I’m Not Sick But I’m Not Well…

Time to update this thing again!

My half term was as boring as hell, we had the radiator hooked back up and we were told that the boiler needed checking so we got it checked and they condemned it because it is dangerous and the people who put it in were wankers.

Friday night I went into Brum with Gemma, we spent ages trying to find the Actress and Bishop but in the end we found it, luckily it had a late licence, inside was Ugly Phil (who really is ugly in real life and about 5 foot tall) off Kerrang radio and a bloke who looked like Gareth from The Office, Gemma had work the next day so we left at about 12:30, we got on the night bus and I had to wake up this dead bloke who wanted to get off the bus at the Robin Hood pub, there was also this weird bloke reading this self help book, he looked like he really needed the help too!

Jo came back this weekend for a few days so on Saturday I went round her house, Gaz and Carl were there playing on the computer, Gaz had bought this game called Donkey Konga with involved using bongos, I was crap at it and Jo kicked our asses. After a while we got bored though and decided to pay Adam and his hot date a visit at the ice rink, however when we got there we couldn’t see Adam’s car so we just went to the Olton Tavern instead.

When we got back to Jo’s house Adam was already there and we all watched X Factor, as much as Gaz was enjoying it though he had to go to work but I bet he set the video. X Factor soon got boring so we decided to go and see Shark Tale at the cinema, it was ok but I don’t think I’d see it again. After the film we went to the Plough, I think we were all knackered by that point though because it had been a long day.

On Sunday I went with Gemma and Jo to see Hell Is For Heroes play at the Academy, I got the bus (which some Sharon had thrown up all over) to Jo’s house then we got the bus into Brum, why do people on buses stink?

When we got into Brum we went to the Actress and Bishop, we found it with no trouble this time, after a quick pint and a toilet break we headed off to the Academy.

I was quite surprised that the gig was going to be held at Academy 2 because I thought it would be a bit packed.

…I was right…

There wasn’t much room to move, we squeezed our way to the table selling merchandise where Gemma bought another copy of One Of Us by Hell Is For Heroes, there were only 2000 copies made and I think she has most of them, she got the CD signed by the drummer and then picked up a handful of Iodine stickers, one of which ended up on my back.

After buying our expensive pints of Carling we managed to get a place at the front just as Aerogramme were starting, they were ok, a bit hairy though.

The gap between Aerogramme and Hell Is For Heroes seemed to last a lifetime but eventually the lights dipped and The Tragedy Of The Leaves by Charles Bukowski was read out, it went like this:

I awakened to dryness and the ferns were dead,
the potted plants yellow as corn;
my woman was gone
and the empty bottles like bled corpses
surrounded me with their uselessness;
the sun was still good, though,
and my landlady's note cracked in fine and
undemanding yellowness;
what was needed now
was a good comedian, ancient style, a jester
with jokes upon absurd pain;
pain is absurd
because it exists, nothing more;
I shaved carefully with an old razor
the man who had once been young and
said to have genius;
But that's the tragedy of the leaves,
the dead ferns, the dead plants;
and I walked into a dark hall
where the landlady stood
execrating and final,
sending me to hell,
waving her fat, sweaty arms
and screaming
screaming for rent
because the world had failed us both.

As the poem was being read out Hell Is For Heroes came on stage and as soon as the poem finished they kicked off with 3 Of Clubs the crowd went mad, this bloke with big hair who had pushed in front of me starting head banging and I got a mouthful of hair - it tasted like coconut.

I felt like the oldest person there and loads of kids kept crowd surfing, the singer even crowd surfed on 2 occasions, the security were having a field day.

They played most of the songs off The Neon Handshake plus some new ones too, the singer did this PK jump from the top of the room over the drum kit during Sick Happy which was impressive, towards the end some random woman kept putting her arms around my neck and then saved me a place back at the front which was kind of her.

The final song they played was their new song - Kamichi - which they stopped halfway through and walked off stage only to finish it off in the encore.

When the lights came back on and it was all over and everybody started leaving, as I was talking to the photographer about band photography, the lead singer walked straight past me but Jo managed to grope touch his rear end twice and get a plectrum (not from his rear end).

On the way out we saw the singer sat at the merchandise table, he signed mine and Jo’s tickets and Gemma’s CD, we then all decided that our expensive Carlings had taken their toll and a toilet stop was needed so we headed back to the Actress and Bishop where we’re starting to become regulars.


Look - It's signed!

It was a bit weird how after a night of being punched, kicked and elbowed (mainly by Jo) I got on the bus feeling fine, I yawned and felt something at the back of my throat pull, my throat is my weak point and I knew that the next day I’d be regretting it.

Monday morning I woke up regretting the yawn from the night before, my throat was really painful and swollen, I took it easy all day and watched Most Haunted in the evening, this man got possessed by a witch a broke a mirror over his own face which is always entertaining.

Today I’ve been at college feeling ill and fluey all day, people kept going on at me to do some work but all I wanted to do was sleep, and sit in a comfy chair.

So glad I’m home!

currently listening to: Kings Of Leon - The Bucket
Gemma is currently listening to: East 17 - House Of Love
Mr High-Speed Garage is currently listening to: Some Outkast shite