The Suddenly Kate Show

So, I did some more stitching this weekend as its great to do whilst watching the Olympics, I can't often just sit and watch TV without doing something else at the same time. I am keen to finish this first page as page two has a head in it!! and page three is brown again! :(

But here is my progress..

Before
After...

And here are a few photographs and a clips of the Olympic opening ceremony dress rehearsal that I attended on Monday.















and a little clip too! These drummers were not just here but came down the aisles and were all around the whole stadium, sadly my clip doesn't do it justice.

I have been quite busy lately writing music reviews, I have been getting great pleasure out of it as it combines two of my favourite things: music and writing. The writing needs practice but listening to music is something I enjoy doing.It has meant that I have neglected my stitching for a while, and I don’t like to blog here unless its about stitching and the occasional rant. I have a massive rant brewing which I will write tomorrow. Anyway, the stitching I have been doing has been on the IHSW weekends. Last time I was not inspired by my existing projects and purchased a new kit! Its of a Spanish lady. It is very similar to a HAED in that every part of the picture is stitched, and I am using it as practice for when I eventually get around to doing one. I can already see their appeal.So during the last IHSW I started the kit. I started in the top left corner on page 1 (of 9) and the colour was brown. This month is the second month of stitching it and I added some more brown and even g…

Can you believe that this is the 8th band I have reviewed? No? Me neither. So far I have really been enjoying doing it, not only do I listen to the band being reviewed but I also have a listen to some of their influences.  There are never many comments but I hope you are enjoying reading them and discovering new bands with me. 
This is where the review begins…
When I first saw the name Gaolers Daughter, my first thought was that it was a heavy metal band of some sort. I kind of expected that. Then when I went to their website (which has now changed) it was all black and white and the style of the text was all Megadeth-esque.  So, I clicked on the play button and was surprised! It wasn’t heavy metal at all. I have since learnt that the band name is a reference to ‘Wind in the Willows’ – I am sure all you literary types knew that (oh! the shame L ).
A few weeks ago, I saw that the band were looking for people to review their latest EP and offering a chance to go on their guest list at a…

Venue: 100 Club (Oxford St, London)

I have never been to this venue before and was surprised to find it located between Ann Summers & a GAME shop. There's a joke in there somewhere!

As soon as you enter the building you walk down a corridor and then there are some stairs down into the venue. The first thing I noticed was that it was much smaller than I had imagined. It was probably about the same size as the Cavern Club in Liverpool (if you have ever been there) or a 25 metre swimming pool. There was a bar at each end (only one was open) and the stage was in the centre along one of the long walls. All the walls were adorned with photographs of musicians who have played there and some of them were signed. There was a small stacks of chairs (bright orange plastic circa 1970 if you're interested) and about 4 small tables. It was pretty well lit in that it wasn't too dark and it wasn't too bright either. Most of the lighting was red though (again there is a strange…

This band only appeared as a twitter follower of mine on 10th July but after listening to a few tracks I knew that I wanted to review their latest album. As much as I like music that is different, that challenges my opinions and opens me up to a whole new genre, I was happy to hear this more traditional indie rock band.





The Chase are a five-piece band from Portsmouth made up of:

1. Michael Turvey - Guitar, Lead Vocals, Piano
2. Luke Jerome - Bass
3. Ralph Humby - Drums
4. Harry Street - Guitars
5. Ben Riley - Keyboards, Saxophone, Backing Vocals

They have been compared to The Jam, Stereophonics, White Stripes, & Oasis. The lead singers voice is very much like that of Liam Gallagher in style and I have struggled to find someone else who he sounds more like. So I scrolled their Twitter feed and someone on Twitter said they reminded them of the Bluetones! Lets see...

the Bluetones - Bluetonic



Undecided? Lets take a look at the first EP. The EP called 'Ever, Never or Now?' was…

Now for something a little different! I have probably been aware of this band since around the same time as Monsters Calling Home, which is a fair long while before the bands that I have blogged about so far. It was way back, when I reviewed the Mutineers, that I mentioned how I liked a singer with a distinctive and memorable voice. This bands singer’s voice is very deep and to me it sounds as though he has a bubble in his throat and that intrigued me. The band are originally from Croatia (now living in NYC) and the vocals are also affected by the fact that English is the singers second language. From the very first listen I immediately knew that they would be listened to a lot. It’s just a shame they only have one EP out.
The band is made up of;

Frane Paic - vocal/guitar
Allen Jurisic - guitar
Tico Jay - keyboards
Nikolai Lush - drums.


Sadly there isn't much online about them even though they have been around for 10 years and were very successful in Croatia (as Indigo), they …

All this new music has me feeling guilty about the oldies. What with me being an oldie too, I would hate to get overlooked, and also new music is influenced by the old stuff. So, this Friday is the start of Flashback Fridays - every Friday I will review a band who were big back in the day or still are or are making (made) a comeback. This first Friday I want to share with you the music of Garbage.

Why?
They have just released a new album, one which I am champing at the bit to buy – tomorrow is the big day! - they’re by no means a new band. They released their first album in 1994/5 simply called Garbage. Formed in Wisconsin, US with a leader singer from Scotland they made a splash with their first release.

I was in my teens at the time and was desperate for some contrast to the Spice Girls (who were just far too cheesy pop for me – ok, I admit it, I may have sang along to ziga zig ah on occasion). The indie bands that came out at that time such as; Oasis & Blur were very much male d…

The sweat dripped off of her forehead, onto her lap, her panting began to slow and the shaking had eased, her legs were throbbing still and who knew how they would feel in the morning. 
She caught her breath, and started to remove her cardigan, she was hot and she couldn’t remember the last time that she had walked at such a pace, she had been practically running, her arms swinging, feet pounding the footpath and all in time to the thoughts racing through her mind.
When she had left her house, she was angry, upset, frustrated, disappointed and repentant, now after 45 minutes of walking like her life depended on it, her thoughts had slowed, she was less angry, more disappointed, reflective and had a brighter outlook. 
But it was still there, all that pain, confusion, hurt, it was still there, just pushed to the back, right at the back to join all those other times. 
The only evidence left was another brick in the wall that she was slowly building, the wall that kept her safe from all …

I have posted reviews on bands from Manchester and London so far and I thought I should write one about a local band from Milton Keynes - but my (unwritten) rules are that they must follow me on Twitter to get my attention and sadly none from MK have.

But...
...there is a band called Catching Rockets from a town about 30 minutes away from here (Nothampton) So I decided to check out what they have to offer. **EDIT: ust discovered that they rehears in MK, so I am gonna claim them as my local band :P - hope they don't mine!**


Firstly, what I found out about them...
Originally a 2 piece, they are now a 3 piece stomp acoustic band made up of Steve Marshall, Jack Frankland and Sam Richardson. Their debut EP was released in April 2012 and its called 'for then, now and future reference'. If like me, you just read 'stomp acoustic' and thought, huh?! Well, there is no simple definition but I am interpreting it as acoustic music with a constant heavy beat throughout, as if you…