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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.

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.