It's only rock n roll.....Cardiff

We made our first visit, both to Cardiff and more specifically, the Millennium stadium recently, here's the lowdown. 

 

Second Severn Crossing

My daughter and I set off around midday on the 23rd July for the 3ish hour drive to Cardiff. The reason for the journey, Bruce Springsteen and the E street band were in town for the latest show in the Wrecking ball tour which has now been running since early 2012. The highlight of the drive was undoubtedly the Severn bridge crossing which is a magnificent piece of engineering by anyone's standards and is a very impressive way of crossing from England into Wales.  Norman Haste, was the man who led the construction of this iconic structure.
 

We arrived at the Premier inn, Caerphilly, which is around 9 miles away from Cardiff, around the 3.30pm mark, we had no choice other than to book into a hotel outside the city as the ones in town were either full or had hiked their prices to an extortionate rate due to the event. However, this wasn't too much of a problem, the lady on reception couldn't have been more helpful, after checking us in she asked if we were here to see Bruce Springsteen which was answered in the affirmative, she then gave us advice on getting the train from Caerphilly to Cardiff and even booked us a taxi cab to get to the station, lovely staff, great service!
 

The cab dropped us off at the station and I asked the porter when the last train was going to be heading back from Cardiff that night, for anyone who has been living under a rock for the past few decades, the length of Springsteen's shows are the stuff of legend, generally on this tour averaging around three and a half hours, although in Helsinki, he played for over four! The porter gave me the 'off the record' nod that officially the last train was 11.15pm although there is a further and extra 'last train' at 11.50, we were very pleased to hear this although why it was such a secret is anyone's guess.

The Rummer Tavern

Leaving the train at the Queens street station, to be honest, it looked like the city centre so we got off, we were originally heading for central. First impressions strolling around the city centre were good, this is a very nice city! After a long journey it was time for a wee drink and the first port of call was the' Rummer Tavern', according to the pub itself, The oldest in Cardiff no less. (We won't mention the Irish bar just up the road which made the same claim) However, the pub is three centuries old, a good old boozer, lovely atmosphere inside and the barman was more than helpful in providing us with directions to the Millennium stadium. I was tempted to go for one of the cask ales on the bar but it was a beautiful warm  summers day in Cardiff so we opted for a pint of Carling, which at just over £3.25 wasn't the most expensive drink we've ever had. I did have reason to visit the WC during our short stay, which provided ample proof to me that the pub actually was over three centuries old! Without allowing that to cloud judgement, the Rummer Tavern is a very nice city centre pub, definitely worth a visit if you are in town. You will find it directly opposite Cardiff castle which is right in the heart of the city. A Rummer is a toasting glass for wine, believed to have originated in central Europe in the 16th century.

We made our way towards the stadium, the barman was spot on with directions. There are a a number of very good bars, cafe's etc around the stadium but we settled for 'Revolution' which I'm sure later in the evening is a bustling bar full of the beautiful people, but early evening it looked like it was a comfortable place with lots of space to get something to eat. We went for one of Revolution's signature dishes, which, believe it or not, is a vodka pizza. As gross as this sounds,  it was delicious! The service could have been better at Revolution to be honest, we were told there would be a 25 minute wait for food which wasn't a problem with us, however the beers arrived after the food, which certainly was a problem, they had actually been given to another table. However, the waitress was very apologetic and that aside, the food was excellent.

We made our back out into the street and up the road to the stadium, the first thing which became apparent was the distinct lack of vendors selling unofficial 'merch' outside the stadium, not sure if this has been a conscious effort by the powers that be, maybe someone could enlighten me.

Prized Possession!

After handing over the much prized tickets and the lady's bag had been thoroughly searched! (check previous blogs for that reference, we entered the stadium.

The 'official' merch stands both inside and just outside the stadium were all out of medium sizes which was a bit of a downer for me, the sizes which were available were pricey, 25 quid a pop, (man of the people?) my daughter picked up a great ladies t-shirt for ten pounds! Best value by a mile from any gig we've been to over the past few years or so we thought, days later when she checked closer, the shirt was from the gig in Coventry back in June which should absolutely have been pointed out to her when she bought it. Whoever is responsible for running the merchandising for the 'Wrecking Ball' tour, shame on you.

Once we entered the main area of the venue we could see that the stage was at approximately the half way line, and the stadium roof was closed which would certainly assist the acoustics. We were able to walk around the left hand side of the main crowd and ended up with a really good view, about 60 to 70 feet from the left hand side of the stage, result!

Bruce and the band took to the stage at 7.40pm to 'This little light of mine' following up with 'Long Walk Home', my favourite track from the 'Magic album and one of a number of surprise inclusions along with 'Tougher than the rest' and 'Ramrod'. A sign request for 'TV movie' was duly delivered, the first and only time this track has ever been played live! 'Because its ridiculous!' said the man himself.
'Hungry Heart' and 'My City of Ruins' was delivered before Bruce was joined onstage by Eric Burdon from 60's group 'The Animal's' for a tremendous version of 'We got to get out of this place' which was delivered such a volume by the crowd, it would have done the usual inhabitants of the Millennium stadium proud! Great to see Eric Burdon, one of the few genuine British blues singers, still going strong. If you don't know the animals stuff, would definitely recommend checking them out. Most Of The Animals.
The night rolled on with the band in top form, 'Pay Me My Money Down' was a joy, then the lights came up for the final segment of the show and Bruce instructed anyone left in the place who was still sitting down to 'get up off of your welsh asses and lets see what you got!'. 'Born To Run', 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-out', and the pure theatre that 'Dancing in the Dark' has now become came and went in a blur. More than three and a half hours had passed when the band left the stage to leave the main man alone to close out the show with outstanding acoustic versions of 'Janey, don't you lose heart' and the simply stunning 'Thunder Road'. 

It's Boss Time!

It's incredibly difficult to explain the impact of a Springsteen show, the almost life affirming quality of a evening spent simply being part of this rock n roll extravaganza is hard to put into words. I've spent most of their lives trying to explain how good this band is live to our daughters, now both of them have seen for themselves what I was going on about all that time. Our eldest daughter, this time making the trip with me for her first Springsteen gig, left the stadium without a voice after singing and dancing the night away to many songs she was hearing for the first time. If you haven't seen Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform, do yourself and huge favour and catch them while you still can. I would also like to make special mention of the venue, very organised and comfortable environment to watch a show at what is essentially a sports arena, first class work Millennium Stadium

We headed to Central station and didn't have to wait long before the 'secret' last train arrived and we boarded for the journey back to Caerphilly. The only drawback of the secret train was that it was so secret, the local taxi drivers didn't know about and the taxi rank was completely deserted at the station. However, the nice lady from the premier inn had also given us a business card for a local taxi company, so the wait wasn't too long.

One of the best blogs I've picked up on over the past few months is Burgers and bruce, a food and travel blog with a strong leaning towards the boss. The lady who writes the blog actually got to meet the great man recently, well worth checking out.

The Summats single, 'Nothing's Changed' is doing very well, many thanks to everyone who has downloaded the track, you know we appreciate each and every one of you. We expect to be in the studio in September working on a EP and we are very excited to be working on a new festive song for 2013!

My songwriting partner Toe (Tony Brown) has finally picked up royalties for Australian TV airplay of All I Want Is Christmas, back in 2010,  I unfortunately have not, my royalties, I think, are with Tunecore who handle my publishing admin. The upshot of all this is I need a tax code from the U.S., Uncle Sam, I'll be in touch from blighty so sharpen the pencil!. Seriously, trying to get our royalties, PRS, publishing all worked out over the past couple of years has been a interesting journey, with some really good lessons for any new songwriters out there, but that most certainly will be subject to a blog all on it own! In the meantime, if you need advice now, this article will be very useful to you as a starting point http://www.tunecore.com/guides/sixrights

Till next time, take care and keep smiling!

Baggers

How to win a bet - Dirty Old Town

If you fancy a tip on how to win yourself a bet in an Irish bar, stick around & I'll explain.

Ask someone where the classic folk song 'Dirty Old Town' is set & you will generally receive the following responses, Dublin?, Belfast? At which point, you can correct them & pick up your winnings as I've done in Irish bars previously, by advising that it  was written about Salford, Greater Manchester, where its composer was from.
The association with Ireland one suspects, is in the fact that it has been covered successfully by both
 The Pogues & The Dubliners,  it has actually been covered many many times by a very diverse set of artists, from Rod Stewart to The Specials.
The song was written by legendary folk singer songwriter Ewan MacColl, father of the late, great Kirsty MacColl, and also wrote, among others, the Grammy award winning 'The first time ever I saw your face'.
Bearing in mind that I've always loved the song, it was a very nice experience to be at The Matchstick Man pub in Salford Quays last December, when an old guy by the name of Jim, got up to sing, mercifully curtailing the tired old karaoke songs which were being ritually put to death in the bar & belted out a beautiful rendition of the the old song in homage to his hometown. Whilst the days of a good old singalong in North West pubs are largely long gone, as they are elsewhere in the UK,  it was especially unexpected as it was pleasing, to hear this authentic slice of northern gold served up in Salford on a cold December night.




Refreshments in Salford Dec 12

We were in the pub following the Squeeze gig at the Apollo, it is incredibly difficult to give a balanced view of this gig as I've been a fan for such a long time but in the interests of a objective critique, here goes!  Musically they were amazing, Glenn Tilbrook has lost nothing of his excellent vocals and remains a very underrated guitarist, some of his solos on the night were pure joy. When they played the hits and much loved songs we had all come to hear, it was awesome. However, they spent way too long self indulging in both new & obscure tracks which quite frankly, in parts had us yawning. Seriously guys, you know what everyone was hoping for, its not all about you, its about the audience you are entertaining, unfortunately it didn't quite come off & ended up a little bit disappointing. I suppose when you have been around as long as this band has, they have the right to a little self indulgence but come on, Squeeze, you can do better! Highlight for me, outside of the obvious 'Up the junction' and singalonga-labelled-with love, was Black Coffee in Bed, this track really works surprisingly well in a live environment.
One person who certainly didn't disappoint was support act  Paul Heaton, the ex Housemartins and Beautiful South singer/songwriter treated us to tracks from all phases of his brilliant career, with the emphasis particularly on the early Housemartins stuff, he was expertly assisted by his own three piece band, an acapello rendition of 'Caravan of Love' as a finale brought the house down. Without doubt, the best opening act I've seen for some time. I'm sure the crowd at the Apollo would not have complained at all if he'd have played on for another hour, outstanding!

The night was introduced  by comedian Peter Kay, another lifelong Squeeze fan, very random opening, but very funny! Fans of Corrie will be interested to hear we got a taxi to the gig from Streetcars! Alas neither Steve nor Lloyd was driving!
Gigs a plenty coming up this year, February will see us at both the Train & The Killers gigs in Manchester, The Fratellis are up next in Camden Town in April & Springsteen and the E Street band in Cardiff in July! Not bad for starters, hopefully going to be a great year for concerts!

Sad news about the demise of HMV but is anyone really surprised? The idea of a record store has been out-dated for years, surpassed with the no-nonsense, stock everything black holes that are Amazon and iTunes and generally the world wide interweb!. I loved mooching around record stores back in the day just as much as anyone else, but the music industry and how we peruse and purchase our music has changed dramatically, and for the better in this bloggers humble opinion. Instead of thumbing album or CD covers I now sift through the mountain of music at my fingertips on Youtube, if I like, I buy, there and then. I intend to cover more on the changing face of music making and purchasing in a future blog, but for now, HMV like the rest of the high street has failed to move with the times and is now paying the ultimate price. The high street has to reinvent itself, there are still, believe it or not, suburbs in a number of the UK's major cities and towns, where the High street is flourishing, they are doing so becaused they have evolved to adapt to the needs of their consumers and are vibrant places to visit, spend your hard earned pennies and simply enjoy being out in town. Unfortunately they are in a minority, more need to follow suit if we aren't to be completely taken over by the relentless march of betting shops, takeaways and hairdressers!

On a brighter note, a brand new Summats single will be released shortly, stangely enough via the aforementioned iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc, with a new EP hot on its heels before the summer. Its been a long time coming, our unerring ability to procrastinate never fails us! However, the tracks are largely ready to go with a little more effort put in, studio time coming up to finalise vocals, then its down to our friend and producer Danny Wyatt aka Fractured Calm to deliver the finished tracks, no pressure Danny! :) https://soundcloud.com/fracturedcalm

Until next time, take care and keep smiling.

Baggers 

It's Only Rock n Roll...Hyde Park

Wembley stadium, London, on the 4th of July 1985, that was the first time I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play live, the performance I witnessed that day was and remains the best live show I've ever seen.

Fast forward 27 years, 14th July, Hyde Park, London. Opening with a fantastic version of 'Thunder Road' as he had done on the bands first visit to London in 1975, Springsteen and his band of merry men and women set off on a 3 and quarter hours set of pure adrenaline filled rock n roll!

Some much loved people were missing, sadly no longer with us, in the shape of Clarence 'the big man!' Clemons and Mr. Danny 'now you see him, now you dont' Federici. Amazing that this band can still sound so good even minus those two hugely gifted musicians.
Although my wife and I have now seen the band on a number of occasions, this gig was made even more special by the fact that our daughter Mel was with us. Brought up on tales of the exploits and mammoth gigs of the legendary E Street Band, she had the opportunity to experience first hand the power and joy they bring to an audience, and they didn't disappoint. 'Born to run', 'Because the nigh't, 'Dancing in the Dark', Spirits in the Night', 'Born in the USA' among so many others all came and went in bursts of pure energy!
Springsteen was joined by Jon Fogerty to duet on 'Promised land', Tom Morello later joined the Boss for a rendition of 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' which was simply breathtaking. Then last and by anyone's standards, not least, Paul McCartney arrived onstage to rip through 'I saw her standing there' and 'twist and shout'! The sight of Springsteen and McCartney rocking Hyde Park will live with me and anyone else who was privileged to be there, forever! As this duo to end all duo's looked to be going into a third song...silence. The event organiser's had pulled the plug, afraid to lose their licence due to a curfew, the band had already played 30 minutes beyond the cutoff point. Shame on you Westminster council!
The ending didn't detract from what was a great performance from a true rock legend, I doubt we'll ever see his like again.


 Lo and behold, PRSformusic actually replied to inform us that they are following up on our Australian TV royalties directly with APRA which is, I beleive, the acronym for Australasian Performing Rights Association, in which case, great news. It could also be the Australian Professional Rodeo Association, which isn't so great, to the best of my knowledge, they dont owe us a bean!

The new EP should be finished before too long, both of The Summats are now based back up in the North of England so hopefully this  should speed up production. Speaking of which, we have a very cool producer working with us on a track titled 'Can You Hear Me Now'. Fractured Calm, aka Danny Wyatt is putting the finishing touches to the track, looking forward to hearing the finished work. It's worth taking time out to check out some of Danny's work at http://soundcloud.com/fracturedcalm

Until next time, take care & keep smiling.

Baggers