The Pigeon Detectives, The Metros, The Rascals - Islington Academy, London - Tuesday 29th April 2008

After a short break to write and record their new album, the Pigeon Detectives are back, set to release their second album a year (almost) to the day after their first. Early indications are that it will be another cracker, if lead single This Is An Emergency is anything to go by. This gig was put on by MTV2 to film a few bands for TV, and came less than a week before the Pigeons were due to play 2 big sold out gigs in Leeds Millennium Square. When we got into the venue, we were very pleased to find that the upstairs bar was open, anybody was allowed in, and nobody seemed to know it existed - this meant a bar with no queues, and a perch on the balcony to watch all the action.

First band on were The Rascals, who also supported the Pigeon Detectives last time I saw them. Sadly, there was no appearance from Alex Turner this time, but the band seemed to cope OK without him! They came on stage very early, which meant that I (and most others) missed the first few songs, but their set was well received. I'm not sure I quite "get" The Rascals, some of their songs are OK, but others seem distinctly average to me - and the singer occasionally sounds like the singer from The Coral (not a good thing). They are clearly a good band when they play live - they look and sound very exciting - but I'm not quite sure that they have the quality and depth of songs to match. Set closer Is It Too Late is a standout song, but there aren't too many more where that came from.

Next on were The Metros, a band that I'd also seen recently and been a bit disappointed by. This time, they were a million times better than the last time I saw them, helped in large part by decent sound instead of crap sound. They had a devoted band of fans at the front of the crowd, and rattled through a set of 10 or so songs that seemed to be over before you knew it. But they seemed to be another band that put on a great live show, are very good at playing their instruments, but don't seem to have the songs to match. The second song of their set, Last Of The Lookers, plus the final 2 songs, Education Part II and Live A Little were the clear highlights of the set. These are really good songs, but there is little else to match that quality. Their sound is very reminiscent of The Ordinary Boys (and they attract fans who also like them), and to some extent The Holloways, and I suspect they will probably be similarly successful - a popular niche band that don't quite break out to the mainstream.

Maybe the Pigeon Detectives had been watching the football, as they came on stage about 10 minutes after the final whistle. Kicking off with This Is An Emergency, then I Found Out, it was clear that the singer was up for the gig, and also fairly clear that the crowd was a band of enduring devotees, rather than some of the more idiotic fans that have come along lately. There was moshing, there was crowdsurfing, but there didn't seem to be too many fools there.

The set was drawn almost equally from the old and new albums, and the new songs sounded reassuringly and instantly familiar. Maybe that's because the style was not all that different from the older songs, and many of the new songs were "more of the same" from the Pigeon Detectives. However, many were also more complex, more developed, and more mature than anything on their first album. Songs like Making Up Numbers and You Don't Need It were among the best I've ever heard from this band, and are true classics in the making. They will sound great when the band play venues like Alexandra Palace and bigger, as I think this album will mean they can.

The influences in the Pigeon Detectives songs are also clearly growing. The aforementioned You Don't Need It has a riff straight out of a Strokes song, and Nothing To Do With You is the Pigeons equivalent of the Foo Fighters' Big Me, but in their own style of course. And all of this is bound together by probably the best frontman in the country at the moment, Matt Bowman. It occurred to me halfway through the set that the other 4 band members could walk past me in the street, and I wouldn't know who they were - I never look at them during gigs, because you just have to keep watching the singer.

Lets not forget the older songs in this gig too, because Romantic Type, I'm Not Sorry and the rest all sounded fantastic here as well. Releasing so much material in such a short space of time seems to keep everything sounding fresh as well - we are lucky to have 2 bands around at the moment (Arctic Monkeys being the other), who are extremely prolific in their output, and keep the great songs coming and coming. This was a very good gig in itself, but as the first big showcase for the new album, was an extremely exciting taste of things to come - the new album seems to be even better than their debut, and significant fame should now be beckoning.

The Courteeners - Astoria, London - Saturday 26th April 2008

After having seen them several times over the last 9 months, with the band getting bigger, bolder and more popular with every step, I guess you could describe this gig as the one where The Courteeners came of age as a proper popular UK indie band. Having released their album 3 weeks ago, this was the last date of the nationwide tour in support of it, in front of a packed Astoria. A landmark gig for any band on the way up, and the atmosphere was full of anticipation as everybody waited for the band to come on.

The band came on stage very shortly after 8:30, a crazily early time for a Saturday night. Because the Astoria have club nights on after gigs, everything has to happen really early - that meant it was easy to get a good spot, as lots of people hadn't made their way into the main room that early. The band strode on and started off with the familiar Aftershow and Kimberley, followed immediately by a surprisingly early rendition of Acrylic. We then got to hear some of the band's excellent b-sides (one sign of a decent band, and one that Oasis were always very good at), including the first time I had heard the brilliant Smiths Disco live and electric with the full band. A great version of a really good song, and it was going around in my head for the whole day after the gig.

As the gig went on, I got the feeling that The Courteeners really are building a hardcore following of fans. People were shouting every word to every song, and seemed to know all of the words, all of the things that make the live songs different from the recorded versions, and all of Liam Fray's on stage tricks. They sound fantastic live of course, and they really do seem to be building momentum and a fanbase to match. At the end of the last song, What Took You So Long as ever, the audience were singing back the refrain long after the band had departed. It sounded like a football crowd on Charing Cross Road, as lads were singing The Courteeners at the tops of their voices.

This band are definitely becoming something special in terms of the songs they have, what the lyrics seem to mean to people, and how many people are getting into them. They won't be as big as Arctic Monkeys or Oasis, but I can really see them getting into the Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs league of bands - household names, songs sung in pubs up and down the country on Saturday nights, big crowds at festivals, and big headline gigs. I am thinking about retiring gracefully from watching them now, at least until they have a load of new songs - but tonight was a really good show (again) from a band that are just about making it big - and fully deserve to do so.

Setlist: Aftershow / Kimberley / Acrylic / Smiths Disco / Slow Down / Kings Of The New Road / Please Don't / Cavorting / Bide Your Time / Fallowfield Hilbilly / No You Didn't, No You Don't / An Ex Is An Ex For A Reason / Yesterday, Today And Probably Tomorrow / If It Wasn't For Me / Not Nineteen Forever / What Took You So Long.

Work trip to Brussels, Belgium - 21st to 22nd April 2008

There can't be much better than waking up on a Monday morning and having to go to Brussels, surely. Not only do you have the normal Monday blues, made even worse by the hangover from the Camden Crawl, but you have to sit on a Eurostar for a couple of hours, with not much reward at the end of it. Luckily, it was a nice sunny day in Brussels, which can actually look quite attractive when things are like that.

Apparently there was a fish convention on in the city whilst I was there - very strange. This did however mean that there were very few hotel rooms available (I didn't know that many people were interested in fish), so I was forced to stay in a hotel on the very outskirts of the city. If you have any choice in the matter (which I think the person that booked my room did not), avoid the Gosset Hotel at all costs. Right on the edge of town, in an industrial estate, and next to the ring road, it was clean enough - but pretty hellish, and bad value for €200 a night. Very poor!

The only other thing of note that happened in this trip was that I got to see Anderlecht's football ground, which is in the middle of a very nice park. It would be good to go there with Arsenal for a European game by the look of it, maybe for a nice Champions League qualifier in August, when the weather is good over there.

Other than that, this was one of those routine trips, the ones that make work travel a drag - all work and no play, and a tour of some of the lowlights of Brussels into the bargain. It can be a really nice city, but sadly I didn't get to see or do anything good on this trip.

Does It Offend You Yeah?, Sam Isaac, Elle S'Appelle, Los Campesinos! - Camden Crawl Day Two, Various Camden Venues, London - Saturday 19th April 2008

Day Two proper of the Camden Crawl, and after the excitement of last night's headliners at the Enterprise, I went off to Koko to see Los Campesinos! all over again. The queue was huge, and went pretty much all the way around the block when I joined it - helped by the fact that Koko was one of only 2 venues open at the time. When I got in, I was surprised to see the venue pretty packed out, more than I expected to be there.

The band's set was again excellent, it seemed slightly longer than the previous evening, and of course it was played to an audience that has heard significantly less of the band. There were some people moving around towards the front, but for the most part, people just seemed to be curious. The band admitted that they had not expected anywhere that many people to show up - but I thought they won the audience over well. By the time You! Me! Dancing! appeared as the penultimate song of the set, there were significant numbers dancing. Hopefully that gig will be a breakthrough for a band that are nothing short of incredible when you see them live.

After that show, I headed off to the Underworld, where Rockfeedback and Transgressive were putting bands on. I went to see a band called Elle S'Appelle, a band from Liverpool that I'd heard a decent song by on MySpace. The venue was about half full, and although the band seemed to be musically very good, their songs were a bit hit and miss. I stand by the view that their song Little Flame, which is on their MySpace, is excellent, but many of the rest struggled to live up to the same quality I thought. Some were good, but too many were just forgettable - although maybe I'm being totally unfair, and they were just struggling to live up to the Los Campesinos! set that I'd just seen.

Off to the NW1 bar after their set, for the long haul. Some of the queues were getting crazy even at 7:30, so I decided to pick the best looking gig of the night, and stay in one place, avoiding the queues. Walking past the Earl of Camden, the queue for Sam Sparro again looked ridiculous, but NW1 was altogether a bit easier to get into. The first act I saw there was Thecocknbullkid - whose name wouldn't fit in the title of this post - damn Blogger character limit! We had heard them soundchecking in the Cuban Bar the previous day, so knew what to expect. They were a band with a female singer, who were very tight, and had some pretty decent tunes. It isn't the kind of music that I'd generally choose to listen to, but they put on a very good live show, and watching them was a decent enough way to spend 40 minutes or so.

Next up was/were Sam Isaac, a ginger bloke with a band. He/they is/are signed to Another Music = Another Kitchen records, and that is a decent enough endorsement for any band. I was keen on their single Fire Fire, which turned out to be just one of many highlights of their set. They are fairly easy on the ears, and you might expect that they would be able to get both Radio 1 and Radio 2 airplay. Despite the connotations of bands like Air Traffic and Scouting For Girls that this particular statement throws up, I really enjoyed their set. I can imagine getting sick of them if they get played too much, but they were a really good band, with some excellent songs.

Finally for the Camden Crawl 2008, were Does It Offend You, Yeah. Not really my favourite band, and I had even seen them before, but they do have a very lively live show, which I knew would be completely cranky inside a tiny pub like NW1 - hence the choice to go. In that sense, the band completely lived up to expectation, the bass was ear-splittingly loud, and the whole venue was jumping. At one point, the singer waded through the crowd, climbed up on the bar, and started singing from there - and generally throughout the set, all hell seemed to be breaking loose for most of the time. Going to the toilet after the show, and seeing people with broken noses, means you know you have been at a lively gig. As I said when I saw them last time, I would never listen to their recorded stuff I don't think, but they are capable of an amusing live show, and of course the smaller the venue the better.

Fox Cubs, Noah And The Whale, The Boycott Coca Cola Experience - Various Camden Venues, London - Saturday 19th April 2008

After a good time the previous evening at the Camden Crawl, it was back in the area at lunchtime the next day, to take in some of the afternoon "fringe" events that happen around the Crawl. Last year, this involved seeing the Rumble Strips in a pub in the middle of the afternoon, whilst the sun blared in through the window. No such luck this time, as the sun was nowhere to be seen.

First stop of the afternoon was a pub called the Buck's Head, which had been decked out in the theme of a child's birthday party. Throughout the boozer, there were people painting smiley faces on paper plates, blowing balloons, and decorating stuff. It was utterly surreal, and during our stay there, we saw a completely bizarre singer called the Boycott Coca Cola Experience. He had a particularly strange song about gas, which just seemed to have everybody that was actually listening to the words scratching their heads. After about 45 minutes of the kids party, and about 20 minutes of the strange singer, it all became too much (especially with a hangover as well), and I had to get out and go somewhere a bit more "normal".

That place was Bar Vinyl, a nice bar without strange people. Whilst we were there, the excellent Noah and the Whale played. Although a few people at the back were more interested in talking loudly, rather than listening to the brilliant band that was performing in front of them, Noah and the Whale's set went down really well. They only played for about 25 minutes though, which was the only shame. Towards the end of their version of Five Years Time, they went into singing Sweets For My Sweet, which really went down well with the audience. Apparently, the band played five different sets over the 2 days of the Camden Crawl, which I thought was brilliant, and hopefully won them a lot of new fans. They were very well received in this set, which was thoroughly well deserved - a really good band.

A couple of hours after Noah and the Whale, the pisspoor One Night Only were due to be playing Bar Vinyl, which was not fancied by anybody I was with. So, in anticipation of the venue filling up with teenyboppers, we left and went to the good mixer. This was a bit of a mistake, as the pub part of the venue was open to non Camden Crawlers (boo!), so was absolutely packed, and very hot. They did have Soccer Saturday on, just a shame that nobody decent was playing though!

In the Good Mixer, a band called Fox Cubs were playing, who I'd never really heard of before. I thought they were really good though, they played a very upbeat set which contained some very polished indie pop songs. The people that had managed to get into the gig room (which involved a queue I couldn't be bothered to join, especially as you could hear everything perfectly anyway), seemed to be loving every minute of it, and from where I was standing, the band sounded fantastic.

Eventually, though, the venue just became too hot and too packed to stay in for too much longer. We saw a bit of the beginning of Eastern Conference Champions' set, which sounded pretty good and lively, before decamping elsewhere. Elsewhere turned out to be Tommy Flynn's, where a slightly ropey band from Teesside were playing (whose singer sounded like Paul Smith when he spoke). Tommy Flynn's was also nightmarishly busy, and full of non Crawlers, so we escaped from there as quickly as possible, and headed for Koko to start the Crawl properly.

Los Campesinos!, Lovvers, Simone White, Bombay Bicycle Club, Sam Sparro - Camden Crawl Day One, Various Camden Venues, London - Friday 18th April 2008

The first day of the Camden Crawl, an event which proved to be great fun over 2 days last year. This time, the lineup was a little disappointing, with a complete lack of a big lineup announcement a couple of weeks beforehand (last year there was such an announcement, including Ash, Travis and Amy Winehouse). In fact, the organisers weren't very good at communicating much at all, being the owners of one of the least useful and informative websites in the world. But then, if you haven't got many bands to announce, I guess you don't have much to say. The Fratellis were the main headliner on the first day, thankfully diverting 1,000 or so of the less adventurous Crawlers into Koko for the evening.

Anyway, after some quality time in the pub, including watching The Cocknbullkid soundchecking in the Cuban Bar, we braved the queue for the Electric Ballroom, one of the venues that opened up slightly earlier than the others. Most of the Crawl seemed to be in there to see Sam Sparro, who had achieved some chart success in recent weeks, and was apparently also playing his debut UK gig. So, the venue was rammed, although I must admit that most of the Sam Sparro hype had passed me by. He came on stage to a rapturous reception, and played a set that was very well received. But, it wasn't really my cup of tea - he reminded me of Calvin Harris, but not as good, without many decent songs. He also seemed like a bit of a tosser when he spoke in between songs - he will probably be really commercially successful though, so I think we will probably be seeing a lot more of him.

After Sam Sparro finished, there was a virtual stampede out of the venue - which made all of the leavers complete idiots, as they missed the excellent Bombay Bicycle Club. Once again they played a fantastic, high energy set, with loads of really catchy indie pop songs. Along with Cajun Dance Party, they are bringing back classic indie music! I really enjoyed the set, and stood there at several points wondering to myself why they are not getting all of the recognition they deserve - they should be one of the hottest and most popular new bands in the country right now. They keep a fairly low profile by not playing live all that often, but they have the tunes and especially the stage presence to be huge one day - hopefully it will happen, because more people should be into this band.

After the BBC set, I left the Electric Ballroom and headed for the Enterprise. The gig room there is just a tiny room above a pub, in fact where I saw the Belgrave Scandal for the first time. I didn't know when I headed there, that the gig was to be special for a few reasons. When I arrived, a solo folk singer called Simone White was playing - she sounded decent enough, and is actually a bit famous - her song The Beep Beep Song is used in the Audi car advert. The show was good, but obviously very downbeat and quiet, which was not exactly what I was looking for in the middle of an event like the Camden Crawl, especially given the other bands I was watching.

After Simone White left the stage, a band called Lovvers then appeared, introduced by the pub landlord. They were the total and complete opposite of Simone White, being a very rowdy 3-chord punk band, whose singer (who sadly looked like Donny Tourette) spent most of his time in the crowd, or rolling around on stage. Their songs were very fast, very loud, and the audience seemed to be watching bemused as the singer went completely ballistic. Interesting to watch, but their music was not all that good, I have to say.

The reason I went to the Enterprise in the first place was to see the evening's headliners there, the excellent Los Campesinos!. Given that they have 7 members, I was slightly intrigued as to how they would all fit onto the venue's very small stage, but they seemed to just about manage it. They were again introduced by the landlord, and kicked off what was to be an absolutely incredible 45 minutes.

The gig kicked off with one punky pop song after another, and the venue was so rammed full that the entire room was the moshpit. In fact, it was pretty impossible to move anywhere, the room was incredibly hot, and there was beer flying around all over the place. As the songs kept coming and the crowd got more into it, the gig was shaping up to be a really good one. The band sounded amazing live, much better than on their album (which is pretty good itself), and the show was mental. So mental in fact that the floor was bouncing up and down, literally. And I don't mean that it was moving a little bit, it was more like being on a bouncy castle - to the point that you really did think it would collapse if the show kept going the way it was.

So, after about 4 songs, bouncers came on stage to ask people to calm down a bit. One minute into the next song, it was obvious that the plea had had no effect, the floor was still bouncing, and apparently the punters in the pub below were being treated to the sight of plaster cracking off the ceiling. The landlord appeared and explained the problem, the floor was literally going to cave in. The band pleaded with people to calm down. So the audience sat down, in the middle of the floor, and waited for the band to carry on.

This was a pretty surreal sight, being stood against the wall at the back of the room, watching everybody in the venue sitting down on the floor. Obviously there was no space, so people were using literally every available inch. But, the crowd stayed sitting down, and the band played the rest of a very lively punk pop set, with everybody rooted to the floor. Completely counter intuitive, because all Los Campesinos! make you want to do is get up, dance, and go mad. But there we go. At one point, the band all sat down too, to play a couple of songs - and whilst that was happening, a crowd surfer went over the top of the seated crowd.

All in all, this was an incredible and totally unique gig from Los Campesinos! - something you just never expect to see. The songs were fantastic, the band are brilliant live, and it was great to see them in such a tiny venue, with a bunch of people that clearly loved the band so much. This was an absolute privilege to have been at - really one of those gigs I'll remember forever.

Work trip to Rome, Italy - 13th to 15th April 2008

The second trip in a week to the city that used to be the capital of the world (or something), and that used to rule a big part of it. After a 36 hour turnaround back in the UK, I was back at Heathrow Terminal 5, and this time, had the chance to get a better look around. After this experience (and I admit that if they lose your bag, it won't be this good), I can thoroughly recommend the place. You are through security inside 5 minutes, the shopping and eating experience is amazing, and if you are able to use lounges, these are a brilliant place to spend time - better than most offices, I would say. When I go on holiday through here next, I aim to do it properly - hopefully I won't have had a bad experience to sour it by then!

The celebrity spotting continued from the trip last week, Victoria Silvstedt was on the plane out to Rome. I was at the desk next to her at passport control, so the guy checking my passport really wasn't paying much attention, he was much more interested in the person at the desk next to him instead.

Back to the same (expensive) hotel as last time, and this time I got a (free) upgrade to a Rome view. Whilst they are a bit cheeky to try to charge an extra €50-100 for an upgrade, on top of their already very steep room rates, the view was admittedly very impressive. Looking out over the whole city, you could see pretty much all of it, every major landmark, and the place just looked majestic as you stood on the hotel room balcony looking at it. At night, you even got a completely different but equally magical view, seeing the city lights twinkling in front of you - so 2 great views for the price of one! Looking in the wardrobe of my room, the rack rate for the room was €935, so it was lucky there was a decent view really!

I was in a meeting for pretty much all of this trip, so didn't see anything of Rome at all this time. On the way back through the airport, I did spot Lembit Opik and his Cheeky Girl girlfriend - Rome seems to be a pretty popular place with assorted minor celebrities! After the sightseeing trip last week, this is definitely somewhere I'd like to return to in my own time.

Work trip to Rome, Italy - 9th to 11th April 2008

Lots of things seem to be happening repeatedly to me at the moment. After watching 3 games between Arsenal and Liverpool in a week (the less said about that, the better), I immediately embarked on the first of 2 separate trips to Rome, also both within a week. A 4:30am alarm call was not what I really wanted to hear, as it kicked off a very long day of getting to Rome, working, then going out.

The trip did give me my first chance to look at Terminal 5 - although at that hour of the morning, I really wasn't best placed to appreciate it. Arriving on the Heathrow Express, I was through security within 5 minutes, which was a pretty good first impression. The building itself is incredibly spacious (possibly because it is so big), very easy to navigate through, and the fact that it is all very open makes it spectacular. Once airside, the glazed wall that lets you look out over the airfield is fantastic, and I watched the sun rise over London from my gate.

My first impressions of Rome were that it seemed like a very green city, lots of plants and gardens. Of course, parts of the city are absolutely ancient, so have been kept fairly free of modern buildings. The fact that is is built on a number of pretty steep hills also helps, as there is a good deal of land that is not too easy to build on, so it is kept as green land. In many places, lots seems as if it has been the same for many, many years, which of course in some cases it has. Nothing changes too much here - many things about Italy in general are reminiscent of the way that things worked in the 80s, and Rome is no different.

For this trip, I was staying in a 5-star hotel, in a fantastic place, and truly a world class place to stay. However, it epitomised everything I hate about 5 star hotels, in being a total rip off. My room was about 260 Euros per night, for a nice room, but at the end of the day, just a hotel room (and the cheapest available in the hotel at that). That is bad enough, but having paid that amount for your room, being stung at every turn for extras really starts to annoy after a short while. Being asked to pay 8 Euros for a Coke or water from the minibar is ridiculous, and 12 Euros an hour for (not especially fast) broadband is a joke. The biggest slap in the face was that no irons are allowed in rooms (due to "fire regulations", apparently), but of course, the hotel can iron your shirt for you, for 7 Euros per shirt. All a total rip off, and hopefully the market for this kind of thing will soon punish hotels that insist on gouging their customers in such a crude and outrageous way.

My first night in Rome featured a drinks reception at the Musei Capitolini, a magnificent museum that is usually only available privately to state visits - so a real privilege. If you like old stuff, this is the place for you - 3 fantastic buildings arranged around a square, with some incredible collections of art, and Roman artefacts. Many of the rooms in the museum were also decorated with sculptures, and painted walls - it was a real pleasure to walk around such a beautiful building, especially to have so much space to explore it. The icing on the cake was a food and drinks reception on the roof, on a roof terrace overlooking Rome at night. Amazing.

The rest of the trip was a successful one - and I was really pleased to be able to do some sightseeing during my stay. On the way home (which was punctuated by a most unpleasurable trip through security at Rome airport), I was delayed by a couple of hours thanks to BA (fairly typical for a Friday night). However, the tedium was broken a little by seeing Steve Lamacq in the BA lounge and on the plane; and also Alastair Campbell and his partner. Celebrities indeed, Rome is obviously popular with famous people too!

Sightseeing in Rome, Italy - Thursday 10th April 2008

Having been to Rome once before, for a work trip several years ago, where I got to see virtually none of the city, I was determined to do better this time. With 2 separate trips inside a week, I resolved to spend some time wandering around the city, checking off some of the real big hitting sights that Rome has to offer. So, after an early morning start one morning, I was able to nick off work at about 4pm, to hit the city. Sadly, I didn't have room to pack a pair of trainers, so the extensive walking and cobbled streets took their toll on my feet, but there we go.

First stop was (were?) the Spanish Steps, which seemed to be called the Spanish Steps because there were hundreds of Spanish schoolkids sitting on them. In fact, when I got dropped by a cab about 300 yards away, you could see the masses of tourists well before you could actually make out any steps. Getting closer, and as the narrow approach street opened up into a nice square, I got the first breathtaking view of the day. Never mind that the building at the top had scaffolding covering it (as many buildings in Rome seemed to have - they are so old that lots are being repaired at any one time), it was a spectacular sight. Disney make things look like this in their artificial worlds - Rome has hundreds of places that are like a theme park, except they are real, and they are very old indeed.

Not far from the Spanish Steps is the Trevi Fountain, a short(ish) walk through some very narrow streets and squares, avoiding slow moving tourists wherever possible. On reflection, this was probably the best thing I saw all day, if only because of the surprise with which it sneaks up on you as you approach. The fountain itself sits in a pretty small square, and a square that looks fairly unremarkable when you first enter it. So, when you first get there, you are almost preparing for it all to be quite small, and possibly preparing to be underwhelmed. Which makes the view when you get properly into the square all the more amazing. Dominating one whole side of the square is the fountain, with the most spectacular sculptures (and in fact a whole building) on top of it. It is a huge fountain in a tiny square, and it looks incredible because of that, because it dominates the whole place. I had a real "wow" moment when I got in front of the fountain, truly one of the best "old" things I have ever seen.

Some more walking later, and I got to the really old part of Rome - one of several places where there are lots of very very very old ruins. These ruins ran along a main road, but their presence (like many others in the city) broke up the more modern buildings. Whereas London has parks to break up the city, Rome has dozens of sites where old Roman ruins are presented for all to see, and so where there are no modern buildings. This was a particularly good example, but walking around the city, you see many more like it. It is fascinating how well preserved much of it is, and also amazing to think how advanced some of the things that the Roman Empire built 2,000 years ago actually were. Some might say that Italy hasn't advanced all that much since the end of the Roman Empire, in fact!

Next up on my mini circuit was the Colosseum, a precursor to Emirates Stadium of course! This is a very big amphitheatre, much bigger than I had expected, and really made me wonder how the hell people managed to build something so huge and intricate in 70AD - without the aid of anything to make it particularly easy. It was built in 10 years as well - Wembley Stadium took almost that long, 2000 years of technology later! Of course, the Colosseum is probably THE iconic image of Rome, and a very fitting one it is too - it is a very impressive building, even if it is only 3/4 there now.

Finally, I thought that no whistlestop tour of Rome could be complete without at least setting foot in The Vatican - a country within a city of course. So, I jumped on the crowded Metro, jumped off a few stops later, and walked to St Peter's Square. This was the one Rome sight that I had seen before on my previous trip, so it was all quite familiar. Obviously, there were lots of Catholics there, getting rather excited. St Peter's Square is nothing if not huge, and it is very imposing for that reason - standing in the middle of the square, you feel very small, which I guess is probably the idea.

So, between 2 and 3 hours after I had started, my whirlwind tour was over. I had no time to read or learn about much of the history of what I saw - but even in that short a time, I was blown away by the beauty, age and size of some of the attractions I saw. Considering that some were built 2000 years ago, and still have the power to amaze you even now, there are some truly incredible sights in the city. I really want to explore all of this in much more depth, so Rome is definitely now on my "to do" list, when I have more time to do it justice. An amazing city, which is well worth all the hype about it.

Arsenal vs Liverpool - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 5th April 2008

The second game in the trilogy of games against Liverpool, and both teams were resting players in anticipation of the Champions League game on Tuesday. Liverpool left Gerrard and Torres on the bench, and Arsenal kept Hleb and Adebayor there. After the frustration of Wednesday's game, this was an important chance to put things right, and go into Tuesday's Champions League decider in the right frame of mind. Both team's selections made it clear that this was not the highest priority, and that fact helped to set the tone for the game - which was not exactly played at full pelt.

The first half was a pretty turgid affair from Arsenal - the Liverpool second string showing more quality and enthusiasm than the proper players had managed a few days before. Arsenal didn't seem at the races for much of the half, and we seemed in particular to be giving Peter Crouch up front far too much room. Just when it looked like we would get away with getting to half time unscathed, Crouch got onto the end of an absolutely enormous hoof downfield from Reina, and did very well to turn the Arsenal central defence and score. To be fair to him, Crouch had a decent game all in all, but the Arsenal defending again left a lot to be desired for the goal.

In the second half, Arsenal stepped things up significantly more, pushing players forward, and seemingly having woken up after conceding the goal. After about 10 minutes of the second half, Nicolas Bendtner got up well to meet a Fabregas free kick, and scored. It was interesting that, when he ran to the corner flag in celebration, most of the other players just ran back to the halfway line instead of joining him - clearly a well liked player!

For the rest of the half, Arsenal kept the pressure on, but in the end, just couldn't break down the incessant, 10 men behind the ball Liverpool defending. Towards the end, Gerrard, Torres, Hleb and Adebayor all came on, so both teams finished the game stronger than they had started it. The referee wasn't exactly kind to Arsenal - he seemed not to be capable of giving us any decisions, and I wondered in particular what various Liverpool players would have needed to do to Theo Walcott to concede a free kick. Several of them seemed intent on kicking him all over the pitch, and the referee failed to notice or act accordingly.

But, to blame the referee would overlook some of Arsenal's own shortcomings, and the way that Liverpool held up very well in defence. It was another frustrating game to watch, and Liverpool really are a very dull team when they come up against a team that they know are a match for them - they keep it boringly tight, and it is all defence, defence, defence. So, after 3 1-1 draws this season, it all rolls onto Tuesday night at Anfield. It probably won't be a classic game (as Liverpool merely need to keep a clean sheet, we could be in for a snoozefest), but I can't help feeling it would be something of a travesty if such a dull team were to prevail.

Work trip to Bornem, Belgium - 3rd to 4th April 2008

A quick trip to Bornem in Belgium for a day of work. I got a late Eurostar over to Belgium, and thanks to the Tube being useless, ended up making a lovely run through Kings Cross underground station to make the train in time. It was absolutely packed for some reason, I have no idea what seemed to be drawing so many people to Brussels on a Thursday night. A 40 minute cab ride through the streets of Brussels and the Belgian motorway network, and I was in Bornem just in time to collapse in bed.

After my meeting, I took the train back to Brussels on the ever excellent Belgian train network. Being a fairly small country, nowhere is too far from anywhere, and the whole place seems to be very comprehensively covered by railways. Unlike the UK, it is actually a decent and fairly pleasurable way to get around, and stuff generally seems to be reliable - what a novelty. Nothing remotely exciting to report from the trip - just one of those bits of work travel that doesn't really excite, but is a necessary evil.

Arsenal vs Liverpool - Emirates Stadium, London - Wednesday 2nd April 2008

This was the first of three games against Liverpool in the space of 6 days - a home League game sandwiched in between 2 Champions League games. Liverpool being the somewhat boring side that they are, few Gooners were truly excited about the prospect of 270 minutes of Scouse hoofing in a week. Seeing them twice a season is bad enough - three times in a week is far too much! But, at least there would be a chance to look at Fernando Torres at Emirates for the first time, and quite a player he looks too.

Arsenal started pretty well, creating a few decent chances in the opening minutes, which on another day could have gone in. We opened the scoring after about 20 minutes, when a Robin Van Persie cross was met by Adebayor. He seemed to hang in the air for ages, before the ball bounced off his head into the back of the net for 1-0. The celebration was big in the stands and on the pitch, an important goal.

Yet almost as soon as the game had restarted, and certainly before the celebration in the stands had died down, Liverpool were level. A loose ball fell to Steven Gerrard, who was left unattended for a little too long. By the time the Arsenal defence woke up to him, he was in the penalty area, and they were too scared to touch him. A cross from the goal line was turned in by Dirk Kuyt, although at first glance, it looked like it might have been an own goal to me. From high to low inside a couple of minutes, and most annoying that it was a defensive lapse (again) that was responsible for the goal.

From that moment on, Liverpool had got what they wanted - an away goal. The onus was of course on Arsenal to try to score again, and the Scousers put plenty of men behind the ball to try to avoid conceding. Attacking players were replaced with more defensive players, and they held out successfully for the rest of the game. Arsenal had most of the possession, and created all of the chances - but the luck of the last minute winner at Bolton on Saturday seemed to have exhausted luck supplies for the time being. A blatant penalty on Hleb was not given, and Bendtner seemed to clear one of our shots off the line - just one of those days where things didn't happen for us.

All in all, this was one of Arsenal's more frustrating performances, where we had the ball and made (some) chances, but didn't finish them, and allowed a defensive lapse to throw away a lot of good work. The ref's failure to give us a penalty didn't help, but in truth, the squad look to be running on empty in many respects. Cesc Fabregas looked knackered, Hleb was ineffective (unless you count losing the ball and playing numerous poor passes as being effective), and a few others looked like they were running out of legs towards the end. Theo Walcott again looked good, hopefully he will start one of the next few games, preferably in place of Eboue, who has no attacking penetration whatsoever down the right.

Despite the disappointment of this result, I still think we can go and get a result at Anfield. It was hugely encouraging that, one defensive lapse for the goal aside, we defended well - to the extent that Torres was not really in the game at any point. A lot will depend on who scores first at Anfield - if it is Arsenal, it could shut the Kop up, force Liverpool to attack in search of a goal, and possibly help Arsenal win by a couple of goals. If it is Liverpool, expect every man behind the ball, hoofing galore, and the "famous Kop atmosphere" as the Scousers cheer their team to another dull victory, and all the papers write about what great fans they are. For the sake of football, lets hope its the former - Liverpool are not a great side, so I hope that Arsenal can secure next week what their performance tonight deserved.