Well tomorrow actually but what’s a day out of the 18,263 since that long ago Saturday September 14 CSNY, Joni, Tom Scott, The Band and Jesse Colin Young hit the boards at Wembley.

Bob Dylan was rumoured to appear but didn’t and Neil Young drove off to Morocco in a Rolls Royce he bought With his share of the takings.

Anyone else there that day aside from Elvis Costello and myself?

Xena, our 11 year old Springer Spaniel, has been diagnosed with early-stage cataracts.

Under normal circs, would be happy to take her to a specialist to see if they can be operated on.

Problem is, having undergone TIPLO cruciate ligament surgeries in each of her hind legs In the last five years, Xena suffers from quite serious arthritis. While powerful monthly Liberium painkilling shots supplemented with Remedium tablets (when necessary) ease her pain, her movement is seriously impaired and she has piled on an alarming amount of weight. Sadly, this is a vicious circle that it is almost impossible to break.

As B and I aren’t keen on subjecting X to the stress of another operation or, indeed, whether she might survive it, would be grateful to hear from any other AWers with experience of caring for a visually impaired family pet.

With Harris’s campaign losing momentum, most recent polls putting her and Trump level on around 49% and only eight weeks to go to polling day, tonight’s debate could well be the defining moment of this year’s election.

Can H stand up to the sort of media scrutiny she’s far gone out of her way to avoid?

Can T spend 90 minutes focusing on issues without resorting to personal abuse?

It promises to be quite a night.

Rock Star Games’ Grand Theft Auto has made UK£6.4 billion over the years.

It’s makers have apparently just offered Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware the princely sum of UK£5,700 for the rights to Temptation.

Interesting interview in tipoday’s Graun.

Interestingly nary a mention of his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stint in Fleetwood Mac

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/29/dave-mason-traffic-book-interview

Genius piece of PR from Villa

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/aston-villa-ozzy-osbourne-geezer-butler/

50 years ago this week, Richard Nixon resigned and French funambulist, Philip Petit, walked 45m between the 400m-high twin towers of New York’s then recently opened WTC

34 years later, film maker James Marsh celebrated PP and his friends’ achievement in an academy award winning 2008 doc called Man on Wire. Made all the more amazing by its almost total lack of footage of Petit’s feat, JM’s film is a wonderful celebration of a far more innocent time. If you’ve not already seen the film, do yourself a favour and give it a look.

This week the now 74-y.o. Petit marked the anniversary of his WTC walk by mounting a 20-foot high wire and walking the 30m nave of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York.

While we’re all waiting for the longer film that will doubtless be along shortly, here is a brief news item about the event.

New album – The Cleansing – out on Nov 1 with a London live show a couple of weeks before

Huge fan since the OO’s debut album and the two shows I saw in Manchester in 79/80.

Having fucked himself up so badly on smack, was amazed how he managed to come back after what was apparently a fraught OOs reunion with the splendid How the West Was Won

While not nearly as keen on the follow-up, Humanworld, was happy to fly over to the UK to see his May 2019 London show in support of that album – the first time I’d seen him since his brief comeback during the days of Woke Up Sticky almost a quarter of a century before.

Sure I can’t be the only OOs/Perrett fan whose looking forward to this…

F8 and I were discussing the future of the Beeb over on the Olympics thread and now the issue seems worthy of a thread of its own.

Given how long the Tories had been gunning for them and disgust over the ham-fisted Savile cover up still fresh In everyone’s memories, it’s gob-smacking how the Beeb gave Hew Edwards a raise and continued to pay him for five months after they learned of his arrest.

Be interesting to see how the new government reacts to and deals with this latest own goal by the Beeb.

The Mail and Murdoch papers are going to be baying for blood come tomorrow am if they aren’t already

Last Thursday, I caught Bruce Springsteen and the ESB live at Wembley. Bruce being Bruce, it was a predictably magnificent show once they’d sorted out the muddy sound that ruined the first third of the set. While the Boss captivated something like 70,000 of us with nothing more than his guitar, voice and a couple of classic songs, I couldn’t help but think about any equally deserving songwriter who most of my fellow gig goers had probably never heard of.

I’m talking, of course, about the late, great Jackie Leven.

For those few AWers not familiar with Kircauldy’s favourite son, JL was a singular talent whose adeptness at balancing often caustic lyrics and frequently gorgeous melodies measurably exceeded his critical acclaim and commercial success. While he remained criminally under-rated in the UK, his relentless gigging schedule meant he’d earned – and enjoyed – cult hero status in places like Germany and Norway.

Having only discovered Jackie around the time of 2006’s Oh What A Blow That Phantom Dealt Me, I never got the chance to see him live. All of which makes Proper Records’ release of the 35 song, 4-CD Live or Die at Bremen set a real treat. » Continue Reading.

17 CDs

5 BluRays

Spans the years 1976 to 1987

US$449,99 for the 5,000 set collectors edition

Can’t justify the hefty price tag, but will probably get the cheaper second run

Anyone here in for the big box?

https://neilyoung.warnerrecords.com/en/neil-young-archives-vol.-iii-1976-198717-cd-and-5-blu-ray-%5Bdeluxe-edition%5D/093624839439.html?ref=direct&eml=2024July25%2F6530258%2F6010961&etsubid=187823981

Hope it’s not too late to stop Trump

First ever Knebworth Festival – The Bucolic Frolic

Allman Bros

Doobie Bros

Van Morrison

Mahavishnu Orchestra

SAHB

Tim Buckley

Admission cost the princely sum of £2.50.

Remember it as being a hot, sunny day – pretty sure main headline on that day’s papers was Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus.

Remember seeing a bit of SAHB (Next), all of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s second incarnation – bright sunlight and an audience of – what – 80,000 people not really an optimal showcase for them.

Backed up by Peter van Hooke, Pete Wingfield and a bassist whose name I have shamefully forgotten, Van was terrific. Veedon Fleece came out a couple of months later so I remember Bulbs as being a real highlight. Other amusing aspect of Van’s set was the mouthy Aussie bloke behind us who kept insisting that Van had previously fronted the Doors and would surely finish with Light My Fire

Never been much of a Doobies’ fan, but they were the sort of mindless boogie that the festival needed. The Allman Bros were pretty good but I think me and my mates had to get back to Euston for the last train to Cov » Continue Reading.

Out 27 sept

Steven Wilson…

£24….

What’s not to like?

https://burningshed.com/store/ape?utm_source=Newsletter+18+07+2024&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+18+07+2024

A good thing or a bad thing?

Did a great job in turning England into a truly national team rather than, as has been all too often the case in previous years, a national joke, but he lacked the tactical nous needed to take them further.

So who would you like to see next? Klopp? Howe? Tuchel? Potter?

27 CDs!

Despite the surprisingly affordable £91 price tag on AUK, I can’t see myself playing all 27 of these even once never mind giving them the AW-mandated minimum six spins

Anyone in?

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/bob-dylan-and-the-band-the-1974-live-recordings/

Arguably the most consistently inventive show on TV this last decade – especially given the fact that, unlike apparent “competitors” like Black Mirror, it has a rigid approx 27 minute time limit and nugatory budgets from the BBC

While there are inevitably going to be peaks and troughs, they’ve knocked it out of the park many, many times – the 12 Days of Christine, the Live Halloween Special being two oft-quoted examples.

Ninth and final series has been uniformly excellent, imho.

In true RS and SP style, the contents of tonight’s final episode are tightly under wraps

So what do you reckon they’ll leave us with:

Something about hares?

The rumored but apparently impossible to do On The Buses episode they flagged up only to run the 3 x 3 quiz show (the only ep in which RS and SP do not appear)?

A showcase for Sir Ian McKellen – the one actor they famously tried but could never get onboard?

Might make sense to have him as Orangey’s roomy to save on the security costs

Anyone see that weird footage of his Dad freezing at some ceremony or other?

They really need to get shot of him and Kamala if we are to stand any chance of keeping Trump away from the nuclear football