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I woke up a little earlier than usual yesterday, so decided to go and join the queue for Record Store Day at Square Records in Wimborne.  I used to do this every year, with my earliest arrival time having been pre 4am. In recent years I’ve taken my chances, heading over a few hours afterContinueContinue reading “Record Store Day 2024”

This week our Star Wars fandom took us to an event a little closer to home than usual. The touring exhibit ‘May the Toys Be With You’ made its way to lovely Wimborne, where it has a residency at the Museum of East Dorset from til April 2024.  Having seen photos of the collection at previous stops,ContinueContinue reading “Star Wars memories from generations of fans”

Yesterday I headed to London with Tom to see Less Than Jake and Bowling For Soup, on the closing night of their biggest UK tour ever at Hammersmith Apollo. It really is incredible to see two bands from my youth still absolutely smash it two decades later. https://vimeo.com/917242980 We were very lucky to get toContinueContinue reading “You asked for it”

When I ran the Saint November Records, I used to include a handwritten note with each order I sent out. People told me they liked these and in the years since have messaged to say they kept them. Overnight I received a message from someone to share that not only did they keep the note,ContinueContinue reading “Monday morning validation”

I’m becoming fairly desensitised to celebrities passing, but when I received a text from my Mum to say that the DJ Steve Wright had died it stopped me in my tracks. Like the shock of hearing someone you’d just seen the other day is no longer with us (there’s a reason for this that I’llContinueContinue reading “My 90s nostalgia trip loses a key player”

I managed a total of 24 gigs in 2023 (browse the whole list). I’m not sure if I’ll top that this year. I got off to a good start this month though, with two back to back shows across the first weekend of February.  Number one took Sam and I up the country to LeicesterContinueContinue reading “2024 gig season begins”

Some downtime at home through the Christmas break and subsequent ‘cold snap’ gave me a welcome opportunity to catch up on all of the things I hadn’t made time for throughout a busy autumn and start to winter. I’ve been cataloguing Pez and other collections (learn more here), catching up on comics, saved articles, TVContinueContinue reading “The life and death of optimism II”

Live music has been a big part of my life for 20 years. I wrote recently about my first gig in May 2003. It’s hard to believe now that in 2020 I didn’t go to a single show. When they started up again in Autumn 2021 I managed to squeeze a few in. Last yearContinueContinue reading “A banner year for shows”

A strange thing happened to me on the train to the YATM x Espresso+ ‘MATEY’ event in Bath this month. I had a playlist of new and recent albums to listen to, one of which was Nothing But Thieves. I knew they were due to be playing a rescheduled gig in Bournemouth the following week,ContinueContinue reading “Dead Club serendipity”

Tom and I travelled across the bridge to Wales to see Kids In Glass Houses conclude their reunion tour at The Great Hall in Cardiff. We worked with the band in 2012 to bring their debut album Smart Casual to vinyl for the first time (followed by Dirt and In Gold Blood in 2014).  https://vimeo.com/879534790ContinueContinue reading “KIGH ‘Smart Casual’ 15th anniversary show”