Billingham Forum 10 May 2022 — It’s a strange night tonight. The venue is about two thirds full¹, and over the course of the evening it’s clear that this troubles Ed just a bit because it keeps coming up. There are reasons of course, principal of which is the fact actually sitting here tonight has only…

Tyne Theatre, 5 May 2022 — Well, it’s been a mad old time. This was the week of the five gigs¹, and tonight is the last. It’s always nice to come to the Tyne Theatre. It’s a lovely auditorium, and the vibe is always relaxed and friendly. I had a brief but friendly chat in the…

Newcastle City Hall, 3 May 2022 — Oh, to be 17 in 1967, down at UFO or any number of the other groovy happenings in the Summer of Love. For those of us too young to have ever been there (i.e …

Durham Gala Theatre: 29 April 2022 — There’s just something about a Half Man Half Biscuit gig that’s not quite like anything else, especially for repeat offenders like me . Yes, it’s a roomful of mostly middle aged men jumping up and down like loons and not worrying about the arthritis until you can’t get out of…

I just sent this letter to my MP. This was about as short as I dared go within the bounds of at least some semblance of politeness, because right now I am angry almost beyond the point of rational speech. Dear Robert Goodwill, This will be a relatively short message…

Middlesbrough Town Hall: 8 April 2022 — A lot has happened to Rachel Parris in the last three years, and the pandemic, as we discover later, appears to have been the least of it. We’re in the Crypt tonight, and the audience is, on the whole more, probably female than male, even though this is also very…

A portmanteau of wankery — Twats walk among us. They breathe the same air, sadly sometimes continuing to exhale as they do, often mask-free, as they wander about the place. Mostly it is just the background thrum of quotidan bellendery that offends us. And honestly, I don’t exclude myself from this. Sometimes I’m a twat…

No, this piece is really not what you think. — DISCLAIMER: This is probably not going to be that coherent. It’s written on the hoof, and as it continues it feels mostly like a bit of rage piece, so there will be typos. Apologies in advance. I was alerted to this book by a friend on Twitter. She saw a…

Ok, so I talked about Zoolook, and because I’ve done that, I feel that I really have to talk about Equinoxe now. Equinoxe is a problematic album in the Jarre canon, because it’s the one immediately after THAT one, the one everyone knows, or at the very least knows one…