WE ARE THE OCEAN plus BLITZ KIDS and SPYCATCHER

Wednesday February 23rd 2011
WE ARE THE OCEAN plus BLITZ KIDS and SPYCATCHER
Sugarmill, Stoke

For our last gig of the month we didn't have to travel far ... thank goodness.  I was finally getting to see We Are The Ocean and, even though I felt as rough as a badger's ar$e, I was looking forward to it. 

Both of my offspring were accompanying me and I also gave a couple of Aimee's friends a lift. 

Mind you once we got out of the car they all legged it as their friends were already in the queue.  I'm not a fan of queue jumping on account of my manners, so I joined the end and got swamped by the crowd.  During my time waiting to go inside I did discover that a lot of teenagers talk a load of sh!t ... excuse my French but good grief!!

Once boy standing behind me did make me laugh though - we were standing under a sign for the Sugarmill and I heard him point out that because of the way the shadow fell it looked like it said Bugarmill ... why have I never thought of that?

Finally we made our way around the corner and there was the usual nice chap handing out wristbands for those old enough to drink alcohol ... I usually hear them shout 'Is anybody legal?' which came as a shock the first time I heard it.  He asked me if I was drinking tonight love, and I responded negatively as I was driving.  There was an audible gasp of shock behind me as if they were saying 'My God, she's old enough to drink but she's choosing not to ... crazy person!'

First band on were called Spycatcher from Watford and I really enjoyed their set.  I was standing right at the back next to the merch desk where lots of people were milling about but I could still see the kids.  I had my earplugs in and was watching Little Red Riding Hoodie wandering back and forth, but there was a mosh pit almost immediately.  The Sugarmill is only small and so a mosh pit tends to engulf a lot of the crowd ... whether they like it or not.

During the interval there was a mass exodus onto the roof - people getting 'fresh' air I suppose.  I entertained myself watching various innebriated young men go into the ladies toilets ... well there wasn't much else to do.  What I didn't realise was that I was standing right next to the lead singer of Blitz Kids for the first set, not that it would have made any difference ... I'm very shy.

Blitz Kids came on to massive cheers and more moshing.  I was getting ever so slightly stressed watching Luke bobbing about all over the place but he was enjoying himself.  They were really good, and I even tapped my foot a bit!  Great set, the kids certainly loved it and knew all their songs ... which I'm afraid is more than I did.  One of the girls in Luke's group ended up with a bloody nose so I guess she'll remember the gig for various reasons.

I was surprised to see several couples around my age there, and noted that they didn't attempt the blending in approach - maybe I should try that.  Instead of buying a checked shirt and a pair of Converse I should get some tweed trousers and a body warmer ... just a thought.

Following another mass exodus and a soundcheck from a man in a Kermit the Frog vest (every roadie should have one!) We Are The Ocean appeared on stage.  Wow they're loud.  Dan Brown (left) is the 'Screaming Vocalist' according to Wikipedia, and Liam Cromby is the 'Clean Vocalist'. 

Dan is the athletic one - he climbed up onto the balcony to sing Confessions, and then had a little bit of trouble getting back to the stage.  The moshing never stopped through their entire set and I think he joined in at one point! 

As usual my cameraperson was on hand to film the proceedings here >>Aimee's Videography

They ended slightly more abruptly that anyone was expecting, having been on for just under an hour.  Dan climbed up to the other side of the balcony, right above Aimee's head so that when she looked up all she could see was his crotch.  He finished by jumping off right into the crowd!  What a nutter.  One of the Blitz Kids put it perfectly when he called him a 'mad ba$tard'!  I was gobsmacked.  I was even more gobsmacked that it ended there and the audience hung around for ages expecting them to come back out.  When I saw Dan on the merch desk I guessed it was over.

It was a great gig though and it was lovely to see all the bands hanging around to talk to fans afterwards.

I've got a week off gigging now, during which I'm going to try to get some rest so that I feel better for my trip to Blackpool next Friday.  Really looking forward to seeing Plan B, although he might be a bit out of place in a rock blog ... I don't care, I love him!

TTFN x

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE plus THE BLACKOUT and LOSTALONE

Friday February 18th 2011
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE plus THE BLACKOUT and LOSTALONE
MEN Arena

Finally I get time to sit down with a cup of tea!  I'm thinking perhaps I'm too old for this lark ... but then I have just attended 4 gigs in 8 nights and written this blog on the nights inbetween.  A parcel delivery lady woke me up at 10:45 this morning ... how rude, I was hoping to have a lie in!  I had to go to the door in my dressing gown ... I didn't even know there was a door in my dressing gown!

(Sorry but it had to be done)

Back in Manchester, but we were at the MEN this time and had a perfectly pleasant journey - possibly due to the fact there were no boys with us this time.  It was just me and my trusty cameraperson - you can see her work here >>Aimee's Videography

We got to the venue at around 7:15pm thinking we had plenty of time, but when we got inside Lostalone were already on.  I don't think we'd missed much though.  I remembered my earplugs but tried different ones this time as the others blocked too much of the music out.  The new ones are much better, even though I feel like I've still got them in.

We were sitting for this one - in fact I never buy standing tickets at the MEN as its just too big.  We were in block 102 which is side on but level with the stage so we had a great view.  We are in this block for Blink 182 later in the year and we have end of row seats closer to the front so that should be brilliant.

Lostalone are a rock band from Derby who reminded me a little bit of Journey, although Aimee disagreed with me, for a change!  We saw them supporting 30 Seconds to Mars last year and they were pretty good.  Very chatty, which I like, and did manage to get parts of the crowd moving.

The Blackout were next who are one of our favourite bands.  We saw them last year supporting You Me At Six and will be seeing them in April when they headline their own tour.  They are from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales and formed in 2003. 

Sean Smith, the blond shouty one, was sporting an interesting Jedward style hairdo, but no-one cared.  They are the most energetic band I have ever seen, both singers were jumping around all over the stage - made me tired just watching them.

Its not all that often that the crowdsurfers start during the support band's set but there were a few going for it early.  There were also a couple of mini mosh pits going on, but they only had 3 or 4 people in them so they weren't that impressive from row V.

I lost count of how many semi-conscious girls were pulled from the audience ... a couple of them had to be carried away.  It was a bit of a crush down there, with massive swirls of people being pushed in all directions.  I was so glad I was watching it from above.

They got the whole crowd jumping and singing and did a brief rendition of 'Whip My Hair Back and Forth' by Willow - not quite sure how you whip Jedward hair but he certainly gave it a go.
Overall a pretty fantastic set - looking forward to April already.

During the interval a big black curtain was erected at the front of the stage, which we could see behind, and several attempts were made to get a Mexican wave started ... all of which failed.

Still photos from various videos were displayed on a huge screen on the left of the stage, and every time an image of an MCR band member was shown, hundreds of girls screamed.  More of the audience members were pulled to safety and that was before they even emerged!  The 2 girls standing next to me were practically hyperventilating and had no voices left for singing as they'd been screaming so much.

The band are from New Jersey and formed in 2001 - about a week after the September 11 attacks.  Gerard Way is very pretty and doesn't look his age at all (he's 33).  Loving the red hair, but I did wonder if he had just sprayed it on before the show as his neck got a bit red as he got more sweaty.  Still gorgeous though.

Gerard gave us the quote of the night when he said 'Thank you for loving us ... cos you do ... YOU LOVE US!'  More screaming ensued.  He was quite concerned about people getting crushed in the audience and made sure to tell everyone to watch out for each other - how lovely.

He also did a bit of a cover version for us which was very lovely - I don't know if he does the same one every night or if he did this because we were in Manchester but he did a few lines of 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' by The Smiths, which he then followed up with Money.  My favourite bit was when he asked everyone to light up the arena ... and that they did.  Cameras, phones and lighters came on all around and it was beautiful.  Even the 3 inflated condoms which were floating over the crowd couldn't spoil it.

Gerard reckons I'm pretty cool too.  Well obviously he wasn't able to single me out but he is the first person I ever remember who thanked the parents for coming out with their kids, queueing up and waiting around.  He said we all must be very cool to have kids going to an MCR gig ... so there you have it, definitive proof.  Thank you Gerard, you're pretty darned cool yourself for dedicating 'Kids From Yesterday' to me.

I got a bit teary eyed when he sang 'Cancer' - especially '..cause the hardest part of this is leaving you..' oh I was a jibbering wreck.  I was glad it was dark so nobody could see me wiping my eyes with my sleeve.

A fantastic show, thankful bands and an extremely appreciative audience always makes for a great night.  We got home at midnight which is pretty standard and my hearing is still almost intact.

Our next gig, and our last one for this month, is at The Sugarmill, Stoke on Wednesday evening and I finally get to see We Are The Ocean ... hoorah!  Both my offspring will be accompanying me to the venue, and then once we arrive will no doubt depart and leave me standing at the back on my own.  They both have friends going and it is half term so I don't expect too much.  Besides, with a bit of luck, the handsome young man I got chatting to at the Young Guns gig last November might be there for this one too!  Fingers crossed.

TTFN x

KERRANG TOUR 2011 featuring GOOD CHARLOTTE plus FOUR YEAR STRONG, FRAMING HANLEY and THE WONDER YEARS

Tuesday February 15th 2011
KERRANG TOUR 2011 featuring GOOD CHARLOTTE plus FOUR YEAR STRONG, FRAMING HANLEY and THE WONDER YEARS
Manchester Academy

What a surprise to find ourselves back at the Academy again.  My ears were still ringing following the Feeder gig ... and I'm still not sure they will ever recover ... but I was prepared this time with my trusty earplugs.  I thought that if they can block out Steve's snoring, they should protect me from anything!

This time my son Luke joined Aimee and I, but when we arrived he was in no rush to get out of the car.  Boys eh!  When we finally did make our way to the queue, it was huge, but at least it was dry this time.

There were several menacing looking characters wandering up and down the queue attempting to sell their wares ...
'Kerrang hoodie mate?  Only a tenner ... 22 quid inside'.
No thanks very much.  Call me old fashioned but I'd rather not purchase a cheap knock off that will disintegrate in the wash from a dodgy individual who would probably do the same!

As is usual when my offspring and I all spend time together, I got ganged up on right up until we got into the Academy.  Its fine ... I can take it   ::sniff::  Besides, I knew once we got inside I wouldn't see them again until the end!  Aimee steamed straight in to ensure a top spot to do her recordings >>Aimee's Videography and I went to the loo.  I emerged to find Luke waiting for me (how sweet) so I popped in my earplugs and in we went.  I spotted Aimee in precisely the same spot as Friday so I stood over to the left by the barrier and Luke stayed somewhere in between.  We love each other really.

First on were The Wonder Years, and I will admit to knowing nothing about them.  I'm not sure if they had modelled their look on Four Year Strong but they were incredibly hairy ... in fact I think they should rename themselves The Wonder Beards.  Anyway I've been on Wikipedia and they are a 6 piece pop punk band from Philadelphia ... lovely.  I thought they were perfect to start the evening off with a very loud bang.  Even though the crowd wasn't particularly big at that point, they managed to get people moving.

Next on stage were the beautiful Framing Hanley from Nashville, Tennessee.  Nixon told us it was his baby's 1st birthday ... he only looks like a baby himself!  He seemed to have a bit of trouble with his cabling and had a young man fiddling with the back of his shirt for a while.  The guitarist Brandon was on our side of the stage and was really giving it some for the camera.  I said as much to Aimee as we were leaving and it turns out it was her camera he was aiming at!  She said not many people were filming at that point so most of his posturing was towards her.  He certainly caught my attention ... ahem!  Brilliant - the audience loved them, especially the girls.

Then it was the turn of Four Year Strong who are the most beardy band I've ever seen, and wouldn't be out of place in the Brian Blessed fanclub.  I popped on Wikipedia again to find out that they're from Massachusetts and was most amused to find that in the 'Genres' section it says Pop Punk Beardcore!  Genius.

The crowd went mental as soon as they appeared, people started crowdsurfing and one crazy fan threw a jumper in the air ... wild!  There was also a beardy security man standing front and centre who looked like he should actually have been on stage.  They instructed the crowd to form a circle pit, which I couldn't see because there were too many tall people about, but I'm confident there was one.

They were amazing, everybody loved them, and I'm dead chuffed because they were announced yesterday as supporting Blink 182 in July.  I've been singing 'Don't fix it if it hasn't broken yet' all day!

And finally Good Charlotte from Maryland.  Its hard to believe they've been around longer than Aimee, having formed a couple of months before she was born.  Like a lot of people I only really heard of them when they became mainstream in 2002 with Lifestyles Of The Rich And The Famous which is still played loads on telly and still sounds great.  You can see it here>>Aimee's Videography

Poor Benji wasn't feeling too well and said his voice sounded like sh ... well not very good.  I'm not sure if he was ill or had just had a 'bad pint' - Joel did announce that they were pretty pi$$ed and asked the Manchester crowd if they were born with a beer in their hand.  Bless them for trying to keep up though.

They were awsome - not quite sure if that's an acceptable word for me to use - but it fits.  The audience were jumping around for the whole set and there were crowdsurfers aplenty being plucked out of the air with ease by the burly bouncers.  Maybe I'll try it one day ...

Once the lights came up the three of us all met back up and made our way outside.  I took my earplugs out a little too soon and boy was it loud in there!  Luke was rendered deaf, Aimee is used to it, and neither of them will pay any attention to my advice on wearing earplugs.

On the way home I told Aimee we'd have to find out how you go about filming bands from inside the barrier - there were loads of people in there, who I can only assume had press passes or something.  She has pretty much decided now to do photography and media studies at sixth form so at least all this gigging is giving her some sense of what she might like to do in the years to come.
She can start taking me to gigs then!

So another post has come to an end ... blimey I'll get a night off tomorrow - Woohoo!!  Then Friday is the My Chemical Romance gig at the MEN Arena - very much looking forward to that one.

TTFN x

FEEDER plus LOVE AMONGST RUIN and PEGASUS BRIDGE

Sunday February 13th 2011
FEEDER plus LOVE AMONGST RUIN and PEGASUS BRIDGE
Manchester Academy

Back to the Academy again but I didn't drive this time (hoorah!) as my other half joined us on this outing.

I had been wanting to see Feeder for a very long time ... probably longer than most of the audience had been alive ... and I managed to persuade Steve and Aimee to come with me.  We had a nice easy trip and got there in plenty of time to queue outside in the rain.

I had my trusty hoodie on and must have looked most attractive with the hood up because as I got closer to the door, the security chap shouted 'Take the hoods down please guys!'  GUYS??  Charming.  I took the hood down and shook my hair as if I was taking part in a shampoo commercial, but I don't think I convinced anyone I was actually a woman! 

Sadly this time we didn't see anyone with a severe case of Arm Tourettes.  I somehow managed to forget about this on my previous post, but it came back to me as we were out last night.  We were waiting at a red light whilst a couple of people were waiting to cross - one young person in particular whose left arm had a mind of its own.  I do hope he (or she) was listing to Michael Jackson on his MP3 player because his arm continued to dance as he crossed the road and disappeared from sight.  Odd.

We got inside the venue and I headed straight to the ladies loo - this is standard for me as I am usually pretty desperate by the time I arrive at any venue that takes more than 10 minutes to get to (i.e. all of them!)  As well as emptying my bulging bladder I intended to sit under the hand dryer for a while in an attempt to dry off ... sadly they were all taken by ladies having the same idea.  I remained moist for the rest of the evening!

The quote of the night was made by another middle aged lady (not unlike myself) who I passed in the powder room.  I heard her say to her friend 'I liked Feeder before they had wrinkles!'  Me too love, me too!

So Steve went to the bar and Aimee went straight in, straight to the middle front ... great joy.  We all met up and found ourselves standing behind a young couple who were even shorter than us.  That never happens ... ever.  Aimee noticed a very good Matt Cardle lookalike in the crowd just behind us, and said she was sure she'd seen him watching Angels and Airwaves too.  Aimee and Steve stood in front of me so I could see everything between them, although this meant I also got the full force of Steve's flatulence ... which was disgusting!

Anyway ... first up were Pegasus Bridge, 4 lads from Manchester who I have seen on one of those music channels that Aimee likes.  I only really knew their track 'Ribena' which they ended with but I very much enjoyed their set.  I did keep making accidental eye contact with the drummer, which was a bit bizarre ... probably even more so for him, poor fella!

I asked Aimee who was on next and misheard her response as Love Amongst Druids, which I personally think is a much better name.

The band is fronted by Steve Hewitt, former songwriter and drummer for Placebo, which I didn't know until 30 seconds ago!  I actually thought he looked a bit like the best man at my wedding.  He's a local bloke, from just up the road in Northwich, and his drummer looked like Serj Tankian of System of A Down.  The lady bass player's bass was taller than she was.  I didn't really get into their music though I'm afraid.

Finally came Feeder, as gorgeous as ever and still sounding fantastic.  As they emerged a paper aeroplane skimmed the top of my head from somewhere behind and then there was an almighty push during which I got squished and trampled.  Steve began to get a tad tetchy but I told him he should relax and just go with it as there's nothing we could do, and he did.

Aimee and her camera were in a great position as usual and you can see lots of Feeder here>>Aimee's Videography.

I got absolutely battered through the whole of their set ... it had all been quite sedate up to that point.  I don't know who on earth was behind me but they got closer to me than I thought humanly possible.  Steve had his hand firmly attached to the barrier and I had my hands firmly attached to Steve with my elbows pointing outwards purely as a protective measure.

My feet were burning, my ears were ringing ... I have never been so sweaty or bruised in my entire life, and I've given birth twice!

Thankfully Feeder were totally brilliant, everything I expected, so it was mostly worth all my suffering.  Mind you if it hadn't ended when it did I may have suffocated, especially as the yummy (and remarkably unwrinkled) Grant Nicholas jumped down off the stage and walked in front of the barrier, giving Aimee the ideal opportunity to ruffle his hair!  I had been consumed by the crowd at this point and didn't even know he was there ... dammit!

At least now I know that I never ever want to stand in the middle at the front ever again, and I have already packed my earplugs for tomorrow night's Kerrang Tour.  Whilst I am very much looking forward to seeing Good Charlotte, Four Year Strong (and their beards) and Framing Hanley, I would also like to protect what little hearing I have left.  I got home from the Feeder gig 24 hours ago and I can still hear clanging!  That can't be good.

Well that's all for now ... especially as its taken me as much time to write my review as I spent at the actual gig!  I'll be back again very soon assuming I haven't collapsed from exhaustion ... can't be too careful at my age.

TTFN x

WE THE KINGS plus VERSAEMERGE, ALL FORGOTTEN and I SEE STARS

Friday February 11th 2011
WE THE KINGS plus VERSAEMERGE, ALL FORGOTTEN and I SEE STARS
Manchester Academy 3

The evening started off extremely well due to the fact that we got to the venue without being sent via Glasgow by my Satnav...mainly because I ditched it in favour of the one on my phone, which was a very good move indeed.  My Satnav will be appearing on Ebay tomorrow!  We even got there before the doors opened, which is unheard of on a school night.

Given the choice of sitting in my nice, warm, dry (if rather dirty) car and queueing up in the cold drizzle, we naturally chose the latter, and what an experience that was!  Our gig wasn't the only event on at the Manchester Academies...there were another 4 bands on at Club Academy, and in Academy 1 were Murderdolls supported by Black Veil Brides.  The hundreds of people queueing outside for that were certainly dressed for the occasion - I was very impressed.

We eventually found our queue and plonked ourselves on the end of it ... that's what happens in queues kids!  Further up the queue was a young woman dressed as a pumpkin ... no really ... no idea what that was about unless all her clothes had met with some terrible disaster, but there she was - and she managed to get right in the middle at the front too.

So we got inside and had to go all the way upstairs, but not normal stairs of course, a wobbly metal spiral staircase.  Not my most graceful moment I must say.  I began to feel a little left out as I looked around as every other person was wearing Converse trainers ... oh apart from the girl wearing spats!

I said to Aimee that I really should carry a notepad and pen to help remember interesting details of my events for this very blog.  She shook her head in that slow, disappointed way and told me I really shouldn't.  She's probably right to be fair.  However I have joined the 21st century and acquired an iPhone, so I surreptitiously entered notes on that.  Mind you, if I lost my phone at any point and someone read my notes, they would probably think I'm a bit mental!

We went into our little room with its tiny stage and steamed down the left hand side to the front ... it wasn't busy at that point so we didn't upset anyone.  First to come on were US band I See Stars.  Six young men from Michigan squeezed onto the smallest stage I think I've seen, and they were really good.  As usual the divine Aimee filmed for most of the evening so you can see 3minutes 27seconds of these chaps here >>>Aimee's Videography along with videos of the other bands.  They were very happy to be there and very appreciative of the audience ... I liked them a lot ... even the fella that was screaming a lot (Oh sorry ... he was on 'unclean' vocals!)

Next up were All Forgotten from the South East of England - which may explain why the lead singer sounded a bit like Jason Statham and the bassist looked a bit like Joe Swash.  Aimee disagrees with me on that though, saying that at my age everyone looks the same ... which is a bit true!  Very good again, not quite as much screaming this time apart from in the crowd, but very nice chaps who really seemed to enjoy themselves and thanked everyone for coming, including the other 3 bands.  The lead singer also borrowed Miss Pumpkin's hat and wore it for a bit, which was nice.  Although I really liked all the support bands All Forgotten were my favourites ... I've already found them on Facebook.  I'm so 'with it'!  I even overlooked the fact that the singer thought we were somewhere else ... ahem.

I must admit noticing that both of the first 2 lead singers were wearing very tight trousers ... probably skinny jeans ... which are favoured by Aled Phillips of Kids in Glass Houses quite a lot.  I'm so glad I'm not a teenager now with all these good looking young men strutting their stuff in their skinny jeans - it wasn't like that in my day - well if it was I missed it!

Then came VersaEmerge, a 3 piece alternative rock band from America.  The lead singer was a very attractive lady with extremely interesting hair.  It was almost as if she'd gone to the hairdressers and asked for a pixie crop but then changed her mind half way through ... fabulous!  So on our side (her right) it was very short but then she had it long on the other side and hanging down in a plait.  She was very lovely and tried to convince us all that Manchester was her very favourite place to be ... she's from Florida so I wasn't entirely convinced, but it was nice of her to say it anyway.  I will definitely be getting some VersaEmerge on my iTunes.  She was most impressed by the energy of her audience (she obviously couldn't see me leaning against the cage-like structure by the side of the stage).  The bassist Devin Ingelido came up with the quote of the night when he shouted (several times) 'You guys like cheesecake?'.  Random!

And finally We The Kings bounded onto the stage to the loudest screams of the night, although by this time I was mostly deaf so it didn't matter much to me.  Rocking it for redheads everywhere, Travis Clark is one of the smiliest men ever and he told us more of his life than was actually necessary, but we like a good anecdote.  I do like it when the band interact with the audience and have a proper chinwag (not to mention a roadie that looked like Mr. T).
Everybody was bouncing and waving their arms about manically through the entire set - it was great to see.  I'm sure at this point poor Aimee's camera arm was aching quite a lot but she recorded it all anyway >>Aimee's Videography.  The highlight for me was Check Yes Juliet right at the end, but it was all brilliant all the way through.  In short I loved it!  We had seen them before supporting You Me At 6 last March and they were great then, but it was a bigger venue so I didn't appreciate them quite as much.  I would definitely see them again - they made me smile a lot.

That's it for today.  Not long to wait for our next gig as we're back at the Academy on Sunday February 13th to see Feeder.  I have wanted to see them for so long and now I'm finally getting the chance!
TTFN x

RUSSELL HOWARD

Friday February 4th 2011
RUSSELL HOWARD - RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
MEN Arena

I am just beginning to realise that its difficult to write a review about a comedy gig without repeating the jokes and spoiling it for everyone else.  Also actually remembering the jokes is not a forte of mine ... although I don't think I'll ever forget the Thai budgie episode!

Russell is a very funny man and he certainly got the audience going.  I did wonder if the innebriated girls behind me would last the night but they did well!  Even the underarm sweat patches and pink thong didn't put them off.

I laughed out loud all the way through, so no doubt my son was overjoyed that he wasn't sitting next to me ... he considers my raucous laugh a tad embarrassing for some reason ... strange boy!

Suffice it to say I would highly recommend going to see one of Russell's shows if you get the chance.

A short but sweet review this time.  Now we don't have another gig until Friday February 11th so I'll be conserving my energy between now and then ... hopefully! x

ANGELS AND AIRWAVES plus NEON TREES

Wednesday February 2nd 2011
ANGELS AND AIRWAVES plus NEON TREES
Manchester Academy

Finally I got to go to my first gig of the year and what a great night it was.  It was marred slightly by the abismal traffic ... I'm not a big fan of queuing, especially on the M6 ... so I was getting a tad irritated after an hour of hardly moving.  Naturally the satnav was to blame, but at least the kids were on good form so I was kept entertained by my lad's bladder issues for the entire 2 and a half hour journey!

(Note to self: NEVER go to Manchester via the M6)
(Note to son: Go before you leave the house!)

Neon Trees were due to start at 8.15pm and so I reckon we missed about 15 minutes of their bit by the time
a) we finally arrived at the car park
b) the car in front had worked out that you need to put money in the machine to raise the barrier
c) I'd had my water confiscated by an eagle eyed security guard and he finally let me inside.
I actually quite liked them, although they seemed convinced that the crowd hated them.  They were very camp indeed, but I thought quite entertaining.

We had an extra guest with us to this one - my niece - so I parked myself at the side of the venue and kept my eye on them all from a safe, not to mention less sweaty distance.

Angels and Airwaves emerged at around 9.15pm and went straight through until 10.50ish with hardly a break - great value for money.  It was very loud ... which I suspect may be a running theme throughout my blog!  However, even as they came onto the stage I could feel my trousers vibrating - and that's not something I experience every day.  Again I forgot the earplugs, but I suppose at my age people expect some level of deafness when they speak to me.  Once my hair started to vibrate I realised I'd pretty much passed the point of no return anyway.

As usual, Aimee got as close as possible to bring you videos of the gig here >>Aimee's Videography.  Personally I don't know how she manages to keep her arm up in the air for so long. 
I don't think she managed to get any video of the green gingham umbrella that made an impromptu appearance in the audience.  I know there is the tendency for people to throw beer around when they get over-excited but really!  They could have had someone's eye out!  I haven't had chance to check out the footage myself yet, but there is bound to be plenty of Tom Delonge's amazing Dad dancing - I was so impressed that I almost joined in.
(I don't mean that Tom's amazing Dad was dancing, I mean he was dancing like a Dad ... but you'll see that in the videos).

What actually impressed me the most about Tom (and I'm really going to show my age now) was how pleased he was when the crowd sang his words back to him.  He pointed the microphone towards us and then punched the air in obvious delight that everyone knew the words - it was so lovely.  I do like an appreciative artist.  We'll be seeing Tom again in July when Blink 182 play at the MEN, so I'm already looking forward to that (and we're sitting for that one ... yay!)

So all in all it was a most enjoyable night, and it only took us an hour to get back home.  We're back in Manchester on Friday 4th when we see Russell Howard at the MEN.  I know its not exactly a rock gig but its on my list.  Our next actual gig is on Friday February 11th when Aimee and I are going to see We The Kings, yet again in Manchester.
TTFN.