When I was 11 years old I won two tickets for Michael Jackson’s Dangerous tour in Dublin. My dad couldn’t get off work to take me down to the concert so I sold the tickets and bought Sonic the hedgehog for the Sega Master System instead.
Looking back it was kind of a like-for-like swap – I’m sure for many of my peers as well the cult of Michael Jackson was as much a part of childhood as Sega, Pepsi, and Saturday morning cartoons.
He visualised music and galvanised music television through his groundbreaking videos, and his cartoonish persona meant that for many of us our first tapes or LPs were Michael Jackson albums. One of the first times I heard a Beatles song was when Jackson did a cover of”Come Together.”
My mate Stu could do a pretty decent moonwalk back then. Hearing the guitar riff from “Black or White” still makes me smile, as it reminds me of countless summer holiday afternoons spent in his front room practicing.
His musical legacy? He definitely has created one, regardless of what music critics say. The Jackson Five’s “I Want you Back” has got to be one of the most uplifting pieces of pop music ever created. The era most familiar to me was the clatter and bang of the “Bad” album and the less successful “Dangerous.” The quality of his songs, and the man’s vocals, matched with Quincy Jones’ flawless production, made his music addictive. I think he may well have been the greatest entertainer of his age. The impact of his music on breaking down racial barriers in popular culture can’t be underestimated.
It’s sad that a generation has grown up that now only knows Jackson for the allegations that have dogged him since 1993. Apparently google nearly crashed due to the online buzz around his death – how much does the celebrity gossip industry owe its current media domination to figures like him?
When I sold those tickets I thought I’d maybe get to see Michael Jackson when I was older, yet soon after the allegations started his life really went downhill sharper and he was basically finished. Guess I stopped listening to his music regularly when britpop and all that hit the scene too, yet I still find myself looking for Michael Jackson stories two days after he died. Maybe its the need for some twisted nostalgia-comfort fix now that life as an adult is more complex in general, or just another sign that I’m getting older and don’t want to.
There’s been a lot of sanctimonious guff spoken this week about the racist attacks in Belfast.
The most sensible commentary I’ve read so far has come from the Alliance Party’s Ian Parsley, on his blog.
Here are his concluding comments, which I spotted on slugger:
The fact is that too many communities in Northern Ireland are totally ignored – by the media, by our political leaders, by our “influential” classes – until they do something which impacts upon those who do not have to live in them. It is no surprise, therefore, that sectarianism and racism continue to be so poisonous – and it is those shouting loudest about them who need to remember they have the toughest choices to make to stop the contamination.
Many previous trips to Glasgow have been work-related, involving visits to housing developments and community projects across the city, so it was a pleasure to spend a few days as a tourist. Lisa wanted to visit some friends and family so I was happy to tag along for the ride.
We stayed with the Lenny Henry-owned Premier Inn chain at Charing Cross and spent most of Saturday and Sunday on foot round the city centre. Stumbled across an excellent vegan restaurant called Mono, also a music venue and record store. Its range of CDs and vinyl was unbelievable, and in a previous life I would have cleared that place out! As the husband of a most-of-the-time vegan, have to say the food was good too.
Record shops aside (and Fopp is as good as ever), its a sign of how for Belfast has come that almost all the big name stores in Glasgow now also reside over here. Although Glasgow city centre is also pound shop heaven and I hope that particular retail phenomenon doesn’t catch on here as rapidly. On Saturday night we saw Terminator: Salvation, which was much better than I was expecting. Fully expect Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to blow it out of the water later this week though.
On Sunday morning we took a walk through Glasgow Green to visit the People’s Palace, a refreshingly honest social history of Glasgow, considering it’s council-funded. Sadly our local politics is still too divided to make a similar museum a reality for Belfast. Fernhill House, the museum of the Shankill, was probably the closest we’ve got. The People’s Palace wasn’t high-tech or ultra-interactive but full of accessible information.
We celebrated our glorious fourth wedding anniversary on Sunday evening with a meal at the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant. Hey if it’s good enough for Kylie, Jay-Z and Orlando Bloom…
Monday was a train journey up the west coast to Helensburgh to visit Lisa’s aunt. We went for lunch at the Drovers Inn, by Loch Lomond. It’s Rob Roy territory and the Inn is said to be haunted. The place has a real olde worlde thing going on, but could do with a bit of Mr Sheen. We flew back to Belfast on Tuesday afternoon via Prestwick Airport. The airport’s slogan is the old slang ”pure dead brilliant.” Given these statistics, I thought it was unusual for an airport to advertise itself to foreign tourists using the word “dead.”
Though having said that, the whole weekend was actually pure dead brilliant.
The new album from Bob Dylan is also very, very good but I think this is better. Full of witty, warm, soul-searching lyrics, and catchy clangy folk-rock melodies – this is a class debut record. Delta Spirit played Auntie Annie’s one Saturday night in March, but I was too immediately concerned with getting out of Windsor Park safely after the NI-Poland match that I just went home rather than venture back into town for the gig. Wish I’d gone – hope they come back sometime.
I flick across the Christian channels on Sky regularly and the past weekend God TV has been broadcasting live coverage of a Christian music festival in Ballymena called Fuel. I didn’t know any of the bands or speakers, but was amazed at how, in such a short space of time, events like this with exclusively American acts can now be staged in Northern Ireland. Even more significant is how this style of music and event has mainstreamed into Evangelical church culture here.
Anyone remember this?
It took place way back in August 1998, and as a Baptist teenager I was risking my YF good standing by going to it. Tony Campolo was the speaker, and there was a mix of American and local musical talent. At the time it seemed like a really huge event, but compared to 2009’s Fuel - pretty small scale.
To me the biggest contrast between the two events was that Awake felt like a genuinely subversive happening – from having Campolo as a speaker, bringing over All Star United (a new and then unknown American band) as the headline act, holding it in a prominent public space (Laganside), and the preceding public parade starting out from City Hall. Fuel 09 in contrast, tucked away in Ballymena, looked like something you could go to with your parents!
We’ve been living in East Belfast for almost four years now. It’s been fantastic to be walking (and cycling) distance from so many sights and sounds round the city. Even commuting to work is a real pleasure, especially in weather like today’s (as I sit out the front of the house typing this on a balmy Saturday night). Yet there are still places on the doorstep that I hadn’t got round to visiting until this week.
What we do well in this part of the city is cycle lanes, so on Thursday evening I pedalled over to the Titanic quarter. I had no idea how massive the site is, and given the design of the monstrosities that have sprung up there already I hope it’s not going to be filled with similar buildings.
The glass-fronted Northern Ireland Science Park and a bank headquarters somehow look more dated than the old Titanic dry dock and pump house they surround. I witnessed a short flag-removing ceremony being performed by crew on HMS Caroline, and it was strange seeing such a dignified act on this little boat dwarfed by the giant new buildings squeezed round it on all sides. The main road is dotted with information boards and new traffic lights, anticipating future crowds, but there was a quiet eerieness about the place. I’ll be starting a new job back in East Belfast next month, and it will be interesting to monitor the development of Titanic Quarter and its impact on the area.
Last evening I cycled to Lisburn to meet Lisa at work. The cycle path is about ten miles and is a real beauty. This has got to be one of Belfast’s best-kept secrets. Cutting through Lagan Meadows, the river gently twists and turns through gorgeous woodland and fields as it leaves the city and passes through the villages of Hilden, Drumbeg, and Lambeg before arriving at Lisburn Civic Centre. Due to the train to Belfast being cancelled we also got to experience the return journey – tiring but still as enjoyable!
I was impressed with the diversity on offer at this year’s CQAF. I obtained some free tickets to Martin Lynch’s play “The Chronicles of Long Kesh” in St Kevin’s Hall last Monday night and went with my dad. Someone in work said to me that Lynch basically re-writes the same play each time, and I think I may be one of the few people in NI who hasn’t seen “A History of the Troubles (according to my da).”
This was quite a demanding evening’s work. The plot followed the lives of a range of mostly Republican prisoners and a prison officer in Long Kesh from the 1970s to the 1990s. It was interspersed with some spirited performances of Motown songs from the cast. The insight into their experiences was powerful, although the stories felt like a well-trodden road by many other plays and films. As expected, the Loyalist experience seemed under-written, relying on caricatures. Still, a thought-provoking play all the same.
Attended the David Ervine Memorial talk as well. The outgoing Chief Constable Hugh Orde delivered the talk in front of many of the great and good from the world of politics and the voluntary sector. Awards from the David Ervine Foundation were distributed to groups, and money was raised for the foundation through a charity auction.
On Sunday night the festival was closed by Teenage Fanclub playing in the Marquee. They are one of the most accomplished live bands I’ve heard. Each classic pop song delivered impeccably – with (at times) four-part harmonies as well. Not many groups like this about so much now – the Glaswegians’ back catalogue is well worth getting acquainted with.
This is totally unrelated (but I was just reading it earlier) – a challenging article in the Guardian calling for the Premier League to be nationalised.
Bob Dylan was playing live and releasing records before the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Springsteen. His career has outlasted groups like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, quite an achievement. All the more impressive when you consider his latest album has just gone to number one in the UK and US, and he’s just finished the European leg of yet another tour.
Last night’s gig at the venue formerly known as the Point was outstanding. I love going to Dublin, and we (friend and fellow Dylan fan Rick) travelled down early enough to walk round some of the well-known city sites. Always hiving with people, it was striking to see so many building developments and roadworks around Dublin half-finished, seemingly abandoned. The faceless built-up apartments of the docklands area around the 02 got me thinking – oh dear – is this what Titanic Quarter is aspiring to?
Checked into a few indie record stores in Temple bar – all blasting out Dylan tunes, adding to the sense of expectation. The O2 arena is an impressive sight inside. They’ve moved the arena around in a fan-like shape so that, apparently, the farthest seat is only sixty metres from the stage. Down the front we were about five metres from Dylan’s no-frills stage set-up.
With no support act, Dylan and his band shuffled onstage at 8.00pm. Apart from Wicked Messenger at the beginning, all the other songs were clearly recognisable. He can sing, in a way. Bob drew heavily from Highway 61 Revisited, even rattling through a full Desolation Row. His band kicked up a storm – felt like they were cutting loose for the last night. Dylan even appeared from behind his keyboard to play guitar on Girl from the North Country and Man in the Long Black Coat. It was nice to be in a non-chatty crowd that was totally digging the music as well. Dylan said nothing to the audience all night, but acknowledged us with some funny gestures and odd facial expressions. He’s a strange fella alright, but a two hour-plus set each night from a 67 year old is good going.
In conclusion, much better than the last time I saw him in 2006 at the Kilkenny Festival. Playing indoors suits him better I think. It’s non-stop Dylan news at the moment, he revealed today that he’d love to collaborate with Paul McCartney. Now that would be worth hearing.
When I was 11 years old I won two tickets for Michael Jackson’s Dangerous tour in Dublin. My dad couldn’t get off work to take me down to the concert so I sold the tickets and bought Sonic the hedgehog for the Sega Master System instead.
Many previous trips to Glasgow have been work-related, involving visits to housing developments and community projects across the city, so it was a pleasure to spend a few days as a tourist. Lisa wanted to visit some friends and family so I was happy to tag along for the ride.
It took place way back in August 1998, and as a Baptist teenager I was risking my YF good standing by going to it. Tony Campolo was the speaker, and there was a mix of American and local musical talent. At the time it seemed like a really huge event, but compared to 2009’s Fuel - pretty small scale.
On Sunday night the festival was closed by 
Bob Dylan was playing live and releasing records before the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Springsteen. His career has outlasted groups like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, quite an achievement. All the more impressive when you consider his latest album has just gone to 