Wolverhampton graffiti Jedi wisdom

Star Wars graffiti spotted in Wolverhampton. Poor old Artoo getting clamped!

Yoda's advice was very timely as we were on our way to a gig!

Unexpected Orwellian influence

Lately Cathy and I have been dining out in Wetherspoons pubs. It may be surprising but the company is very good at providing nutritional information and there are three different things on the menu that Cathy can eat while sticking to her medically recommended low fat diet. 

And there are Wetherspoons everywhere, so when we travel we know we can eat in one, which is why we end up in so many. 

However, when we visited the 'Spoons in Wolverhampton there was a surprise waiting for us. The Wetherspoons there is called 'The Moon Under Water' and it's named after... George Orwell's dream pub!

I wasn't 'specting that in a 'Spoons!

Silver plus one - celebrating with rock!

This year Cathy and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by seeing one of our favourite bands - Terrorvision - on our actual anniversary itself. It meant taking a trip to Wolverhampton but it was well worth it.

The gig was at KK's Steel Mill. It's a converted industrial building that's now a rock and metal venue and owned by a former member of metal band Judas Priest. It was a decent size, well laid out and the staff working there were absolutely lovely. 

The gig itself felt like a throwback to when we first started going to Terrorvision gigs back in the 90s (and before we were married!) Most of the setlist was from their first two albums - including My House and American TV. They also mixed in songs from their new album, We Are Not Robots, which we had received in the post last week and listened to a few times in preparation for the gig.

We Are Not Robots is Terrorvision's first album in 15 years and for me it feels like they recaptured their sound from 30 years ago. They have returned to what they do best - fast, guitar driven songs with catchy hooks in the choruses. 

As a band they have also literally grown. Three of the original members remain, but there were seven musicians on stage. Millie, who plays a lot of gigs with singer Tony Wright when he plays his own stuff, was on keyboards. They also had a trumpet player and a saxophonist who added some depth on several songs - especially on Pretend Best Friend. 

They did one song for the encore. It will come as no surprise to fans that they signed off with Oblivion. 

The merch guy said they don't know what the plans are yet for Terrorvision gigs next year, which implies their might be another tour. 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of when Cathy and I first saw them live - at the old Newport Centre - and hopefully we can mark that anniversary by seeing them again. 

Nooooo, not the CIA!

Cardiff's International Arena is the suckiest worst gig venue ever. It has the atmosphere of a morgue... in the arctic. I think it's been designed to suck the life out of music and stifle even the best bands with negative acoustics. It was obviously thrown together by a committee of music-hating architects whose sole criteria in designing the place was to produce the WORST VENUE FOR LIVE MUSIC IN THE WORLD. Although the fact they acheived this feat probably accords them more competency than they actually had.

I often compare the CIA to the Newport Centre, which is a leisure centre. You walk in past a swimming pool. And yet, the gigs I've seen there have been fantastic (Delirious?, Counting Crows and Terrorvision). But the gigs I've seen at the CIA - an allegedly purpose-built concert venue - have felt like you're at a gig in a leisure centre. And the bands I've seen include Counting Crows on a different occasion, so it's a fair comparison between gigs. Either the Crows suddenly became woeful, or it's the venue's fault.

So it's fair to say I hate the CIA as a venue. It's drab, devoid of atmosphere, and kills live music stone cold dead. I would rather travel to a different city entirely to see a band play. So when I heard Scouting for Girls are going to play the CIA in November my initial reaction was 'Nooooo!' Then I noticed they're playing the Civic in Wolverhampton on a Saturday. Even with diesel currently costing more per litre than red wine, it'll be worth the extra expense. At least the gig experience won't be ruined by an abhorrent, soul-destroying venue.