Wirral 3-piece The Rascals have cancelled the remaining dates on their UK tour. The cancellation follows a string of cancelled gigs culminating in yesterdays announcement that all further gigs are to be re-scheduled.

The brief statement reads:

We regret to announce that the remaining shows of the U.K tour have been cancelled. All of the shows are being rescheduled for December and we will announce the new dates on Monday. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We promise to more than make up for it in December! Thanks and see you soon, The Rascals

A bit of digging around revealed, via the support band Twisted Wheel, that singer/guitarist Miles Kane has laryngitis. I was due to see the band play at London’s Scala this month, but that particular gig is now set for December.

Miles Kane’s other band, The Last Shadow Puppets are supposed to kick off their tour on October11th in Wolverhampton, UK. These dates still stand which is a relief as I’m seeing them too, in London, on October 26th.

Listen to: The Rascals - People Watching
[audio:http://www.likesounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/the-rascals-people-watching.mp3]

I found my self in the same room as a billionaire, and his daughter, this week. I felt like I ought to plead my case for debt relief- but then thought better of it.

The people I work for amaze me. To be able to give your daughter an apartment in Chelsea worth £10m, just like that, and to make a £25m profit on a house you’ve never lived in. Some amaze me for different reasons. An estate in London with property on their list totalling at least £2bn arguing over the cost of the most basic of things. I suppose spending money doesn’t make you rich.

Without music to soundtrack all this too I’d be lost. I’d probably worry about deadlines a whole lot more than I do currently and I’d probably meet them less than I do.

Everyone owns music that can completely change our mood. I have lots, here’s three:

The Rascals - People Watching.mp3 - [buy it]
The Maccabees - Lego.mp3 - [buy it]
Florence And The Machine - Postcards From Italy.mp3

… you see what I mean?

I’ve also taken a look at the figures for this month so far (visitors etc) and found that over 13,000 people have looked at likesounds.com since September 1st. Amazing. Thanks so much for reading this blog.

“Trendy without being pretentious”. One ticketing website on tonight’s venue. Tonight we are at Proud Camden to watch indie scousers The Rascals play a small late night set for the monthly Vice Kills gig.

The band are here already, playing around outside, sound checking and generally mulling around waiting for their 11.35 stage time. Being quite a relaxed on-stage band, they pull off two gigs in one day (Underage Festival & this) with ease.

In the busy gallery watching tonight are Alex Turner, Matt Helders & Alexa Chung. Set opener People Watching was met with polite applause but things got moving with Out Of Dreams and I’ll Give You Sympathy.

myspace.com/rascalsmusic
www.atproud.co.uk (venue)

The Rascals - The Freakbeat Phantom (Acoustic).mp3

It’s easy when going to a festival to get covered in the commercial whitewash that makes these huge events possible. Or to get lost in the sheer size of the festival. If you can do without all the crap that comes with a huge festival then The Last Days Of Summer festival is for you.

The lineup is strong comprising of up and coming and established artists.

It all takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, 24th August 2008 @ Stowe House, Buckingham.
Call 0870 2 2002 60 or visit to www.thelastdaysofsummer.com for tickets.

Friday 4th, Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th July
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, Lympne Nr Ashford,Kent, CT21 4PD

The line-up for this years festival is amazing!

… and they are still adding to it.

Get your tickets online @ www.zoothousand.com

Jacob and I are looking into a role-reversal in the studio with me taking on a presenting role and Jacob working behind the scenes.

Read it all..

The Rascals photograph by Jade Lloyd-Prest.

After blagging our way onto the guest list of what should have been a closed venue, what we were party to was nothing short of the best night of my life!

Just 3 hours earlier this very same band played to a sold out Islington Academy as part of MTV’s Brand Spanking New Music. The Rascals delivered song after song after song of unfailing energy with every chord, strum and beat delivered with such unrivalled energy.

Read it all..

Heres what Im listening to at the moment…

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement When you bring together two minds of two of the best indie/rock bands around at the moment, all you’re going to get is pure genius.
Miles Kane (The Rascals) and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) just fit together.
I’ve seen Miles perform Plastic Tramp with Arctic Monkeys before and I have to say he was almost part of the band. This album is literally as you would imagine if you merged both Arctic Monkeys and The Rascals tracks together, a definite must have.
If you like The Last Shadow Puppets then also download Plastic Tramp by Arctic Monkeys and Out Of Dreams by The Rascals.
Best Tracks The Age Of The Understatement & Separate And Ever Deadly

Read it all..

There’s a funny sort of balance with online celebrity status… somewhere between being the number-one Google result for an everyday word like Metros, and having your own Wikipedia page… this is the balance that South-East-London indie five-piece The Metros have achieved in their drawing of inspiration from 70s punk legends, and at the time of my writing nearly 8000 people are friends with the band.

These are all people who have already picked out The Metros from the murk of metropolitan yob-rockers, each band desperately struggling to get hold of even the bottom rung of the music industry ladder… And now 1965 Records, the label home to The View and The Draytones as well as other well-established but less well known acts, has stepped forward for the release of Education Part Two, a slightly-less-than-subtle dig at high school exams and the lowly outcome of those who choose not to play by the rules. Its the sequel to the apparently non-existent Education Part One…

Read it all..