I’ve always had a problem with ticket touts – walking along the road on the evening of a gig, getting pounced on by scruffy, usually fat, balding men shouting in your ear ‘buy or sell tickets’ or ‘do you need tickets love’. I choose to ignore them but have to bite my lip and resist the urge to say something, usually letting rip a few minutes later on Twitter or my poor friend that’s come with me.

Thursday evening saw Channel 4 air ‘Dispatches: The Great Ticket Scandal’ and little did I know, the ticket touts that stand outside Brixton Academy four nights a week aren’t the problem at all.  I wasn’t able to watch it live and follow what I’m sure was a very interesting Twitter debate but I knew it had been quite groundbreaking when I came out of the NME Awards tour to a number of texts telling me how angry I’d be when I watched it.

So, what exactly did the documentary reveal? Dispatches went undercover at two of the UK’s biggest ‘Secondary Ticket’ companies: Viagogo and Seatwave and boy did they uncover some secrets. It turns out that Viagogo are in fact given an allocation to some of the UK’s biggest events before they go on sale to the general public. By who? The promoters.  The programme revealed that Live Nation, SJM Concerts and Metropolis Music give Viagogo a large allocation of tickets to their biggest shows. Surprised? I was too.

Dispatches pinpointed a number of artists who’s shows had been targeted; Rihanna and Take That being two of them whilst the main focus was on Coldplay with Live Nation having said to have given Viagogo 1000 tickets for each of their upcoming summer stadium shows. 1000 tickets!?

So when you put things into perspective Live Nation are just as bad, maybe even worse than Viagogo. They are the ones supplying the sites with the tickets in the first place, not to mention the fact that the promoter receives 90% of profit made leaving the ‘secondary ticketing’ site with the remaining 10%.

Wait, it gets better. In the incident of Viagogo receiving no allocation from the promoters, they log on just like you or me on a Friday morning to buy the tickets themselves. How I hear you ask? Well the documentary showed a plastic wallet full of credit cards registered to the names and addresses of hundreds of Viagogo employees.
They’re really quite cheeky aren’t they?

When the programme finished I wasn’t as angry as I thought I’d be, I was more disappointed. (always worse isn’t it?) The thought that trusted companies operate like that on a daily basis had really shocked me; but where do we go from here? Surely the government has to do something, or bring some sort of legislation in because it’s just got out of hand now.

MP Sharon Hodgson tried to pass a bill through parliament in January of last year but it was talked out by Conservative MPs. This hasn’t stopped her trying, she is even more determined than ever for the government to step up and take action. The bill she is proposing to pass through parliament would see event organisers prevent their tickets from being resold by unauthorised retailers for a price greater than 10% above the ticket’s face value.

I feel like I’ve been quite naïve in blaming the touts outside the venues when all along it was businesses that the public trust. People have said to me – I’m not surprised, why are you? Maybe I shouldn’t be. After all the music industry is a highly commercial business in which making money is becoming a lot harder to do. It’s great that a figure like Sharon Hodgson is getting involved and is actively trying to put legislation in place. My worry? That not enough people will listen to what she has to say and in five/ten years down the line nothing would have changed. But it’s about time we started to change for the better in this country, isn’t it?

Details of MP Sharon Hodgson’s bill can be found here http://www.sharonhodgson.org/ticket-touting-private-members-bill and if you haven’t seen the Dispatches documentary you can watch it online here http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3290181.

Just last week I was writing about how excited I was for this years Brit Awards.
It’s the day after and I’ve been left to feel somewhat frustrated about last night’s ceremony. Overall it was an enjoyable couple of hours bar a few small things but it was the fiasco that was the last 15 minutes that has become the talking point.

You’ll all probably be aware by now that James Corden was forced to cut Adele’s acceptance speech for ‘Album of the year’ short as the live show was running around eight minutes late. Adele’s reaction? To stick her middle finger up. It was the biggest award of the night - do you really blame her? 

I understand to a certain extent that the producers couldn’t let the show run over but people aren’t stupid; this was Adele’s moment, collecting ‘Album of the year’ meant the world to her. It was her first night back in the public eye on British soil since her throat surgery and she wanted to thank her fans. We also can’t forget the small factor of just how bloody successful ‘21’ has been. Selling 4.2 million copies in the UK alone is nothing short of phenomenal. I’m pretty certain that if the Brits were broadcast on the BBC it would have been a very different story.
Earlier on in the evening Adele performed for the first time in the UK since the surgery, choosing the powerful and punchy Rolling In The Deep. Just like her Grammy’s performance it oozed confidence, expectedly receiving a standing ovation from the audience. You could see how much more it meant to her to perform it in her home city of London in front of the people that have helped her to get her to where she is today.

With the drama out of the way I can concentrate on what in general was a great ceremony. Coldplay opened the show with what I thought was a toned down performance for them – well that was until the indoor fireworks came shooting out from every corner of the O2 Arena. It was a very confident, classic Coldplay showcase; which was a relief to the Coldplay obsessed like me after their slightly weak performance at the Grammy’s. 

Following the explosive opener from Chris Martin and co the beautiful Florence Welch gracefully greeted the stage with her presence to perform No Light, No Light off new album Ceremonials. A Grecian themed performance, filled with dozens of dancers, Florence once again confirmed why she’s one of the most successful British females today. Ending with a rather beautiful spectacle the 25 year old floated down the walkway into what became a cage of white lasers.

Of the nine performances there were only two that didn’t do it for me – Olly Murs because his vocals were all over the place, the best bit being when Rizzle Kicks jumped out from under a heart shaped group of dancers. The second? Bruno Mars who quite frankly I just don’t like. He was the Cee Lo Green of 2012 for me, a random American act stuck in the middle of a very British ceremony. It just didn’t make sense.

It was Ed Sheeran’s debut appearance at the Brits and his no frills performance personified why he’s so good at what he does. Standing on stage in scruffy jeans and a bright green t-shirt, he had just his guitar and a microphone for company. Singing most recent single Lego House, Ed captured the hearts of the audience as pieces of Lego floated around on the screen behind and the floor below.

This year’s duet consisted of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Coldplay’s Chris Martin – to be honest it was a bit of a fake duet. Noel was fantastic, performing AKA..What A Life from his self-titled debut album he brought that rock ‘n’ roll element back to the Brits. Chris Martin seemed to appear from nowhere on the piano and I got very excited (naturally). A lot of ideas went through my head about what they were going to do and then it ended. There was the perfect opportunity for it to be something spectacular as the end of the song brought the piano to the forefront and I think much of the nation expected Martin to burst into a rendition of Clocks or something alike. But nothing.

Rihanna was the penultimate performance of the evening  - appearing on stage in a glass box with her usual army of dancers, We Found Love filled the arena just like it had a few months ago on her UK tour. Once the base dropped a paint fight erupted amongst her dancers in the glass box whilst she ran up and down the walkway in what was really just a jumper and very short shorts. It was your typical Rihanna performance, full of energy, attitude and provocative dance moves with her vocals spot on. Even if she did turn up almost 90 minutes late in December, it’s very hard to dislike the Barbadian beauty.

Blur. What can I say? Damon Albarn stole the show and kept the acceptance speech all to himself, going on for what felt like hours. That may be one of the contributing factors to the show overrunning but who cares because they’re Blur right? Performing five songs in total the Britpop boys started off a little bit rusty with their first three tracks Girls & Boys, Song 2 and Parklife. This is when ITV cut them off. Luckily ITV2 carried on the proceedings and this is where the Blur I saw at Glastonbury came into play as a 32-piece gospel choir joined them on stage to perform what was a beautiful rendition of Tender, giving me butterflies and that was only from my sofa. This is a low completed their set, on the day that they were announced to headline the Olympics Closing ceremony concert in Hyde Park – what brilliant marketing hey?

All of this made for very interesting reading on Twitter with a number of people saying that they were crap but the Blur faithful were very much there defending them. Yes, their first two songs weren’t fantastic but did Albarn give a crap? No. It was a performance full of attitude and enthusiasm. They were there to do what they do best and if it’s shouty in parts then so be it but you can’t deny that Blur deserved that ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ award. I think a lot of people don’t understand how much of an affect they’ve had on the music industry and a lot of artists wouldn’t be where they are today without Blur and the Britpop era.

Until next year.

You can find the full list of winners at http://www.brits.co.uk/winners and you can watch all of the performances on the official Brit Awards YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BRITAwardsVEVO 

Today I thought I’d share with you a little video that my friends and I made for Blissfields Festival. As part of a third year University project we took on the role of media team for the 2011 event. This involved us creating the official programme and making a promo video for 2012’s festival.

So last July we headed on down to Vicarage Farm in Winchester where we had a fantastic weekend. The sun was shining, the Pimms was flowing and amongst all the fun we managed to make a pretty cracking promo video.
Well I think so anyway!

Introduced by the ever-entertaining Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols the film contains interviews with Summer Camp, Fenech- Soler and Man Like Me to name a few.

With a big line up announcement for this year’s Blissfields imminent I thought it was only appropriate that I give you just a sneak peek of what you can expect from this year’s festival.

I’m off to prepare myself for the Brits, I’m finding it hard to contain my excitement this year as I think tonight’s awards will be very special. Come back tomorrow for a full rundown of the winners and performances. It’s going to be hard not to talk about Blur and Adele though isn’t it?

I hope you enjoy the video and any feedback would be lovely!

Another Indie single I hear you say?
Well, yes but Zulu Winter’s latest offering makes it feel like Summer again. Setting the expectations for their debut album, We Should Be Swimming is a fast paced, punchy tune with a real attitude yet somewhat retro feel. An amalgamation of pop harmonies and electronic beats the London boys second single is a strong follow up to their debut and one that would be best heard in a field during festival season. We may only be in February but this track certainly has the potential to be a summer anthem.

The band celebrate the single’s release with a show at London’s Cargo on Monday 27th February as part of NME’s awards shows.

Today’s blog post is a bit random.
I had planned something different but when I came across this site I just had to write about it.

Festivals.co.uk is ‘a social network for festival-goers, festival organisers and everyone else that make makes festivals happen.’
Registering as a festival goer you create your own profile page and then follow the events that interest you or you plan to attend. The network then keeps you informed of any news or information that arises I’m connection with that event. Having a profile also enables you to connect with friends, start up discussions and add photos and videos once the event has passed.

So what does this mean for us festival-goers, is it just another networking site that will disappear into the sunset? Well, quite possibly but if people like me and you don’t try it out then how will we know?
I think the site’s features are quite basic but useful and have the potential to be quite exciting. Especially if you get your friends to sign up, the more that do the better it will become. I guess that’s like Facebook, Twitter and every other social networking site; the more followers, friends or connections you have the more time you’ll spend on it and the more addictive it will become.

With the buzz around the summer festival season building more as each day passes, now is the perfect time to sign up to Festivals.co.uk.
Who knows, this time next year the first festival social network could be a tool we  rely on to see us through the festival season.

Apologies for the quite random post today. I’m going to leave you with Theme Park’s first single Two Hours.

It’s the soundtrack to my weekend.

Yes, It’s that time of year again. The Brit Awards 2012 are just around the corner but will you be watching?

I religiously watch the ceremony year in, year out. Why? Well as Awards ceremonies go I think the Brits is pretty top notch but I also think it’s important to support the British music industry. Yes, some of the nominees and winners are questionable but on mass it supports and represents the commercial scene pretty well. The thing that annoys me most? The small minority that insist on airing their angry opinions across various Social Media platforms and often asking the inexcusable. One of my favourites from last year: ‘Who are Mumford and Sons?’ But I somehow think it’s best that I don’t open that can of worms.

As you all know, each year two of the winners are announced prior to the ceremony; the Critics Choice and the Outstanding Contributor to Music and this year I’m feeling particularly pleased with both winners – Emeli Sandé and Blur. 

Emeli Sandé, a Scottish singer songwriter who started out writing for the likes of Leona Lewis and Chipmunk is now an artist in her own right. Having had quite the couple of years she’s gone from signing deals with EMI Publishing and Virgin Records in 2010 to having a number one single with Professor Green in 2011. Sandé’s debut album Our Version of Events was released this week to much anticipation from the music world. Single number three Next To Me was released the same day and along with her first two Heaven and Daddy it’s very clear to see just why she’s this years ‘Critics Choice’.

It may be a bit lazy of me but I don’t feel the need to justify or explain why Blur deserve the Outstanding Contribution to Music. You’re reading my blog because you’re a music lover – well at least I think you are! So whether you’re a Blur fan or not it will be as clear in your mind as it is in mine why Albarn and co are more than worthy winners.

So, I hear you asking where is the connection between Blur, Emeli Sandé and the Brits - unless you’ve listened to Radio 1 this week that is. Well apart from the obvious of them both being 2012 Brit award winners, Sandé was a guest in the Radio 1 Live Lounge on Tuesday and paid homage to the band by covering their ’95 hit Country House. As I said in my post yesterday Sandé’s tracks are every inch the emotive and epic pop song and her rendition of Country House was no exception. Accompanied by just an acoustic guitar she added her sparkle to the song, turning the Blur classic into a beautiful, moving ballad.

There’s a lot to look forward to at next week’s ceremony with performances from Coldplay, Adele and Rihanna all expected to be nothing short of outstanding. The artist, which will probably blow the speakers on my TV?

The one and only Blur.

Gold is the last in a series of three collaborations that London duo Alpines have offered us this year and we’ve only in mid-February. The first two tracks have seen them team up with trio Dark Sky and rising star Maya Jane Coles. Gold sees the band join forces with Craze & Hoax, the producers behind Emeli Sande’s Heaven and Next To Me which are every inch the emotive and epic pop song. So I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s set to be special before you even listen.

Catherine Pockson’s hauntingly unique vocals aren’t dissimilar from those of Kate Bush and throughout Gold we are introduced to a different soulful side to her voice, one that hasn’t made much of an appearance in the bands previous singles Drive and Cocoon.  The song as a whole is characteristically Alpines from the marching band style drums to the dark yet dreamy synths with the essence of their moody night-pop feel at the forefront.

Self-made, the video that accompanies the song is a collection of VHS recordings from the 80s cut up and stuck together described by Catherine as a ‘homage to the art of dance’. It’s definitely worth a watch but first - turn out the lights, put the volume up, close your eyes and press play. Gold will whisk you away to a dark dreamy place that’s full of flashing lights and a worldly base.

Released 26^th March.

It’s the 14^th of February, Valentines – a day when people all around the world show their love and affection for the one they love. Well, here on my blog I’m going to share my new love with you.

After waiting three years, one of Sheffield’s finest bands are back and boy have they arrived.
Yesterday saw Reverend and The Makers unleash new track Bassline to the world.
At just 2:35, it offers us an insight into what we should expect from their third album.
Dancey? Well yes in a way. The track certainly sees the band go in a different direction, one that excites me and sees them firmly making their mark.

An amalgamation of fuzzy guitars and a lot of synths, Bassline is a track full of attitude with a somewhat euphoric feel. It’s a leap away from The Makers first and most famous single Heavyweight Champion of The World but doesn’t lose the band’s trademark sound as McClure’s distinctive Sheffield accent echoes throughout.

The first album to be named after a Twitter tag, the bands third @Reverend_Makers is due for release in the spring around the same time that they embark on a mini headline tour around the UK.

With a spring release, I’d like to say we’ll see Reverend and The Makers at a number of festivals this summer but that’s something only time will tell.
What is certain is that McClure and his Makers are back and they mean business.

You can listen to Bassline below and get your free download from the band’s Facebook page.



Happy Valentines x

The death of a famous musician is always a strange feeling. They are someone that has been adored, looked up to and inspired, for years and then suddenly they’re gone. But somehow it just doesn’t feel real.

You may not have been a huge fan of them or their music but millions of other people were and it’s quite incredible how just one person can have such a huge impact on the world. In the past year we have lost Amy Winehouse, Etta James and now Whitney Houston; three of the greatest female artists to have graced us with their beautiful voices and will continue to do so for years to come with the legacy that they have left behind.

Following the passing of Whitney just 24 hours before this year’s Grammy’s was due to commence, the ceremony as expected was very much something of a tribute to the singer that had won six of the awards during her career.

LL Cool J opened the ceremony with a prayer and touching tribute which was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd. It was when Jennifer Hudson took to the stage to perform a heartfelt rendition of I Will Always Love You that I lost the battle with my emotions and I think 90% of everyone watching would have done the same. Accompanied by a piano and with just one spotlight on her, Hudson was teary eyed throughout, struggling to control her emotions towards the end of what was a beautiful performance in which she sung ‘Whitney we love you’ and blew a kiss towards a photo of her on the screen behind. With the audience erupting into applause it was a performance that would have touched every person watching.

The awards themselves were dominated by Adele who won six, Foo Fighters with four and Skrillex with three - I don’t understand that one either. One of the most deserved awards however went to Paul Epworth who won Producer of the year. I can’t count on both hands the amount of fantastic artists Epworth has worked with or the simply brilliant albums he has produced; from working with Florence and The Machine on both Lungs and Ceremonials to Friendly Fires on Pala and Adele on 21. Epworth also won song of the year with Adele for Rolling In The Deep which happened to be the song she chose to perform during the ceremony. It being her first performance back since undergoing throat surgery it’s unimaginable how much pressure she must have been feeling. We all know Adele is scared of performing to big crowds and this was no exception as 27,000 faces looked on as the light went up on the elegantly dressed 23 year old, who oozed with confidence throughout and provided a flawless performance. The Adele we all know came through at the end, as the last note was played she screeched into the microphone and you could see in her face a sense of relief. With a standing ovation from the crowd that included waving arms in the air from Sir Paul McCartney and Rihanna, Adele went from grinning ear to ear to teary eyed as the realisation of what she’s achieved sunk in.

From a classy and elegant performance to one that was relatively tame for Rihanna - it must have been something to do with the Grammy’s being shown live all over the world that or the fact that it was part of her duet with Coldplay. (No, I never thought I’d be typing that either). The R’N’B princess laid sprawled out on the floor as she treated us to a ballad version of We Found Love but only until it reached the chorus when the stage filled up with Rihanna’s dancers dressed in tight leather and the provocative dance moves were out in full force.

As the song finished, over the applause you could hear the strings of an acoustic guitar being plucked and out of the darkness walked Chris Martin of Coldplay singing the first line of Princess of China, the duet with Rihanna off their fourth album Mylo Xyloto. As a Coldplay fan it was a bit strange seeing him standing their alone with just a microphone but when Rihanna wandered along the stage to join him, it all seemed to fit into place. Singing and staring at him with her seductive eyes, Chris Martin actually looked a bit nervous and edgy. Well I mean what man wouldn’t be with Rihanna staring into your eyes? It was a beautifully, toned down, acoustic performance that sounded better than the rather overwhelming album version. The lights went out on Chris Martin and Rihanna and Coldplay’s ‘Xylobands’ transformed The Staples Center into what looked like a night sky of multi-coloured stars as the stage slowly turned into a glow in the dark graffiti wall. At the centre of it all were Coldplay who burst into the undeniably catchy Paradise. Chris Martin was unusually calm throughout the performance - he couldn’t resist the usual rocking on his piano stool but there was no jumping around on stage like we’re used to. I’m the first person to stand up and defend Coldplay when they’re criticised - which seems to be on a daily basis but Chris Martin struggled with his vocals throughout Paradise. Whether it was the pressure of singing with Rihanna or that it was the first live performance of Princess of China I don’t know. It didn’t however take the focus away from what was a colourful and engaging three minutes from Coldplay.

The Grammy’s this year were overshadowed by the tragic death of Whitney Houston and the ceremony was very much a tribute to her life and outstanding contribution to the music industry. Mitch Winehouse paid a fitting tribute to Whitney along with daughter Amy as himself and mum Janis collected an award on their daughter’s behalf with Tony Bennett for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Body and Soul. During his acceptance speech, Mitch Winehouse referred to the loss of Etta James along with Amy and Whitney with a particularly touching last sentence: “There’s a great new girl band up in heaven”.

What a lucky place heaven is.

As you can see my blogs looking a little bare at the moment, don’t worry though it won’t be for long - I’ve just decided to have a little re-design and change the way I do things.

You can still find my Features & Reviews in the Navigation bar.

Come back soon
R x