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Chris - Friday 14th April 2000 - 7:30pm

Well I guess this is the first one. I wrote something eons ago about how I got into punk music but I still haven't put that up yet. Maybe I will eventually, who knows - but it might be embarrassing :) So what's been going on? Well, Nick, Steve and I went to San Francisco for a couple of weeks to check out the city, see some friends and, of course, hit the bars and record shops. We also went to Vegas for three days. It certainly was a fun and interesting trip and I'm sorry to be back here so soon actually! More on that trip another time though.

So who's going to the Deconstruction festival in Bromley-By-Bow? This mini outdoor festival at a 15000 capacity venue happens on Saturday the 3rd of June and features bands like NoFX, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Good Riddance along with (supposedly) a skateboarding area and a computer games room. More details as I get them. Organisers say that an extra special guest will be announced one week before the event and various rumours are already flying around as to who it's going to be. Luke from the Snuff mailing list says that it IS the Descendents for some reason, although he hasn't said where he gets his proof from. I don't think it will be them personally because first, I doubt that Milo really wants to tour again and second, their next album isn't out til November. 'All' could be a possibility though because their new album is apparently coming out in June. Nick thinks it could be someone like Rancid or even Green Day. Green Day are doing Warped with NoFX soon after this show so who knows... I think it might well be Snuff to be honest although I'd be disappointed if it was. No offense to Snuff but they're already doing a tour and I don't think they need to be announced as an "extra special guest". Of course, if it is Snuff then the promoters are obviously thinking "hmm, better keep it a secret so we can try and sell out the Astoria..." and who can blame them?!

Got the new Leatherface album "Horsebox" on Tuesday and I have to say that it's fucking magical. It's been on permanent repeat-play since I bought it and I'm not even close to being bored with it. The solid core of Frankie Stubbs and Andrew Laing are joined this time by Leighton Evans (former bassist in Jesse) on guitar and Davey Burdon on bass. This is the first Leatherface record that doesn't feature any involvement by Dickie Hammond and, happily, it doesn't suffer at all because of that. I'm hoping to start up a reviews section on BTN soon so I won't say anything else apart from "buy this fucking album now!!!!".

Can't wait for next weekend. Croydon's own Blocko are playing in Ryde in the Isle of Wight. I can't actually remember whether I've been to Ryde before or not but I love the island and it'll be wonderful to see some beautiful, familiar sights again. Blocko, by the way, feature BTN's own Lloyd on bass along with Nij on guitar and vocals and Mates on bass. The gig is at the Royal Squadron with support from Lying in State and Pigskin. There'll also be an after-gig party at Patsy's Nightclub with "indie and alternative DJs" (whatever that means nowadays :) Click here for the flyer. It's a bit large at the moment but we're hoping to have a smaller one up soon so sorry if it takes a while to load.

That's it for now. Until next time....

--- Chris