I must try to be more positive, I must try to be more positive. Thats the problem when the country is on its knees and the only news is bad shit or bat shit crazy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but I don’t understand why these people can get away with what they do, and don’t ask me who, there’s and ever increasing number of usual suspects with their hands in the till, one only has to turn on the radio or the news or look at Facebook or Twitter and the slimy bottom feeders are there, seemingly proud to have got to where they got to by stamping and trampling on other folk to rise to somewhere they may class as the Top, but it doesn’t seem to set a particularly good example to anyone least of all their kids and other peoples kids, Christ I probably drink too much which is not great and I can stop, but shitting all over your front doorstep and then pretending that everything is fine and everything is someone else’s fault is just too much man. Trump, The Tories, Brexiteers, the list is bleak in its familiarity and its predictability. 

Fuck them all.

On a lighter note, Mrs T and myself went to see a bloke called “Pictish Trail” at the West Malvern Social Club on Saturday night, capacity 65, ticket price was £15. Now I’ve been a fan of this guy, Johnny, for some years, first seeing him on the Isle of Iona at the Iona Village Hall Music Festival back in 2017. The festival didn’t last too much longer after this as its quiet a holy place and pretty much all of the festival goers Probably 400 of us, were all drug taking alcohol swigging heathens, lovely spot mind. I remember most of the bands were Scottish and/or local to the area and it was the first ever CEILIDH I’d attended. The last night of the festival, the Sunday, was closed by a super group made up from some of the acts and Pictish Trail, was the front man, all dressed in cloaks and with KISS style face paints the raucousness went on for hours into the early morning and I believe lots of folk missed the last ferry back and at first light dew drenched revellers were seen shivering towards the car ferry to take the 10 minute journey back to Mull and some dry clothes. Somehow we’ed managed to stay at the house of the Staffa Island Boat trip man, to this day I’m not really sure how we managed it, and we got a discounted trip to Staffa island, saw puffins, sailed a little bit into Fingal’s cave and clambered all over the Basalt Columns at the less visited end of the Giant’s Causeway. So the venue in West Malvern was rammed but we’ed secured a seat and as Johnny (Pictish Trail) was on the merch table I had a chat with him about the Iona gig, he had about as much of a clue about the order of things as I did that weekend! Tonight he was without band, but with an acoustic guitar and an electric box of tricks, a full head mask which made him look like a fraggle, and top banter. The music was sublime, sensuous, techno tinged and funny, really funny, he was having such a good time and I don’t care if he’d told the same jokes at previous gigs, tonight because of the venue it was personal, felt like we had our own private performance, all be it with a perpetually grumpy bar man, who seemed like the success of the Social Club was tearing him apart, its not like it was back in the 80’s. Get a grip man. Anyway I got myself a t-shirt and a new cap, and I will send him a post card to his Caravan on the Isle of Eigg, he likes getting post cards on the Isle of Ei, I like that he bought a little piece of Eigg madness to Malvern on Saturday. He’s one of about 100 people who together purchased the island and live on the island some years ago, sounds like a wild place. 

So West Malvern Social Club is now my favourite venue and for £5 I can become a life member and get priority tickets for gigs, of which there are plenty coming up, Thursday night is open mic night and anyone can come and play, last year Bombay Bicycle Club turned up unannounced and it was so packed they were dancing in the streets, the lady living next door was hosing people down in an effort to get them to clear off! Little West Malvern eh?