26 October 2008

Gig Tickets: A Fallacy

Can someone pleeeeease explain to me what the hell is going on with the whole 'buying gig tickets' scenario in this country?

Case in point: Holloways at Hertford Marquee on 6 November is £10 in advance and £12 on the door. Now, the more conscious of us would think "Holloways, good band, high demand" and would try to get in advance. But why bother? Having looked, you gain absolutely nothing out of advance sales, and in fact you are paying more. A total sham of a situation. Which begs the question, why charge extra on the night.

In advance, the Holloways tickets (per ticket) come with a £2.01 surchage. So yes, if you buy one in advance, you're actually paying 1p more than you would if you chanced your arm on the door. And that's only if you pick up from box office. Postage is an extra 50p. So essentially, what is being said here, is that you can't - anywhere - actually get a ticket at face value. Because obviously if they're cheaper in advance, then that's how much they are, period.

Obviously, go to the larger, more prominent ticket retailers and they'll find any god-given reason to stick as much as they can on the order. I'm pretty sure I've paid a fiver booking fee for a £8 ticket before. Does this not put pressure on our beloved artists/groups to perform to ensure that our booking fee hasn't gone to waste...?


Tottenham Hotspur

That Levy, he hasn't got a clue. Of course I speak with the knowledge that 'Arry is already joining the circus, but a year after Levy pushed Martin 'Look at me go in Germany, I'm actually quite good ta' Jol out the door, he's encourage Ramos the same way. Asides from the obvious farce, Ramos (like Jol) was hung out to dry but the ineptitude of Damien Comolli.

Last year-
"Damien, we need a defender and defensive midfielders"
- "I got Darren Bent"
"You tool."

This year-
"Damien, we need a defender and defensive midfielders, and it's deadline day and we'll get what we want for Berbatov.
- "Uh, Frazer Campbell? "
"You tool."

25 July 2008

Now that's what I call nostalgia

Fear not. I am merely delaying the compilation of my 'best-off' for the last four years. It takes time and many, many listens on my iPod. Many listens. Many.













MANNY?!

21 June 2008

That was the year that was...

... an extension to the three years that were. To keep things ticking over I have this little ditty for you. Well, it's not so much of a ditty, more of a ramble. I have every intention of creating some form of magical mix-tape that will sum up my four years as one of the great unwashed.

But for the time being, I'll leave you to muse over quite what weird and wonderful lyrical treats I might muster for the challenge.

27 April 2008

Race for the Playoffs: 27 April

Stevenage Borough 1-2 Northwich Victoria
22 April 2008
Broadhall Way, Stevenage

This was to prove the final nail in the coffin; the bullet to the wounded animal if you will. With Exeter winning, Stevenage HAD to win this game if they wanted a chance on the final day to try and edge their way into the playoffs. And they didn't. Dino Maamria, a man who took Stevenage to the playoff final in 2005 by virtue of his two goals against Hereford, returned to haunt his former side and in doing so, ensured his Northwich side would survive the drop with a game to spare.

It's galling to think that two defensive blunders cost two goals, and then Daryl McMahon was given twenty minutes to change the game from midfield. And he nearly did. Scored one with a free-kick, and had one other free-kick well saved. At the end of the day, Boro' knocked on more than one occasion, were slightly wasteful but just weren't value for a win. Into the final day, then, with nothing to play for...

Halifax Town 1-2 Stevenage Borough
26 April 2008
The Shay, Halifax

... and another game with an opponent needing to win to stay up. Stevenage, due to their recent form, were out at 3/1 for the win here. A team that was once 15 POINTS inside the playoffs; an inexcusable fuck-up. But pressure off, an adventurous 3-5-2 set-up and three points which were pyrrhic to say the least. But what have we learned now? That a football season can be a VERY LONG time; that Daryl McMahon was cruelly underused in the run-in; that Steve Morison is a total legend who continued to give 110%; and that Peter Taylor may not be manager next season if a meeting on Monday 28 April produces a result that the NLP believes is the case. Interesting times, but forgive while I retire to the IPL for the forthcoming weeks...














... shit, it's on Satanta. Gah!

22 April 2008

Race for the Playoffs: 22 April

Burton Albion 3-0 Stevenage Borough
18 April 2008
The Pirelli Stadium, Burton

This was a big blow. Despite perhaps being the better side during the first half, chances simply weren't converted and in the second half a succession of individual errors contrived to hand a much-improved home side the three points. Clark Masters hadn't exactly looked the part between the sticks in Alan Julian's regrettable absence, and it was he who failed to claim a high ball that gifted Burton a first goal. Ashley Westwood conceded what is probably his 18585th penalty since joining Boro' although TV replays suggest Boro' were hard done by, and the third... well by that point who cares.

Coupled with other results, Stevenage now sit three points adrift of the playoff zone - an area where they have occupied for more or less the whole season. A superior goal difference is Boro's primary weapon now. But it pre-supposes two wins in the last two games against teams from the bottom six fighting for their lives. And then Burton v Exeter on the last day could be a big deal. But who knows - we'll know more after tonight's fixture at home to Northwich. Cambridge go to Torquay, while Burton and Exeter are expected to pick up victories.

Tomorrow could be a half full or a half empty day. We'll have to see which...

Music Filch

Glasto-A-No-Go?
Every year it would be the same – you'd know at least one smug bastard who was lording it up because they'd managed to get their grubby mitts on Glastonbury tickets. They wouldn't stop until YOU knew how cool THEY were for finding that magical secret passage past the engaged tones and unhelpful crashing websites. And there never seemed to be a decent-enough comeback that would stop all the facetious bragging. Not even "well, I am going to Reading?"

Blitzen Bop
The self-styled teeming Oregon-based musical clan that are Blitzen Trapper are on their way back to Britain next month for a spattering of dates nationwide. The eclectic Americans last dazzled fans this side of the pond back in November as part of a successful stint on the road with Two Gallants, and it appears that they enjoyed it so much that they want to return.

All aboard the Boris Bus
Fear not all ye apolitical souls out there, this is not a rallying call for the impending London Mayoral mandate. On the contrary, it is the very important and equally exciting news that the Japanese punk-rock trio Boris are returning to these shores towards the end of April.

Move over Paul...
Few songwriters are capable of displaying the distinctive acerbity of Josh Weller, which makes the news that he’s heading out on the road just that little bit special. And having already gently tickled the underbelly of fans and critics alike with his lyrical treats, here’s an opportunity to indulge yourself, for Weller will be in support of The Maccabees for six dates at the end of the month.

White On Time

Rock'n'roll in it's truest, most energetic sense has been frustratingly hard to come by. Just the feeling of knowing a band is giving it some real welly is enough to warm the cockles. But instead of thrashing out power chords and lightning riffs, it's been more often the case that songwriters have preferred to reach for an acoustic guitar and dole out any old rubbish in A-minor. Thank god, the angels cry down then, that White Denim have announced that they have a debut album ready to lock'n'load.

Murder by Death - Red of Tooth & Claw (Album)
In the insidious underbelly of America’s mid-west comes a rumbling with more menace than the thunderstorms that clatter around Tornado Alley. Like some errant and deviant offspring of John Wayne, this follow-up to last year’s debut from Murder By Death lets you know that you’ve now strayed onto their turf. Here business is conducted wholly on their terms, rife with scenarios of lust and betrayal, governed by an almost biblical sense of justice and revenge; sounds intense, is intense.

Elle Milano - Acres of Dead Space Cadets (Album)
And just when you feel that life has become nothing more than adhering to a wholly dissatisfying pop culture, it’s taken three members of the potential workforce to show that the reclusive art of meticulous cynicism need not be totally dead. The echoes of eighties agit-pop may well be frittering away into ever-decreasing significance, but the angst of young partisans can’t always be quelled with a cushy office job and affable healthcare plan.