Category: Music

I visted the O2 last night (previously the Dome) for a “secret” Snow Patrol gig that was an invitation only affair for many of the people who worked on the site, or had something to do with it. My involvement is minimal to non-existent – I supplied the odd piece of data to a friend…

And so to Hyde Park Calling – a festival that happens at the same time as Glastonbury, and so has an “old rocker” feel to it. Due to a bit of a cock-up on my part, one of the newer singers I wanted to see, Terra Naomi, who’d I heard on the cover CD of…

So I’m popping in to HMV after work to look for an album, and can’t help but notice all the special editions of albums that are on sale. It’s pretty typical these days for albums to be packaged in at least two different manners. It might be that one set comes with an additional DVD,…

To the Hammersmith Apollo to see a great Pet Shop Boys concert with all your favourites in a non-stop show. Great stuff, and more photos to be found here in my Flickr stream.

There’s nothing like having something really built up, only for you to be let down at the last moment. I feel a bit of a heel for saying this, but that’s a reasonably accurate reflection of me earlier this evening. I was at the evening do for the Radio Academy’s Production ’07 conference. After a…

A couple of really interesting stories to come out of America recently regarding the state of the music industry. First up was the report that in the US, CD sales dropped by 20% in the last year. That’s an awful lot. In real money, it’s a decline from 112 million CDs to 89 millions. A…

I missed the Cowboy Junkies when they visited in January, so I had to catch this very acoustic set at the Union Chapel in Islington earlier this evening. The Union Chapel itself is an octagonal auditorium dominated by a massive pulpit and is still used as a church. As the event was unreserved seating, and…

So the “exciting” news today is that The Police, who recently reformed for the Grammys, are touring the UK this autumn. I have no real desire to either see them or not see them, but I am very interested in their ticket prices. First of all, I understand that tickets at Twickenham will cost £107…

It must be awfully difficult being an up and coming band. Sure, making the records and touring must be hard work, but maintaining your online presence is truly daunting. Since taking an advantage of an offer on the Virgin Radio site for a free track from the band Ghosts, I’ve ended up on their mailing…

Wrote this last week, but I forgot to put it live, so better late than never. And there’s yet more original research in this! I hate the Brits. I hate hate hate hate hate hate them. I really don’t like them at all. Now this is completely irrational, and I can’t exactly explain why. I…

No, not the band. But the current obsession with bands whose names begin “The —-.” It can’t just be me, but there seem to be evermore of them – particularly in the indie/rock genre that my employer plays. It’s certainly true that there have always been bands with names that start “The”. Most obviously bands…

Steve Jobs has posted a long piece on the future of DRM in music. It seems that he can see the writing on the wall, and he ends the piece effectively arguing for the abolition of DRM (“It wasn’t out idea guv! The record companies insisted on it.”). There’s a certain amount of self-interest here.…

Baggy Trousers was one of the first pop songs that really made an impact on me back in 1980 or so. I learnt all the words from Smash Hits (or maybe Number One). But I don’t think I’ve seen Madness live before… until last night. Wembley Arena was a heaving throng (far fewer seats than…