Oh. (Russ L going to and fro in the Earth)

Sunday the 26th of March saw me attending a bit more of Gigbeth, at The Sanctuary’s Dragon Bar and Barfly. Initially, I’d heard about a free reggae gig going on at The Barfly featuring Patto Banton and Musical Youth; as time grew closer I learned that Musical Youth weren’t playing but Neville Staple of The Specials and Roger Rankin of The Beat were, and that there was also a hip-hop night going on upstairs.

I arrived and headed up to The Dragon Bar just in time to see The Heard (no website as far as I know but there is some information about their members at www.StronghornRecords.com) take the stage. I have to confess that I don’t know too much about the local hip-hop scene (something I need to sort out, obviously), but The Heard were likeable despite suffering from a bad sound. The mics were initially too quiet, but once they were turned up the lyrics still weren’t perfectly audible but the beats still suffered in comparison. It’s a shame, but they still had a fair bit of charisma about them and I wouldn’t be opposed to checking out a bit more.

S-Squad were on shortly after and, while suffering from similar mic problems (they seemed to have some black consciousness/awareness lyrics, but I just couldn’t make ‘em out all that often), their beats cut through the sound a lot more strongly and sounded pretty good. They did the ‘whole big crew onstage, half of them not actually doing anything’ thing (I was reminded of the Dilated Peoples lyric – “Twenty Guys, five mics/Who the fuck is rhyming?” I can never decide whether I think it makes for a more impressive visual or just looks foolish), and there were some of the inevitable telltales signs of inexperience with performing live (at least a couple of times a guy would be happily rapping away as his voice got quieter and quieter when he let the mic get too far away from his mouth), but again – I wouldn’t be opposed to hearing more.

A bit of a break followed before GT & RD performed a couple of more grime/garage-influenced type songs, and sounded bloody good with it. The sound seemed a bit more balanced by now, and these two MCs had more of an easier air of confidence about them than anyone else so far. Apparently their “I Know What You Did” is all over Channel U, although I wouldn’t know myself. I don’t get it on my telly.

I headed downstairs to The Barfly as soon as they’d finished, to find the absolutely gorgeous Yaz Alexander already onstage. I enjoyed her set a lot – she has a divine voice as well as a likeable way about her, and some really good songs in a mix of reggae styles. She managed a decent cover of Billie Holliday’s version of ‘Summertime,’ too, which most would stumble over.

Immediately after her set Pato Banton hit the stage (he seemed to be acting as compere for the evening) and surprised both Yaz and one of her backing singers (I think his name was Sensimilia. Subtle…) by demanding that they accompany him on a couple of songs. Judging by the looks on their faces, the surprise was genuine…
All-out energetic and enjoyable stuff, anyway. Alongside ‘Groovin’ they did ‘Baby Come Back” – a song I dimly remembered from my youth as not being exactly brilliant, but hearing it reminded me just how fun it was. The smile on my face was huge.

I headed back upstairs, in time to see most of Moorish Delta 7. There’s was the best set I heard in the upstairs room by a good way – varied sounding hip-hop, with good beats and a lot of stage presence. If Birmingham hip-hop is to start becoming more nationally known then I’m sure this lot will be at the forefront.

I went back downstairs after, in time for Neville Staple and his band. I saw ‘em last summer at the Reggae Rocks event in Centenary square and liked their set, but close up in a slightly less stupidly-large setting he was something else. Pure, pure energy, and classic songs (mostly Specials material with bits of other stuff, including a brilliant version of The Maytals’ “Pressure Drop”). It is a bit of a shame that he doesn’t do too much of his new/own material as I would be interested to hear it, but I cannot possibly complain at all about this performance. Being fairly pished by this point, I sang along and danced with all my little heart.

Rankin Roger came straight on stage after, assuming Neville’s position in front of the same backing band. Time was getting on a bit, though, and as much as I would love to have stayed (and I really, really would) Travel West Midlands waits for no man.

Between all of this and that which has been detailed in the last couple of posts, I had a very fun Certain Day Of The Year (alright, I’ll admit, it was my for birthday) weekend.

~ Russ L

So, after all of this business, the post-Certain Day Of The Year doings on the 25th continued with official sidekick-for-the-day Trig and my good self hopping on a train over to Coventry. Cov is a frequently maligned city locally, but I have no problem with the place.

Our purpose, anyway, was Cagewarriors’ ‘Strike Force 5’ mixed martial arts card, at The Skydome ice hockey arena. A quick pint was enjoyed in The Orange Tree (or possibly it was called The Orange Grove, I forget), before joining the queue snaking around the outside of the arena (tickets in advance next time, I think). (Edit: Mwuhuhahahaha…).

The results are here, anyway. The most exciting fight, as far as I’m concerned, was Henrique “Chocolate” Noguiera vs Jacob “Striking Viking/Sinead O’ Connor” Lovstad – a tense and exciting ground war, with ChocNog’s conditioning eventually proving to be his downfall and forcing him to tap to a rear naked choke at the beginning of the third round. Also great was Dan Hardy settling the score against Diego Gonzales – last time they fought the events detailed here took place, but since then the result was retrospectively changed to a No Contest (I’m never sure how I feel about that, it never seems to ring true to me) due to the apparent use of some illegal downward point-of-the-elbow strikes by Gonzales. The big grudge match, then – and Dan got his revenge. He seems to look better on the ground every time I see him fight, and took the win by cut stoppage early in the third round after opening up a (horrific) gusher on Diego’s face. His post-match speech tickled me, too – “Just fucking touch gloves, it doesn’t take much…”

It wasn’t all thrills and spills, of course – Chris Rice vs Dorian Lapaj was a very slow paced affair involving a whole lotta circling, but you have to expect one or two such things on a twelve fight card. The good far outweighed the bad, and we got the ugly too (David Bielkheden is one scary, scary individual. I hope Steve Dawson has recovered).

I couldn’t go through this, of course, without mentioning Antonio ‘Junior’ De Silva and his total destruction of the latest poor sod put in front of him. I mean no offence whatsoever to Tadas Rimkevičius (who was as tough as nails in terms of the amount of punishment he absorbed) when I say that this is beginning to look a little bit like a ‘bum of the month club’ affair, with Junior rolling through whoever can be persuaded to donate their body. I’m hoping that this K-1 deal he has will bring about some actual competition for him, although having said that there has been talk on the Cagewarriors messageboard about finding him some higher-level opponents before then. I would hope so – for the ticket-buying punter like me it’s a win-win situation.

(Incidentally, if you’ve read this but haven’t seen Junior and are wondering what the fuss is about, then his destruction of Tengiz Tedoradze can be viewed on this page. When watching that, remember two facts: that was Junior’s first professional fight, and since then he’s gathered more experience and is even better; and that Tengiz is one of the UK’s top heavyweights and is more often found dealing out that sort of punishment rather than receiving it. Junior will be the next big thing in the MMA heavyweight/superheavyweight scene, of that I have no doubt).

(Edit: Go here as well, if you’re interested in seeing more footage).

~ Russ L

Saturday the 25th of March saw the continuation of celebrations loosely based around A Certain Day Of The Year, with a nice little music/food/fustigation combo. I met up with Trigger at Rowley station and - lord - he never gets any thinner. I only say things like that to provoke him into leaving a comment and thus allow me to take the piss out of him more.

This weekend, anyway, was the occasion of Gigbeth - a collection of various free gigs happening at various venues in Birmingham area Digbeth (did you see what they did there with the name? It’s very clever), with the emphasis on local artists. I approve of this sort of thing. More please.

A couple of alldayers were a’gwaanin at The Sanctuary (and The Dragon Bar within The Sanctuary), with the turns including The Big Bang and Distophia, both of whom get the thumbs up from me. With the aforementioned food and fustigation taking up later-on-time, though, we didn’t get to see either on this occasion. Our main target for the early part of the afternoon were The Twang, about whom I’d heard good things from a couple of sources.

First, though, we caught all but the start and end of Sleepyhead’s set in The Dragon Bar. I didn’t think a lot of ‘em. The combination of melodic rock and Latin-American percussion is a theoretically noble aim, but they ended up sounding like Santana when they were playing screaming guitar solos and a ploddy indie band spilling salsa down their jumpers at all other times. A bit dull, really.

Transferring over to the main Sanctuary room, it was time to see The Twang. ‘Happy Mondays’ is the almost overwhelming thought, in sound but even more so in spirit. The main singer has a loud ‘n’ lairy way about him, but charming with it – I’ve seen him described elsewhere as being like a mix of Mike Skinner and Shaun Ryder, and that’s spot on. The other singer is (appropriately enough) a bit of a Bez figure, offering the odd bit of backing vox here and there but mostly just doing a bit of comical dancing around his mic stand. The songs sounded pretty good and probably likely to grow even better, but it was all about the attitude. I’ll definitely see ‘em again.

After that it was over to The Big Wok, for the customary (nay, necessary) all-you-can-eat-Chinese-buffet behaviour of stuffing your gob until you feel like you’re going to die. After that, to Coventry for the fight card, about which I will write soon…

~ Russ L

In honour of a certain day of the year, the parentals were kind enough to take me to Saffron. It’s only down the road a bit from us, but I’d never been before because I’d never fully believed you could have a nice quality restaurant around here. Cheap and cheerful, certainly, but not nice. My interest was nonetheless captured after reading read a few good reviews of the place on Birmingham Plus (a useful website if you’re local, incidentally), and so off we went.

I had jhinga (prawn) puree to begin, and found myself surprised (in a good way) by that which I received – I was expecting, well, puree. In a dish. As it turns out, it was fairly dry and in a wrap. Very nice, too – with tamarind and orange sauce, and the prawns themselves were very good quality, flavourful and meaty. For my main I had a mixed Tandoori grill, with chicken, lamb and king prawns. The tandoori flavouring was fairly delicate but worked well, and they were nice cuts of meat.

The service was a bit frustrating, admittedly – the waiters seemed to be very hover-y all evening, right up until we came to pay (when you actually want a bit of prompt attention) and as a man they vanished out of range. After waiting an age for change that didn’t arrive we just left – the decision had been made to leave it as a tip anyway, but it still seems a bit bad that they didn’t actually bring it back to us.

Other than that, though, it was very enjoyable.

~ Russ L

The first symphony I ever went to hear live was one of my absolute favourites - Mahler’s Second (‘Resurrection’), a good few years ago. It was performed (at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall) by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which I thought was quite funny since the recorded version I had was actually courtesy of the CBSO. Little did I know at the time that this piece was actually a staple for which the CBSO were renowned.

Skip on a few years to Thursday the 16th of March 2006, where I took my opportunity to attend a performance of it by the CBSO themselves. You can imagine my excitement.

Our opening counterpoint for the evening was Thea Musgrave’s Concerto For Orchestra, originally actually commissioned for the CBSO. It turned out to be a fairly challenging but interesting piece of music. The theory (as explained in the programme and in a short opening speech by the charming Sakari Oramo) is that it creates a conflict between part of the orchestra following the timing of the conductor, and part of it… well, part of it that isn’t. I’m not sure I necessarily ‘got’ it in the musical sense that was presumably intended, but it was very interesting to hear swells of melody coalesce out of the chaos before dissipating again. I liked it. The composer was in attendance, and judging by the smiles on her face I assume she thought it went quite well too.

The last time I went to hear the Resurrection I was a bit overwhelmed by the majesty of hearing an orchestra for the first time, and so perhaps didn’t take in how huuuuuuge it is. It’s almost Wagnerian in the way it harnesses the gestalt immensity of the orchestra and then pushes it yet further with the organ and choir. The percussion roll in the final movement, leading through to the ascent of the chorus and soloists (Anu Komsi & Jane Irwin) was, as with Shostakovitch a week earlier, breathtaking in a literal sense.

Blissful.

(And if you don’t believe me, others felt similarly).

~ Russ L

…it’s faaaaaaaar too easy to sit here drinking lager and doing nothing in particular.

~ Russ L

Friday the 10th saw me head on up to Walsall Bescot stadium, for a boxing card in one of the suites. There were four fights on the bill, of which I found the first and third the most interesting.

To begin with we had Telford’s Shaun ‘Slasher’ Walton vs the debuting Andrew Davies of South Wales, the latter putting in a great performance for his first professional match. Shaun couldn’t seem to find a rhythm and ate hard shots throughout the fight. Andy did look absolutely knackered after six exciting two minute rounds, and so improving his conditioning could well be a valuable lesson to learn from this one, but he’s definitely a name to watch out for. I agreed with the ref in giving all six rounds to him.

That bout also saw an addition to The Great Heckles Of Our Times. There seemed to be quite a few Telfordians in the crowd (I don’t know if there was a coach trip or whatever-have-you), and Shaun Walton got a fair bit of vocal support. Amongst the massed cries of “Knock him out Shaun!” “Knock him out!” “Knock him out Slasher!” “Knock him out son!” etc, one voice shouted forth “Win on points lad!”

Cracked me up, anyway.

Second up was the surprisingly even fight between Martin Gethin from Walsall and Carl Allen of Wolverhampton, which surprised me given how good Gethin looked last time I saw him and given Allen’s 18-47-5 record beforehand. I suppose the fact that a win-loss record doesn’t tell you everything about a fighter is one always worth re-learning. I’d got it even at 39-39 after four three minute rounds, but the ref said 40-38 to Martin.

The most exciting fight of the night saw Walsall’s Matty ‘Too Hot’ Hough (accompanied on entering by his customary two ladyfriends who don’t wear much) pitted against Coventry’s debuting John Ruddock. Ruddock was strong, pushing Matt around in the clinches and not afraid to play rough either (throwing Hough over his hip at one point. I don’t know if he has a judo background). On the other hand he didn’t seem to have too great balance, slipping on a couple of occasions and looking unsteady on quite a few others. I only had him winning one round, but he gave Hough a lot of trouble and problems to solve at beginning. As time went on, though, Matty was able to get to boxing, and his better conditioning came into play. The ref wasn’t too quick to break clinches until the last fight, which is a shame in a way ‘cos I think Matt could have stopped John if there wasn’t as much time wasted by holding in the last couple of rounds. I can’t remember what points the ref gave, but I called it 59-55. Or 54, if a point was officially taken off for the throw. Cracking fight, whichever way up.

Our main event, then, for the vacant Midlands Area welterweight strap (the first boxing title match I’ve seen live, fact fans) - Stuart Elwell of Darlaston vs David Kirk of Telford. With Darlaston only being down the road a bit and the abovementioned complement of punters from Telford, both boxers had a lot of very loud support. Lots of voices were really getting behind their man throughout, which really adds to the atmosphere. The match had a cautious start to begin with, unsurprisingly given that it was a ten rounder. To begin with Elwell was getting the upper hand with some neat and tidy boxing, but Kirk got back into it by means of working better on the inside. As the fight wore on, though, Elwell started to fight more effectively close-up. It looked pretty even for most of the bout, but towards the last few rounds it became clear that Stu was our new champ. The official score from the referee was 98-94, while I had it 96-94.

Y’see! I can remember a little bit about the fights if there aren’t very many of them!

~ Russ L

Last wednesday (the 8th) I went to hear the CBSO play Shostakovich’s 7th, conducted by Andrew Litton. I really don’t go to anywhere near enough orchestral things, but I’m going to try to rectify this (I have a ticket for Mahler’s 2nd this week, to begin with).

As an appetiser we got Beethoven’s 1st piano concerto, which I hadn’t actually heard before. It made for an interesting contrast, having a much more playful and whimsical air than our main course. The dazzling and intricate piano runs from soloist Leon McCawley were absolutely sparkling, and it all made for an enjoyable start. “I can imagine Beethoven himself playing that,” said someone sitting near me.

I love Shostakovich’s seventh (’Leningrad’) symphony. The generaly retold story is that it was written by Dmitri S. during his time as a fireman during the siege of Leningrad in the Second World. In the act of reading a bit more about it prior to this concert, though, I found out that quite a few commentators think he actually began it far before this. The usual thing with any of Shostakovich’s music is to ascribe the meaning of it to the brutal effects of totalitarianism and the Soviet regime, but that feels as true here as it does anywhere - the famed ‘invasion theme’ in the first movement doesn’t burst out of the traps like an army over the border, but rather it builds and spreads insidiously. The violent effect by the time it reaches it’s peak, of course, is much the same.

The sheer magic of an orchestra live can never be underestimated. I don’t want to sound patronising, but if anyone has never been to anything like this and thinks they’ve heard rock bands that sound powerful - well, you haven’t heard anything yet. The aforementioned invasion theme and the big dramatic ending of the final movement seemed to fill every perception. In all seriousness, I had to keep reminding myself to breathe.

~ Russ L

… is Babar Luck’s “Care In The Community,” no messing (HisSpace).

My review will appear on The Communion very soon. I will edit this to reflect that.

(Edit: There. It isn’t very good, though. The review, I mean. Not the album. The album is great.)

~ Russ L

There was a fightcard at Walsall Town Hall on Sunday the fifth of March. It was a bit of a mystery, this one. I only found out about it earlier on in the week when a poster (which bore little resemblance to the card on the night) was posted in the news section of the Cagewarriors site. I knew it was entitled ‘Fight Night’ but didn’t even know who it was promoted by until I got there (Showsport, as it happens). I’d got the impression that it was an mixed martial arts card with a few kickboxing and Muay-Thai bouts added, but it turned out to be mostly a kickboxing card with MMA and Muay Thai add-ons (we had, I think, two amateur MMA fights, one semi-pro MMA, two full MMA, two Muay Thai, one womens kickboxing, and I believe about six kickboxing bouts). It’s unlikely that the results will ever be posted in one place on the internet due to the division of disciplines and I can’t even remember precisely how many fights there were never mind all of the names and who won, so if you really want to know you’re buggered. Serves you right, you should have attended.

The fight of the night was definitely Rick Challinor (of Supreme Team) vs Neil Huntley (of Tap ‘n’ Snap, I think) under semi-pro MMA rules, despite a bit of a timing cock-up (the bell for the end of the first round rang after three minutes rather than the five it should have been). It started with a bang as Rick knocked over Neil almost immediately with a great punch, and didn’t slow down from there. Both men had vociferous supporters creating a fantastic atmosphere to suit an exciting fight, with repeated sweeps & exchanges of position and ruthless ground ‘n’ pound. The judges decreed a split decision draw, and I can’t argue - it was close.

The “Well ain’t that the damnedest thing” award went to Dan Korbely from Supreme vs John Walton from Black Country Combat Academy (I think, again) under amateur MMA rules. Dan teed off with a volley of repeated middle kicks to the body, causing John to have to give a no mas and surrender. They must have been powerful. You don’t often expect to see such violent endings in amateur bouts.

Lee Jones from Wolverhampton’s Eclipse Gym provided a bit of comedy in his kickboxing decision win over someone from Norwich (sorry). There was face-pulling, there were muscleman poses between rounds, and of course the ever-hillarious winding-up-your-fist motions.

It was a shame for the two Lithuanian fighters (Danas Banevicius and Jonas Majaukas, if I’ve got that right), who travelled all the way over here (Edit: actually, I think they’re based over here) to get stopped by ground and pound in the pro MMA fights by Harvey Harra and Paul Taylor of Supreme Team, in just under and just over a minute respectively. Their cornerman looked pissed off - one wonders if they’d been led to believe that they’d be faced with easier competition…

Finally, a special hurrah to the ref. He reminded me of Uncle Phil breaking up a fight between Will and Carlton.

(Edit: The MMA results on their own can be found here).

~ Russ L