Showing posts with label Wylam Brewery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wylam Brewery. Show all posts

Thursday 28 February 2019

Do I Have To Cut My Hedge?


It's the last day of February, and it's misty and foogy and soon it'll be garden maintenance time. Half Man Half Biscuit are playing The Boiler Shop in Newcastle so that is one of my favourite bands playing at one of my favourite venues. It's similar to the excellent Wylam Brewery on Exhibition Park is being a very impressive building in a great location and a wonderful place for a gig.

At  The Wylam Brewery gig I was chatting with the guy selling the merchandise (got myself a 12" copy of "Dickie Davies' Eyes") and he told me how they nearly drove into the lake as the walk through Exhibition Park to the building is not exactly well lit.

Obviously the thought of having to trim my hedge coincides with the titel of the new album, which causes everyone who sees  and hears it varying degrees of mirth to eventual hysterical laughter. Whne I originally listened to the album I thought th einstruments were given too much prominence but on subsequent listens, it has just grown on me, and sort of encouraged to redelve back into the back catalogue and realise there are so many absolute gems from Nigel's pen that I have forgotten or completely missed.

You cannot finish listening to a Half Man Half Biscuit album and fail to have a smile on your face, and then want at least a little more. I was going to put a link on here re the genesis of Half Man Half Biscuit in The Guardian but when I did a google search it came back with this huge list. There is this on the lyric project page about half decent articles on the ban, so fill your boots and have a quick gander.

I'll just share "Everytime a Bell Rings" from the latest album (and you know the title) , now go and get your fvcking hedge cut !!

Monday 6 February 2017

Keep On Keeping On


Last week was very grey then yesterday was actually looking sunny for a while before slipping back into the greyness of the last week and today looking out, I can see all the cars are frosted up. Not the most inviting of Monday mornings, but another week of work is waiting for us.

I had intended to take a walk out to Cow Hill on the Town Moor to take some photographs but was not feeling up to it. Also there's various house related things I need to sort out, and then noticed that my Virgin TIVO box had decided it wasn't recording the first two episodes of the next half season of The Walking Dead but was going to record from episode 3 (well 10 actually cos of the mid season break) onwards, then they seem to have moved The Blacklist onto Sky1 for the next half season and it wasn't going to record that either.

So all that is in hand, but I really need to get some positive uplift into my life, as currently loads of my time is taken by apparent mundanities, the problem being , I think my complete withdrawal from social interaction may be part of the contribution to this because people do inspire me and  give me a lift, even meeting for the odd coffee is good.

The thing is as people get older they seem to almost ossify in their views, what they want to do, and where they want to go. Sometimes an evening in a warm house with a good book or film is more inviting than trying to engineer a social occasion.

I've also not been to any gigs, as I have mentioned previously, and need to get out to see more bands , and there are opportunities to see lots around Newcastle, with venues such as Trillians, The Black Bull and Think Tank? and bigger venues such as The Riverside, The O2, The Tyne Theatre, The Sage, and Wylam Brewery, so it's not as though there's nowhere to go.

In fact I've just checked and Wilko Johnson is playing The Wylam Brewery in April and there are quite a few gigs on before then.

I really must apologise for the down nature of this post I promise to put a smile on my face and do something positive this week and will leave you with Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner" just cos it's brilliant , and music is always uplifting and this makes me feel better.



Tuesday 22 November 2016

It's Wet


Last night the rain was battering the back of my house, the front got off lightly but I wasn't going out the door. There were streams running down the road. The thing is this is extremely mild compared with what others have to put up with. Speaking to a friend in Japan , he's nowhere near the quake zone but he said they've had a tsunami warning "but we're always getting them".

The problem is weather like this is not exactly inspiring, you can hardly use an umbrella because of the wind, but it's nice when you are inside sheltered from it, though I feel sorry for people sleeping rough or who can afford to heat their homes and in the UK their number are growing daily. The other night I was in Newcastle and the charity was out feeding the homeless , when I see them I always slip them something. We are the sixth richest country in the world apparently, this should not be happening. Here's Shelter if you want to contribute.

Anyway it's time for me to get off and brave the elements  and I will leave you with Half Man Half Biscuit's opener from the Wylam Brewery, Palace of Arts concert on Friday "Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis" ,  have a great Tuesday my friends and don't get too wet.

Saturday 19 November 2016

Today's Rock and Roll Call - #ALifeInNumbers #56



This is another contrived shoe in , but it's a great and funny record. It was released in 1956 (even older than me) and starts off counting to and from ten 1-2-3-4-  56 -7-8-9-10. Like all great comedy the Goons were very hit and miss, but for me "Bloodnok's Rock and Roll Call" is a definite hit.

This morning I was hoping to update Song of the Salesman but it's running slow , the support adon't seem to have a clue. It's funny how so much technology support is outsourced to the cheapest bidder regardless of their ability to do the job. But that's the world we live in today.

Still this week I have got to see The Bonzo Dog Band and Half Man Half Biscuit , found a great venue in the most ridiculously inaccessible town centre location. I do loke walking in parks but not after a late gig finish on a cold rainy night. Wylam Brewery's Grand Hall in The Palace of Arts is impressive though.

Anyway enjoy this wonderfully sunny day and if you fancy some lovely food and drink slip down to Wildflower Cafe on Westgate Road.

The Palace of Arts