How Sez Sees It

I thought it was about time I updated my list of favourite things. Here we go: Author: Haruki Murakami. I love him so much and I have almost completed my collection of his novels. That will be my aim next pay day and then I will be on to his non-fiction works. I thoroughly recommend you read anything by him to be honest. Book: It has to be a Murakami novel to be honest and it is Norwegian Wood. I know that sounds cliche and like everyone would pick that novel because it is the one that made him a household name around the world. It was even adapted into a movie around six years ago and Murakami wasn't too happy about the explosive level of fame it bought him at the time. I love all his novels but this one keeps drawing me back to read it again and again. I can't explain it but it is so beautifully written and it is so easy to read and enjoy. It is the story of a young man as 1969 turns to 1970 and is a kind of coming of age story. One girl represents his past and one ...

Is post-gig depression a real thing? If so, why does it exist? Urban Dictionary describes it thus: ' The feeling you get the day after you see a really fantastic gig. You get depressed that it ended, and want to go back in time and relive the moment, even though you know you can't. Can last up to a week, depending on the awesomeness of the gig.' -  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Post+Gig+Depression Anyone who has been to a gig will know the feeling. You have been to see one of your favourite bands, they played a blinding set and then you got to meet them afterwards. It was one of the best nights of your life and you would love to relive it. The build up went on for weeks or even months and then, in the space of a couple of hours, it was all over. You wake up the next morning and your ears are still ringing, you are tired and happy and then the day wears on. You slowly come back down to earth and realise that you are re-entering normality. You know the ...

Sorry it has actually been a couple of weeks since I went to the show at The Joiners in Southampton to see Aiden for the final time. I guess it kind of took me that long to process what I experienced that night. I have been a fan of Aiden for as long as I can remember and it was too good an opportunity to miss to see them in one of my favourite venues for the final time. I remember being one of those kids who went out and bought Nightmare Anatomy 10 years ago and listened to it on the way to and from Uni in my car. I remember how I felt when I went to Download and saw them play the main stage in the middle of the day and how well they handled the whole thing. The metal heads of the crowd were not quite sure how to handle these gothy rockers singing about life and love and it was really interesting to see them win large sections of the crowd round during the set. So it was announced recently that Aiden would be put to bed. Not before an epic tour of the US and UK to say goodbye thou...

Initially this show was an uncertainty. ONE OK ROCK (yes it is spelled out in capitals) were being supported by We Came As Romans and DEAD! (yes, that is how they do their name too) at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on Thursday 10 December. Unfortunately, the week before, the venue decided it was the best time to start collapsing. Fear not though, the gig was saved! Luckily the Academy group owns a lot of venues and the O2 Forum Kentish Town stepped up. The gig had to be pushed forward by 24 hours because of clashes otherwise, but still the gig did go ahead! All tickets previously sold were honoured and a good time was to be had by all. DEAD! I have seen this band countless times. The first time I did was at The Joiners in Southampton and they were opening for William Control. This was about three and a half years ago now and I think they had only been together around three or four months. I think almost every member of the band had an injury at the time and there seemed to be iss...

I used to have a subscription to the largest British weekly music magazine dealing with rock and metal. I stopped that subscription and I had some very good reasons for doing so. The main reason was that I had just moved house and I couldn't justify the subscription fee every few months. I just figured that it might be better to buy it on a weekly basis if there were any articles I liked. For example, a wonderful human I know was in the magazine a couple of weeks ago because his new band were in a feature on the 'New Grave' scene. Regular readers will know that I have been supporting Solace in Nightmares for about a year now and it was this band being featured. As I lead their street team I kind of figured that I should buy the mag just for that article. The other reason is basically around the content. I had already decided to cancel my subscription but I was fed up that my favourite bands were not getting the coverage. Just as I cancel they all start getting featured...

This is not tricky, this is just my favourite J-Rock and J-Pop songs and bands. Most of them on this list are fairly modern ones, though there are some better established ones too (which you'll see below). I thought I would let the music do the talking so I have put some facts and figures down and some video links for you to look at. Let me know what you think about it all (P.S sorry for the video quality, some of them pre-date HD). Pics and video copyright where it is due. SID (pronounced 'shido') Members: Mao (Vocals), Shinji (Guitar), Aki (Bass) and Yuuya (Drums) Formed: 2003 (though it was announced on 14 January 2004 that Yuuya and Shinji would be permanent members so they count this as the band's 'birth') Style: Visual Kei Albums : Renai (2004), Hoshi no Miyako (2005), Play (2006), Sentimental Macchiato (2008), Side B Compilation Collection (2008), Hikari (2009), Dead Stock (2011), M&W (2012), SID 10th Anniversary (2013), Side B Compilation Coll...

I haven't blogged in a while and I didn't really know what to say so I thought I would just make some observations. I went to see Lee Evans recently as I needed a laugh. He is still the best comedian I have ever seen. If you are in Britain and Ireland and you are going to see him perform his arena tour (Monsters) then you are in for a real treat. How he is going to keep it up for 2.5 hours a night for 65 tour dates is beyond me. His physical style of comedy is so intense and brilliant. If you couldn't get tickets then the DVD will be out in November which is shortly before the tour is due to finish! Men of my age don't seem to get the whole breast feeding in public thing. I think this is very sad. Comments by one fairly high profile person recently were along the lines of breasts being sexual organs and he wouldn't go getting his nob out in public so why do women do it with breasts? This shows that women are still seen in society as simply sexual objects and th...

Nearly a year ago there was a lot of discussion around bands charging for meet and greets. I even vlogged about it at the time: Recently the idea of how much bands charge for things has crept up again on a variety of social networking sites. The biggest issue seems to have been around the limited reprinting of Laurence Beveridge's ( Fearless Vampire Killers ) book, Ruple and Evelyn. There was some...discussion (we will say this for want of a better word) around the costing of the book which is up for sale for £9.99 (plus P&P) from their website. Comments were made that this was too expensive for people to buy and that the band were essentially ripping off their fans who would have little money themselves. Other comments were made about the band stemming from this thread, but I don't feel they have a place here and I don't want to open all of that up again! The reality is that bands have to make money. They cannot afford to do anything for nothing. Yes, they will ...

This is an interesting thought and I guess you could break it down by a number of categories. Where does this thought come from though? Well, last night (Tuesday 27 May 2014) I was at a gig in a small local venue. The genre of music I like is rock/metal/metalcore and last night was the last of the three. I am aware that people like to go a bit crazy at these shows and that is part of the amusement for me, watching other people going at it in the circle pit and wondering how no one ends up being carted off to hospital. Last night was no exception and there were some big lads there who were throwing themselves around, windmilling and kicking in all directions. Then I looked at the rest of the crowd and there were a fair number of women there (it was an 18 plus show, so only us grown ups allowed). The women were not involved and not getting in the pit and then I looked at their faces. One might argue that there was a mixture of bemusement and fear. The fear element was around whethe...

I thought I would blog about my week because it makes no sense to me! I have had one hell of a week, so here is a break down of it from Sunday. Sunday: - I had the mother of all flu like colds hit me. I don't remember driving to Southampton or watching the football, although I am told that Saints won. That was a scary thought. I would rather have spent the day in bed. Monday: - I should never have gone into work. I had to drive the entire length of the county and it was horrible. I ended up having to leave at lunch time because I felt so ill. That night I was due to see the wonderful These Days Are Numbered in their first headline show at The Joiners. I dragged my arse up there and I am glad that I did because there was only myself, the fiance and his brother there other than the other bands playing! TDAN were amazing though. They get better every time I see them and I think they are going to be ones to watch in the metalcore scene. I love that they live in Andover too, so it...

I know that some of you are expecting something along these lines so I had better explain some things. As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of the band The Dead Lay Waiting. As you should know by now, they announced officially that they have parted ways. Ben, Tom, Sam and Steve will carry on working together under a new name and Luke Lucas will go it alone. This is the full statement from the band: 'The Dead Lay Waiting are no more. With much regret due to conflicting ideas with regards to the band’s future direction, it has been agreed to shut TDLW down. It has been an incredib le seven years, from the primitive bedroom band practices to playing stages and festivals around the world. This would have not been possible without your friendship. Our special thanks also go out to everybody that helped and supported the band through this journey.   Whilst TDLW might be no m ore, Ben, Steve, Sam and Tom have chosen to carry on working together as a band, under a new name. Bigger and ...