I do believe I have a fair bit to write up on... I'm actually want to take the time and effort with this one though, so I'm going to be doing it in segments for my benefit :P
* College and MONO *
The last few blogs were mainly me saying my goodbyes to a friend who was killed suddenly, and everything else didn't really seem to matter. I never mentioned the outcome of the college interview for the Art & Design course. I got to the college, and the lecturer had told us that the A&D course was full and that anyone successful would just be put in a waiting list. Kinda bummed about it to be fair, but when they interviewed me, they said I would be good in a Graphic Design course. I could do a year at that, then if I pass, I could then try and move onto a higher A&D class - as I'm more interested in abstract work. The Graphic Design course will help me though, as I'm quite rusty at drawing so it'll be good to have a year of traditional drawing in a learning environment so I can be more motivated :)
I went to go and see MONO at The Arches in Glasgow with Bob and (American) Will which was fucking awesome! We were right up the front for it so we had a great view! I never heard of the support band before, and they were called Holy Mountain, so I was expecting lots of ambiance and wind chimes, but was greeted with 2 guys with guitars, lots of white noise, screaming, one of the guys head butting his guitar and flailing about and just your normal run of the mill noise-core music.
I loved it! =D
When MONO cam on, I was so happy. Their music is just beautiful, and to see it performed right in front of my eyes was just.... bliss! I was kinda gutted that they never played the song "Everlasting Light", but they played a lot of other songs too, including "Burial At Sea". Have a listen =)
* The Travel to Brum *
I have learned something valuable from this experience. Never let my brother book things "on the cheap". =P As much I as I enjoy saving money, I never want to walk about Birmingham from 5am till 3pm to check into a dingy wee Travel Lodge again! The bus travel on the way down was tolerable at best. We spent the time either listening to our music, playing "I Spy" and laughing at this annoying guy on the bus who passed out and kept making funny faces in his sleep XD
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| This guy was such a total douche, but it was amusing to laugh at him when he was sleeping :P |
* Metal Exhibition *
My brother, his friend Stevi and me went to go to see the Metal exhibition in town and it was brilliant! It was awesome walking about seeing memorabilia, recorded interviews and just hearing good music =D There isn't much more to say about it, but I got a few pics off my phone from it. It makes me feel so old =(
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| Only a £1!!! Everything's so expensive now >.< |
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| *drool* It's a rubbish picture, I know, but that bike was amazing! |
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| Judas Priest cassette tapes |
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| Judas Priest Pop-Up book |
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| My wee drawing =) |
Roger Waters was absolutely astounding! It was more of a performance rather than a gig. For any Pink Floyd fans who may read this will (hopefully) have heard of the album; The Wall.
"The Wall is a rock opera that explores abandonment and isolation, symbolised by a metaphorical wall. The songs create an approximate storyline of events in the life of the protagonist, Pink, a character based on Waters, whose father was killed during the Second World War. Pink is oppressed by his overprotective mother, and tormented at school by tyrannical, abusive teachers. Each of these traumas become metaphoric "bricks in the wall". The protagonist eventually becomes a rock star, his relationships marred by infidelity, drug use, and outbursts of violence. As his marriage crumbles, he finishes building his wall, completing his isolation from human contact.Hidden behind his wall, Pink's crisis escalates, culminating in an hallucinatory on-stage performance where he believes that he is a fascist dictator performing at concerts similar to Neo-Nazi rallies, at which he sets men on fans he considers unworthy. Tormented with guilt, he places himself on trial, his inner judge ordering him to "tear down the wall", opening Pink to the outside world. The album turns full circle with its closing words "Isn't this where...", the first words of the phrase that begins the album, "...we came in?", with a continuation of the melody of the last song hinting at the cyclical nature of Waters' theme.The album includes several references to former band member Syd Barrett, including "Nobody Home", which hints at his condition during Pink Floyd's abortive US tour of 1967, with lyrics such as "wild, staring eyes", "Hendrix perm" and "Gohills Boots". "Comfortably Numb", was inspired by Waters's injection with a muscle relaxant to combat the effects of hepatitis during the In the Flesh Tour."
Needless to say, it's an intense and very personal album. I first discovered this album when I was roughly 14/15 years old, and I fell in love with it. I related with the loneliness and the songs.. "they spoke to me, man!" I would listen to it on repeat constantly, I even had lyrics for it wrote on my school bag. I was sooo goth! Haha. It's hard to try and explain how awesome the gig was, because it was there's much to talk about. My brother managed to record the end of the songs, Bring The Boys Back Home, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell. The videos aren't great quality, but if you have the volume relatively low you can tolerate it and be amazed at the projections. Again, the videos reduce the quality massively, but you can imagine how amazing it would have been to actually be there. I just can't wait till the DVD for the tour comes out, because I need to relive this in some sort of way and if you're a fan then I recommend it to you too.
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| Intermission - The wall is fully built and pictures of dead soldiers and civilians cover it |
Bring the Boys Back Home / Comfortably Numb
(Forgive the quality and gaze in wonder at 7:40mins in)
(Forgive the quality and gaze in wonder at 7:40mins in)
Run Like Hell
(Again, sorry about the quality)
* What's next?! *
For all the people who actually take the time to read this or know me, you've probably assumed that I'm not a fan of living in Dundee. Well, you're right. I hate it. Intensely.
So it is with that, I take great joy in
Also, Kenny's going away to Berlin on the 4th of August - the 12th, so I'm trying to get people to come up and visit so I have company. Hopefully people can make it!
And with that, I end the blog. If you made it this far then well done! Here, have a cookie! =)
