The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 12,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night
Queen’s Head, Mold
Friday 4th December 2015
Unlike the last event, I didn’t have a theme for Bring Your Own Vinyl Night this time around. Just some tunes I fancied playing. I hadn’t even decided exactly what they would be till the show was on.
For anyone still uninitiated, the night is hosted in the Queen’s Head pub in Mold, North Wales. There are two turntables and each participant gets to play 15 minutes of whatever music they want, vinyl only.
I had myself a couple of beers and rattled out this selection:
Motorhead – Ace of Spades
When you buy your first Motorhead album, you know you’ve entered the world of grown up music. Big, nasty unapologetic rocking grown up music. A song that never gets old, I was introduced to “Ace of Spades” when the band performed it on the classic “University Challenge” episode of The Young Ones. It’s just a non-stop, joyous racket that simply will not stop or slow down for anyone. Absolute perfection. I played this in memory of drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor, who sadly passed away recently.
The Vapors – Turning Japanese
A New Wave/Punk Rock classic, I was donated the brilliant “Turning Japanese” by a friend. Thank you, Simon. It was supposed to be part of a tribute set that I’m still working on. It was going to be hard to follow up the adrenaline rush of the previous song, The Vapors pulled it off here though. A great power pop song that kept the pace of the set nicely.
Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene
A slight fast forward to the late 1980’s for this next track. The first track on Dinosaur Jr.’s album “Bug”, this track nicely covers the appeal of early American alternative rock. Born out of punk and hardcore, with one foot in old Black Sabbath and one in jangly pop; Dinosaur Jr. constantly delight. Reminds me of my skateboarding youth.
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
I couldn’t decide which track to play last, so I let the audience choose the album. The Beastie Boys “Ill Communication” won hands down, and I chose “Sabotage” as the track to play. Another unrelenting monster of a song, “Sabotage” has a funky groove delivered with a rocking style. Again, a song I never tire of. Plus the Spike Jonze video, with it’s 70’s cop show homage, is a work of genius. It’s been over twenty years and I still want to dress up and play Sabotage Cops for a day.
My buddy Adam strode up to the decks next, and delivered another fine set. It went something like this:
Four top songs from Adam there, the Queen track was a load of fun and had me doing my world renowned Freddie Mercury impression. It was nice to hear a modern song on vinyl too, with the Ronson/Mars number.
Great night, great songs – well done all on another fine evening’s entertainment. I’m currently stumped what to play next time. I’ll work on it.
The Halcyon Dreams blog is here, where you can find listed (very helpfully) all of the songs played on the night.
The Halcyon Dreams Facebook page is here.
Wales Comic Con – Sunday 29th November 2015
Glyndwr University, Wrexham
Back in April, my family and I attended the first Wales Comic Con of the year, held at Glyndwr University in Wrexham. However just one day was not enough – November saw a second event in a similar vein.
So that meant star guests signing, merch for sale and dozens of cosplayers – all gathered together for a fun day. Whatever you’re fan of, from the realms of film, television or comic books; be it sci-fi, fantasy, or other genre – there was something there for everyone.
At the previous event, we were lucky to have some stunning warm weather. No such luck this time – the rain lashed down and the wind blew mercilessly. Even for November, this weather wasn’t great. No matter though, the atmosphere at the event was still every bit as sunny as previous. Quite surprisingly, everyone’s spirits were high and there was still an air of excitement.
Comic Con was largely about Star Wars for my family, with my daughter Eloise dressed as Princess Leia in classic A New Hope style outfit. She had a fantastic time having photos taken, and running after stormtroopers trying to shoot them (with a blaster from my collection!). Meeting Chewbacca was also a highlight.
The costumes were varied and impressive – though due to the weather, lack of time and a technical fault my photos were limited. Which was a shame as there were many more photos I’d have liked to take.
So another great event at Wrexham, and an excellent afternoon out. We’ll definitely be back for more next time.
The Wales Comic Con website is here.
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