Pieces of a Man

Result - got two tickets to see the Flaming Lips in November at the Academy;

"They are acclaimed for their elaborate live shows, which feature costumes, balloons, puppets, video projections, complex stage light configurations, giant hands, large amounts of confetti, and frontman Wayne Coyne's signature man-sized plastic bubble, in which he traverses the audience. In 2002, Q magazine named The Flaming Lips one of the '50 Bands to See Before You Die'." (Wikipedia)

Nina and me had an excellent gig last night from Michael Franti and Spearhead in the intimate surroundings of Academy 3 above the Students' Union on Oxford Road.

For a bit of a wildcard night-out chosen only on the strength of the name recognition from his Disposable Heroes days, it turned out to be brilliant (not least because the big presentation I had the next morning was cancelled, instantly removing all thoughts of sobriety).

Judging from the reaction of the crowd he covered all his big tunes and we had the inevitable MJ tributes, too; 'Billie Jean' early on in the set and a very moving 'I'll be there' late on that brought a tear to my eye. Also pulled a couple of air guitarists up on stage from the audience to cover a bit of 'Back in Black'. Is there anything this man can't do?

Nina and I positioned ourself 2/3rds of the way back, just out of reach of the need to dance too energetically with the young people, and close enough to the bar to minimise the Red Stripe 'down time'. Still, the distance from the stage mattered not a bit; Franti was so gorgeous and charismatic that Nina was melting even at sixty paces(and stayed up late in the night watching YouTube after the gig, methinks).

He's a good six foot something, but his stage presence is all the more imposing because his band seem to be so short. The lead guitarist reminded me of Tattoo from the Love Boat in both features and stature. Franti hardly needs help looking awesome, but I suppose a little midget-hiring doesn't hurt!

The local artist-in-residence drawing a family of moorhens by the canal on our walk down to the Marple Aqueduct;

Went searching for a new tent at Camperlands today. It absolutely hammered down while we were there, making for a wonderful racket in the outdoor showroom. Here are Oscar and Louis staking out their rooms in the Licata 800;

Fathers' Day at the Africe Oye Festival in Toxteth, Liverpool;

Ready to roll at Chill Factor, where we all went to play in the snow on Oscar's Birthday, including Louis;

Visting Nick, Martha and Felix over the amazingly, gorgeously sunny bank holiday weekend;