The more I read about it, the more I feel that my beer-influenced decision to do the crowdfunding thing and commit to AD’OM.
I was sensible, though, and only committed to the Prime version, as opposed to the Premium.
The 24 carat version might be overkill at 50 grand, so plastic is good enough for me. Although, the human size could be interesting, should it ever materialise.
Forget that, i bought one.
Crowdfunding at its best.
I might have also bought the most amazing multi-tool ever. It’s called tooly if you’re interested.
Someone in our street was playing music this afternoon. Very loudly.
Which was a goid thing because I was working in the spare room(s) most of the day and the batteries in the radio had died an hour after starting work.
I had the windows open since a lot of dust was being produced. Whoever was playing music has decent taste. Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Doors, Stevie Wonder, Killers, Nirvana, Green Day and some stuff I didn’t recognise.
If I knew who was responsible I’d thank them.
I was born in Sunderland. I grew up in County Durham, via New Zealand, but in 2004 I moved to Gateshead. It was a pretty random decision and it went tits up.
I say tits up because I moved here with my (second ex) wife (to be at the time). It was never going to work out. And, of course, it didn’t.
But it wasn’t all negative. The relationship might have died a horrible death, but at the end of the day I’m happy. There were a few agonising years, yes, but my time alone was something I needed to pull my head together. And I enjoyed it (once my head was sorted out).
And, after a while, I met my second in command.
As You can see, she’s quite beautiful.
I’m very happy with my second in command. In our little house (which we’ll quite possibly sell).
And I’m very happy in Gateshead. We’ve both been accepted, even though I was born in Sunderland and my second in command likes football (Peterborough and Liverpool) and speaks with a funny accent.
So, we’re now local. We’ve just been to see local blokes (from my local) play in the Academy in town. And they were damn good.
A lot of people from our local pub (the Three Tuns) were there too, showing support.
We were there because we’re local. We live in the Heed.
Last night saw the end of an incredible journey.
With my second in command and my eldest daughter, I went to see Mr William McCarthy at the Cluny. We last saw him there a couple of years ago, during his last solo tour.
And, of course, we’ve seen him play this year, in Berlin and Munich. We’d have fitted in another UK gig but, sadly, work meant that wasn’t possible.
As we’ve now come to expect, Mr McCarthy’s performance was astounding. I’ve still to see anyone else put so much effort, no, heart into a couple of hours.
I do miss the Augustines, I still think about their final tour, last year (we saw them four times). But it’s clear that Billeh will make sure that Augustines will never be forgotten.
The spontaneous acoustic on a narrow ledge was pretty impressive And, as usual, last night’s gig included impressions and stories. The man’s a natural raconteur.
Afterwards, there was great conversation on the steps of the Cumby.
While I do still hope that the Augustines will reform one day, there’s no doubt that his solo career has a real future.
I didn’t go to Glastonbury last year. I did want to, but we simply couldn’t get tickets. We were somewhat shocked when we failed in the October ’15 sale, but hadn’t expected any success in the April ’16 resale (Google if you don’t know about the resale).
So we accepted we weren’t going and wsnt to Dorset instead. Karl and Michelle went to Brighton (because they didn’t get tickets either). I quite like Brighton.
And this year was very similar. We had no luck in October (’16) and had a half hearted attempt at the resale (coach packages) on Thursday, without success as expected. And this morning too.
Yes, it sold out in a few minutes. But, unexpectedly, we managed to get tickets somehow.
I feel pretty bad that Karl didn’t get tickets. Really bad. I wish I could pass mine to him. He should be there.
Anyway, there is no Glastonbury next year. The following year, I shall try to get tickets. For Karl and Michelle. This year will be my last Glastonbury.
This evening, we walked down the road to our local, the Three Tuns, to see the Skatoons. Well worth seeing if you like a bit of Ska.
While there, I enjoyed conversation with a man from Glasgow. He lives around the corner to my old flat in Washington. He’s a Celtic fan, although most of his family are Rangers fans.
Anyway, the band was pretty good. After which, Sooz had nachos and I asked whether music could be played. Well, it was late, so music had been turned off.
And so, I asked for anything from Augustines. Randomly, we heard the Avenue.
It’s probably my most favourite Augustines’ song. While I very much regret that the band split up last year, I enjoyed Mr McCarthy’s solo gigs in Berlin and Munich.
Very much.
Taking time off work for those gigs meant that we couldn’t go mad in the UK. So we shall only see him play once here. In Newcastle. So looking forward to it though.
In a fitting reference to yesterday evening, we’re now in the the Augustiner Bierhalle.
There were no technical issues this evening, so we’d anticipated a less random performance than in Berlin. But that wasn’t to be the case.
In a good way. Don’t get me wrong, Berlin (as broken as it was) was great. But this evening was astounding.
After the gig, we had a nice conversation with the man himself. We mentioned seeing him next in Newcastle and he told us that he’d heard that girls don’t wear coats, carry their shoes and piss in the street there. I suspect that Rob (Augustines’ drummer) may have told him that.
I deeply regret the end of the Augustines, and hope that they’ll perform as a band again one day.
Meanwhile, though, I hope that Mr William J. McCarthy has success as a solo performer. And I look forward to pissing in the street with him next month.
A couple of short videos, I’ll put others on Youtube.
I have to say that I was very impressed with Bi Nuu, a really cool music venue pretty much underneath Schlesisches Tor metro station.
We were there, of course, to see Mr William McCarthy. Despite some major technical issues, he put on a great show, with lots of Augustines’ stuff, some new material and a couple of covers.
As always, he showed himself to be a true artist – and a gentleman.
Before the gig, we briefly explored the area, finding a nice Indian restaurant with a pretty extensive vegan menu (and a huge vegetarian one). There was a vegetarian/vegan cafe opposite too. The whole area was packed with bars and cafes, and had a good atmosphere. We plan to return when next in Berlin.
During and after the gig, we met a bunch of nice people, with whom we enjoyed some decent beer.
A couple of short video clips from the evening.