Bit short notice

We last played together in April 2010, when we did a bit of recording with Fatbwoi.
We had a reunion strum and bang with sturm und drang on Tuesday 7th December
As so often happens, this went with the gusto and joy of freshness and rediscovery
So we decided you should all have a chance to see a live reunion rehearsal and how much energy it has
We didn't play many songs, we mostly just played, so the songs will still be fresh to us
Lets just hope we remember them!
Next gig then:
Adam & Eve, Bradford St, Digbeth
Monday 13th December
Last act on, at approx 10.30
See you there!

I will be 40 next year

I will be forty years old next year. I can't say I'm particularly happy about that. From the age of 22 I dreaded my impending 30th birthday, and thus I wasted most of my 20s. 40 has only really started to loom in the last few months.
I am currently part way through reading Richard Herring's excellent book (particularly if you like Richard Herring. If you don't like him, probably won't be your favourite book) How Not To Grow Up, about his own struggles with turning 40.
30, to be honest, really was just a number. Whereas nearing 40 I am getting some tangible signs of ageing.
I have had "a bad toe" for about 3 months now. The nail went manky, and it was agony every time one of my spawn stamped on it. Its finally clearing up, but things never used to take that long to heal.
I've had a cough for about 4 weeks now. Its turned into a chest infection. I'm on antibiotics and I've had to admit defeat and quit smoking. I'm resting. I genuinely don't feel well. I passed out whilst coughing, which scared the bejesus out of Mrs Langston, as she had to pound on my chest to restart my breathing.
I'm never ill! Never! Even though I weigh as much as Rosie (from "Whole Lotta" fame, ie nearly 19 stone). But she was supposed to have breasts, and I'm not.
Found out this morning that a friend of mine who I've known for 30 years (and that's far too long a time to be applicable to any aspect of life) had 2 strokes earlier this year.
Signs of mortality are on the increase. Not just that we all die. I've known that to be true, logically, for some time. The problem is that it is increasingly applicable to me specifically.
Hence the reason for most mid-life crises, I suspect - a desperate attempt to milk the most from what remains of life before it is gone.
But I've already had a red sports car. Already had a busty blonde girlfriend 10 years my junior (now my wife and mother of my two boys - rock and roll!). I already play at being young again in a rock band.
What else is available to me?
I don't drink any more, really. I have no desire to philander - my life needs simplifying not more complexity. What else can one do to recapture lost youth if not go on a self-absorbed rampage of self-destruction with collateral damage?
As I write this, I really hate the only logical conclusion. Not self destruction but self improvement. Lose weight, eat better, jog, exercise. Its entirely possible that the signs of mortality (aches, pains, illnesses, general decrepitude) would ease (or at least be replaced by some new aches and pains).
What a depressing conclusion to reach. I may have to make constructive efforts instead of self destructing. That can't be right, surely?
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Solo gig! Solo gig! Solo gig! Solo gig!

Monday 25th October

8-11pm

5 acts on, FREE ENTRY!

My first ever solo gig without the comfort of a band around me

 

 
ADAM & EVE, BRADFORD ST, DIGBETH B12 0JD


Lovely gig venue, with proper PA and a good sound

Perfect for witnessing my live solo debut

Come along !

Free entry

What else have you got going on for a Monday night?

Open letter to John Spellar MP, sent 10 September 2010

Dear Blog readers (both of you)

I've just sent the following e-mail to John Spellar
In the unlikely event that he responds before the Pope's visit to Brum (Sunday 19 September) I'll let you know
Frankly, in the unlikely event that he ever responds, let alone does anything, I'll let you know
Bear in mind he only spoke in 6 debates last year, and asked 5 questions last year (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_spellar/warley)
He responds to about half of people, making him number 434 in the chart (of 650 MPs)
Feel free to ask him the same questions - or ask your own MP
http://www.findyourmp.parliament.uk/ may assist in this


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: garethlangston@hotmail.com


Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:59:54

To:

Reply-To: garethlangston@hotmail.com

Subject: FAO John Spellar



http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-catholics-its-you-this-pope-has-abused-2074029.html



Dear Mr Spellar

I read with interest Johann Hari's quite balanced article in the Independent (see above).

Surely, the Pope should be arrested rather than welcomed to neighbouring Birmingham?

I'd like to ask - is there not sufficient evidence of offences committed within the EU where he has been complicit in conspiracies to pervert the course of Justice? This man is no respecter of the law, and believes himself and his organisation to be above it.

Please can something be done to combat his sanctioning of paedophiles, his causing the spread of AIDS, his sexist and homophobic pronouncements?

Thank you for your time

Gareth Langston

Album thoughts

Was chatting (electronically) with our good friend Dave, and I thought I'd share some thoughts. Dave ( http://www.fatbwoi.com/ ) is a musician and producer who has very kindly begun to record our album for us, for those who don't know.

PLUG AHOY! :

Fatbwoi 5 are playing Glastonbudget this weekend, and gigging throughout the summer - a must-see show, so I urge you to see it, dear reader!

Anyway, I hope to have about 8 to 10 tracks in the "shops" (online) for xmas. Preferably xmas 2010. Dave as Fatbwoi is currently recording about 30 tracks for his own acoustic album. The Fatbwoi 5 have just released their excellent Relentless EP ( http://www.fatbwoi.bandcamp.com/ ). So I'd like to canvass the opinions of loyal readers - both of you!

Personally, I think you should mess about in the studio, not just slavishly record what you've got already. You make the recorded songs the best they can be, the album as a whole the best it can be, and you make the live performances the best they can be. But they don't have to be a faithful recreation of each other. You can add on parts in the studio if it sounds better, that you know won't happen live. Extra instruments or effects maybe. Doesn't matter about not recreating it live, live stuff will have the energy and volume and drama that you can't capture in the studio. Just as the full band and the acoustic versions are two different beasts, so the studio versions (band and acoustic) can add a further two beasts. It becomes an audio zoo, with a wide variety of beasts showing the wonder of "god's" creation. And I'm not comparing myself to god, I'm not saying that I'm god. That's for other people to say. (a Richard Herring gag there - aythankyew)

I'd quite like our album to have odd snippets and comments in between tracks if possible. Some throwaway remarks which made it to tape, or some very brief pieces of music, maybe. Then again, I may need to do a solo album for all the stuff the others reject, as I suspect they would with that idea! Something along the lines of The Who Sell Out or Ogden's Nut Gone Flake? Dark Side of the Moon even? That's the kind of thing I mean between songs, rather than Radiohead's Fitter, Happier (though I really really do like that track a lot) An album is not necessarily just a collection of songs, it can be a thing in itself which needs to be listened to as a whole. IPods and Shuffles, and even before them CD random sort buttons, have changed this. I rarely now listen to a whole album from start to finish - the technology just doesn't encourage you to do that any more.

In short, though, your album is your own album and is made primarily for you not the listener. So I hope we put together what we think is the best album we can, and give no thought at this stage to potential listener expectations. 

Confound them!

In both senses of the word 

That said, I now contradict myself, as comments are invited

I'm just curious, that's all 

Young Man Blues

Mose Allison wrote Young Man Blues when he was about 40. "Well a young man, he ain't nothin' in the world these days". The song laments that young men no longer have the respect, and older men have the power and money. A paean to teenage frustration and impotence.

Do Spotify (or equivalent) both his version with jazz piano, and The Who's version from Live at Leeds. Its a teenage anthem, and a call to arms against those who are too old to rock and roll.

Well now...

Rock and Roll has traditionally been the preserve of teenagers and very young men since its inception in the 1950s. With the exception of Bill Haley, of course, who was 29 in 1954 when he recorded Rock Around The Clock. Looked older than that, for me.

Jazz and Blues have always been happy to accept older performers - its more convincing to do world-weary in your 50's than in your teens perhaps - but rock and pop have always been a young person's game. If your parents don't hate it, its not rock and roll.

And the older bands get, the more they lose their mojo. Rock is anger and frustration and aggression. You calm down as you get older and the hormones settle down.

In my late 20s, I realised I was now too old to become a rock star, and gave up on the dream.

Recently though, I've begun to question this. Oh, not that I can seriously consider this band a career option. This band is 4 friends who enjoy playing together and putting on shows for their friends as a hobby. Its not that we're not good enough, I honestly think we make a really good band, but realistically nobody is going to buy our stuff in enough numbers to make any money out of it.

No, what I mean is this. Bands are hitting their peak and breaking through and being accepted much older now. Pulp released Common People after over 10 years together. Elbow, Doves, Seasick Steve even.

I believe there's a second age in life where there is a great deal of love, passion, uncertainty, anger, determination. And its your 30's and 40's. Puppy love, with its novelty, uncertainty, panic and insecurity, is replaced by parenthood. With it also comes a second age of anger, all-consuming love, break-ups, depression and all the other traditional emotions of rock music. It is still possible to be an "angry young man" in early middle age. There is a lot to be angry about if your life isn't turning out how you thought it would, and you're at the same time coming to terms with your own mortality and that of your parents.

And it needn't produce Dadrock, either. Sing along, everyone, I've got those residents parking permit blues! No, with a fresh wave of the traditional elements of rock and roll, older performers can create something genuinely moving, drawing on anger, frustration, birth, death, disillusionment, depression, unconditional love and all the rest of it.

We're not old, we're retro! And having seen a number of pub bands where we are old enough to be their fathers, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that many of them haven't been alive long enough to know what they're talking about. I don't mean to sound patronising or arrogant, but I am, so that's the way it comes out. We absolutely piss on most of the bands we play with. Not all, but most.

So don't write off older bands. We have more life experience to draw on in writing and in performance energy. We rock.

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Song title

If you can't live without me, why weren't you dead when I met you?
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Boomshadow is not just a band, it is a way of life. This band is not a dictatorship, it is an equal democracy of four men. Because I say so. Though none of the others will be able to blog here as I speak for all. I assume they'd agree to that if I asked them.

Testing

Testing, testing
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