Gutterball

When the football season begun, the national game kicked off under the shadows of Olympian clouds.

The 2011-12 season finished with some of the most thrilling football and exciting campaigns to end a season. But after the seemingly bi-annual failure for England in a national tournament came one of the biggest Olympics in history. Thousands of column inches promptly lauded the feats of the Olympic athletes in comparison to footballers, who were perceived as overpaid mercenaries.

Since then, however, the sport has decided to respond to flesh out the negative imagery with even bigger clouds of misery.

Almost routine is a weekly firestorm of coverage about the latest negative incident in the sport, with each incident a further lowering of the perceptions of football. Of course, not all football players and fans are guilty of the same sins and tarring them with the same brush is a very unhelpful way to go.

Nevertheless the incidents that have taken place are extremely unhelpful and causing problems.

There is a wide variety of scandals both old and new used in the critics' cannon. Racism scandals and questions about how affordable the sport for fans is have been long running threads which have resurfaced again this season.

The affordability factor is an almost yearly thing fuelled by the BBC's Price of Football survey, which calculates the price of the cheapest day out. This does not involve the cost of travelling, which is also subject to interminable increases. With some clubs charging £60 and upwards for tickets to games (nevermind the £90 Arsenal and Spurs charge), a lot more fans are being priced out, leaving emptier grounds in the Premier League - nevermind the Football League.

The avalanche of money flowing into football has been reflected in the increased wage packets of directors and players. But keeping these people onside requires a delicate financial balancing act the ability of the clubs to trade in these climates is doubtful. Everyone knows the crisis that has befallen Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers, but they are the extreme version of the norm, with many clubs struggling to keep their financial affairs in order ith the exception of sugar daddy owners.

The racism scandal is also a long running thread, albeit not quite as long. Luis Suarez and John Terry provided a massive talking point last season when they were accused of racially abusing opponents. These subthreads were an almost obligatory reference when the two players took to the field at all times since, with Terry's elongated after a court case meant his FA sentencing took place almost a year after the original incident.

Far from slowing down, the scandals have instead gone forth and multiplied. The England U21 side were involved in a very nasty incident in Serbia where players have described being racially abused. Things then spiralled out of control even further, with two players and a coach being summoned by Serbian police for their part in the mass brawl at the final whistle.

This was an international incident that was met with even more outrage when the punishment of a £65,000 fine was handed to the Serbian FA. For a sense of scale, Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner was fined an extra £25,000 when he revealed a pair of Paddy Power underpants during a game at Euro 2012.

UEFA president Michel Platini has said he may appeal the sentences to get them increased and he would certainly be right too as such fines are hardly a deterrent.

On a domestic scale, referee racism scandals have also arrived with disastrous consequences. Mark Clattenburg was accused of racism by Chelsea after a bad tempered game against Manchester United where the referee sent two players off and allowed a winning goal when Javier Hernandez appeared offside.

This could have gone two ways - either the end of the referee's career or severe trouble for Chelsea, not least given they were still under the cloud of the initial Terry saga.

The FA and police eventually cleared Clattenburg, who has since returned to officiating games. This gave Chelsea even bigger headaches for their public image and perception, which were then amplified amongst fans when they fired Roberto Di Matteo as manager seemingly on the whim of the teams owner Roman Abrahmovic.

It got even worse for Chelsea as John Obi Mikel got a three game ban and an FA fine for threatening the referee in the dressing room. All this is just even more negative publicity for the boys in blue, who have seemingly sunk from European Champions to laughing stock in half a year.

Racist actions by fans have also not helped, with extremely questionable chanting by West Ham supporters at Tottenham a few days after a Spurs fan was stabbed by a Lazio fan in Rome. This was distinctly uncomfortable listening for anybody with a taste of decency.

Fan behaviour has not been limited to this. The usual bad taste chanting is to be expected - Sunderland fans chanting "We wish you were dead" at Newcastle defender Steven Taylor was a harsh extreme chant after his comments before the Tyne-Wear Derby. But the Leeds fan punching Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkand and the people who hit Rio Ferdinand with a coin before trying to get on the field and attack him during the Manchester Derby have taken the game to poisonous depths.

These are stupid scenes that reflect badly on football and lower the sport's perception to those outside the footballing community.

Derby games obviously provoke strong feelings. These rivalries give games an atmosphere, and a lot of the time it helps incentivise players to perform for their supporters. But the ridiculous level of hooliganism does not help anybody, and it only reduces standings of both club involved and the game itself.

Lord Ouseley, who chairs the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign, recently declared English football as a moral wasteland. He was speaking primarily from his end of the spectrum and his concerns over the increase of racism scandals, which KIO is fighting to combat. But all these scandals build up in a snowballing effect and reach an almost hysterical level of bombast that drowns out reason, logic and, by extension, the actual football.

It paints a very negative picture of the sport, making it seem from the outside as an ungovernable and unaffordable mess. That's not to say this year has been full of forgettable football - the last day of the season in May 2012 was some of the most exciting in history and there has been plenty of exciting action to keep fans entertained. And of course, not every football fan is a thug wanting to kill opposition players for scoring the winning goal in a match.

But 2012, in particular the latter half, will be remembered as much for the baggage as much as the sporting action. This negative mess is reflected by the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, which bypasses football all together. The community can only hope 2013 goes a lot smoother and the focus is rightly back on the action rather than on the accompanying baggage.

The Black Keys at the O2 Arena - Live Review

Few bands have enjoyed the success this year that blues-rock duo The Black Keys have managed. In a year more than others where the press is saying "guitar rock is dead" the band have found themselves in a high position amongst bands.

A year and a week (almost) has passed since 7th album El Camino came in at 6th in the UK Album charts. Since then they've done three nights at the 7,000 capacity Alexandra Palace, sub-headlined Foo Fighters at Reading and Leeds Festivals and have returned with a six date arena run.

This is not quite the level they hit in the USA, where their tour included a 35 date arena headline tour with Arctic Monkeys as support, a headline slot at Coachella and five Grammy Awards nominations, but it is nevertheless very impressive. Now back in Europe they are playing even bigger slots than ever before, as they bring their show to the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena.

Such arenas are normally the haunts of the major names - Mumford & Sons were bringing their folk stylings to the venue the previous evening, while the likes of The Killers, The Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams have all recently been playing on the same stage.

There is certainly a strut in the step of singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney as they stride onto the stage looking to wow the crowd with their potent brand of bluesy-rock.

But straight from the off something just doesn't feel right. While Hyde Park is the London venue most notorious for having terrible acoustics, there feels like something missing from the acoustics for the bulk of the show.

Although they are a duo on record, The Black Keys are doubled live with the addition of a bass guitarist and a keyboard player, but for the bulk of the evening the bass is barely audible. This feels less of a problem when they walk off for a three song interlude, allowing Auerbach and Carney to jam it out amongst themselves like the old days.

The poor acoustics and slightly sleepy crowd means the show takes a few numbers to warm up. It takes third song Run Right Back to really wake the crowd up, but at this point the crowd begin to get up and get dancing.

The one-two of Dead And Gone and super hit Gold On The Ceiling really got the crowd bouncing, as their glossy poppier aspects work where the others struggled to fill the room. But it's the songs where the pair play by themselves which thrive better. With less instruments being fed through the speakers the songs have room to fill up the speakers, allowing a clearer and louder guitar to work with the drums.

In terms of the set, these three are in the minority. Only three other songs in the set aside from this portion do not come from either El Camino or preceding album Brothers, and even then they all come from 2008's Attack & Release - their first collobaration with El Camino producer Danger Mouse.

A lot of the songs follow the blues riff-led rock diagram, with the exceptions naturally proving the interesting exception. This includes the lovely ballad Little Black Submarines and the groove-based Tighten Up - both of which provide expert highlights in the cannon.

Tighten Up backs onto the heavy riff confection of Lonely Boy which gets the loudest cheers of the night. The song is nominated for the lucrative Grammy award for Record of the Year and it certainly works with a delightful riff and a great chorus.

This misleading "goodnight" means people leave rather than sticking around for when the band emerge to play an encore. The encore however sees a delightful part to the show with two mirrorballs - one positioned on the stage and one above the mixing desk - emerging, as the lights revolve around the arena during Everlasting Light.

A final run through of I Got Mine finishes things off with a flourish after a puzzling evening. While the band certainly look a good fit for the arena circuit and a number of their songs work, better acoustics would have helped the good vibes reach the back of the arena and avoided the disappointing muffled sound that clattered so much of the evening.

3/5



The support band for the evening was The Maccabees, who are also rising stars of the rock world. Their third album Given To The Wild went down a treat amongst the indie crowd and the South Londoners turned up on their home cities' biggest stage. They provided a pretty decent slot combining the darker atmospheric recordings of their earlier albums with the sprightly indie of earlier efforts, even if they also struggled somewhat with the acoustics of the venue.

The Game Of The Dons

Media hype for the FA Cup is normally at fever pitch but for Sunday's affair at stadium:mk the hype stretched to more than the chance to progress one stage towards Wembley.

Coverage of the third round tie the winners got - a trip to face Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday - is likely to be minimal in comparison to the circus accompanying this one. But then MK Dons vs AFC Wimbledon was never going to pass by under the radar.

The history of the teams in the tie always ensured baggage. Many people will never recognise MK Dons as anything more than a bastardised version of the old Wimbledon - something Pete Winkleman seems set to accept. In contrast AFC Wimbledon have dominated coverage, with endless articles about their progression and their feelings of being wronged by the FA among others.

Their progression is certainly remarkable, with the team taking nine years to progress from the Combined Counties League to the Football League. While this doesn't exactly fit with their narrative of "starting from the bottom" - they would have started 15 tiers lower if they had - it is still exemplary progress and a testament to their supporters' determination to get back to where they were.

The formation came when they red an FA report that re-establishing a team in Wimbledon would be "not in the wider interests in football". While it has been hinted this phrase was about having a Milton Keynes team put in the same tier as a new Wimbledon team from the off, this was nevertheless a banner adopted for their rise.

No matter who's right the old Wimbledon FC was on it's knees - by the time the broken husk of a team eventually moved to Milton Keynes in 2003 it had been homeless since 1991, been deserted by fans angry at the proposals to move north and was a dead club noone wanted to be associated with.

Little has changed for MK Dons since they rebranded, who remain football's most hated and are still in League One, albeit challenging for promotion rather than the relegation struggle they had in 2004-05. AFC Wimbledon are adjusting to life in League Two but in contrast are finding league life a struggle, with some fans arguably more interested in an upcoming relegation six pointer against fellow Londoners Barnet the week after.

This match, then, was an oddity - a game between a team most people would rather not existed against a team that wouldn't have existed but for an FA panel's report goading them to do so.

In the stadium, the atmosphere was buzzing - words not normally associated with MK Dons matches. But despite the hype, the bulk of the first half was as much about the crowd as the action. A handful of home chances that didn't really bother Wombles keeper Neil Sullivan and a few fruitless away attacks was the only football of note for the bulk of the first half.

The crowd was more atmospheric, with chants - some vulgar, like "You franchise bastards, you know what you are", some pilfered, like "Always the victims, it's never your fault", some amusing if a tad inaudible, like "Where were you when you were us?" - batted to and fro like a badminton rally.

Particularly impressive was the plane flown overhead with a larger version of the "We Are Wimbledon" banners that the away fans had bought comically small versions of. This sent the away end into raptures and the home end into a few sarcastic retorts of "Who are ya".

But despite the crowd providing a spark, the play failed to as much. MK Dons were impressive passing the ball around but, like Arsenal, lacked a cutting edge beyond the rigidly organised AFC Wimbledon defenders.

This was basically a game between two lower league sides, which are at times hardly known for their artistry. However a strike of impressive craft did fly in just moments before half-time. The ball was worked into MK's highly rated defensive midfielder Stephen Gleeson, who opted to take a crack from 35 yards. His strike flew from his boot into the top corner, with the devilish swerve that Sullivan would have required elasticated arms to keep out.

"You're getting beat by a franchise" sung the home fans with gusto, as Wimbledon heads begun to drop a little. The second half, in contrast, begun with a bit more chances. Dean Lewington saw a free-kick expertly tipped over by Sullivan, while Ryan Lowe and Dean Bowditch hit the side netting with efforts as MK threatened a second.

The home side had threatened to get the killer second and bury the match as a contest. But then, Wimbledon crept up the pitch and levelled. A well engineered move saw Jack Midson release loan signing Tom Ajala, before the striker dived in to meet the cross and level the tie.

Wimbledon fans' excitement threatened to boil over as they invaded the pitch, to a chorus of boos from the home side. But they had the moment they had come - a goal at the home of the franchise.

This stunted MK's rhythm, although it almost came back when the impressive sub Zeli Ismael crossed for Lowe to bundle home. However the home fans' joy was instantly cancelled by the offside flag, much to the delight of the away end.

A replay soon enough seemed the likely probability, but Wimbledon thought they had won it when a mistake in the MK defence let in Steven Gregory. The loan signing from Bournemouth let fly with an effort on goal but by the narrowest of margins ex-Wimbledon FC goalkeeper David Martin got a finger on it to tip it round the post and prevent what would've been a winner for the visitors.

This proved even more decisive just moments later. MK burst up the field to win a corner, which AFC had cleared. Ismael struck it in to a crowded area where two players were squabbling on the edge of the six yard box. Just outside this box stood full back Jon Otsemembor, who nonchalantly stuck out his right foot. The ball hit the back of the foot, looped up and into the net to decide the game.

Once again spectators were on the pitch, if a tad half-heartedly and still receiving the boos. But this had no bearing on the result as MK held on to secure a victory in this match.

On the pitch, the best team arguably won and Milton Keynes will point to this. In contrast, Wimbledon will see a moral victory and the fact their opponents required a brilliant strike and a slightly fortunate one to get the victory.

The hype for trouble was minimal, although the game wasn't all clean - reports of damage to seats and vendors in the away end, and the arrest of three AFC fans reflected badly on them. But the game struggled as much with the hype - articles about boycotts quickly became obsolete when it was revealed they bought more fans than they usually get at home games.

Neutrals were quick to paint the result as a "victory for all that is wrong with football" but the first meeting of the two sides was nevertheless a reasonable match. Wimbledon certainly did themselves proud with a good performance and came within a fraction of a replay, but with the game out the way it feels like a relief.

How long it is until they meet again is anyone's guess. It's unlikely the game will lead to an actual rivalry in the same way derbies or mutual hatreds do but a second meeting will be an interesting comparison the hysteria that accompanied this one. But until then dwelling on the result will be unhealthy for both clubs and their supporters - MK have a promotion battle and AFC's attention must turn to avoiding a first ever relegation.

So in the meantime, the game has happened and the history, hype and opinions have been pontificated on. Now it's all over, it's time to move on... until the next time.

The Dark Knight Rises - Film Review

*CAUTION - The following review contiains potential spoilers. If you are yet to see The Dark Knight Rises (and by extension Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) but wish to do so, proceed with this in mind*

Very few films have arrived in cinema with the huge expectation that The Dark Knight Rises has upon it.

The runaway critical success of 2008’s The Dark Knight meant that anticipation for it’s sequel – the last in the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale trilogy – had reached fever pitch when it was merely announced. What they have created for a sequel is a very intriguing end to the trilogy.

We open with two parallel sequences - one where the villain emerges, and one where we find the seldom-seen Bat. Nolan's Batman films are dense in keeping the Bat under wraps and this is no exception.

Eight years have passed since the events of The Dark Knight, where the Joker and Harvey Dent ran riot in the streets of the city. Batman has taken the fall for Dent's crimes, and Bruce Wayne, shorn of his extra-curricular activity of donning his cape and patrolling Gotham, has turned into something of a recluse.

The villain who emerges is Bane (Tom Hardy), who combines enough brute force to literally break Batman, and a clever strategy to get the populace of Gotham to destroy the city from within. It is particularly impressive despite Hardy’s voice having an almost Darth Vader-sound that sometimes drowns in the relentless percussion and chant-heavy Hans Zimmer soundtrack. Despite this he makes a compelling adversary.

After being robbed by Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who is Catwoman in all but name, and becoming aware of Bane’s rise, Wayne returns to his cape and flightsuit and is immediately plunged into desperation after he loses a fight, a back in one piece and is confined to a pit somewhere in the deserts of Africa.

Many people said both of Nolan's Batman films so far have taken a very realistic approach to their protrayal of the Bat. However this one has what feels like the contents of news bulletins for the last four years serving as the basis of its story.

 

There are three big fish that serve as plot points - green energy, economic crises and social unrest.

 

The expenditure of green energy gets an early reference when it's revealed Bruce Wayne has sunk all his cash into a nuclear fusion project that quickly turns out to be a nuclear bomb in waiting. Theoretically nuclear fusion could be a sustainable energy source that could last for 3000 years depending on how much lithium is used, but fusion has the potential to create a deadlier weapon than the existing process of nuclear fission.

 

However, its the economic crisis that drives the big attention. It starts with a raid on a stock exchange where Bane bankrupts Wayne Enterprises with a series of dodgy trades while holding the exchange hostage, and blossoms into the after effects.

 

The Nolan brothers wrote this film before the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements began dominating the news media. As it is there is still major anger and some protestations against the global economic giants perceived to have caused the crisis everyone is suffering through their greed.

 

Here it is taken to the extreme - the idea if either of these groups (I'm not even going to attempt to guess which side of the spectrum they belong on) being rallied by an evil figurehead and taken to try and destroy society.

 

This, however, is one of the plot holes that has been picked at the most. If you saw a masked man strut into the middle of a football stadium seconds after he has blown up the pitch beneath the players and is proclaiming "we come not as a conquerors but as liberators". Equally true though is the fact that fear will drive this - if someone is pointing a gun at you, or in this case, threatening to blow you up with a nuke, and essentially says "if you try to be a hero you die", you'd be in their power.

There are a few gaping plotholes that the film's length stretches out. 3 hours is an almost absurd length for a movie and unlike Inception, which remains Nolan's masterpiece, the construction is not quite so stable.

The plot, despite all the political baggage, also ends up being surprisingly straight forward. By the time Batman returns from his jail, it has turned into a stop-the-bomb story worthy of the first half of a series of 24.

It's a different environment to the usual stop the bomb film though - trapped policeman, destroyed bridges, people killed left, right and centre and a roving nuclear bomb all set for detonation.

Exactly why Bane wants to obliterate Gotham ties in with Batman Begins - a visitation of Liam Neeson's character ties the knot fall circle.

 

A few months on and with the DVD release looming, it feels there is a less of a ridiculous energy around the film in and calm discussed can now occur. With Batman fans sending death threats to critics who hated it - in turn forcing the closure of the film's entry on Rotten Tomatoes - and  long thinkpieces appearing every day in newspapers taking the film unbelievably seriously, it felt like rationality had flown out of the window.

 

As pure spectacle it is a good film and there is plenty to admire, and even love, about the film. There are plenty of performances that are impressive - newcomers Hardy, Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are all delightful and Bale delivers his best performance as the billionaire Bat.

Just don't try to dig in too seriously, otherwise your head will hurt with intent to take the film to bits.

Rating: 4/5

Coming Off The Rails

As previously noted, November is often a cruel month in football. The increase of miserable weather and shortening of daylight hours bring people down, and it seems to have this effect on footballers too. A series of poor results can increase the pressure on teams tenfold, leading to break point and, ultimately, a change in manager.

This seems to be heading towards this at Newcastle, or at least would be if it wasn't for one key element. November has been a terrible month for the club, with a pile of injuries and many poor performances.

The 3-0 defeat to Manchester United was an exceedingly frustrating afternoon but since then displays have remained in their underwhelming state.

The team were unlucky to only draw against Sunderland and exceedingly lucky to beat West Brom after a lucky deflection of Papiss Cisse gave the Toon three points.

But since the win over the league's surprise package, the form has not picked up. Instead, the win over the Baggies seems like being the exception - that result is the only win since late September.

Coincidentally this is also in the period since an eight year contract was handed to manager Alan Pardew. It is easy to draw a link between them but the manager was able to construct a team capable of holding its own at the top of the division.

The team that was fielded this stage last season would be able to destroy the current crop despite the fact they largely consist of the very same players. This comes after a hugely deflating game at Southampton, where the newly promoted side could well have reached double or triple the 2-0 margin they eventually finished with.

Post-Southampton was the usual amount of "ah this guy is terrible why is he playing for us get him out of our club" sort of thing. This is always present, but it is always the same failings. They have been aired a lot this season, with many underwhelming displays getting fans both at the ground and watching elsewhere up in arms.

So what has changed in the past year at St. James' Park?

You can point to a potential wide variety of failings. Chief gripe amongst fans on matchday is purely tactical. Last season the team principally played in a 4-4-2 system until the mid-season signing of Cisse, at which point a 4-3-3 tactic took over with Hatem Ben Arfa taking wide right and Demba Ba in a wide left slot.

This bought a great spell with the side dominating proceedings and winning most of their games to seal their top five slot.

This season has seen a more disoriented version of the 4-4-2 revert to the main tactic, reportedly at the insistence of Ba. The striker cut a frustrated figure in the wide left slot last season and apparently insisted on a switch back to the 4-4-2.

The change has suited him, but it's not suited anyone else. Instead it proves our limitations. Jonas Gutierrez is a good defensive winger but changing to this system revealed he had lost some of the pace in his first season, while on the other flank Ben Arfa has reverted to trying to win games single-handedly.

Up top, Cisse and Ba do not click. The two strikers simply get in each other's way and are too similar to work as a coherent front pairing. The only real solution could well to be drop one, as it seems that pairing both is getting us nowhere, but beyond them the team struggles for goals.

Injuries are also, as ever, unhelpful. Last time Newcastle were in European competition was in 2006/07 - a season that saw the team finish 13th in the Premier League having been 1 point off bottom spot early on in the campaign. It also saw us struggle with a staggering 13 players injured during the season, with midfielders and youngsters making up both the defence and strikeforce.

We have struggled with injuries a lot this year too, and it means that once again youngsters are having to fill in with Shane Ferguson, Sammy Ameobi and Gael Bigirimana all playing way more than probably expected.

But this is window dressing behind the issue - the fact we simply do not have enough players and did not buy enough for the Premier League-Europa League rigours.

Last season, players like Ryan Taylor, James Perch and Mike Williamson performed admirably in the absence of other senior professionals. However this led to the strategy of Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias they presumably nicked from a casino.

The strategy is that they have 11 "purple" players, which is basically the most valuable eleven. This is easy to work out as an eleven of Tim Krul, Vurnon Anita, Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Cheick Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse.

Beyond that are senior reserve players like Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Perch, Williamson and youngsters. This is slightly give or take - it is debatable who of Simpson and Anita take the right back slot - but the basic admission is they have put the eggs in having a stellar first eleven and reasonable back-up talents.

This is a huge gamble that is definitely backfiring - other clubs make sure they have more than 11 concrete first teamers. Last season the only "purple" with a long term injury was Steven Taylor, who was spent six months out injured.

This time the only game we theoretically had a full host of purples was the Sunderland away game, where Tiote earned a red card.

The mix of all three categories has flavoured the tactical problem. The tactics are purely left to suit who's available, but the players left seem to struggle creating a system.

Pardew wants new players to join in January, and a failure to invest in January will leave us with a dreadful second half.

It is a big problem. We wanted to sign Mathieu Debuchy, Douglas and Luuk de Jong and signed none. Granted de Jong would've been an expensive splurge at eighteen million quid, weezling out of paying an extra million or two to sign Debuchy and/or Douglas was a faintly poor affair.

Failure to invest in the squad in January is not an option - if there are no players bought in we will have a long, miserable second half of the season. Despite the preference for high-class continental options, some half-decent lower league backup is worth an option, but players are still needed.

But until then, something needs to be done to regain the lost coherency. Obviously injuries impact - Cabaye and Steven Taylor are out until February - but something has to be done to at least gain results, nevermind the lack of dominating displays we played last season.

Stoke away tomorrow night is a terrible game to try to regain form, with memories of an incredible win there last season negated by our more recent form. But all we can do is try - one goal can make all the difference, and a win could be the elixir to kick us up the arse and reboot our flagging campaign.

Over to you, Pardew...

The Sack Race

November is usually a time to fear for a football manager who has started out badly. With the dense Christmas period and January transfer window looming large, managers that have started badly can see an opportunity to reboot an underwhelming campaign. But by this stage supporters have usually tired of the old boy and want out. It is normally now that the owner agrees.

This week has seen the axe fall in two corners of West London - one which follows this script, and one that follows half of it.

QPR and Chelsea have already met under the managers perceived to be failures, when they drew 0-0 at Loftus Road in September. This was the first time Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea failed to win in this early season, while QPR continued a start of no wins.

Since then, QPR still haven't won any Premier League outings. Chelsea went back to winning until a defeat by Shakthar Donetsk in the Champions League heralded a miserable run of form for the European Champions which has seen them lose top spot in the Premier League and face the prospect of being the first defending Champions League holders to go out in the group stages.

The final blow for Di Matteo came in Turin earlier this week, when his Chelsea side were ruthlessly dispatched by Juventus. The Italian champions represented a tough test for Chelsea, and in the end it proved an easy win for the hosts.

Chelsea's loss in Ukraine a month ago is seen as the moment megalomaniac owner Roman Abrahmovic decided that Di Matteo was not the man for the job. On the showing of results since then, there has been little to convince the Russian to keep the incumbent that he had to be persuaded to keep as manager. The club's only victory in this spell was an extra time Capital One Cup victory over Manchester United that came three days after a league defeat to the same side on the same pitch.

At the same time though, every team will have a blip in form over a season. Di Matteo bought FA Cup and Champions League success to the club - a double many clubs would envy. This surely would've deserved him a longer shot in charge of the side, not least given Abrahmovic's dreams of bringing in ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola were not going to happen this season.

It is certainly a very harsh sacking, both in light of what he achieved last season and the fact one of his sacking's reasons appears to be not playing Fernando Torres. The striker has represented possibly one of the worst value for money signings in history, with 19 goals in two and a half years at Stamford Bridge. When Abramovic said Di Matteo would have to stick with him rather than his dream signing of Radamel Falcao, who promptly scored four against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup, it was seemingly inevitable that Torres' form, or lack of it, would end up being crucial.

Sure enough it is - both in the fact Di Matteo is now jobless, but also in the fact that Rafael Benitez is the new man in the dugout. Abramovic is banking on the fact Benitez bought Torres to England and got him firing for Liverpool will help him come good, but questions have to be asked if Torres is just no longer good enough.

Not that getting Torres firing is Benitez's only challenge - aside from rescuing their Champions League campaign and catching up with the two Manchester clubs, but winning over a Chelsea fanbase that is largely against his presence in their managers office is a massive one. The fans largely disagreed with the sacking of Di Matteo, and then further disagreed the decision not only to replace him with another interim manager, but in Benitez, who made various anti-Chelsea comments while Liverpool manager.

Naturally three points against Manchester City on Sunday, which would bring the Blues to within a point of Roberto Mancini's side and their unbeaten league record. But his challenge is a long road to counteract the fact that he is quite lucky to be in a position that Di Matteo, arguably, should still hold.

His challenge is certainly easier, and reaps bigger rewards, than the one facing QPR's new manager. Mark Hughes has spent the last few weeks resembling a lost cause at the foot of the division despite repeated assurances from owner Tony Fernandes his job was secure.

Defeat by Southampton last weekend, which left them marooned on just 4 points at the bottom of the league and still without Premier League victory, has obviously changed his mind. It is reported he was asked to resign on Monday by the QPR board, which Hughes flatly declined. Obviously resignation would have waived a five million pound pay-off for failure, which has now been paid after his sacking.

As well as commanding pay-off figures Fred Goodwin would have been proud of, Hughes has basically rebuilt the entire QPR team with a side that seems to be unable to do more than the sum of its extremely talented parts.

There is no denying they have talent. Goalkeeper Julio Cesar is a Champions League winner with Inter Milan, their midfield is loaded with talents such as Esteban Granero, Junior Hoilett, Ji-Sung Park and Adel Tarrabt and they have goal threats in players like Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora.

So where has it gone wrong? Well, aside from the fact changing an entire team in the space of a weeks is never a good thing to keep momentum going, there is also the feeling that they have a weaker defence and once the defeats begun - a 5-0 opening day mauling by Swansea was the perfect pre-season optimism killer - it was always going to be a struggle.

Long before the killer blow was dealt by Nigel Adkins' Saints, the fans have grown restless with Hughes. The manager has resemebled something of a David Brent style figure convinced his team were still going to finish midtable even as evidence became clear that Hughes would be lucky to finish December as QPR manager, let alone the season.

Fans are calling for ex-Spurs manager Harry Redknapp to take his place and certainly there is little to argue with the claim that he can't be any worse than Hughes. Fernandes seems keen to agree, with reports he will be installed in time for QPR's game against Sunderland next Tuesday.

But aside from the faintly ridiculous timing - he was sacked just a day before a game, let alone the fact this game was against Manchester United - it seems Hughes was onto a loser. He may have bought skillful players but with the players failing to gel and fans wanting him out, there was only going to be one outcome. His ridiculous form of just 6 wins from 30 was also always going to count against him, with the omens appearing that QPR would've been better off persisting with Neil Warnock rather than removing him as they did in January.

The jokes have been flying - one Tweet indicated that Hughes was so poor he failed to win the sack race - but there was never going to be any other outcome.

More of a surprise is the sacking of Hughes occured after the one four miles down the road at Stamford Bridge, but both basically have fallen victim to the fact that, as November turns into December, the owners feel they have not fulfilled their ambition and will be unable to do so. While it is harsh in one case, it is ultimate in the end that the owner's ambitions are unfulfilled and once owners see the end, there really is no going back.


Predictions:
Chelsea: Benitez will not be in the manager seat next season despite coming close to at least two trophies and most likely winning the Club World Championship.
QPR: Harry Redknapp to take over, win some games noone expected them to win and buy yet another new team, but to face a huge struggle to keep them in the top flight.

Skyfall - Film Review

*CAUTION - The following review contiains potential spoilers. If you are yet to see Skyfall but wish to do so, proceed with this in mind*

James Bond may well be a cinema icon but over his previous 22 outings it's not always been plain sailing.

Skyfall is Bond's 23rd outing but this almost didn't happen, given film studio MGM almost bit the dust. But in terms of actual content, a lot of critics felt that Bond had something to prove after 2008's Quantum of Solace. This may have had a lot to do with timing - while The Dark Knight had become seen as the perfect film alongst critics, the Jason Bourne movies vied for action-genre supremacy and were seen to hve won their battle.

Now, following a Bourne movie that didn't seem to generate excitement following the departure of Matt Damon, Daniel Craig returns for his third outing as film's biggest secret agent.

The writing seems to have been sampling the (real and screen) world around it and cramming it in. Repeated government losses of sensitive data serve as plot points, while the gritty realistic action that fuelled the Dark Knight trilogy also gets an airing.

In a nod to the frenetic past Bond films, there is high action from the word go. Bond and his new fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) pursue a baddie through the streets of Istanbul, then on the rooves of the city, and then on a train heading away, and all before Eve, on M's (Dame Judi Dench) orders, unintentionally kills Bond.

Or at least she thinks she does - Bond is instead, in his words "enjoying death", drinking with scorpions in a tropical island bar. And boy does he drink - during the course of this film, he drinks Heineken, tequilla, scotch and his classic vodka martini. In his returning physical that baddie Silva (Javier Bardem) later takes glee in reading, he is listed as having an alcohol dependency.

Before a morning boozer, he realises the news Thames House has exploded. M is on her way back from attending a meeting with Gareth Mallorry (Ralph Fiennes), who has suggested she leave the agency.

Bond, as a result, comes back to Blighty and, after a fitness test and a meeting with Q (Ben Wishaw), it's off on the globe-trotting adventures Bond normally goes on. Not to the same extent as usual though - while previous Bond films have seen him traverse the globe and spend minutes in the UK, his foreign trips are minimal, with the early Istanbul visit, trips to Shanghai and Macau and a sojourn on Silva's island the only foreign action to occur.

There is further emphasis on the characters beyond the heros. Ordinarily Bond is the king of the castle but here, Dench gets a chance to drive proceedings. M is the real star of the show here. As well as the dynamism between her and Bond that fuels many films, she also gets to venture out the office and makes her presence felt at the heart of the film.

The others are also impressive. Mallory is a very impressive and competent man, while Q is an intriguing counterpoint with a run of youth that keeps things well-grounded in the face of the experienced counterpants running around him.

Bond of course is running the show, whether involved in all manner of action scrapes, or delivering a large amount of dry one-liners that would seamlessly fit into a comedy show. Craig certainly makes the role his own - he has had two very impressive performances so far to hone in on his character but here he really shines.

This amount of dry quippery and action scenes are needed to keep his head in the face of his enemy, who reveals an hour into the piece. Silva, when he surfaces, is a slick man looking to gain revenge after M decided to cut him loose, holding her responsible for his capture, imprisonment and torture by the Chinese.

Silva is also a very clever man. He relentlessly manipulates the world to his desires of revenge, manipulating the electronical world. It is a very relevant threat - cyber-terrorism is becoming a major threat to global security, and is seen as the next big threat to individual countries.

He is also very clever - just as it looks that Bond, Q and the rest have him in a corner after he is captured from his island, he breaks free. After this, he runs under London and blows up a tube tunnel to lose Bond before he breaks into Whitehall for the purposes of shooting up a select committee hearing that M has been bought to. But his goal of revenge doesn't pull off here, although he is close to success.

This swiftly leads to the end game, as Bond and M flee to Bond's childhood home - Skyfall Hunting Lodge. He lures Silva and his henchmen there before engaging in a final shootout.

It brings into it two cliches of modern cinema - 1. the tortured backstory of the hero and 2. bad guys are really terrible shots.

But by this point and the surprise ending, the intricate plotting has paid of.

Many critics have trumpeted this film as possibly one of the best Bond films since the notable theme song first made it out the speakers in the 1960s. 50 years on and Bond has not only retained its sense of adventure and fun, but has updated itself - making a delightful film with the talent performing the part and making a late contender for a possible film of the year.

Whether the Oscar people agree is another matter...

4/5

The Battle Of The Dons

Lots of pundits blither on about the perceived notion of FA Cup romance - the desire to see the underdog trump the big gun, the prestige of the world's oldest knockout competition and, of course, the eventual moment when a team (usually one of the top 6 in the Premiership) lifts the unmistakable FA Cup trophy to mark victory.

There hasn't been too much of this in recent years - the big guns are more interested in taking the Champions League, while smaller fish are either more interested in staying in the Premier League or getting into it.

This has led to a few surprise upsets in recent years as big guns' weaker sides get upset by a hungrier lower competitor but its all to play for in the early stages as the non-league teams try to hold out and land the biggest fish.

The draw has presented some such chances - one of non-league sides Harrogate and Hastings is going to be in Round 3 - but one tie between league opposition, normally ignored at this early stage, has caught attention if only for the implications and the recent history behind it.

Provided they win replays, we could be about to see AFC Wimbledon travelling  to take on Milton Keynes Dons, the team who replaced the old Wimbledon FC in 2004.

This is not a tie AFC Wimbledon wanted. They still hold the view that MK Dons represent the Football League-supported annihilation of the old Wimbledon FC and that such franchising is not for the good of the game - a view shared by a lot of the footballing community.

There is certainly ill feeling amongst the supporters of AFC Wimbledon ahead of a prospect of meeting the side that is legally seen as the continuation of Wimbledon FC. They maintain their view that MK Dons, as an entity, should not exist and the club should still be based in south west London or they should not have automatically started in the Football League place vacated by Wimbledon.

10 years have passed since the formation of AFC Wimbledon and they still have a massive ill-feeling to the new club, to the point where they tried to convince the new team to drop the "Dons" name earlier this year, saying that it reminds them of the incidents that saw their club relocate. This move was rejected at the time by the club and by Milton Keynes Council, although further talks are likely in 2013.

It doesn't take too much understanding of the history of the move to understand why Wombles are angry. They view that the Football Association colluded to make a move that wasn't beneficial and feel that their club was stolen. While AFC Wimbledon have made incredible progress since their formation and admission into the football league system, this will obviously not have dulled the fires amongst the South West Londoners.

In contrast, the MK Dons supporters aren't so bothered. Their fans certainly feel excited to take on the fans club. They also hold the view that Wimbledon were deserted by their fans when their club was sliding into bankruptcy and that such an extreme move was required to stop them imploding.

This circumstance is certainly what led to Wimbledon's decline into administration and eventual move in 2003. AFC Wimbledon certainly feel touchy about this viewpoint but it is hard to see any other potential end to what happened to Wimbledon when everything building up within the club threatened to destroy them whether they moved or not.

It is not that clear about whether or not the move has succeeded - at first fans seemed turned away and disinterested, but the new team has begun gradually gaining local support in a new stadium (albiet not quite to full capacity yet) and consistent placing at the top of League One.

In any case, this circle of hatred has led to massive ill-feeling by Wombles towards the Dons, to the point where they do not want to take the Milton Keynes side on. The club's board admitted as such, saying that they would go ahead with the fixture despite their admission they do not want such a fixture to take place. There is already talk amongst their supporters of a refusal to travel up the M1 to the New City, although it appears a small contingent is likely to travel.

The Milton Keynes team are certainly more interested in such a game taking place than their counterparts are. Manager Karl Robinson was quoted as "dancing in his front room" when he heard the draw on Sunday afternoon and chairman Pete Winkleman is also excited at the prospect. They recognise that they need to get through their replay first, but they obviously understand that such a tie would be big sporting news.

Anticipation is high amongst those outside the two clubs for a meeting, although the vast majority of neutral supporters are likely to cheer on the "wronged fan-powered underdog" against the "franchise". Some fans seem like they could provoke the possibility of violence beyond the almost-certain poor taste chanting that such a fixture will be accompanied with, assuming any turn up, and the game will be massive.

It will almost certainly likely to make television picks for either ITV or ESPN. Certainly press coverage from those same pundits would consider it a further tale of cup romance if AFC Wimbledon won, as it would be viewed as a fan triumph over the bloated mess of modern football.

To outsiders of the sport and a reasonable portion of people who support neither, it could be interpreted as "just another game", and certainly a lot of fans would be prepared to just ignore the politics and see that is just a game with a potential money-spinning game against a big team.

Of course, there is also the factor of Cambridge City and/or York City upsetting the apple cart and ensuring this fixture does not happen. But all the same, whether we like it or not, such a tie would have added emotional baggage and the perception of modern vs old football is all set to be given a physical outing rather than a topic for column arguments.

The Killers at Birmingham LG Arena - Live Review

For a band from Las Vegas, it seems odd The Killers have put their emphasis on tunes rather than show. It's all very well doing so, and few can argue with the power their singles have, but it would be nice to see a world of glitz and glamour from their home city bought across with them.

Arguably though, they work just as well without the zazz and the oomph. While their contemporaries Muse, Coldplay and Kasabian have turned up on the arena circuit with massive stage shows designed to give visual spectacle to go with their massive sound, the Las Vegas quartet (a sextet live with two additional keyboard/guitar players) are content with a big screen, a big box of laser-lights and tunes by the bucketload.

Naturally, as its Halloween night, there's nods to it everywhere. The band walked on to Victims-exclusive feature Zombie Hands, with the band dressed as ghostly ghouls on the big screen playing a weirdly hypnotic tune as the band strutted on (drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr arrived in a skeleton onesie, in contrast the black leather/denim of his bandmates).

This led itself into surprise opener Bones, with its Tim Burton-directed music video taking the place on the screen and the true sensation of a whole arena chanting "Don't you wanna come with me, don't you wanna feel my bones all over your bones?"

It maybe the Battle Born tour, but the band weren't to be rushed in delivering new songs - 4th song The Way It Was, sounding much meatier than the Dirty Dancing knock-off on record, was the first number. The delightful ballad followed on from Hot Fuss power-pair Jenny Was A Friend of Mine and Somebody Told Me, which got the crowd singing and jumping.

Frontman Brandon Flowers was bouncing around as ever, posing with his microphone and delivering rousing chorus after chorus and the odd speech over the top of the tightly-woven instrumentation. When he wasn't doing this, he was tinkling away at a black piano at the back of the stage or his keyboards behind a thunderbolt-shaped lighting array.

The band happily chucked in new songs and old songs together, with a lot of them seamlessly clicking with the oldies. Album opener Flesh & Bone seamlessly followed classic Spaceman, while future single Miss Atomic Bomb was a delightful confection as the song led into laser-accompanied 2008 mega-hit Human.

Re-worked numbers also cropped up - For Reasons Unknown and From Here On Out were introduced with sprightly drum interludes from Vannucci, while a delicate, new piano arrangement begun the moving Dustland Fairytale.

But despite the new songs all sounding excellent - the surging A Matter Of Time was a particular delight, while Here With Me was a lovely ballad - the Brummie crowd were in the mood for the hits.

They got what they wanted with an almost comical splurge of big hitters that ended the main set. Read My Mind, fuelled by a delightful riff from guitarist Dave Keuning, led into the dramatic new hit Runaways, and was followed up by the song that launched it all - the glorious Mr. Brightside - before a final run through of When You Were Young ended a fantastic 18 song set.

Except it wasn't quite over - the band strutted back out after a breather for three more. A Hot Fuss duo got the crowd back in the jumping mood with Smile Like You Mean It leading into All These Things That I've Done, fuelled by its refrain of "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" that sounds made to be sung by 13,500 people all at once and a flash flood of red and silver confetti.

All this led into show closer Battle Born, with more fireworks than Bonfire Night and glorious riffs and chourses that united the arena for one last singalong. It all ended with Flowers introducing us to the members of the band before high-fiving the ecstatic front row as riffs pounded and a final flourish of fireworks bought the song to a close.

In keeping with the Halloween spirit, a lovely touch saw the band hand the crowd sweets before taking a final bow to end their show.

This really was a night of glamorous zazz. The power of the tunes and the delightful live show the Las Vegas band have always looked like delivering produced a truly incredible treat for Halloween night. It seems like such a big trick though that it's now all over.

4.5/5




Supporting the band were Canadian duo Tegan & Sara, who begun the night with a good set of electronic-pop tunes. The duo, augmented by a quartet of additional musicians, looked far from daunted at the prospect of playing to someone else's audience in a room the size of the Vatican City, and certainly will have won some fans over with an impressive display.

Muse at the O2 Arena - Live Review

Over the years, Muse have built up a reputation as one of the world's best live bands. They have played gigs in venues normally the home of football stars and rock dinosaurs, played on productions that wouldn't look out of place in films and have anthems that can get a crowd singing so loud it's a wonder they haven't deafened entire cities.

With new album The 2nd Law charting at number one in many countries, Muse hit the road again with a suitably massive production.

Not that it's immediately apparent - when the trio roll onto stage, they are playing in front of a video bowl-shaped design while Dom Howard's drum riser glows with stock market numbers and robot faces for opening song The 2nd Law: Part One - Unsustainable.

The dubstep-inspired tune caused a wave of internet hysteria when it first dropped in June, but as a concert opener it works exceptionally well, as strings give way to loud, punchy swells of noise and chants.

The following pair of Supremacy and classic Map of the Problematique swagger past, all massive riffs, delightful vocal touches and pounding rhythms before the staging reveals itself.

As spaceship noises fill the venue, a massive upside down video pyramid opens up above the band. The layers stretch down from the roof of the venue above the drumset in the middle of the stage. It's almost a strange touch that this spectacle turns into Panic Station, but the funky riffing number more than holds its own.

The new songs are abundant but also fit in well, with Animals and the Chris Wolstenholme-sung Liquid State both flavoured by heavy touches aimed squarely at the moshpit.

The moshpit is also catered for with some delightful oldies. Timeless classics not only well-worked at getting moshpits bouncing, but venues chanting like mad, and none work better than Supermassive Black Hole and (via a surprise half of early number Host) Time is Running Out.

Surprisingly, Muse also dust off a few chill moments that work delightfully well. Newie Explorers and Showbiz album song Falling Down (the night's rarest tune, getting a first UK airing in 12 years) provide a welcome breather from rampant 1000mph riff-based monsters.

Saying this, not everything Muse throws into the live mix works. The moments that hit the low spot come off 2009's The Resistance, which continues to be a divisive presence amongst the fanbase. Resistance is a bit of a buzzkill after the aforementioned Supermassive, despite it's big chorus and riffs. A later airing of Undisclosed Desires is also fairly nondescript, although it gives Matt Bellamy a chance to play proper walk-around frontman, high-fiving the front rows, bouncing around the bowl at the back and beatboxing his way back to his guitar tech at the end.

Undisclosed... follows fellow electronic numbers Madness and Follow Me, which sound a lot better live than the mishmash on record. Madness is also lit up, quite literally, by a pair of video sunglasses Bellamy dons for the first part of the tune, in a very impressive touch for the tune.

The main set concludes with a rip-roaring Plug in Baby and, after a roulette video interlude, it's Origin of Symmetry album-mate New Born. But while the first of this pair is as impressive as ever, the slowed down New Born just doesn't have the urgency that it has had at previous outings. It said a lot the best part of the tune was the closing touch of a Deftones riff as the pyramid lowered and "consumses the band", and one can't help but feel they should have spun again so it landed on Stockholm Syndrome.

After a video interlude which is set to The 2nd Law: Part Two - Isolated System, the pyramid visuals transforms into a dojo where Howard takes on bankers kung-fu style to the beats of Uprising. It's a humorous touch to the heavy "kill all bankers" subject of the tune, not least when the pyramid rises to reveal Howard in his bright red ninja costume pounding away at his instrument.

A final trio of Olympic-anthem Survival, the pretty Starlight and a rampant Knights of Cydonia (with it's usual Man with a Harmonica intro) brings the curtain down on the show.

Overall, it was a confusing affair that could've used a little bit of re-ordering and swapping (No Bliss? No Butterflies and Hurricanes? Still playing Undisclosed Desires?) to make it truly incredible. But there's a reason Muse are heralded as an amazing live act, and what we got was nevertheless a very good show delivered by a band at the top of their game.

Shows like this certainly cement Muse's reputation ahead of next summer's expected stadium tour. Can't wait.

7/10


Also playing were The Joy Formidable. Singer Ritzy Bryan missed the previous night's show after losing her voice, but she recovered in time to play. She and her bandmates delivered an impressive 45 minute set to warm the crowd up, with drummer Matt Thomas in particular playing a very tight array of percussive riffs and engaging with the crowd.

Gamesmanship

There is no denying that football is a sport full of cash. Vast amounts of money are sunk into teams by success-hungry billionaires and TV companies, who promptly spend it on wages and transfer fees to hunt for players.

The pursuit of money therefore requires teams further income to fuel this alongside the revenue sources that wealthy backers and the television people give, and there are three main avenues for this - tickets (VIP or otherwise), merchandise and sponsorship.

Sponsorship of football clubs is a delicate issue - the image of the sponsor is transferred to the club and the club is associated with them. This can be trouble in a way depending on who you ally yourself with.

As a result, Wonga.com's £24M deal with Newcastle United is pretty syptomatic of the league.

I personally am not impressed by this deal. Wonga.com's wealth comes from exploitation - its 4214% loans ensuring the company's coffers are lined up very well with the money of those who find it hard to repay, and their debt collection practices are also highly immoral. It also reflects poorly on us. By association it can be seen that having their company's logo emblazoned on our replica shirts, training ground and other associated things helps to legitimaise their brand.

But at the same time, it seems that the owners are playing a game in the same way the rest of the league are.

All it needs is a look around. The league itself is sponsored by Barclays, who got in big trouble earlier this year for LIBOR interest rate fixing and have historically been in trouble for a manner of business practices. It doesn't get much better looking down, with the Football League sponsored by NPower and their annual extortionate energy prices rises, while the FA Cup is sponsored by alcohol company Budweiser.

Premier League clubs also have their own share of dodgy sponsorship deals. Gambling companies in particular are the main promoters of immorailty adorning shirts. Stoke, Swansea, West Ham and Wigan are all sponsored by online gambling sites, while Chinese casino operators Genting have their logo on Aston Villa shirts.

Alcohol also has its presence, although its more limited to billboard space with just Everton shirts emblazoned with the name of a booze corporation. It's certainly a long way from the 1990s, where Blackburn, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs wore alcohol companies on their shirts at various stages in the FA Carling Premiership.

Not that finance in football is limited to the obvious amoral duo of gambling and alcohol companies. Sunderland are indirectly sponsored by Tullow Oil under their front investment charity Invest In Africa, and the reputation of oil corporations is not exactly strong.

This is before the deals of the champions. Manchester City are sponsored by Etihad Airways in a deal that seems designed to circumvent the UEFA Financial Fairplay regulations.

The two big fish in the shirt-selling stakes are also adorned with slightly dodgy deals. United are sponsored by insurance company AON, who have been fined for breaching US insurance selling regulations. Not quite the same league as AIG, whose balls-out financial failures cost the American taxpayer $100billion in bailout money, but still not exactly rosy. As for Liverpool, they wear the name of Standard Chartered, who are currently in trouble for laundering Iranian terrorist money, having previously had alcohol company Carlsberg on their shirts.

Wonga.com are also about in football teams anyway. Championship outfit Blackpool and Scottish side Hearts also have the blue speech bubble on their shirts. Certainly, there was no hysteria surrounding this deal when Ian Holloway's side played in the Premier League.

I am not saying of course that Wonga.com is what I want to see on the front of our shirts. But regardless of my personal opinion, the leagues have always been full of this sort of thing since football started taking shirt sponsorship.

This is, of course, before the other hysteria surrounding ownership and television rights is thrown into the potent mix. It basically shows the bombastic levels of financial antics that carry on in football and the corporations involved in the sport means we cannot simply pick and choose sponsors along moral lines.

Off Day Or Symptomatic One?

Newcastle's display against Manchester United was, undoubtedly, not a good one.

A terrible opening 20 minutes against Sir Alex Ferguson's mob meant we had way too much to do. And although we did create chances, we tested David De Gea way too little before Tom Cleverley wrapped things up and ended the game as a conteet.

This was a thoroughly underwhelming display, espicially in defence, with the centre back pairing of Mike Williamson and James Perch struggling and goalkeeper Steve Harper also looking decidedly suspect.

Some pundits felt the Toon could do some damage to their opponents - after all, we beat them 3-0 at St. James' Park in January and still had our attacking options - not least Demba Ba, the Premier League's top scorer.

But neither him, Cisse or others could unlock a defence some pundits had called the worst in Sir Alex Ferguson's long and distinguished tenure at Old Trafford.

Fergie's lot are not unbeatable but it is dispiriting that we didn't try and test this, with one point blank De Gea save that may have crossed the line from Cisse the nearest we really came to scoring.

It is one possibility to dismiss the result as an off day. After all, every team has them and teams can't win every game. But despite this, there's a nagging feeling that there's something more than this underfoot at the Toon.

This summer, our targets were simple - cover at both defence and attack. We got youngsters and an extra midfielder that plays better as a full back, but our first choice targets were not signed as we seemed unwilling - petulant, almost - in refusing to pay one or two extra million for these players.

It looks like the ownership was hedging their bets that we mantain luck with injuries - with the exception of a defensive collapse against Norwich due to having a quarter of full backs as defenders, we got lucky with injuries in that area last season.

No such luck with Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor all suffering injuries, along with goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Obviously luck with injuries is something you can never factor in when the transfer recruitment policy but it pays to be aware problems like this may occur and our policy failed to take account of this. Steve Harper and Mike Williamson were great options in the Championship and on our return to the Premier League but if we have aspirations of being top 4/5 regulars we need to upgrade our options, while James Perch seems better as a full back/holding midfielder than as a centre option.

Having just three senior centre backs is a worrying problem, with only up top the other area where bodies look light - the surprise drafting in of misfit Xisco shows the problems in these areas.

However, until January, there is nothing to be done for this. But that's not the only problem facing us right now.

Tactically, things have not been right. The run that steamrolled us into the top 5 at the end of last season saw Pardew put his men into a 4-3-3 formation, with Ben Arfa and Ba operating as wide forwards either side of Cisse. This season has seen a shift back to a 4-4-2, with the manager trying to incorporate Ba back into our system after he seemed on the fringes last season.

But although Ba has been been scoring, 4-4-2 looks like an uneasy fit for us. We perform poorer in the 4-4-2 formation than we do when we change to a 4-3-3 tactic, which has been a situation that has repeated itself more than once so far this campaign.

This leads to sluggish starts from the team. The first 15 minutes today were horrible viewing - the last time we started so poorly at home was the immortal game against Arsenal in February 2011, where a Robin van Persie-led attack bagged four in 26 minutes, and at one point it looked like his new mob were set to replicate that approach.

Not the only time we have started sluggishly this season - poor opening displays against Chelsea, Aston Villa, Everton and Reading cost us the chance to win the games. But this was a genuinely horrible opening display that could well have seen us buried before the half hour point.

False hope was generated when we came back into it but we had to test De Gea to have any remote aspiration of scoring, and by the time Tom Cleverley put the game beyond doubt it remained that Cisse's was-it-or-wasn't-it-over header was the only real time the Spaniard was tested.

It is certainly food for thought for Pardew and his backroom staff. They may have 8 year deals to try and take us towards the highest honours, but we won't get there with displays like the ones so far this season.

This makes the Derby post-internationals an intriguing proposition - both sides are coming off the back of deflating three goal thumpings by Manchester sides and will be hungry to show what they are capable of.

All we need now is a display that keeps the doubters quiet, and victory in the Derby is certainly the right way to do this. With any luck, it could help bury the memories of a day when nothing went right for the black and whites.

Muse - The 2nd Law - First Impressions

There's a lot to be said in favour of musical ambition. Far too many bands are content to churn out similar sounding records every time they do something or make the minimal amount of change possible to their sound.

Kudos has to go to Muse, whose every album feels like a departure from the one before it. But this has been divisive, with many people happy to call them Radiohead or Queen soundalikes and thinking they need to restrain themselves.

The 2nd Law arrives at an interesting time for the band. Despite 5th album The Resistance topping the charts in 19 countries and leading to a tour that sold out some of the world's biggest venues, it has gone down as one of Muse's worst albums.

Certainly, as a Muse fan, I liked the album at first but three years on there's only 4/5 songs I listen to, whereas I would happily play the preceding three albums back-to-back-to-back.

With promises of their most diverse album, it remains to be seen what they have created this time. Well, here's what they've created:

1. Supremacy
Muse album openers usually tend to be songs that build into crescendos, with only Uprising immediately going for the heavy punches. This, however, is also a heavier tune, with meaty riffs reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, Bond-film string parts and huge falsetto yelps.

It's strangely similar to Citizen Erased from Origin of Symmetry, with the slow verses leading into heaviness, albiet with a cheeky Bond-theme chord at the end to close the song. Even after one song it seems we have an early contender for one of Muse's biggest and best numbers.

2. Madness
This is technically the lead single but it's feels a weird choice. Although Bellamy has genuinely meaningful lyrics, it feels somewhat underdevolped for a lead single. The hypnotic m-m-m-m-mad-mad-madness synth line and basic drum beat gives it a more minimal feel, save for a fairly pointless Brian May influenced guitar solo and electro-pop style end.

On it's own terms its a good pop song, but as the lead single for a rock band's record it's more than a bit of a let down. Saying that, it sounds a lot better louder.

3. Panic Station
Funk. If you want to pigeon-hole this song's genere down to one word, the word you're looking for is funk and quite a few people seem to be going "what the funk" after hearing this one. The devilish bass groove and drum parts are impressive, but that's nothing compared to a huge guitar riff and brass solos.

It sounds like a cross between Red Hot Chili Peppers and brass-led ballroom music, which is both ridiculous and faintly laughable. But it also has created one hell of a tune that not only works, but is delightful in doing so. It certainly sounds more lead single territory than Madness did.

4. Prelude
Technically the first cut aired from The 2nd Law, this is just over a minute of lovely, almost filmic piano, strings, trumpets and brass.

5. Survival
After the calm, the histronic storm. The official 2012 Olympic song starts off with rather odd jazz piano, handclaps, choir noises and possibly some of Bellamy's iffiest lyrics... "Race, life's a race, and I'm gonna win" doesn't exactly scream lyrical genius. And this is before things truly go over-the-top with some huge riffs similar to those in Supremacy before an almighty ending where the singer sounds like he's right at the edge of his vocal capability.

Yet somehow, everything works. It feels truly anthemic, like We Are The Champions written for The Hunger Games. It seems to fit in more with the album then it did when it first surfaced at the start of the summer, given the apocalyptic overtones it feels more like a blast for survival.

6. Follow Me
Possibly the first rave song about raising a kid that starts with piano and baby heartbeats. After the sombre piano build up, keyboards begin to swell in place of the baby heartbeat sounds and the song begins to bubble before hitting a full on rock-rave drop.

This song begun life as a rock song and I can't help but feel it would work better as such a song, although it does make a lot more sense in live versions. It has a peculiar sound when it hits this part with sounds like Kasabian, U2, Nero's own work (they produced the album mix) and various 80s dancefloor hits.

7. Animals
This song is oddly reminiscent of Showbiz-era Muse, with delicately precise flamenco guitars and a spiralling piano riff underpining the tune. It's only the aggresive banker-baiting lyrics that hint at change from that era - well, that, the time signature of the piece, and the ending riff layered with aggresive chanting.

Without the aggressive stockbroker chanting at the end of the piece and more prominence on the riff, this would have ended better. As it is though, it is still a very good piece, with the spindly structure and lovely falsetto cries of "strike those in distress" particularly making up a strong track.

8. Explorers
Twinkling pianos seems to be a recurring theme, with just vocals and Matt saying "There is nothing left for you". However this song really goes into what the hell territory when it suddenly develops a melody reminscent of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, Christmas carol-like melodies and bells and, perhaps even more ridiculously, ends with the phrase "Ssssshhhhhh... go to sleep".

For a song previously described as the album's most pessimistic and defeatist song, there is something oddly uplifting about it's instrumentation. Lyrically though there is bleakness in it, but it passes by fairly unremarkably and certainly goes on a little considering that, at almost six minutes, it's the albums longest number.

9. Big Freeze
Anyone who listens to the musical stylings of Bono and company will find this one surprisingly familiar. The guitar tone, in particular, is very Edge, although the bass is a lot heavier in the chorus. A Brian May-solo also rears its head towards the end, making what feels like a sort of Stadium Rock 101.

U2 are a very love-it-or-loathe-it band and your opinion of them certainly flavours this tune. But this song just feels like something Bono could write in his sleep, making for a fairly underwhelming song.

10. Save Me
This is a real scene change for Muse - the first song on one of their albums not sung by Matt Bellamy. Instead bass player Chris Wolstenholme steps up to the lead microphone for the first of two numbers relating to his alcoholism.

This is the softer of the two numbers penned by the bass player at first, but like a lot of good Muse songs, it spirals into a heavier piece with some impressive drum work and some lovely work on the keyboards. It's certainly a grower of a tune.

11. Liquid State
Heavier Muse songs tend to be fan favourites and this is certainly one of the heavier numbers of the record. A huge guitar riff and pummeling drums fuel this number, while Chris' voice certainly fits in well with cries of "bring me peace and wash away my dirt" blending nicely into the riffs.

It sounds quite like Foo Fighters with a heavier punch on the guitar work, and Chris' vocal tone is oddly reminscent of Dave Grohl. The chorus is also fairly punchy, with billowing synth and shouty guitars. It makes for a punchy early Muse tune quite similar to Dead Star, and it is also one of the best tunes from the record.

12. The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
This is the trailer music that caused huge rumbles on the internet that Muse had turned into a dubstep act. Yet it's more hugely ambitious than that.

Spiralling strings and ominous newsreader lines about the 2nd law of thermodynamics give way to a rock interpretation of dubstep, robots chanting "unsustainable!" and a huge prog-rock style solo. The whole song is ambitious, ridiculous, and probably one of the album's best songs.

13. The 2nd Law: Isolated System
After the huge storm comes something completley wilder and different. Exorcist-style pianos and strings kick-start a song that builds up, almost like a filmic journey into the unknown. An almost gallery of shouting newsreaders and what sounds like the baby heartbeats out of Follow Me surface through it.

Even this is not prepared for a huge storm-like swell that could very well soundtrack an apocalypse movie, before the sounds of a powering down UFO and fractured repetitions of the line "In an isolated system, entropy can only increase" send the album hurting to a stop.



Overall the album is a very confused piece of music. Unlike previous albums where things flowed very well, it's only really the vocals, certain sounds (a guitar riff here, a twinkly sound there) and the production (which is top-notch thoroughout) that indicate the songs share an album, and even then there a few numbers that could ideally be ommitted.

As songs though, there are a number of songs that come close to a top Muse 30, with Supremacy and Unsustainable top 15 at least. And it's the strength of the songs in question that are the highlights, rather than any cohesion or it being a fantastic collection of songs.

7/10

The Killers - Battle Born - First Impressions

They say that the heart grows fond in the absence of something you used to enjoy. This is certainly the mood around the return of The Killers, as they prepare to unleash their fourth album and their first in four years.

The fact they were welcomed like heroes to the Hyde Park stage in June 2011 shows that, for all the solo stuff put out by three of it's members, the fanbase (and radio stations) were really pining for the band in full.

Early press had suggested this album was sonically closer to the underrated gem Sam's Town than the synth-based duo of Hot Fuss and Day & Age. But have they achieved a knockout or should they have spent longer working on this one?

1. Flesh & Bone
Bleeping video game-style synths sound at first like an odd way to start the album, as Brandon talks of "natural selection" and "the dark horse running in this fantasy league". A cymbal crash sees this give way to a riveting disco-rock chorus with chants of "What are you made of? Flesh and bone".

This song is quite well produced, not least with the change of keys to a bass-led strut after the second chorus before the return of cruising guitars to the end. This could have been mismanaged but it certainly settles in well with the rest of the song. It's a great tune and great bet for next single.

2. Runaways
The comeback single and possibly the most Springsteen song they possibly could have picked. Acoustic guitar, synths and tales of "a blue eyed girl playing into sand" give way to a march that explodes into life with cries of "We can't wait until tomorrow", marching snare drums and loud guitars.

This song is much more of a grower - it is natural to think at first "this is Springsteen" because it certainly has more than an echo to the Boss at his most bombastic. But with repeated listens, it shows itself as a fantastic rocker and another hit for the band to their impressive cannon.

3. The Way It Was
My first impression of this song is that it sounds like "I've Had The Time Of My Life" from the Dirty Dancing film, and there is certainly more than a hint of this and other 80s power-ballds in this one.

Slinky guitars, twinkly pianos and talk of "Elvis" and "It's like we're going under" builds into a fairly decent 80s-rock chorus as Brandon longs for "The way it was when we met". It's a fairly decent little tune despite being heavily 80s-flavoured, even if not strictly one for repeating.

4. Here With Me
After the big opening trio, things are scaled back a bit for a more simple romantic ballad. Piano and Flowers' subtle vocals introduce this one, building from the piano to the simple chorus of "I don't want your picture on my cell phone, I want you here with me".

Very few of The Killers bigger known songs are ballads, and there are indeed few of them on their records since they a few cropped up towards the back of Hot Fuss. It's not a bad song and has some decent lyrics but it feels out of place this early on in the record.

5. A Matter Of Time
Unusually for a Killers track, the chorus feels like the weakest part of this song. The intro produces a swaggering, fast rock track that alternates leads between guitar and bass during the verses. This sounds impressive, but it feels disappointing when this build-up gives way to a fairly average AOR chorus with twinkling keyboards and slower pace.

The end returns to this, which is certainly the stronger parts of this song. It's unabashedly 80s and it seems to take in both good and bad sides of this sonic territory, revealing a song that's quite good for the most part but still someway to being fantastic.

6. Deadlines & Commitments
After a centre stage slot for the guitar, this song returns to piano and synth territory travelled during Here With Me and previous records.

This song seems to be trying to be the ballad of the broken working man that has lost his livelihood in the dire economic situation. There's some nice goseply vocal touches in this one and it's nice and delicately realised but it feels a little bit shallow in place of some bigger hitters. It leaves the song in an odd place - it's nice and all, but it just doesn't feel like it fits in.

7. Miss Atomic Bomb
About halfway through this one the familiar riff to Mr. Brightside pokes its head, surronding talk of "dust clouds". This is no mean feat - in interviews Flowers has described this as "the stately prequel" to his band's biggest hit, and there are certainly echos of the tale of betrayal that flavours the song.

The song is a very classy affair, mixing delicate synths, layers of guitars and thumping drum riffs, building to a huge chorus of "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone". Flowers' vocal delivery is more restrained from his usual holler but it gives the right tone for a lovely track. The only real disappointment is the fact that it goes for the fade out ending.

8. The Rising Tide
An almost UFO-sounding noise and video game synths build up at the start of this one. Slightly jarring is when the epic build-up gives way to the verse rather than a big riff. After this, the song starts to improve. Some random Michael Jackson style "Ow!"'s also combine over a huge mix of guitars and synths.

While the version the band played at a gig in summer 2011 there suggested a mix of Hot Fuss & Sam's Town, this song seems more like a mix of Day & Age and Sam's Town. It also works very well, combing good touches from the records to create a very good song.

9. Heart Of A Girl
It's a return to ballad country for this one, with just piano and vocals before simple drums and guitar work join the song as Brandon talks of being "on the shore waiting for the heart of a girl".

There are some nice vocal touches and some rather bizarre gospel chants in yet another 80s-song. It takes on the epic-ballad route and it's a pleasant listen, but not one for the memory.

10. From Here On Out
The album's shortest song and also one of it's punchiest. An almost country-and-western vibe flavours this tune in the combination of acoustic and slide guitars.

An unusually bitter tone in the lyrics - "From here on out, friends are gonna be hard to come by" - combines with a fairly swaggering song that fits in some funky guitar work before the song comes rushing to a halt at the 2 1/2 minute mark. It's probably the nearest TK will come to The Vaccines, but it still sounds pretty good.

11. Be Still
This song is another to start with just vocals and synthy-piano - the fourth such on this record. Electronic drums crop up before the song swells into an epic-sounding mood and then fades away at the end.

This song I'd say is probably the best of the ballads that pepper this record, as it gets the right balance between reserved and epic that the best power-ballads manage. Although personally I'd rather hear organic drums than electronic ones, it is still a godo enough tune that warrants inclusion.

12. Battle Born
Huge guitars and strings come out in force for this one. It's a stadium-rock cliche that bands get strings in when they want to go massive.

After about the four minute mark, the huge vibe gives away to an almost ambient piano, synth and string piece punctured by hits on the gong, sort of similar to Midnight Show and This River Is Wild from previous records. But it certainly sounds like the massive album closer that they've always threatened to create but never perfected.


The deluxe edition comes with a remix of Flesh & Bone and two extra numbers - the reasonable Carry Me Home and Prize Fighter, which should arguably be on the actual record.


Overall, I'd say it shares some similarities sonically with all three Killers albums - the widescreen sound and rockouts of Sam's Town, as well as the pop ears of their debut and the dance sounds of their last one. But it also shares similarities with Hot Fuss and Day & Age in terms of track quality - there are some great songs and some numbers that aren't as good.

For what it is it is still a good record and the band are certainly closer to finding their sound.

7.5/10

Ticket Fees, Ticket Re-Selling And Other Farces

Live music is a great event and one I enjoy going too a lot.

Whether it's seeing small gigs in local pubs or heading to the huge stadiums like Wembley and sharing the huge experience of a band and 90,000 close friends dancing the night away, it is one of the great times to have.

But it feels like the ticket companies are not exactly helping in enjoyment of this.

The fees for tickets, for instance, are insane. This is not just the extortionate additional fees Viagogo, StubHub and other companies like this add (more of whom later), but the actual main ticket agencies.

The last ticket I purchased was to see The Killers on October 31st. The Las Vegas band are doing a 13 date tour and, despite their absence ahead of this year's fourth record, this tour is highly anticipated.

I can handle the queuing to wait - this demand means the website will be getting a lot of hits and a lot of people trying to get their hands on seats. That's normal, as can be the possibiliy of disappointment when an event sells out (as it did for me when I entered my details for a show in London only for the sold out signs to appear).

What frustrates me is the additional expense of the ticket fees.

Obviously the sellers will want to receive payment for their services but gig tickets are expensive enough without the addition of extra, expensive fees.

With roughly £10 added to a £45 ticket, the level that they have gone to is ridiculous. And sadly not an exception - the additional £10 fee to an already bloated £55 ticket price put me off seeing Muse, and that is one of the lighter ones.

I already blogged a review of the Kasabian show at London's Brixton Academy. What I didn't say was the stupid £4 fee Ticketmaster insisted on adding just to send me an e-mail. Granted this e-mail was my ticket but surely that is the limit to ridiculous fees.

I don't think I have ever seen more of a rip-off in anything. Granted there are postage costs in any thing but surely the fact you're not paying for envelopes, stamps and transporting the ticket from the printers to the buyers, but it is insane that Ticketmaster are able to do this to this exent.

And this is before the other side of the coin - selling on your ticket.

Normally when I buy a gig ticket, I will happily go. However I am aware I may need to sell some tickets if I feel my ears, which have been in trouble of late, can't take it. That's understandable.

But looking around, it seems re-selling is a huge con of a market.

A Channel 4 documentary and associated articles revealed Viagogo and Seatwave each received huge allocations for major tours in 2011, including Coldplay and Take That, and still continued to for Coldplay's 2012 tour.

I am not a fan of Coldplay but I think it's ridiculous that their fanbase is being taken for a ride by these companies, who have not only got tickets but a license to rip people off.

It is worth noting that these are allegations, but the fact various concert promoters said that the viagogo company was listed as a reputabale company for the selling of tickets is depressing.

The fact the other tickets sold out mean that they are allowed to simply jack up the prices to bombastic levels. It is irritating to see a price jacked up by double, triple or in some cases quadruple their face value.

This is also not just for eBay - this is on an allegedly reputable company whose sole market is basically no different to the murky world of eBay resellers or people on street corners by the venue going "Buy or sell tickets".

It is insane the government classifies this murky world as a good example of enterprise culture. They are basically creating money out of nothing with the sole intention of ripping people off, and it is painful to watch. And this is before the fact it is official partners of people like the NME and the Reading Festival.

When Madonna's Hyde Park show was officially selling tickets through viagogo, I thought that was a bold and frankly reckless move. Her shows are already amongst the most expensive gigs in the country, with £100 ticket prices. The fact that viagogo were selling them and allowed to charge what they felt like was one of the most depressing things to see.

Unlike eFestivals, who once said this could lead to face value tickets becoming a thing of the past, I don't think that promoters will want to do this.

It's a huge problem - a lot of tickets can't be bought for face value, and even then that value is distorted by extorionate fees.

The one obvious thing to do with the wildly poor re-sale market is capping this to either face value or a percentage - 5, 10, 15 or whatever.

I personally cannot use viagogo or other companies like this because they charge stupid extra fees as well as giving me the impression I'm taken for a ride.

But I'm not sure if it's just the re-selling that I'm basically being charged needless extra fees. The utmost insanity in fees I've been charged was £15 by SeeTickets for the one-day event Hard Rock Calling Festival in June 2011, and other fees are still being added.

This is one that is a bit more of a thorny issue to decide, but with more and more musicians relying on live music for income and more people going to these things, there has to be more protection to stop the fans from being ripped off and deserting the venues and festivals.

Gig Review - Kasabian at Brixton Academy 20/08/12

Kasabian's arrival to the big festival slots has not strictly been a comfortable one.

While they have had three successive UK number one albums and have an army of fans who enjoy their anthemic rock, they have had successive albums derided by critics who lazily dismiss them as sounding like Oasis.

It has also not been smooth sailing - despite an almost absurd amount of touring bringing the band to the UK's biggest venues, they are still a small gigs band in the USA and are not yet at the same level in Europe, although one more album could send them over the top.

But back home, they are in the big time - after this show they went on to headline Reading and Leeds Festivals, having previously headlined V and T in the Park, and there's talk of Glastonbury and possibly stadiums when they tour album five.

With a US Tour in smaller rooms than this, it means that Kasabian have little trouble squeezing their production into the 4,500 O2 Academy.

They also are a great live band - starting big and not letting go. Opener Days Are Forgotten blitzes past, with a heavy rock riff, piercing synthesizers and singer Tom Meighan's growl firing the song along to start proceedings.

They don't let up, with classics such as Shoot The Runner and Underdog also firing past early on to a crowd that not only appreciates them but absolutely takes it as a sign to go mental. Moshpits and mass singing that threatens to down out singer Meighan, with the crowd even going wild at the song's distinctive guitar riffs.

It's a truly hardcore crowd in, with album cuts like Let's Roll Just Like We Used To and I.D. getting great receptions from the crowd.

Guitarist and songwriter Sergio Pizzorno gets a moment to shine, with his cut Take Aim and a cover of Everybody's Got To Learn Sometimes fitting in fantastically and beautifully. And all this before bass player Chris Edwards fires up the distinguished riff to Club Foot, which sends an already delirious crowd into true mayhem.

In fact, it takes until nearly the end for what could be interpreted as a mis-step, as the mid-tempo Man Of Simple Pleasures gets an airing. This is the weakest song on their newest record, but is in fact still fitting, given that the energetic Empire and Fast Fuse preceded it. It promptly allows the crowd a little rest before a final run through of some big numbers.

A lovely performance of Fatboy Slim's Praise You segues into anthemic rocker L.S.F at what seems like the end as the song's euprhoric refrain is repeated by the crowd.

But then the band return as loud synths refrain the intro to club-rock song Switchblade Smiles and the huge electronic riff of Vlad The Impaler. This combination returns the crowd to state almost beyond euphoria, not least when the riff on the later kicks in and the crowd just goes insane.

And this is before Fire, the band's biggest single and show closer. After a quick dedication to the supports and to Leicester City FC (loudly booed, much to Meighan's sniggering), the song kicks in. Martial beats rumble along before a huge glam-rock style chorus and chants send the song and audience into overdrive.

It's a fantastic moment and one perfect for crowds like Reading.

A final acapella rung of She Loves You brings the curtain down on a euphoric rock n roll event. While they may not have had their own way in getting to the big festival slots, their fantastic rapport with the crowd and an immense catalogue of anthems means that they will fit right in. There may still be hope for a Kasabian stadium gig yet.



Before the band played, there were two support acts. Leicester indie band KAV, mates with Meighan, opened the show to a sparsely populated arena and delivered a reasonable style of Primal Scream style music. Their frontman was also a nice man, who seemed pretty pleased to be in the venue.

Following them on was Band of Skulls, a Southampton-based heavier rock outfit. Fuelled by desert rock riffs and some shout-out choruses (most notably on I Know What I Am), they provided an exemplary support slot and they look worthy of headlining this venue, which they are doing in December. They looked like they were checking the venue out for this show, and certainly sounded at home.


All in all it was a very good evening in a good venue.
4.5/5