ROCKSHOTS band photos, politics, issues, rants and this and that!

I got some good news yesterday. Panic at the Disco are back in England next month and will be playing just two secret shows in between travelling around for several European festival appearances, so I am in a good mood now!

They aren't exactly secret shows, you're right, they are now tickets advertised on the sale at Ticketmaster and anyone whose signed with the Fueled By Ramen mailing list would've received the e mail about it.

Father's Day tomorrow, but I've been told that it's only Father's Day in England, is this true? Is it the same for anywhere else?

I'll be having a family lunch for the first time in ages tomorrow, so -

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Sunday June 15th.

I just want to make things clear on here that my older sister used to have a Buzznet page on here about six months ago called Sophie California, which no longer exists, but is was me who first uploaded this page for my own views, photos and videos as well as her photos and videos and stuff sent to me by friends. We thought of having a shared page on here for a long time and enjoy the site, so whoever is going around saying that Sophie still does everything on this page is WRONG. Three of us contribute to this page and have the password and yes, we all comment now and then and don't intend to start any online drama, whatever happened in the past stays in the past and I've just been told to say "no more dumb grudges". I live with my fiance Jonathan in Bournemouth, Dorset in the UK and Sophie now lives back in Surrey near London and still travels around everywhere getting band photos, but now works for a photo agency in London and a popular festivals website and that is how she gets photo passes. Those of you who know her and her other websites will have seen all the sets of recent live photos on there and some of the same photos on here, but unfortunately not all of the professional photos can be uploaded on here because none of us have the time to do it all and certain photos are for specific sites and we have to stick to that rule. Please don't get Sophie's own sites confused with this one and think it's okay to use the photos on here and steal them, because it's the same rule as with everyone else's pictures! We're able to get professional photos from different music events, but like I've said before, I can't upload them all, only whatever I get sent that are not all used for the other websites, but she takes hundreds of pictures and I think they're still all good. I take some of the photos myself, but usually have to make do with the camera smuggling into the venues like most of us do, but I still upload anything anyway. Most of you who use this site are interested in bands then it makes sense to upload whatever we can on here for all of you to see! We're all into music, but like different bands and have different views on things. I do any of the stuff on animals and everything other than the music related items uploaded and I think that's obvious. I've come across lots of really cool people on here and I intend to meet lots more. What I still don't get is the "scene queen" thing and all these girls who takes loads of photos of themselves with their friends and nothing of any creativity or real interest to anyone else other than people they know. That's okay for Facebook because it's a personal networking site, but I just think that Buzznet is more for media, music and photos of musicians and celebrities.

Many people have asked what cameras we use to take the all the photos on here, so here's the info.

My cameras: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TM3 and Sony Cybershot

I've had the Panasonic for the last two years and because is has a 10x optical zoom, it makes it so much easier to get really good close-up shots of bands performing live and the it's not considered as a really big professional camera, so at concerts I've been to I have never had trouble with security wanting to confiscate it from me. It cost me £160 when I bought it and now it's around the same price.

The little Sony Cybershot is really good for general use and I used this to take the videos of our cats that are on here and other normal close-up photos.

Sophie's camera: Sony DSLR-A700 with 75-300mm lense

This is used for all the professional live concert photos. Apparently it costs about £1,000 new and the lense is separate and I don't know how much it cost, but I guess it was expensive like all camera equipment is!

That's all I have to say for now, darlings. Take care and have a great weekend!

The UK newspaper The Daily Mail has been under fire from music fans recently after printing a couple of offensive (and totally nonsense) articles blaming "emo" for encouraging teenage suicide and bullying. My Chemical Romance have been mentioned as the main band personally targeted in these news reports and their fans joined forces a couple of weeks ago in central London to stage an open protest against all these ridiculous allegations. British music magazine Kerrang! did a feature on the protest and interviewed fans on the subject and had their views on the whole thing, which actually all started back in August 2006 when yet another reporter from The Daily Mail wrote a similar article on emo and it's supposed connections with teenage depression and "melancholy lyrics encouraging suicidal thoughts, etc.". That first news article actually pissed off Gerard Way so much that at the annual Reading music festival in 2006, he even mentioned it on the main stage during My Chemical Romance's set and there was a huge response of booing from that audience, which included myself and many friends who are big fans of this band and many others who are described as "emo". Fuck all this nonsense, it's getting so crazy and the media are almost always to blame for anything that gets overrated and taken the wrong way.

Read and have your say:

The article in Kerrang! in full. Recognize any of your friends pictured here...? They should all be rewarded!

Enough is enough, these days everyone has to have someone or something else to blame for bad things that happen and blaming people's personal taste in music and fashions is not the way to help anyone!

When is this nonsense going to stop..?

I heard on the UK news this evening that 13 year-old schoolboy Sam Leeson of Gloucestershire, England, hung himself last week over being so upset by so much bullying from others on the internet on networking website Bebo, over his choice to be "emo" and he was taunted because of the clothes he chose to wear and the bands he was into. When are people going to just get a life and leave others alone to enjoy what they're into and cut this crap?!

I feel so bad for this poor boy's family. His 12 year-old sister found him hanging and screamed and their mother knew straight away what had happened. How awful.

Stories like this should teach everyone a lesson that not everyone can ignore negative comments and online disagreements so easily and some of us are a lot more sensitive than you may think. Let Sam's death be a warning to all kids to lay off and be a lot more wary when having opinions on other people's looks or tastes in music.

I will be adding loads of great live shots my older sister took at Rock Im Park in Germany this past weekend.

I do not take the professional photos on here, there are actually three of us who run this page and everyone contributes, but I am repsonsible for uploading the photos and write most of the journals. I know it seems silly and confusing writing as one user, but there just isn't time to do everything separate with everyone having full time jobs and all so much going on. This page is mainly for band photos, but I want to write about things that I feel strongly about, too and pretty much anything and everything of any interest.

The Rock Im Park photos are actually for another website and we can't upload any on here yet, until they are first featured on the website my sister actually works for. Obviously the very best shots are for that site and anything else not featured I can upload on here into a separate gallery. I've been told that these festival photos are all really good and professional, so I can't wait to see them all! Here is one picture I got e mailed last night:

There are also lots of videos of some of the bands who were at this festival, so I will upload some of the videos as soon as I get them all, but it probably won't be for a few days.

First it was the smoking ban, now it's the booze! The new law which bans any drinking of alchol on all London transport, or even just carrying any open bottles or cans containing alcohol, takes affect in and around London at midnight tonight.

This new ban was made to try and stop the continuing problem of anti-social behaviour in and around London and if it does try and resolve a lot of the problems, then the ban on drinking on all public transport outside London areas and across the whole of the UK could follow.

I actually think that the ban is a good idea. I am so sick and tired of going out in central London and there being drunks and these groups of total pricks making fools of themselves and causing trouble because of boozing until late and continuing to drink after all the pubs and bars are closed. It's just pointless.

I almost walked straight into a fight at Waterloo Station last month when I was coming home from a weekend in London and the people involved had beer cans in their hands and were obviously intoxicated. The police were called and it delayed our train, because the louts boarded the same train, but were all thrown off.

Anyone caught with any alcohol on board any underground (subway) trains, buses, mainline trains and anywhere public in a station will be forced to leave the train or bus and will not be allowed to board any transport while carrying any alcholic beverage. Fines are going to be forced on anyone who refuses to co-operate.

I just wish that England could be like Japan is, with polite people and strict laws on hygene and general good custom, where I never saw a single drunken idiot anytime I went out drinking with friends and here it's a rare sight not to spot anyone puking in some doorway somewhere and making fools of themselves. Sad, but true. The UK now has a reputation of being a nation of teenage binge drinkers and irresponsible boozers and banning drinking on public transport isn't going to stop this that soon.

Today was our last day in Japan and I hope to definitely come back here again before too long.

It's been quite an adventure and we've seen so much in such a short time. Tokyo was great for a day, but expensive, just like London is and I'm glad we made the decision to stay overnight in Osaka the whole ten days and travel around by train. The hotel here is so cheap and has everything that is needed, even toothbrush, toothpaste, razors and hairbrushes are complimentary in the rooms and for just 6, 500 yen a night (that's about £30 or under $55 for Americans) that is much cheaper than anything we get in the UK. You wouldn't even get a budget B&B for that price in England!

My feet are covered in what looks like mosquito bites and they itch like crazy! Not a good thing to happen on the last day and before a long flight to London tomorrow morning.

I'm off back here in the next half hour:

Rock Rock bar, with one of the walls covered with photos of the bands who have partied there.

Today was warmer, so it's getting hotter here. The Shinsaibashi Suji indoor shopping arcade goes on and on for ages and I still have yet to finish looking around there.

I was told that it gets unbareable in July and August and that May is a good time to visit Japan, because June is the rain season and not a good time to come here and explore. The Summer is humid and apparently you sweat all the time and I would hate that.

Off to have some drinks now.

I've haven't spotted any really overweight Japanese people yet. From what I've noticed, the only fat people here are Sumo wrestlers or American tourists! So just what is it that these people eat to keep them so trim? I've seen a lot of gyms around, but we have a lot of those in England and it doesn't seem to be working for a lot of the population. Another interesting fact we heard today from this lady in a restaurant is that food allergies are really rare in Japan, too. The people seem healthy enough, even though Japan is said to be one of the most polluted countries in the world.

Is the secret in the sushi? and how come the oldest known living people in the world have been from Asia?

Of course there are Subway, McDonald's and Starbucks here like everywhere else on the planet and they are very popular, but I walked past a McDonald's yesterday and this group of guys were stuffing their faces with Big Macs and Green Tea McFlurrys and they were all skinny. Kind of makes you sick, doesn't it?

I never usually eat at McDonald's unless it's a salad or the veggie burgers, but I will miss the Green Tea McFlurry, that is rather tasty and I've never seen them before anywhere else, so it must be Japanese McDonald's only.

One major thing that is a total difference to England is that there doesn't seem to be any yobs or binge drinking idiots here, either. The Japanese seem so level headed and respectful. Going out at night in Osaka and we haven't spotted any drunks around at all and go out in London it's all around you! Everyone knows we have a huge problem with a binge drinking culture in the UK and so many things have been done to try to prevent it, but with little success. In continental Europe, especially France, they take alcohol drinking like a pinch of salt compared to in England, but it's taken more seriously and with caution and it seems that way here in Japan. It's so nice to be able to stroll back to your hotel after a night out drinking without seeing someone puking in a doorway. Sadly, I think it will be a while before those scenes are a thing of the past anywhere in the UK.

Time we went to bed, big day out tomorrow and maybe a visit to Osaka Castle. Writing about Green Tea McFlurrys are making me hungry!

Last night we got on the guest list at Namba Hatch for the the Bullet For My Valentine show and their tour manager who I met at Rock Rock bar kindly left me a photo pass, so I was able to get photos of the show last night. The live photos were not for here, they are for the band's official website, so I can't upload all of them on here and not for a few days. The Japanese rock fans are truely dedicated, but hardly anyone understood much of what Matt Tuck said as he spoke to the audience! They got one lucky fan onstage to sing to Hand of Blood, but he barely knew English, so it more of a roar down the mic than replacing Jay James at backing vocals! The Japanese mosh just as much as we all do at UK shows and I got asked whether I was one of the band members girlfriends or with the band's crew, because it was clearly obvious I was from out of town and there was no non-Asian face in sight. First time at any concert that I've felt out of place!

After any concerts in Osaka, the promoters almost always take the bands to Rock Rock bar to party and meet and greet any fans who show up. Last night was packed out with Bullet For My Valentine t-shirt wearers and the band were swamped with autograph hunters and were taking photos with people for ages.

Sorry this is so crap, but you can just see that this is Jay James (BFMV bassist) in this photo!

Today I went to find the Sanrio Gallery nearby and anyone who is mad for Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars stuff, just like me, would go crazy and spend ages looking around this place and I was in there for about an hour! I was told there are two shops like it, but the place I went to had four floors and had everything Hello Kitty you can get! They even have Hello Kitty digital cameras and cellphones and lots of gadgets you can't buy anywhere except in Japan. I can't afford to buy all that, I just got a few bag key chains, a new make-up bag, two new washbags and a cute Japanese Hello Kitty toy dressed in a kimono for my friend's daughter who will celebrate her tenth birthday next month and she adores anything Hello Kitty.

We're here. It was a long journey, but not as long as I expected it to be. From Amsterdam the connecting flight to Osaka was just 10 hours and I thought it was longer.

The hotel room is on the 24th floor, so the view is great, although today was an overcast day. Here are some shots I took of the view from the hotel window:

There's Tokyu Hands (a huge DIY and crafts superstore) I can't wait to look in there!

Long way down!

It's now almost 8.00 in the evening here. I slept for a few hours earlier and I'm still tired, but nothing will stop me from going out and enjoying my first night in Japan. So, I am going to walk down the road and drink here:

Rock Rock is where almost every band who visits Osaka goes to hang out. I heard all about this place from Good Charlotte and The Used, but I know loads of other bands have been drinking here.

Gotta go and explore. More photos will be added later on this week. What a relief that they don't charge extra just to use your computer in the hotel.

Tomorrow I fly to Osaka, Japan.

It will be my first trip to Japan and I can't wait. Hopefully I will be able to upload photos on here, because I am bringing my laptop with me and wireless internet is free to use in the hotel we're staying in.

I've heard that June and July is very hot and the rain season, which I'm just avoiding, so let's hope it's nice weather while I'm there and all goes well.

I'll be seeing a few bands while in Osaka and I might stay in Tokyo for one night, but we're only going for nine days, so there is limited time for everything and money. I'll only know what the plans are when we get there.

These past two days were exhausting, mainly because it's been so hot in London and over the last two nights I've barely slept. Two nights drinking in friends in a hotel bar and it's almost sucked the life out of me!

Last night in the hotel we stayed in, which happened to be the same hotel where my younger sister had her hen party (bachelorette party to you Americans reading this) last year, there were a lot of familiar faces hanging around and the place was packed. Paramore, Cobra Starship, The Audition, Alkaline Trio, My American Heart and The Raconteurs were all there, along with their crews and various people who had been to the Give It a Name show at Earl's Court. I got too drunk and never got a photo of Alkaline Trio and I am still gutted because I have been a fan of their's for years. I did get introduced to Dan Andriano and spoke to Matt Skiba which was great, so not getting any pictures is no big deal. At least we just got to be there! The Audition were still all in the bar last night when we went to bed, which was around 3am, so my guess is that those guys would have had been rather cranky today at the venue for the Sheffield Give It a Name show! The Raconteurs were nothing to do with Give it a Name, they were in town to rehearse for a concert on Wednesday. There was no sign of frontman Jack White, but their guitar tech told us that Jack stayed in another hotel "because he might get too much attention" and now he's married with two children (his wife is English model Karen Elson) he's not really into partying and tries to maintain as much privacy as he can get on tour. We just wanted to know why there was an arguement going on last night in the hotel lobby with Patrick Keeler from The Raconteurs and some other band who won't be named! Earlier on we almost witnessed another fight with a crew member for one of the bigger bands on Give It a Name and hotel security, but we never found out why tempers got so firey. Touring in bands can be exhausting, but there is no need for that kind of behaviour.

Hayley Williams after she'd just come back from performing at Give It a Name in London

Cheers!

Didn't get any photos from the concert yesterday at all because we were standing rather far to get any decent shots. We were late and didn't get to the venue until 5.00, when the doors opened at noon! so some bands we missed, but it was a good show.

We got to say goodbye to Paramore earlier this afternoon when they left to drive to Sheffield.

It's such a relief to have free internet at some hotels in London. I hate it when they charge £20 (almost $40) a day just to use your laptop in hotels. Where we're staying this weekend there is an option.

It's mighty HOT in London and the forecast for tomorrow is even hotter and sunnier, so I packed my flip-flops and tank tops to wear. Earlier as I walked from the underground train station, I walked past Zack and Josh Farro from Paramore and later Jeremy Davis holding hands with a pretty girlfriend. Then earlier as I was writing an e mail on here, Gabe Saporta walked past and said hello and I haven't seen him since last August when Cobra Starship were in town for the Decaydance show. Looks like most of the bands performing at Earl's Court are all staying in this same hotel, so I may be able to get some photos later on tonight. It sucks to know that for the actual concert, the press people were not giving out any photo passes to anyone at all and that they are only using one photographer for the London shows and for Sheffield. I supppsed that Kerrang! magazine will be covering all the shows, as they are the prime rock music publication here in the UK and get all the privileges above the others.

I can rarely ever get photo passes unless I ask a tour manager or band to help get me one, but my older sister is with an agency and also now shoots for a popular festivals website, so that's why I am able to get some good photos to put on here. I've been told that I will probably only be able to upload "leftover" pics from any big music events, as all the best will be going to the primary media source she takes photos for and we can't put the same shots on here, but I know they will still be really good. We're just so pissed off about Give It a Name being so strict, but we've heard Earl's Court do allow non-professional cameras inside so we'll try and get some pictures anyway even if they won't be great. It will be a bitch if they are stricter than usual tomorrow, my friends don't want our cameras taken away! I hate it so much when security at venues do that, when so many people now have digital cameras on their 'phones and are allowed to take them inside, so what's the difference?

I just got a text from my friend Gaby, on her way to the hotel, whose bought some booze for tonight, so let's get the party started!

What a beautiful day it is today.

I am unable to have time to sit outside because of work, but it's so good to be able to wear summer clothes again and not worry about the cold. All the flowers are out and it's making me so excited about all the festivals and good events happening this Summer.

I'm off to Japan in two weeks for the first time, so there is a lot to organize. I am not staying in Tokyo, just Osaka. I'm not sure I will have the time or money to go to Tokyo, even for a day, because I am only there for 9 nights. Just six days after that I have to fly to Nuremberg in Germany for the Rock Im Park festival.

I'll be eating lots of this very soon:

Yummy!

I am not looking forward to the 11 hour flight from London to Osaka. I can never sleep on planes, even doing the flight to Sydney from London I could barely sleep. Too many interruptions, but I will try and "meditate".

So, it's finally a good ole' British bye-bye! to that old socialist bore Ken Livingston! The man who promised to cut down the crime rate on London's streets and sort out the disaster that is the public transport over the last eight years, but with minor results, is OUT!!. Voted to take over as the new London Mayor (by a long way ahead) is his main rival, Conservative candidate Boris Johnson. Nobody seems to be bothered so much about his almost eccentric British characteristics and rough-like appearance, it's Boris's strong views on attempting to reduce the high crime rate amongst youths (there have been over 30 fatal stabbings or gunshot fatalities in London over the last two years), a lot more help on public transport and reducing costs of tickets for passengers on the London Underground and buses (because it's so fucking expensive!), and making London a much greener, safer and more likeable city in general that have won him the votes.

Okay, he might look like he's been dragged from some bushes, but Boris Johnson isn't only very posh, but also very clever and he's now in charge of London, so let's just hope he does a better job than Ken did!

Everyone knows just how damn expensive and crowded London is now, but besides all that negative shit, it still remains one of the most historic, exciting, incredibly popular and vibrant cities in the world and the new Mayor has a tough job ahead of making sure that London improves and it's gonna be one hell of a tough ride ahead!

Ashlee Simpson is currently in London to do press for her latest album release and has appeared on a few UK chat shows, including the popular and very funny daytime women's chat show Loose Women. On the show that I watched today on my day off work, she talked about Pete Wentz and their engagement. I had to write this and get it off my chest, because all this crap about her being pregnant is just more publicity gossip created to tie-in with her album release. She wouldn't be travelling around on extensive promo trips around Europe (and possibly everywhere else) for Bittersweet World if she was pregnant!

On the show this afternoon, she refused say how Pete preposed, saying that it was a private thing that they haven't discussed openly and the news reports on exactly how and when he preposed to her are not necessarily true. Ashlee also talked about Pete's bulldog Hemmingway, which all the Fall Out Boy fans are familiar with. She is also planning to tour and do live shows, so no wedding date is yet set.

Ashlee on UK chat show Loose Women, with one of the hosts, Colleen Nolan (the former pop singer who used to be in The Nolans who were big in the 1970s and early 80s)

Ashlee sung Outta My Head LIVE on the daytime show and was in tune, so any reports of her sounding bad during performances is so 2004. What people forget is that this girl won the role of Roxie Hart in the London production of Chicago and to be able to perform in top London musicals you must be flawless.

What does everyone think of her hair colour? I think I prefer her blonde, but I guess the image change works well with any new record release.

I have had an amazing weekend exploring the Czech Republic capital city of Prague. First time visit and I will definitely like to come back here when I can.

The weather has been lovely here for the last few days and for the first time in ages I have worn tank tops, with shorts and flip flops! Let's hope it stays like this in England, because last Summer in the UK totally sucked. Prague is a very attractive city. If you're somebody who is into outdoor cafes, old gothic buildings and traditional places, then it's a great getaway. Alcohol is so cheap here! Beer works out at around 80p ($1.50 approx. in US currency) and I've never paid so little for a Baileys on the rocks before. In London in bars it costs so much, so I rarely go out drinking in London anymore (unless somebody else pays, of course!).

I stayed in the 5 star Radisson SAS Alcron hotel in the famous city centre, right by the tourist hotspot of Wencesalas Square and I walked all around city yesterday and this afternoon, so it was lucky I got an evening flight back to London so there was time to do some more sightseeing.

I have some photos of Prague I will upload in the galleries on here later this week when I get the time. Back to work tomorrow unfortunately.

I went to see Simple Plan at the London Astoria last night with two of my friends and the concert was amazing. It was a sold out show and we showed up without any tickets, but luckily managed to buy three tickets for cheaper than the original face value price from other fans who wanted to sell spares. I was so relieved we decided to go in the end. The weather yesterday was freezing and it was a shock, because it was more like January Winter than Spring, because there was a strong cold wind everywhere in London. Inside the venue was sweaty with all the people.

It was so packed downstairs that there was no more room to move and push to the front to see the band, so we were lucky to get a spot watching from the balcony and get the best view of the stage. The band opened with Shut Up from Still Not Getting Any... and played a lot of the old favourites like Jump! Addicted and Me Against The World, which is my personal favourite Simple Plan song. The best part of the whole show was when Pierre ran upstairs and onto the balcony to sing Untitled (How could this happen to me?) which is the ballad they wrote based on a victim of drink driving and that song makes me cry! I got a great video of him singing that, because he stood right in front of us.

Simple Plan onstage at the Astoria in London. 18/04/2008.

There were the usual typical Simple Plan onstage jokes and Pierre made up this silly song about London and how fucking expensive it is and everyone roared with laughter, because it was all true! I had this annoying teenie girl standing in front of me for the beginning, but thank God she moved out of the way for the best parts. The show was all over by 10.15pm, which was earlier than normal, but that was because regular weekend gay club G.A.Y is on at the same venue, so they cleared everyone out fast. Afterwards, it was too cold to hang around, but so many fans did. Only Pierre, David and Sebastian came out and signed stuff and took photos, but we didn't want to freeze out there, so we went back to our hotel.

Altogether I got about 9 good video captures of the concert and when I have time I will upload them onto here.