YOU-V-ME at The Chameleon, Nottingham

Had another great show in Nottingham on Saturday night - playing the Chameleon Arts Centre for the very first time. As a venue, it oozes a sort of D.I.Y attitude with its stylish yet scruffy decor, along with a soundsystem and P.A just too big for the size of the room. Not that this mattered of course, the sound quality both on and off stage was fantastic, and left little room for improvement.

We played this show upon invite from one of Nottinghams most promising new promoters - "Now You Form A Band" ran by Pat Lockley. Previous nights have seen upcoming talents such as Boat To Row, Shapes, Talons and our good friends Sharp Knees grace the Chameleons small, red curtained stage.

Saturday night also featured a lot of promise as we played alongside BONBONBONBONS, Nottinghams aswer to Gary Numan, Strokes/Joy Division influenced STOP EJECT and scouse precision pop wonders, INDICA RITUAL.

YOU-V-ME played:

INTRO
HARPOON
WOLFCRY
VAMPIRE KISS
THE ART OF DYING YOUNG
RED NEEDLE
POISON IN HAND
"THE NEW ONE"

You can check out video footage of fan favourite RED NEEDLE here!

So, only two more gigs to go now until the end of YOU-V-ME.

Catch us at Kasbah, Coventry on the 5th March 2010 or our final show at The Royal, Derby on the 6th March 2010 with support from Frontiers and Sam Bennett.

Thanks for reading.

Spotify Time!

Bonjour!

After a busy sunday at work, I decided to just chill out at home with a bit of music. One thing lead to another, and I've ended up putting a spotify playlist together. Just a handful of songs, some classic, some breakthrough that i'm feeling at this very moment in time...

Izzo (H.O.V.A)(Live on MTV Unplugged) - JAY-Z
Sobotka - I CONCUR
Pon De Floor - MAJOR LAZER, VYBZ KARTEL, AFROJACK
You! Me! Dancing! - LOS CAMPESINOS
Against All Odds - CHASE & STATUS ft. KANO
Bodies - ROBBIE WILLIAMS
Feeling This - BLINK-182
Just Can't Get Enough - DEPECHE MODE
Rice and Peas - TODDLA T ft. MR VERSATILE
Go West - PET SHOP BOYS
The Warning - HOT CHIP
Folds In Your Hands - PASSION PIT
One More Chance - BLOC PARTY
Make A Move - LOSTPROPHETS
Hold The Line - MAJOR LAZER, MR LEX, SANTIGOLD
L'Via, L'Viaquez - THE MARS VOLTA
Ordinary Son - UNGDOMSKULEN
Sugarfoot - BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS
Give It To Me Baby - RICK JAMES
Personal Jesus - DEPECHE MODE
(Feels Like) Heaven - FICTION FACTORY
19 - PAUL HARDCASTLE
For Tomorrow - BLUR
This Momentary - DELPHIC
Under The Sheets (Jakwob Remix) - ELLIE GOULDING
Romantic Rights - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
Caterwaul - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
To Fix The Gash In Your Head - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS


Hot Chip show at Rock City, Nottingham tomorrow night - expect a review in the forthcoming days.

Au Revoir! x

"Invictus" Review

Invictus
2010
Dir. Clint Eastwood
Starring : Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
by Jake Danvers.

Having been drawn to Invictus based almost solely on recent Golden Globe and Oscar hype, it was pretty safe to say that I was highly hopeful for something special.

With Eastwood tackling yet another sporting film after the successful Million Dollar Baby, I think it is now safe to say that he has this area pretty much nailed. Similarly to Million Dollar Baby, the action scenes involving the South African rugby team are perfectly directed and choreographed to create a fast paced, up close and personal melee, putting many other titles involving sports scenes to shame. Granted, there is a sense that the viewer would need to have a basic grasp of the Rugby Union rulebook to make real sense of what is really going on, but nevertheless, the excitement is still breathtakingly luring.

As we have found before with many films that document true events, good casting is usually the key to success. Invictus well and truly delivers in this category, with the weathered looks and grey hair of an ageing Morgan Freeman suitably fitting in his portrayal of Nelson Mandela, whilst the volatile talents of Matt Damon, delivering a superb Afrikaaner accent, allow him to shine as Springboks 1995 captain Francois Pienaar.

Freemans excellent disposition of being able to deliver almost film changing speeches once again warm him to the role of the wise and opinionated Mandela, leading us to believe that it is actually the great South African president that we are seeing on screen. The Mandela mannerisms that we have become so used to through the press and news reports are intricately exhibited by Freeman. This is the genuine article.

Along with the recent success of Neill Blomkamps District 9, Invictus has really pushed forward an observation of the Apartheid regime in South Africa to younger viewers like myself, who have admittedly, never really been taught about such an important time in the history of one of the worlds greatest nations. The subtle racial tension and mistrust in Invictus is evident, and the fairytale road to unity as the film progresses give this movie a real feel good factor, and restore the dying belief that anything is possible.

8/10

Officially a "blogger" now then...

Hello all!

Considering that I spend most of my days sitting twiddling my thumbs, I thought i'd channel some thoughts/anger/energy into writing a blog, basically covering general occurances in my life, as well as the odd film/music review to keep my brain and fingers busy.

As i'm new to this, I presume that if you are reading then you know me personally, and will have already heard that my band YOU-V-ME will unfortunately be splitting up in early march. However, we are going to be playing a final farewell gig at The Royal in Derby on Saturday March 6th 2010. Details of the show can be found here.

Other final gigs include:

Saturday 20th February - The Chameleon Arts Cafe, Nottingham
Friday 5th March - The Kasbah, Coventry
Saturday 6th March - The Royal, Derby (Final Show)

Thats all for now.x.