The Dark Eyes Live: A Review

It’s a strange place to encounter the rock star dream but in a pub in deepest darkest Telford I can assure you that it is alive and well. There was still snow on the ground and I had lost the feeling in my feet but the signs were good. The sound check passed without incident and conversation had turned to Phil Collins and gorilla suits… It was that sort of a night.

The band was due on at nine, but nine came and went and the band weren’t on stage. And why would they be? They are a rock band after all. But despite the small delay the audience didn’t have to wait long. The lights dimmed.

The first ten seconds of opener ‘Truth Will Out’ set the tone for the night; high tempo, loud and in your face. As the song came to an end it bridged neatly into the next, ‘Somebody Told Me’ by the Killers. Four minutes later everyone finally had chance to catch their breath, but it wasn’t too long before the walls were shaking once more as the Velvet Revolver- esque ‘Ring Leader’ rang around the room. At this point I had to confess that I started to get a little nervous. I had glanced down at my copy of the set list and had seen that a cover of ‘20^th Century Boy’ was next. The band had been impressive so far but had they destroyed one of my favourite records that would have all gone out of the window. I shouldn’t have worried. I think Marc Bolan would have been proud. Front man and lead guitarist Jordan may not have the great man’s big hair and unique wardrobe but he more than did that killer riff justice. He and the rest of the band were absolutely flying. Another cover followed; and this time bassist Luke took over front man duties for an ear drum destroying version of ‘I Predict A Riot.’
The following four tracks were all Dark Eyes originals, showing once again that they are not just simply a cover band; they are much more than that. There is nothing especially sophisticated about the song writing but it is very very effective. Unnecessary over-elaborate song writing is one of my pet hates I have to admit, so for my money the group have things pretty much spot on. 

The second half of the show followed pretty much the same path as the first, with a great mix of original songs and some well-chosen covers. Special mention here to the cover of the Queen classic ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ which was fronted by keyboard player and backing vocalist Charlotte. Not only did it further highlight the versatility of the group, but I think a female vocal really suits the song, with Charlotte demonstrating this brilliantly.

As the set thundered towards a conclusion the last hour and a half had flown by. We had been treated to a cover of the theme for the T.V show Friends and Greendays’ ‘Basket Case’ (Sung expertly by drummer Jak) but there was time for one more original track, this one titled ‘I Try My Best.’ This was the only track I had previously heard from the band (It can be found on their YouTube channel) so I had a good idea what was coming, but hearing a song live is always a totally different experience. And not for the first time during the night the band didn’t let me down. The song itself is probably the closest the band comes to a single, but that’s not to say that it is dumbed down or light weight, far from it in fact. This was one of many standout moments on the night.

Looking back the main highlights of the night were without question ‘Truth Will Out’, ‘20^th Century Boy’, ‘Tracing Tracks’, and the afore mentioned ‘I Try My Best’. With an honourable mention to ‘Me and You’ one of the more melody driven tracks showcased on the night.

As frostbite started to set in on my right foot the band brought down the curtain on the night with a fine rendition of ‘500 Miles’ by The Proclaimers.  Walking 500 miles to see any band is a bit extreme in my book but I will definitely be making the effort to go and see The Dark Eyes in the future and so should you.

Lance Armstrong; The Saga Continues

Before I go any further, this blog is my thoughts, feelings and suspicions about the Lance Armstrong saga based on my own research and stories told by others on the radio, TV or in print which are all on the record.

Finally it has happened. Arguably sports biggest cheat has revealed himself. Truth be told it was the worst revelation in sporting history, all but the totally blinkered knew Armstrong was a cheat, but now we have proof. Lance Armstrong winner of a record 7 Tour De France titles and an Olympic Bronze medal cheated to win the lot.

But in keeping with the massive ego of the man these details were not revealed under oath (he lied under oath in the past) but in a 2 part interview with renowned sports journalist Oprah Winfrey. In keeping with the surroundings the whole thing seemed more like a platform for Armstrong to try and save face than a real interview. For example he was asked how the doping procedure worked, what he did, and he didn’t go into it at all. But then Oprah didn’t press him on it, she just moved on. This happened a couple of times, now he may not have been able to answer the questions for legal reasons but there was no explanation given by her or by him, and the fact she very obviously let him off the hook leads me to believe that at least parts of this interview were set up.

After all the man is a control freak. He showed this throughout his career and with his lies ever since. One telling quote here was where he said he took more pleasure from the process of trying to win the Tour than actually winning it. With what he was taking and with the procedures that he and his team had in place he knew he would win, the competition was with the authorities and with himself and not other riders. He was in total control.

In my eyes the man is a cheat and you can’t defend what he did, but this doesn’t stop people trying. Even after all this I still hear people saying that it doesn’t matter if he was doping, everyone was doing it so it didn’t matter. Wrong! Before I go into why, it’s also interesting to note that at the time Armstrong didn’t believe he was cheating and in the interview he said that at the time he justified doping himself because everyone else was doing it. This matches up with accounts given by Tyler Hamilton who is also an ex doper and former teammate of Armstrong. I will now explain why the ‘levelling the playing field’ defence is complete crap.  To do so I will use quotes an examples from the book ‘The secret Race’ by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle.

‘Every drug effects different people differently.’ I haven’t just made this up; there is scientific proof for that statement. I will now explain this using the drug EPO. When Armstrong was competing the main test for EPO was to see if a rider’s hematocrit level was over 50. (Hematocrit is the percentage of blood that carries blood cells) The higher the percentage the more red blood cells there are and the more oxygen can be carried in the blood. A big advantage to endurance athletes like cyclists. Now the UCI set the legal limit at 50, anything over that would result in a short ban as, you would have been using EPO. All this did was mean people would still use EPO but only up to the point where their hematocrit level was 50. For Tyler Hamilton his natural level was 42 meaning he could raise it by 8 points or 19%. In other words he had 19% more oxygen carrying red blood cells. That is a far bigger boost than someone with a natural level of 48. Hamilton got more benefit from EPO than a rider with a natural hematocrit level of 48. And even without taking this into account, some people just respond to some drugs better than others. So Lance and every other doper was in no way shape or form levelling the playing field.
The only other talking point from part 1 of the interview was that Armstrong said that he didn’t dope on his comeback. From what I have seen and heard from various governing bodies and people talking in the media this is very much open to debate. His denials of a failed test in 2001 and subsequent payoffs are also a little shaky.

In all honesty part 2 of the interview was a bit of a waste of time. He said sorry a lot talked about his family, how he should be punished, you know the drill. But he did say that he doesn’t think that he should have a life ban from competition.  The idea that a man who doped to win every major honour he ever won and then lied about it not deserving a lifetime ban is frankly laughable. The only other point from part 2 is that he reserved praise for his ex-wife Kristin.  This again, is slightly amusing. He talks about her being spiritual and honest. He says a little saying of hers is ‘the truth will set you free.’ The funny part being that while he was competing and cheating she helped to keep it secret.

The result of all this is that we finally have an admission, but there could and should have been so much more. Lance Armstrong destroyed lives and destroyed careers so that he could stay on top and make sure his lies went undetected. Saying sorry in front of Oprah Winfrey just isn’t enough.

NEW! Justin Timberlake feat Jay Z - Suit & Tie

Here we go then. This is what the world has been waiting for… well some of it anyway. A new Justin Timberlake track. Now this isn’t always the most fashionable thing to say but I actually quite like a lot of Mr Timberlake’s music. ‘Cry me a river’ is a great record; you just try not to admit it.

As for this track, it’s pretty good. Produced by Timbaland, and with a feature from Jay Z what could go wrong? Well, the intro. God only knows what they are trying to achieve with it but it will put people of the rest of the track it’s that bad. It has to get dropped for the single version when it’s released to radio. But I urge you to keep listening. In many ways it’s your classic Timberlake track… its smooth pop R&B. Even if the verse from Jay is a little disappointing.

It’s not the best track of his career but it’s not a bad effort. Press play and let me know what you think.

 

Joe Cole: A Victim Of English Football

In the space of 15 years Joe Cole went from teenage prodigy to a story of ‘what might have been’. In many ways this isn’t a reflection on Cole himself but a reflection of football in this country; Joe Cole is a victim of English football.

Even before Cole signed professional forms at West Ham there was a mystique about him. There were stories flying around about a kid so talented he was training with 1^st team at 15, a kid who could do things with a football that us mere mortals could only dream of. It’s an often repeated story that at the time Alex Ferguson would open any conversation with Hammers manager Harry Redknapp with ‘How’s young Cole coming along’. Coaches from Lilleshall still delight in tales of ‘the best 14 year old we had ever seen’. It seemed the saviour was coming.

He made his debut in the 1^st team aged 17 against Swansea in the 3^rd round of the F.A Cup. It may have only been a short glimpse of the teenager but his appearance sent the hype machine into overdrive. Further cameos followed, and so did the comparisons to the likes of Michel Platini and Glenn Hoddle. When he was 18 West Ham made him the highest paid teenager in British football, signing him up to a deal worth £20,000 a week rising to £30,000 if he played for England. He played the game without fear; entertainment was the name of the game. All sorts of tricks and flicks were common place; he also had an eye for little defence splitting passes. In short he had a natural god given talent to be able to produce the extraordinary, and he was English. This was too good to be true.

But sadly this is where the troubles began and things started to go wrong. But strangely for a young English player this didn’t mean him going off the rails surrounded by cocaine, strippers and glitter. A backlash began from certain sections of the media and the fans themselves. It seemed Cole didn’t play the game in an ‘English’ way. People questioned why he didn’t pass it square 5 yards when he would take people on, he didn’t work hard enough, he didn’t ‘get up and down’, I got bored of hearing that he should ‘keep hold of it’ when he tried a flick that didn’t work. It seemed that what people wanted to do was to take away everything that made him special and turn him into a boring winger who ran up and down, worked hard and never did anything other than pass the ball sideways and cross it into the box hoping that a forward may get on the end of it.

But most worryingly it seemed that managers didn’t know what to do with him either. English football had confused itself by producing a player with a level of natural flair and ability that would be at home in Spain and Italy. It wasn’t used to this. Now anywhere outside the UK Cole would have been seen as an ideal number 10, playing just off the main forward, creating chances and chipping in with goals himself. He would be used in a position which would get the most out of his talent. Or at a push he would be played wide. Or wider. But not as a winger, he would start wide but would basically be allowed to do whatever he wanted going forward and not be expected to contribute that much defending in his own half. But no this is England. He was put on the wing and expected to run up and down and defend in his own half. Now, there is a common held belief from pundits (normally ex-players) that you ‘can’t have any passengers.’ Manchester United won the league and the Champions League in 2008 with Ronaldo playing wide and not really defending in his own half. I’m not suggesting Cole is as good as Ronaldo but it shows it can be done.

Since these brief halcyon days at West Ham Cole has had a strange career. He went to Chelsea when the Hammers were relegated in 2003 and was very successful. Not always a regular in the side but he was part of a squad that won trophies, but sadly the flair was gone. The Mourinho team had an emphasis on work and putting it all on the line for the team. Yes, Cole won trophies this way but you couldn’t help but think on a personal level he could have done more. He then went to Liverpool on a free transfer where he was paid a lot of money and produced very little. Yes injuries played a part but, when he was given chances to impress he didn’t take them. He enjoyed a brief renaissance on loan at Lille last season. There were still signs of life but back at Liverpool he was again back out of the team.

And that brings us up to now. Cole has just gone home. He has again moved on a free but this time back to West Ham. He marked his return with 2 assists on his 2^nd debut against Manchester United. He is unlikely to win any trophies here but he is home and will once again enjoy playing football. Yes throughout his career injuries have played a part, he lost a little bit of something with his knee injuries, but the talent is still there. Just with excessive focus on work-rate it has been well and truly buried. As a football fan I hope Cole will prove he still has what it takes and prove that he isn’t just a victim of English football.  

Premier League Wish List For 2013

Here we are it’s a new year and a new start, you know the drill by now. So to crown the start of a new year I’ve compiled my slightly tongue in cheek wish list for the Premier League. Basically it’s a chance for me to have a bit of a rant.

The issue of ‘contact’ when it comes to diving. Now UEFA made a rod for their own backs on this one when they didn’t punish Eduardo a few years ago for diving when they said that there was contact. Now the contact in this case wasn’t enough to knock over a one legged smurf but because there was contact they effectively said he had every right to go down. Now at the back end of last year we have Gareth Bale hitting the floor with alarming regularity. And once again Bale defended himself with the ‘C’ word….. Contact. He went down because he wanted to win a penalty; if that very slight contact had happened on the half way line I’m sure he would have magically found a way to stay on his feet. In an ideal world I would like the force in the contact to be taken into account when giving a foul, was there enough contact to knock the player over? Also retrospective action against players who have dived would help. Neither of these will happen but we can all dream.

I would like just once for Harry Redknapp to take the blame for something. The media’s darling ‘Arry has developed a knack of taking the credit for everything that goes well at a club but blaming everything but himself when things go pear-shaped. So please just once ‘Arry when you get smashed out of sight in a game you should win or play a hand in bankrupting yet another club just hold your hands up…. Please.

It would be nice to also have an end to the constant hyping up of young players purely because they are English. Just because a young English player appears in a clubs 1^st team does not mean he will go on to become the new (Insert legendary players name here) Recent victims of this have been Jordan Henderson and Adam Johnson. Young players could turn out to be anything, but for God’s sake can’t they be allowed to just be decent players?

Another one aimed at pundits and the media here…  Just because a player doesn’t run around like a headless chicken doesn’t mean he doesn’t care or is lazy. Adel Taarabt and Dimitar Berbatov always take a kicking for this. Now let’s break this down shall we. Berbatov has more talent in one foot than most players have in their entire bodies, he can do things with a ball not many other players in the league can even think of. If he was running around doing nothing but chasing would he be as effective? Of course not. So just appreciate talented player at the top of his game.

I think the world of football would be a better place if at least a couple of these things came to pass, and if not at least I feel better for having that little rant. See you soon.

 

Chapter 1, Verse 1

First off I just want to give you all a little bit of a heads up on what I’m about and what you can expect from the blog.

I’m a 23 year old freelance journalist normally covering sport and music. My sport of choice is football, but I’ve covered a wide range of sports at one point or another. If you know me or have read any of my stuff before you will know that I’m a huge music fan. I am a firm believer that music is one of the most powerful mediums on the planet. The right song at any given moment can change your mood, your outlook on life or give you and energy or perspective you never had before. As far as my taste in music is concerned I’d say it’s pretty good. Although I would say that wouldn’t I? My 1^st love is hip hop. Whether it’s UK or U.S, old or new it doesn’t matter to me to be honest. I’ve got records ranging all the way from Eric B & Rakim to J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. And despite the stereotype you’ve probably got in your head I also love loads of other stuff as well. I am a huge Jimi Hendrix fan though, but the name of the blog may have given that away a little bit. (And before anyone moans yes I know it was a Dylan record, but if we are being honest the Dylan original is crap) In all honesty I’ll give most things a listen. But a word of advice... the man who says he ‘listens to a bit of everything’ is a liar. I think most trance is crap for the record.

As for the blog I will just write about whatever takes my fancy on any given day. It will be mostly sport and music based but if something in the news catches my eye, I won’t be shy on commenting on it. I’m going to try and post stuff pretty regularly so be sure to keep an eye out for me. Don’t be afraid to leave a comment either, be that on here, Twitter or Facebook.

That’s it from me for now. If you’ve read my blogs before and you’re still checking for me, thank you. And if you’re a new face, then welcome. This is just the beginning.