Michael MacLennan

Saw them supporting the Locust, have to say I liked them but didn't love them. The frontman made things interesting. I also liked the guitar, but at risk of offending people by mentioning a genre everyone has to hate now, I thought a lot of the riffs were quite nu-metally, lots of two-note riffs, but I quite like the bludgeoning simplicity of that now and then. As I said, enjoyed them, but not enough to buy a CD, got an EP instead of opening band Year Future, only caught the end of them at the Locust, but liked the cut of their jib.

Nice way to pay tribute to Dimebag, by continuing the petty insults. Whadda guy!

This would make more sense if it wasn't utter bollocks. Nice try at sounding knowledgable though, you should have added comparisons to Coldplay or James Blunt in there for extra resonance.

Hey Blastcap, can't you get Pete of Red by Choice megafame to make a return to the music scene and have a handy section on how to promote your band and make them a megahugemegasuccess?

I think she's one of those who can act, but just plays an extremely annoying character of the type Neighbours has often specialised in, such as Julie Robinson. I haven't seen it in months, but from what I remember Dev from Coronation Street was dreadful, especially the emotive 'grimacing' (looked like he was receiving an anal probe) he did to indicate psychological agony when being hounded by the psychotic ex-lover.

I went along, it was a good night, their drummer was something else, and I loved the keyboard sounds, probably better than I expected. It really was fab.

I love the snow, it's great, the only problem is when you have a car and have to drive in it. Other than that it's lovely, you put on loads of really snug clothes, everything looks pretty covered in snow, and it feels great when you get into your home and it's all lovely and warm. I might even buy a hot water bottle! Fortunately I have no hardman reputation for that previous sentence to wreck.

I started going to the gym 4-5 times a week before I did the Edinburgh marathon to lose weight and get fitter so I didn't die during the event, which I guess worked because I lost about 2 and a half stone... I just use the fitness machines for exercising the muscles, what position does bench pressing refer to? Is it while lying completely horizontal?

If anyone's interested I'm going to be selling my cherry red Schecter A1+ 7-string, great review back in the day from Guitarist magazine, which convinced me to travel to Sound Control in Dundee and buy it, used in my days with former Aberdeen supergroup Subsist... I'll get some pictures of it soon if anyone is interested.

To be honest, they didn't directly influence me, it's just that after listening to 'Don't Stop Movin' non-stop for six days I had the unshakeable urge to put an end to all human life.

I think Doris/Mavis were ace at Gavfest, but to be honest I was starting to descending into a drunken stupour at that point, and can only really remember a terrible urge to get on the stage and dance. Has anybody mentioned Project VH yet? If not they bloody well should have.

I didn't see that show apart from the results part, and that Irish guy doing Johnny B Goode was one of the most bizarre sights I've seen in a long time, an absolutely appalling choice for a song. I think Cowell would love to have voted Chico out, if Walsh hadn't sabotaged his own act so successfully by trying to create a freakish Fly-like fusion of Connor from Neighbours and Daniel O'Donnell...

I don't know if you can count Popcorn Fiend since I live in Glasgow, but it was born in Aberdeen, and any chance for cheap publicity is an opportunity I cannot pass up... Popcorn Fiend

I bought it in Avalanche, hurray! Unfortunately, I've been too lazy to put it onto my computer (and thus my Ipod) yet, so I haven't listened to it, boo! I have the two-track CD with the single on from AGES ago though, and that's ace, so I'll assume it hasn't got any worse in the intervening years...

Three quick points: First of all, 'the police' do not back this anymore than 'Britain' backed Blair in going to war. A representative body for chief police officers may agree with Blair, but that's no indication about how those on the front-line actually think, any more than asking the chief executives of McDonalds would determine how those at the till feel about their wages. Secondly, I think it's a lot easier for people such as myself, and probably everybody else, to talk about someone being kept for up to 90 days because it's not actually going to happen to any of us, thanks to our cultural background. I doubt we'd be quite so blase about the possibility of this happening if we feared if might happen to us or our relatives. Thirdly, without the 90 days, do you really think a potential bomber 'only' kept for 28 days will suddenly be let free to roam the streets? Of course not, if there's still suspicions he'll be closely monitored for suspicious activity, and the likelihood he'll do anything in those extra 62 days is non-existent. A lot of this rests of the type of scaremongering that permeated the case for war, resting on negative 'What if we DON'T do anything type arguments', with extremes of what could happen, implying the guilt of those who don't agree. I find such moral rhetoric quite icky.

I've already played an xbox360 at a demonstration in Glasgow on Saturday. It was groovy... King Kong scared the hell out of me though, but Kameo was sweet, and Need for Speed and Gotham Racing sure looked purdy. So did Dead or Alive 4, though the android-looking Tiger Woods scared me, almost realistic, but those eyes, those dead eyes... plus I was rubbish at the game. That said, I still haven't even played Half-life 2, which I got last Christmas for my PC, so I doubt it's a necessity to get myself a new console, at least until I start playing games more than once a year...

Hmm, my worst incident (out of myriad embarassing cock-ups) came at a Fudge/Lithium Records night at O'Donoghues, probably around 2001 or so back in the good old Subsist days. To qualify the night, let me first say at the time I used a 7-string guitar, which was completely integral to all the songs, plus a huge effects pedal, which was also pretty important. We arrived about 6 for soundcheck, but due to the organisation, we were the last band, apparently 'headlining'. What this actually meant is that we were supposed to be on around 12 or something, but due to the vast amount of bands playing, the night started overrunning horribly. It got to 1.30, and Kelebeck Butterfly were still just finishing their set, as a bleary-eyed Subsist looked on with a mixture of rage, exhaustion and bewilderment. The audience had left apart from Kelebeck supporters, and a few friends, leaving about 10 people there. Still, Kelebeck finished, time to get this party started! It was as I rushed onto the stage I realised I'd forgotten the lead for my effects pedal. My face reddening, I started asking someone, anyone, if they had a replacement. It was not to be, but the Kelebeck guitarist kindly let me use his effects pedal, which would do. So we get started about 1.45, going straight into our 'hit' song (in that it was once on a Fudge CD) 'Watching me Now'. We were reborn! Leaping around the stage, taking out our frustration, it felt superb, and as we went into the mid-section, I leaped into the air to kick off the thunderous riff... ...only to see the lead completely bugger the guitar socket as the instrument thudded back onto the ground, disconnecting any sound and finishing off Subsist's set after half-a-song. We'd been waiting around seven hours to play. Drummer Arron looked bemused, bassist Ollie threw the bass to the ground and stormed off, and, due to the fact that we'd play such a short time, Kelebeck still managed to win the 'audience' vote and take away a bottle of champagne, thanks to the four people they knew who were still left in the venue. Classy times.