Due to bad time judgement and general idiocy, we ended up arriving late, and missed the start of Kaiser Chiefs, only by one or two songs. Having liked them for a long time, I was quietly confident about the Leeds formed band but I was slightly underwhelmed but that may be due to where I was stood and having arrived late, as other people I talked to said they were the surprise of the weekend. I can now say that I've seen them live, and having liked them since around age 13, I was glad i'd finally seen them live. After finishing Oh My God, the crowd milled around and we managed to locate a more central spot for the next band to take to the stage.

Having only been introduced to them recently, The Black Keys immediately jumped into my top 5 favorite bands and I could not wait to see them live. Dan Auerbach is a quiet man, and you can tell how shy he is when he's on stage. He barely talked to the crowd, but just belted out his  music. However, being a massive fan and knowing every single song that they played, I enjoyed the performance thoroughly. The bluesy rock was a great way to set the crowd up for the final act of the day, Lonely Boy was a personal highlight as the entire field exploded into dance.

Here it was, the act of the day in most people's eyes. Foo Fighters are one of the biggest bands in the world right now, and day tickets were in high demand on the Friday, simply because of this band alone. Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl is a fantastic front man, and made the crowd laugh as well as singing all the crowd's favorites. Despite not being the biggest fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire set, and despite having incredibly tired feet, ending the Friday on Everlong as the whole crowd sang along was greatness personified. The fireworks were a great touch, and everyone trudged back to their tent nattering about what a great performance they had given. Slightly jealous of the fact that Reading, got Foo Fighters to close their festival.

Back at the tent, after a monumental struggle up orange hill, we gathered under our gazebo and talked of the days music that we had seen. A sudden downpour of rain (a festival wouldn't be complete without it) cut the night short, and I decided to hit the hay. The first day of music was out of the way, and I was glad that i'd seen all the bands that I had wanted to. A steady 8 hours sleep followed, only to be awoken in the middle of the night by the boisterous lads in the camp next to us, 'let's get f**king hammered'... we were all young at one point.

Saturday
After the best nights sleep of the weekend, I awoke expecting the rain to have done a lot more damage than it had. Fortunately, the rain must have ceased not long after i'd gone to bed, and despite the ground being damp, it was nowhere near as bad as it had been the previous year. Thankfully. Again, drinking started early as we prepared for another day of music. Having no particular interest in the bands that were on earlier in the day, I set off to the arena at about 3 o'clock to watch The Hives.

Arriving a little earlier than expected, we popped in to see comedian Jason Byrne before setting off towards the NME stage to watch The Hives. Despite them being popular, I didn't expect the tent to be as rammed as it was. I was expecting to stroll into the tent and get a good view, however, arriving just as it started meant that getting into the tent was impossible, so we stood on the border and watched most of the performance on the screen. A lesson to me and to everyone else, if you're looking forward to seeing a band, get there early to get a good position. Despite being half in the rain and half in the tent, The Hives put on a good show and that was another band that I can cross off my list of bands that I wanted to see.

After filling our stomachs, we headed towards the main stage for the next two bands, You Me at Six and Bombay Bicycle Club. Personally, I have more of a liking towards the latter, but both bands put on pretty lackluster shows and I was positively bored throughout both performances. Maybe due to where I was stood, or maybe because I was apprehensive of the next band that I was going to see. Either way, I won't be seeing either band again.

I set off to the NME tent, learning from my mistake at The Hives, to get a good spot for my most anticipated band of the weekend. Doing so meant I was able to catch Blur guitarist Graham Coxon as he was finishing his set. I've always been a big fan of Blur, but Mr Coxon just didn't seem to do anything for me, and his music differed a lot from Blur's. Maybe I was in a bad mood from the two bands that I had seen previously. People then began to arrive at the NME tent for the next act of the day, The Courteeners. Looking back, when the line-up was announced, I remember looking at The Courteeners on the line-up and being quite surprised at how low down they were, and topped by artists such as Foster The People. However, The Courteeners subsequently gave the performance of the weekend. The crowd belted out their classics at the top of their voice, and the show whizzed past in a blur. A band of such talent should have been given longer, as it was clear that a lot of people had come just for The Courteeners as a lot of people filed out before Foster The People took to the stage.

My original plan was to be one of those people leaving, and catch the entirety of The Cure's set, but I was persuaded to stay for Foster The People. Due to only having one album, and arguably one good song (Pumped up kicks) the set was not a patch on The Courteeners. But, I enjoyed them nevertheless and would probably have had a higher opinion of them had they not just followed the best band of the weekend. Pumped up kicks is a brilliant festival song, and I enjoyed singing along with the rest of the crowd.

I left the tent, not too bothered about The Maccabees, and went to the main stage to catch some of The Cure. I can't argue that i'm their biggest fans, but I can happily listen to their greatest hits album all day long. Due to not being able to find anyone, I ended up watching for about an hour on myself, before deciding to leave and head back to camp where I knew quite a few of my friends were residing. It's quite clear The Cure love their music, but if you don't know their songs then the constant song after song can become extremely tiring. It is clear though that they are talented musicians, and I would have stayed till the end had I had someone to watch them with.

Arriving back at the tent, around 10 friends were sat there drinking. We stayed up most of the night drinking due to the mild weather conditions, as more and more friends filtered back from the arena. A slight stand off occurred with the young lads camped near us, as they thought it would be funny to jump on one of our tents. But, nothing came of it, and they soon backed off and kept to themselves for the rest of the weekend. At about 4 o'clock in the morning we resigned to our tents, and got in a couple of hours sleep to prepare for the final day of music.

Sunday
We arose early, and 3 of us set towards the arena to catch the first set on the main stage, Los Campesinos! Despite a relatively small crowd, and an overwhelming stench drifting from the toilets nearby, Los Campesinos! put on a good show and opened up the day nicely. They're a nice little band and i'm glad the sunshine came out to make their performance that little bit more enjoyable.

Again, we set off back to the tent, and got a couple of drinks in our system before heading back to the arena to catch Jake Bugg. I'd never heard of the man before, but was convinced to go see him by a few friends, and it was a nice surprise at how talented he was. Although, a lot of his songs sounded the same, so we subsequently left early to try and regroup with friends before heading to the main stage for the rest of the day.

Despite not being the biggest Enter Shikari fan, or a fan of that genre of music in general, I ended up seeing them before The Vaccines came on, a band more to my liking. I was never going to enjoy the set, and seeing this confirmed it. It's just not my sort of music at all, but talking to a few of my friends who do enjoy their music said that their set was poor and it wasn't as lively as they had hoped it would be. One good point about them being on though, was that it meant that the crowd wasn't as big for The Vaccines and we had more room to jump around and have a dance.

This was the fourth time that I had seen The Vaccines, as they hold the mantle of my favorite band. They never disappoint and I was able to have a really good singalong but lead singer Justin seemed quite out of breath, and a little short of energy. Maybe their constant touring up and down the country and across Europe is starting to take its toll on him. However, they still put on a good show, and played songs from their new album set to be released next week, as well as their classics which everyone was able to have a good dance to. Not their best performance that I have seen, but still a highlight of the weekend.

Florence and the Machine followed The Vaccines. Florence Welch has unbelievable talent, and her some of the notes that she hit gave me shivers. Not being the biggest fan didn't stop me enjoying her set, and strangely enough, all of the group that we had camped with were together when we saw her. The only time of the weekend, apart from back at camp, when we had all been together, which was a nice little touch. I was slightly disappointed that Florence didn't play You got the love, but her show was more concentrated on her second album, however she got the crowd going ready for Kasabian. There is no doubting her ability to sing.

As one of my friends said 'the girls have had Florence, now us boys have Kasabian'. It was true as well, Florence is a very typical girls band, whereas Kasabian are a very typical lads band. Not to say that you can't enjoy both, but it was quite good organization on behalf of Festival Republic. They'd got two very good acts that both genders can enjoy, but one more for the girls and one for the boys.

Having already seen Kasabian live last year, I knew that the Leeds crowd were in for a treat. On both occasions that i've seen them, they've put on a really good show and I would tell anyone to go see them live, as you will not be disappointed. They got the crowd pumping and jumping, and finished on one of the best encores ever in existence. Switchblades Smiles into Vlad The Impaler into Fire, is absolute perfection. Kasabian also have this extraordinary ability to make everybody jump at a concert, and weirdly enough, everyone seems to jump at the same time. Lead singer Tom Meighan rounded off the weekend with an acapella rendition of All You Need is Love by The Beatles, which showed the confidence of the Kasabian frontman.

We made our way back to the camp for the very last time, as we experienced slight crushing walking out from Kasabian. Back at camp, all our chairs had been stolen, except from one, and our gazebo had been transformed into a climbing frame. So, we set about sitting on bin bags, huddling around the camp fire and drinking the last remaining drops of beer. As the group dwindled, the last remaining few of us, perched in our tent and talked for a while before drifting off to sleep for the very last time at the festival.

The monday morning was spent tidying our last few bits, and packing our tent away before making the trip back to the mini-bus awaiting for us at the same point where we were dropped off. A little bit of traffic leaving the festival slowed us down, but apart from that it was smooth sailing all the way back to Barnsley.

I was leaving behind one of the best weekends of my life, spent with some of the best people. I'd made friends and become a lot closer to the friends that I went with. There were a few arguments along the way, but it's to be expected with any festival experience and it brings you closer. A festival isn't just about music, it's also about spending quality time with people who are going to be friends for life.