Thoughts on whataboutery/ day of the girl

This has been on my mind a lot recently; chiefly because I’ve been called out for it … and I’ve called myself out on it as well. A big part of it derives from this hard hitting article which you don’t have to go very far on google to find. I’ll leave you to read it as it needs to be read.

But having had several months to mull this over I’d go as far to say that there is whataboutery and there is whataboutery. It is true that the vast majority of whataboutery is chauvinistic point scoring and men are infinitely worse for doing it. A point rather proven by the fact that International Men’s Day gets more hits on twitter on International Women’s Day than on the day itself. At the same time, with IMD fast approaching, we will have the usual feminist chorus of why do we need an international men's day when every day is ... (the response of course is the male suicide rate for starters and it’s funny how the conversation never seems to progress beyond that – but I digress).

Last Thursday (11th October) was the Day Of The Girl. Allowing myself another digression it was also National Coming Out Day and a day after World Mental Health Day. In all honesty we might have too many daysand marking them becomes a bit like posting birthday wishes on the facebook timeline of casual acquaintances.

But anyway, Day Of The Girl. Which meant many tweets and articles highlighting (rightfully) the inequalities that girls face, primarily (it must be said) in developing countries such as arranged marriage and lack of access to education. And in a country like the UK where things are quite a bit better it’s as good a day as any for schools to talk to pupils OF BOTH GENDERS about why this happens and what could be done about it. It’s also worth telling girls that they can be anything they want to be without being bound to gender specific roles.

However, perhaps inevitably, Day Of The Boy was also trending on twitter with many people asking when it was. And there is an answer; May 16th, although the day does not have the same international recognition. What I want to focus on is who asked the question and why.

Yes, some of it was obvious whataboutery and there was a distinct element of chauvinism in many of the posts. But there were also a lot of posts from mothers of sons as well. One particularly interesting tweet came from a mother of an eight year old boys whose school apparently organised a fun activity day out for the girls while the boys had to stay at school and work. No apparent mention of global inequality, just the girls getting a treat and the boys going without (we’re talking about eight year olds here).

Now working backwards I can only speculate on how this came about. It may well be that a local organisation decided to offer activities for girls only on Day Of The Girl and schools took advantage. Or that a teacher or parent of girls thought that the day should be marked and organised something accordingly. In which case the parents of the boys should stand up for their rights and ensure something is organised for Day Of The Boy.

Which takes me back to Whataboutery. If somebody decides to set up an organisation or activity just for girls (or indeed boys – this argument works both ways around) then that is their right. It is very likely that the activity is one more likely to appeal to a specific gender and making it open to both wouldn’t be practical and/ or appropriate. For somebody to then ask, Well what about boys/ girls who might enjoy or benefit from something similar is a reasonable question IF AND ONLY IF it is accompanied by the follow up question, I'd like to get it started, who is with me?

Whataboutery is only a bad thing if the person asking the question is sat on their armchair and would be on the day they’re asking for or simply wants to score chauvinistic points. Sometimes the first question has to be, What about?because that question is often asked out of necessity and we all know what necessity is the mother of.

 

 

Men, boys and feminists – thoughts and reflections.

First blog for ages. I’m hoping it’s going to be something of a comeback but then I’ve said that before. However there are issues I need to get off my chest and others that have been on my mind for a while.

Like a lot of people I have a twitter profile. I don’t use mine that often and when I do it tends to be because I’ve seen red about something (and thus perhaps gives a distorted view of my opinions). But earlier this year some tweets I’d almost forgotten about got me into some difficulty. I’ve decided not to be too specific about the exact circumstances but it did lead to my twitter profile being private for a while, something I’m about to change.

Essentially there were two viewpoints that got me into trouble. The one I’m going to park for now concerned the scandal (no other word for it) earlier this year when a number of rape trials collapsed because evidence that would have cleared the accused was deliberately withheld from the defence. I’ll concede that phrases such as pound of flesh were perhaps unnecessarily provocative but it worries me that some feminists  seem to think that the right to a fair trial might not be something of a fundamental right.

The other comment I made was a tweet on International Women’s Day which was a shout out to all the lads self harming. I’ll accept again that the linking of the two was provocative but it is true that feminist organisations have shut down attempts by schools and universities to use International Men’s Day to focus on male mental health on the grounds that every day is international men's day. Which would be logical if we spent 364 days a year talking about men and boys who self harm and only one talking about women and girls doing the same but the truth is closer to the converse and I think we all know it.

Before we go any further I’ll nail my colours to the mast. Yes, I am a man. I’ll also add that all my intimate relationships, sexual or non sexual, have been with other men. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of women I am on friendly terms with (and plenty of men I can’t stand) but my relations with them have never cut as deep and probably never will. When it comes to wider politics I admire many women who stand up for progressive values and to make the world a better place. I shouldn’t need to say that I abhor any violence or discrimination against women and have no patience with chauvinists.

And yet. What is it about the issue of men and boys’ mental health that sticks in my throat and leads me into conflict with many issues of what could loosely be termed the feminist agenda?

Before I go any further perspective is important. I think I can say with confidence that the majority of feminists do recognise that there are issues around male mental health that need to be addressed. Just as they would appreciate that the majority of men aren’t sexually abusive male chauvinist pigs BUT the problem is that there are sizeable minority who are. And therefore it’s the same with a sizeable minority of feminists who either dismiss the issue of male mental health or, arguably worse, sweep it under the carpet to suit their own ends (see the links at the end)

I’ll also acknowledge another counter argument I might well receive. A charity, group or blog seeking to highlight a specific issue is not seeking to exclude others. I’m the first to call out silly whataboutery when I see it; a low level example is when a group of female chess players decided to start a women's chess network and some idiot asked, can we have a men's chess network as well I told him to start one himself if it bothered him that much. However it is not always quite as simple as join this group instead or start your own and men and (in particular) boys mental health comes into this category.

Moving on to the substantive issue, I think most people are aware of the key statistic. Of all suicides recorded in the United Kingdom three out of four are by males. It is the single biggest killer of men under forty five. Which is not to say for one minute that the female suicide figure in isolation isn’t an issue that needs attention but given the ratio I think suicide can be considered an issue primarily effecting men at the root. I say at the root because obviously the knock on impacts mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends and daughters.

Taking boys (under 18s) in isolation the suicide gap is narrower. Boys are only twice as as likely to commit suicide. But widen the parameters to general mental health and the statistics become curious to say the least – and I have much more to say about this. Girls are far more likely to self harm (one in five against one in ten for boys) and suffer from eating disorders. In every measure of mental health girls dominate EXCEPT suicide. So I don’t think I’m making a controversial leap that many instances of mental health in boys pass unreported and this distorts the figures in favour of girls.

So why would it pass unreported? Two obvious answers are that either girls are more likely to seek and receive appropriate help or that teenage mental health services and outreach are disproportionately tailored towards girls.

At this point I have to admit something. I started this blog with the intention of proving that charities and support networks for girls dominate to the extent that resources for boys are drowned out. And some research (in so far as googling can be called research) does bear this out. Services specifically for girls (and women) are a lot more prevalent and focused. And it is near impossible to find anything focusing on boys and boys alone (in terms of advice and support, there are plenty of academic articles focusing on mental health in men and boys). And there are reasons for this. Mental health and suicide don’t sit in their own vacuum; there are catalysts and many of these are more prevalent in women (eg sexual abuse). But at the same time this makes the male suicide statistics even more stark and inexplicable.

What takes me on to something else. The UK is not short of charities (a good thing). Obviously these range from the big beasts (Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation and other household names) to the many local concerns, often in memory of a loved one. So it’s wrong to say that there are no charities for men and (especially) boys mental health; they just sit within broader charities like Mind and The Samaritans. Following on from that you have the fact that no charity starts itself. Somebody has to decide that there is a need for it and put the effort in accordingly. There is also a suggestion that women and girls tend to gravitate towards charities and charitable work more than men and boys, perhaps leading to an understandable bias towards their interests (although I hasten to add that women raise money on behalf of men and men’s issues as well). But that doesn’t alter anything about the male suicide route.

There is one high profile national charity exclusively for male suicide; the Campaign Against Living Miserably (or CALM). This charity has been gradually picking up momentum, not least through a high profile GMTV campaign, but given that it’s in aid of the single biggest killer of men under forty five it’s hardly a household name.

Which takes me to the end of this post which has been something of a journey for me as I collected thoughts and confronted prejudices. At the same time I have largely ignored one issue which is sexual health and education among teenagers and the feminist agenda that (wrongly) presents ALL girls as victims and (unfairly) ALL boys as aggressors with a ruinous impact on the latter. But that’s a complex issue and one for a future blog.

And in a way I’ve come full circle. We’re still left with the statistic that three times as many men commit suicide in a culture that supposedly favours them. Girls charities proudly claim that mental health is primarily a girls issue when twice as many boys commit suicide. And my starting point and the tweet that got me into trouble; how many boys are sitting in their bedroom carving patterns on their arms and making other cries for help that never come? And why?

LINKS

I’ve already linked to Campaign Against Living Miserably but it can’t hurt to do so again.

Young Minds

The Samaritans for support for anybody contemplating suicide

Perhaps one of the best sites I’ve found is Papyrus which works to prevent teen suicide.

If anybody can provide any sites that are boy specific please let me know. I’ve not yet turned anything which says a lot in itself.

And finally, partly for the sake of balance and partly to prove a point, here’s a girl specific page. Girls Out Loud Of course it’s not in any way their fault that there’s nothing remotely similar that I can find for boys and they do a lot of excellent work but the statement (halfway down the page) that girls are 3x more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than boysis notable. If they’d added but twice as many boys commit suicideto what extent would it have brought the whole house crashing down?

Doctor Who and the gender question

Well it has been a while. The blog did die something of a death, largely because maintaining it kept getting pushed to one side by other demands on my time. It hasn’t been for want of things to say, it’s just that there have been other ways to say it. However I’ve suddenly got a few things to get of my chest and one of these is the recent casting decisions around the BBC’s flagship science fiction show.

As we all know the lead role will shortly pass to a woman for the first time; Peter Capaldi’s Doctor will regenerate into Jodie Whittaker. And unlike too many people I don’t have any problem with that at all. It is a bold decision, possibly one that won’t work but I’m happy to give the new Doctor a chance – and if she doesn’t work out the sword of Damocles is always dangling over her character anyway. But given her track record (and that of the writers) I’m sure she’ll be great.

But in all the fuss over who the new Doctor would be and the eventual revelation there was a fairly important question that remained unanswered; what happens to the main supporting role of the Doctor’s (previously invariably female) companion.

Well if the rumours are true we now have our answer; Bradley Walsh, 57 year old comedian, quiz show host and actor is reported to have been cast in the role. It should be noted that to the best of my knowledge there is no official confirmation of this. I am acutely aware that I am going to jump the gun here as we don’t know exactly how Bradley Walsh will be cast. I should also add that I have nothing against him personally and I’d probably be making the same post if another actor of similar age and background had been cast instead.

However my worry (and I’d be reasonably happy to be wrong on this) is that Bradley Walsh’s companion will be a bumbling sidekick to a feisty female doctor. And here we come to the crux of the problem; a female doctor wouldn’t miss the point but such a casting combination would.

The Doctor is a centuries old alien and as such has always had something of the bumbling professor about him, even when played by Matt Smith. Every incarnation has their own quirks but ultimately the Doctor is the same character. And here comes the rub; the companion is not the same character although, again invariably, the role of each companion is very similar.

Since the series was revived in 2005 the Doctor has had six full time companions; all women living ordinary lives until their path collides with that of the Doctor and their life changes forever as a result. And there are other similar plot devices that connect each companion; how many times has the companion been the emotional anchor when the Doctor fails to consider the human angle? More critically the companion ultimately ends up being the heroine of the overall plot arc. The idea of a female Doctor correcting some sort of gender imbalance is a red herring; all fans will have their favourites and not so favourites but Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Amy Pond, Clara Oswald and Bill Potts have all been terrific role models for any girl (and a few boys as well).

And another point; with the exception of Donna all of these characters have been YOUNG women. Also, again with the exception of Catherine Tate who was an established actress and comedienne prior to her casting, the companion has always been played by a relative unknown who enjoyed a major career boost as a result.

Which takes me back to the rumoured casting of Bradley Walsh and why I’m so annoyed about it. When a female doctor was confirmed I thought there was an equally groundbreaking opportunity for a youngish male companion. We could have (for example) a newly demobbed soldier adjusting to civilian life in the Tardis, or a long haired emo type juggling his band and his studies with being whisked off to deal with Daleks and Cybermen. What a chance for the series and what an opportunity for a rising young actor (the young cast of the recent Knock Knock episode did well for example – perhaps one of the lads could step up like Karen Gillen did from an early appearance). But no, a female Doctor means we need an older male companion who will probably (not definitely – he could be a hard bitten veteran of the first Iraq war for all I know) play the part of the comic relief.

In the revived series there have been male supporting companions; Wilfred Mott (veteran actor Bernard Cribbins) memorably stepped up to the guest companion role and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) got his own spin off show. However the only real male breakout within the series proper has been Rory Williams and even he was a babbling wimp in his first series before they realised Arthur Darvill was being wasted as an actor and gave him something to stick his teeth into.

And finally, the elephant in the room. Gender and more specifically gender stereotyping. On the surface Doctor Who does appear to present a male lead/ female sidekick dynamic which could suggest that the man leads and the women follows. If the companion was presented as a screaming bimbo forever having to be rescued by the dashing male Doctor then that would rightly be unacceptable in the 21st century. However I have shown above that this is not the case as far as Doctor Who is concerned. In fact they often go the other way by presenting another stereotype; the girl is the gutsy hero while the man is a useless buffoon (and let’s face it, the Doctor often is a buffoon on occasion). Times have changed and women are rightly presented as both the leader and the heroine. Jodie Whittaker’s casting reflects that. So Doctor Who makers, if you’re reading this, give us a male companion and hero to remember (and make some lad a star while you’re about it).

Vote of our lifetime

Yesterday (Saturday 20th February) David Cameron called a referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the European Union for June 23rd. Whatever the outcome there is little doubt that this is an era defining moment and certainly the key moment of Cameron’s tenure as Prime Minister.

Obviously there is a relatively long time before the referendum itself and a lot could change. However I suspect that the result will be close; I honestly don’t know which side the coin will come down on. This blog isn’t so much about my own views on the referendum question but my mind is unlikely to change. I will be voting for Britain to remain a member even though, perversely, I’m not sure that’s the outcome I want. To explain;

We have been here relatively recently, or at least those North of Berwick Upon Tweed have. Just eighteen months ago Scotland voted to reject independence after a debate that was passionate and heated but proved a glorious street party for Scotland and a great boost to their economy. For better or worse, at least the rest of the UK is going to get some of that.

The Scottish referendum is key here because as we all know the side that lost the battle won the war. The SNP failed to convince Scottish voters of the case for independence but swept 56 of 59 Scottish constituencies in the general election that followed. Scottish voters shied from taking a step into the unknown but decided they wanted the most patriotic, pro Scotland party to represent their interests within the union. Nothing wrong with that.

The parallel with the EU referendum isn’t quite exact. The `out` campaign hasn’t coalesced around a single leader in the way that `Yes` in Scotland was always going to be about Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. There is going to be division between those who want to exit the EU as a pragmatic, libertarian decision (I’ll be generous and include Johnson, Gove, Duncan-Smith et al in this camp) and those who will make it a matter of tub thumping, intolerant nationalism (step up to the plate Nigel Farage who has of course been waiting for this for a long time and is unlikely to miss his moment). However the `in` campaign can hardly be complacent as David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn are hardly going to share a campaign platform.

Let’s envisage a scenario on June 24th when the UK has narrowly voted to remain in the EU. One can pretty much imagine the speeches from both sides. After all, we saw it in Scotland so very recently.The `out` campaign will be well placed to criticise every mis-step the EU makes and will be quick to pick up on broken promises when they occur. It’s in the lap of the Gods who benefits. Boris Johnson becoming the heir apparent to a lame duck David Cameron is the lesser of two evils. Nigel Farage is already as close to power as his French counterpart Jean-Marie le Pen was in 2002 and if he succeeds in dressing himself in the Union Jack he may be unstoppable. It is NOT improbable; Alex Salmond was once best known for being an occasional panelist on Call My Bluff and he rose to become First Minister of Scotland.

So in some ways a Brexit may almost be the progressive option. Cameron’s position would be untenable and somebody (most likely Johnson) will have to reshape a new UK within the Union. Labour may actually be able to position themselves as the genuine voice of progression.

Either way 23rd June 2016 won’t be the end. It will just be the beginning.

A final point. We are having a referendum because David Cameron promised one in his manifesto. He didn’t expect to end up in a majority government and having to deliver it. For keeping his promise he deserves some respect. But membership of the EU is not the most important issue in the political landscape. Far from it. The real national debate should be about the people struggling to earn a living wage and put food on their table. The scandalous geographical inequality in education. The vast estates in the North that have been devastated by thirty years of social neglect following de-industrialisation. What are the odds that these won’t be discussed at all (except of course when the SNP want to claim that they’re Scottish only issues as usual – couldn’t resist that)? I for one know the answer.

 

Omega Era – CD and gig review, 360 Club Leeds 18/9/2015

If anybody bothers to check this blog regularly you will have noticed that the number of posts has dropped dramatically in recent months. At the same time I made a pledge that I would review every gig I went to in 2015 and I WILL do that, even though some of the reviews are now six months overdue.

One possible reason I haven’t blogged as frequently is that the four local bands I was so passionate about in 2013 have slipped a bit off the radar; Pips are on hiatus, Four 45s don’t play as frequently and aren’t quite the same band and Strangers In Paradise always seem to play on nights I’m doing something. And the fourth band; Recovery; the ones I had a 100% attendance rate at one time …

Recovery never split as such but the band ground to a halt and further set of personnel changes left Jonathan Skinner as the sole founder member and Gav Ramsay went from being the new boy to the second longest standing member. It was a good time for a change of name to The Omega Era and for a fresh batch of songs. As to whether Recovery and Omega Era are the same band it is debatable. For those of my generation (born early 80s) it’s not entirely dissimilar to the question of whether Megatron and Galvatron were the same person. Or, for Only Fools And Horses fans, a bit like the question of Trigger’s broom.

There are reasons why Recovery didn’t lead straight into the Omega Era. Jonny Skinner was of course busy with a solo single (I’ll come back to that) and residencies at The Den and 10 Devonshire Place. However during this time he and Gav recruited Ryan Jones on guitar and James Dye and set about forming a band.

Perhaps it was this relatively long rehearsal period that set Omega Era apart from Recovery. The earlier band were a group of mates who gigged without much though before realising they had something special. Omega Era, by contrast, have spent months honing their sound and getting the EP ready to go before hitting the gig scene in earnest. The craft showed.

The CD launch formed part of a showcase for various Harrogate bands at the 360 Club, one of many live music venues in or around Leeds City Centre (I think it’s about the fifth I’ve been to in 2015). If the truth be told it was far from my favourite, being strangely claustrophobic although the acoustics were good. Omega Era were the second act on the bill, behind PseudoNympho and just ahead of Hellfire Jack. The latter, while not entirely to my taste, are always a difficult act to follow but Omega Ema made it look easy. Put simply, they’ve not only had the practice but have perfected a strangely complex sound that takes repeated listen to fully unravel. Gone are the poppier moments of Recovery in favour of a sound that hops on the border between rock and metal with Skinner’s imperious voice frequently vanishing into the murk but always to emerge again.

I’ve since heard that Jonny has scaled back his other musical commitments to concentrate on the band. If there is any criticism of the EP (entitled Alpha and being given away at the ridiculously generous price of £0.00) it’s that it doesn’t reveal the dimension that the frontman, at least, is capable of – it’s a shame that the stronger Recovery songs like Modern Army and Sunrise might be gone for good and quieter numbers (not just Keep The Candle Burning but also the brilliant 2013 piece Drive) would complement Omega Era’s distinctive rock sound nicely.

However that’s just a nit pick. The bottom line is that, unless Strangers In Paradise put out a new EP before the end of the year, the Harrogate rock scene is unlikely to see a better release.

REALITY TV STARS

Firstly I’m sorry I haven’t blogged for ages but other things keep getting in the way. It’s not for want of new music to write about.

Some of you may know that I’m a commentator on the excellent Popular blog http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/ that reviews every number one single, even if the knowledge of many of the commentators is so strong I often end up looking like the class clown. Anyway, the blog has now got as far as Hear’Say’s Pure And Simple and the dawn of the X Factor era. As part of the discussion I’ve compiled a list of the top reality TV chart acts; however as the blog owner prefers commentators not to mention future number one artists until their time comes I’ve posted the list here.

The list follows the old Guinness Book of British Hit Singles in ranking artists by weeks on the single chart, although it should be noted that the average chart run increased in length in the download era. This list was compiled on the 23rd of September and several of the acts had current chart singles at this time. It does not include appearances on charity conglomerates.

Finally for the chart stats I am indebted to another excellent site http://www.polyhex.com

1 Girls Aloud 262

2 One Direction 256

3 Olly Murs 236

4 Kelly Clarkson 207

5 Will Young 177

6 Leona Lewis 154

7 JLS 136

8 Gareth Gates 113

9 Little Mix 106

10 Alexandra Burke 99

GIG REVIEW – Relics, Dead Frequency, My Favourite Runner Up, Colt 45 – Milo Leeds 21/5/2015

They didn’t call this gig Four Faces Of Rock but it would have been apt. The venue was Milo on Call Lane in Leeds, not far from Oporto where I attended a gig earlier this year. There were four bands each representing a very different style although how deliberate this was isn’t clear. First up were Huddersfield band Relics who are very much in the metalcore category. This particular genre isn’t really my scene but it seemed very well done.

Which takes me on to Dead Frequency who – as Colt 45 have already had a write up on here – are the band I want to focus most on.

Dead Frequency (from Daventry, Northamptonshire) describe themselves as Glam Punk. Given how much Ziggy Stardust reset popular culture in 1972 and the enduring legacy of Freddie Mercury it’s curious how much performance and fantasy has dropped out of mainstream rock in recent years. I still feel a defining moment was when Oasis unexpectantly beat Suede to the top of the Britpop pile and the initially thrilling music of the Gallagher brothers gave way to a chugging blokeishness that produced a long slipstream of music that was at best beige and at worst thuggish and ignorant. Of course all acts are defined by their era (Mick Jagger put on a pink jacket during the glam years) and the Oasis effect meant that the Manic Street Preachers put socialism before eyeliner and even Elton John’s creative rebirth in 2001 saw the eccentric costumes of yore discarded in favour of singer songwriter earnestness.

It perhaps didn’t help that pop and rock diverged at a similar point (Pet Shops Boys and Erasure could hardly be called rock acts) and – something I was a bit hesitant to throw into the mix – maybe the one downside of a more tolerant society is that certain things aren’t as rebellious as they used to be.

But back to Dead Frequency who are Glam Punk and not afraid to flaunt it, right down to the cover of Ballroom Blitz. From the off they were looking to win over the audience and remind them that rock is about having a good time. Suffice to say that by the time a cannon of confetti was sprayed over the audience (Colt 45’s singer getting the brunt of it) they had succeeded. As a regular gig goer there are two marks of a good band and the first is how much you want to see them again (I’ll reveal the second shortly). I’m hoping Dead Frequency return to this neck of the woods soon.

Next up were Aberystwyth band My Favoruite Runner Up whose contribution to the evening was pop punk influenced. This band have two EPs and a full length album to their name and, while perhaps not offering anything out of the ordinary, are well worth investigating. I downloaded the Crossroads album tonight and there are some strong songs on there.

Which takes me on to Colt 45 and obviously I was fired up for seeing my favourite band of the moment again; judging by the enthusiasm of some other audience members I may not be alone. There wasn’t a tremendous difference between this show and the one they offered at the Royal Park so there’s little point in repeating what I said two blogs ago. Suffice to say it’s always a privilege to see this band and with Salt Water, I Thought I Knew Best and Chasing Yesterday (among others) present and correct it’s a case of great song after great song. Obviously Colt 45 offered a fourth sound of the night after metalcore, Glam Punk and Pop Punk and that sound was the brutal roar of simplicity and reality. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; there’s no great gimmicks with Colt 45 – they play and write songs better than almost all other bands.

Oh yes and the second mark of a great band? Well this only becomes apparent when a show overruns it’s scheduled times and it’s whether the band are worth missing the last train home for. Colt 45 definitely passed that test.

Take That, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, 18/5/2015

I made a promise at the start of this year to review every single show I went to. I’m currently a little bit behind but I promise that McBusted and Gretchen Peters will get the write up they deserve. In the meantime I’ll try and stay topical.

This was the third time I’ve seen Take That although the second time around (Amsterdam 2011) wasn’t entirely comparable due to the presence of Robbie Williams and his solo set halfway through. That was the Progress tour, which of course was a career defining moment for all involved. It was always going to be a comedown for Take That after that and indeed they themselves acknowledged it; `I’m Gary, I’m Mark, I’m Howard and we’re what’s left of Take That`. That said Robbie’s presence was always a glorified guest spot and Jason Orange’s role was relatively minor.

Post Progress Take That were almost in the same position Abba occupied in the late seventies, that of the pop band who people liked even if they didn’t dare admit it. However the III album was a relative disappointment with no real stand outs and a slightly samey effect across the whole album. The most interesting thing about it was the lack of guest spots which might possibly have been an attempt to disguise who was missing. However in the four years that seperated Progress and III both Gary and Mark have released solo albums (one reigniting his solo career and the other stuck as a cult concern despite far superior material) so there may also have been a desire to emphasise the group element. Credit where credit is due III sounds as dissimilar to Beautiful World (a fine album in its day but slightly dated now) as that album did to Take That And Party.

However when you have the hits and the history you don’t really need the new material and Take That have plenty of practice at putting on a show. The decision to play indoor arenas this time around allowed for more ambition with the staging even if there wasn’t anything as spectacular as a giant robot making its way through the audience. In some ways it was a retread of The Circus tour with a similar theme. Without the Robbie distraction the set list was largely similar to that tour with the better songs from III replacing the supporting numbers from The Circus.

Seeing Take That reduced to three members did bring into focus how this all came about. Gary Barlow was the lad who used to make music in his local studio, Mark Owen was the teaboy who became his mate, Howard Donald and Jason Orange were recruited primarily as dancers and a sixteen year from Stoke On Trent was brought in to make up numbers. You could be cynical and suggest that the band was now Gary Barlow accompanied by a tea boy and a dancer. However this would be an injustice to Howard Donald who was always involved in the musical side even in the early days and a definite slur on Mark Owen whose solo career I’ve blogged about previously.

Gary Barlow did himself no favours when he fought to keep Robbie Williams from stealing the limelight in the nineties and it’s ironic that he may still pull rank (listen to The Circus and marvel at how the magnificent Owen led Hold Up A Light never got a single release while the stodgy Greatest Day did) but there could be little doubt that there was always a lift in the show when Mark Owen came to the fore. Let’s face it, latter era Take That is better when he’s in the ascendency and yet he still seems like the teaboy who got lucky.

Nineties era Take That was relatively unrepresented with only five songs from that era, two of them covers, and even Back For Good felt like an awkward insert. However they served as a reminder that you weren’t just watching a superbly performed and choreographed show but that the Take That story featured four years of super stardom nobody thought could last, ten years as the butt of cruel jokes and a comeback that defied expectations. Some things are great just because it was never really supposed to exist and Take That 2015 is one such thing.

Colt 45, Royal Park Leeds, 11/3/2015

This is going to be a lengthy post, largely because it’s effectively three blogs rolled into one. Two of the blogs I should have written last year but due to other constraints I didn’t. However the time has come to talk about two of the best gigs I’ve ever been to (and another one that’s up there), two of the best records I’ve heard for a long time and a band who – if there was any justice in the world – should be massive.

It began in January 2014 with an impulse buy. I read a positive review of a record by a band called Blitz Kids, liked the stuff I checked out then saw they were playing Leeds Cockpit and decided I’d go along. In one of those little moments that one’s life hinges upon, when the night came I had to dash for the train and literally got on just as it was arriving. Had I missed it I would have made Blitz Kids but not the support band who were literally coming on stage as I arrived. That band was Colt 45.

Obviously I go to a lot of gigs and – contrary to the impression I sometimes give – I’m not that easily impressed. I may nod along and applaud but it’s very rare that a band has me absolutely transfixed. But Colt 45 put me in mind of Jon Landau’s famous reaction on seeing Bruce Springsteen for the first time. I can honestly say that I’ve never been confronted by such power and urgency that I saw on the Cockpit stage that night. Not only was the band’s sound terrific but they ripped from song to song and each one sounded great. As soon as the show finished (Blitz Kids incidentally were well worth the ticket but didn’t come close to the support band) I snapped up a copy of their CD.

That CD was Coughing Up Confessions which was already slightly out of date in terms of the band’s set and more pop punk orientated than their subsequent release. Like most independently recorded CDs it’s a bit ragged in places but judged on its own merits there are songs any band would be proud of, from the rage of Everyone Will Let You Down to the more introspective I’m Drowning, Not Waving. However there were two songs that raised Colt 45 far above the opposition, one on each half of the record. Those two songs were Happiness Is A Dying Art and Chasing Yesterday.

Happiness Is A Dying Art is the song where Colt 45 decisively find their style; the verse opening with vocals barked out almost like gunfire before the chorus enters in a sudden blast of melody. Chasing Yesterday, the song whose first line gives the album its title, follows the same blueprint but also introduces another Colt 45 hallmark in its refrain, `You will make it through this and you’ll make it out of here.` In itself this is nothing grandstanding, indeed almost cliche but read on …

So who are Colt 45? The line up consists of Neil Harper (guitar, vocals), Gareth Jenkins (bass) and Adam Lewis (drums). One description which they seem quite fond of is of them as, `a trio of pissed off punks from Cumbria`. They give a long list of influences of their facebook page of which the better known ones are The Replacements, Manic Street Preachers and The Gaslight Anthem. Unlike a lot of bands they don’t broadcast themselves as anything exceptional. In terms of their sound; the odd chorus harmony aside they’re a straightforward riff – verse – chorus – repeat act. While very much a group effort the ace in the pack is frontman Neil Harper; he has a distinctive gravelly voice somewhere between Rod Stewart and Roger Daltrey and is the architect of the guitar runs that mark their best songs.

Having been blown away at the Cockpit and with the debut album a constant on my Ipod the next thing was to try and catch them again live. An opportunity presented itself in March 14 when they played Gullivers in Manchester (shout out here for my friends Larry and Jamie who allowed me the use of their spare room – still much appreciated). This was a slightly more low key gig supporting ska band The Hostiles; not an obvious match but it seemed to go well. To be fair this show didn’t amaze me the way the Cockpit show did, partly because the element of surprise wasn’t there and the acoustics weren’t as strong. However it was still impressive stuff.

In July 14 the band released their second album The Tide Is Turning which – and I’ll stick my neck out here – may be the best record of the decade so far. Am I exaggerating? Maybe, maybe not.

The opening trilogy is worth the money by itself; the enigmatic call to arms of Salt Water and the more straightforward first single, OK. Then comes the three and half minute blast of brilliance that is I Thought I Knew Best. There’s no substitute for hearing it but this song has everything a great song should have including mystery, almost every time I listen to it there are nuances I haven’t picked up on before. There is nothing about ITIKB that could be done differently for me. It’s a fantastic song.

The remaining eight songs on The Tide Is Turning are also killers. From small town tales such as 595 and Found My Home to slower numbers The Simple Things Are Working and I Remember When The Rain came down there’s no filler here; the weaker tracks would be standouts in most normal circumstances.

Where Colt 45 rise above the pack for me is howthey sidestep the petulance and fantasy that  characterises a lot of pop punk bands, even the better ones. They don’t write songs about sleeping in bed all day and lying awake at night thinking about girls, instead they talk about getting out there and making something of yourself. For Colt 45 life doesn’t suck because you can’t party as often as you like, it’s cruel because the odds are often stacked against you. Put simply most bands hesitate to punch a brick wall because they might injure their knuckles, Colt 45’s music is the sound of having to bleed sometime.

On one hand it’s nothing madly original. Stereophonics wrote about small town life on Word Gets Around, the debut never they never managed to top but that album was riddled with filler. On the Born To Run album Springsteen breathed similar lyrical fire to Colt 45 (breaking out while you can) and, it should be added, found his true greatness writing about those who got left behind. Colt 45 are following in an old tradition and it will be interesting to see where they go next; I’ll make a few suggestions in a bit.

Which takes me on to their first headline tour and a chance to see them at the Royal Park pub in Leeds. It was my third time but the first in almost a year and also the first when they weren’t the support act. I didn’t really need a reminder of how fantastic the band are live but I got one. Inevitably I Thought I Knew Best was the highlight but there was also a fine version of Shit Happens from Coughing Up Confessions; their punkiest song featuring call and response between Neil and Gareth. During the show the latter frequently strode out into the audience with his bass. They finished with a surprise cover of I Drove All Night; one of the first records I ever bought and still a favourite today; this was Roy Orbison’s wall of sound inspired version but I also love Cyndi Lauper’s more skeletal reading. However it didn’t feel like a cover, Colt 45 made it their own and brought a new dimension to it doing so.

So to finish. On the one hand for Colt 45 anything seems to be possible. Neil’s voice is so versatile that the band could easily expand stylistically without sacrificing anything of their sound, particularly if the right producer gets behind them. Will they follow the Born To Run of The Tide Is Turning with a Darkness On The Edge Of Town? On the other hand I have to be realistic. In Leeds they were playing to a few people in the upstairs room of an out of town pub. Hopefully at the very least they’ll keep making music and I’ll get to see them a few more times.

Finally, this has been a frustrating blog to write because words can’t really describe how passionate I am and how passionate YOU should be about this band. Words are wonderful things but with Colt 45 all you really need is the music.

The War On Drugs, 02 Academy Leeds, 26/2/2015

So three gigs across as many nights, each very different to the one that went before. Ironically the last gig along was actually the first set of tickets I bought. If I’d known Ryan Adams was going to return with a superb new album and play the night before I might not have bothered this show – and missed a treat as a result.

It’s a sign of how fragmented music has become these days that a band so acclaimed (their third album Lost In The Dream received ecstatic reviews and topped many end of year critics polls) and who can fill a fair sized venue like the Leeds O2 are relatively unknown.

For those who aren’t familiar with the band, The War On Drugs offer extended length tracks featuring glorious soundscapes and complex arrangements. At one level their music grabs you immediately but on another it is strangely hard to get into, with each listen revealing new mysteries. It’s fair to say that they are a band you have to take time to get into and time is a luxury that’s in short supply for many of us.

During the show what impressed me most of all was how closely the band were able to reproduce their studio sound on stage without sacrificing any of the live atmosphere. Frontman Adam Granduciel was the key figure but the performance was very much a band effort. The result allowed the audience to lose themselves in the beguiling sound. There was also a place for audience interaction; Granduciel appears to be one of rock’s good guys and a contrast to the pricklier artist (even allowing for the camera incident) I’d seen on the same stage just twenty four hours before.

One thing I’m finding increasingly with the blogging is that it’s hard to write about gigs without recourse to adjectives that are either obvious or bordering on the pretentious. I suppose the limitus test of any gig is whether it was worth the price of admission and how inclined you are to go again. For War On Drugs the answers are `yes` and `very much so`. In the meantime I hope I find time to give their unique music the hearing it deserves.