Another itch scratched - Def Leppard @ Hammersmith

Managed to scratch another itch yesterday... most people found this quite funny as soon as I mentioned it... and I'm told others drew similar barbs... but anyway, I finally managed to see Def Leppard LIVE at the Hammersmith Apollo on the 18th of June... last UK date on the tour... so I can now officially say that I've been there, done that & bought the t-shirt (£20 :-)) !!

Despite having had a pretty bad bit of flu, I thoroughly enjoyed the show... I'm not convinced about the new stuff tho - they played Yeah! from the new album, and I have to say it sounds a bit like they've gon over to the pop side, like Bon Jovi did with some of his more recent stuff.. which means that there'll probably only be a couple of songs I like on the album - but let's see.

The older stuff still sounds great to me, and I have to say I think Joe is sounding better with age. Mind you, Joe & Sav are showing their age a bit, while Viv & Phil look really good for blokes who were making music before I was born!

Like the good citizen (read lazy immigrant) that I am, I followed the venue instructions and didn't bring a camera, only to realise that I was probably the ONLY person without one. I wouldn't have been able to sneak my 350D and 75-300 lens in my pocket though... So I recorded some video on my phone, but it looks and sounds so bad, I don't think I'll inflict it on the world...

F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, June 2006

Finally managed to get the great F1 bug out of my system.. well, not quite, but managed to get hold of a couple of last minute tickets on eBay and made it to Saturday & Sunday of the British F1 weekend. What a spectacle! I have to say, after hearing / reading all the horror stories about traffic & parking, I was expecting a nightmare... took about an hour each way on Saturday once you get on the M4, and a bit more on Sunday, but no drama!
And what a weekend... blazing hot sun, a hundred thousand F1 fans and a whole bunch of events supporting the F1 itself: GP2, Porsche Supercup, airhsows by the Red Arrows & some funky chopper flying (which I missed, but heard was great!).
But there's one thing - that is the first thing that hits you when you get even *close* to the circuit... and the same thing that lingers as the main memory... what an insane noise these cars make!!! You don't even get an idea of how howlingly screamingly freakishly loud they are on TV... and you miss the crazy lift-off exhaust notes & sputtering, and certainly don't get an idea of the speed on television. On the other hand, anyone watching at home probably knew a lot more about what was going on in the race than I did! Next time, get there early (5.30am advised for Silverstone, yes I know the race doesn't start until noon), bring a camping chair, a cooler filled with CHILLED drinks, get a good seat close to one of the big screens and make sure to bring a radio. And a garden umbrella if possible. Oh, and LOTS of sunblock. :-), and if you can manage, get tickets with centre access & contractor parking - preferably the international media car park.

Some pictures are here, I will get around to doing the rest at some point and posting the lot online.