The Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Concorde

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Originally I was due to see The Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Astoria in London along with Stevie B and Andy, but then the band added a date in Brighton... so we sold our tickets and blagged into the Concorde instead - and as an extra bonus, Anton was kind enough to put my mate Justin on the band's guest list as well. Job done! Anton warmed up the crowd with a DJ set before the band took the stage at 9:20pm, and it was great to see tamborine man Joel out front and centre, reunited with his old band once again. With (at times) no less than five guitars playing BJM kicked up a terrific wall of sound, spoilt only by a few assholes determined to wind up Anton after no doubt seeing his well documented short temper in DiG! Highlight for me was Hide And Seek where the band discovered the lost chord and f*cked it until it bled. We'd been anticipating a two hour set, but in the end we got a full 2hrs 40mins, halted only as the stroke of midnight approached and the venue started turning on the house lights! An even more heroic performance when you consider that Anton wasn't feeling 100%. A truly amazing show.

FrightFest in Brighton

Mark James & Phil O'Shea with Paul McEvoy

The FrightFest boys returned to Brighton on Saturday night for their annual roadshow event, the third year running that they've taken part in the CineCity festival. It was a pretty small crowd, no doubt due to the recent ICA all-nighter which had already screened two of the three movies. Gone was Wolf Creek-lite, an Australian set thriller in which a British couple hitch a lift with a very dodgy geezer - and featured that old time honoured cliche of the car that just won't start when the heroine is in peril! I got half way through watching The Raven (featuring a very young Jack Nicholson, to my - and Paul's - surprise) before retiring to the upstairs bar in the Duke Of York's with Paul and Ian to hang out with the Vampire Diary mob - directors Mark James and Phil O'Shea and actresses Anna Walton and Morven Macbeth. The film is an ultra-low budget British chiller and follows a documentary film-maker (Macbeth) who gets mixed up with a real vampire (Walton)... nothing special, but it held my attention and at 2am, after more than several beers, that was no bad thing. Not an outstanding line-up this time then, but nonetheless a fun night and it was great catching up with the FrightFest team again.

FrightFest Movie Haiku - Vampire Diary

www.sterlingpictures.com/vampire-diary


Dir: Mark James & Phil O'Shea


Cast: Anna Walton, Morven Macbeth, Jamie King, Kate Sissons


Films weekend vampires

meets a real one who's pregnant

she's got a bolt gun


soulmining rating: **

FrightFest Movie Haiku - The Raven

www.mgm.com/video.do


Dir: Roger Corman


Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson


He's a talking bird

diabolic mind control

laughing man returns


soulmining rating: ***

FrightFest Movie Haiku - Gone

www.gonemovie.co.uk


Dir: Ringan Ledwidge


Cast: Scott Mechlowicz, Amelia Warner, Shaun Evans, Victoria Thaine


Couple learn lesson

take care who you travel with

more like Wolf Puddle


soulmining rating: **

London To Brighton Q&A

Jason Wood with Lorraine Stanley and Paul Andrew Williams

This year's CineCity festival included a preview screening of London To Brighton on Sunday evening, one of the best British films of the year. It's a low budget thriller which relies more on character-led drama than gangster cliches and features stellar performances from Lorraine Stanley and Georgia Groome who play (respectively) a prostitute and young girl on the run in Brighton.

After the screening, Duke Of York programmer Jason Wood conducted an interview with Lorraine Stanley and director Paul Andrew Williams which gave a valuable insight into the development of the production. Paul comes across as a very affable character and I'll be interested to follow his career path, especially as he's just started collaborating on a project with James with a view to directing.

London To Brighton opens nationwide in the UK on 1st December and you can read my movie haiku below.

Movie Haiku - London To Brighton

www.l2b-themovie.co.uk

Dir: Paul Andrew Williams

Cast: Lorraine Stanley, Johnny Harris, Georgia Groome

They did a bad thing

now they're fleeing to Brighton

not in vintage cars


soulmining rating: ****

Movie Haiku - Babel

www.paramountvantage.com/babel


Dir: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu


Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi


Deaf girl in Japan

tourists shot in Morocco

all things connected


soulmining rating: ****

Movie Haiku - Casino Royale

www.sonypictures.co.uk/movies/casinoroyale


Dir: Martin Campbell


Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench


Mean no nonsense spy

plays cards with rogue who cries blood

Bond rides a Vesper


soulmining rating: ****

Play It Cool In November

And after the 1,000th post it's back to normal service with an air of creeping inevitability... yes, here's November's playlist. All the sounds I've been listening to a lot this month - with the exception of Polly's tugboat horn. Go get 'em...

• Bat For Lashes - Fur And Gold (Echo)
• The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out (Virgin)
• Hilary Duff - Most Wanted (Hollywood)
• Imogen Heap - I Megaphone (Almo Sounds)
• Revl9n - Someone Like You (Because) remixes
  

1,000th Post!

Yes it's true... nearly two years since I started this blog (although I did go back and post all my 3 o'clock photos from 2003) and nearly 30,000 hits later, here I am writing my 1,000th post.

I wish I had something groundbreaking or exciting to report, but if I'm being honest then I'd have to say that Feed The Pony is going through something of a transition right now. Or a crisis of confidence. If I look back over the last year it's clear to me that my audience has shrunk considerably... I'm lucky to reach 50 hits a day now, whereas last Summer I was getting at least three times that amount. I don't regret phasing out the film reviews, in fact I don't know how I ever found the time to write so many, but what frustrates me now is that I've lost those spontaneous random posts that I used to write - and I know why that is: I can't blog from work any more. Now everything has to be done from home, so it's usually all pre-planned; the movie haikus, the gig photos, the live listings and the monthly cd playlists. The rest of the time I'm spent doing other things.

So... I need to decide which direction to follow. Do I allow Feed The Pony to continue as it is? Or do I make changes. I've often thought about having a separate blog just for the movie haikus... but then would I bother publishing my gig photos on a blog, or should I just set up a public gallery online? As for the other movie stuff that interests me, well I could just focus on doing those exclusively for Eat My Brains... and everything else, well there's always MySpace.

I don't know what the answer is, I'm just tossing around some ideas in my head... but I think I need to have made a decision on the way forward ready for 2007. So please, if you have any feedback or suggestions to make, please use the comments section. And thanks for reading.

Movie Haiku - The Prestige

www.prestigemovie.co.uk


Dir: Christopher Nolan


Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson


Battling magicians

obsessed by transported man

how's Bowie's trick work?


soulmining rating: ****

Movie Haiku - Breaking And Entering

www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/breakingandentering


Dir: Anthony Minghella


Cast: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman


Low-life in Kings Cross

he follows laptop thief home

shouldn't shag his mum


soulmining rating: ****

Radio 1 Chart Show Live at the Dome

All Saints

Radio 1 took over Brighton Dome this afternoon for their Chart Show Live event, the first time they've taken the show outside of London. I was on duty looking after the various ticket collections and guest lists so missed the start of All Saints set (which began with Black Coffee and Scar I believe) but I managed to nip in to catch Pure Shores and their catchy new single Rock Steady. It's good to have them back!

Nelly Furtado

It was back to work for me so I sadly missed the extra special duet between Katie Price & Peter Andre and all of McFly, making it back into the auditorium in time to catch the last two songs by Nelly Furtado - a cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and her recent hit single Maneater.

Girls Aloud

Next up were Girls Aloud for their four song set, complete with their entourage of dancers. They cherry-picked some of their better singles to perform, starting with Biology and their current hit Something Kinda Ooooh. It was a strong performance and the girls presented themselves well, engaging the crowd in banter during each song. They finished off with Love Machine and one of their earliest tracks, Sound Of The Underground. "I really like Girls Aloud and I don't care who knows it," said my boss as they left the stage... indeed. I think their Greatest Hits album will be in my collection by Christmas.

Beyonce

After a long wait having to watch various Radio 1 DJs pad out the changeover, it was time for the final act. I have to say I'm not a massive fan of Beyonce, but here tonight she was different class. Opening with Deja Vu backed with dancers and a full band she looked stunning wearing a short cream dress, hair blowing in the air. Naughty Girl and Baby Boy followed, then forthcoming single Irreplaceable, the catchiest song she's done in ages. She had the audience spellbound by the time she finished Dangerously In Love which really highlighted her vocal skills, and finally - no surprise - she finished off with Crazy In Love which had the crowd going mad. Despite the (comparative) small size of the venue she gave it everything - she could have been playing Vegas. Very impressive... and a great way to end a really fun, enjoyable show.

You can see loads more photos from the concert on the Radio 1 website.

Movie Haiku - Dead Man's Cards

www.deadmanscards.com

Dir: James Marquand

Cast: Paul Barber, Tom Bell, Samantha Janus, James McMartin

Boxer turned doorman

involved with dodgy scousers

plays out like western

soulmining rating: ***

Music Survey

1. Which bands/artist do you own the most albums by?
David Bowie

2. What was the last song you listened to?
Shoot The Runner by Kasabian (on Radio 1 as I'm typing this)

3. What's in your CD player right now?
I Megaphone by Imogen Heap

4. What was the last show you attended?
Midlake at the ULU in London on Wednesday night

5. What was the greatest show you've ever been to?
2K at the Barbican in 1997 - a 23 minute performance of their F*** The Millennium single featuring The KLF in wheelchairs alongside Zodiac Mindwarp, The William Fairy Brass Band, a lifeboatmens' choir and a mass of striking Liverpool dockers. I've just found some footage of it on You Tube, check it out here!

6. What's the worst show you've ever been to?
I've seen loads of bad shows through work, but the most disappointing one that stands out was seeing Black Grape (minus Bez) at Brighton Centre. A complete shambles!

7. What's the most musically involved you have ever been?
DJing for Collapsed Lung (Eat My Goal, anyone?) at the Pressure Point in Brighton

8. Which band/artist do you dislike?
At the moment I'd have to say Razorlight

9. What shows are you looking forward to?
Our Radio 1 Chart Show Live concert on Sunday with Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, Girls Aloud and All Saints! Also Revl9n and Bat For Lashes in Brighton next
month.

10. What is your favourite band shirt?
I don't buy many band t-shirts nowadays, so would have to say my Brian
Jonestown Massacre logo shirt.

11. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Hmmmm... Bowie might be too intimidating, so maybe Dave Grohl, the nicest
man in rock?

12. Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?
The The

13. Who is one band/artist you've never seen live but always wanted to?
Faith No More

14. Can you name five flawless albums?
Come Down by The Dandy Warhols
Babe Rainbow by The House Of Love
Oyster by Heather Nova
Soul Mining by The The
2 Many DJs as heard on Radio Soulwax part 2

15. If you could play in any band which band would you choose and what instrument would you play?
I think Soulwax would be fun... maybe percussion.

16. How many concerts/shows have you been to, total?
Hmmmm, I first started going to gigs in 1986 and I reckon I see on average one per week, so maybe around 1000?

17. Who have you seen the most live?
The Dandy Warhols - 8 times

18. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
Natural Born Killers

19. What was your last musical "phase" before you wisened up?
I don't have phases, my tastes have always been eclectic

20. What's your "guilty pleasure" that you hate to admit to liking?
I almost bought the Girls Aloud Greatest Hits CD this week

Midlake at the ULU

Gig of the week #3 - Midlake.

Another night in London, another new venue to discover. I arrived at the ULU around 9pm so was quite surprised to be there in time to catch the support act (Fionn Regan I think) and find a decent place to stand... well, until the rude excessively tall people moved in for the second night running. Midlake played for about 75 minutes and sounded pretty good. I particularly liked the way they shared vocals and swapped instruments during their set, and each song was accompanied by projections or an odd promo video which complemented their seventies Americana sound perfectly. Their current album The Trials Of Van Occupanther is probably my favourite album of 2006, so it was nice to hear these songs played live and Roscoe in particular had the crowd whooping with delight. Another band I'd like to see again but preferably outside of London.

Feeder at the Roundhouse

Gig of the week #2 - Feeder.

I like the newly renovated Roundhouse in Camden, it's a lovely venue with a rich musical history. A nice size - about the same as the Dome - but with such a fervent crowd inside it felt packed, and there seemed to be a procession of extra-tall people rudely pushing in front of wherever I stood... and I'm hardly short myself. Boy Kill Boy opened proceedings with a lively set which won the audience over, finishing with their hit single Susie. After buying The Singles CD this Summer I suddenly realised just how many Feeder songs I knew and liked, so it was great to see them in a small(ish) venue as part of their three special War Child benefit shows this week. They played a fair number of my favourites such as Shatter, Lost And Found, Feeling A Moment and Seven Days In The Sun as well as a number of more obscure tracks and covers (including REM's Everybody Hurts) - and the audience went wild for it. Expectation was high for the encore as The Sugababes had turned up the previous night to team up on a couple of songs, but Grant informed us that they were otherwise engaged, so that was the only slight disappointment.

Metric at the Concorde

Gig of the week #1 - Metric.

Andy and I got to the Concorde just in time to see Blood Red Shoes take to the stage, Brighton's very own answer to The White Stripes. Well, sort of... there's just the two of them and they make a hell of a racket. In a good way. Promising stuff! It was great to finally see Metric live after months of plugging from Courtney and they didn't disappoint. Their new wave / punk sound worked better live than on record, a little more edgy and less produced. They played most of the tracks from Live It Out but also threw in a couple of early songs which I hadn't heard before but sounded equally great. The band seemed to be enjoying themselves too, and during the encore Emily gave into an exceptionally graceful spot of stagediving. Invigorating stuff, I want to see them again now! One of the top five gigs this year - so far.

Movie Haiku - Romanzo Criminale

www.romanzocriminale.co.uk


Dir: Michele Placido


Cast: Kim Rossi Stuart, Anna Mouglalis, Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudio Santamaria


They form ruthless gang

watch their rise and fall in Rome

that bomb woke me up


soulmining rating: **

Movie Haiku - Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

www.borat-movie.co.uk


Dir: Larry Charles


Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell, Pamela Anderson


Kazakh man with cock

make sexy time with Pammy

this film very niiice


soulmining rating: ****

November Live

Loads of exciting gigs and shows happening around Brighton this month... here's some of the ones to look out for:

04/11 - Brighton Centre plays host to The Flaming Lips - will they turn up with their menagerie of animal costumes this time?

05/11 - One of the bands of the moment The Gossip play down at the Concorde.

06/11 - I missed Metric when they played here as part of The Great Escape festival in May so I'm glad to have another opportunity. Support for their Concorde show comes from Brighton's own Blood Red Shoes who are creating quite a buzz at the moment.

07/11 - Up to London to check out the newly re-opened Roundhouse venue where Feeder will be performing a special gig in aid of War Child with support from Boy Kill Boy.

08/11 - My second night in a row in London as I check out Midlake playing at the ULU. Meanwhile The Feeling play a sold out gig at the Dome.

11/11 - Last time they played at the Dome it was recorded for a live DVD, now the Scissor Sisters have moved up to the arena circuit so they're headling over at Brighton Centre.

12/11 - This month's hot ticket is the just-announced Radio 1 Chart Show Live event which sold out in only ninety minutes. Taking place on Sunday afternoon at the Dome the line up features Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, McFly, Girls Aloud and All Saints all playing a short set each.

19/11 - A literary event at the Corn Exchange as luvvie Rupert Everett plugs his new autobiography with an interview and Q&A session. Anyone else want to ask him about Dellamorte Dellamore?

20/11 - The Bees are back in town for a show at the Concorde.

21/11 - Another sold out gig at the Dome, this time it's the turn of The Zutons.

25/11 - The FrightFest boys are due in Brighton for a double bill as part of this year's Cine City festival at the Duke Of York's cinema - films to be confirmed.

27/11 - Always an interesting proposition live, The Brian Jonestown Massacre are playing at the Concorde. Music or drama, who knows? Last time I saw them Anton was trying to pick a fight with the bar staff... I've also got tickets to see them at the Astoria the previous night. Meanwhile at the Dome there's Rodrigo Y Gabriela.

28/11 - Rounding off the month's entertainment we have The Magic Numbers at the Dome - you can also catch them doing an instore at Fopp on Wednesday 8th November.

Movie Haiku - Saw III

www.saw3.com


Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman


Cast: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus MacFadyen, Bahar Soomekh


Jigsaw needs an op

uncover junkie's story

set more twisted traps


soulmining rating: ***

The Go! Team at Brighton Dome

Sadly by the time I'd finished looking after the guest list for The Go! Team show I only managed to catch the last thirty minutes of their set... but they'd saved their best til last (or certainly their best known songs!) so I still got to see Huddle Formation, Bottle Rocket and the wonderful encore of Lady Flash. Nice Halloween setting too, with pumpkin lanterns all around the stage - which then got chucked into the crowd once the band finished playing!

Movie Haiku - Princess

www.princessmovie.com


Dir: Anders Morgenthaler


Cast: Thure Lindhardt, Stine Fischer Christensen, Christian Tafdrup, Tommy Kenter


Kid's mom was porn queen

priest is shocked at her abuse

takes bloody revenge


soulmining rating: ***

Movie Haiku - Shortbus

www.shortbusthemovie.com


Dir: John Cameron Mitchell


Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy


Counsels gay couple

they take her to a sex club

she wants an orgasm


soulmining rating: ****

Keane at Brighton Centre

This isn't meant to sound smug or self-satisfied, but sometimes there's a real joy about blagging into a gig - purely because it removes all those high hopes you have when you've shelled out twenty-five quid for a ticket. You can just go in open minded with zero expectations. And so it was with Keane on Wednesday night, a band whose CDs I like but who have never really struck me as a particularly enticing live act. Of course they duly went and proved themselves, putting on an energetic display with frontman Tom clearly relishing being back on the road again after his recent stint in rehab. As good as the show was, the real talking point came as the band launched into Atlantic at the start of their encore - one of the large lights on the left hand side slowly lowered, then lurched towards the drumkit as its support buckled! Luckily its fall was halted by a neighbouring stack of equipment and three crew members wrestled with it as the band played on, oblivious to the drama taking place behind them. And then suddenly that was it, the band were asked to leave the stage and the house lights came on - the concert had to be halted due to the obvious health and safety issues. A real shame for Keane and their fans, especially with this being their home-town gig, but thankfully no-one got hurt and I suppose at least it happened after eighteen songs (out of a scheduled twenty) and not after two!

Movie Haiku - The Last Kiss

www.lastkissmovie.com


Dir: Tony Goldwyn


Cast: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Rachel Bilson


His life's all mapped out

gets tempted by cute brunette

has to make a choice


soulmining rating: ****

Movie Haiku - Marie Antoinette

www.sony.com/marieantoinette


Dir: Sofia Coppola


Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Steve Coogan


French Queen's fall from grace

too disjointed but pretty

spot the pink Converse


soulmining rating: **

Movie Haiku - The Grudge 2

www.doyouhaveagrudge.com


Dir: Takashi Shimizu


Cast: Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel, Jennifer Beals, Sarah Michelle Gellar


Not Japanese one

it's the sequel to remake

curse spreads to the States


soulmining rating: ***

Movie Haiku - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

www.texaschainsawmovie.com


Dir: Jonathan Liebesman


Cast: Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, Diora Baird, R. Lee Ermey


Time for the prequel

same as sequels and remake

grab your I-Spy book


soulmining rating: ***

Movie Haiku - The Devil Wears Prada

www.devilwearspradamovie.com


Dir: David Frankel


Cast: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker


She's no fashion sense

loses her integrity

working for ice queen


soulmining rating: ***

Tina Dico at the Komedia

Yesterday evening was night of the ex-Zero 7 vocalists at the Komedia as Tina Dico and Sophie Barker doubled up for a bit of female singer/ songwriter action. We arrived just as Sophie took to the stage to play a few of her songs. She's got a very strong voice but I felt it would work even better backed with a full band. I don't know any of her solo stuff, but she did play In The Waiting Line which is my favourite Zero 7 track, so that track alone was worth the price of admission. By the time Tina came on we'd managed to get some decent seats near the front (thanks Marlene!) and had an excellent view of her performance. She opened with Break Of Day, the first song of hers I ever heard, and right from the start it struck me just how confident and powerful her vocals are - in fact Dave and I agreed afterwards that there were shades of Alanis Morissette in there. Tina played a selection of requests including songs from In The Red, plus Home from the Zero 7 album and Magic, an amusing tale of a one night stand written on the road... Sophie joined her on stage for the encore where they covered an old John Martyn track together. Great stuff!

After the show we were hanging around the bar area and Tina came out so we got to say hello... she's lovely!!

James Dean Bradfield at the Concorde

Mmmmm, a quiet Sunday night watching a bit of live music... well, not quite; the Concorde was sold out and heaving with folk there to see James Dean Bradfield, a large proportion of whom seemed to be pissed up w*nkers who were more interested in talking all the way through his set. Which was a pity, as otherwise it was a decent gig. James played a load of stuff from his current solo album The Great Western and a number of old Manics tunes such as Ocean Spray, Kevin Carter, A Design For Life and From Despair To Where. A brisk hour and that was that - no encore - just left the audience wanting more. Oh yeah, and something else I noticed - is it me or is James Dean Bradfield looking more and more like Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh! these days?

Play It Cool in October

It's been such a hectic month for me that I really haven't listened to so as much new music lately... in fact to be honest, I've haven't even picked up this month's Q yet and I have no clue as to who's got new albums due out before Christmas. But hey, for now here's what I have been playing over the past few weeks:

• Some Girls - Crushing Love (Koch)
• Keane - Under The Iron Sea (Island)
• OST - Greenwich Mean Time - Music From The Film (Island)
• OST - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (Verve)
• The Fratellis - Henrietta (Island) single
  

Movie Haiku - The Departed

www.thedeparted/warnerbros.com


Dir: Martin Scorsese


Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg


Jack's got mole in cops

but cops have mole in Jack's gang

who will expose who?


soulmining rating: *****

Imogen Heap at the Dome

Having a band/artist you really admire performing where you work is always a bit weird but is also really exciting. I'd been so worried that the Imogen Heap gig was going to get cancelled after her recent illness, so kept everything crossed when her agent confirmed it was still on (the day before) and I was so relieved when she arrived safely at the venue on Wednesday afternoon. I got to see some of the soundcheck as I was working inside the auditorium and it was clear that Immi was still fighting that frog in her throat, but she wasn't going to let it get the better of her. The gig was awesome. I took Dave and Andy with me who'd not seen her play live before and they were spellbound throughout, as indeed was I. She's such a fascinating performer to watch as she layers her vocals and sounds, so unlike anyone else that I've seen - and she's so down to earth and funny with it. Her set was similar to the one that she played back at the Komedia earlier in the year, except this time she had backing from support band Nemo on some of the more rockier numbers. When she came out and played Hide & Seek for the encore she was stood right in front of where I was sat and it was as if she was playing just for me, it made my spine tingle... Daylight Robbery rocked out, and The Moment I Said It was the perfect finale. After the show we were drinking in The Waggon and she called in to see the Nemo lads, so we got to say hello and she signed my Dave's CD, so that was a bonus! A great, great evening!

You can see more of my photos on Immi's moblog page here.

Dangerous Junk For Sale

My American buddy Sean Bunzick has just published his third novel entitled Dangerous Junk For Sail, the latest in his series of John Harwich novels set in South East Asia.

In addition to quotes from fellow authors Jason Schoonover and Christopher G. Moore on the front cover, and the Cape Cod Times on the rear, a quote from yours truly has also made it onto the back cover:

"Combines his unrivalled passion for military history and Thailand's expat lifestyle in this rip-roaring adventure full of larger than life characters, all delivered in his own inimitable style."

(Although the proof reader must have been on a tea break at the time as the words 'full of' seem to have gone AWOL during the printing process...)

I know Sean is a good mate of mine but it's still kind of him to use one of my quotes on his cover! I wish him all the best with his book sales and continuing writing career.

You can read more about the novel and order a copy at the Author House website here.

FrightFest Returns!

Angelica Lee stars in Re-cycle

Hot on the heels of August's FrightFest at London's Odeon West End, the team have announced a number of one-off events taking place over the next couple of months.

First up is a Halloween double-bill at the ICA in London on 31st October featuring retrospective screenings of Peter Jackson's Meet The Feebles and George A. Romero's Creepshow.

Also taking place at the ICA the following weekend on 4th November is a FrightFest all-nighter featuring four brand new titles - Gone (Dir: Ringan Ledwige), Turistas (Dir: John Stockwell), Re-cycle (Dir: Oxide & Danny Pang) and Heartstopper (Dir: Bob Keen) - plus a retro screening of Roger Corman's The Raven.

Finally on Saturday 25th November the FrightFest team are due to return to Brighton for another late night double-bill at the Duke Of York's cinema as part of the annual CineCity festival. No details on the identity of the films showing that night as yet.

Movie Haiku - World Trade Center

www.wtcmovie.com


Dir: Oliver Stone


Cast: Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal


Trapped under towers

police heroes talk a lot

while families wait


soulmining rating: **

Embrace at the Dome

Another Dome show for me this week although this time I was looking after the guest list so I didn't get in to see Embrace until their set was well underway. I used to really like them when they started out but I think this is the first time I've actually seen them live, I'd always been put off by Danny's vocals when I'd seen them perform live on TV. Thankfully now they're enjoying their second coming this seems to be no longer a problem anymore and Danny's vocal shortcomings are a thing of the past - instead he's an enthusiastic, confident front man, egging on the crowd at every opportunity. Even though the gig was nowhere near sold out there was still a good atmosphere and the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves, playing a set spanning material from their five albums to date. Keen to dispell rumours that the band are splitting, they encored with a new song (Heart And Soul I think it was called) and finished with Retread and a barnstorming version of Ashes.

Sparks at the Dome

The prospect of watching Sparks live in a half-empty Dome Concert Hall on a wet Sunday evening didn't suggest that this would be one of the gigs of the year, but despite the leaky roof and the mad bloke in the rear stalls, it turned out to be just that! With no support, the band played two different sets which worked really well. In the first half they played new album Hello Young Lovers in full, complete with a video screen centre stage which Ron would intermittently interact with. As with most of their material, it was theatrical and witty stuff, and the new songs proved to be their strongest collection in more than a decade, with Dick Around, (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country? and Metaphor coming as particular highlights. The second half was a more traditional set consisting of songs from throughout their career including The Number One Song In Heaven, When Do I Get To Sing "My Way" and, of course, This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us. It was a triumphant performance which had the audience on its feet and applauding like an crowd twice its size! They finished with a reprise of Dick Around, just the two Mael brothers and a keyboard, protesting the single's ludicrous ban by Radio 1. An absolutely cracking show and I'm so glad I made the effort to go and see them! And I still think their drummer used to be in The Proclaimers... what do you think 'brother' Gingerbloke?

October Live

If you like live comedy then Brighton is the place to be this month as the Paramount Comedy Festival rolls into the city for two-and-a-bit weeks of laughter and merriment. There's plenty of gigs to enjoy too as we get into the Autumn touring season... Plenty of choice then, so hope to see some of you in the next month! Here's some of the highlights:

01/10 - I saw Sparks live at the Dome long before I started working there, it must have been at least ten years ago and I got to meet them backstage afterwards... tonight they're back promoting their Hello Young Lovers album and I'll be there to check them out again with Gingerbloke - wonder if Ron will crack a smile this time?

03/10 - Fresh from their underwhelming England World Cup anthem, Embrace are at the Dome with support from The Delays. Surprised this one hasn't sold out but I suppose it was a late addition to the band's UK tour.

06/10 - With The Goodies (minus Bill Oddie) raising the curtain on this month's comedy the night before, the Paramount Comedy Festival really kicks into gear on Friday night. The hottest ticket is for Russell Brand in the Corn Exchange, who's subsequently sold out an extra show in the Dome on the 18th. I might check out Laurence & Gus whose Next In Line show is described as "a comedy relay where each sketch features a character from the previous one". Could be interesting.

07/10 - Pick of the today's comedy for me is Richard Herring who's performing his new show Menage A Un at the Corn Exchange. Meanwhile down at the Concorde Evan Dando returns with his newly reformed band The Lemonheads, out on the road touring their new album.

09/10 - It wouldn't be a festival without a sprinkle of comedy genius from Daniel Kitson - he's doing two shows at the Pavilion Theatre for a mere £5. These will be improvised as he hasn't bothered to prepare any material... otherwise you've got Marcus Brigstocke at the Corn Exchange. Well, if you've already bought tickets - he's sold out. And if you'd prefer some music then you can see Stereo MCs soundalikes (come on, their new single sounds exactly like Connected...) The Rapture down at the Concorde.

10/10 - The first of two TV recordings for Paramount, it's the Comedy Blue night at the Corn Exchange. Hosted by Mike Wilmot with special guests from a selection of Carey Marx, Dave Johns, Ed Byrne, Jim Jeffries, Lucy Porter and Scott Capurro. Tickets are FREE from the Box Office at Brighton Dome.

11/10 - One of my gig highlights so far this year was seeing Imogen Heap at the Komedia, and now she's at the Dome and I've got front row tickets! I can't wait!! She's been advertising for a local support act on MySpace so it will be interesting to see who she picks...

12/10 - Will Smith has been one of the most consistently funny comedy performers I've seen in the last couple of years with his previous shows 10 Arguments I Should Have Won and Misplaced Childhood. Now he's back at the Pavilion Theatre with his new show How To Be Cool. I'm expecting another hilarious self-deprecating performance.

13/10 - If you're not sure who to see during the comedy festival then the Best Of The Fest shows at the Dome are always a safe bet. The first dose is hosted by Adam Hills and will include appearances from Frankie Boyle, Phil Nichol, Rhod Gilbert and Russell Howard - and next Friday it's the turn of Alan Carr to host proceedings.

14/10 - Love him or hate him (it's an argument that runs and runs in our office) Ross Noble returns to the Dome for two nights of his new show Fizzy Logic. Meanwhile in the Pavilion Theatre, last night's host Adam Hills has his own show.

15/10 - I'm skipping the comedy shows tonight and heading to the Concorde for the solo show from Manic's frontman James Dean Bradfield.

16/10 - It's a night for the ex-Zero 7 vocalists as Tina Dico plays at the Komedia with support from Sophie Barker. Looking forward to this double-bill!

19/10 - Another must-see for me, it's Mitchell & Webb the stars of Channel 4's Peep Show. This will be the opening night of their first major UK tour and I believe it's going to take the form of sketches from their current hit and miss BBC show That Mitchell & Webb Look so not too sure whether it will quite live up to expectations... the show is sold out but they will be back at the Dome again in December.

21/10 - It's the last night of the Paramount Comedy Festival and the big draw this evening is Jimmy Carr who's performing an early and late show at the Dome.

24/10 - Getting back to music again we've a run of shows in the Corn Exchange starting with The Automatic who I saw earlier in the year at the Concorde. Really like their current single Recover so will probably check them out again once I've finished working.

25/10 - Was thinking of seeing Boy Kill Boy at the Corn Exchange, but looks like I've had a better offer - so should hopefully be seeing Keane at Brighton Centre instead. Under The Iron Sea is one of my most played CDs at the moment, although I can't take Crystal Ball seriously since Rich told me that he and his workmates all sing "lick my balls" when it's playing at Music Zone...

28/10 - It's a special one-off Halloween show at the Dome for local favourites The Go! Team. I missed their gig at the Corn Exchange at the start of the year, so will try and check them out this time around.

29/10 - The Guillemots are next in line at the Corn Exchange...

30/10 - Our final Corn Exchange concert this month sees The Fratellis here touring their Costello Music album. Like their singles so will give them a look I think.

31/10 - Razorlight play at the Brighton Centre. I'm not a big fan (not even a little fan) of their music, but I do like The Like who are supporting, so make sure you get there early and check them out if you're going along.

Movie Haiku - Clerks 2

www.clerks2.com


Dir: Kevin Smith


Cast: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman


They serve at Mooby's

watch a man and his donkey

Dante makes right choice


soulmining rating: ****

Juliette & The Licks at the Concorde

What a top night out this was! So I probably won't be rushing out to buy the new Juliette & The Licks CD next week, but live... they rock! Juliette Lewis has star quality and that voice is made for rock 'n' roll. Couldn't tell you what songs they played but I enjoyed it immensely and had a great time catching up with good friends. Met a really cool girl too who kinda made me forget all about last weekend... just a shame she's married with two kids!!

The Perils of Internet Dating

I've been thinking that all I ever seem to post nowadays are movie haikus and gig photos, so here's a more personal tale just for a change.

So I met this girl online (let's call her V) on a dating website fairly recently. She found me actually, I was intrigued and sent her a message... we exchanged email addresses and so began a seven week courtship of emails, instant messages, then later, texts and a proper chat. Always tinted with sarcasm, often flirty, our banter was fun and seemed to be leading somewhere. We arranged to meet - a weekend at V's was on the cards. Fast forward to last Saturday; armed with a bunch of flowers I made the journey to her city, 90 mins north of London. It was a comedy of errors as I arrived at the bus stop and she wasn't there... then arrived at her place to discover she'd gone to the bus stop! We met on a bridge and she was exactly as I'd imagined - bright (she's just got her MA degree), funny, a thick Eastern European accent and incredibly beautiful with the most gorgeous blue eyes you've ever seen. We had a drink in the nearest pub, then strolled along the river and through the park as it was a lovely sunny afternoon, talking all the way. Everything was fine, or so I thought... then we got back to the bridge and V told me that she didn't want me to stay and she didn't think it was working out. That kinda knocked the stuffing out of me! Call me a typical bloke but I thought we'd been getting on okay. I asked her if I was different to what she'd expected but she said no, she couldn't really put her finger on what it was... so I'm still a bit baffled. I guess what hurt most though was that she didn't want to hang out as mates, regardless of whether there was a spark or not, and to me that felt like a rejection of our whole friendship. In her defence V had friends moving into her flat that afternoon so she was feeling stressed about that (plus it could have been awkward if they stayed over that night too) and she had a pile of work looming on Sunday afternoon, but even so, she knew all of this before I came... Oh well, I guess you never really know a person until you meet them in the flesh. V warned me to approach our date with zero expectations and in retrospect I was unwise not to heed her advice... more fool me.

So what have I learnt from this experience? Well, getting rejected sucks, but I knew that already. Seriously though, we should never have arranged to meet up for a whole weekend. V actually said that she normally only meets for a coffee on a first date and that sounds a lot more sensible, so quite why she agreed to our plans I don't know, but I suppose I was coming quite a distance. That's another thing - long distance. Always a tough one that. It was never going to work... well, it would taken one hell of an effort. Meeting up maybe one out of every three weekends is no way to begin a new relationship, what was I thinking? Local girls in future then... or maybe London, hey, it's only an hour away. Anyway... it's times like these when you're at your lowest that you appreciate your true friends and thankfully I had two in the shape of Dolores and Mike in London who came to my rescue on Saturday night and made sure I had a smile on my face before I made my way back home to Brighton.

As a postscript to all this V said she'd keep in touch. I emailed her on Monday but said I'd understand if she didn't want to reply. There's been no response.

No regrets though.

[ Updated 2nd October: I received an email from V today apologising for what happened. There were other factors at play on that Saturday which I'm now aware of and I can understand why she'd been so distracted... I just wish she'd said something at the time. Anyway, I'm glad we're back in touch and she's not as cold-hearted as I perhaps made her out to be. ]

FrightFest Review on EMB

(photo courtesy of www.frightfest.co.uk)

It's taken a while but I'm sure you'll agree it's been worth the wait... Yes, the official Eat My Brains FrightFest round up is now online! You can read my daily summaries along with short reviews of each film from Mike, Russ and myself by clicking here.

Movie Haiku - Children Of Men

www.childrenofmen.net


Dir: Alfonso Cuaron

Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor


Future without kids

refugee camp in Bexhill

keep pregnant girl safe


soulmining rating: *****

Bic Runga at the Concorde

Hey, it was so good to be out watching live music in the city last night, I've really missed that buzz over the Summer months. Last night it was Bic Runga at the Concorde, a mere four months since she played at the Spiegeltent. This was a little different however as it was just her, solo. She played an hour's set, quickly diverting from her set list and inviting requests from the crowd which naturally included some of her more popular songs like Sway and Drive. However it was her more recent material which impressed me the most, especially Birds, the title track of her latest album. A welcome reminder of why I love live music so much!

Movie Haiku - DOA: Dead Or Alive

www.uip.co.uk/deadoralive


Dir: Corey Yuen


Cast: Jaime Pressly, Devon Aoki, Holly Valance, Eric Roberts


Girls in bikinis

fight lots and play volleyball

what more do you want?


soulmining rating: ***

Movie Haiku - The Black Dahlia

www.theblackdahliamovie.net


Dir: Brian De Palma


Cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank


Solve starlet's murder

film is all over the place

just watch the trailer


soulmining rating: *

Play It Cool in September

I'm still listening to the great albums from last month's selection, but there's been a few new additions to my playlist in the past couple of weeks. So here's my pick for September:

• The Sleepy Jackson - Personality (One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird) (Virgin)
• Lily Allen - Alright, Still (Regal)
• Tina Dico - In The Red (Finest Gramaphone)
• Tristan Prettyman - Twentythree (Virgin)
• The Dandy Warhols - Have A Kick-Ass Summer (Me & My Friends) single (Parlophone)
  

Movie Haiku - Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby

www.talladeganights.co.uk


Dir: Adam McKay


Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole


He lives to drive fast

thinks he's on fire after crash

races gay Frenchman


soulmining rating: ***