Here's Lookin' At You Kid: The Gaslight Anthem @ Hammersmith Apollo 21.10.10

Photo: Exposure Promotions

I went to see The Gaslight Anthem a few weeks ago and reviewed it for Subba Cultcha. You can read my review here.

A Lesson in Stage Presence: Mayday Parade @ Islington Academy 8.10.10

Derek Sanders & Alex Garcia of Mayday Parade

'Two entries in four days?!', I hear you say. It must be some kind of record. Having started my Newspaper Journalism MA at City University three weeks ago, I've constantly had drilled into me the importance of an active online presence, so here I am, attempting to write something interesting at least once a week and maybe more when times call for it.

While my classmates discuss some of their impressive blogs about current affairs, politics, and even sport (a timeless and honourable pastime), I find myself keeping rather schtum about the fact I like to write about the kind of music more generally favoured by those at least 5 years my junior, for fear of ridicule. However, this is what I know about, and what I enjoy, so better to write something well informed and fun than to drag out some unqualified and half-hearted comment about the inner-workings of North Korea's corrupt pastry industry in the hope that it might result in a smidgen of kudos, when the likelihood is it would result in equal ridicule anyway.

To the point of this entry, anyway. I popped to Islington o2 Academy on Friday evening (8.10.10) to see some of the aforementioned music being performed, as power-popsters The Maine and Mayday Parade played to the packed venue.

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

It's been a while since my last entry, in which I said I hoped to write a review of the latest Relient K album, and I'm sorry that I never got around to that, maybe I'll do it at some point.

I was going to start the new year with reviews of both the new You Me At Six and Motion City Soundtrack releases, but today something happened that I felt was more important to comment on. And in the end, these reviews, much like the Relient K one, will wait.

It's not so much music related, but when I started this blog I did say that I'd inevitably use it as an output for my various meditations.

Sadly, today (ok, yesterday if we're being overly pedantic) the world received the news that the novelist Jerome David, or J.D., Salinger passed away at the age of 91 (a BBC article about his death can be found here). He the was author of one of my favourite books of all time, from which the title of this whole blog owes its name. Of course I am talking about 'The Catcher in the Rye'.

Full Collapse (of a fan base): Thursday and Rise Against @ Cardiff University 22.11.09

On Sunday night I braved the torrential rain and nigh-on hurricane-force winds hurtling across the M4,and filling my sturdy little Punto with unsupecting friends, travelled to Cardiff to see Thursday support Rise Against at the city's University. I mention Thursday first, as this is who I was really there to see, and despite it being labelled a Rise Against show on the ticket, I'd somehow got into my head that it was one of those 'joint headliner' dealios, where bands of equal stature tour together and share the top of the bill. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Here's a little account of the show for those who'd care to know about it....