Leersum (December)
Boxing Day at my parents’. Cooked Indonesian meal.

Paris (December)
It’s hard to pick favourites in a year of many highs, but I did like this one a lot. A bit of family. A lot of G. Everything was small and intimate. Saw ‘Handsomest Drowned Man’ again and it worked so much better than in Brighton.

London (November)
Saw Scott Walker’s Drifting and Tilting twice. Lovely time with Hg, Pixeldiva, B. and R. Traveled by Eurolines coach. Really, surprisingly comfortable. And cheap.

Galway (October)
Didn’t like staying in a hostel (hell very definitely being other people), but other than that it was good to get away and I think I shot my best picture of 2008.

Dublin (October)
The Dublin/Galway trip was my ‘summer holiday’. It was freezing, of course, but sunny anyway when the rest of Europe was awash with rain. Had an amazing time in Killiney filming G. and listening to his new songs.

Antwerp (August)
Unplanned trip to compensate for not getting the Lowlands festival photo gig I’d been promised. Bad karma… nearly got my head kicked in taking pictures in this Belgian city. And that’s no joke.

London (July)
Rogue’s Gallery at the Barbican. Only got photo access to the soundcheck. Light was bad, vibe a little dull, but the gig was good. Really enjoyed staying around Brick Lane. Quiet lunch with G. at morose Italian place.

Dublin (July)
Rogue’s Gallery in the Dublin Docklands. Fa-bu-lous experience. Great access all day, fab to hang with Davey, Gugs and G., lovely vibe in the photo pit, nearly killed myself shooting with the 70-200 for four hours.

Paris (July)
Quick trip to see the deafening My Bloody Valentine. Loved it.

Paris (May)
Became my nephew Louis Gustave’s godmother. Pretended to be Catholic. Everything in French of course. Lovely, but strenous.

Brighton (May)
Brighton was relaxed, just enjoying sea, sand and sun. The gig (‘The Handsomest Man in the World’) was unremarkable.

London (May)
Rather fraught and confused start as I was given the wrong medication hours before my flight and I felt poorly and disoriented. Fire alarm at Gatwick on my return.

Cologne (April)
Birthday trip. Didn’t enjoy this much. Party town, stag nights, large groups. No fun on your own. Crap weather too.

Dublin (Feb/Mar)
Sick as a dog, but I went anyway and coughed and sneezed and dripped through a Marc Almond gig (meeting Gini Ball backstage) and lovely dinner with G. at Eden. Also… Bambi!

Dublin (Jan)
No particular reason. Scouted some photo locations. Saw 30 seconds from Mars on a whim.

I don’t think I will be travelling quite this often in 2009.

Na, na, na, nanana, na, Hey Jude.
03 Jul 2005 00:54

Live8 (13) Who are you
Never did like The Who much, or Pink Floyd. When I was living in dorms, we’d have ‘auditions’ whenever we were looking for new flat mates. Our main criterion was music. If those first year students said ‘Pink Floyd’ and ‘Dire Straits’ they didn’t stand a chance. They were, invariably, maths & science students. We wanted people that took arts and listened to R.E.M. or Joy Division.

That said… they sound solid and even if Roger Waters is bat shit crazy, he looks a fine figure on stage tonight.
00:14

Live8 (12) Let him entertain you
The less said about Sting (another medley man) and Mariah Carey, the better. I don’t care if she’s half Irish and has a choir of cute African orphans on stage with her and that children inspire her.

Robbie. RABBBIIEEEEEE is introduced by David Beckham who looks different, ordinary tonight. Should stick to kicking balls. Robbie hasn’t been on stage in three years, he says. Doesn’t matter. ‘We will rock you’, ‘Let me entertain you’… the crowd goes mental. Finally. ‘Feel’ gives me the chills. ‘Angels’, Robbie pulls a Bono, communing with the crowd, singing straight into the camera. A big banner says ‘Robbie come home’. Methinks he already is.
02 Jul 2005 22:27

Live8 (11) Rock in a hard place
I thought Scott Weiland was dead. But I was mistaking him for Lane Staley. We’re watching Velvet Revolver, who are basically most of Guns & Roses, plus Weiland (ex Stone Temple Pilots) and another bloke. And it’s loud. And it’s rock. It’s HARD rock. Metal. Whatever you want to call it. The truth is, it’s the best fucking thing we’ve seen all day in terms of abandon, danger, theater and possibly truth. So fair play to them.
22:24 | Feedback
Live8 (10) Take your old lady out tonight
Why did The Killers only play one song in their fetching white preacher suits? Mr Flowers, he pretty. Like Snow Patrol’s guitarist. Black dress shirts always look good on a man.

Joss Stone. Next!

Scissor Sisters get everybody shouting ‘Hi mum’. It’s time they brought out a new album. We’ve kind of heard these songs. [...] They read my mind and play a new song: “Everybody wants the same thing.”
21:44

Live8 (9) Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
I’ve seen Snow Patrol a few times, recently, as they are supporting U2 in some cities around Europe. They blew us away. I’d expected to be bored, but something in their sound really got to us. It was quite emotive and brought me close to tears several times. I’m not feeling it today, so maybe it was all due to The Thrills being crap opening before them.

Talking about The Thrills… all their songs are about Santa Cruz and god knows where in America and they so desperately want to be R.E.M. they’ve even got American accents. But, as my friend’s sister in Dublin said so eloquently: “They’re from fucking Blackrock!”
21:01

Live8 (8) Does your pussy do the dog
Snoop, Razorlight, Madonna. I’m trying to solve some problem at work (weekend shift) so I’m distracted. Still, it’s not hard noticing these three acts are professional, solid and very, very entertaining. Snoop is as creepy as ever, but he has the catchy rhythms. Razorlight grab their moment in the spotlight – it’s clever and a little calculating (it worked for U2 20 years ago, they must have thought), but they still make it seem genuine. Madonna and her crew get the whole place clapping. Awesome. Eat that Britney.
20:29

Live8 (7) Oh retire already

UB40 are doing a medley. I have no words. And Davina? Shut it.

I am embarrassed to say that Greenday are growing on me. But all I ever hear them play is American Idiot.
19:17

Live8 (6) Shoot the whole day down, why dontcha
I have great respect for Geldof. And it’s not Live Aid. Or Live8. Or Rat Trap. Or I don’t like Mondays. Or any of his music.

In 1996, I heard him read from poetry he had written when Paula Yates left him for Michael Hutchence. And later, when that sad, sad story ended, he took in Hutchence’s child. That’s when I thought, there’s a great man. Begorrah.
18:29

Live8 (5) Will he or won’t he…
… be a future POTUS?

Will Smith commands a global audience, clicking his finger and speaking slowly and clearly about poverty, for the masses. This is the most impressive performance I’ve seen so far. You can take Dido (She must be tonedeaf), Stereophonics (Monosyllabic), Keane (With a face like that, he COULD be the next Bono), Ms Dynamite (Miss Dissapointeeheee), Travis (Oh god, shoot me NOW) and stuff ‘em. Forget Philadelphia. Mr Smith goes to Washington.
18:16

Live8 (4) Do the dance
Ricky Gervais, on the verge of DYING on stage doing his meagre stand up routine, saves himself by doing the dance from The Office. Then the BBC disgrace themselves by showing an interview with some nobodies while R.E.M. are on stage. Gah!

R.E.M. are well rehearsed since they’ve been touring. It shows. Stipe, looking like a twat with his usual stripey make-up, has everything under control. Kew-eeeeel!
17:20

Live8 (3) It was 20 years ago today
McCartney. U2. Underwhelmed. Starts getting better but then I’m too busy blogging it over at U2log.com. Feel like I missed the whole thing. Crowd seemed flacid.
14:48

Live8 (2) It’s Christmas time… oh no it’s not!
Aaand, we’re off. Jonathan Ross in fetching egg-yellow sitting in a pod. Judging from the couches in it, I’m dead fashionable in my new pink and azure shirts.

Meg’s somewhere in that crowd.

Ah, the first innuendo of the day. Ross tells Elton John it’s lovely to have him in his pod. Ooh-er.
Jo Whiley talks to U2. Bono’s feeling sick as usual. Larry mentions going down on Noel Edmunds chopper. There you go now, that’s number 2.

Do I need to add this technorati tag to all the posts I make? (live8)
13:59

Live8 (1) World, are you ready to rock…
… the G8 leaders out of their stupor?

While I’m not overly enamoured with Live8′s line up and am a little cynical in nature, these big events always manage to get to me somewhat. Who will be the first to mention Luther Vandross (R.I.P.)? Where the fuck is Springsteen? Will U2 be donning the original Sgt Pepper outfits? As Frank Sinatra once said ‘they sure don’t spend a dime on clothing’… it’s bound to look better than their usual drab garb.
13:18

I absolutely detest travelling on my own, unless I’m going somewhere to do or see something in particular, like a gig. I can’t really enjoy myself on my own, it’s pointless. What’s the use of walking through a beautiful city without someone to say ‘hey, that’s beautiful’ to? And no way will you see me on one of these pathetic organised trips for singletons.

I once travelled through Ireland on my own for a month. I thought I was going to hurl myself off the Cliffs of Moher after a week. I ended up sitting on buses a lot, just to be going somewhere. Running away from me, I suppose.

My idea of the perfect summer holiday is go to France, by car, bring a tent and go camping. Preferably in Brittany, but down south is fine as well. It’s the good life – baguettes and fresh cheese, a bottle of plonk. See a castle, wade through a lake. Spend lots of time in Super Marches, like Mamouth.

So, no summer hols for me this year. I’ll probably be making a short trip to Dublin in September or October.
Anyway, as a first year house owner I shouldn’t even have the money to travel.