Gibbo

I'm looking forward to this one ... how can you NOT love Alice?

Too true...They'd give a few bands a run for their money now as well. Yup ... when I saw them, they were superb - hugely entertaining, and as tight as anything (which can't be said for the headliners on the day, Bon Jovi, who were boring!)

A pretty feeble list compared to some (you'll gather that I've seen some of these more than once): AC/DC Aerosmith Alice Cooper Amon Amarth Anthrax (as support for Iron Maiden) Arkona (as support for Therion and Eluveitie) Aura Noir b.l.o.w. Bang Tango Benediction (as support for Bolt Thrower) Big Boy Bloater (as support for Imelda May) Big Country Billy Idol (as support for Bon Jovi) Bleed From Within (as support for Amon Amarth) Bolt Thrower Bon Jovi Bootleg Beatles Bryan Adams Carcass (as support for Amon Amarth) Catherine Wheel Clam Abuse Coma (as support for Orphaned land) Crown Of Thorns (as support for Bon Jovi) Dalbello (as support for Marillion) David Lee Roth Del Amitri (as support for Bryan Adams) Devilment Diamond Head (as support for Metallica) Dokken (as support for AC/DC) Dream Disciples (as support for Fish) Eluveitie Feline (as support for Catherine Wheel) Fields Of The Nephilim Fish Funeral Throne Gloria Estefan God Seed Grand Magus (as support for Amon Amarth) Great White (as support for Alice Cooper) Green Day Grey Lady Down (as support for Arena - who I didn't get to see 'cause I was ill!) Gun Guns n' Roses Hardcore Superstar Hell (as support for Amon Amarth) Hellacopters Helloween Honey Rider Iggy Pop Imelda May Iron Maiden Jack Lukeman Keep Of Kalessin Khalas (as support for Orphaned Land) Kings X (as support for AC/DC) KISS Klone (as support for Orphaned Land) Levellers Limehouse Lizzy Lita Ford (as support for Bon Jovi) Little Angels (as support for Van Halen and Bon Jovi) Manic Street Preachers (and support for Bon Jovi) Marillion Marion Meat Loaf Megadeth (as part of the Monsters of Rock festival and as support to Metallica) Melechesh Melissa Etheridge (as support for Bryan Adams) Metallica Motherland (as support for David Lee Roth) Mylidian (as support for Orphaned Land) Necrophobic Oranssi Pazuzu Orphaned Land Paul Samson's Empire (as support for Iron Maiden) Pixie Lott (the 'Half Time Show' at a rugby match!) Radiator (as support to Catherine Wheel) Rezinwolf (as support to Devilment) Ricky Ross (as support to Bryan Adams) Rotting Christ (as support to Bolt Thrower) Seahorses Senseless Things She Must Burn (as support to Devilment) Sherman Robertson Skalmold (as support to Eluveitie) Skyclad (acoustic - as support to Fish) Soundstorm (as support to Therion) Spock's Beard Suede Sylosis (as support to Testament) Terrorvision Testament (as headliners and as support to Amon Amarth) The Almighty (as support to Metallica) The Last Great Dreamers (as support to Bang Tango) The Mars Chronicles (as support to Orphaned Land) The Verve Therion Think Floyd Thunder (as support to Bon Jovi) Toyah Tyla (as support to Clam Abuse) Van Halen (as headliners and as support to Bon Jovi) W.A.S.P. Waterglass Will Young Zed Yago (as support to W.A.S.P.)

Not to everyone's taste, but a dream come true for my inner teenager when I saw Toyah recently - managed to speak to her afterwards/get some stuff signed/get a photo, etc. Off to see Jack Lukeman next week, have got tickets to see Ginger Wildheart in August (with my brother), and just booked tickets to see Paradise Lost in November (my step-daughter is coming with me - the poor girl!)

Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

Most of Bernie Torme's albums have been released on tiny, indie labels, so I don't think that the money has ever been there to give him a decent production ... I love Torme's second album, 'Die Pretty, Die Young', and his own 'Turn Out The Lights', but neither are particularly well produced. Given that he played alongside both Ian Gillan and Ozzy in the 70s and 80s, it's a shame that he doesn't seem to have got the recognition that he deserves ...

Some of the videos that came out in the 80s were TERRIBLE (Judas Priest - I'm looking at YOU!)

More charity shop finds: Whitesnake: Live - In the Shadow Of the Blues Iron Maiden: En Vivo!

A mixed bag yesterday ... Journey: Revelation Megadeth: Killing Is My Business ... And Business Is Good! Whitesnake: Live - In The Shadow Of the Blues Fish: Internal Exile

It happens. Or should I say, it happened? Just reading your post was enough for it to be in my head. I'm not apologising

My dad was a copper for 30 years, and he was called to many a suicide/attempted suicide ... he said that those looking for help would be the ones who did something 'public', those who had reached their lowest point, and couldn't see a way out, would just do the deed. Yes, a lot of us have problems and issues, but I'm guessing that we all have friends and family that we can talk to. None of us know what demons Chris was fighting. Regardless of how wealthy or talented he was, or how many people he had around him, it looks as though they finally beat him down.

Some charity shop finds on my way home yesterday: Journey: Revelation (I've never really bothered with Journey, but as this was only £1.00 I couldn't resist) Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (the 'Special Edition' with a couple of live tracks and an acoustic number tagged on the end) Bon Jovi: Bon Jovi (I've never owned this on CD, and as a lot of people on here rate it very highly, I thought I'd give it another chance) Bon Jovi: 7800 Fahrenheit (for the sake of completeness, more than anything else ... plus, I DO like 'Tokyo Road')

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/chris-cornell-audioslave-soundgarden-singer-has-died-aged-52/ :'(

The Poodles: Flesh And Blood ... had this tune stuck in my head for DAYS!

There are a few bands that have asked the fans to choose their setlist/vote for their favourite songs ... and that can lead to some VERY interesting sets As much as I like a fair number of his ballads, I wasn't alone in wishing that he'd crank out a few rockier numbers - clearly, he was playing the numbers game, and appealing to the people who had bought the single, but who probably didn't own a copy of, say, 'Cuts Like A Knife'. The first time I saw Iron Maiden, they didn't play anything from 'Piece Of Mind' (much to my disappointment); when I saw Bon Jovi at Wembley in '95, the people around me had no idea who Van Halen were. One man's meat, etc. Yep, you're never gonna be able to please everyone unfortunately. I guess in the end part of it comes down to what their goal is as musicians - do they want to make big bucks and be popular/top of the charts etc so they give the people what they want or do they want to create and perform music they truly believe in and are passionate about? Potentially, if their biggest hits are years old it would feel like going backwards to keep playing them over and over and they would find it hard to give a convincing performance of them. On the other hand, if it's the fans who are 'paying their wages' as it were then it could be argued that they could claim a stake when it comes to live gigs, so at least a small %age of the concert should be given over to them. I guess it depends how much rehearsal time they have available too. A lot of bands can't afford to be full time musicians any more and it can take AGES!!!! to learn the material for live gigs. (Guess that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have the same band members though as hopefully they'd be able to play the biggest hits in their sleep) If you're a musician, you could find yourself between a rock and a hard place for much of your career! I've read interviews with many bands where they say that they started out just making the music that THEY wanted to play, only to find that they were forced/encouraged down a particular route. Sometimes, it works to their advantage (Aerosmith working with outside writers, for example), sometimes it doesn't (all of the 'hair metal' bands who tried to go 'grunge' in the 90s), and sometimes they kick against it and go back to their original vision (like when Metallica were 'encouraged' to write a single, and came up with 'Escape'.) Of course, when it comes right down to it, the choice is ours - we don't HAVE to buy the albums or go to the shows. I wouldn't avoid going to see Megadeth just because Dave has found God, and my reasons for not wanting to see WASP have nothing to do with Blackie's refusal to play 'Animal ...'

Bruce Willis ... Kylie Minogue ... Natalie Imbruglia ... You can't chuck a stick in the UK without hitting some random soap 'star' who has tried to make a career out of singing ...

David Lee Roth: House Of Blues - West Hollywood '94 (a LOT better than I expected it to be!) Neil Young: Freedom Roger Waters: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch-Hiking Bjork: Debut

There are a few bands that have asked the fans to choose their setlist/vote for their favourite songs ... and that can lead to some VERY interesting sets I can understand bands/singers not wanting to play particular songs because they jar with their personal beliefs - that's fair enough. And Nick makes a good point about many bands having to play 'the hits' simply because their audience may be made up of more casual fans. Picking up on this point, I saw Bryan Adams not long after 'Everything I Do ...' spent a lifetime at the top of the UK chart ... and a large chunk of his set was made up of ballads (with about three or four back-to-back.) As much as I like a fair number of his ballads, I wasn't alone in wishing that he'd crank out a few rockier numbers - clearly, he was playing the numbers game, and appealing to the people who had bought the single, but who probably didn't own a copy of, say, 'Cuts Like A Knife'. When I saw him a couple of years prior to that, his set was far more 'guitar-orientated' (and all the better for it, if you ask me.) The first time I saw Iron Maiden, they didn't play anything from 'Piece Of Mind' (much to my disappointment); when I saw Bon Jovi at Wembley in '95, the people around me had no idea who Van Halen were. One man's meat, etc.

Megadeth: Killing Is My Business ... (Century Media re-issue) Megadeth: Killing Is My Business ... (Remastered version w/extra tracks) Van Halen: OU812 Van Halen: Balance Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge David Lee Roth: House Of Blues - West Hollywood '94

Listening to Megadeth's 'Peace Sells ...' album got me thinking ... I read recently that Dave Mustaine refuses to play old songs like 'The Conjuring' because the subject matter is at odds with his beliefs; the same goes for Blackie Lawless/W.A.S.P. and 'Animal ...'. I have no problem with either gentleman (or anyone else, for that matter) embracing religion, but it struck me as odd that a band would ignore songs that made them famous, and that are proven fan favourites, when it could be argued that all they're doing is telling a story? Nicko McBrain is a Christian, yet he seems quite happy to hammer out 'The Number Of The Beast'; Tom Araya has strongly-held religious beliefs, yet is on record as saying he would never refuse to sing Kerry King's lyrics simply because they go against what he believes ... Lemmy often said that he would happily never play 'Ace Of Spades' again, but did so because the fans loved it. Anyway, my question is this - how do you guys feel about a band or singer choosing to ignore the songs that made them famous? I'm not thinking about when a band has new material to play, and simply can't fit everything in to their set (as is the case with, say, Maiden or Metallica) ...

Whitesnake: Would I Lie To You? Eurythmics: Who's That Girl? Pulp: Do You Remember The First Time? Bryan Adams: Do I Have To Say The Words? Budgie: Who Do You Want For Your Love?

Megadeth: Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying? It's worrying to think that the title track still resonates thirty years on ...

Sammy Hagar: Red Voodoo Jack Lukeman: Magic Days

I saw the post-Martin version of Skyclad years ago, as the support act to Fish - I didn't think I would enjoy their songs without their former frontman, but they were really good - I'm looking forward to this!

Better late than never - Happy Birthday!