Gigs #91-93: Disco @ Electric Brixton

A disco themed night in Brixton.

Norman Jay was ok, a great selection of obscure records mixed with the occasional anthem, but he couldn't mix. I guess when you're an MBE for your contribution to music you don't need to.

Nicky Siano was terrible. He played with the EQ as if he was an EDM DJ faking a set, and destroyed some great produced music with his meddling. He did play Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". I wish someone had.

Marshall Jefferson gave the venue the much needed kick it needed and really took it up a gear, but with his set starting at 2am we were too tired to make it through his entire set.

A great crowd helped the night go quickly.

Film #114-120: John Carpenter All-Nighter @ Prince Charles Cinema

Another excellent all-nighter at the Prince Charles this time celebrating the films of John Carpenter. 

Assault on Precinct 13 is great, a tense shoot out between a mixmatch of characters and a gang outside. It's memorable to us videogaming nerds as providing the sample to Bomb the Bass's Megablast which found its way into Xenon 2.

Halloween is not my favourite in the franchise but it does have the creepy intro where the camera pans away from the young boy holding the knife.

The Fog was too slow for me but did bring back memories of being freaked by it when I watched it as a kid. 

Escape From New York is a romp, so much fun with Donald Pleasance and Snake. 

I've seen The Thing so many times now but it's still sooo good.

Big Trouble in Little China was a nice comedic break from the slow burns of the previous films.

and I fell asleep during They Live, due to me seeing it so many times and not being blown away by it ever...

Film #113: Possum

Garth Marenghi makes a horror movie and it's odd.

It already starts with a guy in the middle of some sort of nervous breakdown, returning home to confront some demons that have probably contributed to his condition.

He carries a bag that contains a weird puppet which haunts him throughout the film.

It's slow, silent, brooding and creepy but quite enjoyable but it'll test you. The soundtrack by the Radio Philarmonic Workshop is a big part of the creepiness.

Film #112: Action Point

I watched this on the flight home from Orlando. I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

Johnny Knoxville runs a rule-free park and is under the threat of takeover by a corporate theme park chain. There are stunts and schadenfreude based laughs, there's a weak plot, and I'm sure it's more a chance to dick about on camera and have some producer fund it. 

It's not Jackass.

Gigs #86-90 Nina & Friends @ Soundbar Orlando

An opportunity to catch some SynthWave stuff in downtown whilst on holiday in Orlando.

Watch Out for Snakes was first up, a diminutive keytar carrying bundle of hipster muscle that struggled to have any stage presence whatsoever, but who's music served fine as an opening act. I quite liked some of it! At times he seemed to disappear within the output of the smoke machine.

Second up I think was MoonDragon, a local lad who mixed his synth stuff with some classic 80s visuals including lots of Top Gun. I liked his music.

The surprise of the night was ACP PRO, 2 guys whose music didn't really fit the theme of the night but who had some absolutely stunning tracks within their AV set. Their track Q*Brick could easily have been an Orbital production and it sounded incredible. They seemed genuinely pleased when I told them this, and I liked that they thought I was informed in the genre based on my accent alone :) 

Parallels are really good, I'd seen them in London before and liked their stuff, but they were missing the drummer tonight, Holly said her brother had had visa issues. She seemed happy I had come to see the band and that I'd also seen them in London.

Nina played her standard style of set, her singing and keys and another woman doing drums and backing vocals. It's alright.

So, a good night and a nice way to escape the theme parks for a night.