Queens of the Stone Age announce UK dates

Having just sold out an end of year UK tour a few months ago, it's been announced that Queens of the Stone Age will return to the UK for a four-date stint in February 2008. The dates are as follows:

• February 9th - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
• February 10th - Leeds University
• February 11th - London Hammersmith Apollo
• February 12th - Southampton Guildhall

Tickets went on sale this morning (Friday 26th October), but as I'm writing there are still some available for each of these shows. So for all those who missed out on the last batch of dates, or those who just want to see Josh Homme & Co do what they do best, hurry up or miss out! You can book online at all good ticketing sites, and some rubbish ones too.

In QOTSA-related news, it has been revealed that the band are set to release a digital EP on 26th November, featuring the much loved Desert Sessions track 'Make It Wit Chu' and new songs 'White Wedding' and 'Needles In A Camel's Eye'. All in all, good news all round for Queens fans.

£950? You're having a laugh!

There's nothing quite the like the feeling that you get when you see your favourite band live. Singing back every word (or screaming in some cases), that look of shock when the song that you desperately wanted to be played but never thought would be IS played, and enjoying the atmosphere with people that matter. It's something that can't be beat, but unfortunately gigs are becoming more and more expensive. The question now being asked is, are the prices worth it?One example which surely isn't is The Eagles, who are set to play a private gig in London to the relatively small audience of 2,300. Tickets for this 'once in a lifetime event' (the spokeswoman's words, definitely not mine) are a staggering £950! Yes, just under a grand to see The Eagles! That's the price of a car, or even a holiday. It's not like they don't have enough money already, for a career that has spanned over four decades there is no justification for this ridiculous price. The saddest thing of all is that people will pay that.

The revolt over high ticket prices has shown signs of gathering pace, with multiple gigs across Europe having to be moved to smaller venues or even cancelled to hide the amount of spare tickets. The Rolling Stones, infamous for their ticket prices, sold a pathetic 33,000 for a 70,000 capacity in Werchter, Belgium. The Who moved a scheduled gig from the same venue to a Belgian Hall to hide the failure of their sales. Rolling Stones tickets spanned from £150-£495 for most of their European dates, what possibly reason can there be behind these prices?

Of course the blame lies with downloading. "The Bowie Theory" indicates that the best way to make money is with live shows in order to compensate for the loss through file sharing and depleted album sales. Correct me if I'm wrong, but do Mick Jagger, Sting, Phil Collins & co actually NEED any more money? It's incredibly annoying that they don't realise how lucky they are and how millions would love to be in their place, and it's these millions that come out to see them live. How about rewarding fans with fair ticket prices and play to a capacity crowd, then go home and count how much money was made?

With the UK legs of these money-making European tours still selling strongly, there is unlikely to be any change to ticket prices in the near future, not here at least. Until people take action then we had better get used to paying over the odds for the biggest names in rock music.

Remembered...The Cooper Temple Clause

Nostalgia time! A look back at one of the best gigs I've ever seen...

I struggled to get into The Cooper Temple Clauses' second album in 2004, forgetting about the band completely. I wasn't even aware they were bringing out a new album until someone lent it to me, and I'm glad they did. After listening to it over and over and (you get the idea), it seemed logical to go and see them at Shepherds Bush.

Starting with the newest single Head, there was an immediate energy that came with it and stayed in the audience for the rest of the night, this energy continued during Been Training Dogs. The highlight of the night was undoubtedly Once More With Feeling, extended to eight minutes with a mass singalong for the mid-section, an unforgettable moment.

Closing with Panzer Attack, I left relieved that I had revisited this band I had forgotten about three years earlier. I'm still relieved today, relieved that I got to see this band while I had the chance. The Shepherds Bush gig turned out to be their last, a real shame as judging by their last album they were going onto even bigger and better things.

On The Road

It looks set to be a hectic end of the year for yours truly, with a lot of amazing bands touring through the winter months. Here's who I am seeing before the year is out, and a little bit about why I am seeing them:

• Sunday 4th November - Stereophonics - Bournemouth BIC

One of my favourite bands, I only started to really get into them about two years ago despite Stereophonics being around since 1997. I was probably too young and naive to know what good music was back then, but luckily I have seen the error of my ways. Word Gets Around is probably one of the best debut albums I've ever heard, and they have produced consistently solid albums ever since. I'm looking forward to hearing tracks from their new album, Pull The Pin.

• Saturday 10th November - We Are Scientists - Surrey University
  

The locality of this gig was probably the biggest draw for me in all honestly, however they are still a great band who also seem to be pretty hilarious in person as well. I know people who have seen them and they say nothing but positive things, so it looks set to be a good night.

• Sunday 11th November - The Young Knives - Reading Fez Club

No rest for the wicked, 24 hours on from the last gig and I will be in Reading seeing one of the oddest bands around, The Young Knives. When your bass player is called House of Lords you know you're not dealing your average band, and lyrically they are quite unique as well (one example of this: You were screaming at your mum while I was punching your dad). However this makes them stand out from the rest who just seem to follow whatever is popular that day, and I'm sure this will be reflected live.

• Saturday 17th November - Foo Fighters - London 02 Arena

Where to begin with this band...this will be my third time seeing them, and I'm as excited as I was before the first time. Their new album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace has caused this excitement, I'm deadly serious when I say I have listened to at least twice a day every day since it came out over three weeks ago. No doubt I'll have to buy another copy after wearing my current one out following this gig.

• Tuesday 20th November - Biffy Clyro - Southampton Guildhall
  

After seeing them in May I was waiting impatiently for news of their next tour, that's a testament to how impressive they were live. Luckily that has come pretty soon, the added perk this time being that their new album Puzzle is actually out now, whereas last time it hadn't been released so half the set list had the feeling of '...this is awesome, but I have no idea what this song is...'

• Tuesday 4th December - Queens of the Stone Age - Reading Rivermead

I get a nice two week break here which is fortunate, as this show is most likely to leave me concussed. Having only seen them once before in a crowd of 85,000 people, its safe to say this will be a much different experience. Despite quite a lot of negative reviews, I'm actually a fan of their new album (Era Vulgaris - Latin for 'Common Era') so this looks set to be the perfect end to an extremely tiring but exhilarating month of mind-blowing gigs.

This is subject to change, you never know what kind of gig will be announced at the last minute so there could well be more added to this list. One of the best parts of going to see a live band is the people you go with, and luckily I'm going with some pretty awesome people so I'm covered in that department. I will be looking to report back after each of these (well, we'll see), hopefully with a lot of stories to tell.