On The Guest List

It's a long time I've been on here, so much happening

2010-12-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

I have neglected this blog for ages, mainly because of work and being so busy, I don't have time to write it anymore. I have two new websites, mainly for photo galleries.
I managed to travel to Santiago, Chile for the final ever Faith No More reunion show which was beyond amazing. What an adventure! I met lots of great people as well as seeing Secret Chiefs 3 live (on the day I actually arrived in Chile, it was exhausting!), Primus and Faith No More. It was my 15th Faith No More show in 15 years, very emmotional. Obviously, like so many other fans, I am hoping that this really isn't the band's last ever performance together, but only time will tell.

The full galleries of photo from the show, which took place at the Bicentenario La Florida in Santiago on Sunday December 5th, can be viewed here:

www.faithlotsmore.com

There are more photos from the Faith No More reunion shows than on any other website.

Photos of other bands can be seen here:

www.rocknrollgalleries.com

Live shots of Primus and Secret Chiefs 3 from in Santiago can be viewed there.

Mike Patton onstage in Santiago, Chile. Sunday December 5th. 2010.

Les Claypool from Primus

Sonisphere shenanigans and Reading festival

2010-09-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

I wrote a whole long review of Sonisphere on here, but then my internet got cut off and nothing was saved. I can't be bothered to write it all out again as I don't get the time anymore to update this blog like I used to, so go here to read a full feature of Sonisphere, including photos and reviews:

www.virtualfestivals.com

For all the photos I took at Sonisphere and Reading festival 2010, there are a few here: www.virtualfestivals.com

and the whole lot are in my galleries here:

www.rocknrollgalleries.com

Till Lindemann from Rammstein sets the stage alight (almost!) on Saturday July 21st, 2010.
Till Lindemann
Rammstein walking onto the main stage.
Jerry and Jacoby from Papa Roach backstage.
Alice Cooper holding up his severed head!

Wroclaw, Poland for Mike Patton's Mondo Cane July 22nd

2010-08-09T14:55:00.001-07:00

I'd been to Poland before to photograph a Simple Plan show and that was back in November 2008 in Warsaw. Wroclaw is a much better looking city than Warsaw, historic university city and I really enjoyed it, apart from the sweaty heat! I couldn't get over how damn hot it was! I stayed at the lovely Monopol hotel in the centre of Wroclaw, a hotel I chose because of the swimming pool and spa and the fact that Marlene Dietrich and Pablo Picasso have both been past guests ( I later got told that Adolf Hitler had also stayed there!). I had no idea until the day after I arrived that Mike Patton was also staying in the same hotel, because I never bumped into him or any of the Italian Mondo Cane musicians around the hotel and I had arrived two days before to explore Wroclaw and make the most of using the hotel spa.
Unfortunately due to the disorganisation of certain people to do with the festival that Mike Patton's Mondo Cane were performing for, I didn't manage to get a photo pass and it was rather a nightmare. I was aware that large cameras were not allowed into the concert, which was set on a lovely island just off the city centre on the river, but most of us attending had no idea that NO cameras were allowed at all and I was furious. I still managed to get my camera smuggled in and tried to take some photos, but without much luck as security were assholes and it was impossible. The standing tickets were cheap, but we found out why they were so cheap, as it was just a rather cramped standing area located either side of the stage and seating was obviously all in front. I still got a good spot, but the view wasn't great, as Mike stood behind a couple of the musicians and we couldn't see him that well. The view didn't matter so much when he started to sing, as it was so flawless and emmotional that some of the songs almost moved me to tears.
Mike had been rehearsing all afternoon and ever since he arrived. It was the first date of the Mondo Cane tour, he was rather stressed out, but didn't show it during the performance at all. The songs were sung in flawless Italian and although I missed the usual eccentric crazy behaviour that he's so famed for during Fantomas Tomahawk and Faith No More performances, there was lack of that in Mondo Cane, but the megaphone (favourite Patton prop!) still made an appearance! It was like nothing else Mike Patton has ever done, totally unique and wonderful with the full orchestra.
The atmosphere was calm and intense. Beautiful songs, all sung beautifully. Mike sung twenty-two songs altogether, inlcuding two after a short break for an encore, when everyone left the stage and returned for the last couple of songs.

Setlist was as follows

Il Cielo in una Stanza
Che Notte
Ore d'amore
20km al Giorno
Quello Che Contu
Urlo Negro
Legata ad un Gronello di Sabbia
Deep Down
Pine, Fucile ed Occhiali
Scalinatello
L'uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare
Ma L'amore no
Canzone
Ti Offro da Bere
Dio Come ti Amo
Storia d'amore
Lontano, Lontano
O Venezia
Yeeeeeh!
Senza
Fine
*ENCORE*
Sigaretta
Sole Malato

The fountains in the Market Square in the centre of Wroclaw.

Mike Patton performing onstage in Wroclaw, Poland. These photos were taken with my Panasonic Lumix and my shots are always much better than this, but because security were so strict about any photos at all during this concert (they even stopped anyone using their mobile phone cameras!) it was impossible to get decent photos.

Athens trip to see Bad Religion and Faith No More - again!

2010-07-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

After returning to London Heathrow airport from Bilbao via Madrid, I literally only just made it onto my flight to Athens, having had a delayed flight from Madrid. It was well worth the rush and arriving in Athens at 3.30am Greece time! I was so exhausted, but after arriving at my hotel at around 5.00am, I went to bed for a few hours, then got up and lay in the sunshine by the rooftop pool at the very nice Metropolitan Hotel. I made it into a mini holiday, which was the idea. Get some sun and rock 'n' roll in the evening.
Luckily, the venue for the one day Ejekt Festival was changed from the Olympic Fencing Stadium to The Olympic Tae Kwon Do arena which was just 15 minutes walk from my hotel.

This time it was too short notice for me to get a photo pass for the show, as I only decided to go to Athens a couple of weeks before and booked the flights and hotel package before I even knew whether I could get on the guest list, but I was all sorted out by the Ejekt press man and crew, so thank you to them I was still allowed to bring my camera into the venue and take some photos from at the front of the barrier without getting kicked by moshers!

Bad Religion were the first band I saw when I arrived, celebrating their 30th anniversary, the Californian punk icons were as energetic as always and performed an ultimate Bad Religion greatest hits setlist. They played about 30 songs (but of course, most of their songs are very short anyway), opening with Do What You Want and saving most of the best for last with American Jesus and finishing with Sorrow. I couldn't get many good shots of them, as Greg always moves around so much anyway. Faith No More opened with Midnight Cowboy, which I was glad about because in Bilbao it was Reunited. The setlist was similar to Bilbao BBK Live, but of course like with any Faith No More performance it was mixed around again and there were some differences and a surprise double encore with As The Worm Turns and then Prisina, when Mike did the Greek thing and smashed up plates (an old Greek tradition usually practised at large weddings and wealthy family dinner parties). With the usual Patton stage mischief and the pleasure of hearing Pristina being sung again, it was probably even more enjoyable than their Bilbao set.

Mike Patton holding one of the plates he smashed onto the stage floor at the end of the Athens Ejekt Festival concert.

Greg Graffin of Bad Religion, with Jay Bentley in the background. Below: Bad Religion onstage at Ejekt in Athens

Me with Mike Patton the morning after the Ejekt concert as everyone was leaving our hotel for the airport. The same thing happened in Adelaide after Soundwave festival! Good luck timing!

Bilbao BBK Live Festival

2010-07-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

Overseas festival time yet again and this July I chose to go to Spain for the BBK Live festival in Bilbao. Mainly because not only because Bilbao is such a lovely Spannish city on the North coast of Spain in the Basque country, but because this year's festival boasted a very impressive line-up of bands. Below are some of my favourite photos of the bands I watched, but you will be able to view a lot more here soon:

www.virtualfestivals.com

www.rockmidgets.com

Mike Patton performs Laborintus II in Amsterdam

2010-06-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

On June 18th, I was lucky enough to see Mike Patton perform a unique special performance in Amsterdam of Italian composer Luciano Berio's Laborintus II, followed by an avant garde jazz improvisation second half of the concert. Full review of the whole show with photos can be seen here:

www.rockmidgets.com

Download festival

2010-06-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Download 2010 was good, but not as good as 2009, mainly being because of all the excitement about Faith No More reuniting and performing at Download 2009 was what made it so special for me and many others who I know who went. Plus the weather was much nicer last year!
This year we were lucky with the sun and cloud and no rain until it suddenly decided to change on the Sunday afternoon while I was watching The Damned Things on the second stage and the rain came. With soaking wet jeans and muddy feet (I wore flip-flops, so walking bare foot in the mud was better as they kept getting stuck!) I still stuck it out as I couldn't possibly miss Aerosmith, who I'd been looking forward to seeing all weekend.
Slightly disappointing line-up compared to 2009, but my highlights were still all the bands I'd planned to watch and they were all brilliant. Bullet For My Valentine proved they deserved the headline slot of the second stage Friday night and were fantastic. My overall favourite of the three days being an amazing Friday night show from ACDC, who had a special customized stage set up by a German crew who happened to be staying in the hotel I stayed in and they told me that it was going to be spectacular and it certainly was. 30 Seconds To Mars were awesome as always, Jared with a blonde mohawk dyed pink at the top! I watched all of their set, then ran towards the main stage to catch the rest of Rage Against The Machine.
Of course, they finished with their 2009 UK Christmas No. 1 Killing in the Name.
Sunday was supposed to be the best day for me, but when the rain came it wasn't pleasant and a lot of people left the site, but despite the mud and being wet, cold and hungry, I stayed on and enjoyed Motorhead, featuring a guest performance with Slash, Stone Temple Pilots and the amazing Aerosmith who rounded off the weekend with two of my favourite hits by them, Dream On and Walk This Way. Everyone was saying that they were a bit disappointed that they didn't do Dude Looks Like a Lady, but after almost 40 years together, Steve Tyler and the gang still put on a great show.

The giant bell which was part of ACDC's special unique stage set.
Above: The fireworks display after ACDC's performance was awesome. Below: ACDC frontman Brian Johnson

Jared Leto performing onstage on Saturday June 12th, 2010. Below: Jared and Shannon Leto in the Kerrang! signing tent.

Rage Against The Machine on the main stage on Saturday June 12th, 2010.

New items for sale in my online shops

2010-04-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

Lots of new jewellery designs on sale in my online stores now. On the main store on Etsy and on eBay and eBid.net. Details for all online stores can be found in the main store.

To buy, go to:

www.toxicglamour.etsy.com

Any currency accepted, but prices are in US dollars. Free shipping to any UK address.

As I am still paying off debts from having such a great time in Australia and saving money for the Summer festivals, there will be no more new concert photos or reviews for a while.

I have plans to attend several festivals this Summer, as well as the usual UK events like Download, Sonisphere and Reading, I will be at the BBK Live festival in Bilbao, Spain and undecided about other events as it all depends on whether I can even afford to go anywhere else. More details closer to the dates.

Photos from Australia Faith No More shows all online ready to view

2010-03-16T14:49:00.001-07:00

All my photos from the Soundwave festival dates in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide are now up in my MySpace galleries, along with the live shots from the Faith No More sideshows at the Melbourne Festival Hall on February 24th and 25th. The reviews will be on Rock Midgets soon, plus the best photos I took. There are so many photos that it's impossible to include them all on Rock Midgets, so I've put them all onto MySpace anyway.

Mike Patton at Melbourne Festival Hall, February 24th, 2010 BELOW: Roddy Bottum at Melbourne Festival Hall

Jon Hudson at Melbourne Festival Hall, February 25th 2010.

ABOVE AND BELOW: Mike Patton at Melbourne Festival Hall, February 25th, 2010.

I managed to get photos with all the members of Faith No More as we left the hotel for Adelaide airport the day after the Soundwave festival at Adelaide Bonython Park. They were flying to Perth for the final date of the festival tour and I was flying back to Sydney to get a flight back to London the day after. It was a very windy afternoon, that's why my hair is all over the place in the photos!

Managed to have a chance meeting with Stefan Olsdal and Steve Forrest from Placebo, same afternoon we all left for Adelaide airport. I didn't see Placebo singer Brian Molko around at all throughout the whole trip. Steve is such a great replacement for their former drummer Steve Hewitt. They made the right decision, nice guy and a superb drummer. So glad this band are still around after 15 years, I got some fantastic shots of them at Sydney and Adelaide Soundwave festivals. Melbourne I was sticking around Stage 3 most of the day to get photos of different bands, so it was very varied. There were so many acts I am a fan of, but couldn't get to watch everyone.

ABOVE: Me with Davey Havok of AFI in Adelaide. I wish I had got a full length body shot of him that afternoon, he was wearing these tight magenta colour jeans and they looked so quirky and great on him and the colour went well with his arm tattoos! BELOW: Toasted, blistered, swollen feet was the result of walking around in the intense heat at Sydney and Melbourne Soundwave. I wore soft hotel slippers to walk around at Adelaide Soundwave and they started to make a recovery! The pain was worth it, though! I had to take a ibuprofen tablets every few hours so I could walk without limping and cringing. European sun is nowhere near as hot as the Australian sun. You can't even buy any suntan lotions that are lower than Factor 30, it's that strong.

Still busy editing pics and writing reviews

2010-03-03T16:38:00.001-08:00

I haven't even been home for more than a day and I've almost finished all my Soundwave and Faith No More sideshow reviews. Done editing pictures and that takes ages. All the reports I did will be featured on this website soon:

www.rockmidgets.com

In the meantime, ladies can drool over this lovely photo I got of Mike Patton when I said goodbye to him and the rest of Faith No More when we all left for Adelaide airport on February 28th...

Back home in England after an amazing time in Australia

2010-03-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

I arrived back home from Australia this morning and it's hard to believe that my trip went so fast, but it was worth the huge expenses and exhaustion! Soundwave festival 2010 in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide were all fantastic fun and the Faith No More sideshows were performances I will never forget.

I still have lots of photos to edit and upload from all the events, but here is a taste of some of my personal favourite shots from Soundwave Sydney on February 21st.

Back in Sydney after almost four years and it's still amazing

2010-02-20T03:10:00.000-08:00

The stunning view of the famous Sydney Opera House.
Me with ACDC bassist Cliff Williams. The wind was really strong, I look like I've been dragged through a tornado!

I arrived back in Australia two days ago and loving it. Last time I was here was July 2006, but luckily nothing has changed. I was so tired yesterday, but it didn't put me off wanting to go out and explore, so I did and spent the later afternoon relaxing by the hotel swimming pool.

Today was totally crazy and random, gearing me into the mood for plenty of rock 'n' roll tomorrow at Sydney Soundwave. I walked past a hotel down the road and spotted Australian rockers Wolfmother, who were in Sydney to support ACDC at their massive sell out stadium concert at the ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park. I'm not a fan of Wolfmother and I don't really think they're that bad, either, but Mike Patton from Faith No More openly had a rant about them on an Australian TV interview backstage at a festival and it made me laugh, as Faith No More are the main band I'm excited about seeing here. Maybe I should've had the guts to approach lead singer Andrew Stockdale and asked him whether they were going to stick around town for their day off tomorrow and catch Faith No More at Soundwave! I'd love to have seen the look on his face if that had happened.

Later on, after relaxing out by the hotel swimming pool, I walked all around the area of Sydney Harbour and The Rocks district, overlooking the water. The best scenery in Sydney and the main tourist area. I got some good photos of the sights. At a luxury hotel right on the waterfront, several wedding receptions had obviously been taking place and tourists were watching different brides get photographed with the amazing views. Then I noticed some ACDC fans hanging around and I asked them why they weren't at the concert venue already and they tipped me off that ACDC were in fact staying at that hotel. What a strike of luck that the band were due to leave soon, so I waited around, but not for long as drummer Phil Rudd came outside to smoke, and lead singer Brian Johnson, guitarist Malcolm Young and bassist Cliff Williams followed. There wasn't much time to chat to the band members, as they were waiting for a police escort to follow their car driving to ANZ Stadium and I only managed a quick photo with bass player Cliff, but the others were all rushed into their car by their tour manager as we were going to get photos, so I was disappointed, but at least I got to meet them with such lucky and very by chance timing. Lead guitarist Angus Young still resides in Sydney, so there was no need to stay with the rest of the band in the hotel.

My feet are sore from all the walking around seeing the scenes today, but I hope they hold out for all the rushing around I'm going to be doing here before I return to the UK! Lots to see and do. Photos and reviews will be uploaded onto the following websites:

www.rockmidgets.com

www.virtualfestivals.com

Excitement for going to Australia, but boredom in Britain

2010-02-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

In the mood and excited to be seeing Faith No More again, I had some creative fun...

This was a joke poking some fun at the apparent ridiculous demands on Faith No More's 2009 European tour rider, which was supposed to be a joke (well, it was ten pages long and you should've seen some of the items listed!. They asked for "towels that must be soft, like a baby bunny on a Summer's day".

Didn't get much work this week, which sucked, considering I really needed to earn as much as I could to pay off bills and for my trip to Australia, but that always seems to be the bad luck I get. Typical sod's law! The fustration and general boredom lead me to being creative again, making more jewellery designs to sell online in my stores and just having fun with my Sharpie permanent markers.
Faith No More, one of my favourite bands who I'm excited to be seeing again in Australia, unveiled the tour posters for the Australia and New Zealand shows last week. They've always had great designs on their posters, past and present and a lot of them are collectables now. Of course, I've often had people ask me whether I've designed posters for bands and album cover art and it's often crossed my mind that it is something I would have dabbled in, but never got around to it. I drew one fun poster, my own version of a poster advertising Faith No More's forthcoming San Francisco dates. The idea was for fun, but I think it would look great if it was re-drawn in a more edgy way with the same idea. The Golden Gate had to be in there, though, as Faith No More are from San Francisco anyway.

The Saint logo was something I though up last night randomly and the skull with wings pendant was originally one of my tattoo art necklace designs, just with the band name added in the scroll.

The Saint and The Sinner. Halo fallen onto Faith No More logo
Sketched with Sharpies and you can still see the pen marks all over the place, but what the hell!

More updates on here soon

2010-01-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Lack of updates on here obviously means I've been busy with my "day jobs", that is designing and making more jewellery and accessories and being a massage therapist, which I don't talk about too much due to most of my clients being in the music and entertainment industry.

Toxic Glamour is going strong thanks to all of you who I've met at festivals and headline concerts and handed out my flyers to. I haven't placed my usual ad in Kerrang lately, due to saving expenses and finding that advertising to fans direct while they're waiting in line outside venues before shows is by far the best way of promoting a business like mine.

I am now stocking Toxic Glamour jewellery here:

HELLWEAR CLOTHING
18b STABLES MARKET
CHALK FARM ROAD
CAMDEN TOWN
LONDON

You can order clothing and accessories directly from the Hellwear online store here:

www.hellwear.co.uk

My designs are not available via the Hellwear website, but you can buy them here:

US dollars: www.toxicglamour.etsy.com

UK pounds: http://uk.ebid.net/stores/toxicglamour

I will be off to Australia on February 18th to cover the annual Soundwave festival in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. After having been based in Sydney for almost a year, I haven't been back since 2006 and miss it a lot. I am very excited about seeing all my friends again and seeing so many amazing bands. To add the excitement, Faith No More have added another sideshow on February 24th in Melbourne, but I am already committed to seeing Jane's Addiction that night. Faith No More the day after, though! Paramore will be performing at the Festival Hall in Melbourne on February 23rd, I will be outside giving out Toxic Glamour info cards to everyone in line outside before the show and some free photos of Paramore to the first twenty people in line, so see you all there!

Billy Talent with support from Cancer Bats in Southampton

2009-10-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday October 29th I headed for Southampton Guildhall to see a double dose of proper Canadian rock from Toronto based bands Cancer Bats and headliners Billy Talent.
Although hardcore punk rockers Cancer Bats were their usual energetic selves, frontman Liam Cormier still madly head banging around in between vocals and leaping around the stage at every opportunity, they weren't as great as they were when I saw them live on the Lock-Up stage at the 2008 Reading festival, a fantastic performance which a lot of people who saw it said it one of the best sets of the whole weekend. 2008 album release Hail Destroyer saw Cancer Bats gain more popularity in Europe and becoming the hardcore music media darlings of Kerrang and Rock Sound magazines, receiving rave reviews of live shows and records. However, despite a slightly disappointing support this evening, they still show a lot of promise for 2010's new Cancer Bats record, titled Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones. A couple of new songs from the new album went down well with the crowd, but it was rather obvious that more than half the audience were just letting time pass in time for their fellow Ontario buddies Billy Talent. The two bands have actually been close friends for many years now, having known each other from the Toronto music scene.
A sold-out Southampton Guildhall, as well as all the other UK tour dates, just goes to show how far the Canadian rock quartet have come, now gaining a big fan base in Europe following festival appearances and an Australian tour. In their native country, Billy Talent are used to selling out venues the size of the 02 and Wembley Arenas, so these venues are small and more intimate for them. Having formed in Toronto in 1993 and first known as Pezz, they became Billy Talent ten years ago in 1999. Most of the songs performed were from this Summer's release Billy Talent 3, opening the show with the 4th track from that album Dead Can't Testify. I enjoyed this gig more than expected as it had been a while since I last saw Billy Talent. They were on the Lock-Up stage at Reading at the same time as Faith No More were performing on the NME stage, so I was determined to make the most of watching this show in Southampton.
Frontman Ben Kowalewicz explains to the crowd that Southampton means something sentimental to him, as his mother first boarded a ship to Canada from the Southampton harbour. He talks and jokes around with the audience at every opportunity, blasted out popular songs from Billy Talent 3, such as Devil on my Shouler, Rusted from the Rain and Saint Veronika. Slower and more melodic track Surrender from 2006 release Billy Talent 2 gets an even bigger applause. My only disappointment of the night was Ben not taking his shirt off as he's often known for doing during shows, but what the hell! Later after the show was over, I got to chat with Ben, bassist Jonathan Gallant and guitarist Ian D'Sa who all praised the British audiences and said that the tour was going very well, despite having to prospone the first two dates due to illness. Poor drummer Aaron Solowoniuk was apparently feeling feverish and had a cold in Southampton, but his illness didn't effect his live drumming skills. I will definitely be seeing Billy Talent again before too long.
Me with Ben Kowalewicz and Ian D'Sa after the show in Southampton, October 29th.
Ben signing autographs for fans after the show.

Lots more photos of Cancer Bats and Billy Talent can be seen at:

www.rockmidgets.com

and on my MySpace photography page as usual.

New online store set up so fans can buy prints of my photos

2009-10-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been so busy working.

Fans have asked me whether they can buy prints of my best band photos, so I've set up a new online store for glossy prints of my favourite band photos here:

http://uk.ebid.net/stores/rockshots

Next show I will be photographing will be Billy Talent and Cancer Bats at Southampton Guildhall at the end of October. I am trying to save money for February, when I will be returning to Australia for the first time since 2006 for the Soundwave festival and Faith No More separate headline shows (they are also on the line-up for Soundwave).

My live photos and a review of The Used's brilliant performance at the Electric Ballroom in Camden can be viewed here:

www.rockmidgets.com

My 18th year in a row at the Reading festival

2009-09-02T03:26:00.001-07:00

Yet another Reading festival is over and it marks the end of the Summer for me and most music fans in the UK. This year was my 18th year at the festival and apart from the miserable (and unusually cold) weather on Friday and Sunday, it was as great as always. My highlights from Friday August 28th were watching Faith No More, who were even better than they were at Download a few months ago, Placebo, Alexisonfire, Fall Out Boy and The Deftones. I was annoyed that three great bands I wanted to watch were all on different stages at the same time, whose dumb idea was it to put Billy Talent on the Lock Up stage at the same time as Faith No More on the NME stage...?! So not fair! I obviously watched Faith No More, because Billy Talent are coming back for a UK tour soon anyway.
I managed to get some photos. Lots more are on the MySpace page in the Reading Festival 2009 gallery. The Prodigy and The Blackout were the best on Saturday. God knows why Arctic Monkeys were headlining the main stage after The Prodigy, as I only recognized around two songs they played when I saw their performance on TV in the bar at the hotel I was staying in. Sunday was dull up until The Gaslight Anthem were on the NME stage, followed by Gallows, AFI and Lostprophets. I suppose I did an okay job on getting photos of the bands I saw considering I didn't have a photo pass.
A couple of face-painted festival goers. The neon face paint was seen around the site a lot, like last year.

Batman and The Joker!
Guy in a "nude" bodystocking!
Ian Watkins from Lostprophets
AFI, NME stage Sunday August 30th, 2009.
More AFI
Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem
Thursday vocalist Geoffrey Rickly
Matt Caughthran from The Bronx
Mike Patton from Faith No More
More Faith No More
Dallas Green from Alexisonfire in the NME signing tent indicating to fans making too much noise!
The Gossip's Beth Ditto in the NME signing tent
You Me At Six
Ian Brown
Enter Shikari
More of Mike Patton
Brian Molko of Placebo on the main stage, Friday August 28th.
Pete Wentz
Fall Out Boy
The Deftones on the main stage (with Dallas Green from Alexisonfire watching at the side!)
Jordan Pundik from New Found Glory on the main stage

The Deftones and AFI in Amsterdam

2009-09-02T02:07:00.001-07:00

I've had a busy past week, travelling to Amsterdam to see The Deftones and AFI at own small venue shows before their Reading and Leeds festival appearances. I didn't manage to get any live shots of The Deftones at The Paradiso, as I was late arriving from having dinner with my cousin who lives in Amsterdam, but I got a photo pass for the AFI show at The Melkweg.
It had been two years since I'd seen AFI live and at least four years since I'd seen The Deftones live and without bass player Chi Cheng who is still in hospital receiving treatment following a serious car accident in November 2008 which left him in a coma. Chi is now out of intensive care and according to the band, his condition has improved. Despite the worries, the band were on top form in Amsterdam with replacement bassist Sergio Vega. I managed to chat to the band outside the venue after the show and they were all in good spirits and look forward to playing Reading and Leeds.
All the shots I got of AFI will (hopefully) be featured on the official AFI fan club site Despair Faction and you must be a member of the Despair Faction to log onto the site, but I have uploaded a few photos on here and in my MySpace galleries.

Deftones lead vocalist Chino Moreno after the show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on August 25th and pictured below, drummer Abe Cunningham.

The Used successfully return to London after almost two years

2009-08-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

The set list from the show at The Garage in London. August 5th, 2009.
Drummer Dan Whitesides holding up a t-shirt hand designed by a fan who travelled all the way from Sweden to see the band!
Jeph posing with a pen to make it look like a cigarette (he was just goofing around!)
Quinn looking suave

One of the most successful bands to come from Utah, The Used, returned to the UK for the first time since International Taste of Chaos 2007 and performed what frontman Bert McCracken described as,
"Probably the best show we've ever played in London yet". The band performed on Saturday August 1st at the first annual Sonisphere festival at Knebworth Park, then enjoyed the party at the Kerrang! Awards, before doing their own more intimate show in The Garage in Islington, London. I managed to get some shots of the guys hanging out after the show, where they signed autographs and chatted with fans about their eagerly awaited new album Artwork.

Bert making a silly face at me! (well, he was definitely in a great mood that night!)

Kerrang! Awards 2009

2009-08-13T15:19:00.001-07:00

This year's Kerrang! awards took place a few weeks earlier than usual on Monday August 3rd, just a day after the Sonisphere festival. I was pleased with this new date for the event, as previous years the awards show has always been on the Thursday evening before the Reading festival at the end of August and I've had to leave for Reading in the morning the next day. This time I was able to stay up and enjoy myself. It was the usual fun and rock star laughs, but I wasn't the only one disappointed that Best British Band nominees Bullet For My Valentine weren't there and neither were Avenged Sevenfold and we were all expecting the bands who performed at Sonisphere to stick around for Kerrang. Both bands flew to the US for album recording commitments and could not make it. Metallica were still staying in London after their headline Sonisphere performance the night before. They were also expected to show up, as they did last year, but because it was James Hetfield's birthday and their wives and children were also with them, the only member of the band to appear was Robert Trujillo. Bands who were guests this year were Limp Bizkit, Lacuna Coil, Machinehead, Mastodon, My Passion, The Wildhearts, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, The Prodigy, Enter Shikari, Attack!Attack!, The King Blues, In Case of Fire, Buckcherry, Skunk Anansie, Fightstar and Bring Me The Horizon. Chester Beddington from Linkin Park stayed in London to accept his band's award for Classic Songwriter (the rest of Linkin Park had already flown to their next destination for another concert date). Guest presenters for the show were Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor and Scott Ian from Anthrax.

Kerrang! Awards 2009 WINNERS were:

Best International Band - Slipknot
Best British Band - Bullet For My Valentine
Best British Newcomer - In Case of Fire
Best International Newcomer - Gaslight Anthem
Best Single - The Prodigy for Omen
Best Video - Mastodon for Oblivion
Best Album - Metallica
Best Live Band - Slipknot
Classic Songwriter - Linkin Park
Spirit of Independence - The Wildhearts
Inspiration - Machine Head
Hall of Fame - Limp Bizkit
Icon - Alice in Chains

More Sonisphere photos from Sunday August 2nd

2009-08-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the Sunday of Sonisphere festival 2009 certainly made up for a disappointingly wet day the day before and I managed to charge my camera battery and had more luck in getting lots of photos of all the bands I watched.
The bands were not all on at the same time and didn't clash as with other festival line-ups, so I managed to watch almost every band on the main stage and second stage.
My highlights on Sunday were Saxon, Limp Bizkit, Alice in Chains, Mastodon and Avenged Sevenfold. I missed Buckcherry, as they were on rather early at 11.15 in the morning, but luckily I caught the band at the Kerrang! signing tent later that afternoon and got some great shots of the guys signing stuff for fans. Nine Inch Nails were rather dull, which was a big let down for fans who were eager to see Trent and Co. perform for the final time in the UK (so he is saying) and we expected a lot more action, but the set just dragged on and I ended up wandering back to the other stage to get a good view ready for Alice in Chains.
Despite having to rush off to catch a train back into London, I still caught most of Metallica's brilliant performance that night, although I still think they were better at Rock Im Park and Reading last year, they were still amazing. As I arrived at my hotel in London that night when it was almost 1.00am, Machine Head, Limp Bizkit (apart from Fred Durst who was elsewhere with his wife) and Mastodon were also all checking into the same establishment and the lobby was crazy and packed with all of us who had just come from the same place!

To see all my photos from Sonisphere, please check out the gallery on my MySpace page here:

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz

Wet Saturday at Sonisphere and I forget to charge my camera battery...

2009-08-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

What a wash-out and disappointment! Not only did I forget to charge my camera battery, it decided to die on it's ass while I was watching Taking Back Sunday, so no more photos from Saturday August 1st. The Used's brilliant performance made up for my lack of ability to get any photos and I dashed back to the hotel where I was staying to charge my battery and get some decent food and just missed a downpoor.

Did I bother to go back to the festival site...? Unfortunately I just couldn't be bothered. Rather annoyed that I've missed Bullet For My Valentine and Linkin Park, but considering I've already seen both bands several times before, it wasn't too upsetting.

Download festival was one of the best yet!

2009-06-17T14:49:00.001-07:00

This little bunny wasn't impressed by the loud music in his/her home area! I got a shot of him/her having a rest to hide away from all the festival goers!

I know it was a few days ago now, but this year's Download festival was considered as the best yet and I had a really good weekend. The weather was a bonus, we had three gorgeous sunny days which is definitely a blessing in the UK! I didn't have a photo pass sorted, so unfortunately it meant not getting any decent live photos, just what I've uploaded onto here. Friday night had to be the best for me, as I was eagerly looking forward to seeing Limp Bizkit and Faith No More, both bands who hadn't performed in Europe (or anywhere in fact, as Faith No More only just reformed) for several years and I met a lot of people who came to the festival specifically to see these bands. I even met a couple of people who flew all the way from Saudi Arabia for Download and that is dedicated!
I only just made it into the festival, as I didn't have a ticket and depended on luck of blagging through anyone I knew who was in the biz and this took a lot of patience and waiting around looking like a loser by the VIP entrance, but I did it in the end and literally only just made it into the arena for Limp Bizkit's set. I then joined in the masses and made the most of being one of the many "moshers" for a change. I didn't manage to get a single video shot of any of the main stage acts on Friday because of being right in the crowd, but I had to back off for Saturday and Sunday, as the warm weather also played it's part of making my feet even more sore. Plenty of sunburnt faces were spotted throughout the weekend, but I was rather lucky already having a suntan from my holiday in Fuerteventura a few weeks ago. Most random song covers performed over the weekend included two performances of Lady Ga Ga's hit Poker Face, first sung by Mike Patton of Faith No More, then You Me At Six did it again on the second stage on Saturday afternoon. Korn did their version of Pink Floyd's classic, Another Brick In the Wall.
Slipknot, Faith No More, Limp Bizkit, Def Leppard and Chris Cornell were my favourite performances of the whole weekend. I wish I'd got to see Motley Crue, but there was no choice between them and Faith No More, as I was already stuck in the crowd in front of the main stage and no way was I going to leave my spot to walk all the way to the second stage. It sucks when there are two bands you want to watch on at the same time! I hope the same thing doesn't happen at Sonisphere, as I am definitely going to that festival in August.

Toxic Glamour advert in Kerrang! magazine

2009-06-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

My jewellery and accessories line, Toxic Glamour, is now being advertised in Kerrang! magazine. First ad came out this week in the classifieds advert pages featured at the back of the magazine and will continue to be featured in Kerrang! only in selected issues June 23rd, July 29th, August 25th and September 9th. I chose to feature the advert in these issues, as major events will be reviewed in those issues, Download festival reviewed on June 23rd, July 29th is an end-of-month issue that will have other festival reviews, the preview of the 2009 Kerrang! Awards and Reading and Leeds festivals will be in the issue out August 25th and all the happenings from those major rock events will be featured in the issue out September 9th.

Oh yes, I know what issues sell the best when it comes to Kerrang! because I've been reading it for 15 years!

Anyone who knows about Role Model clothing and is a fan of Simple Plan please read this!

2009-05-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

Role Model is co-owned by musicians Pierre Bouvier and Chuck Comeau from Simple Plan, so their accessories should be more rock 'n' roll! Moulded resin silver guitar with red glitter Canadian maple leaves with R and M for Role Model. Fans of Role Model clothing saw this design and liked it, but will the guys behind the label think the same...? The little gold drumkit pendant has also been popular. I made some more pictured below. Gold star is the same item, pictured back and front.

Below: This was one of hundreds of pendants I've made for members of the official Fall Out Boy fan club Overcast Kids. I give these out to lucky winners of the meet and greets with the band before any Fall Out Boy shows I attend. It is NOT an official Clandestine Industries item, it's yet another idea and something I created, but Pete Wentz has seen these many times and luckily approves. The umbrella symbolises the Overcast Kids logo, which is obviously an umbrella.

Anyone who is a fan of Canadian band Simple Plan will know of the clothing line Role Model that vocalist Pierre Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau co-own with their friend and tour buddy (ex-merchandise boss) Patrick Langlois.

Last week I never had enough time to have a look around the Role Model store, which is in a small town called Laval, just outside Montreal. I did send some necklaces which I'd made to the store address, as samples for jewellery ideas for Role Model and told Patrick and Chuck about it at the private party Pete Wentz and Gabe Saporta DJed at last Wednesday night after the show at Metropolis.

Patrick interviewed Pete Wentz about his clothing line Clandestine Industries before the concert in Montreal for French Canadian music channel Musique Plus. The interview is obviously in English. You can view it on the Musique Plus website here:

www.musiqueplus.com

If anyone from the Role Model store received these necklaces, you know what to do. Sell them in the store, but give some (or even ALL) of the price to the Simple Plan Foundation, the charity that the band set up at the end of 2005 that has helped raise funds for cancer hospitals, children's hospitals and young people who aren't as lucky as all of us are. Of course, if people like them, I can make lots more -

if it's for the charity.

Believers Never Die Tour in Toronto and Montreal

2009-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've been in Canada the past week and only returned to the UK yesterday. It was a good week. Managed to see two shows on the Believers Never Die tour in Toronto and Montreal, featuring All Time Low, Cobra Starship, Metro Station and Fall Out Boy.
I only got a photo pass for the show in Montreal, so photos are from that show on May 6th. The Montreal show was moved to the more popular Metropolis venue in downtown Montreal from the CEPSUM Montreal university venue, so it was smaller and easier to get to. I was relieved it was at Metropolis instead, especially when the VIA Rail train I got from Toronto was late arriving into Montreal due to asbestos on one of the tracks! So I missed the meet and greet and was unable to give out my promo photos to the fans like I usually do before Fall Out Boy shows, but still gave out the free Overcast Kids necklaces to those meet and greet winners who I saw in the front row. This was the second time I'd seen both Fall Out Boy and Metro Station in Montreal, as last August I also photographed Metro Station at the same venue when they were with Good Charlotte and Fall Out Boy I saw on the 2007 Honda Civic Tour at the Bell Centre. Two members of one of Canada's most successful rock bands, Simple Plan, were amongst the audience on May 6th, Chuck and Seb and their old merchandise boss and tour buddy Patrick Langlois who co-owns Role Model Clothing with Chuck and Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier. Metro Station toured Canada with Simple Plan in the fall of 2008. It was great to chat to those guys again at the afterparty, as everyone who is familiar with my live photos and blogs knows I've photographed Simple Plan just as many times as Fall Out Boy in lots of different countries!
Cobra Starship did a DJ set after the Toronto show at a small club called the Wreck Room downtown, but I was way too tired to stay late. Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta got embarressingly drunk that night, but nothing stopped him from keeping in great spirits the next day in Montreal for an even more energetic DJ set with Pete Wentz at the very chic Buonna Notte Supper Club in downtown Montreal. I got a few photos from that party, you can see more from the party and the full set of live shots from the show on the sites listed below.
Me pictured with Gabe Saporta and Pete Wentz in the DJ booth, at the Fall Out Boy and Cobra Starship party at the Buonna Notte Supper Club in Montreal. May 6th, 2009.

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Don't be too alarmed by the bruised and battered looks of Fall Out Boy in my photos. It was all part of the act for the opening of the show!

All the photos from the Fall Out Boy concert in Montreal will be on the following websites within the next few days -

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz

www.cashdolla-fromtheinside.com

Video captures on my YouTube page soon.

New Toxic Glamour rock 'n' roll inspired accessories

2009-04-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Above: Neon glitter rock 'n' roll earrings. UV glow.Gold resin skull and guitars brooch pin and little gold drum kit brooch pin (obviously not pictured actual sizes!).
I've been being creative again, making more new items in my Toxic Glamour accessories and jewellery line.

Details on new stockists will be on here soon, as I've had more buyers interested and I will be setting up a new eBay store for Europe and a separate US customers eBay account to avoid confusion.

My Fall Out Boy meet and greet photo!

2009-04-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

FINALLY after having liked this band since late 2004, I get a group photo -

I said just before this photo was taken that it was my first ever meet and greet photo and Joe replied,
"You're fucking KIDDING...?!" because I'd been to meet and greets before, but just as an observer/onlooker and to give out the photos I give away for fans to get signed who haven't brought a suitable item for the band to sign. Now I try and bring custom made necklaces. I've noticed people wearing them in the other Brussels meet and greet photos on here:

www.friendsorenemies.com

They've said that it's from the Vienna show, but that was an error. Obviously it was Brussels.

Seeing Fall Out Boy again in Toronto and Montreal on May 5th and 6th.

Golden tickets and a lot more of Pete Wentz!

2009-03-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Didn't bother asking for a photo pass at the last minute for the Fall Out Boy show in Brussels, but I did an okay job taking photos from amongst the crowd, without having to stand in the pit. Pete wasn't at all well that day and told us he was sick at the meet and greet. I was lucky enough to sneek into the meet and greet with a friend who was the lucky person who found the hidden Golden Ticket, which Pete gives clues to finding on his Twitter page. Funnily enough, neither of us had good internet access on their 'phones in Belgium and we weren't able to see more than Pete's first post as a clue to where the Golden Tickets were hidden, but the location was guessed randomly by coincidence and they were found just like that! Only two other girls were supposedly looking, but sorry - finders keepers, losers weepers!
Pete told us he was sick, and he certainly wasn't 100% and was almost losing his voice, but he still performed well and the show was great as usual. The band had to leave right after the show ended, as everyone has to rise very early the next morning to get to Heathrow airport in England for connecting flights to the US and Pete onto Sydney, Australia, where he will be co-hosting the MTV Australia music awards.

Video captures from the Brussels concert can now be seen here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

Full set of photos from the Brussels show are now uploaded into the FANS PHOTOS here:

www.falloutboyrock.com

The same photos are also in my MySpace galleries here:

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz

Fall Out Boy will be back in Europe this August for festivals, including Pukkelpop in Belgium and Reading and Leeds in the UK. Go to the Virtual Festivals site for further info. on festivals line-ups nearer the time:

www.virtualfestivals.com

Latest Fall Out Boy live shots are finally uploaded

2009-03-12T13:43:00.001-07:00

To see the whole load of photos I took of the guys onstage at The Brighton Centre, then go to my MySpace page here:

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz (click on direct link on the right of this page)

They will all be uploaded onto the official Fall Out Boy website at:

www.falloutboyrock.com (check in the Fan Photos section).

This afternoon I was busy creating photo print collages of some of my favourite shots from the Brighton show. I'll use these prints to get a batch of promo prints all done to give out to get signed at future shows. Great news I heard after the show in Brighton was that Fall Out Boy will be performing at this August's Reading and Leeds festivals and the V Festival (the weekend before), as well as at other European festivals. Check here for all info. on full festival line-ups -

www.virtualfestivals.com

Any live photos and scene captures from festivals I go to will be on that website.

No laminates required!

2009-03-09T14:23:00.001-07:00

Notice taken off Fall Out Boy's dressing room door backstage at the 02 Arena in London -

"No laminate required" for the people in this picture, but can anyone really be convinced that the members of Fall Out Boy are who they are when you can't even see their faces? This was so funny.

Next time, get a better quality photocopier or fans will get their lookalike boyfriends to blag backstage faster than expected!

Love Hearts candy is not just for eating!

2009-03-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

Love Hearts are sweets/candies that are available in the UK and are very popular. I've created jewellery and accessories out of them by embedding them in clear resin, so obviously none of it is edible!

The items pictured are available at Beautiful Freak, Stables Market, Camden, London.

More support for my accessories line from yet another one of my favourite bands!

2009-02-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Above: Me with Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, after the band's second show at Koko in Camden, London on February 17th, 2009. Below: Matt posing with my fishnet Shoot Love Not Bullets pistol key-chain. This particular key-chain was a custom made Alkaline Trio pistol!

I've designed a new resin pistol shape pendant/necklace and key-chain with the slogan Shoot Love Not Bullets inside. As a gift to one of my favourite bands, Alkaline Trio, who did two awesome shows this week in London, I gave them three unique versions of this particular design with a Valentine's Day theme, and also featuring their own Alkaline Trio skull in heart logo. For obvious copyright reasons, the same designs I gave the guys are not for sale to anyone! I made them just for the band, but the Shoot Love Not Bullets pistol pendant will be on sale soon at the following shop in the famous Stables Market in Camden, London:

Beautiful Freak

Stables Market

Chalk Farm Road,

Camden,

London

(look out for the small unit, with the neon tutus and lots of brightly coloured bows displayed!)

I also have rave and UV glow accessories and jewellery on sale just a few stalls away at Spank!

After the second show at Koko, Alkaline Trio were about to be on their way to Heathrow airport, to catch a very long flight via Los Angeles onto Melbourne, Australia, for the Soundwave festival. After the Australian shows, the band will start working on their next record. Matt told me that this Summer they will be back in the studio! For more information, go to:

www.alkalinetrio.com

The rumours are true - BLINK 182 ARE BACK TOGETHER!

2009-02-09T09:55:00.001-08:00
After years of not speaking, bickering, constant rumours and trying to convince their fans that Blink 182 would never reform, Mark, Travis and Tom have all made-up and decided to get back together. The reunion announcement was made onstage at the 2009 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 8th. The band put past rifts (between Tom DeLonge, who supposedly broke up the band in 2005) behind them after drummer Travis Barker survived an air crash in a private jet in September 2008 that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends.

Above: Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker onstage as +44 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, May 25th 2007. This was one of the shows on the Summer 2007 Honda Civic Tour.
Below: Tom DeLonge before the 2007 Kerrang! Awards, when he was with his other band Angels and Airwaves. A possible Blink 182 reunion has been discussed by the music media and fans since the band's indefinite hiatus in 2005. Mark and Travis formed +44, while Tom worked on Angels and Airwaves, but both bands proved to be less successful than Blink 182.

Looks like a full US tour is on the cards for Summer 2009, followed by a proper worldwide concert tour. This has been long-awaited, so expect shows to sell-out fast. Great news that the guys are working together again after so many speculations.
For more information, the band have created a new up-to-date Blink 182 website, which is currently under construction (at the time I'm writing this). So go here for more info. soon:
http://www.blink182.com/

Toxic Glamour accessories supported by bands and my new neon range being sold in Camden Town

2009-02-06T04:38:00.000-08:00
My Toxic Glamour neon colours UV glow jewellery is now on sale in Camden Town, London at the following store:

SPANK. Unit 31a, The Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, Camden. London.

Above: Fluorescent mini handcuffs necklaces Below: Safety pins and neon beads pistol pendant
Below: Assorted neon colours rock 'n' roll inspired earrings
My jewellery and accessories range is being supported by various band members I meet after shows, here are Paul DiGiovanni and Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls pictured with a couple of my creations:
Paul DiGiovanni, guitarist with Boys Like Girls with glow-in-the-dark stud skull key-chain
Boys Like Girls lead vocalist Martin Johnson with "star stud in resin bubble" pendant.

For more information on where you can buy these designs, please go to my Toxic Glamour MySpace page where all these items are pictured close-up -

www.myspace.com/toxicglamourdesigns

Metro Station and Boys Like Girls in London and Portsmouth

2009-02-01T10:49:00.000-08:00
Boys Like Girls and Metro Station rounded off their UK tour on the South Coast of England last night, with energetic performances at the Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms.

Above: Metro Station vocalist Mason Musso taking a break before the Portsmouth show.

Paul DiGiovanni and Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls at the Electric Ballroom in London

I managed to get to see both bands at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London on Thursday January 29th, 2009 and again two days later at the smaller and more intimate surroundings of the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth. It was Boys Like Girls final tour, before returning home to Boston and preparing to record their follow-up album to debut self-titled album Boys Like Girls. The band were supported by their old friends Metro Station, who toured with them in the US and Canada last Summer on the Soundtrack of Your Summer tour, and newcomers Every Avenue.

For live captures from London and Portsmouth, go to my YouTube page. Live shots from both shows will soon be uploaded onto www.virtualfestivals.com and onto my MySpace photo page.

My lack of reports and photos from shows recently means lack of finances! Hopefully things will get better and this freezing damn cold British weather will go away!

Farewell to The Astoria

2009-01-16T10:29:00.001-08:00

The Astoria in central London was one of my favourites venues in London and I have so many great memories of seeing different bands there, but finally, after loads of rumours and new reports, the final show was this past Wednesday night on January 14th. The Astoria will be torn down, along with the shops next to it, within the next few weeks to make way for the new Cross Rail train station that will be built on that plot of land. Oh yes, a sad week it has been for all of us who have enjoyed many live performances at The Astoria. The question is now, will they actually be building another new venue within the same area like people have been saying...? because now The Astoria is no more, the central area of London (known as "the West End") is seriously lacking in good size music venues. The nearest venues to central London that still remain are Brixton Academy (a lot bigger capacity), Islington Academy, Shepherd's Bush Empire and a few good venues around Camden Town in North London like The Roundhouse, Electric Ballroom and Koko.

Keeping live music alive in these harsh economic times is so important, especially now so many record stores are also closing down. Record stores chain Zavvi is facing administration and lots of stores have closed, or are in the process of closing down. It's rather depressing that these things are happening, but the longer we music fans buy tickets to watch our favourite bands, then the longer the venues will stay up and running and the bands will still continue touring.

Simple Plan round-off their second European tour of 2008 with emotional and exciting London show

2008-12-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Above: Watch the video of Simple Plan bassist David Desrosiers speaking out about his sister and why he could not attend the instore signings and fan club soundchecks. The rest of the 8 videos I took at the show in London can be seen on my YouTube page.
Simple Plan treated fans to an explosive, but somewhat emotional finale to their successful European tour last Saturday, November 29th at the Forum in Kentish Town. I had a photo pass for this show, so I got plenty of close-up shots of the band. This was the last tour of Europe for the band in a long time, as the guys said that they intend to work hard in 2009 on the follow up to the self-titled Simple Plan album they released in February 2008.
I had a by chance encounter with David Desrosiers at Glasgow airport the day after their show at Glasgow Academy on November 27th and the poor guy wasn't happy at all, explaining that he was going through a personal family crisis, having just found out his older sister was sick and did not feel like being on tour at that moment. I fully understood and sympathised with him, as it's hard when you're in a band and away from home for most of the year and can't exactly cancel plans at the last minute.
The London show at The Forum was the final show of Simple Plan's second European tour this year and David grabbed the mic and spoke out about the reason why he was abscent from the band's instore signings in Birmingham and London just before the performance of Save You, which is the song lead singer Pierre Bouvier wrote about his brother Jay who survived lymphoma cancer. As well as speaking out about the personal drama, David ended up handing over one of his expensive basses to a very lucky fan who was in the front row! The guy who received the free bass was actually somebody I chatted to before the show outside the venue and he mentioned he played bass and had his own band, so he deserved it!
Fans praised David for letting out his feelings and he felt much better later on when I spoke to him after the show. He also made an effort to make it up to fans who didn't get their cds and anything else signed by him at the signing at Zavvi record store.
Videos can be watched on here:
www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia
All photos of Simple Plan I take are uploaded onto these websites:
http://www.simpleplanonline.de/
http://www.simpleplan.cz/
Photos from the Glasgow show as well as from London can be seen in the galleries.
David did not travel from Paris to Tel Aviv for the show there on Tuesday December 2nd, he remained in Paris with his family. Pierre did mention the reason why David was not there onstage in Tel Aviv. A video of it can be seen on the websites above.

Viva Espania!

2008-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00
I've just returned from a few days in Spain, but not sunny Spain at this time of year, unfortunately. First time in Barcelona and Bilbao and as well as making the most of the time I had to see the best parts of town, I saw Simple Plan and Co. again at their two stops in Spain. Last time I saw the band in the same country was in Madrid for the Under 18 festival back in July. I went to the main tourist area and took some photos of the amazing views on the mountain where there is an art gallery, escalators going up and down and cafes. I can't even remember what it's called, but it was a good, interesting walk and the fountains at night are great to watch.

Again, as always, I managed to get some good photos of Simple Plan at the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona and at the smaller venue they played in Bilbao, the Rock Star Live club. The Bilbao venue was actually changed at the last minute. It was originally supposed to be at the Pabellon de la Castilla, just five minutes from my hotel, but no such luck! I had to spend a lot more money this time on cabs, a last minute flight to Bilbao (as it was a lot further away by train than I'd thought!) and I just got there in time to catch Simple Plan walk onstage at Rock Star Live! The damn hotel in Bilbao failed to give me a wake-up call this morning and I almost missed my flight back to London!

It was all worth the hassles, though! See all my live photos from Barcelona and Bilbao within the next week on the usual Simple Plan websites.

First trip to Poland

2008-11-13T11:14:00.000-08:00
Below: View of Warsaw from my room window on the 41st floor of the Intercontinental hotel

Simple Plan bass player David Desrosiers after the concert in Warsaw

Below: Ali Tabatabee from California rockers Zebrahead who toured Europe with Simple Plan

Below: Andrew Shay, bass player with Welsh band Kids In Glass Houses

I went to Poland for the first time last weekend, mainly to see Simple Plan perform at Stodola, a venue just outside the city centre. Stayed in a fantastic hotel, the Intercontinental, which boasts the highest leisure club in Warsaw and it was rather nice swimming in the pool on the 43rd floor and seeing spectacular views of Warsaw!

Simple Plan took Welsh band Kids In Glass Houses and California's Zebrahead with them on this European tour. Great choice of support, all bands were brilliant in Warsaw and the Polish fans had been really excited about this show since it was announced. Poland is still a country that often gets let out of major bands' tour schedules, even though more bands are now doing shows in Eastern Europe than ever before.

See the whole set of photos from Stodola in Warsaw here:

http://www.simpleplanonline.de/

AND (with support band shots)

http://www.virtualfestivals.com/

Halloween with Funeral For a Friend, Cancer Bats and Co.

2008-11-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

A pair of friends dressed-up as the couple featured in the artwork for Funeral For A Friend's 2003 album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation and got the chance to be onstage with the band! Great idea for a Halloween costume!

Energetic hardcore Canadians Cancer Bats are one of the hardest bands to ever get good photos of, because they are always moving around. Vocalist Liam Cormier did his usual thing and crowd surfed while performing. The band looked like members of a voodoo tribe!

It was Halloween last night, and although nothing can beat the annual West Hollywood Halloween parade which I've been to several times over the years, I made the most of it by seeing Funeral For a Friend, Cancer Bats, In Case of Fire and Attack! Attack! at Portsmouth Pyramids. The British weather is getting freezing and last night was a clear example of it! It was relief to get inside the venue and sweat it out in the audience!
Cancer Bats were just as mad as they were when I last saw them on the Radio One Lock-Up stage at the Reading festival. Total onstage chaos and body make-up that made lead singer Liam Cormier resemble some kind of voodoo tribe member ( who'd been dragged through some bushes by the end of the set, because he crowd surfed! ). Funeral For a Friend were stunned when bass player Gareth Davies quite the band during late Summer, due to the ongoing stresses of living in Las Vegas, when the rest of the band remained in the UK. The constant travelling became too much and Gareth was quickly replaced by new bassist Gavin Burrough. Luckily, Gavin fits into the band brilliantly.
Hard to believe that it's been five years since Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation came out and gained the band huge success. Now, almost exactly five years later, the fifth album Memory and Humanity is out.

To view the whole set of photos from the show, go to:

www.virtualfestivals.com

Go to Member Galleries and SophieRockshots.

Even more Fall Out Boy - in Amsterdam!

2008-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00
Below: I actually went along to the meet and greet with selected lucky fans before the show in Amsterdam and all I had to take along for the band to get signed was my hotel keycard! I realized I'd given out all the photo prints I had to everyone else! ( I hid the name of the hotel in this pic, basically because Fall Out Boy were also staying there!)

A fan from the audience threw a mask onstage and Pete wore it for part of the show! He also returned to the stage for the encore wearing it.

How could I not want to return to Amsterdam for a show after having had such a great time seeing Velvet Revolver do their final show with Scott Weiland there back in April...?! It's one of my favourite cities and a very rock 'n' roll kind of place. As soon as Fall Out Boy announced the date at one of my favourite European venues, The Melkweg, I booked the flight and hotel.

I've always loved Amsterdam and have family in the Netherlands (my grandmother is Dutch), so whenever I'm back living in England I try and go back about twice a year. Two of my cousins moved to Amsterdam recently, so I met up with them for drinks the evening before Fall Out Boy played their last show of their short European tour at The Melkweg.

The Melkweg ( The Milky Way ) is a converted dairy and small concert venue in the centre of Amsterdam, right in the tourist friendly Leidesplein area of the city. There are two small concert halls within the venue, a club size capacity room and a much larger room where bigger bands play, but compared to the huge arenas Fall Out Boy played in the UK, seeing them perform at this small venue was a treat.

The full set of photos I took at the show will be on here:

http://www.falloutboyrock.com/

Go to the PHOTOS area and to FAN PHOTOS.

Fall Out Boy and Boys Like Girls at Glasgow SECC in Scotland

2008-10-23T06:32:00.001-07:00
Stage backdrops for Fall Out Boy and Boys Like Girls.

Boys Like Girls lead vocalist Martin Johnson.

Martin Johnson and Bryan Donahue from Boys Like Girls onstage at Glasgow SECC.

Pete Wentz and Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy onstage at Glasgow SECC. I love this shot, because Pete's shadow made it look cool!

Just how many more different hoodie designs can Pete come up with for the Clandestine clothing line? He seems to wear at least two or three new designs on every tour.

Pete, probably making a point that the new Fall Out Boy album Folie a Deux is out on December 16th, 2008!

Lion man! Believe it or not, it really is guitarist Joe Trohman hiding underneath all that hair!

Above: Bryan Donahue and John Keefe from Boys Like Girls onstage at Glasgow SECC.

Below: Vocalist Martin Johnson and bass player Bryan Donahue.

For video captures from this show, go to the YouTube page here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

Fall Out Boy hadn't done any shows in the UK since the Reading and Leeds festivals in August 2007, so how could I possibly miss out on seeing one of my favourites acts while they were in the country...? On Tuesday October 21st, I flew to Glasgow in Scotland to see the second of three arena concerts that Fall Out Boy did while on their short stop in the UK to promote Folie a Deux, the long awaited follow-up to 2007 album Infinity On High.

Funnily enough, Folie a Deux is actually a reference to a psychotic disorder and is translated as "A madness shared by two", could this be anything to do with Pete Wentz's past manic depression and his surprise showbiz wedding to Ashlee Simpson...? Well, whatever it refers to, the new songs from the album have been worth the wait. Buy the album in stores from December 16th.

I e mailed the record label to request a photo pass, but they never even bothered responding, so I had to go with the flow and try my best to get some crap photos from in the crowd. Better than not even going to the show at all, of course! Besides loads of fans complaining that the meet and greet with the band before the show started was way too rushed, the performances from Fall Out Boy and Boys Like Girls were fantastic as always. I bought a new camera at the airport which has got me some quality shots, but the video quality is not as great, so the sound on the live captures I got of Fall Out Boy are rather crap unfortunately, but they're worth watching if you want good close-ups of Pete Wentz doing his usual talking to the audience and the band in action.

This Saturday, I am returning to Amsterdam for the second time this year, where Fall Out Boy will perform at the cosy Melkweg, a club size venue and considerably smaller and a lot better than Glasgow SECC! Hopefully any photos I take at the show will be much better and close-up. Watch this space!

We The Kings, The Academy Is... and Gym Class Heroes in Oxford

2008-09-21T13:14:00.000-07:00
Well, I was a fool and didn't check whether I had a photo pass left for me anyway, despite not receiving the e mail to confirm it, and it was there at the box office waiting for me all along! I know, so annoying, but I still got some snaps anyway. Below: Travis McCoy with fans.

What a waste of a photo pass ! I never even got to use it and get good quality photos because I didn't know it was even there! The same thing happened to me with Bullet For My Valentine in Montreal.
Below: We The Kings vocalist Travis Clark outside Oxford Academy

This weekend, I returned to the place where I used to live in my late teens and first got the taste for music journalism, writing for an Oxford university newspaper music section.

Oxford has changed a lot since I lived there. The main city centre now has a huge Primark store, Starbucks and Coffee Republic weren't around in the mid-1990s and what used to be The Zodiac where I saw lots of bands is now called The Carling Academy. It was a double Decaydance band weekend, with The Academy Is... on Friday night and Gym Class Heroes last night. The most irritating thing that happened on Saturday was not even realizing (until after the show and way too late!) that I was on the guest list all along with a photo pass waiting for me. We never actually received the e mail confirmation that it was all okay. This has now taught me a lesson that I must always ask in future, as that photo pass was sitting waiting for me to collect it and never got used, therefor I got no good live shots of We The Kings or The Academy Is... I did still manage to get some videos of the bands and my friend Gabriella couldn't resist getting photos with all the band members we spoke to after the shows.

A poignant moment was shared during Gym Class Heroes set, when frontman Travis McCoy spoke of a plane crash which happend in the United States the night before, when Travis Barker and his friend Adam Goldstein (a.k.a DJAM) were both badly burned, but four other passengers on the private jet all died. The evening didn't end without incident, as the GCH tourbus draw the attention of two local Oxford cops who decided that "something smelled funny" that was coming from inside while Travis enjoyed a smoke! Luckily, the band were just given a warning and nobody got busted!

To view videos of performances by We The Kings, The Academy Is... and Gym Class Heroes, go here:
www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

New Kids on the Block were back in London last week!

2008-09-15T10:46:00.000-07:00
Boy band nostalgia still seems to be the in thing in music right now. Take That reformed and were bigger and more successful than they were in their 1990s heyday and now everybody seems to be getting in on the act. Boyzone are back together, Backstreet Boys are still at it and there are even talks that *NSYNC are going to reform (well, Lance Bass did say that there was a good chance of it happening in an interview recently).
I never imagined that New Kids on the Block would ever perform together again or let alone go on tour again and release another album, but they proved that wrong! They're BACK!

Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Jonathan and Joey were all in London last week to promote their British tour dates, which will be January and their new album The Block. Funnily enough, I think that the guys all look even better than they did back in 1991, when I saw them live several times at London's Wembley Arena. That year, they did two UK tours. A load of dates in May of that year (when they played 14 shows at London Wembley Arena!!) and then they returned in December 1991. The May 1991 tour was a massive success, with the band being almost held hostage in five star hotels across Europe by frenzied fans who spent the night outside the hotels in their hundreds. However, this was the first group I properly followed around and I wasn't the only fan who noticed the strain and general exhaustion of the members of the group during that December 1991 tour. They had enough by the time they came back to London in 1994 for a brief promotional visit, they snubbed their fans outside the hotel they stayed at and didn't give a shit anymore. It came as no surprise that they split for good soon afterwards. Still, the guys have gained plenty of other success themselves after having been in New Kids. Donnie Walhberg has gained success as an actor as well as his younger brother Mark Walhberg (who was actually an original member of New Kids on the Block!) Jordan Knight has had success as a solo singer and producer, Danny Wood has produced other artists and owns a record label, Joe McIntyre has been a star of the musical theatre, having had several roles on Broadway productions and Jonathan Knight left the music biz altogether to run his own real estate business. All of them have married and have children, apart from Jonathan who is known to be gay, but has never actually admitted to it openly.
New Kids on the Block changed my life. They were the first ever group I went crazy about, even though I was never actually a big fan of some of their cheesiest tunes! I just loved the excitement and their concerts were always energetic, fun entertainment and great to watch. It was something to talk about at school and I was envied by hundreds of other girls all over the country when I got my picture in now defunct UK teen magazine Just Seventeen. Why? because I was just very lucky to have caught the attention of one of Donnie's brothers, Jimbo, who I met during one of the concerts and he told me what hotel the group were staying at, so I went. I lied about my age, of course, just like we all did back then. I said I was 18, but I was still an innocent and shy 15 year-old who skipped school to go to the posh hotel and make an attempt to find Jim Walhberg and hope that he would take me to meet Donnie and the others. I was one of the few lucky ones whose blagging and patience succeeded. I got right into the hotel in front of the hundreds screaming and shouting behind the barriers and from what I remember, less than an hour later I was sitting in a hotel suite with Jordan, Jonathan and some of the crew in the presidential suite. At the time, the whole scenario was like in a dream, but there were several other meetings that came after that. A couple of Smash Hits awards after parties, more encounters in hotels and even jealous threats from other fans. Without New Kids on the Block, I would not be doing what I do today. My clothing designing first came from when I screenprinted homemade New Kids t-shirts in our school art room! The photographing bands in different countries came from the thrill of trying to snap Joey with a disposible camera coming out of a hotel side entrance, or smuggling your cameras into Wembley. This was long before digital cameras, cellphones and the internet, but all of us managed to find out where the guys were staying and what their itineraries were without the current technology there is around now. It was just all about dedication and word of mouth. I may have been into New Kids, who were either loved or hated, but I was also very into Guns 'n' Roses and Nirvana which is more like what I'm still into these days, but the most important thing about following New Kids was meeting so many friends who I still stay in touch with today. We're all excited about meeting up again in January when the guys are back.

New Kids on the Block, Take That, Boyzone and Backstreet Boys have had the second chance and done it right.

So, Justin, Joey, Lance, JC and Chris listen up!

Bring back *NSYNC!!

Kerrang! Awards 2008 winners and photos of arrivals and departures

2008-08-27T12:26:00.000-07:00
Below: Lacuna Coil vocalist Christina Scabbia arrives at the 2008 Kerrang Awards.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich while he was signing autographs for fans before the show.
Rage Against The Machine vocalist Zack De La Rocha signing autographs for fans.
Brian "Synyster Gates" Haner from Avenged Sevenfold and Matt Tuck of Bullet For My Valentine after the Kerrang Awards show (yes, they had already drunk quite a lot by then!)
Zacky and Matt from Avenged Sevenfold after the awards show, looking for an AWOL Johnny!
Below: Slaves to Gravity vocalist Tommy Greeson proudly showing off his K Award for Best British Newcomer.

30 Seconds to Mars members Shannon and Jared Leto and Tomo Millicevic before the show.
James Hetfield from Metallica looking like he was asleep standing up!

Lin Z from Mindless Self Indulgance chatting to fans after the awards show was over.

Slipknot members Corey Taylor (lead vocals) and Jim Root (guitar) arriving.
Alkaline Trio vocalist Matt Skiba outside the venue before the awards show.
Below: Trivium lead singer Matt Heafy talks to fans before the show.

Below: Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto signing autographs for fans outside the venue.

The 2008 Kerrang! Awards was the usual drunken and lively event it has been over the years and as usual, I was there to catch some of the action on camera as everyone arrived and left. Poor Johnny Christ from Avenged Sevenfold left the show before the rest of his band, and collapsed at my feet by the entrance to venue where the event was held, as he walked out! He had to almost be held up by people when he approached patient fans waiting outside! It was quite an amusing scene and I wish I'd captured it on video. Bands who attended this year were Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Bullet For My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold, 30 Seconds To Mars, Funeral For a Friend, Slaves to Gravity, Black Tide, Gallows, Alkaline Trio, Cancer Bats, Mindless Self Indulgence, Elliott Minor, Bring Me the Horizon, Biffy Clyro, Trivium and Cristina Scabbia of Italian metal band Lacuna Coil co-hosted the show. Slipknot were forced to pull-out of their performance at the Reading and Leeds festivals because Joey and Sid both broke their ankles (which came as no surprise!), but Jim Root, Paul Gray and Corey Taylor showed up to pick up their K Award for rock Icons. System of a Down frontman and now solo artist Serj Tankian also made an appearance to present an award and Machinehead frontman Robb Flynn returned to the awards again this year to collect the award for Best Live Band.

The winners were:

Best International Band: 30 Seconds To Mars

Best British Band: Bullet For My Valentine

Best International Newcomer: Black Tide

Best British Newcomer: Slaves To Gravity

Best Rock Video: Coheed & Cambria for Feathers

Best Live Band: Machinehead

Best Album: Avenged Sevenfold for Avenged Sevenfold

Best Single: 30 Seconds To Mars for The Kill

Hall of Fame special award: Rage Against The Machine

Inspiration award: Metallica

Classic Songwriter award: Def Leppard

Rock Icon award: Slipknot

Video captures of some familiar faces arriving at the Kerrang! Awards 2008 can be viewed here:
www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

In a trendy hotel in London the night before the Kerrang! Awards...

2008-08-22T03:30:00.000-07:00
The bar in a trendy West London hotel where I've stayed many times before in the past was packed out on Wednesday August 20th, as almost every band attending the annual Kerrang! Awards and Reading and Leeds festivals arrived in town and made the most of seeing old and new acquaintances and friends from other bands.

On the night before the Kerrang! Awards, Avenged Sevenfold did a headline show at the University of London Union venue and Alkaline Trio played a show at Camden Koko, but all the bands happened to be staying in the same hotel as us and joined in the usual late night bar frolics. Also in attendance were Taking Back Sunday, Bullet For My Valentine and various other known faces.

It's my birthday today and Madonna's birthday. Happy 50th Madge!

2008-08-16T16:27:00.000-07:00
It's my tenth consecutive 21st birthday today! Ha!Ha!Ha! Many happy returns to myself and especially to Madonna who is 50 today. Yes, hard to believe that the queen of pop is half a century already, but lucky for her she can have the help of the best cosmetic surgeons to help her look the way she does now!
Perhaps when I am 50 years old I will also be able to afford a little bit of help with erasing the wrinkles and eye bags, but that's not for a long time yet (thank God!).

Next week is the annual Kerrang! Awards in London and the day after, it's the Reading festival. This year will be my 17th year at the festival, so obviously I am praying for the weather to be good. Photos, videos and reports of what happens next week will be on here the week after, as I won't have any time to update everything until I get home.

I'm still in Montreal, but fly back to London tomorrow evening. It's been a lovely day today and the best day this week, after an usually wet Summer in this part of Canada. The photo uploading from the Soundtrack of Your Summer show is taking me ages, so I am going to wait until Monday to finish uploading everything.

Soundtrack of Your Summer show last night at Metropolis in Montreal

2008-08-15T13:50:00.000-07:00
Oh boy, I'm exhausted today. I went to see several bands last night, on the Soundtrack of Your Summer tour, with Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte, The Maine and Metro Station.

I hadn't seen Boys Like Girls live yet and I was looking forward to seeing Metro Station, who have been talked about a lot in the press, mainly because guitarist and co-vocalist Trace Cyrus is the half brother of Miley Cyrus, star of Disney's hit television series Hannah Montana. Having read very good reviews of their shows, I was excited to see whether they lived up to the hype and after having seen them onstage at Metropolis last night, I know that fans going to the shows on the Simple Plan Canadian tour that starts next week will be in for a treat! As Metro Station are one of the bands supporting on the tour (they actually go straight onto the Simple Plan tour next week).

I last saw Good Charlotte at Brixton Academy in London back in April. Drummer Dean Butterworth told me that the band are going into the studio within the next month to work on their next record and hope to be touring again as soon as they can. He said "sometime around April next year" that they will probably be back touring Europe.

Boston quartet Boys Like Girls have gained a huge fan following recently and their live performance has plenty of audience participation and action along with catchy tunes. I am glad that this lot will be in the UK again soon to support Fall Out Boy.

Boys may like girls, but girls don't like boys - girls like cars and money... ha!ha!

For more information on these bands, go here:

http://www.metrostationmusic.com/

www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls

http://www.goodcharlotte.com/

I have yet to upload all the live shots I got from this show, as there are A LOT of them!
Once all of them are uploaded, they will be featured in the Member Galleries under SophieRockshots here:

http://www.virtualfestivals.com/

There are also some live video captures of the bands mentioned which can be viewed on my YouTube page.

Back in Canada and it's raining, but Bullet For My Valentine were awesome last night!

2008-08-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Montreal, which is where I was exactly this time last year. The only thing is, last Summer it was beautiful sunshine and this year the Quebec Summer has been a disappointment, with rather a lot of storms and non-stop afternoon rain. I really did think I could've spent all day outside after this morning, which was hot and sunny, but no chance!

Last night I went to see the No Fear Tour show at the Metropolis in downtown Montreal, featuring Bullet For My Valentine, supported by Cancer Bats and Bleeding Through. I was such a fool not to check my e mails just before I left, because I actually got a photo pass left for me and never read the e mail from the promoter on time to tell me that the pass would be left for me at the Metropolis box office. Bullet For My Valentine's tour manager kindly got me on the guest list, but this was two hours before the doors even opening and he didn't yet know I was on the list for a photo pass. Situations like this are so annoying. To think that I could've got lots more great live shots of the bands on last night and I missed the opportunity entirely. Still, at least the No Fear Tour comes to the UK soon anyway, with Lacuna Coil also added to the line-up, so I won't miss out on photographing that.

I did manage to get some live video captures of Bullet For My Valentine and some rather amusing shots of Jay James being beseiged by fans by the tour bus after the show. Shame on Matt Tuck for not bothering to come out and get a few things signed and photos with the fans who waited patiently outside afterwards! I hope things work out better for the Soundtrack of Your Summer show at the same venue this coming Thursday, when Good Charlotte, Boys Like Girls and Metro Station are playing.

Six video snippets of Bullet For My Valentine from Montreal can be viewed here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

Lots of new jewellery and accessories made in the last month!

2008-07-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, I've been very busy being arty again in the last few weeks and I'm working on new stock that will be for sale on a market stall called Rumblefish at the Reading festival in England in a couple of weeks during the August bank holiday weekend. Above are a few of the latest creations. I am also selling my designs in the first proper alternative shop in Portsmouth, Hampshire (well, it's in Southsea in fact) and that is Folio. Anyone in the Portsmouth area will have heard of Folio. as it first opened at the same location as it's still in now, back in 1987! Here is their website:

http://www.folio-gothichippy.com/

Photos of some tops I've designed in the last two weeks will be pictured on here soon, but you an view all of them on here:

www.myspace.com/toxicglamourdesigns

Visits to Madrid, Spain and Luxembourg

2008-07-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

I got back from a weekend in Luxembourg yesterday afternoon and have caught a nasty feverish cold, probably from the air conditioning on the small plane I flew back to London on. I rarely ever get sick like this, so it's a real pain, but that's life. The trips away were worth it.

In the last week I have been to Madrid and Luxembourg for shows and to look around the cities which were first time visits for me, so there was loads to do. Madrid is a great city and of course, the weather was hot and sunny which meant I made the most of lounging outside in the sunshine by the swimming pool at the luxury Wellington Hotel, which was just ten minutes walk away from the Palacios De Deportes arena where the Under 18 Festival was last Thursday, July 10th. Several bands performed, but I was there to photograph Panic at the Disco and Simple Plan. Typical that I happened to walk past Pierre. Jeff and Seb from Simple Plan sitting outside a cafe while walking to my hotel from the metro, they had flown into Spain from Montreal and had a rare two days off at home. Later that evening, it was an evening off for the bands and I was at their hotel when Panic at the Disco and Simple Plan all met for the first time. Of course, I'd met all these guys before, but I hadn't spoken to any of Panic at the Disco since August 2007 when they were in London for the annual Kerrang! Awards. David from Simple Plan watched some of the PATD performance from the side of the stage and I was lucky enough to be able to watch from standing in the photo pit for all of the show. It was the first time PATD had ever visited Spain and you could tell that they were enjoying themselves from the brilliant show they did. Brendon's voice sounds better than ever and there was plenty of crowd interaction and talking in between songs.
Just three days before Madrid, I went to see Panic at the Disco at Southampton Guildhall, but didn't have a photo pass, I only managed to get some live captures on video from that show.
I missed the Panic at the Disco press time and meet and greet at the Under 18 Festival which was a let-down, because I was out with a friend having some food, but I did get lots of photos of Simple Plan together backstage. There are a lot of live photos of both bands, too.

The day after I got back from Madrid I flew to Luxembourg for a rare Simple Plan show in a small club venue in Luxembourg city. The venue was only 800 capacity, so everyone got a good view and it was a lot more fun and intimate than any other shows I've seen this year. The band performed a random cover version of the Guns 'n' Roses classic Don't Cry before doing their usual fun made-up song about the city they were performing in (this time it was in French) and it was just brilliant. I managed to get that performance by Pierre on video. Lots of the really dedicated Simple Plan fans I know from England, Holland, Belgium and Germany travelled to see this gig because it was in such a small venue. I'd never been to Luxembourg before, either and walked all over the main old city centre and along the bridges and the views were beautiful.

All the Simple Plan photos and videos will be featured here:

http://www.simpleplanonline.de/

http://www.simpleplan.cz/

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz

All videos from the Panic at the Disco show in Southampton, the Under 18 Festival and Simple Plan in Luxembourg can be viewed on here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

For all the photos from the Under 18 Festival, go here to the Members Area and to SophieRockshots:

http://www.virtualfestivals.com/

I've been experiencing problems with the photo uploader on Virtual Festivals, but it should be resolved soon, as this is the site where all my big concerts and festivals photos go into.

No, I am NOT at Glastonbury this weekend

2008-06-28T13:47:00.000-07:00
All of my friends presumed I would be at the Glastonbury festival this weekend, but I haven't actually been the that festival in eight years and I doubt I will ever bother going again, as I have now discovered that continental Europe festivals are in better locations, have much better line-ups and cost less to attend. Having to wear wellington boots and walk around in mud everywhere doesn't appeal to me and I stuck through all of that at Glastonbury in 1997 and 1998 when it was the worst weather conditions the festival had yet! One clear memory I have of Glastonbury 1998 was watching Robbie Williams on the Pyramid stage in pouring rain with two of my friends. We got so soaked that we had to go back to our hotel, take all our soaking clothes off and dry everything on the heaters in the room! Yes, you see I've always cheated by staying in hotels and never camped, apart from in 1999 I camped out with a friend at a private campsite ten minutes drive from the festival site and barely got any sleep there because it was so damn cold at night and my friend snored, so I dread to think what it's really like camping onsite! I've always been one for my comforts and the thought of camping at any festival sounds like a nightmare, unless it's backstage camping, but that would probably be equally as bad with all the free booze on offer! What a lot of people don't know who have never been to this festival is that it is not even in Glastonbury, it's actually on farmland in a really small little West country English village called Pilton which is about a twenty minute drive from the town of Glastonbury. The nearest train station is in the middle of nowhere and taxis anywhere are hard to come by and expensive. There are about two village shops to get food, unless you want to pay a fortune for overpriced noodles and other crap at the festival, so yes, the four days of being at Glastonbury probably costs the same as it would flying abroad for other big music events like Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring in Germany, Roskilde in Denmark, Benicassim in Spain, Pinkpop in Holland, Pukkelpop in Belgium, Lowlands in Holland and loads more. So many festivals and so many bands. If I won the lotto or any large amount of cash anywhere, I would definitely try and go to as many of these events as I could. A shame that isn't possible to just be able to go now!
I have been disappointed with the acts who play the Glastonbury festival and it came as no surprise that this year was the first year in it's history that the tickets haven't all sold out in record time. Apparently there were still 3,000 tickets still available last week, which is a major disappointment. Just who wants to pay about £150 (almost $300) to see Jay-Z headline an event that is famed for hosting rock legends and the biggest British and American alternative bands around...? Wrong kind of move booking an American hip-hop artist for a traditional hippy style music festival! I wasn't that impressed by some of the other bands on the bill this year or last year. The reason why Glastonbury has lost it's charm is because of stiff competition from the overseas events and the fact that the Download festival is just two weeks before and has better bands playing.

I am quite satisfied with watching any acts I do like on the BBC TV channels. I am watching Amy Whinehouse right now and despite having been in hospital for something (what's new?!) she seems to have managed to entertain everyone well on the Pyramid stage without collapsing or fluffing her singing too much. Her hair couldn't possibly get any bigger that it is now!! The rambling on about her junkie husband Blake was something we could do without. She says he's now out of jail! How long will it be before he's arrested again for another drugs offense? I give it a few weeks. Why the public love this girl so much is easy to see. As I'm watching her performance at Worthy Farm in Pilton on the television right now, she is singing Rehab and singing it as she's going around shaking hands with all the fans in the front row who have probably been standing there in front of the barrier in that crush for hours. She is making a real effort to put the critics to rest here. Good for her.
Leaving out the bad press and totally disfunctional lifestyle, she is a unique talent and there is no other female singer anything like her. Eccentric ex-junkie, boozer, whatever, I'm one of many people hoping that Amy Whinehouse puts her troubles behind her and will be around for a long time.

A random shocker from Jay-Z as he came onto the Pyramid stage, he opened his set with his own version of the Oasis hit Wonderwall! Who would've ever thought an American rap star would perform a cover of a famous British pop song and Glastonbury favourite...?!

My favourite Rock Im Park photos

2008-06-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

Just some of the best shots I took of bands and scenes at Rock Im Park last weekend. I'm giving Download at Donnington Park a miss, too expensive hotels and too much of a pain in the ass to get to from Surrey! Next festival I'm going to isn't exactly a festival, but an indoor arena show in Madrid, Spain, called Under 18 Festival with Panic at the Disco and Simple Plan. Then it's back to the Uk for Reading in August. Several good side shows are happening around the festivals in the next two months, Panic at the Disco have just announced a couple of UK shows which I'll be at, so hopefully I will be able to get some pictures from these upcoming shows.

The full set of Rock Im Park photos can be seen here:

www.virtualfestivals.com

Rock Im Park in Germany last weekend was a blast!

2008-06-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

I returned home from Nurgemburg in Germany last night, after a fantastic weekend at Rock Im Park. Apart from a thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon that got me so soaked that I left in a shuttle to the hotel and had to totally strip off and get dry, then needed a couple of hours to wait for the rain to stop to get back to the festival site, it was a great weekend!
I only had a photo pass for the Alternastage and Clubstage, but the bands on the Alternastage were actually the main acts I really wanted to see above any of the bands on the Centerstage. So it worked really well in the end, although I have to say that Metallica on Sunday night were as awesome as ever and thank God it didn't rain during their set like it did during Rage Against The Machine the night before! I got lots of good close-up shots of Bullet For My Valentine, HIM. The Verve, Manic Street Preachers, The Fratellis and Paramore and some scene captures of the event.

For all the best live photos and some of the sights and scenes, the photos were taken specifically for the Virtual Festivals website, go here to see the photos:

http://www.virtualfestivals.com/

A taste of Canadian music in Japan! Montreal bands Simple Plan and Your Favourite Enemies in Osaka

2008-05-28T02:29:00.000-07:00

I'm now proud to say that I have seen Canadian band Simple Plan in four different continents over the last three years. That's nothing compared to their biggest fan, Gary Greenbaum, an American guy I know who has actually seen them in six continents (this includes both North and South America), because he's seen them in Brazil where they are huge and get mobbed at airports! Check out some of the crazy videos taken by their Brazilian fans on YouTube and you will realize it's true!

The show at Hatch was more packed that it was for Bullet For My Valentine a few days before and even the balcony was all full up. It was a sold-out concert and I was the only photographer yet again! Now I know it's worth getting photo passes for shows in Osaka, because there is hardly any music press here compared to in Tokyo. Support band was Your Favourite Enemies, who are also from Montreal, so there was a big French-Canadian vibe going. Simple Plan made jokes onstage about "washlets", which are Japanese toliets, and have built-in automatic bidets. Nothing like anywhere else in the world. I got this part of the show on video and you can view it on my YouTube page, along with a few more snippets from the show.

As everyone in bands does when staying in Osaka, the guys in Simple Plan all came to Rock Rock after their show on May 26th and partied on until late, apart from bass player David "Diva" Desrosiers who was AWOL for all three days the band were in town and nobody had a clue where the hell he went to, apart from knowing that he went to bed right after they returned from the venue and let-down a lot of his Japanese fans who waited at Rock Rock patiently for him to appear. Shame on you, David! All those poor Osaka fans are now missing an autograph on their Simple Plan CDs. The Osaka show was the first date of the Japan tour and the band took the famous bullet train to Tokyo the next day for two shows in the capital city.

Next time I see these guys will be in Germany in less than two weeks for Rock Im Park, just like with Bullet For My Valentine. Simple Plan perform on the Friday, June 6th, then go onto another festival in Sweden, followed by Rock Am Ring.

More info here: www.myspace.com/simpleplan

Live photos of Bullet For My Valentine at Namba Hatch

2008-05-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the best live shots I took of the Osaka show. Check out the video captures at:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

are a couple of videos I got of a Japanese fan from the audience being invited onstage to sing along to "Hand of Blood", but because of the language barrier, it was more like roaring down the mic and just a bit of screamo fun than "singing" and replacing Jason James' backing vocals!

It was a good show, though and a totally different kind of audience to what I'm used to. First time I've ever felt out of place at a rock concert, as the audience were all Japanese. I think this was the only time I've ever been asked more than several times whether I was touring with the band, and only about the 4th or 5th occasion within ten years that I've been the only photographer in the pit and that was fucking great! I got to the venue at 7.50pm, just in time, as Bullet For My Valentine were on at 8.00pm, which is early by headline band standards. Any later and I would have missed my photo opportunity and that would have sucked! Everywhere else I've been to, wherever in the world, it's usually 9.00pm for the headline band.
After the show, everyone (well, almost everyone, even the whole of the front row of fans who were at Hatch) went onto Rock Rock to hang out and the band signed cds, took photos and did the usual rounds for every one of their admirers who came to the bar. No sign of Matt Tuck, though, unless he made it there much later on, because I was so tired and left by around midnight.

I'll be seeing Bullet For My Valentine again in a couple of weeks, but that will be in Nuremburg in Germany for the Rock Im Park festival. I still haven't heard back from the press people from the festival regarding my pass, so that's another thing to chase up. All the photos I get at this festival, and in fact any festival I attend, will be for the No.1 festivals website and that's here:

http://www.virtualfestivals.com/

Get all the info. photos and news on all the biggest and best Summer music events all over the world there. There is so much going on and I wish I could go to all the events I want to go to, but it costs too much in travelling expenses. I am hoping to really make the most of Rock Im Park, as the bands this year are just as awesome as always. For info. go to:

http://www.rockimpark.de/

The website can also be viewed in English.

I'm turning Japanese, oh yes I'm turning Japanese, I really think so!

2008-05-23T04:07:00.001-07:00

Osaka is great and I've been enjoying every moment here in Japan. The place is full of amazing shops and places to eat and the only let down is not having all the money to get what I want. So far, I've spent the most in the Sanrio Gallery for Hello Kitty things that can't be bought anywhere else but in Japan and I've loved all that kind of thing since I was in pre-school. Then there is Tokyu Hands, the huge lifestyle department store which has all these amazing craft and hardware materials that I've not been able to buy anywhere else. I'll definitely be busy when I get home, making lots of cool accessories to sell on the market at the Download and Reading festivals! I discovered a brilliant merchandise and collectables store called the Rock 'n' Roll Museum, which has separate stands for particular bands and it is very well laid out. There is everything you can get merchandise wise for any band you want in the store and if there isn't an item on display, it can be ordered specially. I got a few photos of the Fueled By Ramen shop, the My Chemical Romance shop and Gimme Shelter, which is all dedicated to the Rolling Stones.

My local hang out here is Rock Rock, just a few minutes walk around the corner from the hotel I'm staying in. Two days ago Bullet For My Valentine were here. I arrived here in the morning on Tuesday, then went to bed for a few hours, then got up and went to Rock Rock. Fuck jet lag!

I met up with guitarist Michael Paget and drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas and a few guys from the Bullet For My Valentine crew and it was good to see Mole again, a tech who I first met almost seven years ago working for Rock City in Nottingham, but now works on tours. Two Japanese fans recognized me from being in photos on various websites with bands and Yoko from Rock Rock pointed me out and said, "I've seen you before..." and she's seen more of me since, because that place really does rock. It's a small bar, but with a great atmosphere and they play the best music from the past and present. The walls are covered with polaroids of all the bands who have partied there and it is literally an A-Z of who's who in rock 'n' roll, everyone who is anyone.

I got a photo pass for the Bullet For My Valentine show at Namba Hatch, I will upload the live photos from that show on here soon. A few video captures from the show are now on the YouTube page, so stay tuned for all the live photos...

Partied over the last two nights and now I'm in need of a good sleep!

2008-05-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past Friday and Saturday night were spent with friends in a trendy West London hotel, while the Give It a Name shows were happening at Earl's Court. I never got a photo pass, because I was told back in March that they were only using one photographer for each Give It a Name show at Earl's Court and at the Sheffield Arena, which was a let-down. I never even bothered going to the concerts. I decided to hang out in the hotel bar Friday and last night and it was absolutely packed with most of the bands performing at Give It a Name.

Spotted in the hotel bar were Alkaline Trio, Paramore, The Audition, My American Heart and most of the crew members and concert production people. Also in town and socialising last night were The Raconteurs, who were bust rehearsing for a show this coming Wednesday at Hammersmith Apollo. Although these days, frontman Jack White doesn't even stay in the same hotel as his bandmates because "he thinks he may get too much attention". At the hotel we were at, I very much doubt anyone would even care about hassling Jack White, considering more famous rock stars than him have actually staying there and been given plenty of privacy.
I am off to Japan in less than 10 days. After being told by so many people how great it is in Osaka, I am more excited. Obviously a lot of the bands we hung out with this past weekend have been to Japan and nobody had anything negative to say about it and they love it, so I am more excited now.

Simple Plan in London and Bristol

2008-04-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Canadian pop/punk band Simple Plan finished their UK tour in Bristol last Monday, April 21st and it was a big success. I only made it to two shows, in London at the Astoria theatre and at Bristol Academy.

It was good to return to Bristol after about three years, because the last time I was there was to meet up with my youngest sister Millie who was a student at Bristol university. I think the last band I saw their was Stone Sour (Corey Taylor and Jim Root from Slipknot's other band).

I brought along two friends who I met from going to see rock concerts here in England since I came back last August and the same old faces from years ago are still around. By coincidence, the very person who I met the first time I ever met Simple Plan back in April 2005, showed up at the Good Charlotte show in Brixton, then as a guest of Simple Plan at the Astoria and that was nice to see her again after about two years. I also decided to stay in the same hotel where I first met the band, which happened to be just 10 minutes walk from the Astoria and came up top of the list for last minute hotel deals on Lastminute.com and that was lucky! It was worth the spending, especially as rooms in that particular hotel are normally at least £200 a night during the week. I am trying to save money right now for the Summer festival season and going on a trip to Japan, but life is too short for negative thinking and I want to enjoy myself while I am still young(ish)! There was a lot of talk about the Astoria being demolished before the end of 2008, which is just awful to think about. Everyone is so pissed off about it all, especially as the venue is the only decent size venue in central London where so many big bands play. Next stop there for me will be Lostprophets in June.

I filmed a series of Simple Plan live captures from the Astoria show and a few from Bristol. Only got a few shit photos, but they are better than none at all.

All live video captures are here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

Good Charlotte at Brixton Academy on Saturday April 12th

2008-04-14T03:26:00.000-07:00
I decided to go to Brixton Academy last Saturday to see Good Charlotte and what a good show it was! The Madden twins have been more focused on in the press for their recent Hollywood relationships with people like Nicole Richie (Joel) and now Benji is coincidentally dating Nicole's friend Paris Hilton!?! but that was all out of the window when I heard their fun hits again like Girls don't like boy, girls like cars and money and I wanna be like you and Lifestyles of the rich and famous, which I think is a pop punk classic. This band are always great fun to watch and make an effort to entertain and talk to the audience in between songs.

Before the doors opened, I was waiting around outside with some fans who I know from having seen other bands and we met actress Mischa Barton who played Marissa in The O.C. She was a friend of the support band, so she was just hanging out and enjoying the show.

Video captures from the Good Charlotte show can be viewed on my YouTube page. I didn't get any photos as there were too many people in front of me and I didn't have time to arrange a photo pass.

I got back yesterday from a crazy few days in Amsterdam and got to see Velvet Revolver's final show with Scott Weiland as vocalist

2008-04-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

I returned from a few days in Amsterdam and had a great time and was very lucky that by coincidence, Velvet Revolver were staying in the same hotel and I finally got to meet Slash and Scott Weiland, who are two of my favourite rock stars of all time! A surreal moment happened when I was by the hotel reception last Monday afternoon and the reception desk in this particular hotel (which I won't name, as many bands are known to stay there) is next to the entrance to the hotel bar and there is a photo of Slash with Duff on the wall in the bar that is clearly visable from when you stand at reception. I looked at that very photo and when I looked back, right behind me was Slash in the flesh and I never usually get starstruck anymore, but at that moment I felt ecstatic!

The rumours about Stone Temple Pilots reforming have been circulating for a while and it's true. Scott's last performance with Velvet Revolver was in Amsterdam and I was so pleased to have been there on Tuesday night. I can't wait to see Stone Temple Pilots again after so long. I actually had an encounter with Scott in our hotel just two hours before the show started and him and his friends asked whether I was going to the show. I then had the opportunity to tell Scott that out of all the live photos I've ever taken of so many bands over the past ten years, he is one of my favourites. When I photographed him onstage at Rock City in Nottingham in August 2001 with Stone Temple Pilots, those photos were some of the best I've ever taken.

I got a few of these crap photos of Velvet Revolver onstage at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, but because I only took my small camera, they aren't the usual professional shots. A shame I never managed to arrange a photo pass for the show. That would have been amazing.

Video captures from the show in Amsterdam can be viewed on here:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

I just watched this show about rock stars' parents on BBC 1 and laughed...

2008-03-18T16:59:00.000-07:00
I just watched this show on UK tv called Help! My kid's a rock star! and what a laugh it was! Typical that one of the parents interviewed was Courtney Love's estranged father Hank Harrison who has made plenty of money from selling his side of the story to various media sources about his wayward daughter. I have to agree with him on the cosmetic surgery he openly admitted Courtney's had over the years!

Anthony Kiedis's hippy dad John Kiedis (a.k.a. "Blackie Dammett") spoke out about how he was cool to set up his only son with one of his sexy LA girlfriends and let him lose his virginity 'at a younger age than his schoolfriends'. Yeah, but I do have to agree that having sex at thirteen is just a little too young! They say like father, like son. Seems like Anthony gets older, but his girlfriends have got much younger. His current partner and mother of his only son, Everly, is a model called Heather Christie who he met when she was just 17 and she is still only 22 and Anthony will be 46 this year!

On another subject, one of my friends checked into a luxury hotel in Manchester last night and was in utter despair when faced with the unfortunate situation that she was sharing the same hotel as Westlife. The worst thing wasn't the fact that Westlife were in the same hotel, but the fact that she was staying in town to see Velvet Revolver and they were staying at another rival hotel in the city centre that is actally less expensive. Shit happens!

Panic at the Disco short acoustic set last night in London

2008-03-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

Last night, I went to HMV on Oxford Street to watch a short acoustic performance by Panic at the Disco. There was also a CD signing for wristband wearers after the show, but I wasn't one of the many people who waited from 6am to get one of those!

I had to take photos from in the crowd and my camera battery was dying out, so I didn't get many good shots, but I got a few okay photos which is better than none at all. I didn't see Jon Walker at all, because this fucking annoying poll was in the way, so I only got pictures of Brendon, Ryan and Spencer. Typical, because Jon has always been my favourite. Probably because every time I've met the band, all of the guys are great, but Jon is very talkative and cool and older than the others. Coincidentally, the Panic at the Disco crew were staying in the same hotel as I was with my friends last night, but I saw no sign of the band, so our guess was that they were elsewhere or were just out.

I hate hearing stories about people getting swindled by eBay and other websites when buying concert tickets

2008-03-15T16:59:00.000-07:00
I heard yesterday that one of my friends paid £60 for a concert ticket to see Velvet Revolver in Leeds and she never received the ticket on time and this kind of thing has really angered me for ages. This is just another typical internet scam that happens to people all the time, but as well know, sold-out concert and other event tickets are bought-out by greedy scalpers (or touts as they are called in the UK) and people desperate to make a profit by selling them to fans online, but a lot of the time the tickets never even arrive on time for the buyer to attend the event they paid to go to in the first place.

Online marketplaces like eBay have increased their security and have been trying to stop fraud the best they can, but these scams still happen and I can't stand hearing about genuine fans of bands being ripped-off by these selfish bastards. Shows only sell-out because so many of the tickets are bought by touts to sell off at a profit on the internet or on the day of the event and it makes me sick.

My best advice is to only buy from reliable ticket agencies and when there is a show that is supposedly sold out that you want to go to, still go to the venue on the day of the show, but be sure to arrive a few hours early and ask any other fans waiting around whether they have a spare ticket before even thinking of handing your cash to one of the touts outside offering to buy or sell any spares. I always find that there are fans waiting around before shows whose friends can't attend and are desperate to sell a spare ticket to somebody who is not just there to make a profit. In the UK, the ticket touts hanging around before the shows even start are almost always the bootleg merchandise sellers you see afterwards and they all work in gangs, so they're best avoided unless there happens to be one of them offering to sell a ticket at face value once the doors open, because once the support bands are on, they're not going to sell the spare tickets for a profit and will be satisfied to get anything back for them.

I just hope my friend gets her £60 paid back if she never received what she paid for, because that it what I call shit customer service and I would be very annoyed if somebody stopped me from seeing Scott, Slash, Duff and Matt live again!

My other links

2008-03-14T13:04:00.000-07:00
I have created another MySpace for the bands photos which is separate to the original MySpace page I had for my clothing, accessories and jewellery designs. It got too confusing, so here are the links:

www.myspace.com/ontheguestlistbiz

www.myspace.com/toxicglamourdesigns

You Tube for videos of live performances and that kind of thing:

www.youtube.com/sophiecalifornia

These are currently the only webpages I have, apart from this and the archives website which is:

http://www.ontheguestlist.net/

There are errors on that site and it was put together by a friend of mine who has been away, so she is corrrecting and updating old info. and try to sort out problems with the photos on there when she gets the time, because some of them are showing as red Xs and we don't know why.
I am going to probably try and continue with that website and change it all when I get any time to do it, as it's a shame to leave it and forget about it. I will have to change a lot of things on there, but it will be worth it.

It's here - my new rock 'n roll blog!

2008-03-14T11:36:00.000-07:00
Yes, this is Brendon Urie of Panic at the Disco. I took this shot just as he was laughing with people outside the venue where the Kerrang! magazine music awards took place in August 2007.

I was supposed to go and see this band live last Monday, but the shit British wet weather was bad enough to put me off stepping foot outside. Luckily the guys are performing live at a record store in central London this Monday. I am going to try and get some decent photos if I can. As it's a weekday, there shouldn't be as many fans around as for normal shows.

Panic at the Disco's new record, Pretty. Odd is out this week. I am not all that impressed with the first single release, Nine in the Afternoon. These guys are incredibly talented musicians and I expected a lot more of the typical Panic at the Disco eccentricity in there. but I guess there is more to come on the album.

OH MY GOD!!!

I've just heard on the BBC news that the London Astoria theatre will not be saved and will be demolished, despite all the protests and and attempts to save the venue, which is my favourite live venue in London and the only good size live venue in central London. Fucking assholes are only interested in building an extra underground station entrance in time for 2012 the Olympic Games.

I honestly couldn't give a shit about the London Olympics and why should one of our best loved (and most popular) music venues be torn down just for an event that lasts for just two weeks out of the year...? I am so disgusted right now. That will leave just the Hammersmith Apollo (which I hate), Shepherd's Bush Empire, Brixton Academy and the small Camden venues as the venues for non-arena shows. I hate Wembley and the O2 Arena, way too big!

It will be a sad day for everyone when that place closes. Rather like when they got rid of CBGBs in New York City. Our legendary venues are disappearing and it's just so sad.