Stevie Nicks is a witch.

Currently reading: Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Currently eating: Tiny Teddies
Current obsession: my bank balance

I said I’d do a review of the movies and gigs I’ve seen recently, and even though I’ve lost interest somewhat in this idea, I’ll do it anyway, because I have no better way to spend my time. Ooh, yikes, that was a bit defeatist, wasn’t it?

The B-52’s

Blimmin ‘eck, how I love these people. As most of you already know or may have gathered, I am somewhat prone to obsession, and when I was about 19, The B-52’s were IT. I’m particularly drawn to their early albums and dime-store aesthetic. They used to shop in second-hand stores for deliberately out-of-date fashions, and beehive their hair 20 years after it ceased to be fashionable, and subsequently started a minor fashion resurgence of their own. They would wear sheets and dance without music at the bottom of the garden, and go to the local Chinese restaurant for a cocktail called a Flaming Volcano, which was particularly potent, and served in a fishbowl (it was also the only thing they could afford on the menu, being students). They created their own self-contained little world, full of retro images of outer space and beach parties. The idea of escapism, and being cool by deliberately being uncool really appealed to me. I wanted to live in that world. I desperately wanted to have huge bouffant hair, but it wasn’t until a good 6 or 7 years later that I realised that it was easier than I expected to beehive my hair and set about developing the Floss look that you’ve all come to know and love.

So it was a pleasure to be able to see them live again. I saw them at the Hordern in 2003, at the height of my B’s mania, and it was one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever seen. I very rarely go to see a band and find I know every word to every song. Unfortunately, this time round they didn’t quite match that night, and they were struggling to overcome some unavoidable setbacks. The heat was oppressive, and two songs into their set Cindy walked offstage, and never returned. The band had to struggle to fill in time, because no-one knew where she’d gone or if she’d come back. This left Kate to sing all the female parts, and jiminy crickets, she was fracking fantastic, but the main attraction of The B-52’s is the girls’ harmonies so a little something was lost. Still, they sounded great and I had a wonderful time, and people kept taking my photo because of my outfit (50s style sunflower-yellow dress, complete with crinoline petticoat). And I caught Keith’s guitar pick.

Fleetwood Mac

Is it just me, or does John McVie look like Bob Hoskins here?

So I got to see Fleetwood Mac for free, from the comfort of a private box, with thanks to my mother. The company she works for owns a private box at Acer Arena, and sometimes get free tickets. Rock on, gold dust woman! Fleetwood Mac to a person of my generation is just one of those bands that has always been there. A staple of every classic rock radio station, movie soundtrack and advertising campaign, their extensive back catalogue of songs has meant that they’re never far from the public consciousness. Listening to them live, you’re constantly thinking “Oh yeah. They did that song too.” Boy howdy, do they know how to rock, but I suppose they have been doing it for a long time. Mick Fleetwood is a cheeky scamp, Lindsey Buckingham is a maestro, and Stevie Nicks is a witch. A new twitter friend who was also at the concert commented that she had the impression John McVie could fit inside Mick Fleetwood like babushka dolls. Now, when I say Stevie is a witch, don’t misinterpret that as a bad thing. To me the image of a witch is a strong, powerful, magical woman, and Stevie Nicks may well be the High Priestess, next to Kate Bush. She’s utterly captivating onstage, and has a rotating selection of scarves and shawls that she floats around in. She’s also a big fan of air drumming.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

There's a fairly obvious dick joke here, but I'm not even going to go there.

(This one’s primarily for Jon Wong) I liked this movie very much. It made me happy. Reasons you should see CWACOM, as I now choose to call it- 1) Mr T. 2) Chicken-Brent 3) saying things as you’re doing them 4) fishing metaphors 5) the best visual gag about Neapolitan icecream I’ve ever seen 5) Ratbirds 6) Steve 7) Chicken-Brent (I can’t stress this enough) . There are many reasons to see this movie. It’s very sweet. Following the travesty that was 2012, it was refreshing, and hilarious to see a movie that actively made a joke of recognisable landmarks in cities around the world being struck by giant food items. Go see it.