Monday, 29 March 2010

Ska's Not Dead by Sandy Dhaliwal


Hello Misticon misters and mistresses!

You must include the lateness of this update from me, your old pal One Piece! I should have checked in with you before but I have been in mini hibernation. Yes, I have actually been turning down party invites, opting to stay in and watch my V The Complete Series Box Set instead! Forget the remake, it's all about the original eighties show! Donovon with no top on and Tyler's one liners against the aliens invading Earth, YES! No idea what I am talking about? If you're partial to a bit of sci fi like me then check this out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085106/

I also figured I'd rather not be spotted looking tired and emotional and get diagnosed with 'exhaustion' or something silly like that just because my partying ways have started to catch up with me! I turned 26 last month with a session at Fitzrovia's finest cider pub The Green Man, followed by some Feeling Gloomy / Club De Fromage action in Angel; and boy did I pay for it the next day! Probably this whole month has been my recovery in fact. Lame. I'm not in my early twenties anymore! Damn!

I must also tell you about my tattoo as well! I was maybe having a mid twenties crisis and decide to get inked for the first time on my birthday. Matt H at Tattoo UK did the honours and it surprised me how painless the whole process was. I got a bit of a bad ass tat on the inside of my calf. It's a skull with a bow on it's head and the words Life Won't Wait around it - words I live by and also the title of my favourite Rancid album.

I also got the horror that is Gastric Flu for a couple of weeks this month while lying low. Ever wondered what it was like being allergic to all food and drinks? Well don't! I wouldn't wish that evil on anyone! It even made me miss a show I had been really looking forward to for like the last six months. MC Lars and Zebrahead are currently touring Europe and I had passes to their London show the other day, where I was meant to be interviewing and reviewing the acts. Instead I had to make do with Lars' awesome album This Gigantic Robot Kills and Zebrahead's cheeky Playmate of the Year record for comfort while I sat on the sofa dreaming about eating literally anything! Jezza Kyle was on hand for the televisual comfort! Standard! I'm actually listening to This Gigantic Robot Kills right now. Hipster Girl has got me shaking my booty all around the office at the moment. It's lucky the MD isn't around. He's probably not cool enough to get MC Lars and his thinking person's post-punk laptop rap. Tee hee. Title track This Gigantic Robot Kills is a favourite of mine. As it wants to 'party like it's 96 and bring the horn section back', proclaiming 'SKA IS NOT DEAD!' Damn straight and worth shouting!

I did manage to fit in a few cheeky gigs before it all went wrong that are worth telling you all about though. Wolfmother played a sold out show at Brixton Academy. And those Aussie hard rockers kicked some serious ass - regardless of the new line up, there's only one original member left as they got sick of his ego! With hints psychedelic rock a la Led Zep, Sabbath and Hendrix, they gave me that urgent blast of rock and roll that I needed and proved the band could still live on with the new members. Their new album Cosmic Egg was awesome to hear live too, especially the anthemic New Moon Rising! Perfection!

Ska punkers Reel Big Fish played all my old favourites at Koko including their riotous cover of A Ha's Take on Me and the horn-tastic likes of Beer and Sell Out! Punk Ska-core kids Big D and the Kids Table - a big favourite of mine - were the support and they sent us all into a frenzy with their defiant anthems LA X and Checkmate. I got my dose of the heavy stuff though with the Fear Factory / Sylosis show at Camden's Electric Ballroom. With bullet to the brain metal from both bands and lots of head banging, this took me back to my days of corsets, Doc Martins, fish nets and blood red lips. Fear Factory's industrial dance number Linchpin was a big highlight for me as I remember dancing to this during their Reading Festival appearance about ten years ago!

I managed to also fit in a stint as a model and stylist for Misticon. My escapades and pics from the day are going into a rather posh magazine called Exclusively Yours. I will post a link when that is published for you to peruse! I also have a few gigs ahead of me that I'm sure I'll fill you in on next time - Dropkick Murphys, Airbourne, Paul McCartney, KISS and Aerosmith.

Off to Barcelona this weekend! Can't wait!

Much luv,

One Piece xxx

www.feelinggloomy.com

www.clubdefromage.com

www.thegreenmanw1.co.uk

www.mclars.com

www.zebrahead.com

www.wolfmother.com

www.bigdandthekidstable.com

www.reel-big-fish.com

www.fearfactory.com

www.myspace.com/sylosis

www.tattoouk.com

LIVE BAND PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY SANDY DHALIWAL

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