With Jim Bob’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire show fast approaching (less than three months to go fact fans) I am getting messages about a possible aftershow event. A lot of you are travelling from all over the UK (and the world!) and are rightfully making a weekend of it. With that in mind we have been looking at booking somewhere for after the gig. This would be where likeminded fans can have a few more drinks and a chit chat about how that was the most awesome night ever once Jim has finished. This has proved to be very tough, and after months of searching, no venues over 70/80 people nearby have been available unless we pay a few grand for the privilege. With that in mind we won’t be running an aftershow event after the show (boooo!) but London does have a variety of drinking establishments. And I am sure meet ups will be arranged on the official and unofficial facebook pages (yay!).
We do though want to do something cool and nice. With that in mind we are going to give away places to an aftershow event at the venue itself. As you may know after a lot of gigs all the underserving dudes on the guestlist (who haven’t paid for a ticket!) get to go to a private bar at the venue. What we want to do is to fill our private aftershow event with proper fans. If Bradley Walsh or Lorraine Kelly want to get in we are going to tell them where to go – as famous and great as they are.
So whilst we can’t have all 2000 people attend we can have a drink with a load of of you dudes and dudettes if you fancy it. There is a nice bar at the Empire that holds a 150 or so people. We are going to reserve this for a post gig soiree. There won’t be any free drinks or any of that jazz (I’m not made of money, and London prices mean you’ll pay £87.50 for a gin and tonic), it’ll just be a bunch of people chilling out after the gig chewing the fat until about 1am or so. If that tickles your fancy please email me at marc.ollington@gmail.com and I’ll add your name to our prize draw. On Friday 26th January I will pull out names from the hat and email those that have been successful. I did want to do a facebook live draw but I realised if people knew the names of the winners then anyone could blag in on the night… I was going to get Andrew O’Connor (host of Crosswits) to do the draw as well…. Anyway….
Obviously you’ll need a gig ticket to get in to the aftershow, and please let me know how many passes you need when you send your email. And only put your name forward if you really think you’re going to want to stay after the gig. Please also don’t get Mr Bob too drunk as it will be Mister Spoons that will have to drive him home. Those are the main terms and conditions that have been approved by our legal team.
See a load of you in March. I am already way too stupidly excited about it all.
Marc x
p.s. There are honestly a handful of tickets left for this gig before it’s a big, proper sell out. The tickets are on level 2, but they are fab. You still get a great view and everyone will be on their feet clapping and cheering. Get the last few tickets here
posted by jim in news
Last revised: 12/01/18
TEAM JIM BOB'S FAVOURITE GUBBINS OF 2017
Thursday, December 14 2017
JIM BOB'S CHOICES
TELLY – I watched a lot of telly in 2017. Too much for a top ten. These are just some of my highlights. Detectorists Halt and Catch Fire Godless Peaky Blinders Stranger Things Narcos Ozark Taboo Man Down Taskmaster Count Arthur Strong Game of Thrones Startup Gameface The Handmaid’s Tale Homeland Mindhunter Better Call Saul Mr Robot 24 Hours in Police Custody Motherland Quacks SS-GB The Trouble With Dad The Crystal Maze Unforgotten The Confession Tapes The Keepers Long Shot
BOOKS My Absolute Darling – Gabriel Tallent Manhattan Beach – Jennifer Egan Days Without End – Sebastian Barry Commonwealth – Ann Patchett Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng Dadland – Keggie Carew Moonglow – Michael Chabon Ruby – Cynthia Bond Safe Ryan – Ryan Gattis James Acaster's Classic Scrapes – James Acaster The Gustav Sonata – Rose Tremain Since We Fell – Dennis Lehane The Descent of Man – Grayson Perry East West Street – Philippe Sands The Terranauts – TC Boyle Here I Am – Jonathan Safren Foer
FILMS Manchester by the Sea Dunkirk Hell or High Water Wind River Blade Runner 2049 20th Century Women Jackie Hidden Figures Lion Okja Hacksaw Ridge The Meyerowitz Stories The Accountant Passengers The Light Between the Oceans
ALBUMS Pure Comedy – Father John Misty Salutations – Conor Oberst How the West Was Won – Peter Perrett Girl from the North Country (Original London Cast Recording) Lovely Creatures, The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Semper Femina – Laura Marling
LIVE GUBBINS Girl from the North Country at the Old Vic Lazarus at the King's Cross Theatre Conor Oberst at the London Palladium Senseless Things at Shepherd's Bush Empire Lemon Twigs at Koko Frank and Walters at the Water Rats Father John Misty at Hammersmith Apollo Michael Legge, Jerk the Musical at the Bill Murray Chris T-T at the Komedia Brighton Giacometti at Tate Modern Who Do You Think You Are?, Barbara Brownskirt at the Vauxhall Tavern Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burrell – National Gallery
FAVOURITE NEW BAND Shame
RADIO/PODCASTS S.Town The Adam Buxton Podcast Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar Richard Herring's Leicester Square Podcast The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson The Unbelievable Truth The News Quiz Do the Right Thing Vitriola Podcast Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder Inside The Comedian
MISTER SPOONS'S CHOICES
ALBUMS 1. Other – Alison Moyet 2. Savage – Gary Numan 3. Spirit – Depeche Mode 4. Salutations – Conor Oberst 5. These are the Songs – Mick Thomas 6. Under Stars – Amy MacDonald 7. Life in the Dark – The Felice Brothers (released 2016 but I didn’t hear it until 2017 and it’s skill so I’m having it) 8. Junvierbrecher – The Indelicates 9. World Be Gone – Erasure 10. Heart First Aid Kit – Grace Petrie
GIGS A Fantastic Year for Gigs. Been a real struggle picking my top 10 and a lot of my favourites I saw more than once…
1. Gary Numan – Brixton Academy 2. Alison Moyet – Hackney Church 3. The Killers – Millenium Bowl, London 4. Depeche Mode – Arena, Stockholm 5. Mick Thomas & Squeezebox Wally – Café Gramski, Dachau 6. Conor Oberst/Felice Brothers - The Fillmore, San Francisco 7. The Frank & Walters – The Water Rats, London 8. Pet Shop Boys – Royal Albert Hall 9. Erasure – Camden Roundhouse 10. Lord Hicks – Great Exhibition, SE23 Honourable Mentions to: Fightmilk/Indelicates (The Fighting Cocks, Kingston), Amy MacDonald (RAH), MJ Hibbert/Gavin Osborn/Jenny Lockyer (SpreadEagle), Holy Holy (SBE), Adam Ant (RAH).
TV 1. Doctor Who 2. Halt & Catch Fire 3. The Americans 4. House of Cards 5. Homeland 6. Line of Duty 7. Tyrant 8. Better Call Saul 9. Madam Secretary 10. The Bill (re-runs)
OTHER SCHIZZLE 1. Paddington 2 (Film) 2. This is going to Hurt – Adam Kay (Book) 3. The West Wing Weekly (Podcast) 4. Hidden Figures (Film) 5. Star Wars: Rogue One (Film) 6. Storm House – Mark Hibbert (Book) 7. Sully: The Miracle on the Hudson (Film) 8. The Founder (Film) 9. Alison Moyet Tour Diary (Blog) 10. Jerk: The Musical – Michael Legge (Stage)
Favourite Palace Match: Very slim pickings again this year, I’m going for Palace 3 Arsenal 0 – outplayed one of the greatest footballing side of the last decade and it was on the box… Lovely.|
Favourite Non Palace Game: Sheppey 2 Beckenham Town 3 – Rip-roaring FA Vase game. Took a last minute decision to go after driving back from Shiiine in Minehead. So pleased I did, even if I nearly fell asleep on the Motorway on the way home.
CHRISTOPHER(Formerly T-T)'S CHOICES
ALBUMS 1. Lorde – Melodrama 2. The Young’uns – Strangers 3. Yorkston / Thorne / Khan – Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars 4. This Is The Kit – Moonshine Freeze 5. Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer 6. Kiran Leonard – Derevaun Seraun 7. Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator 8. Deerful – Peach 9. Jen Cloher – Jen Cloher 10. Julien Baker – Turn Out The Lights 11. Nadine Khouri – The Salted Air 12. Neil McSweeney – A Coat Worth Wearing 13. Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory 14. Lianne Hall – The Caretaker 15. Jon Boden – Afterglow 16. Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life 17. Lankum – Between the Earth and Sky 18. Trio De Kali & Kronos Quartet – Ladilikan 19. Connect_icut – Rage Coma 20. Kendrick Lamar – Damn
Honourable mentions (all 8.0+ out of 10): Ben Marwood – Get Found, Tom Williams – All Change, Laura Marling – Semper Femina, Horsetail – Under Heaven, Tom McRae – Oh! The World, Ah! The World, Manran – An Da La, Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway, Taylor Swift – Reputation, Stick In The Wheel – Follow Them True, Nick Parker – Besta Venya, Lana Del Ray – Lust For Life, Jay-Z – 4:44, Sleaford Mods – English Tapas, St Vincent – Masseduction, Sampha – Process, The Horrors – V.
GIGS 1. Fonda 500, Truck Festival, Oxfordshire 2. Half Man Half Biscuit, The Assembly Hall, Worthing 3. Flying Lotus at Mauerpark, Berlin 4. Senseless Things, Shepherds Bush Empire, London 5. Jon Boden at The Komedia, Brighton 6. Saturday night at North Gate Jazz Co-op, Chiangmai, Thailand 7. Lianne Hall at Campfire Live, Brighton 8. Dear Everyone at Cambridge Unitarian Church (unplugged) & Brighton Komedia (plugged) 9. Jolie Holland & Samantha Parton at The Komedia, Brighton 10. Hurtling at Truck Festival, Oxfordshire 11. Deerful at Wales Goes Pop! Cardiff 12. Dorian Concept at Mauerpark, Berlin 13. El Morgan & The Divers, Hope & Ruin, Brighton 14. Roxanne de Bastion at Cambridge Folk Festival 15. Thundercat at Mauerpark, Berlin 16. Ben Marwood, Non Canon, Helen Chambers at The Brunswick, Hove 17. Belshazzar’s Feast at Cambridge Folk Festival 18. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls at Cambridge Folk Festival & Lost Evenings 19. Fear Of Men at Wales Goes Pop 20. Co-Pilgrim at Truck Festival, Oxfordshire
Honourable mentions: Sharon Lewis at Big Green Party II, Steve Mason at May Day Solidarity Festival, Kelly Kemp at the Hope, the little bit I saw of Seán McGowan at the Railway (still haven’t seen anything like a full set), Matt Edible at Truck, Pog at Big Green Party II, Dave Burland at May Day Solidary Festival, Mick Thomas at the Duke of Wellington, Chloe Hawes at the Anthony Burgess Centre, The Boy Least Likely To at Wales Goes Pop, Warsaw Radio at Big Green Party II, Robb Johnson at May Day Solidary Festival.
FILMS 1. Moonlight 2. 120 Beats Per Minute 3. The Red Turtle 4. Dunkirk 5. The Salesman 6. The Handmaiden 7. James Baldwin: I Am Not Your Negro 8. Free Fire 9. The Death Of Stalin 10. Hunt For The Wilderpeople 11. Paddington 2 18. Lion 12. Blade Runner 2049 13. Hell Or High Water 14. Thor Ragnarok 15. Wonder Woman 16. Captain Fantastic 17. Hidden Figures 19. Okja 20. Sing Street
TV 1. Master Of None 2. Rick & Morty 3. The Vietnam War 4. The OA 5. Taboo 6. Halt & Catch Fire 7. Blue Planet 2 8. Chef’s Table season 3 episode 1 – Jeong Kwan 9. The Americans 10. American Vandal
(I haven’t yet watched Season 2 of The Crown which might be in there)
BOOKS 1. N. K. Jemisin – The Broken Earth Trilogy (all three books) 2. Benjamin Myers – The Gallows Pole 3. Ta-Nehisi Coates – We Were Eight Years In Power 4. Martin Shaw – Scatterlings 5. Yaa Gyasi – Homegoing 6. Naomi Alderman – The Power 7. Mark Hibbett – Storm House 8. Jessica Abel – Out On The Wire 9. Douglas Murphy – Nincompoopolis 10. Fiona Mozley – Elmet
RADIO / PODCASTING (with my favourite specific episodes in brackets) 1. West Wing Weekly (Two Cathedrals – both parts) 2. Longform (Zoe Chace, Brian Reed, David Grann) 3. Kermode & Mayo Film Show (Wittertainment) 4. Slate Gabfest 5. Slate Culture Gabfest (Steven Universe / introduction to philosophy) 6. Mostly Lit 7. Adam Buxton podcast (Hassan Akkad, Kathy Burke, Simon Amstell) 8. In Our Time (Picasso’s Guernica, Purgatory, Rosa Luxembourg, Egyptian Book Of The Dead) 9. Make Out With Him 10. Home Front 11. SongExploder (Lorde, St Vincent, Michael Kiwanuka, Aimee Mann, Solange) 12. Intercepted (Snowden Vs Trump live from SXSW) 13. Watling Street Podcast 14. NYT – The Daily 15. Desert Island Discs (Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, Caitlin Moran)
Honourable mentions: Slate XX Gabfest, Fresh Air, Another Round, Vitriola, WTF with Marc Maron, S Town, Trumpcast
MARC OLLINGTON'S CHOICES
ALBUMS
1. The National - Sleep Well Beast (stunning, simply stunning) 2. Conor Oberst - Salutations 3. British Sea Power - Let The Dancers Inherit The Party 4. David Bowie - Cracked Actor 5. Lorde - Melodrama 6. Sparks - Hippopotamus 7. Arcade Fire - Everything Now 8. War On Drugs - Deeper Understanding 9. Idles - Brutalism 10. Gorillaz - Humanz
I did like the Morrissey album but since the transcript from that German interview was released he really does come across as a misinformed bigot. I no longer know what to think about him, and feel really weird about putting him in a top 10 that is positive.
FILMS
1. Paddington 2 2. Dunkirk 3. Wonder Woman 4. Death Of Stalin 5. La La Land 6. Logan 7. The Big Sick 8. Captain Underpants 9. T2 Trainspotting 10. Arrival
GIGS
1. Arcade Fire - York Hall 2. The National - Hammersmith Odeon night 1 3. The National - Hammersmith Odeon night 3 4. The National - Hammersmith Odeon night 2 5. Mike Garson - Camden Underworld 6. Pet Shop Boys - Royal Albert Hall 7. Senseless Things - Shepherds Bush Empire 8. Chris T-T - Komedia 9. Idles - Tunbridge Wells Forum 10. The Frank & Walters - The Water Rats
I also really enjoyed Chris T-T @ The Lexington (euphoric), Little Mix @ The O2 (amazing to see my two girls have such a fab time) Adam Buxton's Bug (twice - he is brilliant), Celebrating David Bowie (mixed in quality but I love Gail Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson and the Bowie alumni), Stewart Lee @ Tunbridge Wells Assembly Halls, John Shuttleworth @ Leicester Square Theatre and any Jim Bob gig would obviously be in the top 10 - but that is too obvious. 'The Velveteen Rabbit" @ The Unicorn Theatre with my eldest daughter was really special and nearly made me cry.
TV
1. The Trip Goes To Spain 2. The Crown 3. Doctor Who 4. House Of Cards 5. Love 6. Black Mirror 7. Stranger Things 8. Back 9. Googlebox 10. Blue Planet
I sadly thought Doctor Foster season 2 didn't reach the heights of the first. I also watched all of 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' and thought Iain Lee was wonderful. Billions, Legion, The Walking Dead, Love, Bowie at the Beeb, Louis Theroux and Modern Family were also enjoyed a lot.
RADIO
1. Iain Lee - Talkradio 2. Adam Buxton's podcast 3. Desert Island Discs 4. Kermode & Mayo's Film Review 5. The Danny Baker Show 6. Under The Skin - Russell Brand 7. The Online Gooner 8. Richard Herring - Leicester Square Theatre 9. James Richardson - Totally Football Show 10. Steve Lamacq - 6music
BOOKS
1. Shock & Awe: Glam Rock & It's Legacy - Simon Reynolds 2. Going On The Turn - Danny Baker 3. The Elephant In The Room - Jon Ronson 4. Eleven - Mark Watson 5. Substance: Inside New Order - Peter Hook 6. David Bowie: A Life - Dylan Jones 7. Horse Walks Into A Bar - Daivd Grossman 8. Can't Stand Up For Falling Down - Allan Jones 9. The Bottom Corner - Nigel Thatchell 10. Set The Boy Free - Johnny Marr
I have never read so little fiction. I don't really know why but I seem to be obsessed by biogs.
PERSON OF THE YEAR Iain Lee
RUNNERS UP Matt Berninger (The National), Nathan Elder (Tonbridge Angels)
posted by jim in news
Last revised: 14/12/17
JIM BOB IN AUSTRALIA 2018
Monday, September 18 2017
NEXT MARCH, for the first time since playing the Big Day Out festival with CARTER USM in 1993, JIM BOB is coming back to Australia. Jim Bob will play four shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth as special guest to the very boss POP WILL EAT ITSELF. Also on the bill, at all gigs except Perth are Caligula, who opened for Carter in Australia back in the heady 1993s. What's not to like.
Ticket pre-sale Wednesday 20th September 9am (local time) And general ticket sale Friday 22nd September 9am (local time)
MARCH 2018 Thursday 8th Brisbane The Triffid Friday 9th Melbourne Max Watts Saturday 10th Sydney Factory Theatre Sunday 11th Perth Rosemount Hotel
2016 — The Good Stuff. Team Jim Bob Annual Cultural Lists
Wednesday, December 14 2016
JIM BOB
ALBUMS Do Hollywood – The Lemon Twigs Ruminations – Conor Oberst The Hope Six Demolition Project – PJ Harvey Skeleton Tree – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul Blackstar – David Bowie Adam Green’s Aladdin 9 Green Songs – Chris T-T 2013 – Meilyr Jones
BOOKS The Loney – Andrew Michael Hurley The End of the World Running Club – Adrian J Walker Heroes of the Frontier – Dave Eggers Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain – Barney Norris Patience – Daniel Clowes The Girls – Emma Cline City on Fire –Garth Risk Hallberg The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink – Elvis Costello
TELEVISION Halt and Catch Fire Startup Goliath Making a Murderer Peaky Blinders Better Call Saul People Just do Nothing Silicon Valley Happy Valley War and Peace Grayson Perry — All Man Deutschland 83 Mr Robot Bosch Ripper Street Modern Family Game of Thrones American Crime Story — The People v OJ Simpson
FILMS Hunt for the Wilderpeople Captain Fantastic The Nice Guys Room Sing Street Arrival Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Love and Mercy Bridge of Spies A Bigger Splash The Lobster
RADIO/PODCASTS The Adam Buxton Podcast Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life Vitriola podcast Do the Right Thing podcast Mark Steel's in Town Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar
LIVE SHOWS The Jam — About the Young Idea at Somerset House David Baddiel — My Family: Not the Sitcom Adam Buxton's Bowie Bug Jilted John at Brixton Windmill The Frank and Walters at the Borderline Bowieoke Circus Chris T-T at St Pancras Church Elvis Costello at the London Palladium
CHRIS T-T's favourites
ALBUMS Beyonce – Lemonade Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree The Furrow Collective – Wild Hog Kiran Leonard – Grapefruit David Bowie – Blackstar Shirley Collins – Lodestar Petrol Girls – Talk Of Violence Esmé Patterson – We Were Wild Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool Skinny Girl Diet – Heavy Flow
This year I gave 55 albums 8/10 or better. I’ll put my Top 20 + honourable mentions on my 2016 Review blog next week. I’ve sadly excluded Jim Bob Sings Again and Non Canon’s self-titled debut, because of being on them both.
FILM Can’t do my FILM yet – I’m seeing four films in the next two weeks that might feature. Hypernormalisation, Dheepan, Spotlight and Beyoncé’s Lemonade are all strong contenders though.
TV Fleabag Planet Earth II Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle Better Call Saul Trapped Imagine: One Night In 2012 The Story of China with Michael Wood The Crown Stranger Things Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
BOOKS Paul Kingsnorth – Beast Benjamin Myers – Turning Blue Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run Dark Mountain #9 Teju Cole – Known And Strange Things
ART vrLAB at The Old Market, Hove Visuals and lighting design for the Moderat concert, The Dome, Brighton Gem Fletcher’s Instagram feed of Getty photographers and sessions Siam – Through The Lens Of John Thomson, Museum Of Culture, Chiang Mai Sam Hewitt at Dynamite Gallery Not Vital at Yorkshire Sculpture Park Shardcore – ‘map portraits’ series Nona Faustine – nudes in slave trading sites in Bust magazine Clement Valla – Postcards From Google Earth Pure Evil – Hollywood Vampires at 99 Mary Street, Sheffield
PODCASTS / RADIO West Wing Weekly, PRX Radiotopia Longform Podcast Kermode & Mayo: Wittertainment, BBC Radio 5Live Slate Political Gabfest, Slate/Panoply The Junk Shop with Marc Teare, TotallyRadio Simon Mayo interviews Bruce Springsteen, BBC Radio 2 SongExploder, PRX Radiotopia Vitriola with Robin Ince & Michael Legge In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg, BBC Radio 4 Marc Riley, BBC 6 Music
GIGS (WATCHED) Bellowhead, The Dome, Brighton Kiran Leonard, The Albert, Brighton Shellac, Koko, London Dream Wife, Photo Shop, Great Escape, Brighton Moderat, The Dome, Brighton Chrissy Barnacle, Conroy’s Basement, Dundee Skinny Girl Diet, Green Door Store, Great Escape, Brighton Helen Chambers, Black Swan, York Roxanne De Bastion, Latest Music Bar, Brighton The Vega Bodegas, Le Pub, Newport
MARC OLLINGTON
BEST ALBUMS
WINNER Blackstar – David Bowie
RUNNER UP Jim Bob Sings Again – Jim Bob (& Chris T-T)
Do Hollywood – The Lemon Twigs Ruminations – Conor Oberst 9 Green Songs – Chris T-T Can’t Stop Us Now – Madness Lazarus Soundtrack – Original Cast Recording Super – Pet Shop Boys Flawed Is Beautiful – S*M*A*S*H/These Animal Men Tanya Donnelly – Swan Song Series
BEST BOOKS
WINNER The Complete David Bowie – Nick Pegg
The End of the World Running Club – Adrian J Walker (though it has an awful ending) Set The Boy Free – Johnny Marr My Life With Bowie – Woody Woodmansey The Romford Pelé: It's only Ray Parlour's autobiography - Ray Parlour Journeyman: One Man's Odyssey Through the Lower Leagues of English Football - Ben Smith Psychedelic Suburbia: David Bowie and the Beckenham Arts Lab - Finnigan, Mary Let's Make Lots of Money: Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard - Tom Watkins Twin Ambitions - My Autobiography - Mo Farah 100 Acts of Minor Dissent - Mark Thomas Heroes of the Frontier – Dave Eggers
BEST TELEVISION
WINNER Billions
Modern Family American Crime Story — The People v OJ Simpson Googlebox Alan Partridge: Scissored Isle The Walking Dead Cougar Town Black Mirror Humans Outcast
BEST FILMS
WINNER Room
RUNNERS UP Sing Street The Jungle Book
Trolls Nocturnal Animals Ghostbusters Man Who Fell To Earth – BFI Screening The Nice Guys High Rise Finding Dory How To Be Single Elvis & Nixon
BEST RADIO/PODCASTS
WINNER The Adam Buxton Podcast
Kermode & Mayo Film Review Guardian Football Weekly Desert Island Discs
BEST LIVE SHOWS
WINNER Pet Shop Boys – Royal Opera House
MOST SPECIAL EVENTS Matilda and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory – in London’s West End. Attended with Poppy Ollington
Adam Buxton's Bowie Bug The Jim Bob Sings Again Tour The Frank and Walters - The Borderline Belly - The Kentish Town Forum Madness – Clapham Common My Life Story – The Borderline Chris T-T – St Pancras Old Church British Sea Power – Tunbridge Wells Forum La Femme – Shepherds Bush Empire a-ha – The o2 Lazarus – Kings Cross Theatre Indiedaze – London Forum
THE VERDICT OF THE SPOONS JURY
Hello all, and a Merry Christmas to you all. Usual rules apply: ridiculously late again and betting without the favourites (i.e. TJB output) otherwise it’d be a pretty repetitive list.
Off we go then… in no particular order, but favorite in each category starred…
TOP 10 ALBUMS BlackStar – David Bowie* Songs of the Walking Wounded – The Frank and Walters Rest & Relocation – Split Seconds Forum Residency Boxset – Gary Numan Girl at the End of the World – James Ruminations – Conor Oberst (finally succumbed to the magic!) Head Carrier – Pixies No such thing as a Protest Singer - Grace Petrie Still Valid – MJ Hibbert & the Validators Let the Record Show– Dexys (less for the music, it became the most bizarre soundtrack to our journey thru’ Kenya – can’t remember when I laughed so hard in my life)
TOP 10 GIGS Mick Thomas African Tour 2016* Gary Numan - Oxford Academy Madness – 100 Club Gavin Osborn/MJ Hibbert/Jenny Lockyer – SpreadEagle Croydon Bowieoke – Bethnal Gren WMC Grace Petrie – MayDay Orgreave Benefit Barnsley James – Brixton Academy Adam Ant – Hammersmith Odeon Adam Buxton Bowie Bug – Greenwich The Frank & Walters - Borderline
TOP 10 TV Well I can’t have Doctor Who as there hasn’t been any this year (yet), and that spin-off series on BBC3 was, sadly, bloody terrible, so…
Line of Duty The Americans The Crown Victoria American Crime Story — The People v OJ Simpson Tyrant Mr Robot Deutschland 83* Trapped The Big Bang Theory
2016 BEST FILM: The Big Short
WORST FILM EVER MADE IN THE HISTORY OF FILMS, YES EVEN WORSE THAN PLAN 9 ETC: The Lobster (Jim’s only put it in his list to wind me up - don’t think I’m not wise to his ways)
BOOKS Not a lot done again this year, but I’ve developed a weird fascination for reading Appalachian Trail diaries.
BEST PALACE MATCH: 2016 was Palace’s very own Annus Horribilus, despite getting to the FA Cup Final (which of course we bloody lost), thus it’s been difficult to pick a game from such limited choice. In the end I’m going to cheat and go for one I didn’t actually see live: The 2-1 Semi-Final win against Watford, because it will forever remind me of the reason I couldn’t be there: running the London Marathon. www.runspoonsrun.co.uk
BEST FOOTBALL MATCH (Non-Palace): Lancing 3 Beckenham Town 4 (FA Cup Extra Prelim Round Replay)… deep in the heart of seaweed country: Beckenham go a goal up, Lancing have a man sent off but rattle in three goals. Beckenham stage a late comeback, scoring the winner from a disputed free kick in injury time. The one Beckenham Town fan in the ground goes mental and on full time is stalked by a mortally obese Lancing/Seaweed fan who, having also just spotted a small Palace logo on his cap, now wants to kill him… just catching him would have been a start… (yes, the Becks fan was me – I nearly died laughing).
Hello everyone,
