A Tale of Sweat and The Subways

A Tale of Sweat and The Subways

I love live music. I really do. It doesn’t really matter what kind of Music really, I’ll more often or not have a great time. There’s jus t something about the performance of live Music that really appeals to me. This is obviously amplified when the live music in question is by a band that I’m wholeheartedly a fan off. 

Tuesday the 27^th of September I, my brother and my two friends took a trip to the big city. The big city in question was Manchester, a twenty minute train ride from where I live, so I do realise the trip wasn’t that epic. However, the night was. 

Our reason for this excursion? To go see Brit rockers The Subways perform at the Manchester Academy 2. We got there just as the first support was about to come on. With a male vocalist a male drummer and a female bassist you would be forgiven for thinking that they were a Subways tribute act. However, with their mixture of simple melodies and charming lyrics they were a pleasant little band. Nothing to write home about, but fun none the less. 

Next on were The Computers, who were a strange mix of talents. They looked like rock-a-billies, played music like hard rockers and sang like screamers. I’m personally not a fan of that kind of screamtastic vocals as I like to distinguish one song from another. 

That being said, what they lacked in musical prowess I thought they made up in stage presence. OK, the lead singer may have come across as arrogant, but this is a performance after all and you could tell he was passionate about his chosen profession. 

To cap off the set, The Computers lead singer leapt into the crowd and sang the last few songs among the rabble. If I wasn’t a fan of his performance then, he had definitely won me over. I think energy and fan interaction is a big deal and these guys had it in abundance. 

After The Computers left the stage, we had a lengthy wait until The Subways came on. At one point it felt like they were going to not show up at all, especially at quarter to ten with an eleven o clock curfew. 

However, my hesitations were misguided and at 9.50 the lights went out and The Subways graced us with their presence. Bloody Hell what a presence it was. I had seen The Subways on three previous occasions so I knew what to expect regarding energy levels. 

But, like a good film you haven’t watched in years, all expectations were surpassed. Hitting it straight out of the park with ‘Oh Yeah’ followed shortly followed by one of my personal favourites: ‘Young for Eternity’. To start the gig with this one-two combo was a stroke of genius and immediately got the whole academy bouncing. 

The good times certainly rolled for the first five songs of the set. Then atmosphere subdued a little when The Subways played a few new songs that the crowd were obviously unfamiliar with. Some good (We don’t need money to have a good time), some not so good (Pop Death). 

However, when Shake, Shake came on there was no looking back as the rest of the set was a mash of unbelievable energy and cracking music. This was capped off by an Academy wide circle pit to ‘Turn Around’. 

At 11 O clock, The Subways bid farewell to their loyal supporters and the sea of sweat they dropped throughout the night. Ok, a 70 minute performance is a bit short, but since an average song by the band is at under 3 minutes, it was still nearly a 20 song set and to be honest, if the set would have gone on for much longer, I would have probably collapsed. 

It’s better to leave your audience wanting more than to overstay your welcome and The Subways definitely dif the former. All in all, it was a great night of Music and physical excursion which ended with a Ginger Beer and a bag of Nick Nacks. Oh, and the offer of Pills and other narcotics. I refused. 

I implore any one that has the chance to see The Subways, to do so. Obviously, I’m a fan, but even if you’re not big on that kind of music, for 10 pounds you definitely get your monies worth. 

 

Until next time, enjoy the Show.

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Thanks for reading.

Daniel Morris.

John Morrison Should Quit

John Morrison Should Quit

Before I start this article I just want to say I’m a fan of John Morrison. A big fan, Nohomo. I think his work in the ring is fresh and he definitely has a wow factor when he competes. The Spidermanesque performance at this years Rumble was definitely impressive.

 I also don’t think he’s terrible on the microphone. He definitely had his moments when he was on the Dirt Sheet with The Miz. I think that wrestlers work best when their characters are an extension of themselves.  Morrison clearly looks after himself and looks good by doing so. Why not play on that? Have him being the good looking ladies man who looks as good in the ring as he does out of it. Have girls on his arm all the time. Why not make him a modern day Ravishing Rick Rude?

I know Cody Rhodes kind of played on that last year with his ‘dashing’ gimmick. However, the key to Cody’s Gimmick was that nobody else believed that Cody was attractive. Which is a different Gimmick to knowing how good looking you are. With these tweaks I really do think Morrison could be a top level heel, who could eventually turn back to a babyface. 

That being said, I believe that John Morrison should quit the WWE. 

It’s evident that John Morrison is firmly in the doghouse. He has been at the company for several years now and has never made the top level. Every time he seemingly gets towards to the top, his push is stopped and he drops back down to where he was.

Currently The Prince of Parkour’s stock has never been so low. He is Monday Night Raw’s jobber to the stars, who is there to put over the main event talent. I think this is one rut too far and it might be time for JoMo to pack up his bags and leave Vinnie Mac and the boys. 

Why do I think John Morrison is in the Doghouse? Well I don’t entirely think it’s a woman’s fault. Yes it’ well known that Morrison got heat due to Melina not being the classiest of females. John Morrison hasn’t helped the fact that he has hid his man bits when it comes to sticking up for himself. 

However, I don’t think this is all of it. Sure, I don’t think it helps. But, wrestlers have had girl trouble in the past and Vince has looked past it. I just think it comes down to a matter of respect and John Morrison has none. It seems to me that Vince doesn’t respect John Morrison as a man and he’s never going to push someone he doesn’t respect. Would you?

Also, Vince is a traditionalist. He likes his bread to be bread and he doesn’t quite appreciate the new and the unconventional. John Morrison’s ring and life style is definitely unconventional and it might simply be a case of Vince just not ‘getting it’. 

 With all these bad marks on his record I honestly do think it’s going to be hard for John Morrison to stop being a member of the ‘jobber squad’. I’d quit. Where would I go? TNA of course. 

Yes I know TNA has its problems and quite a lot of them in fact. But, there is one thing that they are good for and that is pushing previously established talent. Unlike the WWE where they bury talent from other companies, TNA promote it. Especially from the WWE, John Morrison could go there and quickly becomes a star. 

They also have no problem pushing people with an unconventional wrestling star. Hell, that’s how TNA fist made its name. I could see good feuds with Hardy and Styles and maybe a run in the X division. 

I’m not saying that his WWE career is done forever. Far from it. But I think he definitely needs a change of scenery. If he did establish himself in TNA, it may open Vince’s eyes on what JoMo can really do. It worked for Christian and John Morrison is in a similar position now to what Christian was when he left the WWE. 

You never know, quitting may earn him the respect that he needs. 

What do you think?

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Until next time, enjoy the show.

Daniel Morris.

Big Screen, Small Ideas.

Small Screen, Big Ideas

With the new series of Sons of Anarchy 3 episodes in, I thought it was an apt time to write about something that has been on my mind for a while: the recent boom of good Television drama in the last decade or so. 

It’s used to be a perception that movie theatres was where the magic happens and TV shows were just there for people to tune in and pass the time. That’s not the case anymore, Television dramas, especially in The US is getting better and better and in some cases is surpassing anything that you can see on the big screen at the moment. 

While the big film companies seem to be producing sequel after sequel with very few unique films come out each year, the so called small screen is a whole different kettle of fish. Original and fresh TV dramas come out each year pushing the boundaries of storytelling to mass audiences on a weekly basis. 

You only have to look at the shows on Television right now, to see how much quality is pouring out of the TV each night. Shows like Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and The Walking dead all had great first seasons. Then you have recurring drama such as Justified, Entourage and my personal favourite Sons of Anarchy all two or more seasons in with no sign of slowing down. 

Were in a boom period for Television right now, there is no doubt about it. But the question is, why? The fact is, no matter how many gems are produced at the cinema, the big screen is a bit dull at the moment. Yes there are great movies out there, but the amount of sequels and remakes that flood cinemas worldwide is growing. 

TV seems to be the place where the original stories are happening. Instead of seeing the same old same old, we are treated to new and intriguing stories almost every night. Interesting television concerning any subject matter is right there in the comfort of our own homes. 

Add that to the fact that almost everyone owns a DVR right now, so TV is far more accessible than it was years ago. The days of missing a show because you dared to have a social life are over and you can thank that magic box underneath your TV. We can watch what we want when we want to watch it. 

Easily accessible it might be, but we shouldn’t shy away from the fact that the quality of product is also impressive. TV is the perfect medium to tell stories. Due to the episodic fashion it’s easy to create an immediate story arch for an hour, while still building tension towards the series climax. 

Also, with around 13 hours in a season, the writers are able to go in to a whole lot of depth to show. Not just on the main character either, but minor characters also receive in-depth stories and characters. What is created is great Television. 

I’m not saying TV at the moment is perfect and everything on the small screen is gold, because to be honest, there is a lot of trash still around. However, definitely in this writer’s humble opinion, the screen maybe small, but the ideas are definitely big. 

What do you think? Feel free to comment.

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Until next time, enjoy the Show.

Daniel Morris.

Review Recall: Harry and The Hendersons

Review Recall: Harry and the Hendersons

I apologise in advance, today’s Review Recall might not be the Pulitzer Prize winning drivel that you’re used to. I’m heading out to a party tonight after a busy weekend. However, I did manage to watch Harry and the Hendersons last night so I thought I’d do a quick RR before getting my crazy on. Today we’re heading to 1987 to meet a rather large ape and I’m not talking about John Lithgow. 

The Plot: George Henderson is an outdoorsy kind of guy, but only if he can use his hi-tech cooking equipment and shoot anything that moves. On the way home from a family camping trip George hits a large animal. On further inspection, he discovers that it wasn’t an animal, but the legendary Bigfoot. 

George’s first reaction is to kill the beast and get incredibly rich off the discovery. After  taking it home the Bigfoot wakes and starts to terrorize George and his family. Instead of shooting the beast George has a change of heart and names the Bigfoot Harry. With Harry being as big as he is it’s almost impossible to keep him under wraps especially with Jacques Lafleur (David Suchet) on the hunt and the neighbourhood in a Bigfoot hunting frenzy. 

The Film: What I remember from my childhood Harry and the Hendersons is a friendly family entertainment movie about a Bigfoot and a family. You can imagine my surprise when re-watching thefilm I find out the film is filled with profanity. There are S bombs and B bombs, everything but the F and C bomb, adding a more adult tone to the film. 

Yes there is a fantasy element to the film, but a kid’s film this is not? OK Harry is pretty funny and definitely appeals to children, but the subject matter, theme and language does contrast the ‘family entertainment’ label that the film has attached to it. This leads me to my biggest problem of the movie. 

I don’t think the film itself quite knows its audience. To me Harry and the Hendersons feels like a script that should be an adult fantasy film, but was repackaged to suit a more family audience. That would be fine with me, but I don’t think the repackaging of the film was done to the full, leaving Harry feeling like six of one and half a dozen of the other. 

The Performances: That being said, I don’t hate the film, quite the opposite really. John Lithgow is as great as always as man of the house George Henderson. At Screenwriting School we were told ‘make your protagonist an asshole’ and Lithgow is definitely an asshole to begin with. 

However, David Suchet steals the show as Jacques Lafleur who plays psychotic hunter madman as well as he does a Belgian detective. 

Verdict: Not as great as I remember, but still has a certain charm. Who doesn’t want a Bigfoot as a pet? 5.5/10

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment. 

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Until next time, enjoy the Show

Daniel Morris

Why the best wrestling angle on TV isn't from WWE

Why the best wrestling angle on TV isn’t from WWE

I know I wrote an article about TNA last week, but since we’ve just had a PPV from both companies and TNA’S Bound for Glory PPV is coming up, there is something that I think needs to be said. That is that: The best angle at the moment is coming from TNA, not the WWE. In my opinion at least. This is a very rare occurrence. Even though TNA does have potentially good storylines now and then, they never really make me stop and take note. 

Just so I’m not leaving Vinnie Mac and the boys out, I’ll talk briefly about the HHH vs. Punk conspiracy angle. I’m not saying I don’t like the angle. Quite the opposite really as it does have some potential. Is it as good as I thought it was going to be when Punk cut that promo? Heck No. 

I’m not sure where the angle’s going to go. Usually this is a good thing and I enjoy the unpredictability of an angle. However, I’m not too sure whether the WWE has a long term plan for where the angle is going to go.

To me, it feels like they are holding off HHH turning heel as long as possible, because a lot of us fans see it coming. We only see it coming because it is the right thing to do. OK, yeah the ‘Who’s involved in the conspiracy’ angle is interesting, especially since The Miz and Truth have been ‘fired’ now.  But, since we don’t have a designated heel in the angle, it’s pretty hard to emotionally get involved. 

I could be wrong, and WWE could pull a swerve and do something completely unexpected. Leaving this writer to eat a rather large slice of humble pie. Until then, I just feel that TNA has got a better angle going at the moment. 

The angle I’m talking about? Hogan vs. Sting of course. 

Ha, gottcha. It’s the Robert Roode vs. The rest of Fortune. For those lucky few who don’t commit Television self harm by watching TNA each week, I’ll quickly fill you in on the angle. Robert Roode has just won the Bound for Glory series and thus earned a title match against Kurt Angle at the biggest PPV of the year. 

On the next IMPACT, Angle came out and booked Roode in a series of matches pitting Roode against his Fortune team mates and ‘best friends’ including his tag team partner James Storm. 

The Fortune guys can let Roode win, but then they would be down the pecking order for a title shot. If any member of Fortune beats Roode, they will be in line for a title shot at whoever the champion is after Bound for Glory. 

I hope I did that angle justice because I’m really impressed with it. TNA have taken a solid underdog story that the fans are invested in and raised the stakes leading up to their big main event. To me it has everything an angle should have. It has emotion, logic and creativity to create a completely believable scenario. 

We can see why one of Fortune would want to beat him and we can see that it’s going to cause conflict and create obstacles for Roode to overcome. I also, can see Robert Roode’s logic behind the angle. Some people say that Roode has nothing to lose in the angle and could easily just lie down for Fortune. However, Roode is at the highest point of his career and I believe that his character will want to show everybody that he is deserved of the title shot. 

OK, it’s not going to be the longest running angle in the world, but there is nothing to say it has to be a long angle to be good one. An angle should be as long as needed to tell a well crafted story. Also it sets up many possibilities for the future and could possibly create more than one top level talent. 

I would personally have Roode beat Kaz, Daniels and AJ in hard-fought battles. Then I would have Roode vs. Storm the week before bound for glory. They will fight for 20 minutes where Roode would get the win fractionally. Everyone would cheer and they would shake hands in the ring. 

After Bound for Glory I would have Roode vs. Storm for the title. Storm would eventually turn heel against rude, creating two new top stars that have paid their dues and that the fans could get behind. 

My only hope is that TNA don’t blow this angle and with TNA there is definitely a big possibility of that. I’m sure there is a chance of David Arquette turning up and winning the TNA world championship. 

What are your thoughts on the angle? Do you like it? Hate it? Think I’m being too generous? Feel free to let me know. 

Thanks for reading.

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And until next time, enjoy the show.

Daniel Morris