Tom's Fest '06

Some of you may remember my experiences at the Edinburgh Festival two years ago. If you don't I wrote an article about it for Chortle, so go have a read.

Canadians Films

Telefilm Canada have announced funding for 54 English language productions. Why do we care? Well, one of the projects is Trailer Park Boys: The Movie 2 and another is Death Comes to Town by The Kids in the Hall.

Magic Glue Recording

I don't think the Glue pilot recording could have gone any better. Several people said to both Fraser and I that it was the best they'd ever seen us. I don't think it was our best ever performance. For one thing we had scripts to refer to, but it may well have been the best night in the 3 year history of Glue.

We had a full house at The Stand, who lapped up our two top class warm up acts. Scott Agnew went through his usual tales of the rough and tumble of homosexual activity before launching into his infamous 'shite volley' story. Sandy Nelson's routine varied from the life of the metrosexual to deconstructing an intellectual book on how to think for yourself before closing on a song. I have to say though I think the thing he did that I enjoyed most was his soundcheck song.

The first 100 through the door got a free drink, with Robert ex-of the Mart and his pals getting the last 3, and Gordon of my most recent creative writing class being punter 101.

The audience couldn't have responded any better to our performance, finding the whole thing funny in pretty much all the places we wanted them to.

A great night all in all.

My photographs can be found here. Some of Heidi's photographs can be seen on her site.

Glue Photos

In a bid to prove that we have perfect faces for radio we had photographs taken last week. They were done by the talented Heidi Kuisma and you can see more of them and indeed more attractive photographs here

Everything We Know is Wrong

The trailer for The Watchmen movie. It does look good.

Magic Glue Press

This was from the Evening Times yesterday. We had professional photographs done on the Monday night, but too late for inclusion in Thursday's paper. The photo of Sandy illustrates the article fine though, don't you think?

Still places available in the audience for Wednesday's recording. We should have a good turn out, so if you want to come along for your free laughs just put your name and how many tickets you want in the comments section and your name will be down on the door on the night.

T in the Park

I was at T in the Park over the weekend, covering it for Artrocker. Here are my highlights.

First of all, just the simple fact that I got to access the Hospitality Tent and the Media Village made the weekend a more pleasurable experience. Whenever I got tired of the mass of bodies lying, bouncing, rolling around and the gigantic rubbish site the site turned into I could wander onto a quiet tidy lawn and indoor bar.

The media village was even quieter and the constant supply of free hot and cold drinks with a frequently replenished buffet and table and chairs to sit at made the whole thing much more comfortable. Of course I also got to rub shoulders with the likes of Billy Sloan. That’s when you know you’ve made it eh? Still I was feet away from the lassie from The Zutons and I was amused to be in the media tent while all the photographers feverishly pored over their freshly taken photographs of Amy Winehouse.

I kind of like Kate Nash, but after a while the quirky, ‘watching the telly wiv me fella’ lyrics grate a wee bit, but I enjoyed a bit of her set, the opening Pumpkin Soup in particular. The first outstanding band of the weekend though were The Hold Steady. I’ve missed them every time they’ve been in Glasgow, and I’m sorry that I did because they were excellent here. The Pet Sounds Arena was were I saw most acts and it seemed to be much quieter than the King Tuts’s Tent and indeed much quieter than most of the bands deserved.

Band of Horses were next and they too rocked like the proverbial mother. The one act I headed up to Balado excited about seeing was Ben Folds. It has to be said that his set was slightly subdued due to the fact that he had limited time. He barely spoke to the audience, apologising for not having the time to do so. His set focused mainly on his two studio solo albums, Rockin’ the Subrubs and Songs For Silverman with a couple of new ones and BFF tunes Kate and a great version of Underground thrown in.

My only complaint about the organisation of the event was that on my way out I had to ask 7 stewards and a policewoman where the exit was. Four stewards were happy to admit they had no clue, one steward pointed me to another who gamely tried to help despite having no clue, the policewoman, it turned out, was right but vague. The Supervisor I asked after that was 100% wrong and the one steward who did know where the exit could be found was belligerent, initially thinking that telling me it wasn't where she was standing was all the information I needed.

On Sunday I went down the front of the main stage to see Shed Seven, but I have to say I found them somewhat lacklustre.

Perhaps the highlight of the festival was in the King Tut’s Tent. I think I’m one of the only people I know who thinks that That’s Not My Name is a great pop record. I’ve even been going into the cinema early to see that Radio 1 advert which features it. The tent was completely heaving for The Ting Tings. The only previous T in the Park I’ve been to was the first one and I think this show draws parallels with Oasis at that first one. In that both bands had just got that bit too big for the slot they’d been put into, which really made it an event.

They opened with Great DJ and it was truly fantastic. A group that recognised that their time had come. They romped through most of their debut album before the inevitable closer, a storming version of That’s Not My Name.

You can see both songs here at their BBC T in the Park page.

I'd been looking forward to seeing The National again and I thought it was a shame that the tent was so quiet for them. I ran off from there to catch Frightened Rabbit in the T-Break tent. The last time I was so excited about a Scottish band it was Teenage Fanclub. They rose to the occasion well. The tent was bouncing and singing along and the band really went for it.

In the Relentless tent I saw Canadian electro-rock dance instrumental outfit Holy Fuck and they were one of the best things all weekend. Perhaps my favourite thing of the weekend was watching them close with Lovely Allen.

Primal Scream closed the King Tut's Tent and REM on the Main Stage. I saw a bit of both of them before going back to the T-Break tent to see Zoey Van Goey. Despite being up against several big name acts and the lure of home for lots of people they still managed to pull a respectable crowd.

Although the media now is focused on the one stabbing incident I have to say I didn’t see one single bit of bother, despite the fact there were clearly a good number of bams in attendance. Unfortunately it’s what a lot of people who weren’t there will focus on. I’ve heard folk moaning about it twice by Monday afternoon. Once in the barber’s, then again in a bakery, although that wasn’t about the stabbing but the fact that it was on TV. I also noted that pretty much every tabloid found a way to lead with the stabbing illustrated by a picture of Amy Winehouse. One of them said the incident took place 'just hours before Amy Winehouse took the stage'. Aye, 17 hours.

I have of course got sets on my Flickr page click here for Day One and click here for Day Two.

The BBC's site has lots of video and audio, although not of any of the acts in the Pet Sounds Arena.

Tom's T in the Park Top Ten

1. Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
2. The Ting Tings - Great DJ
3. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
4. Ben Folds - Underground
5. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
6. Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
7. Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost?
8. The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis
9. The National - Start a War
10.Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup

Primal Scream

On Monday night I went to see Primal Scream in their 'secret' gig at the ABC2. Although I was told they'd be onstage at around 7.30 it was about 9.45 before they finally appeared.

It's fair to say it was a pretty feverent crowd. The band played a few songs from the forthcoming album but also managed some of their old favourites. I was particularly pleased they played 'I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have' as I've always preferred that to big hit single it spawned, 'Loaded'.

A cracking show, they played a proper 90 minute set and looked like they were enjoying themselves.

My set of photographs are on my Flickr site.

There are also some photographs on the BBC website.

The Kids Read

Here's a video of the Kids in the Hall doing a script reading at the Steve Allen Theater in May. It runs just over 8 minutes.

Secret Stand-Up - Kids in the Hall

The Glue Pilot

Okay, so here it is, come see You Owe Me Glue do their radio pilot The Magic Glue at Glasgow's Stand comedy club on Wednesday 23rd of July. Like the advert up there says, there's a drink in it for you if you hurry.

In addition to us we'll also have some top drawer comedy acts for you in the shape of Scott Agnew and Sandy Nelson.

If you want to come along it'll be names at the door, so just drop me a line at tom dot brogan (at) ntlworld dot com with how many places you want. Hope to see you there.

Euro 2008 -My Golden 11

After a great tournament in Austria and Switzerland, here's my best Eleven.

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon - kept his side in it with an amazing penalty save in the pulsating match with Romania and looked the best of a very weary Italian lot.

Right Back - Bosingwa - Chelsea's new signing looked very exciting tearing up the flank.

Left Back - Russia's Zhirkov - again not exactly a defensive left back, but his brilliant attacking runs means he edges out Giovanni van Bronckhorst for me.

Central Defence - I'm going with Carlos Marchena and Sergio Ramos - yes, I know that Ramos played right back, but he is also an accomplished centre-half and his great all round play gets him in there ahead of a fairly drab selection of other central defenders.

Midfielders: Iniesta, Deco, Sneider and Turkey's Arda Turan - yes no Xavi. That's right.

Up Front: Easy really - David Villa and Andrei Arshavin.

What do you think?

The Magic Glue

So here it is, the exciting You Owe Me Glue based news that practically no one is waiting for. Radio Scotland have comissioned a pilot from us. It's being recorded at The Stand in Woodlands Road on Wednesday the 23rd of July. And you can come see it happen! And! It's free!

At the moment we're not sure how you can get in, if it's going to be a ticketed affair or names on a list. When we've sorted that out we'll post it on here and elsewhere. As well as the recording of the half-hour pilot we'll probably be doing a few other sketches and there will also be one or two supporting comedians before we get going. And maybe free drinks. One free drink. Mibbie.

Oh aye and it's called 'The Magic Glue' and not You Owe Me Glue. So see yeez there.

Il Canto degli Italiani

One of the good things about Italy making it through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 is that we'll get to see another rousing performance of their national anthem.

Here they are before Friday's match with Romania. Look out for former Ranger Rino Gattuso singing the whole thing with his eyes closed.

Apart From the Football

How's anyone managing to do anything else other than watch football with this great European Championships on the go? I've managed to find time for little else but of what I have done...

In the great Indiana Jones debate I'm in the 'It's good' camp. Great fun from beginning to end. Some people are saying it 'wasn't very realistic'. You mean like the first 3 Ken Loach directed Indiana Jones films?

Gone Baby Gone might well be the film of the year. Who would have thought that Ben Affleck could co-write and direct such a thought provoking, magical piece of cinema? Casey Affleck also proves he's one of the best young actors around and there's a great supporting cast including the always excellent Ed Harris and Amy Ryan, unrecognisable from her role as Beadie Russell in The Wire.

I also managed to see You Owe Me Glue's favourite cheeky chappy Dazza play the lead in RSAMD's The Tempest. And good he was too. Although it's about time he started getting some comedy roles. If anyone gives a fuck anymore there's big YOMG news in the offing soon, but then if you are interested you probably know what it is already.

Photographs from the third annual Fizzy Birthday Barbecue this weekend are here and a handful of photos from the West End Festival parade are here.

Same Old Same Old

Same Old Same Old is my new weekly comic strip about the horror of spending the bulk of your life with people who mildly hate you.

Big thanks to Iain for the art - it'll be the same 3 panels every week with a different gag.

Stanhope in Edinburgh

Who wants to go see Doug Stanhope at the Edinburgh Festival in August? Only one catch...well two catches. You have to go on your own and you have to pay £7,349. Oh aye, and hang about with him for 16 hours.

Daniel Kitson at The Stand

Last night I went to see Daniel Kitson at The Stand. The man really is just a notch above other stand-up comics. Although hilarious all the way through, his two hour show really didn't seem like a stand-up comedy performance. It was more a well thought out discourse on how we can all make the world a much better place. With a few knob jokes and some ironic racism thrown in.

His storytelling is masterful and he has a great way of getting to the crux of niggling little details of daily life. Everyone should see him at least once.

Tom Reviews

Here's the latest couple of reviews I've written for Artrocker. Firstly I went to see The Zombies a couple of weeks ago. They were good in places and dull in others. Rod Argent and his rock 'n' roll ancedotes from the 60s reminded me a little of Les McQueen from the League of Gentlemen. "He was ever such a nice chap. He said to me Les, to you it's 80 sheets." Here's my review.

Secondly I reviewed The National's DVD 'A Skin, A Night'. Now I love The National, but the film was hugely disappointing. A lot of arty pish in the main. However it's not a total loss as it comes with a decent 12 track EP. Here's my review.

Mr. Rock

Along with nearly ever other comedian in Scotland last night the 'Pish boys were at the Edinburgh Playhouse to see Chris Rock strut his stuff live. I would have had a photograph to illustrate but as all the signs told us there was to be absolutely no recording equipment in use during Mr. Rock's performance.

Support for the evening came from Mario Joyner, who you may know from his appearance in the penultimate Seinfeld episode. He had a pretty solid, funny 25 minutes.

Then it was time for the main act of the evening. Chris Rock performed for about an hour and a half and I thought he turned in a polished performance with plenty of highlights.

He hit on the US election race, imagining a black woman as First Lady, he did a routine about his job scraping plates in a fast food restaurant, on his rich neighbourhood where every black person there, Mary Jay Blige, Denzel Washington and Jay-Z is the best in their business but their white neighbour is a dentist. He also had a long routine on the difference between men and women. His routine on the 'N Word' (although he didn't call it that) and how he may not be allowed to use it anymore was possibly my favourite bit of the night.

On the whole it was great. He's got the act down to a fine art and from a comedy perspective it was good to watch a master of his craft at work.

Phil O'Donnell Tribute Match

Along with Tommy I was at the Phil O'Donnell tribute match between Celtic and Motherwell this afternoon. A team made up of Celtic's 1998 title winning side beat a team largely containing Motherwell's 1991 Cup-winning side by 5 goals to 1.

Even with a 60,000 crowd the match was oddly devoid of atmosphere for most of the day. It not being a competitive game of course had much to do with that. Video tributes played for both O'Donnell and Tommy Burns and they elicited a big response from the crowd. So too did the comeback of one Henrik Larsson, although we did worry that his appearance was all too brief as he left the field in the 2nd minute after clashing heads with Chris McCart. Enrico Annoni was another player who received a big welcome from the fans.

It was a nice day out, good weather and a game played in the right spirit. Larsson scored a good goal, as did Darren Jackson with a diving header in the last minute but the only moment of the match that made me go 'oooh,' was when Larsson chipped the ball onto the bar from about 25 yards out midway through the second half.

From my own personal interest, the match featured several former Clydebank players, Stevie Woods, Darren Jackson, Rab McKinnon, Fraser Wishart and Tommy Coyne.

There's a brief match report and a selection of photos on the BBC website. Here's the report featuring the teams and list of rotating substitutes from the Celtic website.