Lords of the New Church - Live For Today

You know what? I only found out yesterday that 'Live For Today' was not a Lords original. I have no idea how this managed to pass me by - this is precisely the sort of thing that I'm unhealthily anal about. Seems the song has a bit of history, with the Grass Roots version being the most well-known but it was originally recorded in Italian by The Rokes.

This came up as a friend's group, the Left Step Band, have recorded their take on 'Live For Today', which surprised me as I didn't think they would have come across the Lords song. And as it turned out they hadn't. A live video of the Left Step Band performing 'Live For Today' can be found here. Check it out.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Alexandra Palace 25/08/05

Now check out that ticket - how many of those do you see these days? Since the likes of See Tickets and Ticketmaster cornered the UK market I've found myself in the possession of various scraps of paper that all look much the same.

So for Mr Cave & co to produce a ticket adorned with a photo of the Alexandra Palace and it's stunning surroundings is noteworthy in itself. A true beacon above and between the terraced streets of North London, Alexandra Palace is a fantastic location - but a poor music venue. With a low stage and non-sloping floor, even the tall people in the audience were craning their necks to see anything.

A massive shame, and one that detracted enough from the evening for us to end up leaving early. Not a reflection on the gig itself - Nick Cave has enough presence to transcend the fact that you can barely see him. But also nagging away at me was the knowledge that I had tickets to see the Pixies at the same venue the following week .....

Tim Minchin - Debating Hall, Edinburgh 22/08/05

Glamrock? Well, okay maybe not - but then google the name and you'll see he has a pretty fancy hair-do. And as becomes fairly apparent from his set he is very much a frustrated (failed) rock star.



I saw him back in 2005 largely by chance. With a trip to Edinburgh booked for the festival period and countless shows to consider, I heard on 5Live a small piece about the festival during which Tim Minchin was named as the 'must-see' show. So we booked - after all, the element of surprise is partly what Edinburgh Fringe is all about.

The idea of a piano-based songwriting comedian does not hold much hope - the last example I remember of this was Richard Stilgoe (or 'Richard Still-Going', as referenced by Newman & Baddiel). Not the sort of act you want to follow. But .... Tim Minchin has reclaimed the possibility that you can perform comedy this way and pull it off. In isolation his act suffers a little (I've seen him on TV performing individual songs), but his full show, with the songs punctuated by regular stand-up, delivered in a slightly nervous style, works brilliantly.

'Rock & Roll Nerd', in which he describes how he chose piano over guitar but desperately wanted to be a rock star has virtually become his anthem. He's touring the UK from next week before heading back to Oz for Christmas and to get you in the mood a few excerpts from his show can be downloaded from his website.