This month sees the re-publication of my second Royston Blake novel, Fags and Lager, under the new title of BOOZE AND BURN. I guess I will always think of it as Fags and Lager, but I don’t mind the new name. Especially since the word “fag” is now filtered out of work email and search engines all over the world, meaning I would miss out on a few mentions. Mind you, **** and Lager looks OK, doesn’t it? The first book in the series was called Deadfolk, and in that I wanted to depict a slightly delusional bouncer in his backwater stamping ground of Mangel… and no more than that. But when I started writing a sequel I knew that things had to change, just…
I’m appearing on the free Saturday at this year’s Lowdham Book Festival, the twelfth and second since they lost Arts Council funding. Despite the reduced funds they have a terrific line up. My only complaint is that all my mates are on at the same time. For, while I’m in a marquee with Karen Campbell and Danuta Reah, talking crime you could also be watching John Lucas talk about his brilliant 50’s memoir, John Clark discussing his wonderful graphic novel Depresso (which I wrote about last year), or poet Greg Woods launching his new collection. I won’t be in the least offended if you don’t come and see me. Before that, on Monday, in St Mary’s Church, there’s the first ever East Midlands Book…
We get ourselves a good, nearly central position in the tent, not quite as good as for Anna Calvi earlier but probably at the edge of the moshing. This is where you want to be, so that you feel fully involved in the show, but don’t come out soaked in sweat and covered in random bruises. The four guys to our right get out see through plastic pac-a-macs and put them on. What? These guys know the setlist and were here the night before. And they know that, any minute, the drinks are going to fly. The back of my head and cotton jacket get a good half pint during the first number. I wipe myself down with a hanky. Cider. And from then…
A very slightly extended version of my review for today’s Nottingham Post. On kd lang’s first visit to the Royal Concert Hall, nearly twenty years ago, the audience was dominated by screaming young women. Tonight the top tier is empty and there are notably more males, of the middle aged variety. The Canadian singer is touring with a permanent band who give her a more relaxed onstage presence. They launches into ‘I Confess’, followed by a boomy ‘Summer Fling’. The sound settles down for a delicate ‘Water’s Edge’. Then it’s a lovely ‘Miss Chatelaine’ from her breakthrough, still most successful album, ‘Ingenue’. The intro is coquettish, her stage dancing joyful. The title track of new album, ‘Sing It Loud’, is dedicated to ‘all the freaks.…
The third Arctic Monkeys album, ‘Humbug’, was a disappointment, and the gigs accompanying them were too. Unless, perhaps, you were stood at the very front. The band seemed unable to adapt to playing in arenas. The set was badly structured, with too many plodding rockers. Sheffield’s finest seemed determined to eliminate a large part of the audience they’d built up. After seeing this brilliant gig in 2007, I’d dragged my partner along to see them at Nottingham Arena. She was severely underwhelmed, as was I. So why am I going to see them again, in my hometown, in a huge tent, a week tonight? Because it’s a big Sheffield event, sure, but also because their new album Suck It And See, out on Monday, is…