One thing that needs to be addressed first is our culinary expertise. In New York there is a popular method of identifying whether or not a restaurant is good and being the kind host that I am, I will enlighten you on this trick:

#1 – Approach Restaurant/Food establishment

#2 – Think to yourselves – “Would Kristen Bell (of Heroes and Veronica Mars fame) eat here?”

#3 – If the answer is yes then proceed, if no then move on.

Low and behold we found ourselves eating in a restaurant that is regularly visted by our favourite electric lady.

After indulging ourselves in Italian food it was time to say goodbye to our friend Sander, and thank him for spending the day with us. We hope you had as much fun as we did! But the day is not over yet..

Before departing the restaurant our comrade Ad-Craggs decides to use the bathroom. Fair enough, God made us in a way that would require moments like these, so we waited patiently for him. As time went on we thought to ourselves “why is he taking so long?”. A glance towards the toilet indicate that after 10 minutes Ad-Craggs was still waiting outside the toilet. Boy, that person using it must have eaten a bad meatball or something. Anyway, after waiting a ridiculous amount of time, some Italian local (I think it was a small child) heads for the toilet, OPENS the door, GOES in, and releases his waste into the toilet while a red faced Ad-Craggs is stood there. No worries though, nobody saw..APART from the table next to us full of English girls! In particular one girl who we will refer to as Restaurant girl, her sympathy for Ad-Craggs in this situation was heart-warming. It was like some 90′s romantic comedy starring Kristen Bell as the owner of an Italian Restaurant. That being said Ad-Craggs eventually used the bathroom, and we said our goodbyes to Sander who must have enjoyed this hilarious toilet situation

Nice meeting you Sander and hope to see you again in the future!

Tänan!!

Say hello to the  ‘Penis Hat’.

I’ll admit that I am not too keen on art but I do like to be a pretentious indie noise hipster so I felt right at home alongside my other starbucks drinking PETA loving vegetarians. That being said, I was impressed with the exhibit which measured everybodies height and marked their name down depending on how tall you were. Unfortunately a ma of my stature would never equate to the heights of Yao Ming or Verne Troyer so I was right in the middle alongside people called Andre, Esteban and Mars. However, if I ever was challenged to a game of Basketball by someone called J.Hoyes then I would be beaten severely as he is CLEARLY the tallest man to ever grace the MoMa based on this exhibit. Oh, and did I mention that a famous yellow skinned boy also seemed to have enjoyed this exhibit (and loyal to his persona he decided to use his own pen and go against museum regulations!:

Well after exhausting our appreciation for Art we decided to pay Times Square and other surrounding areas a visit. It was nice to see Times Square in all its glory after playing Grand Theft Auto IV so much. It was also nice to spend time with Sander who I must say is a top guy (visit him at: http:www.x-freaks.com). That being said after doing the infamous X Japan pose in front of the rockefella center and in front of the large number of tourists in Times Square it was time to pay Little Italy a visit for food. But not without stopping at M&M world to witness drug paraphernalia being sold to innocent sweet toothed children! tut tut!

The Sander trilogy will be concluded in part 3 where we learn about the beginnings of ‘Toilet Boy and Restaurant Girl’

ps – A few sources have confirmed Pavement to reunite in 2010! time to return to Central Park!

We had arranged to spend a day with Sander ever since we knew he would be in Yonkers NY, so we decided to meet up in the Bronx beforehand. The plan of the day was Central Park –> Met Museum –> Rockefella –> Times Square –> Little Italy and soon you will find out which one of these locations resulted in a massive faux pas on our part.

After walking through the lovely Central Park it was soon time for Breakfast. Unfortunately we were not near any significant areas that offered options for food and also we were against the idea of visiting common chains such as McDonalds or Subway. So, for breakfast, yes breakfast we decided to have this:

I don’t even recall what it is, I just asked for lots of meat thrown on top a mountain of rice with a few vegetables and this was the result.

So after stuffing ourselves, it was time to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is considered one of the best musuems in the world. At this time of writing I would like to inform that people who guessed that our faux pas would occur at the Museum, you are correct..the museum is CLOSED on Monday! A message of warning for all travellers, make sure that whenever you visit somewhere, you check if it is open! Anyway it wasn’t the end of the world, we decided to go to the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) instead.

I should have mentioned that myself and Sander were sporting our X-Japan t shirts this day so we would recognise each other easier and we had hoped that there would be a small possibility that we would run into other X Japan fans, and our hope was met when on our way to the MoMa I was complimented by the following gentleman:

I cannot completely remember what he said but it went along the lines of:

“World Tour in Asia 2009..that’s cool. Japan..X..I like you people” – I’m no expert in jive but this clearly translates into “I like X Japan and their tour in Asia in 2009 was cool”..

1. I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead – The show as predicted opened with the remarkable ‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’ the opening track of their latest album ‘The Hawk is Howling’. Best described as brooding, the song begins with Barry Burns on keyboard playing a lovely melody before the band kicks in with their subdued instrumentals. Although the track has nothing to do with Jim Morrison or indeed the Doors it conveys such energy and emotion from start to finish. The song ultimately reaches an incredible peak towards the end when the soft and delicate sounds of the keyboards collide in unison with the guitars. Delicate and remarkable opener and to quote someone on last.fm…”I felt emotion”

2. Hunted By A Freak – The ever present and popular ‘Hunted By A Freak’ followed which featured remarkable guitar work by John Cummings with the memorable guitar melody. You could feel the immense nature of the ‘vocals’ by Barry Burns on his VOX. This song is truly one of the most distinguishable songs from the entire post-rock genre and captures the vision the band had when recording their fourth album ‘Happy Songs For Happy People’. Transcending stuff.

3. Mogwai Fear Satan – OH MY GOD! I previously wrote a blog entry about my three most Prodigious (or in other words beyond epic) songs. This post included Art of Life by X JAPAN, Yearning by Mono and Mogwai Fear Satan by Mogwai. I could never imagine that I would be able to experience two of these songs live, the other being X Japan Art of Life in January. Without a doubt one of the bands most famous and epic songs, the live version clocks in around 10 minutes and can simply be described as ‘the creation of the universe through music’. Everything about this song is wonderful and the live version exceeded the superior nature of the Young Team version. It was so amazing that somebody right next to me in a ‘Sublime’ T-shirt fainted (realistically probably due to dehydration) due to its awesomeness. This song IS the best song I’ve experienced live.

4. I Know You Are But What Am I? – A much underrated classic off ‘Happy Songs For Happy People’. The gorgeous but simple piano melody and the electronic nature of this song was a perfect choice for this festival. The sun was setting, people were dancing in the mud and this song just added to the amazing nature of the festival. A calming experience after Mogwai Fear Satan. This song was simply lovely and captures the message of the album that it is featured on..Happy Songs for Happy People.

5. Ithica 27ø9 – What a treat! This was our ‘rare’ song of the night and it was the vintage ‘Ithica 27o9′. The song is a favourite for old school fans and features all the key elements of the classic post-rock crescendo style. I’ll admit that even though this song was our ‘rare’ tune it isn’t particularly one of my favourites but the extreme distortion period was amazing and due to time constraints I guess it was the most appropriate choice.

6. Friend of the Night – YEAH! I thought they weren’t going to play this fan-favourite. I’ve always said that you require more than two ears to fully appreciate this song and it was godlike live. I also believe that this is one of their more accessible songs so that newbies to Mogwai will enjoy this and judging from the crowd response they seemed to very much enjoy this song. The chorus is just incredibably powerful and delicate, a juxtaposition of noise and beauty over five minutes of amazing instrumental rock. Words are overrated. Pretty musicians are overrated. Mogwai RULE.

7. Helicon 1 – HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! they were running out of time yet they play Helicon 1, I COULDN’T believe it! this is AMAZING. This is another one of my favourite Mogwai tracks and an old favourite. Almost similar to a song you would expect from Mono it lasts over 8 minutes and perfectly conveys the loud/quiet dynamic. I once saw a video where somebody put this track onto a video of a BBC documentary about the Hiroshima bombings during World War 2 and I can say that the song is a musical representation of before the bombings, the atrocities with the dropping of the hydrogen bomb and the aftermath. Such an incredible song and totally unexpected too.

8. Batcat – The last Mogwai song of the set and what a way to finish it. Many had expected Glasgow Mega-Snake but Batcat was played instead and in hindsight it was the ideal closer as it is longer, louder and more heavy. The song is one of Mogwai’s more straight forward rock songs but the song’s distortion is so heavy and loud that is makes the six minutes feel like a kick in the face. Sheer awesome but I knew that this would be the end of the most incredible hour of music ever. Mogwai with this performance exceeded all expectations and proved to me that they are indeed one of the best bands around in my opinion, their extraordinary music and immense live performances will forever be remembered and one day I hope to catch them again. Thank You.

ps- I was so very close to the stage/beach volleyball was annoying/ they went over by 10 minutes which was the icing on the cake, cheers lads!

[Photo taken by Ad-Craggs] ((I was actually very much closer than this))

Time was ticking..Mogwai on at 19:05pm, please to God don’t cancel today.

However much to my delight we starting moving into the festival around 1600hrs, It was a bit sad that we missed The Gaslight Anthem and we didn’t make it in time to catch The Silversun Pickups but anyway here is the review of day three:

We are Scientists – Absolutely canny lads, their set was unfortunately shortened due to Akron/Family going over their scheduled time but they still played all of their hits in front of a fairly large audience. Shame that it only lasted about 30 minutes but this only meant one thing..Mogwai would have more time..and they were next.

Mogwai – See following post

Coldplay – I laugh at anyone who doubts Coldplays brilliance as headliners. Although I am not a fan of their latest album their stage prescence and style made for an amazing closer to an amazing three days. From hits such as Yellow to The Scientist to newer songs such as Viva La Vida the foursome wowed the large audience who had chosen them over MGMT. Covers of ‘Fight For Your Right’ and ‘Billie Jean’ only added to the remarkable spectacle that was Coldplay. Thanks APW for a fabulous three days!

WEATHER: The Rain returned and delayed us but we got to see the bands we wanted to anyway and mud = fun.

THE FOLLOWING IS ALL MY PERSONAL OPINION AND I AM BOTH A ‘MY BLOODY VALENTINE’ FAN AND A ‘TOOL’ FAN.

If I told you My Bloody Valentine were the one of most influential bands playing at All Points West then you wouldn’t believe me and you’ve probably never heard of them either. However, there is absolutely no denying the impact they had on the face of music after the release of their 2nd album ‘Loveless’ and to a lesser extent their EP ‘You Made Me Realise’.  The album was critically acclaimed and often appears in many “best album of the 90′s” lists. The only problem was that the album requires significant patience and appreciation to enjoy, and once you discover the greatness of My Bloody Valentine then there is no turning back, you’ve reached one of the highest peaks in music history.

Musicians such as Robert Smith of the Cure, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and even the fellas from Radiohead have all heavily praised Loveless as one of the finest records ever made. But there is a small majority of people who seem to think My Bloody Valentine are awful, people who fail to see the brilliance of the band and proclaim that the band is garbage (while covering their ears). Sure it doesn’t have catchy lyrics and sure they aren’t exactly the most pretty people around (although Bilinda at 47 years old is still gorgeous), sure they don’t follow conventional music patterns that you hear on your radio or television, sure they are louder than most bands but I can almost guarantee that those who were booing and insulting My Bloody Valentine on this day have never in their lives heard anything by them. I might be wrong but I for one (who thoroughly enjoy their work) found the show to be excellent although I think they are suited to indoor arenas more than outside venues. I didn’t use earplugs as I left them in my bag which in turn was left with a friend and although I may have long term hearing problems..it was worth it.

Another problem was the fans, if you don’t enjoy an artist then simply go away, although,  I think the main reason so many Tool fans had to witness My Bloody Valentine was that they wanted to be that extra 1ft closer to their beloved Tool so leaving would result in them losing their precious place. Well if you decide to boo My Bloody Valentine then they would just play even louder just to annoy you plus it is your own fault if you don’t use your earplugs. How can you expect to enjoy something when you’ve never ever listened to them or read about their influence on music, it’s not my pretentious music ego but the honest truth. I’m not having a go at Tool fans but I think it really conveyed what kind of fans they had with all the abuse thrown towards My Bloody Valentine. If you didn’t enjoy their music then fine that is your opinion but keep it to yourself and just be glad you were able to experience such an influential band. Yes, the band plays VERY loud (reports was that music could be heard all the way over at Battery Park) but if you actually knew what was going on then you would have found it awesome like me and many other My Bloody Valentine fans. So do yourself a favour: Go buy Loveless or find a uncompressed .flac album (then buy the remastered version when it is released) find a good pair of headphones, open your mind and prepare to indulge yourself in a true classic.

In conclusion, I didn’t lose anything. I enjoyed the show very much and the abuse was generally drowned out by the extreme levels of sound. It was an honour to see such an amazing band perform and I would certain sacrifice my hearing to be able to witness them in a Tool-free environment. Thank You My Bloody Valentine. Unfortunately as with a lot of My Bloody Valentine stuff they always come runner up for me, their EP ‘You Made Me Realise’ is my 2nd favourite EP of all time behind Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and their performance at All Points West was also my 2nd favourite performance of the entire festival, oh, not behind GY!BE but rather five ugly blokes hailing from Glasgow..

Best Song(s) – You Made Me Realise, When You Sleep, Nothing Much To Lose, To Here Knows When

[Photo taken by Ad-Craggs, I was much more closer to the stage, luckily I was next to more My Bloody Valentine fans than Tool fans]

Tool – Quite clearly one of the must-see acts of any band in the world, Tool fans gathered in their thousands ready for their stellar show. Known for their impressive use of light and stage design, Tool were accompanied by a range of psychadelic videos and doom iconography. Starting with Jambi they raced through a solid 90 minutes+ of tracks from all of their albums including many fan favourites off Lateralus. The performance itself was grand and Maynard James Keenan was on top form with his comments about New Jersey’s superiority of New York. A fine fine performance.

Best Song(s) – Lateralus, Schism, AEnima

My Bloody Valentine - See Following Post.

Gogol Bordello – Borat with guitars, very lively and fans were really getting into them. I’m not really a fan but the sure made a lasting impression on me, well done. Thank god they got that telegram to do one more as Mala Vida was absolutely banging.

Best Song: Mala Vida

Arctic Monkeys – The Leeds/Reading headliner was fourth down from the headliners at APW and they were pretty awesome. I’m not really a big fan if I am to be honest but a big crowd turned up for them and got some monkey magic from the scruffy lads from Sheffield.

Best Song(s) – Brianstorm, I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor

The Cool Kids – Really cool

Best Song – The one that mentioned Playstation

Weather Report: Perfect weather, warm temperatures, sunny, nice festival weather, still suffering from mud.

Jay-Z – I’ll admit that I previously didn’t pay much attention to Hova apart from his collaborations with Linkin Park. However reports of an excellent Glastonbury set lead me to believe that he would put on a stellar show at this years ‘All Points West’ and I was right. Although the start time was delayed by twenty minutes we were on our way with Jay-Z’s cover of ‘No Sleep Til Brooklyn’ by the Beasties, this was just early indication of how epic this set was going to be. It was a touching moment when he paid tribute to Michael Jackson and the video montages in the background added to the glamour of his stage setup. All in all, as a newbie to hip-hop I very much enjoyed Jay-Z.

Best Song(s): “Can I Live..” “Encore” “No Sleep Til Brooklyn”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Thankfully the YYY’s weren’t pushed up to the headline spot as it would have been a less than satisfactory replacement with all due credit to the YYY’s. We only caught the end of their set as we were hungry and needed expensive pizza and Chinese food. They seemed cool enough with their massive eyeball beach ball and crazy Karen O (who I love and have been compared to by appearence…) antics on stage made for an exciting show.

Best Song – Maps

Vampire Weekend – Sorry Vampire Weekend fans, I don’t have much to write about as by this point I was absolutely drenched in rain and was drying off in the Beer tent. From what I heard from the tent however it seemed like the lads played a good set and according to Ad-Craggs it was awesome.

Best Song – A-Punk

The National – By this time the rain and thunder was getting very serious however it was in my best interests to stay for The National who have been tipped by some music publications to be a major force in years to come. They played a lot of material from their newest album ‘Boxer’ and the lead singer wasn’t too bothered about getting wet as he went into the crowd to be held in the arms by fans (not cheerleaders)

Best Song(s) – Mr November, Mistaken For Strangers

Fleet Foxes – The rain started to fall during the Fleet Foxes but this didn’t damp spirits as they played a number of hits from their EP and album. Described as Arcade Fire without all the technical instruments, the band proved that they were indeed one of the bands to look out for in the future with their delightful harmonic songs and humorous stage prescence.

Best Song(s) – White Winter Hymnal, Mykonos

Weather Report: Warm and sunny to start then in came THUNDER LIGHTNING STRIKE RAIN WIND which caused Liberty State Park to turn into a mudbath.

Photos courtesy of Adam Craggs (http://willitblog.wordpress.com)