Music: inspiration, pleasure, relaxation, background, aural wallpaper. Music can affect moods and affect how you approach different tasks. It can also set you up psychologically to achieve better things. The last couple of weekends whilst I was training at the…
Hastings Jack in the Green
Hastings, of 1066 fame, is a town on the south coast of England, in the county of East Sussex. It’s an impoverished town, one of the poorest in the south east. Despite this, or maybe because of it, it has…
Ukraine Benefit Show
With the war in Ukraine that Putin and his followers have started and have been brutally pursuing, there have been many people in other countries who have felt the need to support the victims of this war. One of these…
How Did I Get Here? Why Am I Me?
There are many incidents that shape us throughout our lives but can you pinpoint one or more pivotal moments, without which things would have been so much different? Can you point the finger of blame and single out someone or…
Ligging in Luton
Luton, what does it have to offer? It wasn’t a place that I’d really thought of visiting unless I was meeting someone there. When I found out that three interesting bands would be playing there on a Saturday night I…
Be My Valentine
So, another year when I am single on Valentine’s Day. Unlike a lot of other singletons, I am not upset by couples declaring their love for one another. Maybe it’s because I am a romantic at heart, and, if I…
Music and Genres (part 4)
At the beginning of this century I found myself single again. That spurred me on to start thinking about attending gigs and going to clubs again. I found a goth community in Brighton and started going to the events that…
Restart The Heart
Back in Lockdown a lot of venues realised that they would be in danger of closing and, with a lack of clear leadership and long-term, strategic planning shown by our government, many decided to fundraise to avoid going under. The…
Music and Genres (part 3)
After coming back from France in 1990 to finish off my degree in Coventry, I got back into the gig going scene again, watching a variety of bands at the Poly, locally, in Birmingham and a bit further away. There…
Music and Genres (part 2)
In the 80s a lot was happening musically. The effects of punk were widespread and mutated into many different new genres and also had an effect on the heavy metal scene. Bands like Motorhead and Iron Maiden from the late…