Twelve album reviews, a ‘phoner with Rhapsody’s Luca Turilli, five hours sleep and one summer cold all in the space of twenty-four hours and, it’s fair to say, I’m feeling somewhat sub-par.
Luca was an absolute pleasure, though, I have to say. Passionate, excited, ferociously intelligent and very much full of the proverbial beans. It was a fascinating interview and along with the obvious matters of the Rhapsody split and his new album, we covered opera, football, Scottish history, the world economic crisis and matters both philosophical and psychological. Vince Neil he most assuredly is not… You can read it in next month’s Powerplay, on the shelves June 29th.
The workload remains daunting, though. I’ve interviews scheduled with White Widdow and Serpentine this afternoon, for Midlands Rocks, ahead of their show with Dante Fox at Rock City, a press release and biog to get down before tomorrow and SheWhoIsNeverWrong requires both lawns cutting as well. Verily, my cup runneth over.
I AM I are also showcasing their stunning debut album, ‘Event Horizon’ (which I’ve reviewed for Powerplay, also slotted for inclusion in the June issue) in Birmingham tomorrow night and I’d dearly love to attend. The band’s PR, Judith Fisher, and her associate, the relentlessly energetic and irrepressible Tina Saul, have kindly stuck me and my plus-one on the guest-list list so I’m hoping I can clear the decks and get on down. You certainly should if tickets are still available. It’s one hell of an album and suggests the live show will be immense.
What else? Oh yeah, spoke to my American buddy and Classic Rock Magazine colleague, Joe Daly, yesterday. Joe’s coming over for Download and he and I planned a few things out we need to attend to while there. Among these, we’ll be hooking up with the legendary, Joel McIver. Actually, given that Joel is now editor at Bass Guitar Magazine and both Joe and I have been invited on board as freelance scribes, I suppose that makes Joel, technically, our boss? I suppose it’ll be ‘Mr McIver’ now, then. Or ‘sir’.
On the home front, thanks to Lurch moving back in, temporarily, the lawns are being attended to while I type and Satanicus Maximus is tidying up furiously in the hope I’ll nip him out to some monument to urban cool for new trainers. Parenthood; it’s just one big round of negotiation, people.
Tonight, despite the cold, should be a blast, though. I’ll be hooking up with Sean Larkin, Midlands Rocks’ designated photographer for the evening, and the crazy Paddy is always a good laugh. I suspect a glass or two of something refreshing will feature at some point.
Been a mental month all-round, actually. Had a night on the lash at a posh do with Mick Wall and his delightful spouse, Linda, last Saturday and, as a result, SheWhoIsNeverWrong and I didn’t get to bed ‘til 6.00am Sunday morning. I suspect that’s partially responsible for my somewhat debilitated state.
Could do with getting up for a blether with the Auld Yin, as well. If, for no other reason than to sicken myself that a man in his mid-70s is slimmer, trimmer, considerably more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than my currently knackered and burned-out self.
OK, that’s me, then; Sports Direct here we come. Y’all have an excellent weekend. Over and out.