On Sunday 17th September, I dragged the Honda out of the garage and took a ride out to Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

When I pulled into the town, it was clear that something was going on because people were wandering around in various forms of fancy dress. It turned out that there was a Comic Con taking place and, once I had parked up the Blackbird, I strolled over to see what was going on.

Outside the market hall, I spotted a ‘Back To The Future’ DeLorean. It turned out that the owner, Nick (from www.backtothetimemachine.co.uk), was allowing passers-by the have their photos taken in the car for £5.

Well, I was right up for that and duly handed over my cash and my phone to Nick who did the honours by taking the photos I share with you here.

I asked him if the car was an actual movie vehicle, the answer was ‘no, it’s a replica’, but I have to say, it was very well done indeed. The car was still a valuable (insured for £120,000) and rare DMC-12, and a real pleasure to see.

I wasn’t the only aging biker to appreciate the car either, when my photos were done, there were a couple of other riders waiting for their goes.

Back To The Future came out in 1985, and so maybe it isn’t a surprise that the folk most attracted to the car were those of an age that meant that current hair colour and the silver of the DeLorean weren’t too dissimilar.

I didn’t care that I looked a lot more like Doc than I did in 1985, or that the youngsters watching probably thought I was a sad old man. I was just pleased to have a chance to climb into something so cool, and that carried me back to my youth a lot faster than my Blackbird.

I recently bought a Swatch/Omega Moonswatch and thought I’d review it … and then compare it to a Casio MRW – I’ll explain that choice later.

Background
I first became aware of the Moonswatch after reading an interesting piece from Mark Ritson, an eminent marketing commentator – it’s a good article and you can read it by following this link.

The range was launched to massive hype and became an immediate success, with units selling out all over the world. Massively inflated prices on the secondary markets followed.

At the time, having looked at the range and the colourways, I determined that I fancied a Mission to Saturn, but accepted that because I was miles away from any official Swatch store that was stocking them, there was a very good chance that I’d never get one.

But in July, during the Baldwin family vacation to Florida, I visited the Mall at Millenia where there was a Swatch shop.

The Buying Experience – it wasn’t great if you want to skip this bit
I arrived at the store mid-morning, there was a display of Moonswatches in the window, so I popped in and asked if I could have one. The answer was ‘no we haven’t got any.’ I asked if I could see one of the display models, the answer ‘no, we aren’t allowed to open that case.’ My next question was when are you getting some more? The answer ‘don’t know for sure, might be some on a delivery after 1:30pm.’

By this point, I was feeling thoroughly underwhelmed by the customer service experience. My last question before leaving was to ask if he could call me or text when he knew if he’d be getting any into stock? You can probably guess the answer … it was ‘no.’

That would normally have been that, but because Mrs and Miss Baldwin were very keen on enjoying the full Mall experience, I found a sofa and sat down to read a book.

The upshot was that by lunchtime, I was still in the Mall, and therefore in a position to revisit the Swatch store.  At circa 1pm there was a queue forming, word had obviously got around that deliveries were received in the afternoon. I joined some other hopefuls and waited it out with them.

It turned out that there had been a delivery of Moonswatches, but rather than simply selling them, the staff kept them back to allow a longer queue to form, presumably to increase buyer anticipation and the sense of occasion. When the members of staff were ready, one of them addressed the queue with the rules – one person at a time to the desk; you can’t unpack a watch and try it on; when you have what you want, leave promptly.

I finally made it to the desk and a Saturn was available. I bought it and left, but not before wishing my fellow queuers good luck with their searches.
 
I’ll be frank though, I wasn’t happy with the experience. The shop staff had unnecessarily wasted a load of my time and that of everyone else in the queue.

The Moonswatch
The Moonswatch pays homage to the Omega Speedmaster (the original moon watch) in that its dimensions and dial format are the same. After that though, the similarities end.

When the Speedmaster is a high-quality thing, the Moonswatch is a plaything in comparison.

Made of bio-ceramic according to Swatch – you should appreciate that, to all intents and purposes, really means plastic. Bio-ceramic is a mix of ceramic and plastic, but it’s more plastic than ceramic if you ask me. Its feels and weighs like plastic.

The fabric and Velcro strap is nicely printed, but let’s be honest, it is very cheap to manufacture.

On my Mission to Saturn, the top two sub dials are brown and the hands on the sub dials are brown too. What that means is that I can’t read the sub dials at all – they are effectively useless. I genuinely don’t know what the designers were thinking of when making such a bad judgement. If the sub dial hands were beige, all would have been okay.

The biggest gripe I have though is that the Moonswatch is only splash proof. Bear in mind that the Speedmaster went to the moon, you can’t even wear the Moonswatch in the shower.

Back in the nineties, the last Swatch I owned, which was a fraction of the price of this one, was waterproof to one hundred metres.  I really expected more from the Moonswatch.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Aesthetically, I like:

• The Saturn inspired sub dial and battery cover
• The brown/beige colourway
• The dual Omega/Swatch branded crown
• The printing on the dial, and the S in the centre of the crystal
• The watch packaging, it’s cheaply made, but it has been thought about.

​A comparison
The Moonswatch wasn’t the only watch I bought in Florida. I also bought a Casio MRW-210HB-5BV from a Walmart in Kissimmee. The comparison is meaningful because I have used them side by side, and there are similarities between the pieces.

The Casio, like the Swatch has a quartz movement. It is in a similar colourway, and it is made of similar materials (though the case back is metal). Even the strap is a combination of fabric and Velcro. The bezel on the Casio moves, unlike the fixed equivalent on the Swatch.

I purchased the Casio for $32. I bought it because it was one hundred metres water resistant, and that meant I didn’t have to take the watch off. It has been in the shower, in the pool, out running with me, and it has proved to be thoroughly robust.

It has a day/date function, which is a damn sight more useful to me than sub dials I can’t read.

The Casio has no pretence about it and neither did the buying experience, I simply picked it up, put it in the trolley and paid for it at the checkout.

April 25 A quick update on this Moonswatch versus the Casio MRW-210HB-5BV 

Once again, the Casio has outperformed its review partner, this time on battery life. When I bought the Moonswatch, its battery life was guaranteed for two years. Fact is that the Moonswatch died a few months ago, and so far, I haven’t been able to get to a Swatch shop to complain about it (though I plan to).

The Casio, you guessed it, is still running strongly despite the fact that it came with no such battery life guarantee.

The Swatch/Omega range has been extended somewhat over the last two years, but I would still recommend thinking carefully before buying one. 

The Casio MRW-210HB-5BV on the other hand has been great and I recommend it. 

On Sunday 7th May, I went to Birmingham to see the Dead Kennedy’s at the O2 Academy. The gig was superb, and it prompted me to take to my keyboard and end a prolonged blogging drought.

I got into the DKs when I was a teenager, the band’s music with its challenging themes, provocative, often irreverent lyrics, anti-hypocrisy positioning and rebellious delivery really appealed to me.

As a teen, I remember taking trips to London to visit Alternative Tentacles, the record label the band was signed to. Decades later, I still have the DK patches that I saved from my battle jacket.

But the DKs, with legendary front man Jello Biafra (real name Eric Reed Boucher), split up rather acrimoniously in 1986 and that meant I never got to see the band perform live.

Original members, Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall), East Bay Ray (Raymond Pepperell) and DH Peligro (Darren Eric Henley) later reformed the DKs and, after a few changes in front man, Ron ‘Skip’ Greer joined in 2008. He is now the longest serving singer in the band’s history.

The DKs had toured in the UK a handful of times over the last decade or so, but those tours never made it on to my radar. In fact, I wasn’t aware of this tour until the last minute either. The death of a dead kennedy, drummer Darren Henley, was the unfortunate catalyst.

In April 2023, a post to the Facebook page for the DKs (which ended up in my feed) detailed that the band had decided to fulfil a UK tour commitment made prior to Henley’s demise. The justification was that the surviving band members didn’t want to let the fans down, and that Henley would have been in complete agreement. No doubt there were some commercial and contractual factors too. The tour from that point on was to be called ‘D H Power’ in tribute to their fallen comrade. A friend of Henley’s would take his space and drumming duties on the stage.

It was at that point that I knew about the tour, that it was definitely going to happen, and that there was a Birmingham date on the schedule. I dashed to Ticket Master and was able to buy a fan-to-fan resale ticket.  It meant that less than a week later, I’d be going to what had already been a sold-out gig.

After a car, train and foot journey, I made it to the O2 in plenty of time, as did many others. The audience was a varied bunch of young and old, plenty of grey hairs like me in attendance. Punk rock clearly isn’t dead – and neither are a lot of the older fans.

Prior to the Dead Kennedys commencing their set, Klaus, Ray and Skip took to the stage to talk to the throng about Peligro – they paid him a moving tribute which gave the gig a poignancy it deserved. 

As soon as “Forward to Death” kicked off, so did the mosh. And, as I was close to the stage, I was soon involved in the melee. There were a number of occasions when I felt that I was perhaps getting a bit old for the ‘dancing’ (I use the term lightly), but I was pleased that I could still stay the pace without collapsing in exhaustion.

Much to the delight of the crowd, the band played through many of its classic tracks and there was much singing along. I know I was in full voice, horrendous as it is.
  
By the time the lights came up, I was soaked to the skin from sweating and the beer that had been getting thrown about. I am sure I looked like a bit of a wreck, my voice was hoarse and I smelt rather bad too.  I’d have pitied those around me, if they weren’t all in exactly the same kind of state.

I digress a moment here, but I was obviously a bit dehydrated – that’s my excuse anyway. When I finally got home later that night, I had one 330ml can of beer (I hadn’t touched a drop before that because I was driving) and woke up on the Monday morning with a hangover. I felt old at that point too.  

Anyway, back to the gig - at the end of it, Skip screwed up the set lists and threw them into the audience. I caught one, which was lucky, a bit cool, and rather useful for this post because I wouldn’t have remembered the running order otherwise.

The DK 16-song set, which included the encore, only lasted for an hour or so, but that ended up being convenient because I was able to drag my sweaty, smelly body back to New Street and get a slightly earlier train than I had expected.
​​
On the train journey towards home, I reflected on the DK experience. Though the band fulfilled its touring commitments this time, who knows if the death of Henley will stop the guys doing anymore. Then, Klaus is 73 and may not want to tour for much longer either.

So, I am really pleased that I made it to that gig because who knows if I will get the chance to see the DKs again.
​
I called this post ‘live at last’ because after a number of decades, I finally got to see the band perform ‘live’ (with the exception of Peligro, obviously) and ‘last’ because the first time may be the last as well.  
​
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I found out last night that, in the run up to Christmas, a friend of mine died suddenly. As the bass player for punk rockers, The Bleach Boys, John Barnett was a local legend in the Hitchin vicinity (which is where I grew up).

While we have been bombarded with news about the loss of the punk movement heroine, Vivien Westwood; John’s passing, at least in my opinion, is every bit as important to acknowledge.

The Bleach Boys have featured many times on this site over the years and I knew of the band long before I knew the individuals in it personally. I became friends with John as a result of his bass playing duties - that was more than 25 years ago.
 
We kept in touch the whole time; much coffee and/or beer was consumed in conversation over the decades. The last occasion we got to enjoy a drink and a chat was in August when the chaps were performing at a Balstock fundraising event at the Hen and Chickens pub in Baldock.

John was bright, articulate, well liked, had wide ranging interests, was a genuinely decent family man, and a fine bass player. He was always good to me and kept me up to date with the comings and goings of the band.

When I read the Facebook notice posted by his daughter, I was gutted. John was only 66, and the world is a lesser place for his departure.

Back in 2015 I wrote an obituary of sorts for Simon Kelly (the band’s original singer). While Simon was the wildly entertaining front man, John was a little quieter (thank God) but every bit as important to the sound and the creativity of the unit.  

John’s death has made me reflect on my own mortality; I need to try harder to wring more joy out of every day because who knows how much time is left.

My thoughts are with Hannah and John’s wife, Catherine, as they come to terms with their loss. And with Bleach Boys members Mark (Rocket), Matt, Mark and John Profit.

Hopefully there will be some comfort to be found in the knowledge that loads of people they don’t know will be mourning too. John was a good guy and will be missed by many.

The music that he wrote will live on.

And on that note, I have been playing “The Four Cyclists Of The Apocalypse” a bit too loudly and trying to celebrate a life well lived. You just can’t be too miserable when listening to the Bleach Boys at full tilt – the music/lyrics will make you smile even when you are feeling down.

Visit The Bleach Boys

Previous related posts:

1. ​http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-c-word
2. http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/bleach-boys-balstock-beer-buffoonery-and-blimey
3. http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/1/post/2013/08/bleach-boys-and-chron-gen-at-club-85-in-hitchin-a-gig-review.html
4. http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/1/post/2013/05/the-bleach-boys-overload-and-rsi-punk-rock-with-king-billy.html
5. http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/the-bleach-boys-and-the-horn.html
6. http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/the-bleach-boys-a-cd-review.html
7. Dec 16 - Baldwin, Baldock, Brocker and Bleach Boys 
8. https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/brocker-and-the-bleach-boys-rock-baldock-again
9. https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/rip-simon-kelly
10. https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/simon-kellys-memorial-gig-at-club-85-in-hitchin

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It’s about time that I wrote this blog post in follow-up to my earlier piece about my Eliots Green Grammar School scarf quest - which you can read here to save me repeating myself.

After the initial post, I had to play detective and tried all sorts of things to get the answer I needed about the scarf colourway. Here are some of the avenues explored.

I contacted:

• The school – now Northolt High
• Northolt Library
• Ealing Council’s archivist and local historian
• Kevins – the current school uniform provider to Northolt High (unfortunately it has only provided uniform since the 1980s)
• The Eliots Green Facebook alumni group
• The oldest school scarf manufacturer currently operating in the UK – I wanted to know if there was a database somewhere that held details of the UK’s schools, colleges, and universities scarf colourways. No is the answer by the way.

And drew a blank everywhere. So, next steps were to share my quest with everyone I am connected to on LinkedIn and Facebook to see if they could help. Some of my friends, intrigued by my challenge joined in with the research work too – many thanks to Natasha James in particular for her tenacity.

I/we did eventually make some progress. I managed to get hold of various school uniform shots. A colour photo of school tie was helpful.

After a period of limited success, a chap got in touch with me and was able to provide the real help that I needed. Perfect Peter, though he may not be perfect, or even called Peter, still had a school scarf. His was a knitted scarf not a woven one, and the lines on his were vertical not horizontal, but the line proportions and colours were all I needed to get on with the task on getting a scarf remanufactured for my dad. Perfect!

When I say a scarf … the next issue was a minimum order quantity, which for the provider I chose was six. Then, on top of the initially reasonable unit cost, there was delivery at £20, and then VAT to add to everything. The bill just ballooned.

Having worked so hard to that point, I damn well wasn’t giving up just because the cost was getting less palatable.
​
So, after I deep breath, I placed my order, parted with my funds and waited for the next six weeks or so to get the scarves. Thankfully, when they arrived, I was really pleased with them.

I handed my dad his new scarf on Father’s Day and he was well chuffed with his present. My dad knew and appreciated just how much effort had gone into getting one to him. I presented one to my sister too and we all had the photo you see taken in my parent’s garden. At that point, every penny was worth it.

This blog post is a record that will help anyone else with a similar quest in the future, and it is a thank you to all those folk that helped me or did their best to.

I have a couple of spare scarves too, so if you want one for yourself without any of the hassle of getting one made, get in touch with me and I’ll sell you one at cost. 

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With 24 hour live news coverage of the invasion of Ukraine, the war is never very far away from my thoughts.

While the news is often harrowing, there have been some positive developments amidst all the doom and gloom:

• The fighting spirit of the Ukrainians is commendable
• The unity of the EU and the NATO members is remarkable
• The sanctions process is having more impact than I thought it could
• The countries offering Ukrainians unconditional refuge is heart-warming
• President Zelensky is brilliant

But the situation is grim and is going to get worse. Putin’s relative lack of success is likely to lead to more drastic aggression. The current suggestion that Russia may be looking to fabricate a scenario that justifies it retaliating with chemical/biological/nuclear weapons is horrifying.

You’ll probably be familiar with all this stuff already and there are much better places than this for keeping up to date, or for getting more informed commentary.

But in the opening paragraph I mentioned my thoughts… and the BBC News won’t convey those better than I can.

The other day, I was stressed because a roof tile fell off and, over a handful of days, I made dozens of phone calls before I could get the roof repaired. Then the oven failed. Having water coming in through the roof or having an oven that won’t heat up are problems, but they amount to nothing in the wider scheme of things.

Watching and then thinking about the Ukranians that;

• look just like me,
• lived their lives just like me,
• had plans for the future,

having to abandon their homes, jobs and country, taking just what they can carry and with no idea if/when they’ll be able to go back, or if their homes will have been destroyed…

… puts all my stresses into a completely different context. I can’t imagine the thought of having to do the same thing. It would be utterly soul destroying and I know I would struggle to process the loss.

So I have found it weird to be getting on with my life like nothing is happening – the Groundhog Day existence of going to work, taking my daughter to school, tidying the house, feeding the pets, fixing stuff etcetera, etcetera. To be fair, I am not sure what else I could be doing that would make any difference … but life feels out of synch with reality.

And that brings me to 1984.

George Orwell’s novel keeps springing into my mind. If you haven’t read it, you should because the Russian spin on the news, or its reimagining of history, is bringing Orwell’s creation to life in the real world.
   
The fact is that the Russian people are being lied to constantly by their government and the Putin regime is blatantly lying on the international stage too. Inside Russia, anyone that protests is likely to be arrested. The truth is fake news and exponents of the truth are likely to be jailed.
 
I listened to Vladimir Kara-Murza, a vocal Russian opposition speaker being interviewed the other day and he was compelling. His view is that the information war is as important as the weapons and the sanctions. He argued that getting accurate information to the Russian populace could be the most important thing in turning the Russian people against their own leader. Getting rid of Putin should be down to ordinary Russians not some special forces team.

You can read more from Kara-Murza in this Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/07/west-must-help-russians-learn-truth-about-war-ukraine-independent-media/

As a communications man rather than a soldier (who might prioritise weapons over the pen), Kara-Murza’s opinions resonated with me because I don’t understand how ordinary Russians would condone a war in their name if they knew the truth. For the Russian soldiers, if they knew the truth, regardless of their orders, I don’t know how they could kill ordinary Ukrainians (people that look like them and even speak their language). To me, an analogy is the English going to war with the Scots or the Welsh - it makes no sense at all.

And it’s in this information war that this post is worth me writing and you reading. I alluded to feeling a bit impotent earlier, the ‘what difference can I make’ question; well maybe bloggers like me can fight in the information war because we are numerous, and the Kremlin can’t shut us all down.

But while I am wondering if that sounds a bit up my own arse, Baldwin money has been donated to DEC.org.uk too.

Whilst I/we have to get on with our lives, we can all do something instead of nothing.

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Related posts:
24/02/22 The news is bleak. Time for an epiphany
11/02/22 Look East … And Worry

On 15th February I went back in time, well sort of anyway.

Until the age of nine, I lived in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. Moving to Hitchin in 1980 was a major blow for me. The upheaval and sense of loss was the hardest thing to process in my young life to that point. Losing all my friends and having to move to a completely new primary school was really tough. It didn’t do me any harm in the long-term, but it was difficult at the time.

Having left Bletchley more than 40 years ago, it was fascinating to go back and have a wander through my childhood world.

I walked around Hunter Drive, Celina Close, Tiffany Close, Magenta Close, Cornelia Close, the Lakes Estate and made it to the Blue Lagoon too. I found my old primary school “Eaton Mill”, now the “Premier Academy”, and wandered down Water Eaton Road until I got to the local shops.

A few things surprised me, one was that even after all the elapsed time, I was able to follow my nose and make my way around without getting lost. Another was that my whole world was really rather small, nothing was more than half a mile from my old doorstep.

Some of the street names I had forgotten but reading the name plates instantly brought the memories flooding back.

While some things were different, much of the landscape was unchanged and instantly recognisable. One thing that was very different was a wetland area behind Hunter Drive and before the Barton Road Industrial Estate. When I was a lad, there was a reasonably sized gravel pit where I used to go and catch newts and frogs, forty years later the area is still wet but completely wooded. There wasn’t a single tree in my day, just rushes.
​ 
I took photos as I went to share with my wife and kids, but when I looked at them later, they were just non-descript pictures in a housing estate and they didn’t convey any of the joy I felt when I was taking them.

Because I was young, had no responsibilities and didn’t really have a care in the world, I remember my time in Bletchley with fondness. I hadn’t been back in so long that the whole experience really did feel like time travel. Weird but very pleasing.

Mrs Baldwin totally gets the time travel sentiment. Last October she took our daughter on a road trip to Hull (which is where she grew up) so she could show her all the places that were important in her childhood. Mrs B. returned with similar photos to those I took in Bletchley.

During my wanders I was on my own, the weather was rubbish, and I was wearing the wrong shoes, but I had a really good time nonetheless.

I plan to go back in time again soon and either take the family or see if I can meet up with one of my childhood friends instead.

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On Saturday, I went to Oxford to watch Desert Storm perform the final show of its tour at the O2 Academy. Two gigs in the same week is a first, as is writing about them both. As usual, I won’t repeat the stuff I have written about the band before, all previous posts are shared below if you want to read more.

Given so little time had expired between gigs, you might think there wouldn’t be enough extra insight to be worth sharing in another post. But there is and so here we go again.

But first - do you ever stack the odds against yourself? You know, doing the kinds of things that increase your chance of failure? Not revising for an exam for example, or putting something off when you know you shouldn’t?

Or is it just me?

Pre-Gig

I have been known to sabotage myself on occasion, and Saturday evening started with some procrastination. I knew I should have left the house before 6pm … but the England/Wales Six Nations rugby game was so gripping that I just had to watch it to the end.

Then as I was finally leaving, Mrs Baldwin gave me an errand to run.

So, early into the evening, I was already running late.

Getting to Oxford was relatively straightforward, but parking when I got there was an utter nightmare. I was not familiar with the challenges of parking on/around the Cowley Road but believe me, the parking restrictions are horrible.

Having spent an hour and a quarter getting to Oxford, I spent at least half an hour looking for a space, failing and getting very close to the end of my tether. In the end I parked a mile away from the venue and literally ran to the gig. In steel capped boots and jeans.

I made it to the box office to find that the geezer in the booth had no record of the discounted ticket that had been put aside for me by the band. So I paid full price … and then bumped into Ryan Cole, who was looking a little stressed too. It turned out that Chris White, the lead guitarist, and Elliot, Ryan's brother and the drummer, hadn’t arrived. The band was due to be on stage 15 minutes later.

But Ryan, good guy that he is, accompanied me back to the box office to remonstrate with the sales dude. I subsequently got some money back, which was nice.

It turned out that Chris White, who was travelling with Elliot, couldn’t park his car either. They made it just in time and Chris was as cross as I was with the impossible parking conditions.

You might think that the comedy of errors was over by this point, but no. There was more stupid to come.   
  
I had never been to the O2 Academy before, so having got my ticket I wandered into the venue. It was absolutely packed with twenty somethings. That felt all wrong for starters.

And then my alarm bells started to ring when a band started playing. It was emo (or emotive) pop/punk/metal. That felt all wrong too.

So, surrounded by youngsters singing along and bouncing up and down to this Avril Lavigne looking singer, I got my phone out and logged on to the Academy’s website. Listed for the evening was the Black Parade.

It was then clear to me that whilst I was in the right venue, I was in the wrong place. Doh!

I left the hall and then found some stairs that took me up to the second floor. And yes, it turned out that the Academy can host more than one gig at the same time.

Fortunately, I made it upstairs in time to not miss the Desert Storm set. The fellas were tuning up as I made it into the correct environment. By this point I had of course completely missed all the support bands.

Already I am more than 600 words into this post and the band has barely had a mention so far. I’ll get on with part two of the post now, thanks for bearing with me so far.

The Gig
​
The Tuesday night gig at The Craufurd Arms was lightly attended and what a difference four days (and plenty of notice) had made. This place was lively, full of fans and the sense of anticipation was palpable. Chris White, absent at Wolverton, was in his rightful place on stage.

I got myself a position close to the front of it, and then band launched into its set. Behind me a decent and energetic mosh pit formed immediately and stayed operational all the way through the show.

In Wolverton, the chaps had been philosophical, but at Oxford they were thoroughly animated. Matt Ryan was in his element, giving it some, and absolutely loving it.

He was keen to thank the audience for attending because going to gigs is the only way that gig venues will survive.
It’s an aside, but the venue that hosted Deserts Storm’s tenth anniversary, the Cellar, has gone as have others in Oxford. The Craufurd Arms was on the brink during the Covid lockdowns.

The first five songs:
​

• Black Bile
• The Machine
• Vengeful Gods
• Master Of None – new, unreleased
• Mr Strongbatch

Like my blog post, the Desert Storm set was split into two parts. The reason for the split was to reflect a real-life separation. Chris Benoist, the long-term bass player left the band a short while ago. Matt Dennett was recruited as his replacement.
 
The tour to celebrate the band’s 15-year anniversary was a great way to introduce Matt D. and also give Chris B. a bit of a send-off and thank him for all his years of loyal service. Oxford is the band’s home turf and Saturday’s gig was the last date of the tour. There was no better time/place to celebrate.

Matt D. performed the first half of the set. In a gap between songs, I had a quick word with Chris B. and asked him if watching his band playing without him was odd. I thinking the response was ‘yeah, bloody weird’.

Over the years I got to know the guys in the band, at least to chat to easily, but Chris Benoist was always the one I talked to the least. There was no particular reason for that, it was just what it was. When the second part of the set was announced by Matt Ryan and Chris was called to the stage, I actually learned how to pronounce his surname for the first time. What I thought was ‘Ben O Ist’ is actually ‘Ben Noir’. French ancestry apparently. Every day is a school day.

The second five songs:

• Shadow Of An Eagle
• Queen Reefer
• Kingdom Of Horns
• Titan
• Enslaved In The Icy Tundra (my favourite track of the night … again)

​It was clear to see that Chris Benoist loved his time on stage, he played flawlessly and with obvious enthusiasm. I thought he looked great, totally at home and in his proper place.

I know that stuff happens and priorities change, leaving was his choice; but once the adrenaline hit was over, I wondered if he might have felt a bit sad that his Desert Storm era was at an end. I felt sad for him anyway.

After ‘Enslaved’, the fans were cheering for another song, the band would have played one too, but the venue turned the mics off, so that was that.

Although it wasn’t for me. I got to chat to the guys and in particular enjoy the company of Chris White. One of the things we have in common is the appreciation of Formula One. Once we expressed our joint frustrations about the challenges of parking, we got on to Lewis Hamilton. I wrote a while ago that I thought he had been robbed of the 2021 drivers’ championship and Chris was in firm agreement. If anything, he was more cross about it than me. We both agreed that the way Hamilton had dealt with the affair was extremely dignified.

Matt Ryan meanwhile was selling merchandise and even sorting out signatures on CDs for fans. You can’t fault the front man’s commitment.

I was asked if I’d like to go to the after-show party, which was nice, but I don’t know Oxford very well and didn’t know the pub that the guys were heading to.

So apart from running the mile back to my car, part two of my evening was over.

And ‘two’ got me thinking:
​

• Not seen the band for two years
• Then two Desert Storm gigs in a week
• This one at the Oh Two Academy
• Two-part set
• Two-part post
• Two bass players
• Two miles run
• And today is March two

Too much … yeah probably a bit weird, I’ll stop now

Aside from making it clear that it was a great gig and a chance for the band to end its tour on a real high. The place was buzzing, and I am pleased I made it. Just.  

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Previous relevant posts:
17/02/15 Eating, drinking and rocking on the Cowley Road 
19/03/15 Desert Storm and some other noisy bastards
10/12/15 Desert Storm at The Craufurd Arms – a gig review​
10/08/16 Digression, Desert Storm and Honky​
04/12/17 ​Ten year, cellar matured Desert Storm joy
04/07/18 Desert Storm and Karma to Burn at the Craufurd
25/02/22 Desert Storm Tour Diversions

18/12/21 Hamiltion Was Robbed

On Tuesday 22nd February I went to see Desert Storm at my favourite local’ish’ gig venue; the Craufurd Arms, Wolverton, Milton Keynes.

Regular readers will know that I have written about the band on a number of occasions (previous posts detailed below). The fact is that I have been to more gigs than I have written about, and I now tend to write something when I gain new insight about the band or its members.

The long overdue tour was intended to promote the ‘Omens’ album. That was released in 2020, but obviously the last two years have been miserable for the live music scene and the fellas couldn’t get on the road.

The 15th anniversary tour was originally supposed to arrive in Wolverton on the 24th February. That gig ended up being cancelled because of a booking clash at the Craufurd.  

The show on the 22nd was supposed to be in Blackpool but got cancelled by the venue at the last minute because it was worried about the volume of pre-sold tickets.

Matt Ryan and I debated the state of advance ticket sales. The Blackpool venue was not willing to gamble on door sales; but given all the chaos over the last few years, you could expect people to want to buy tickets on the door instead of in advance… because at least they know the band has turned up and the gig is going to actually happen.

To illustrate, I was supposed to attend a Diamond Head gig in January 2021 (at the Craufurd incidentally); that gig got postponed to January 2022 and then got cancelled altogether by the covid-nervous and aging rockers. I got my money back, but only the face value of the ticket, not the booking fee, the insurance etc. So, no gig and I was still out of pocket. I’d much rather have taken my chances on the door.

After some hasty phoning around, the guys secured a last-minute fill in Craufurd slot and ended up arriving two days earlier than originally anticipated. It’s funny how things work out, Blackpool’s loss was my gain.

But the band’s gain was limited. Announcing a gig with 24 hours’ notice wasn’t going to be a ticket selling or even awareness creation success. The decision was made to make the gig free to access and the agreement with the venue was that the fellas wouldn’t get paid.

Then, to make matters more depressing, even though it was free, only a handful of punters turned up. I was one of them and thoroughly enjoyed the inadvertently socially distanced show.

The guys were philosophical about the turn out and, even though it was way below their usual expectations, put in a good natured and professional performance.

It just proves that the music industry is a tough mistress; the band has been going for 15 years, has a recording contract, has produced five albums, with a sixth in development … and still has to do the occasional gig for free, or in front of a tiny audience. But free isn’t accurate, the chaps have to fund their own transport, hotel rooms and other expenses. so a ‘make no money’ gig becomes a ‘make a loss gig’.

Reality, and it’s harsh, is that the band don’t earn a living from Desert Storm. The love of their craft keeps the band motivated, not the cash. Even after 15 years, the day jobs are still essential.

Coming to the gig itself, the band played a mixture of old and new tracks, the set list was as follows:

• Black Bile
• The Machine
• Vengeful Gods
• Lockjaw
• Master Of None – new, unreleased
• Queen Reefer
• Mr Strongbatch
• Path Of Most Resistance
• Drifter
• Titan
• Scorpion
• Enslaved In The Icy Tundra (my favourite track of the night)
  ​

Chris White was missing from the line up for the tour, so Ryan Cole was handling all the guitar work. I met Matt Dennett the new bass player for the first time – he played in the support band as well so did back-to-back sets – that’s commitment.

The original bass player was Chris Benoist, that meant two Chris’ in the band. Now there are two Matts instead. Then of course there are two Coles, brothers Ryan and Elliot; and two Ryans too – Matt Ryan and Ryan Cole.

For the band’s gig on 26th February, at Oxford’s O2 Academy, Chris Benoist will return to do the second half of the set ... and get the proper send-off he deserves. Chris White will play that show too, so there will be two Chris’, two Matts, two Coles and two Ryans. I may have got side-tracked here!

But I kind of got to where I needed to be anyway. I am going to the Oxford show, that means I’ll have seen the band twice in the same week. That’s a first.

Seeing the band again so soon is worthwhile because the band is that good. In my last gig review for British Lion, I stated that I wouldn’t bother seeing that one again. Unlike Tuesday, that gig was sold out, but ticket sales aren't an accurate gauge of the quality of the band. Desert Storm is a better band than British Lion and much more deserving of a full auditorium.

The good news is that the Oxford show, on the band’s home turf, has a significant volume of pre-sold tickets and is going to be a full house. Can’t wait.

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Previous posts:
17/02/15 Eating, drinking and rocking on the Cowley Road 
19/03/15 Desert Storm and some other noisy bastards
10/12/15 Desert Storm at The Craufurd Arms – a gig review​
10/08/16 Digression, Desert Storm and Honky​
04/12/17 ​Ten year, cellar matured Desert Storm joy
04/07/18 Desert Storm and Karma to Burn at the Craufurd ​

I wrote a few weeks ago that I expected to wake up one day and find the world had changed. Today was that day.

Putin has done just what he wanted to and invaded Ukraine. If he wants to absorb it back into Russia and continue on his quest to rebuild the USSR, he isn’t going to be stopped.

Sanctions, important though they are, will have minimal impact because Putin has China’s support. China has refused to condemn Putin or impose sanctions. Putin will just trade with the Chinese instead of Europe and the US. Europe will refuse Russia’s oil and gas, but China will just take it all instead.

NATO won’t send in troops because then a wider war is almost inevitable.

The ramping up of NATO defences is significant because they reflect the bigger concern that Putin isn’t done yet. Ukraine is surrounded by other ex-eastern bloc countries that are full NATO members. If Putin targets any of those then NATO’s military response is guaranteed.

And if we go to war in a more global sense, it won’t be fought with guns and tanks, it will be fought with nukes. Putin has pretty much alluded to their use already by stating that any interference will be met with brutal force the like of which has not been seen before. That’s scary stuff.

While we should be worrying about climate management, carbon reduction, biodiversity and generally saving the planet, we now have to contend with the spectre of war and destroying more of it instead. It's so damn stupid.

From a personal perspective, I have found myself worrying that doomsday is getting closer. And that has made me think that I might need to review my priorities.

For pretty much my whole life I have been sensible, practical and largely risk averse; I have spent years investing for the future and as a result not travelled as much as I wanted to and never had the cars/motorbikes for example that I really desired. I am still on my first marriage, the kids have been supported, the debts have been manageable, I have a pension etcetera, etcetera.

Blimey, I am old and boring. That was never the plan.

But it is now conceivable (even more so than it was in the early eighties) that everything that has been built around the family could go up in a mushroom cloud. That makes me think that I need to do more living for the moment, be more spontaneous, be irresponsible and have a lot more fun. While I still can.

I’ll talk to Mrs Baldwin later and ask her if she’ll let me…

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