Ain't No Ting

They don't do Reggae but they cover most everything else that matters, check out the Groover's Paradise, it's good for what ails ya.

Let The Big O Flow!

Get some soul in your life! If you don't already have this, you should be shot.

Old Gods Nearly Dead

Been to see both Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton in the last week, I don't think I'll be rushing to see 'em again. Dylan had his moments but has there ever been such a superstar with next to no stage presence? I wasn't expecting much "hello Dublin, do you feel awwlright?!!" action but some attempt at stagecraft would have been welcome. He was certainly better than occasions I've seen him before but the voice, if it was ever there, has long departed and he can't even manage the guitar anymore, it may well be time to call it a day. Pretty good versions of "Wicked Messenger", Girl From The North Country", "All Along The Watchtower" and "If You Ever Go To Houston" though and the new album's a good one but perhaps it's finally time to end the never ending tour.

Clapton's music is something I've never been crazy about, I'm partial to a bit of Cream (ho, ho) and I like the Layla album but that's about it. There is no doubt about his skills as a musician but he's not the greatest song writer in the world and no one in their right minds needs to hear "Wonderful Tonight " again, although we did of course.
The new Dublin O2 is a beautiful thing to be sure and we were lucky enough to have sixth row seats, in amongst people who were going through some sort of religious experience but problems started almost straight away with all bars being closed during the performance. Now this has got to be down to Mr. Clapton himself, there is no way a new venue would close a bar, depriving themselves of some income and don't give me the excuse that it would spoil the performance as plenty of people came and went with hotdogs and popcorn (at a gig, I ask you?). Just because you're now clean as a whistle doesn't mean I have to be Mr. C, and perhaps some more booze would have made your lacklustre performance easier to take. As said earlier Clapton has some good material but he does have some awful stuff too and he treated us to more of this than was warranted but even classics like Layla and Crossroads lacked any spark. The band were all very accomplished and Clapton is a jaw-dropping guitar player, especially this close up but, to me, they were going through the motions, no fire whatsoever. At least Dylan still showed a few, a very few, flashes. Say what you like about the Stones as a money hoovering touring company but at least Jagger still makes an effort to get you involved.

Roll on the AC/DC, U2 and Springsteen summer gigs, proper showmen all.

The Stath!

As everybody should already know, Jason Statham is possibly the finest actor at work today. Yes Sean Penn is a genius and will always be there or there abouts at the Oscars, yes Mickey Rourke surprised everyone with the Wrestler but no one entertains like the Stath. This being said, nothing could prepare even his most ardent admirers for Crank 2: High Voltage, you just have never seen anything like it, the madness at work here has to be experienced to be believed. Yes it's over flowing with racism and sexism and yes it is incredibly violent but for sheer "I can't believe they did that" entertainment, it cannot be beat. See it.