Back in February 2009 I took Bean counter to Paris to see ACDC at the Bercy stadium. Supporting the main act that night were an Irish band by the name of the Answer. I was impressed enough by the support to decide if they ever toured the UK as a headline in their own right I would go along and see them. As luck would have it in mid March 2012 they headlined at the Manchester academy along with a support act of their own and me and BC went to see them. In fairness it should be pointed it was a double headline act but the Answer finished the night and as far as I am concerned that means topping the bill.

If you not seen or heard of the Answer they are a 4 piece full on rock outfit consisting of drums, bass, guitar and vocals with the ability to bang out a good blues track every now and then. The vocalist is a bundle of energy in the Angus Young mould of never standing still and managing to look like cousin IT from the Adams family with St Vitas dance. He dived into the audience during “Preacher” and managed to get everyone around him to sit in a circle. This sort of thing is quite normal up north and does not happen a lot in the Hammersmith Odeon. The set list consisted of something old, don’t follow me and too far gone with lots of new stuff from the revival album. As a night it was pure rock with the venue packed to the rafters enhancing the atmosphere. I was jumping up and down like an 18 year old on crack by the third song. If you have not seen this outfit, go and see them now before they reach stadium level where they will be the size of matchsticks. I am sure you will not be disappointed. Check out their website for more details http://www.theanswer.ie/

Of course the crowd had been warmed up by the previous band the Union.  Formed by Luke Morley thunders ex guitarist this is a powerful rock band with a couple of albums under their belt. Check out their debut album Union and the follow up Sirens song.  The vocalist (Pete Shoulder) dominates the stage with a throaty powerful voice and the ability to tell a tale. His story of how the band were stopped by the police on the way down to Manchester and probably faced a hefty fine on their return went down well. I was in party mood long before they left the stage. I had not heard of this band before but their albums are on my Xmas wish list.  http://www.theuniononline.com/site/

Well before we arrived and shortly after booking the tickets the pair of us decided we would stay the night in Manchester so we could have a drink and something to eat rather than face the drive home and the associated traffic. What we required was a place not too far away from the Academy and not too noisy. And so it was that I stumbled upon the Martin Luther king hotel which fitted in with what we needed and with the price being right I booked for one night. I never gave it a moment’s thought until we arrived in the grounds of the hotel and I thought this looks like an old college or school. And so it was that I had booked us into a theological retreat. I suppose the name should have given it away but I just assumed it was a trendy name like Mandela walks which are given out randomly by the “right on” PC brigade.

I can tell you it in is fact a charming place and if you ever want peace and quiet within the inner city this is the place to go. I could see me staying there for a couple of days to recharge my batteries and unwind but probably not for much longer than that. With an epic concert and a comfortable bed it really was a great night.

At long last the short cold winter months have finally gone to be replaced by the cold damp if slightly longer spring months. To be fair there have been one or two good days since the solstice but the thermostat on the heating system tells the real story and the gas is burning constantly to keep the house to a reasonable temperature. Yet more work has taken place at Chateau Ghastanbury and the bay window over the living room has been re-felted and sealed. There really is not much more to do, it is a case of finding the inspiration and that has been sadly lacking during the current financial climate which shows no sign of abating despite what the financial commentators of the day say.

Just to prove spring has arrived my old friends the collared doves are back and they are battling it out with a squadron of Magpies for the right to live in the silver birch tree at the bottom of the Tilers garden. Currently the Magpies are winning on sheer numbers alone however Genghis and the local cats seemed to have ganged up on the Magpies as well. When I was little I used to think that Magpies were lovely creatures but now I have come to hate them. They are loud, brash, bullying and cruel showing no mercy to anything that stands in their way. The only thing I can credit them with is the fact they will take on creatures much bigger than themselves, indeed they are no cowards.

In the “could not make it up” stakes, the financial affairs of Europe are in such a state they hardly cause concern any more. Yes the Greeks have had two bail outs so far and we know there will be more, the betting is on when Spain and Italy will present the begging bowl. The great experiment called the Euro zone single currency looks doomed to failure. This in itself seems to be a generational problem as the youngest in our society do not seem to understand what the fuss is about and the older ones cannot understand why anyone even tried to create a single currency across so many foreign and diverse cultures and financial systems. It probably sounded great when someone thought we could all have North European wages, Southern European hours, Irish taxes and East European prices.

Should any of my friends who left these shores for sunnier climes and fame and fortune doubt the decision they made, let me remind them of the price of Petrol in the UK. It is £6.31 a gallon. That is the cheapest I can find it in any of the areas around here. When the Tiler left here it was under £4 a gallon. In some places it is considerably more and a threatened tanker drivers strike induced panic buying and over three days most garages ran out of fuel. On more than one occasion I could not take Rhonda out for a spin because I could not obtain any fuel. If the price of petrol is causing palpitations wait till you hear about gas and electricity. Four years ago my combined gas and electricity bill were around 450-500 pounds a year. Today they are over a £1000 in spite of insulation and the sparing use of each commodity. It is hard to understand why prices have risen so much. I think everyone understands about inflation and we all expect a small increase in prices year on however commodities have rocketed beyond inflation leading to a belief that prices are increasing due to speculators whims.

This would put commodity brokers and speculators on a par with bankers in the popularity stakes but the reality is that they are lining their own pockets at the expense of those who can least afford it. Tales of tankers anchored off shore waiting for petrol prices to rise before they land and discharge their cargo are not uncommon around oil terminals and ports. Wheat and flour is being stored until prices rise to maximize profits for the lucky few. Freedom fighters and martyrs may be causing mayhem but in the background is a bunch of commodity brokers slowly starving the West into submission, indeed they may as well be classed as a pinstripe terrorists.

For what seems like the first time in Ages me and the bean Counter went to Manchester and stayed overnight. “The occasion?” I hear you ask, A concert by Rush to celebrate 30 years together and what a concert it was. The best light show I have ever seen in an indoor arena. As for the music well it was everything that rock n roll stands for. Self indulgent solo’s, long complicated tracks and deafening noise and a blistering 3 hour set. The tour was to publicise Rush’s new album “Snakes and Arrows”. While the new material is excellent the loudest applause was of course for the old stuff such as “Passage to Bangkok”, “Spirit of Radio”, “Tom Sawyer” etc. To be fair it was not about sex, drugs and rock n roll. If you want that kind of stuff go and see ACDC or The Who.

The only downside to the evening was the venue. Thrombosis inducing seats, no room to stretch or carry out any of the exercises the airlines advise on long haul flights. You can no longer stand at seated arenas for fear of the wrath of the Nazi Elf n Safety marshals threatening you with ejection if you don’t sit down again and then there is the design of the building. The main corridor is a circular affair with the toilets and food stalls and merchandising stands spread out along its length. This means that if there are queues at any of the stands you can’t get past to walk around with any ease. Added to this the marshals will not let anyone leave the building even to obtain fresh air and it was stiflingly hot in there. If you do you will not be allowed back in again. It was my third time at the MEN and it will be my last.

For those too young to remember, Peter Frampton was one of the biggest selling rock artists of the 70’s. A member of the Herd for 3 years before forming Humble Pie with Steve Marriot and after 5 albums he left the Herd to became a solo artist. His most successful album, probably his greatest and the one he is usually remembered for is “Frampton Comes Alive” released in 1976. It was this album that first brought him to my attention.

To celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the double album “Frampton Comes Alive” Pete took to the road to perform all of the tracks from the ground breaking album live. The Celebration tour kicked off in Manchester and I was lucky enough to get tickets to see him. The hair may have gone and the waist may have thickened ever so slightly and but the talent is still there and so is the voice. The dexterity in his fingers shows no sign of slowing down or loss. The whole of the double album was played in one sitting and was as faithful to the original recording as it was possible to be. “Do you feel like we do” still had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up even after 35 years. 35 years? Where does the time go? Sadly Bob Mayo is with us no more but this was excellent vintage stuff.

After the “live” album set list was finished there was an interval and then our hero strode onto the stage and performed: Asleep At The Wheel, Restraint, Float, Boot It Up, Double Nickels, Vaudeville Nanna And The Banjolele, Road To The Sun, Black Hole Sun, Four Day Creep, Off The Hook and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. All in all a blistering set performed with craft that rolled back the years and belied his age. I may never get the chance to see him again but I won’t forget this concert in a hurry.

For more information check out Pete’s website.  http://www.frampton.com/home.html

When you go to see a tribute band you know roughly what you are going to get. In some cases it is the nearest you may come to seeing your real life heroes. I never saw Led Zeppelin live and it is now impossible to see ever see the original line up even if those who are left were to play again. So when the opportunity came to see a Zeppelin tribute band I thought why not. I have been to see a lot of tribute bands in the past including the Australian Pink Floyd and Limehouse Lizzy. Some of the bands have been great and some have been decidedly so so.  Sadly this fantastic venue is under threat of closure so it was possibly a last opportunity to see anyone perform here.

The last Zeppelin tribute band I saw here were Awholelottaled and they were OK if not surprisingly the “real deal”. I had high hopes for Mothership and the band came straight on with no support to warm the crowd up for them and launched into their set which included classics such as Rock’n’Roll , Black Dog, Whole lotta Love and of course Stairway to heaven, never my favourite track at the best of times. A storming set of 2 hours was only marred by technical problems with the sound. At times all I could hear was the ringing of Hi Hats and at others the speakers in the PA sounded as though the cones had been ripped out. The acoustic section of the performance was held up while they found a new battery for the pick up on the jumbo acoustic.

Some excellent guitar work accompanied vocals that were at times the nearest thing I had heard to the original so far. When they were good they were very good and when they were not so good they were still OK. Kashmir and the Lemon Song were for me at least the highlights of this performance and yes I would go and see them again

So here we are in February and the temperatures have dropped. There is talk of snow although it has not happened in this neck of the woods yet. So what has been happening? Well personally not a lot although I am still not smoking and I have still not touched an alcoholic drink since New Year’s Day. I think a lot of people were expecting me to have fallen off the wagon by now but I am happy to report that I have not wavered although my mood swings mean some people are staying out of my way. I can live with that!
One of the side effects of not smoking is that the weight has already started to pile on and so I am starting a keep fit campaign in a week or so. The NHS has given me a 3 month free pass to any of the council run gymnasiums in the borough. I hope to go swimming at least a couple of times a week for the 3 months duration. Who knows I may even start pumping iron and pressing weights in the gym. I really can’t see it myself but stranger things have happened.

The economy of Europe looks shakier by the day with Investors in Greece accepting losses of up to 75% on loans they made to the Greek government in the form of bonds they bought. Normally a situation in which a few “rich” people lost a few bob would not be a cause for concern but in this case the “rich” people are the ones entrusted to look after our pension pots. Savings, pensions and investments of ordinary folk will all suffer because the Greeks will not pay their debts. The old saying of “beware of Greeks bearing gifts” might as well now read “never trust any Greek ever at all under any circumstance”. The least the Greek government could do is flog a couple of their islands and pay off the debts with the funds received; it is not as if they don’t have a few spare. Rant over!

To cheer myself up I blitzed my credit card and bought another barbeque. It is a small sunncamp portable and I bought it to take camping on the bike with me I also bought a few bits for Rhonda. I always said I would never go down the Touratwat sorry Touratech route of buying overpriced non essential bits for my bike. However I wanted some folding mirrors and although a few sites out there sell them none of them had a decent review. The ones at Touratwat not only had a review but photographs and fitting instructions so in the end I was left with no other option. Lo and behold they arrived within 48 hours of ordering. I guess you get what you pay for and Touratwat are expensive but their service is rather good, I expect the mirrors to be as good. I also bought tickets to go and see the Answer in April. They were the support band to ACDC in Paris in 2009 and I was well impressed with them, impressed enough to buy a couple of CD’s. I am also going to see a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Mothership in a few days. Reports from both gigs will appear in the new section of this blog along with reviews from other concerts, festivals and gigs I have been to. Expect to see a report about Peter Frampton shortly.

Unlike January February is going to be busy busy

Well we have all done it. One moment it is half past September and you think I should sort out my international Christmas cards and the next it is 10 to February and thoughts turn to what f**k happened there?

 Seriously though time just disappears into a black hole with so much happening that by the time you manage to sit yourself down and start writing something else has happened. The proposed blog make over and update did not quite happen but the idea is not exactly dead in the water, it is merely dormant until commander Riker has a moment or two spare. For now a couple of tweaks and a new category will have to suffice. Christmas came and went with Chateau Gastanbury packed to the rafters for the best part of it. New Years Eve was much the same with old friends the driver and his squeeze staying and collectively we saw in 2012.

 Well then what did happen in 2011? Basically the whole world went down the financial shitter with Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain right there at the head of the proverbial queue. The financial meltdown that started in 2007 shows no sign of receding and all but a few economists forecast things will not get any better over the next few years. Quite a few have forecast things to get much worse and a mere handful are optimistic. Basically this is the longest recession I have ever experienced. In short 2011 ended pretty much as it started.

 I never make New Year’s resolutions but some time on New Year’s Day I decided I was going to abstain from alcohol until my birthday. I am now 3 weeks in and I can honestly say I do not miss it although I thought I would. After the first week of the New Year I made the decision I was going to have at least 4 meat free days a week. My stomach had been giving me a lot of problems for some time and I figured that my over rich diet just might be the cause. I am only just getting used to that and my stomach and digestive system is actually better than it has been in years although it has taken me well over a week to come up with a recipe that makes stir fry actually taste nice.

 Due to a chest infection picked up last September I had a chest X-ray where a shadow was found on my left lower lung. A course of antibiotics and the chest infection was gone but a spirometry test and further X-ray showed I had the lungs of an 85 year old. Something had to be done and so this morning I had what was hopefully my last cigarette. I have started on a course of nicotine patches and I have an electronic cigarette which I can say is absolutely disgusting but it gives me something to do with my hands. For some one who does not make resolutions I have made three. For the sake of my health and longevity I hope to keep all three of them although I may just have bitten off more than I can chew.

 Plans for long term travel are almost in a state of perpetual suspension although day trips and weekends away have already started to fill in my calendar. A two week trip to Memphis US is in the pipeline and while Bean counter gets to re-visit Graceland I finally get to visit Rosedale at the very heart of the Robert Johnson legend.

 As most of you know this blog started off February 2007 as a barbecue blog but has expanded somewhat. Indeed the barbecue section has been somewhat lacking due to the weather but plans are afoot for this year to be the best since I started the blog. Unless the weather makes it impossible a series of veritable feasts incorporating menus as far removed from the burnt sausages and the odd burger that are regular staples of the average English will take pride of place this coming summer.

 Until the next post happy 2012 and let’s hope the Mayans are wrong. 

I took the tent down and stowed it away in the shed. The following day I sparked up the barbie and while I went inside to fetch some things a stray spark from the barbie landed on the bag in the shed through the open door. I was lucky the shed did not burn down but the tent was a complete write off. Nonetheless I felt I had not given the tent a decent chance so I bought another identical model and BC and me set off for Shell Island in Wales. We found a perfect isolated spot on the top of a cliff only a few yards away from the toilet block and duly pitched up. The new Barbie was brought out and the airbed I had bought that morning was taken out of the car boot. I went to plug it into the cigarette lighter only to find it had a 230 volt mains plug on it. (Tip when buying camping gear take your time and read the box, I had bought a household inflatable airbed and not a camping one) I put the bed in the boot and we drove to the main hut at the campsite entrance where for a small donation they allowed me to plug it into the mains and inflate it.

This where the fun started, It was far too big to go back into the boot and too big to carry without turning into a hang glider. After 200 of 500 yards I dragged it behind me by the power cord not caring whether it ripped or punctured. Finally after getting it back to our camp it was installed. I had bought BC a new portable barbecue in a fetching shade of pink and she had in turn gone out and purchased a load of pink accessories including pink candles and pink plastic cutlery. After setting up camp to our satisfaction I sparked up the Barbie and poured some red wine into our new pink wine glasses and BC lit the pink candles. After an enormous meal, partially caused by Ted Magnum and his girlfriend “Snake hips” not turning up and us bringing enough food for at least four and there being no refrigeration we gazed out to sea with the camp looking like a Gay gin palace. At night it looked like your worst nightmare or something off an 80’s porn set with the pink candles blazing away for all to see for miles around.

It was during the middle of the night that BC realized why the spot we had picked was so deserted. The wind had picked and was blowing so hard the tent had blown in on itself and was resting only a few inches above BC’s nose. I of course slept right the way through this howling blizzard in a sound and fitful slumber. When I woke up in the morning the damage to the tent was all too visible. Where the fiberglass poles had rubbed against each other they had worn away the fabric of the tent leaving gaping holes that could only be fixed with gaffa tape. The zips had come away from the door frames and some of the poles were not the same shape as they had been when they left the factory. I cut holes in the doorway and attached some string so that they could be tied shut; I put extra guy ropes on the poles to keep them upright and repaired whatever holes I could find in the best manner I could. There was no doubt the tent was beyond economic repair and would not be coming home with us but it would provide us with shelter of some sorts for another night at least. I know lesser mortals would have come home there and then but we are made of hardy stuff and in any case I would never let anyone know I had failed!

We stayed another two nights in relative calm compared to the first evening. We even ventured out sightseeing on the second day taking in some of the castles and sights along the coast. I find it hard not to recommend this place, weather aside which can be crap anywhere and all too soon it was time to come home. I did not bring as much equipment home as arrived. The tent or what was left of it was dumped in the skip and one wag said “oh yes Shell Island, grave yard of tents”.

The site itself is magnificent and like all places when the weather is good it is worthy of a visit, right on the coast and with all the facilities you could want on a camp site. These included showers, a shop, a bar, somewhere to wash your dishes and a launderette and even a camp shop that sold just about everything. It had the obligatory fast food outlet and a restaurant of sorts with some fruit machines and arcade games for those who like that sort of thing. Even if you don’t, the site is big enough to hide away from all of those things and be left in solitude if that is your thing. Shell Island markets itself as one of the biggest camp sites In Europe and has strict regulations about how near another tent you can pitch. I think it is something like 30 yards but it is enough to ensure some degree of privacy. I will be going back at some point although a different and much more substantial model of tent will be accompanying us.