HW: Astoria, See tickets, etc...

[Keith Henderson]

Aw, man...

The last two years, I've had no difficulties ordering tix online for the Astoria gig and having them held at the so-called (in America) 'will call' window for pick-up the night of the show.  Now, however, the Astoria (Mean Fiddler) folks have given over everything to See Tickets, who are the complete bastards that not only charge you a bloody fiver per ticket for their 'service' but also apparently are unaware that any country exists outside of the United Kingdom.  And then you have to have said tickets sent via post (for a price), and then they won't even let you order tickets for more than one show at a time and have them all sent in one envelope.

Luckily, the Pacific Arts place in Birkenhead has a nice ticket server where I was easily able to order a ticket to be held at the venue, and then my cc details from CH were accepted without much problem.  I imagine that the Astoria is big enough to not worry about a full sell-out, but then there were quite a few more people last year than the year before, and if that trend continues, it might be more yet.  So...is anybody about to put in an order for some tickets, and can add me in?  I'm sure there'll be a preshow meetup where such exchanges could be made.

The Manchester gig uses Ticketline, which I also find to be a big pain in the ass, 'cause they give no venue pick-up option (of course, it could be the venue's choice) and make you have them posted, but if I decide I'm going to that gig, I'll probably have time to have them sent to an address in CH.  But really, all these damn ripoff artists should really be a lot more user friendly, if they expect us to pay that much extra for planning in advance.

Anyway, nothing there is very interesting...so a couple more short things...

There's a brief review of TMTYL in the latest ed. (Nov.) of Classic Rock, the one where they give you the nice free DVD, which I haven't had a chance to look at yet.  It's not a very favorable review (only 5 out of 10 rating), and they only mention Spirit of the Age and (a bit oddly, because I dislike the chorus) Greenback Massacre (they like that it has balls...fair enough), but at least it promotes its existence.

In the Oct. issue, on the back page, there's a fun thing about weirdest pairings in Rock History.  And Sam Fox with HW (2000) is put in at No. 10 (of 15), but then there's a photo of her with NikT in full alien costume, so it stands out.  And in there as well is Lemmy being paired with some singers called the Norton (?) sisters or something, who I guess are a bit like the Cowsills or something.  Nothing about Wendy O.

Here in Germany, TMTYL is getting quite wide distribution...I can find it in just about any major retail store, including Media Markt, Saturn, and the like.  Often just one copy, but at least some people might find it by random chance.  Also, here in Köln is a club called 'Lemmy' but it's not a heavy metal club or anything, so I don't know the reason for the name.  I didn't actually see it, just an advert.

The VDGG show in Leverkusen last night was really brilliant...great venue, great atmosphere, lots of fans from lots of places (it seems)...more than 1,000 there perhaps.  The Rockpalast folks at WDR Köln brought all their excellent film equipment (looked like about 8 cameras of all types) and so I guess we'll see this on TV and then on DVD in the not too distant future.  BTW, they have now released both the 6 x half-hour performances of Birth Control, AD2, Jane, Epitaph, Guru Guru, and Karthago and (separately) also a long concert by Nektar from a year ago or so.  I saw both programs on WDR and will eventually get both DVDs probably.  Not everything is brilliant....AD2 could have been better that night and Guru Guru could have chosen some better tracks...and the Nektar thing has a bonus acoustic set from Roye where his voice has gone to hell and does some embarrassing things (Do You Believe in Magic is a nightmare), though the full band live set is OK (but for some difficult moments
 in Recycled).

Well, OK, all for now...Grakkl

P.S.  Why the hell did it take me so long to start to like Peter Hammill's singing?  Sometimes, my brain is very stubborn, and I can't learn to like some (unusual) singers for a long time, even though eventually I learn to love them.  Fish was another one.  (The guy from Clutch I don't like at all, though I think that may never change...same with Thom Yorke...ack!)

P.P.S.  There are three shows in a row at the Astoria/Mean Fiddler that I'd like to see...Cardiacs on the 11th, Fish on the 12th, and Litmus/AD2 (oh, and Nik & crew too) on the 13th.  (or perhaps I got the order wrong.)  If I can't go to the CH:Turkey qualifier, perhaps I'll even make a rash decision to fly in for this weekend...anybody else going to these?

P.P.P.S. The Tea Party's last album (2004) just got released over here in Europe...anybody hear it yet?


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