Seven Story Down - Forum, Tunbridge Wells - Saturday 30th December 2006

This was an unexpected last gig of the year, at the Forum in Tunbridge Wells. Seven Story Down are a local band, but one that have been making decent strides into the national market - with gigs all around the south of England, and good interest from some fairly big record labels.

When they first came on stage, I was amazed at how young they looked, in particular the singer, who looked like he would struggle to get into the venue as a paying punter! Always a good sign, that a young band are already holding their own, and very encouraging for Tunbridge Wells music, that the kids are writing songs and playing gigs.

Seven Story Down as a band seemed to be well-organised and pretty tight, and had a good few decent songs, many of which would not have looked at all out of place if played by a touring act here. Radio Song in particular seemed to get a great reception from the audience, and in general the band seemed to be carrying the gig off very well indeed.

That was my first time with this particular Tunbridge Wells band, but they seem like one to watch, so I will look out for them in future gigs. I would not be surprised if a record deal isn't far away for them, as they have the songs and performance ability needed to impress a passing record exec.

Watford vs Arsenal - Vicarage Road, Watford - Tuesday 26th December 2006

A very lucky 3 points, this. Following on from the entertaining game against Blackburn just before Christmas, Arsenal struggled in the main against a committed Watford side, who played in a way that would always have given them a chance at getting a result. Arsenal's determination, and ultimately something extra in the skill department, gave us the victory, but to be honest, we didn't look convincing for the 3 points at any time. Encouraging, though, because we have often failed to win games like this.

Gilberto scored the opener, to make him just about the highest Arsenal scorer of the season so far. Amazing how well he seems to be playing, now that he has the added responsibility of the captaincy. He was always occasionally good at headers from corners, or at penalties, but now he seems to be firing in lots of both, with some close-range shots thrown in for good measure as well.

Watford's equaliser was an accident waiting to happen, after some good spells of pressure, and an Arsenal defence that didn't look like it was paying attention the whole time. A good move down the flank, defenders nowhere to be seen, and they were level - Arsenal had had the better of possession, but defensively had deserved what happened to them when Watford scored. For the remainder of the first half, I was getting increasingly amused at a mouthy home fan, who was wearing a shocking green jacket, and was standing up and gesticulating at the away section. Just on half time, he was thrown out, much to the delight of the Arsenal section.

The second half was equally unconvincing from Arsenal - I cannot honestly say that Arsenal convincingly deserved to win the game. But, win it we did - Van Persie got the ball just outside the box, and, in a carbon copy of one of his goals against Blackburn 3 days earlier, left the defender on his arse as he turned onto his left foot, then curled a beautiful shot across the keeper and into the corner.

We didn't deserve it, but you take lucky wins like this when you can get them. On leaving the ground, conversation was about how we must play better, how a better side would have beaten us, and how glad we were that we didn't live in Watford - truly a depressing town.

The Sunshine Underground, The Maccabees - Islington Academy, London - Monday 18th December 2006

This was an O2 Live Session gig, for free, courtesy of XFM. In fact, they seemed to be struggling to give tickets away, as all of my mates that entered the competition, won tickets - and one was even offered more if he wanted them. Strange, because in the Sunshine Underground and the Maccabees, they had 2 of the most exciting up-and-coming bands in the country on the bill.

After an opening act that I only caught the final song from, it was The Maccabees who opened up my evening. I knew their single called Latchmere already, but not much else. They played a fairly short set, but I was very impressed with what I saw - they had very catchy tunes, and a good number of string potential singles in their set. Many of the crowd were obviously more familiar with them than I was, because they were playing to an already-converted audience at the front of the venue. I'll definitely look to see this lot again when I can - I suspect when they support somebody else that I'm going to see.

The Sunshine Underground were the headline act, again, a band that I'd previously heard a couple of songs by, and been impressed. If the Maccabees were "very good", the Sunshine Underground were "great". Pretty much every song sounded instantly good, which is always a great sign when hearing a band and their songs for the first time. The whole set was a huge party, and not knowing the majority of the songs really didn't matter - they were that good. I can honestly say that their set was a total revelation - I can't remember knowing so little of a band's output before going to see them, but emerging so converted in the space of one short set.

I will definitely be looking to see the Sunshine Underground again as soon as possible - but I fear that it may be in a much, much bigger venue than this. The more people they play to, the more they will convert - they will be a very big band by the end of next summer's festivals.

Arsenal vs Portsmouth - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 16th December 2006

Another home game against a team that Arsenal really should be beating if they want to win the League (or even challenge for it, or to challenge for a Champions League place). Despite Portsmouth's resurgence, and great form so far this season, this really should have been 3 points to the home team.

But, like too many home games this season, this was 2 points dropped. A shockingly pedestrian Arsenal display in the first half, coupled with a complete lack of any enthusiasm or atmosphere from the home crowd, and topped off by conceding just before the interval, made me quite close to giving up and going off to the pub at half time. The first half display really was pathetic - no urgency from anybody in particular in the Arsenal team, and strange selection plus an early injury to Ljungberg left us with something of a lightweight attack.

The start of the second half didn't get much better, as Pompey scored again, and the display showed no signs of picking up. Then on 55 minutes, Wenger introduced Adebayor, who has been one of our most impressive players for the last month or so, with more than a few goals to contribute too. Within 4 minutes, he had scored. Within another 10 minutes, we were level, and continued to throw everything at Portsmouth in search of the winner. But then, with 20 minutes or so to go, Arsenal seemed to ease off again, although thankfully not quite all the way back to the disinterested display from the first half.

It was a great comeback, and for 15 minutes, we could have blown any team in the world off the park - the main question is why we were unwilling or unable to do this for the rest of the game, and especially to go out attacking from the beginning. IN previous seasons, we have started well, blown teams away, but won the game after 20 minutes - we need to start doing that again.

Before the game today, I took a walk up to the back of the upper tier, behind the goal - my god that is high up! It was amazing how much the roof slopes down when you are at the back, and also amazing just how far away (both upwards and backwards) you are - this really is a very big stadium.

Finally, a word about the banning of national flags in the new stadium - utterly ridiculous, and yet another example of Arsenal's attempts to completely sanitise the matchday experience. No standing, no swearing, no inflatable mobile phones, certainly no fake photocopied banknotes, and now no national flags. Considering the flag days that Arsenal have held in the past, and how good our European away support looks with all the flags on display, this is another great way to completely kill any spectacle or atmosphere at football.

"We want to be inclusive, and we don't want to offend anybody", they say. Well. they have just offended thousands of people, but of course we are the people that they don't give 2 hoots about. I hope that when Arsenal are playing in a half-full, completely silent stadium, because they have driven all the real fans away, that they look back on this and regret it. Sadly, for one reason or another, I doubt they ever will.

Work trip to Paris, France - 10th to 11th December 2006

Straight after the Chelsea game, it was straight to Waterloo for a Eurostar to Paris - to talk to a group of clients the following day. I arrived quite late on Sunday night, to the usual horrendous taxi queue at Gare du Nord.

After a bad night's sleep, it was up at a horrendously early hour (even worse considering that it was an extra hour earlier than that in the UK), to get to the conference. Held in a nice hotel in a very posh part of Paris, it had all of those small touches that the French do so much better than us.

The highlights of the trip came once the job was done. A cab back to Gare du Nord, which went past the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, through the road tunnel where Princess Diana died, and past the lovely Gare de l'Est building. I have not really seen Paris by road much before, as all of my previous trips have involved the Metro or walking, so this was good to see. After that, a fantastic steak frites for 11 Euros, the kind that in London is just impossible to get - even though it is pretty simple. Then the train home, with a very satisfied stomach.

Chelsea vs Arsenal - Stamford Bridge, London - Sunday 10th December 2006

Arsenal's first game against the greedy, money grabbing little bastard Ashley Cole was long anticipated by Arsenal fans. A chance to give the disloyal fool some abuse, especially after his pathetic attempts to defend himself in his wailing autobiography.

The build-up to the game (off the field) was dominated by the police and both clubs trying to stop Arsenal fans abusing Cole too much - especially with inflatable mobile phones and fake banknotes. Threats of arrest, searches, and numerous warnings to Arsenal fans not to try to get into the ground with photocopied pieces of paper - an utterly ridiculous situation, brought about by somebody's high minded decision that all this was homophobic. But as the Arsenal fans sang during the game "we're not homophobic, we just hate Ashley Cole".

Considering that Sol Campbell and Freddie Ljungberg have been the target of (real, not imagined) homophobic abuse for years, and that Manchester United fans regularly (and in huge numbers) sing "sit down you paedophile" at Arsene Wenger, it really is a bit rich from police, media and authorities to suddenly become interested in this, and to go in heavy on Arsenal fans.

Others are equally annoyed that, after ignoring abuse directed towards Arsenal people for years, all of a sudden people get interested. Coming a month after Robin Van Persie was hit by a coin thrown from the crowd at West Ham (about which nothing further has happened), some photocopies of money really aren't going to hurt anybody. In fact, even in this game, the hundreds of Chelsea fans making aeroplane gestures at our German keeper (despite the fact that the captain of Germany plays for their own team!) was far worse than anything any Arsenal fan got up to.

Inside the ground, the horrible machine that is Chelsea started winding all the away fans up, introducing Ashley Cole as the "greatest left back in the world". At half time, their MC led an old player around the pitch - when Arsenal fans booed, he tutted and said "and THEY talk about US having no class". Despicable club, and when you add their constant haranguing of the referee to the equation, it is easy to see how they are not well liked at all - but then they thrive on being hated.

The game itself seemed to go on forever from where I was sitting, the first half in particular. Cole being booed with every touch, and a pretty decently even first half saw relatively few chances. Chelsea players were in the referee's face for every decision, of course trying to get some advantage later on, and of course on the orders of their disgraceful manager.

With around 20 minutes to go, I had deja vu from the Manchester United away game - a solid enough and determined performance, keeping a clean sheet, followed by a late smash and grab. So, when Flamini scored with about 12 minutes to go, the celebration in the Arsenal end was amongst the most mental I have ever seen at an away game (certainly since Real Madrid in the Bernabeu anyway!)- the whole place went ballistic for a good 2-3 minutes after the ball hit the back of the net.

Unfortunately, Chelsea turned it up so much in the last 10 minutes, that eventually Arsenal were lucky not to lose 3-1. With Wright-Phillips and Robben causing havoc against tired Arsenal players, they created chance after chance. Essien scored with an absolute cracker of a shot with 7 minutes to go - I was sat right behind the path of the ball, and it was one of those that, as soon as it left his foot, you could tell it was flying in.

Several missed Chelsea chances later, and after one astounding miss from Hleb, the final whistle went - for the last 10 minutes, Arsenal were lucky not to have lost, and overall, Chelsea shaded the game, but it could easily have been all 3 points to Arsenal - we were not all that far away. A hugely encouraging performance, especially from players with an average age 6 years less than that of the Chelsea team. If only we could play like that every week at the moment, we would be in much better shape!

Kasabian, Tenacious D, The Kooks, The Feeling, The Automatic, Boy Kill Boy - Brixton Academy, London - Saturday 9th December 2006

The second year in a row at XFM's annual "Winter Wonderland", supporting homeless charity Shelter. Last year, the event over-ran massively, forcing lots of people to leave early for trains home. The wasted time then was mainly filled by XFM DJs that nobody gave a toss about, satisfying their vanity and making spectacles of themselves. At the time, I bemoaned the fact that XFM managed to get so many great bands onto the bill, but just couldn't organise the event properly.

This year, there were even more, and even better bands on the bill. Thankfully, the event also went much more smoothly - less annoying chat on stage from XFM DJs, much shorter gaps between bands, and shorter sets - meaning that we saw Greatest Hits type material, and got less opportunity to become bored with some of the more ropey bands on the bill (but more about The Feeling later).

The first band I saw after getting in were Boy Kill Boy. I'd seen them in May, at around the release of their album, and was underwhelmed by the tameness of it all. Tonight, the sound in the venue was fantastic, and the band seemed to be much better - still very well drilled, but with some added rock and roll spirit again. Their set was quite short, which probably helped to maintain interest, but I enjoyed what I saw.

The Automatic were next on stage, and played all that you would have expected them to play. The majority were there for Monster, and obviously the set flagged a little after that - all the people that only knew that one song seemed to drift off towards the bar once it had been played. Again this set included all of their best songs, and unfortunately the awful cover of Golddigger again. A solid set for the 25 minutes that it lasted, but the upcoming NME tour will not be as easy as this for them.

The following band, The Feeling, were the revelation of the night for me. Having heard their dull music on the radio at great length before, I had no expectation of this being any good at all. But, it was a very mixed story. The band are clearly great musicians, and they rock when they play live. Unfortunately, what they play live are mostly Feeling songs, which are not very good at all - but they squeeze every last drop of quality out on stage. The one non-Feeling song they played was a cover of Video Killed The Radio Star, which was truly excellent. A great live band, which I was not expecting, its just a shame that the songs they write are so boring and average.

The original headliner for this gig, before Kasabian were announced, were to be The Kooks, so lots of the audience were there to see them - which meant lots of females. They played a fantastic set throughout, and reminded me of just how good some of their songs are. Having seen them acoustically a few weeks ago (and electric in a small venue at the start of the year), the electric version this time was a million times better. They sounded polished, but managed to sound raw and exciting at the same time. No new songs this time, but having heard some of those at the acoustic gig, I now can't wait to hear how good they'll sound plugged in.

Before Kasabian came on, we were treated to a brief cameo from Tenacious D, who came and played a couple of songs from their new film, plus the classics Fuck Her Gently and Tribute. This was amusing, but 4 songs were probably the most they could have got away with without boring people!

So then Kasabian arrived, to bring the night to what the NME described as a spectacular climax. Playing a 9-song set drawn mostly from their new album, they brought the house down. I last saw them live over a year ago, they were incredible then, and they seem to be getting even better now. Possibly a surprise, but the fact that they have sold out Earl's Court means that they are now a truly big-league band - their fans, and the level of support they enjoy, means that they are fitting pretenders to the "biggest band in Britain" title that Oasis have held for years.

Closing the set with amazing versions of Club Foot and LSF, the entire crowd left the venue singing LSF's chorus. A massive performance from a band that are becoming massive themselves - they just keep getting bigger and better.

Bromheads Jacket - ULU, London - Thursday 7th December 2006

I last saw Bromheads Jacket back in January, and was inspired enough to have wanted to see them again ever since. However, not being terribly well known, it was difficult to persuade anybody to come along with me - especially those that had to get into London from elsewhere. I therefore went to a leaving do at work, got drunk, then grabbed a mate from work and dragged him up to the gig - we arrived about 5 minutes before Bromheads Jacket came on stage.

The band were as exciting as I rememeber them, the guitars sounded fantastically scuzzy throughout, and the singer's position, bending down and hunched over a microphone that was deliberately too low, made everything seem that bit more spontaneous. They spent around 45 minutes rattling through most of their excellent debut album, showcasing some of the quieter, slower, more poetic songs, as well as the rowdy punk rock tear-ups.

The venue was not full for this show, but those there were getting involved - a good sized moshpit, joined on at least a couple of occasions by the Bromheads Jacket singer - always a good thing to see. Bromheads Jacket seem to have stalled the growth of their popularity lately, this is a shame, and a few more people should get out to see them - the guitar sound is something very special - they rock!

The View, Little Man Tate, Underground Heroes - Astoria, London - Monday 4th December 2006

Less than a week before this gig came the extremely pleasant surprise that Little Man Tate were going to be the support band - so possibly my 2 favorite new(ish) bands playing on the same night. I love it when stuff like that happens by accident! This was a crowd full of music lovers, with the gig sold out a long time ago, and The View having made considerable progress towards rock stardom since then. It began by entering the venue, and bumping straight into the "Wasted Little DJs", 2 rather annoying girls that are going out with members of The View.

First band of the night were Underground Heroes, who I had had the pleasure of seeing support The View before, at Tunbridge Wells Forum. I liked them then, have listened to a few of the tracks on their MySpace site since, and really liked them this evening. They mix parts of the Ordinary Boys, Arctic Monkeys, and Libertines, into a sound which is great for getting drunk and having a good time at a show. Seeing them live is really the only way to do them justice, because they sound like a band far more capable than their current position in the world of music suggests.

In a venue that was starting to get sweaty, next up were Little Man Tate. A huge bonus to have them on the bill, because I would have paid to see them headline, they played a set that was shorter and less intense than I had seen from them before - mainly, I guess, because they were playing to an audience that needed some winning over. So, the set was heavy on singles both past and future, and they acquitted themselves pretty well. A very different set to the triumphant, drunken headline sets that I have seen before, but a good one nonetheless. Not sure how many View fans they won over, but I enjoyed it!

Finally, The View. I have said a few times that this band are great, and should go far - and I will say it again. Following up a mammoth schedule of support slots, this was a different set - more songs, some new songs, slower songs, more interaction with the crowd. There must be a dozen or so tunes which, if included on their debut album in January, will help to make it one of the most exciting debuts for a long while.

The set was carried off with confidence, assurance, and with something to spare. The audience was very up for the gig, so the moshpit for Wasted Little DJs extended pretty much through the whole venue. There was beer flying everywhere, and all this at just about 9:30 on a Monday night. As the set drew to its close, with Posh Boys, new single Same Jeans, and Superstar Tradesman, the whole venue was going completely mad.

And with good reason, because this really was a fantastic performance, from what must be the most exciting new band in the country right now. Oasis started it, The Libertines were leading lights, Arctic Monkeys excited everybody. The View belong in this company - fantastic band, great quality and range of tunes, and awesome live. A "must see" band.

Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 2nd December 2006

Spurs' annual trip to play Arsenal, and a renewed opportunity for their idiot fans to try and wreak havoc and destruction in the away end, and as much of the rest of N5 as they are allowed near. A usual trick for away fans at this game is to turn all the taps on in the toilets, then block the plugholes - football hooliganism at its truly most pathetic. Of course, they have significantly more mouth than trousers, so it was no surprise to see a complete absence of Spurs fans in the streets around the ground before kick off.

No Thierry Henry today, which was a blow, especially given the obvious need for a good result. After 2 away defeats, it was important to win today - but the added imperative not to lose to Spurs, and not to allow them to become the first team to beat us in our new ground, meant that a result was vital. Never mind, Rosicky was there for his first North London Derby, and Adebayor has proved that he can be enough of a nuisance to cause problems for an average team like Spurs.

As it turned out, Spurs team didn't really put up any kind of fight - they seemed to roll over and accept their fate - which was very strange for a derby match. Their performance was poor throughout, Jens Lehmann had virtually nothing to do all game, and they actually contrived to make a fairly average Arsenal performance look flattering.

Given all this, it was very slightly disappointing that all 3 Arsenal goals were in some way "controversial", giving both Spurs fans and the massed ranks of the media an opportunity to claim that it was all unfair, and generally detract from Arsenal's victory. Adebayor may have been a couple of inches offside for the first goal; and the last 2 goals were both from penalties, the validity of which could be argued over forever and a day. So, many people claiming that the referee (and Graham Poll does have a good track record of doing this), decided the game.

What this one-eyed, anti-Arsenal viewpoint does fail to take into account, is that Arsenal fans thought he had a shocker too. Spurs could have had 3 or 4 players sent off, and should have been in double figures for yellow cards. The fouls that Poll let them get away with were shocking, right from the word go, and their left back was extremely lucky not to have been sent off before he was eventually substituted at half time. Despite letting so many Spurs fouls go, Poll also continually interrupted the game at the wrong times with constant fussy whistling - a very frustrating referee for a big game. The photo here shows Spurs players arguing over one of the few decisions that didn't go their way, amongst a sea of leniency towards their fouling.

As is often the case, the Guardian/Observer review managed to pitch itself a step above the tabloid rubbish, most of which claimed that Graham Poll somehow cheated Spurs and their fans. Absolute rubbish - Spurs cheated their fans by playing so poorly throughout. Three decisions helped Arsenal get what they deserved, but a great many others did not. Which meant that it was great to see the perennial "leaving early" problem in our new stadium, confined exclusively to the away end, - which was half empty with 5 minutes of play left!

The Shakes - Water Rats Theatre, London - Friday 1st December 2006

A Friday night at the Water Rats, in London's salubrious Kings Cross, to see a friend of a friend's band. The Water Rats is known of course for being the venue for the first ever Oasis London gig, so no pressure to live up to anything there! The band, The Shakes, have been signed to Tough Cookie records for a little while now, and have even managed to get a couple of promising-sounding singles out there.

I arrived at the venue pretty late, so missed all of the support acts, but did at least have time to get to the bar for a quick pint, before heading through to the back room. A great venue, with a lower floor, and a raised back part, so that both tall and short people alike can all see.

The Shakes came on stage just after 10pm, and seemed to be getting an instantly great reception from a good sized hardcore of fans. A four-piece band, they play good old jangly indie pop songs, which sounded comfortingly familiar, but nicely fresh at the same time. The atmosphere was one of jubilation, almost like a party, attended by people that had clearly been following this band for a while.

As a newcomer, I was impressed enough to look out for them as they continue to build their fanbase. They sounded good enough, not terribly exciting, but a pretty decent band nonetheless. Probably more at the Keane end of the spectrum than at the Libertines end - but nowhere near as bad as Keane! I'll definitely go to see them again if I'm at a loose end and they are nearby.