Having seen them a few times in their heyday I desperately wanted to be at their final gig at the NEC. It cost a bit but I made it, it was worth it – definitely one of those “I was there” moments. I’m sure that the irony of the national media coverage is not lost on the band. Back in the 70’s they were dispised by the mainstream media for their supposed satan leanings and were generally mocked by the Music press for being too riff based. It certainly wasn’t cool to like them back them. My fav bands at the time were Yes and Zep but the Sabbs were always in my top ten. I’d say only 25% of my Music loving mates shared this view at the time. Whether they invented meavy metal or not has been the subject of much debate over the years but what is clearly beyond question is the long list of rock acts who have come out and cited them as a major influence. This is a relatively recent (20 years?) phenomenum. So to the gig itself. Warm up from Rival Sons was great, “Electric Man” is a stonking good rocker to open » Continue Reading.

I’ve just read the excelent review by @Gatz from last February which summed up Ross’ style admirably – so I can save a lot of words here. He is well suited to small venues so choosing to visit some differnt towns on this tour was a great move. For me there is no better comic mind currently working. Although not like Spike Milligan he has the same tendancy to push things to a point of either manic genius or train wreck that misses wildly. Sometimes when listening to him I draw comfort because the voices in my head appear very similar to those that speak to him. I’ve learned to keep my worst excesses inside my head, Ross has found a way of making a living out of them. As noted by Gatz he clearly has some rehearsed topics that he can return to when required but much of his show involves the audience and therefore each one is unique. I was absolutly in stitches at his story that Dignitas had taken over the Hadron Collider at weekends are were firing two nannas round in opposite directions. You would have thought him well know enough for » Continue Reading.

I’ve been away for just over three years and now, for no particular reason, I find myself back here. Have I missed anything?