Titor's Insignia - Live at the Citadel

Hello folks,

Blog time again.

This week I went to watch a local band at my local music and arts venue, the Citadel in St Helens.

I have to say the night in general was a total flop.  That was more due to my own expectations rather than the band.

I really had been looking forward to the gig and the night out and I thought Titor's were the main band on.

It turned out that Titor's seemed to be the support act for other bands on that night.

One of the band members, Peter Murphy, aka Bass Pee, is a part of my family so I felt as though I was obliged to write a great review.

Titor's were first up on stage.  Not a great position to be in with other bands to follow.

So, as you can image, the crowd were very low key when they came on.

I met my daughter Stephanie in the the foyer as we had previously arranged to go to the gig together.  We are both massive music fans.

Steph was very lethargic as she works very hard during the week.

I thought the band will soon pick her up and she will feel much better once the rock 'n' roll started.

I have known Titor's Insignia for about four years and I have chatted to the band leader, Stu Oggy, on several occasions in the past.

What I do know is that Stu is a very hard working lad and he takes the band and his music seriously.

The admission on the door was £5.00.  Now, I know that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but one way or another, I have worked hard for that money and I expect the band to do the same.

CDBaby say the following about Titor's:

"Brought together in mid 2008, Titor's Insignia have built themselves a solid reputation, a crowd pleasing live set and pride themselves on raw performances show after show.

"Their debut album "Fair City Riots" is an electrifying concoction of influences ranging from Britpop to classic rock with a sprinkling of Indie, and healthy dose of Punk thrown in for good measure.
 
"For the members themselves, "Fair City Riots" is much more than just a collection of songs. It is a diary of life experiences; a down to earth tale of love and life, good times and bad, and a window into what it means to be small town boys with big time dreams.

"From the mellow groove of "A Town Called Yesterday" and the uplifting "Set in Stone", to the classic foot stomping rock anthems "Fair City Riots" and "I Don't Love You", this is definitely as good as it gets if you like no nonsense, honest music.

"In this day and age of over produced manufactured one hit wonders, "Fair City Riots" is definately the proof you need that rock and roll is still very much alive.

Join Titor's Insignia's Fair City Riots as soon as you can, because afterall...

You're either on their side or in their way."

To be honest, there is no point in writing anything different about their music because I couldn't better this description.  It is exactly what they are good at.

As live performers, I just felt let down and wanted more that didn't come.  Admittedly, by their third song I was moving on the spot and really enjoying what they were doing.

The band have Oasis and Stereophonics influences and it showed, too obviously in my opinion.  I like the punk influences, but to be honest it's too good and polished to be punk.

The band gave a very accomplished and technically excellent performance.  They just didn't do anything.  I wanted excitement but it didn't happen.

Rock 'n' roll surely should have more entertainment to it.  It's not enough to perform live and just stand there expecting eveyone to love you just because you have a great set of songs.

They are brilliant musicians and each stands out musically in their own right.

I can't help feeling their strengths are in songwriting and recording and being very accomplished musicians.  They are great at it and way above any local band I have heard at this level.

I was told before the gig that Bass Pee had turned up drunk.  I could tell he was drunk when I saw him on stage but, to be fair, it didn't seem to affect his playing ability and I thought he was excellent but I just don't agree with someone turning up drunk for work.

I chatted to Stu Oggy after the gig and he was less than pleased.  Stu said, "It's like looking after kids, I am pissed off that Pee turned up drunk for a gig.  I take the music very seriously, it is serious.  One more slip up like this and he is out".  I said I didn't blame him and I agreed him.

Rock 'n' roll.

I can't fault Titor's Insignia musically they are great, so 10/10 for all round musical ability but only 5/10 for live performances.  I know they can be better.

After the gig, my daughter said, "I still feel really tired, would you mind if I went home", I said of course not Steph, I understand.  I went home too.



 

You Wish!

Hello folks,

So this is my second post to my new blog FFS (that's another story).

I'm not sure what direction this blog is going in but at the moment I'm quite happy to tell you about my little trip of buying art on ebay on a limited budget.

I'll tell you about the above painting in a bit.  First of all I should tell you a little bit about me (not much).

I love art.  I love owning art.  I love looking at art.

My favourite art subject is females.  I love paintings of females, I can't get enough of them.

He sounds like a bit of a Perv, I hear you say.  Let me explain a little further.

I love paintings of the human female form from an art sense as well as an aesthetic sense.

I love the way light and shadows form on the female body and an artists ability to recreate that in a tasteful and true style.

Show me what you see.

Oh, call me sexist if you want, but I don't like looking at the male form.

I could explain why I adore females so much in art.  Their bodies are softer and curvier than men without a doubt and that allows light, shadows and colours to just mesmerise.

But I'm not gonna do that!

The truth of the matter is it's because I'm a bloke and I love females.

Anyway, I ramble.

You Wish! Yes!

I bought the above painting.

It's by Eva Spacy and it's called 'You Wish!'.  Not THE Eva Spacy, I hear you say.  Yes!

Eva paints period 20/30s style females in bright colours with bright colourful backgrounds.

I love retro.

A local girl from St Helens, Heather Marie, is my favourite singer at the moment.  She does 40/50s wartime stuff. 


She seems to allow her colours to overflow, sometimes in a childlish way, but I like that.

If you have a look closely at any of her paintings, the colour does actually overun.  It's great, but not purist.  I like it.

I like the painting as much for it's title as the actual artwork.  You Wish!

It conjures up many things in my mind.  And yes.  A girl has said to me "You Wish!" before.

I always get confused when a girl says that to me.

What is she implying or hoping that I wish?

I hope Everton win the league but I wouldn't really use it up as a wish if the lamp turned up.

I wish I could have just one date with Susanna Reid.

I wish this place didn't have so many stupid colours for decoration.

Of course, we all know what she wants me to wish don't we but you can make up your own minds about that.

Anyway, I ramble.

The point is Eva made me look at this painting and she was able to extract hard earned money out of me.  Yes, the painting's that good.  Well done Eva!!

She seems to be getting more and more popular at the moment.  She is currently selling her paintings on ebay (20 x 16) for between £30 and £50 but I think they will go far higher in the near future.

The best recommendation I can give about Spacy Eva is that I now own three of her paintings.

Oh yes, and she's on Facebook at Spacy Art

You Wish!

Katie Bullock and the Lesbians

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