Thursday 'Toon

Due to technical difficulties I'm giving the Thursday 'Toon the week off.

I'll endevour to get this up and running again soon and in such a way the text is easier to read. Why not check out my posts on Tool or Hellboy?

Cheers

Little Kid.

Tool – Gig Review

Following last week’s post informing you all that I had attended a Prince gig, I received a very upset response from a reader.
Clearly, not a Prince fan, so hopefully I can make good on my hard rockin’, alternative credentials by telling you that I saw the progressive/ art rock/ alternative giants Tool, at Brixton Academy.

Tool, for the uninitiated, are an American four piece that formed during the early nineties. They make the sort of seven minute plus records that never see radio airplay and perform music of such complexity you can hear the musos weep quietly in the audience.

Or at least you could if you could hear anything other than the sombre, frequently time changing, all consuming, sonic assault of Tool.

And it’s not just the music, that grabs you by the throat (ears?), the lyrics are deeply emotional, frequently baffling and highly esoteric. Where else could you find a band singing about human evolution and that references Carl Jung in the same song (46 & 2).

Despite some muddy and bass heavy sound problems during the first two tracks, Jambi and Stinkfist, the band went on to play 46 & 2, an extended version of Schism, Rosetta Stoned, Flood, Lateralus, Vicarious and Aenema. I felt the vocals could have been turned up a fraction and the sound at Hammersmith Apollo on the previous tour had set a high standard. Still, the show had all the usual hallmarks of a great night; lasers, mind melting visuals and Maynard in his Cowboy hat.

Then, as if one night wasn’t enough I was offered a ticket to go again the following night. The second night’s set list was very similar but featured the highly emotional Wings For Marie and 10,000 Days, which I love. The sound was better from the start and there was less ‘noodling’ on synths between tracks.

All in all, Tool, along with Nine Inch Nails, have to be some of the best performing bands in alternative rock today.

Hellboy – Comics Review

Currently I’m taking time off from reading novels (or maybe I just can’t find something to really get my teeth into). Whilst I was unpacking I came across a graphic novel I had forgotten I owned, Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction. I enjoyed it so much I took the time to head down to Forbidden Planet (shameless plug) and pick up the second volume in Mike Mignola’s singular work, Wake The Devil.

Hellboy is an enjoyable romp that is equal parts gothic horror, superhero comic and supernatural detective story. Along with his other buddies in the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense), Hellboy goes off on missions to track down the things that go bump in the night. Frequently this leads him into direct confrontation with the remnants of Hitler’s more occult based Nazis, who in turn answer to a mysterious Sorceror. There are no-end of weird beasties to be bludgeoned as Hellboy goes about the unenviable business of fighting the forces of Darkness.

Hellboy himself, as the name indicates, is not of this Earth having been summoned to this plane of existence in the dying days of WWII. The lead character is a lovable lug, a pugilist and er, a demon. But don’t let that put you off, he files his horns down to make humans less nervous.

The comic book art is gorgeous and features heavy shadows that lend themselves perfectly to Hellboy’s dark and dangerous line of work. The colouring is bold but never gaudy and the monsters are impressive.

Go buy this book!

She Walked In Through The Out Door

My musical tastes are fairly wide ranging but my youngest brother is what you would call 'a die-hard metaller'. He’s down with Megadeth, Pantera, Tool and allsorts of bands who have appeared on the metal scene since I departed it some ten years ago.

Imagine my surprise when I got a text from him asking if I wanted to see Prince. And therein lies an interesting point: Prince really does appeal to a very broad church. I dare you to name five Prince songs off the top of your head:

There, easy wasn’t it. The man is part of the landscape. His music manages to incorporate Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Hip-hop, Gospel and of course Pop.

My first introduction to Prince was When Doves Cry, I had it on one of those Now That’s What I Call Music compilation tapes. A little while later a girl at school turned me onto ’Sign O’ the Times and I played the Batman album so often I’m surprised it didn’t wear out.

Approaching the 02 Arena I was a little anxious, Prince Rogers Nelson is pushing 50 and his recent albums have been middling at best.

I need not have feared. Coming on to thunderous 1999 he proceeded to rip through a set littered with killer tracks. If I was Your Girlfriend, Forever In My Life, Seven, Let’s Go Crazy, Kiss, Purple Rain, I Feel For You, Cream and Take Me With You all featured. Did I mention he plays guitar a little bit too? Lord, he can play. As if shredding some seriously heavyweight guitar solos wasn’t enough he went on to another short solo on bass. The whole time he was casually throwing his instruments to waiting roadies so he could bust a few moves with his backing dancers. He had confidence and charisma in spades and was just the right side of cocksure that you were still in thrall at the end of the night.

We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?

The Lady and I celebrated being together for four years at the weekend. As we don’t have (and don’t intend to have) a wedding anniversary we count from our first date. It was a pretty low-key affair and given that the Lady has been so busy making TV programmes it was nice just to stay in, eat some good (relatively healthy even!) food and watch a movie.

Progress with the flat continues slowly. Black-out blinds have been ordered for the east facing, ceiling to floor length windows. My body is currently in open revolt due to being woken up at 6 am each morning.

I feel like a Romero extra minus makeup.

The Thursday 'Toon

As part of a regular feature on Little Kid With A Beard I'll be posting a Thursday 'Toon courtesy of very talented friend Christian Christerson. Tune in everyweek for a dose of Star Wars flavoured hilarity.

3 Months Old

You Look Like A Little Kid With A Beard is three months old! I wish I had a juicy book review for you or some scathing opinion or witty insight but alas you’ll just have to make do with real life.

Things are going well, very well.

Firstly the Lady and myself have moved into our new flat in N1. The move was pretty harmless when all was said and done, although the week leading up to it was murder on the nerves. Our good friend Sofia came over on Sunday and cooked us eggs Benedict, washed down with bucks fizz and then followed up by a smoky treat or two. The rest of the day was spent in the park with friends, casually ignoring a free festival laid on my MySpace.

A dozen or so kids wrote into DK Findout magazine just to say how much they enjoyed the article I wrote on Samurai. I got quite a kick out of that and feel pretty righteous about passing on my fascination with Japan to a new generation of nerds, ahem, I mean readers.

I had my probation review for my job and had probably the best review of my life. If I had school reports that looked as good as that review I’d be laughing. Talk about being a late starter.

Lastly – I found not one but two long lost friends on FaceBook. The first is a guy I got on famously with in Southampton. He was studying at University and worked in Games Workshop part time. When he moved back after his studies finished we lost contact and that was that. Now through the joy of social networking technology it seems I am destined to drink beer with him once again!
As if that wasn’t enough, my constant companion and accomplice at High School is also on FaceBook. Although I haven’t seen Jo since I was seventeen it’s nice to be back in touch again.

All in all things are pretty good.