Curtains for you, 2014 my dear

2014: The Review

I could bore you with everything I have done over 2014 but I imagine you would sharp get sick of reading, so instead I have narrowed 365 days down to my top three memories.

As a whole the year was amazing and I have met some truly wonderful people and my insight on life has been changed massively.

3) Catfish & the Bottlemen

As you can see, I have left this heading very vague. This is because CATB have constantly been amazing. By both dropping a sick album in September as well as seeing them on multiple occasions I have never been more passionate about a band.

I think their Leeds festival set and the acoustic show in Manchester's HMV were the highlights for me. Well, that or meeting them several times.

2) Getting into Teesside University

How on earth did I manage this?! I didn't even apply until a week before the course started and still got onto my chosen course.

I couldn't believe my luck but I'm certainly not complaining. So far everything is going well and in 2015 I will sit my NCTJ qualification exam.

Hopefully it all goes to plan!

1) Leeds Festival

Without a doubt the highlight of my whole life!

Seeing all of my favourite bands in the space of 3 days is certainly something I will never forget.

Courteeners, Arctic Monkeys, Peace, Blink 182, Drowners, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Jake Bug, etc etc.

I will definitely be attending again in 2015 regardless of the line up.

I already have so many gigs booked for 2015 so I just know that I'm going to have another amazing year.

I am most looking forward to Leeds Festival and Courteeners at Heaton Park.

Seeing Catfish & the Bottlemen in Leeds, Newcastle, London, AND Sheffield will also be incredible!

All the best for the New Year festivities, love from Callum x

Merry Christmas

Temples - Sun Structures on vinyl (a lovely gift from my girlfriend) and Jack Daniel's & Coke.

An excellent end to a great Christmas day.

Peace - Live Review

Peace - O2 Academy, Newcastle (12/12/14)

Callum Thornhill

Question:
UK tour, Reading & Leeds main stage slot, supported the Libertines, and now supporting Bombay Bicycle Club. Where do Peace go from 2014?

Answer:
An almost fully sold out UK tour and new album.

From what we have heard from the new album it is going to be another amazing year for Peace.

The tracks already heard are World Pleasure (which seemed to come out light years ago before a video was finally put up on Friday), Money, Lost On Me, and latest track - Gen Strange.

All of these sounded incredible on Friday night during their Bombay Bicycle Club support act slot.

These combined with the classics of Lovesick, Follow Baby, and Wraith was all the Newcastle crowd got from Peace.

It was a real shame for folk like me who were going only to see Peace, however from what I heard I was most definitely impressed by their live performance as per usual.

Koisser's presence on stage of being both a massively talented vocalist, guitarist, and all round cool had the crowd bouncing - a rare sight for a support band.

If you are lucky enough to have tickets for Peace next year you are in for a treat!

I caught a snippet of World Pleasure here:

 

Temples - Live Review

Temples - Riverside, Newcastle (11/12/14)

Callum Thornhill

Headlining Newcastle's Riverside, Temples brought their modern psychedelic tunes to the north east.

This was the final date of two years of touring including festivals and of course they had to go out with a bang.

Supported by Superfood and Klaus Johan Grobe, it was always going to be an amazing night of music.

Sun Restructured was recently released as a 'remix' of debut LP Sun Structures and the announcement of the tour was imminent.

The hits from Sun Structures were fused together beautifully with a live backdrop from San Francisco's very own Mad Alchemy.

Gracefully playing through the likes of Move With The Season, Keep In The Dark, and Sand Dance, the crowd was jumping around. I thought it would be chilled out...

To my surprise/delight 'Ankh' was played by the band, one of their very best tracks. Much less surprising though was Shelter Song being the song that Temples closed with.

 By 'close with' I mean before the encore.

This encore was Mesmerise being played with an extended outro that seemed to last an eternity - no complains though.

I for one would love to see Temples again, after meeting the band before the gig too I discovered that they are all humble people and very modest.

A marvellous night indeed.

Superfood - Live Review

Superfood - Riverside, Newcastle (11/12/14)

Callum Thornhill

Playing a support slot with Temples, Superfood brought their typically B-town groove to Newcastle.

Only a few songs were all Superfood were allocated but they made the most of it to the crowd who were loving Dom Ganderton's warm vocals.

The setlist consisted of Bubbles, TV, Melting, Believe, Moodbomb, Satellite, and Superfood.

The support slot was perhaps given to help Superfood promote their debut LP - Don't Say That.

With ticket prices below £15, some fans only came to see Superfood then left before the headline act came on.

They would have left feeling satisfied and excited for Superfood's return to the north east when they are sure to pull a larger following.

Luckily I was able to see them at the Leeds Festival opening night so had an idea of just how amazing they truly are.

I am excited to see them again personally, great band - greater live!

Early Morning Bus Breakdown

The bus broke down on the way to uni this morning.

I was annoyed but the sun coming up over the powerplant looked stunning.

I see it every morning but had to capture the image this morning to show peoe my usual view.

Lovely.

Noel Fielding - Live Review

Noel Fielding - City Hall, Newcastle (5/12/14)

Callum Thornhill

Bringing a combination of stand up and live animation, Noel Fielding brought "An Evening With" to the north east.

For the first time since the Mighty Boosh tour, the City Hall was home to such a psychedelic God in the comedy world.

Opening with some improvised lines on people coming in late, then moving on to his age creeping up on him. However, even though he is now 41 it is clear that he is still full of energy.

Bringing in tales of dreaming of being a herbal teabag, as well as being a chicken boy in the 1970's (I won't go further into this to avoid spoilers), Fielding was soaking up the laughter and applause from the Newcastle crowd.

Plasticine punk Joey Ramone was brought to life at the gig as well as Noel entering the plasticine world. Fantastic scenes and fantastically choreographed, the animation and live stand up worked in perfect harmony.

Other characters from Noel's shows made an appearance last night too including Sergeant Raymond Boombox and Fantasy Man. Actors Tom Meeten and Michael Fielding were also used on stage by Noel Fielding, adding variation and more laughs.

This was only the second comedy gig I have ever attended after Milton Jones' Leeds Festival set. Usually at gigs I enjoy jumping about and dancing, but last night's full seating event was welcomed by me. True comfort.

I would strongly recommend going to see Fielding on the remaining dates on his tour. If you do, don't be afraid to dress up as one of his characters. The Newcastle City Hall was full of people dressed as Fantasy Man - I don't know whether I was scared or impressed.

p.s. as you can see from the image I was lucky enough to meet Noel before the gig. Absolute gentleman and a true honour.