Look at the New Shiny Thing

Okay, this thing keeps deleting stuff so I'm hacked off with it, but I might use it for actual blogging eventually. Or Sunday. Sunday is eventually, and I'll actually have something to say then, depressing as it'll probably be, and not at all biased about how those cheating Russians totally robbed us. I was only happy about this bit because the works. This is going to be an introductory post to me and the writing style of this blog so that you know not to read it again, with a review of Anthems: The Tour because I saw it at The Sage last week and it was epicmazing, and GG said blogs don't have to be football.

So, who am I? My name is Katharine; you may also address me as Katie, KP, or holy shit what are you doing with that chainsaw? *runs away* I play in a band that my mam dragged me to and some people let me work with children. Scary place, isn't it?

I'm one of the Toons on here. You may know this from The Bodega, after telling me I'm not Geordie enough and probably Irish or something, but I'm not Irish except one great-great-grandparent. I might kill you in your sleep if I feel like it, but probably not.

So, review. Anthems is Kerry Ellis's debut album, produced and guitared by Brian May and generally awesome. Anthems: The Tour is nearly the same but live and with added Queen songs and a lot more awesome. I have to keep this review short though, or I will run out of superlatives (not a problem I'll be having in the match review posts).

The support act were a band called Vintage Trouble. I'd never heard of them but they were quite good, mostly upbeat bluesy rocky stuff, although they did have a couple of sappy ones. The crowd were rubbish though, especially a bloke sitting in front of us (us being me and my mam; we were both a bit younger than most other people in the circle and it was weird). This may be down to The Sage making it more of an audience than a crowd though.

I must pause from reviewing to express dismay as I have just heard that ITV have cancelled Taggart, but STV might keep making it so I'm moving north of the border until they declare independence and kick me out, but then the Tories will get me so I'll just have to learn the accent.

Anyway, the main act. The miserable bugger sitting in front didn't perk up at all and an AC/DC fan left before the bit he came for happened, but the people on stage were quite magnificent. They opened as the album does with Dangerland, which was written by the hairy bloke with the guitar. I think he's famous or something. It was followed by I'm Not That Girl, which is from a musical but I don't know which one because the only one I've seen is We Will Rock You and that doesn't count because the songs weren't written for it.

Next up was another one written for the album, I Can't Be Your Friend, then Diamonds Are Forever, with that added guitar twang that makes everything better.

There was a deviation from the album next, as they performed Somebody To Love, originally from A Day At The Races, and showing that a mention of Freddie Mercury still gets people to make a lot of noise. Not as much as the singer though because she's really good, even if she did go off stage after that one.

So, with Kerry off stage, guitar solos happen. Brian played Last Horizon, which can be found on his solo album Back To The Light. I've never heard a guitar solo in the middle of the guitar solo before, but I suppose if anyone can do it, it's him. Because he did.

After changing to an acoustic 12-string, he sang Love Of My Life, or at least played along to the audience singing it, which became tradition back when they still had Freddie, except for the end when Kerry came back and sang it, because she's better at the singy bits, although Brian's still quite good. They stayed acoustic for the next track as well, although swapped to a six-string, for I Loved A Butterfly, which used to be Some Things That Glitter on The Cosmos Rocks, with a piano and electric guitar backing. The new version's still good though.

The amps went back on for Save Me, which was originally on The Game (that sounds wrong) but can also be found on the album they're promoting, then Brian went away while Kerry sang No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young) and was massively epic.

The tempo changed drastically next, with their cover of Love It When You Call, which Google tells me is originally by The Feeling, and it was swiftly followed by Defying Gravity from Wicked, which is just brilliant, especially with added rockness and requires a lot of oumph (how the hell do you spell that?) from the singer so it suits Kerry's voice very well.

They closed in a similar manner to Queen with We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, done as excellently as everything else that night and left the stage to a rapturous standing ovation apart from the miserable bloke in front of us.

As an encore, they came back and did Anthem, which I think is from Chess and possibly needs even more oumph (seriously, sp?) than Defying Gravity, followed by Tie Your Mother Down, then they went away again and people started tidying up so that was a shame. They didn't do You Have To Be There.

On the way out of The Sage there was an events of the week kind of sheet which mentioned Katie Melua. She has nothing on Kerry Ellis because you can't hear her, so that was amusing. Anyway, whole thing rocked but I think most places are sold out so don't buy tickets but you might as well check.

That was longer than I meant it to be and I know nobody really cares but it was the best gig I've ever been to by miles and I had to tell someone. I'm chucking the album now; it can never be as good again.

This has been an ordeal but now you know I'll get you. It was nice visiting your planet.
Good luck
KP