Shows & Stuff
The first of my highlights wase finally getting to see "Then She Fell", the Lewis Carrol inspired immersive theatre production in New York. That was an exemplary, intimate and sometimes personal show that friends have recommended for years. It was great to finally tick that off.Also during my North America holiday I took in 4 new cirque shows: Volta, Corteo, the relaunched Alegria and Crystal. All were unique and whilst Alegria had the best single trick (which I'm not going to spoil here) the best show for me was Crystal as I'd never been to their ice skating shows before. With a second now doing the rounds I have something to go after in 2020.
and my final highlight was getting a near-ringside seat for what was initially a Smackdown taping but became picked up Raw later in the year. So around 6 hours of live wrestling entertainment. Very geeky but with a crowd of thousands and a friend all sharing our geekiness, the atmosphere was superb.
001 04/01 ****_ Jerry Sadowitz @ Leicester Square Theatre. "Some people always walk out."
002 05/01 ****_ Josh Widdecombe @ Top Secret Comedy Club "Drunk hecklers were my friends"
003 19/01 ****_ Jerry Sadowitz @ Leicester Square Theatre. "More people walked out again."
004 22/01 ***__ Jena Friedman @ Soho Theatre. "Very much work in progress"
005 27/01 ****_ Royal Rumble @ Belushi's "58 countdowns but not counted out!"
006 31/01 ****_ Pun Run @ The Phoenix. "Always a fun night out"
007 15/02 ****_ All In A Row @ Southwark Playhouse. "Well written but a grey puppet?"
008 21/02 ****_ African Gaze @ University of London. "Shit posters for shit films"
009 21/02 *____ Staging Magic @ University of London. "I Expected more than books"
010 25/02 ***__ Old Rope @ The Phoenix. "I saw Alan Carr Live!"
011 28/02 ****_ Red Nose Day Comedy Spectacular @ Wembley Arena. "All for charidee mate!"
012 14/03 ****_ Kendal Mountain 2019 @ Rio Cinema. "Way too extreme for me!"
013 23/03 ****_ Bakerloo Line Walk. "20 miles of stupidity"
014 26/03 ***** Classic Album Sundays @ Ace Hotel. "De La Soul still holds up"
015 03/04 **___ DJ Yoda Album Launch @ Spiritland. "Nice album, great system, loud crowd"
016 07/04 ****_ Wrestlemania 35 @ Belushi's "A rather good show indeed!"
017 05/04 ****_ O2 Climb @ The O2. "Thought it would be harder"
018 13/04 ***__ Hot Sauce Festival @ Peckham Rye. "I got some Hot Ones Top 10"
019 19/04 ****_ Longleat Safari Park. "A Great Day Out"
020 20/04 ****_ Wooky Holes. "Great caves and good circus"
021 06/05 ***__ Putt in the Park. "Not bad with a group"
022 11/05 ****_ Jeff Koons @ Ashmolean Museum. "Shiny shiny"
023 22/05 ****_ War of the Worlds. "A few snagging issues but a good couple of hours"
024 30/05 ****_ Gherkin. "Work related great view from the top"
025 31/05 ****_ The Crystal Maze. "Best we've ever seen"
026 09/06 ****_ Mean Girls. "The crash scene was WOW!!"
027 10/06 ***__ The Play that Goes Wrong. "Not bad, not great"
028 11/06 ***** Then She Fell. "Amazing Lewis Carroll adaptation"
029 14/06 ****_ Volta. "Not as extreme sports focused as I thought"
030 16/06 ****_ Alegria, A New Light. "A great relaunch"
031 16/06 ***__ PY1. "Incredible production, strange performance"
032 17/06 **___ Aura. "Great reason to go to church"
033 19/06 ****_ Corteo. "Finally, got to see this one"
034 21/06 ***** Crystal. "Surprisingly great ice skating show"
035 26/06 ****_ Duke Mitchel Announcement Night. "So much randomness"
036 27/06 ***__ Bug 59. "Failed to remain awake at the start"
037 05/07 ***__ Wingjam. "It got too busy, too long queues"
038 19/07 ****_ BlueDot 2019. "It was very muddy"
039 28/07 ****_ DukeFest 2019. "Crazy video and film selection"
040 02/08 ***__ Natural History Museum. "Don't go here enough"
041 03/08 ***__ Illusionists. "French guy was the best guy"
042 27/08 ***** Found Footage Festival Vol 9. "Their best one yet"
043 31/08 ***__ Blank Walls. "Not bad graffiti event"
044 07/09 ***** Upfest. "The best street art festival"
045 08/09 ****_ Cheltenham Paint Festival. "Pretty good street art festival"
046 25/09 ****_ An Audience with Louis Theroux. "Keanu interviews Theroux"
047 02/10 **___ Gamerdisco. "Too Sega heavy this time"
048 03/10 ****_ Banksy's Gross Domestic Product. "The reflections made it hard"
049 18/10 ***** Obey @ Stolenspace. "Some great pieces"
050 19/10 **___ Rochdale Uprising. "A small festival in a rubbish town"
051 20/10 ***** Bring the Paint. "A great reason to visit Leicester"
052 08/11 ***** Smackdown & Raw Live. "Good family fun"
053 13/11 ***__ Pun Run. "Nerd pun night"
054 27/12 ****_ Bridget Riley @ Haywards Gallery. "Dizzying!"
Films
I'm really pleased with my film tally for 2019, smashing my target and making it very difficult to better in 2020, but I'll give it a shot.My first favourite film was actually the first film I saw. One Cut of the Dead snuck under most peoples' radars having been shown at Frightfest in 2018 and having a very limited cinema run in the UK. However it's an amazing piece of cinema that takes the typical zombie film trope and flips it on its head. Highly recommended.
My second favourite film was Ready or Not. A splatter fest of a horror comedy where a bride-to-be becomes the target in a hunting game around an old country house. A very entertaining film that had me laughing more than most this year.
and my final choice is Parasite, which is a stunning piece of Korean film making that mixes genres around a well constructed story to produce a film that most who have seen it have raved over. It gets a wider release in January so go see it. I think I'll go see it again!
001 05/01 ***** One Cut of the Dead. "Japanese Meta-Zombie Comedy Fest"
002 13/01 ***** Twisted Pair. "Breen is a nutcase! Hilarious!"
003 14/01 ****_ Three Identical Strangers. "Scientists can be twisted sometimes"
004 18/01 ****_ Sorry to Bother You. "Success comes in horse form"
005 20/01 **___ High Kicks. "Aerobics meets Karate; includes mullets".
006 21/01 ****_ The Naked Gun
007 21/01 ****_ The Naked Gun 2 1/2
008 21/01 ****_ The Naked Gun 33 1/3
009 22/01 ***__ Glass. "McAvoy good, Willis bored, Jackson vegetable"
010 23/01 **___ The Challenge of the Tiger. "Really crap 80s kung-fu flick"
011 24/01 *____ Fist of the Vampire. "Shit vampire fight club yarn"
012 25/01 ***** One Cut of the Dead. "Still great second time around"
013 26/01 ****_ Escape Room. "Not as gory as Saw"
014 26/01 ****_ The Rock. "Connery and Cage in Alcatraz"
015 27/01 ***** Con Air. "My favourite Nicholas Cage film"
016 27/01 ****_ Face Off. "Weird face rubbing going on"
017 29/01 ***** Deadly Prey. "Blonde Rambo in the woods"
018 30/01 ***__ Death Machines. "Crazy woman with crazier hair"
019 06/02 ***** Alita Battle Angel. "Knocks Avatar for six! Incredible!"
020 06/02 **___ Dave Made A Maze. "Sounded like a good idea"
021 08/02 **___ Tammi and the T-Rex. "What were they thinking?"
022 08/02 ***__ Lego Move 2. "More of the same!"
023 09/02 ****_ Bohemian Rhapsody. "Will win the populist vote"
024 10/02 ****_ Mary Queen of Scots. "Aren't Scottish people the coolest?"
025 14/02 ***__ Der Fan. "Das ist Crazy, ya?"
026 15/02 **___ Who Killed Captain Alex. "Ugandan Kung-Fu zero-budget giggle"
027 15/02 *____ The Divine Enforcer. "Vigilante Priest takes on Vampire"
028 15/02 *____ Raw Force. "Really bad Asian Zombie film"
029 17/02 ****_ Lady Terminator. "Definite classic bad movie"
030 17/02 **___ Superman 4. "Super Turd, What went wrong?"
031 17/02 ***__ Inframan. "Odd Power Ranger Type Movie"
032 17/02 ***__ Hell Comes To Frogtown. "Did this inspire Mario Brothers?"
033 17/02 ***__ The Alien Factor." Silly effects but ok story"
034 17/02 ****_ Starcrash. "Star Wars but without the budget"
035 17/02 ***__ Battle Beyond the Stars. "OK ensemble space opera"
036 19/02 **___ Message From Space. "I couldn't keep up"
037 21/02 *____ Beyond The Black Rainbow. "Could have snipped 90 minutes"
038 22/02 ***__ Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. "It has Godzuki in it"
039 23/02 ****_ The Godfather. "The Good one"
040 24/02 ***__ The Godfather Part 2. "The OK one"
041 24/02 **___ The Godfather Part 3. "The Poor one"
042 24/02 ***__ Abducted in Plain Sight. "Wow, genuinely bonkers"
043 24/02 ***__ Revenger. "Korean Hunger Games Variant"
044 26/02 ****_ Revelations. "25 years on. RIP Bill!"
045 04/03 ***__ Piercing. "Too much like Audition"
046 04/03 ***** Fighting with my Family. "Excellent feel good wrasslin' movie"
047 05/03 *____ The Rollerblade 7. "Can't direct, fight, act or even rollerblade"
048 06/03 **___ Battlefield Earth. "Why did I do that, again?"
049 08/03 ****_ Captain Marvel. "Solid Girl Power Marvel Flick"
050 09/03 ****_ R.O.T.O.R. "Ginger moustached terminator gets lassoed"
051 09/03 *____ Supersonic Man "Really really really bad Superman"
052 09/03 *____ Petey Wheatstraw. "Scraping the Blaxploitation Barrel"
053 09/03 ***__ Sorceress. "Should it have been Sorceresses?"
054 09/03 ***__ Deathstalker 2. "Tongue in Cheek Barbarian Film"
055 10/03 ***__ Hercules in New York. "Some of the best dubbing!"
056 10/03 ***__ Pumaman. "A very cheap Superman rip-off"
057 10/03 ***__ Future War. "Chubby Terminator and his T-Rexs"
058 10/03 ***__ Fantastic 4 (1994). "Surprisingly alright for a taboo film"
059 10/03 **___ Highlander 2 The Quickening. "Shean shlurs and shords shwing!"
060 16/03 ***** Raid. "Amazing Indonesian Martial Arts"
061 16/03 ***** Raid 2. "More Amazing Indonesian Martial Arts"
062 17/03 **___ The Italian Job. "Not sure what the fuss was about"
063 18/03 ****_ Under The Silver Lake. "Very weird LA mystery"
064 19/03 *____ Run Like Hell. "5 guys playing in the woods"
065 21/03 *____ Run Like Hell. "4 women and a ninja playing in the desert"
066 22/03 ****_ Us. "More twisted stuff from Jordan"
067 24/03 *____ Final Sacrifice. "Hooded wrestlers chase kid and trucker"
068 28/03 ****_ Deep Cover. "Fishburne vs the drug dealers"
069 31/03 *____ Killdozer. "Really shit"
070 06/04 **___ Batman & Robin. "Intentional camp? I'm not sure"
071 12/04 ****_ Troll 2. "Goblins not trolls but funny"
072 12/04 **___ Gore Gore Girls. "The gore is way over the top"
073 14/04 ***__ Creatures from the Abyss. "Killer fish that can swim in the air"
074 15/04 ***__ Silent Night Deadly Night 2. "Origin of the Garbage Day meme"
075 23/04 ***** Avengers, Infinity War. "Prep for tomorrow night"
076 25/04 ***** Avengers, End Game. "A superb ending to the chapter"
077 30/04 ****_ 8th Grade. "Went for the soundtrack, but not a bad film"
078 03/05 ***__ Tolkien: "Posh boys drink tea!"
079 04/05 **___ Incredible Melting Man. "Nice effects, too much screaming"
080 04/05 **___ Jason X. "Yes, it's the space one"
081 04/05 *____ Black Devil Doll From Hell. "I'm lost for words!"
082 04/05 *____ Tales from the Quadead Zone. "Really really shit!"
083 04/05 *____ Things. "How did this get made?"
084 04/05 ***__ Zaat. "Weird fish monsters on attack"
085 06/05 *____ Death Bed, the Bed that Eats. "It really is about a killer bed"
086 08/05 *____ The Corpse Grinder. "Really shite old film"
087 09/05 ****_ Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. "Bros mess up robbery"
088 09/05 ***** Fateful Findings. "Incredible Neil Breen Production"
089 11/05 ***__ High Life. "Baby making in space"
090 11/05 ***__ Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. "Has someone called Bruce LeeRoy"
091 12/05 ***__ Never Too Young To Die. "Kiddy Bond featuring Lazenby"
092 13/05 ***__ Snowpiercer. "Great idea but a few holes"
093 20/05 ****_ John Wick 3. "Gratuitous comic book action, death by horse"
094 21/05 **___ The Hustle. "I chose...badly"
095 27/05 ***__ Batman. "Prince fest"
096 27/05 ***__ Batman Returns. "Penguin Fest"
097 27/05 ****_ Batman Forever. "Probably my favourite one"
098 27/05 **___ Batman & Robin. "Still campy"
099 31/05 ***** Book Smart. "Incredibly funny and smart film"
100 03/06 ***__ Rocketman. "Worst Kingsman Ever!"
101 05/06 ***__ Dark Phoenix. "Too many WTF parts but enjoyable"
102 08/06 **___ Mortal Engines. "St Pauls Cathedral meets Star Wars"
103 19/06 ***__ The Dead Don't Die. "Very quirky zombie comedy"
104 23/06 *____ Murder Party. "One very good joke but zero budget"
105 24/06 ***** Baby Driver. "Super cool, more so second time around"
106 29/06 ***** Bloodsport. "My favourite Van Damme film"
107 30/06 ****_ Kickboxer. "Most 80s brother ever!"
108 30/06 ***__ Double Impact. "The body guard is hilarious"
109 30/06 ***__ Universal Soldier. "Same producer as Terminator, it shows"
110 30/06 ****_ Hard Target. "Fun cajun action film"
111 30/06 **___ Street Fighter. "It's so bad"
112 03/07 ***** Spiderman Far From Home. "I really enjoyed this one"
113 06/07 ***__ Toy Story 4. "I laughed, my friend jumped"
114 07/07 ****_ Midsommar. "A Swedish Wickerman"
115 08/07 ***__ The Man who Killed Hitler and then Bigfoot. "A bit ploddy"
116 08/07 **___ Hellboy. "It didn't need the reboot"
117 08/07 ***__ Happy Death Day 2U. "Never saw the first but I liked this"
118 17/07 ****_ Wonder Park. "The only theme park I'll do this year"
119 17/07 ***__ Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. "Nice cast, rubbish film"
120 17/07 ****_ The Kid who would be King. "A rather enjoyable kids film"
121 17/07 *____ The Con is On. "A real waste of talent"
122 17/07 ****_ Better Start Running. "My kind of road trip"
123 17/07 ****_ Slaughterhouse Rulez. "The fourth Cornetto?"
124 28/07 ***__ Dons of Disco. "Italidisco Milli Vanilli"
125 29/07 *____ Steve's Hollywood Story. "Bad as in bad"
126 31/07 **___ House of Sweat and Tears. "It's a bit too slow"
127 03/08 ***__ Hobbs & Shaw. "It knows it's level"
128 04/08 ***__ Synecdoche New York. "Always confuses me"
129 07/08 ****_ Reservoir Dogs. "Afternoon kip opportunity"
130 09/08 ***** Old Boy. "A new print but still great"
131 16/08 ****_ The Jerk. "Steve Martin's best? Possibly"
132 17/08 ****_ Enter the Dragon. "Almost as old as me, and way more active"
133 18/08 **___ Killer Kate. "Crazy family vs a hen party"
134 19/08 ****_ Ghost World. "Surprised I didn't see it sooner"
135 19/08 ***** Ghost Dog. "Super cool and still holds up"
136 20/08 ***__ Crocodile 2: Death Swamp. "CGI Croc on the rampage"
137 24/08 *____ Elves. "Some amazing dialogue"
138 25/08 ****_ Angel has Fallen. "Surprisingly alright"
139 26/08 ****_ Paper Moon. "Great old B&W flick"
140 26/08 ****_ Midnight Run. "My favourite Bobby De Niro film"
141 26/08 ***__ Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. "Second visit to this nonsense"
142 26/08 ****_ Ocean's 11. "A classic that still holds up"
143 26/08 **___ The Burbs. "Shite Hanks Shite"
144 26/08 *____ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. "Really disappointing"
145 31/08 ****_ The Legend of Ricky-O. "Still cheesy but entertaining"
146 11/09 ****_ Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. "I liked this, a little unsettling"
147 20/09 **___ Good Burger. "Better than I though, still rubbish"
148 22/09 *____ Ax 'Em. "Someone had an idea but no clue what to do with it"
149 22/09 *____ Hard Rock Zombies. "Shite"
150 22/09 **___ Between 2 Ferns. "I don't like Zach that much"
151 23/09 ***** The Day Shall Come. "Funny but that ending :o"
152 24/09 ****_ Serenity. "A hero called Malcolm, Super!"
153 26/09 ***** Ready or Not. "Laugh out loud splatterfest"
154 28/09 ***__ Robocop. "It has aged, badly"
155 29/09 ****_ Dredd. "Still holds up"
156 29/09 ****_ The Matrix. "A classic but tired now"
157 29/09 ***** Mad Max Fury Road. "Bonkers, I love it"
158 29/09 ****_ Edge of Tomorrow. "I liked it, many didn't"
159 29/09 ****_ Aliens. "A classic that still holds up"
160 29/09 ***__ Predator. "I've seen this so many times now"
161 10/10 ***** Joker. "An incredible piece of cinema"
162 15/10 ***__ Frankenstein. "A 30's classic"
163 15/10 ***__ Dracula. "Another 30's classic"
164 15/10 ****_ Monster Squad. "A goonies horror ripoff yarn"
165 19/10 ***__ Zombieland 2 - Double Tap. "Enjoyingly forgettable"
166 25/10 ***__ Luce. "I'd have preferred Knives Out"
167 01/11 ***__ Evil Dead. "The scary one"
168 01/11 ***__ Evil Dead 2. "The crazy one"
169 01/11 *____ Evil Dead 3. "The one that sent me to sleep"
170 03/11 ***__ Gemini Man. "I like the HFPS"
171 04/11 *____ A Night to Dismember. "Too much voiceover"
172 10/11 ***__ Le Mans '66. "Car racing and stuff"
173 11/11 *____ Blood Freak. "Turkey man eats drug addicts"
174 11/11 ***__ Ogroff Mad Mutilator. "Minimal script and budget"
175 15/11 ****_ Rise of the Synths. "A documentary about synthwave"
176 17/11 ****_ The Irishman. "It's really long but engaging"
177 19/11 ***__ The Amazing Johnathan Documentary. "Not bad"
178 23/11 ****_ Anna and the Apocalypse. "Zombie Christmas Musical"
179 23/11 **___ London Rampage. "Rubbish wrestling film"
180 25/11 ***__ Silent Partner. "Old heist film, not bad"
181 25/11 ***** Knives Out. "Great who-dunnit"
182 26/11 ****_ Promade. "Bonkers Japanese Firefighting manga"
183 04/12 ***** Parasite. "Super good Korean genre-busting film"
184 05/12 ****_ Jay & Silent Bob Rebooted. "One for the fans only"
185 07/12 ***__ The Streetfighter. "Classic Sonny Chiba. Super theme tune"
186 08/12 ***__ Revenge of The Streetfighter. "More Chiba. Great last fight"
187 08/12 ***__ The Streetfighter's Last Revenge. "Final Chiba."
188 09/12 **___ Charlie's Angels. "It's pretty bad"
189 13/12 ***** 6 Underground. "Dumber than Fast and Furious"
190 13/12 ***__ Overdrive. "Straightforward car heist"
191 14/12 ***__ Jumanji The Next Level. "More of the same"
192 14/12 ***** Knives Out. "Disappointing to see this a second time"
193 15/12 **___ Sleight. "Made for TV movie?"
194 18/12 ****_ The Force Awakens. "Still holds up"
195 18/12 ****_ The Last Jedi. "Still holds up"
196 18/12 ****_ The Rise of Skywalker. "A fitting finale"
197 27/12 ****_ The Rise of Skywalker. "Happy to watch it again"
198 31/12 ****_ Anna. "Better than Red Sparrow, not as good as Nikita"
199 31/12 ****_ Uncut Jewels. "Good lead performance"
200 31/12 ****_ Detective Pikachu. "Good family fun"
Gigs
Another target that I smashed, due in part to me attending more festivals so being able to see many more artists than I would be able to at individual gigs. Buried in amongst the list were some friends' bands too, which I was happy to support.If I had to pick a top 3, and it's not easy to do so with so many great acts, I'd pick Lamb at Union Chapel, a wonderful intimate performance from an act that deserve more of a following set in a great location where sitting down drinking tea is preferred over pushing your way through a crowd trying not to spill a pint.
At the Funk and Soul weekender I caught The Allergies show which is a mini supergroup consisting of DJ Moneyshot (Ninja Tune), DJ Rackabeat, Andy Cooper (Ugly Duckling) and a few others playing some incredible funky hip hop.
and the final performance would be from a band called Scalping, who I knew nothing about but caught during The Blue Dot festival. They just came on stage, went straight into the first track and played continuously through to the end of the set with no audience interaction or breaks in the performance and then walked off. The tracks were all superb with Prodigy like energy. One to keep an eye out for.
001 07/02 **___ Let's Eat Grandma @ Alexandra Palace
002 07/02 ****_ Chvrches @ Alexandra Palace
003 15/03 ***__ Natural Selection @ Numidie
004 15/03 ***__ Lemmy Ashton @ Electric Brixton
005 16/03 **___ Alex Metric @ Electric Brixton
006 20/03 ***__ Salami Rose @ Roundhouse
007 20/03 ****_ Hidden Orchestra @ Roundhouse
008 20/03 ***__ James Holden @ Roundhouse
009 20/03 ****_ Cinematic Orchestra @ Roundhouse
010 02/04 ***__ Giorgio Moroder @ Eventim Apollo
011 13/04 ****_ HVOB @ Electric Brixton
012 21/04 ***** Mixhell @ Camden Underworld
013 21/04 ***__ Absolute Valentine @ Camden Underworld
014 21/04 ***__ WaveShaper @ Camden Underworld
015 21/04 ****_ Starcadian @ Camden Underworld
016 27/04 ***__ Skratcher @ Brickworks
017 27/04 ****_ DJ Yoda "Home Cooking Tour" @ Brickworks
018 27/04 ****_ DJ Yoda AV @ Brickworks
019 29/04 ***** Lamb @ EartH
020 05/05 *____ Barb @ First Timers Festival
021 05/05 ***__ Flaps @ First Timers Festival
022 05/05 ***__ John Fletcher @ First Timers Festival
023 05/05 ***__ Androidgynous @ First Timers Festival
024 05/05 **___ World Foods @ First Timers Festival
025 05/05 ****_ The Dionysus @ First Timers Festival
026 05/05 ****_ Underwire @ First Timers Festival
027 05/05 ***** Breakup Haircut @ First Timers Festival
028 15/05 ***__ Noble & Heath @ Jazz Cafe
029 15/05 ****_ Allergies @ Jazz Cafe
030 17/05 **___ Mr Thing @ British Library
031 17/05 ****_ Krafty Kuts @ British Library
032 18/05 ****_ Holly Walker @ Funk & Soul Weekender
033 18/05 ***__ Love Come Down DJs @ Funk & Soul Weekender
03418/05 ***__ Yazmin Lacey @ Funk & Soul Weekender
035 18/05 **___ Drez & Back in the Day Crew @ Funk & Soul Weekender
036 18/05 ***__ J Felix @ Lunars, Funk & Soul Weekender
037 18/05 ***__ DJ Question Mark @ Lunars, Funk & Soul Weekender
038 18/05 ***** Krafty Kuts @ Funk & Soul Weekender
039 19/05 ***__ Continental Drifts @ Funk & Soul Weekender040 19/05 ***__ Cykada @ Funk & Soul Weekender
041 19/05 ****_ Loyal @ Funk & Soul Weekender
042 19/05 ****_ Carnival Collective @ Funk & Soul Weekender
043 19/05 ***** The Allergies @ Funk & Soul Weekender
044 19/05 ***** DJ Cheeba @ Funk & Soul Weekender
045 19/05 ***** DJ Yoda @ Funk & Soul Weekender
046 24/05 ***__ Jadu Heart @ All Points East
047 24/05 **___ Petite Noir @ All Points East
048 24/05 **___ Ibibio Sound Machine @ All Points East049 24/05 ***__ Little Simz @ All Points East
050 24/05 ****_ Kate Tempest @ All Points East
051 24/05 ***__ Steve Mason @ All Points East
052 24/05 ***__ Roisin Murphy @ All Points East
053 24/05 ***** Hot Chip @ All Points East
054 24/05 ***** The Chemical Brothers @ All Points East
055 25/05 **___ Nudes @ All Points East
056 25/05 ****_ Angie McMahon @ All Points East
057 25/05 ****_ Dream Wife @ All Points East
058 25/05 ****_ Temples @ All Points East
059 25/05 ***__ Amyl and the Sniffers @ All Points East
060 25/05 **___ Bakar @ All Points East
061 25/05 ****_ Anna Calvi @ All Points East062 25/05 ****_ Jarvis Cocker @ All Points East
063 25/05 ***__ The Raconteurs @ All Points East
064 25/05 ****_ Interpol @ All Points East
065 25/05 ****_ The Strokes @ All Points East
066 26/05 **___ Mild Orange @ All Points East
067 26/05 ***__ Yves Tumor @ All Points East
068 26/05 ***__ Baloji @ All Points East
069 26/05 ****_ Moxie @ All Points East
070 26/05 ****_ Toro Y Moi @ All Points East
071 26/05 ***__ Kurt Vile and the Violators @ All Points East
072 26/05 ****_ Beach House @ All Points East
073 26/05 ***__ Maribou State @ All Points East
074 26/05 ****_ Metronomy @ All Points East
075 26/05 ***__ James Blake @ All Points East
076 26/05 ***__ Christine and the Queens @ All Points East077 18/06 *____ Sans Pression @ Franco Fest
078 21/06 ***__ Benderz @ Packer Park
079 22/06 ****_ Great Time @ Molestice
080 19/07 ****_ Self Esteem @ Blue Dot
081 19/07 ***__ Du Blonde @ Blue Dot
082 19/07 ***__ Une @ Blue Dot
083 19/07 ***__ Sandunes @ Blue Dot
084 19/07 ****_ DJ Fallback @ Blue Dot
085 19/07 ***__ DJ Acid Rephlux @ Blue Dot
086 19/07 ****_ Denise Johnson @ Blue Dot
087 19/07 **___ Kinkajous @ Blue Dot
088 19/07 ****_ Kate Tempest @ Blue Dot
089 19/07 ***** Hot Chip @ Blue Dot
090 19/07 ***__ Tokimonsta @ Blue Dot
091 20/07 ****_ Henge @ Blue Dot
092 20/07 ***** Scalping @ Blue Dot
093 20/07 ***__ Henge Takeover @ Blue Dot
094 20/07 **___ Clangers @ Blue Dot
095 20/07 **___ Karryn @ Blue Dot
096 20/07 ***__ TVAM @ Blue Dot
097 20/07 ***__ Elder Island @ Blue Dot
098 20/07 ***** Kraftwerk @ Blue Dot
099 20/07 ***__ 808 State @ Blue Dot
100 21/07 **___ The Lucid Dream @ Blue Dot
101 21/07 ***** DJ Food @ Blue Dot102 21/07 ****_ Lost Colours @ Blue Dot
103 21/07 ***** Audiobooks @ Blue Dot
104 21/07 ***__ Antics DJ @ Blue Dot
105 21/07 **___ Kerouac @ Blue Dot
106 21/07 ****_ New Order @ Blue Dot
107 21/07 **___ Kayla Painter @ Blue Dot
108 27/07 **___ Duett @ Retro Future Festival
109 27/07 **___ Vincenzo Salvia @ Retro Future Festival
110 27/07 ***__ Maxthor @ Retro Future Festival
111 27/07 **___ Sunglasses Kid @ Retro Future Festival
112 02/08 **___ Gospel House Choir @ Natural History Museum
113 02/08 ****_ DJ Yoda @ Natural History Museum
114 09/08 ****_ Despacio @ Meltdown 2019
115 10/08 ****_ Despacio @ Meltdown 2019
116 24/08 ****_ Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy @ One Day at the Disco Festival117 24/08 ***__ Inner City @ One Day at the Disco Festival
118 24/08 **___ Mr Saturday Night @ One Day at the Disco Festival
119 22/09 ***** DJ Yoda's Tarantino AV show @ Everyman Crystal Palace
120 16/10 **___ Flora Yin-Wong @ King's Place
121 16/10 ***__ Kelly Moran @ King's Place
122 19/10 ***__ Roadhog @ The Old Market Tavern
123 24/10 ***__ Futurecop @ Elektrowekz
124 27/10 **___ Double Mixte @ Roundhouse
125 27/10 ***__ Desire @ Roundhouse
126 27/10 ***__ Chromatics @ Roundhouse
127 28/10 ***__ Ekcle @ Union Chapel
128 28/10 ***** Lamb @ Union Chapel
129 05/11 **___ Shy Girl @ Scala
130 05/11 ***** The Black Madonna @ Scala
131 05/11 ***** Georgia @ Scala
132 16/11 **___ Holly Lester @ Bugged Out 25th
133 16/11 **___ Jungle @ Bugged Out 25th
134 16/11 ***__ Jay Carder @ Bugged Out 25th
135 16/11 ***** Erol Alkan (Chill Out Set) @ Bugged Out 25th
136 16/11 ****_ 2ManyDJs @ Bugged Out 25th
137 16/11 **___ Erol Alkan @ Bugged Out 25th
138 24/11 ****_ Nitzer Ebb @ Village Underground
139 29/11 ***__ !!! @ EartH
140 30/11 ***__ 2ManyDJs @ O2 Arena
141 30/11 ***** Chemical Brothers @ O2 Arena
142 07/12 ***** Underworld @ Wembley Arena
Countries
As a stretch target I like to try to visit 5 new countries but I only managed 4 this year and 2 are very small ones. Isle of Man was a nice weekend away but at a very tourist-unfriendly time of year with not much open but there's so much good in getting some sea air in you I still enjoyed it. I've vowed to go back.
Also at the start of the year I stretched my europe tally with another extended weekend to Latvia and Lithuania. I found Riga extremely small as a capital but with character. I also found Riga's ice to be particularly slippery causing me to go over like a twat and needing physio to sort out my back when I returned home. Vilnius was bigger and more walking meant I was happier. They also had some a small street art scene that got me around more of the city than usual tourists. I'm pleased to say I didn't slip once there!
and towards the end of the year I snuck in another little extended weekend to the south of France with a day trip into Monaco. Nice was nice, Cannes was not so engaging, probably due to it being a little out of season, but we liked Monaco despite it's hills and expense.
With more weekend breaks than I'm used to I didn't do my two big holidays that I usually do. In the Summer I did visit the US and Canada which I might write up one day. That was a fun multi-city tour to cities I'd not spent much time exploring outside of theme parks, which I was moving away from. Montreal in particular was amazing and I could easily go back there.
To compensate for the lack of a second big holiday, work sent me to India for a week...which was nice! We did get a couple of days sightseeing in Bangalore and Chennai with that.
The New
03/02 Isle of Man
09/02 Latvia
11/02 Lithuania
07/10 Monaco
The Old
08/06 USA
15/06 Canada
18/06 USA
09/07 India
05/10 France
10/10 Scotland
The airport transfers only
08/07 UAE
17/07 UAE
Also at the start of the year I stretched my europe tally with another extended weekend to Latvia and Lithuania. I found Riga extremely small as a capital but with character. I also found Riga's ice to be particularly slippery causing me to go over like a twat and needing physio to sort out my back when I returned home. Vilnius was bigger and more walking meant I was happier. They also had some a small street art scene that got me around more of the city than usual tourists. I'm pleased to say I didn't slip once there!
and towards the end of the year I snuck in another little extended weekend to the south of France with a day trip into Monaco. Nice was nice, Cannes was not so engaging, probably due to it being a little out of season, but we liked Monaco despite it's hills and expense.
With more weekend breaks than I'm used to I didn't do my two big holidays that I usually do. In the Summer I did visit the US and Canada which I might write up one day. That was a fun multi-city tour to cities I'd not spent much time exploring outside of theme parks, which I was moving away from. Montreal in particular was amazing and I could easily go back there.
To compensate for the lack of a second big holiday, work sent me to India for a week...which was nice! We did get a couple of days sightseeing in Bangalore and Chennai with that.
The New
03/02 Isle of Man
09/02 Latvia
11/02 Lithuania
07/10 Monaco
The Old
08/06 USA
15/06 Canada
18/06 USA
09/07 India
05/10 France
10/10 Scotland
The airport transfers only
08/07 UAE
17/07 UAE
Games Completed
and just to be super OCD for this year I thought I'd keep a tally of the games I finished so I can see how much time I'm wasting in this space. I've stopped buying games immediately and now pick them up when everyone else has given up on them, the marketing hype is over and the initial patching periods have passed (that one in particular is systemic in the industry unfortunately).
Of the ones I finished this year I'll recommend "Return of the Obra Dinn" which is a logical puzzle played out around the story of a ship returning to port with its crew killed and you jump back in time to figure out who all the crew were and how each died. Really clever stuff.
Sniper Elite 4 is my style of action game. Slow, stealthy, and usually killing folks from a distance. I lack the reflexes for run and gun style gaming now so this is much more composed and sensible.
and Luigi's Mansion is a highly polished, if a bit short, exploring game that I am quite pleased to have completed 100% even if I did fluke the final boss.
001 10/01 Just Cause 4
Of the ones I finished this year I'll recommend "Return of the Obra Dinn" which is a logical puzzle played out around the story of a ship returning to port with its crew killed and you jump back in time to figure out who all the crew were and how each died. Really clever stuff.
Sniper Elite 4 is my style of action game. Slow, stealthy, and usually killing folks from a distance. I lack the reflexes for run and gun style gaming now so this is much more composed and sensible.
and Luigi's Mansion is a highly polished, if a bit short, exploring game that I am quite pleased to have completed 100% even if I did fluke the final boss.
001 10/01 Just Cause 4
002 12/01 Return of the Obra Dinn
003 06/02 Pikuniku
004 14/02 Headlander
005 16/02 Spiderman DLC
006 23/02 VVVVVV
007 27/02 Eastshade
008 02/03 The Plainscreek Killings
009 07/03 Chromagun
010 09/03 The Birdcage 2
011 17/03 Puzzle Agent
012 19/03 Potatoman Seeks The Troof003 06/02 Pikuniku
004 14/02 Headlander
005 16/02 Spiderman DLC
006 23/02 VVVVVV
007 27/02 Eastshade
008 02/03 The Plainscreek Killings
009 07/03 Chromagun
010 09/03 The Birdcage 2
011 17/03 Puzzle Agent
013 21/03 Rituals
014 29/03 Unheard
015 15/04 Borderlands 2
016 22/04 Supraland
017 16/05 Lego Super Heroes 2
018 02/06 Gato Roboto
019 07/07 Lego Super Villains
020 28/07 Sniper Elite 4
021 31/08 A Short Hike
022 21/09 Contrast
023 03/10 My Friend Pedro
024 03/11 Bioshock Infinite
025 07/11 Luigi's Mansion 3
026 14/11 Superliminal
027 04/12 Youropa
028 08/12 Drizzlepath: Deja Vu
029 25/12 House of Da Vinci 2
Target summary
So at the start of the year I'd set the following goals for the year:Ride 1 new rollercoasters - Pleased to say I bettered this target by riding none, and the break from the scene has been great. I have no idea what's being built, I'm ready for surprise announcements and I think I can be excited about the hobby again. Will I go back to it? Yes, but not to the same level, I'm already overlooking parks for other things in my 2020 plans. I do miss the people and if I'm attending trips with the club it'll be more for that reason than the rides.
See 100 live acts - I saw 142. Smashed it!
Watch 100 films - I saw 200. Smashed it!
Visit 5 new countries - only 4 but my US/Canada trip was epic and made up for the shortfall.
Visit 2 new US states - no chance of this in 2019 as my route took me elsewhere. 2020 for sure!
See 1 new Cirque du Soleil show. I saw 4. Smashed it!
Walk 1000 miles: According to the tech I managed 1475.
2020 Targets
See 150 live acts.Watch 250 films.
Visit 5 new countries. I have 2 pencilled in but can squeeze some weekend hops I'm sure.
Visit 2 new US states. I might be able to get 4.
See 1 new Cirque du Soleil show. I've got a trip planned with 1. I could possibly squeeze in another.
Walk 2000 miles. This'll be a good stretch for me.
Complete 1 year of an exercise course. Already underway...
