All in All

patti This year's Meltdown Arts and music festival at London's South Bank Centre was, if you are unaware, curated by Patti Smith and having attended the last four Meltdowns I have to say that his was without a doubt the best I have ever been to. One of the reasons I think this was such a triumph was that Patti totally immersed herself in the festival, unlike, say David Bowie who didn't even arrive in the country until the morning of the final night when he was performing.

Anyway, we watched Yoko Ono, Patti reading her poetry tribute to Robert Maplethorpe (The Coral Sea), Anthony and the Johnsons, a free performance by Yat Kah, and Patti performing Horses. All of these were fantastic and left me wishing I had attended more of the shows. Obviously it was not fautless - many of the themed tribute nights appear to have gone on for what I would consider longer than necessary, but the range of contributors was astounding.

Plenty of celebrity spots. I've previously mentioned the ones from Yoko Ono. At Anthony and the Johnsons Roger Taylor from Queen and Fran Healy from Travis were spotted (David Baddiel was also there but I despise the man and don't feel that he deserves the term "celebrity"), and Bobby Gillespe from Primal Scream and Ben and Tracy from Everything But The Girl were spotted at Horses.

Right, since the last musical update there have been a fair few gigs to talk about, so lets get started

Ladytron at the ICA. Brilliant, the girls looked great and the music was good. I was told that the electronics went a bit off towards the end but because of my rather poor hearing I couldn't actually pick up the differences.

Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies at the Scala. Never fail to impress me. As usual, they were all dressed up in variants on the same odd costume, this time is was all hooded velour sportswear. We stood very close to the stage in front of Monica Booboo, and so were able to witness at first had the strange girl who came on stange and tried to ask Monica something. Ian was in the bar shortly afterwards and witnessed the bouncers trying to throw the girl out of the venue.

Wolfeyes at the ICA. A lot quieter than the last time I saw them and a lot more tuneful too. A pleasant surprise if you are intrigued by the prospect of Electronic Metal. I don't dislike them but I don't think I would go out of my way to play their cds at home when I'm trying to relax. Support from Femail, who were ironically a lot louder than the main act.

Billy Corgan at the Forum. This has been getting very snidey reviews but I enjoyed it. However, I guess a lot of the people weren't looking for his new direction and it was clear that he had lost a large part of the audience by the midway stage - people moving to the back, people talking, etc. Great light show, although I appreciate that isn't what you go to a gig for.

Yoko Ono at the South Bank Centre. Astonishing. She is an incredible performer - coming across as both a fragile little bird and a powerful entity at the same time. Very arty crowd (or is that arsey?) , as well as very gay. Just before the show started I had a celebrity spot of Neil and Chris from the Pet Shop Boys, but this was declared null and void when they joined her onstage for the encore of Walking on Thin Ice. Sean Lennon looks scarily identical to his father.

U2 at Twickenham. Well, despite hating stadium gigs and feeling a bit so-so towards U2, I really enjoyed this. Great set, although the anti-pomposity in music in me did switch off when the declaration of Human Rights was projected on the main screens. Not the easiest place to get home from, though.

Presenting little Thomas Hitchman. Everyone say Aaaah.

Thomas Frederick Hitchman, born 16 June 2005. My first nephew.

Pictures to follow once I have some.

Congratulations to doting parents Harry and Sandra

hottie Now that I can post pictures, it's only fair to expand my music and comic views with added visuals to help you get my meaning. Sadly, despite Googling I can't find a picture of Ben Folds' hot bassist Jared Reynolds, but in the meantime I'd like to introduce extremely hot Canadian comic artist Steve Sadowski. His artwork came to my attention in issues of JSA (which he will be returning to in issue 75 briefly), and checking him out further I was able to discover this picture indicating his physical appeal and also the good news that he is one of the Boyz. What more could you ask for?

Picture

Well, through the wonders of science, and thankfully enough time to actually work out what to do, I am now able to post the occasional picture to liven up the blog. The Hitchblog joins the 21st century at last!

Hurrah

And what better to post as the first picture than our precious little lady, Marfa the dog, looking very regal and happy and queen of all she surveys in our home in Sussex.

I haven't blogged for a while (combination of work, being away from a pc, big bugger of a virus destroying my pc, 40th celebrations), so I'd better briefly update on the gigs and comics:

Gigs:

Ben Folds - as fantastic as I'd hoped. Beautiful solo version of 'Brick' and terrific version of 'Not the same'. Bassist Jared is a hottie and made me come over all unnecessary, especially when he ironically shook his arse at the start of 'Rocking the Suburbs'

Jaga Jazzist - Really tight set, they were great. Their new slightly rockier/prog direction is a hit, and I'm glad to see all the silly haircuts have grown out.

Mark Kowselak - actually quite beautiful. If anyone from the Islington Bar Academy ever reads this, might I suggest moving the cigarette machine to the back of the venue instead of right next to the stage

Joe Jackson/Todd Rungren - Don't get me started on this one. Thanks to the ineptness of Royal mail, our tickets were delivered next door to the empty house, so despite all efforts, we were unable to go. Royal Mail will be paying in spades for this.

Coming this week - Ladytron and Bobby Conn.

Comics:

After careful consideration, I will be dropping Aquaman, JSA and JLA (normal and Classified) with immediate effect. Sorry guys, but they just aren't cutting it for me anymore and I want to make cuts somewhere. Hellblazer and Swamp Thing are on dodgy grounds too.

Outsiders 24 - I always thought that when two books were crossing over, the respective writers would at least co-plot the story. This issue moved no further really from the end of Teen Titans 24, and covered the same ground (Teammate reveals hidden programming turning her against the others, bit of a slugfest where she walks all over them, then leaves to team up with the baddie team).

Return of Donna Troy 1 - As I have mentioned, I was really looking forward to this. I'm just pleased that it's happened and she's back, although as usual, Phil Jiminez's writing leaves a bit to be desired and it was all a bit slow, and the art team was a bit pedestrian too. Never mind, she's back and that's the main thing, and next issue will see everyone meeting with her (what's the betting that there's a slugfest between them all, then she will come to her senses, make her choice about whether to be a God or go back to being a mortal hero, and return back to the DCU?)

Otherworld 3 - Great artwork, so-so story which could do with a bit of speeding up.

My dear friend Keith Boadwee has very kindly name dropped me in his blog, astutely recalling my less than flattering comments over joke bubblegum pop band Fast Food Rockers (remember them? No, I'll bet even they don't admit to it these days).

I love Keith but his appreciation of Fast Food Rockers was even further beyond comprehension than his love for Daphne and Celeste.

Never forget to check him out, there's always something good to read on his blog.

http://keithboadwee.blogspot.com

I'm sure I'm not the first to have made this observation, but turning 40 is absolutely no different from being 39, or any other age in the 30s.

Big thanks to top boyf, the lovely Ian Mac, for making the day just simply perfect, and to great friends Kieran and Janet for sharing the day with us. Not to mention little lady Marfa for all the birthday doggy kisses.

Seing the wonderful Ben Folds tonight, so very excited and will save the moan about Royal Mail until tomorrow.