The Flower Kings

Substage
Karlsruhe, Germany
November 18th 2000

Reposted from July 2020

Another fine audience recording.
This is the period when Jonas Rheingold first took up bass duties

which raised the band to another level.

Premium Prog!
regards
Titus

Disc 1
01 intro
02 Garden of Dreams (pts 1-10/16-18)
03 Rumble Fish Twist
04 Jonas bass solo
05 A King's Prayer/Hey Jude

Disc 2
01 I Am the Sun
02 Deaf, Numb & Blind
03 Dissonata
04 My Cosmic Lover/Stupid Girl
05 Merry-Go-Round
06 Circus Brimstone
07 Crying Clown
08 El Grande Bombastico a la Keys
09 Jam
10 Soon

11 Retropolis

12 The Flower King

Disc 3
01 Church of Your Heart
02 Stardust We Are (pt 3)
03 Jonas 'performance'

link

Paraguay (Amnesty International 2025):

Judicial independence was threatened by the links between organized crime

and members of parliament and the judiciary.

The health system faced a permanent crisis due to corruption

and lack of sufficient public investment.

Threats against journalists, repression of social protest

and setbacks in Indigenous Peoples’ rights were reported.

High levels of gender-based violence continued.

Criminalization of human rights defenders and structural discrimination persisted.

Human rights in the United States are protected primarily by the Constitution

and Bill of Rights, but they have faced severe challenges.

Major civil liberties organizations report a troubling erosion of protections,

citing issues like harsh border policies, restrictions on LGBTQ+ 

and reproductive rights and crackdowns on freedom of speech, assembly, and a free press.

So an evenly matched game then?

regards

Titus

(post-match verdict: Well played USA)

A View from a Hill BBC4 (2005)

Another well crafted tale of terror

based on the ghost story of the same name by M. R. James.

You'll never ride your bicycle alone at night in the woods again!

regards

Titus

link

The stars & stripes were not well greeted at the world cup opening ceremony in Mexico.

It was no surprise, but it's a shame how the American people and their flag

can be tainted by the actions of one individual.

'guilty by association'

regards

Titus

The World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the US

arrived on Wednesday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu,

where he was received by a crowd of supporters and officials.

Omar Artan was due to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate

at a World Cup after making Fifa’s final list for the tournament.

He is one of Africa’s top referees

and was named the continent’s best male referee in 2025.

We're not supposed to feel sorry for the bloody referees!

Go Go USA :)

Other innovations will include extended half times (with Ads)

and mid-half "hydration breaks" (with Ads)

Fair enough in hot conditions but some venues

are not in particularly hot places and many are covered arenas.

Also in the news...

Last week, dozens of Scots said their electronic system for travel authorisation (Esta)

was unexpectedly changed from “approved” to “travel not authorised”

with no explanation.

(Would have thought that one was obvious...just kidding!)

Seriously though, this is not a good start.

regards

Titus

10cc

Tower Theatre

Upper Darby

Philadelphia, PA

December 5th 1975

Remastered audience recording.

Not too bad for a vintage audience capture.

Superb gig!

The PA crashes during the second part of 'Une Nuit a Paris'.

Rory Gallagher was the opening act.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro/Silly Love

02 Flying Junk

03 Baron Samedi

04 Old Wild Men

05 The Sacro-Iliac

06 Somewhere in Hollywood

07 The Second Sitting For The Last Supper

08 Sabre Dance/Une Nuit a Paris

Disc 2

01 I'm Not In Love

02 Donna

03 Ships Don't Disappear in the Night (Do They?)

04 The Film of My Love

05 The Worst Band in the World

06 Art for Art's Sake

07 The Wall Street Shuffle

08 Rubber Bullets

link

regards

Titus

If you click on 'follow' you will make a grumpy old man slightly less grumpy.

regards

Titus

black midi

Pitchfork Music Festival

Union Park

Chicago, IL

September 10th 2021

Remastered webcast.

Strangely beautiful.

regards

Titus

01 intro/953

02 Dethroned

03 Sugar/Tzu

04 Welcome to Hell

05 Eat Men Eat (Flamenco)

06 The Defence

07 Near DT, MI

08 Chondromalacia Patella

09 John L

10 27 Questions

11 Slow

link

Apolitical Blues

Apoliticism does not directly cause violence, but it can create

the conditions that allow violence and societal decay to escalate.

By withdrawing from civic participation,

an apolitical stance can enable extremism to go unchecked,

while leaving individuals more susceptible to manipulation.

Apoliticism’s relationship to violence involves several dynamics:

Enabling Extremism: When a large portion of the population

disengages from the political process, the balance of power often defaults

to the most radical or extreme factions, which can foster authoritarianism

or structural violence.

Vulnerability to Disinformation:

Individuals who are disengaged from civic life are often less informed

about how policies work and are more susceptible to misinformation.

Research shows that belief in conspiracy theories

is a primary driver of support for political violence.

In 1939 I wrote to the New York Times:

"Stop with the fucking political bullshit.

Folks come here for the sports pages and celebrity gossip"

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil

is for good men to do nothing"

regards

Titus

She should have slapped him.

regards

Titus

Hybrid Kids

A Collection of Classic Mutants (1979)

Reposted from January 2022

I first heard this in the early 80s

by which time it had become an impossible to find obscurity.

I found a copy a few years later in a second-hand store in Soho,  London.

Strange thing was it had a little piece of another copy stuck to the back cover.

I always wondered who owned the one with a little piece of their cover missing.

Quantum entanglement?

Another odd thing: by the time I found it I'd forgotten that the illustration

was one of Francis Bacon's 'Screaming Pope' series..

Later that day I visted the National Gallery...and there it was!

Presented as a compilation of obscure underground artists

it is really all the work of Mott the Hoople keyboardist Morgan Fisher.

He recorded it at home using very basic equipment.

Mott drummer Dale Griffin (Buffin) was one of the first to hear it and he was sceptical

which surprised Morgan who, by then, thought it was quite 'normal'.

It's humorous but also, at times, creative genius.

Certainly in sync with how my mind processes music.

I'd say it is suitable for fans of Neu, Sonic Youth,

Residents, Cardiacs, Zappa, Reverb Mother Fuckers,

Gong, Alex Harvey and the Velvet Underground.

So if you like all those then this might be of interest.

The Kate  Bush one is probably my favourite.

Morgan said that when he did the pitch-shifted vocal on 'D'ya Think I'm Sexy?'

he was amazed to find that during middle pitch his voice sounded exactly like his sister.

He did a second volume of these oddities but that one didn't feel quite as innovative.

No future for you?...never mind.

regards

Titus

01 The Burtons - Macarthur Park

02 Punky and Porky - God Save The Lean + Pretty Bacon

03 Jah Wurzel - Wuthering Heights

04 Rififi - Catch A F-Falling Star

05 Malcolm Galaxy - Fever

06 Kapital Punischment - Save Your Kisses For Me

07 British Standard Unit - D'ya Think I'm Sexy?

08 Combo Satori - Enlightment

09 U.S. Nerds - Get Back

10 The Incestors - Something Better Change

11 R.W. Atom - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

12 The Cage - Take Me I'm Yours/The Pipettes - All The Young Dudes

link

Max Webster

Harpo's Concert Theatre

Detroit, MI,

December 21st 1980

Remastered soundboard.

The set leans heavily on the 'Universal Juveniles' album.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Check

02 Oh War!

03 Mash Moon in Hawaii

04 Paradise Skies

05 Lip Service

06 Rascal Houdi [cut in middle]

07 Cry Out for Your Life

08 Here Among the Cats

09 Drive and Desire

10 In the World of Giants

Disc 2

01 In Context of the Moon

02 What Do You Do with the Urge?

03 Look Out

04 April in Toledo

05 Waterline

06 Old Gomer

07 The Party

08 Battle Scar [cut at end]

link

When I was prepping for the upcoming World Cup

it pissed me off looking at multiple slow-loading/Ad-filled websites

which did not contain all the info I wanted.

So I made my own.

It's just a text file about the opening "round of 48" which lists:

The groups, dates, venues, kick off times (UK)

and what UK TV station is covering each game.

I thought some readers may find it useful.

(Folks don't come here for this shit...Ed.)

regards

Titus

link

World War 1 in colour (2003)

A television documentary series recounting the major events of World War I

narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

It reportedly took 400 technicians over five months to colourise the footage.

Part 1. Catastrophe - The outbreak of World War 1

Can we learn any lessons from history?

I doubt it.

regards

Titus

link

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have spent more than $1bn

on an Albanian island that will be a luxury resort

...once the unexploded ordnance has been removed.

They were ripped off:

Billionaire private equity investor Stephen Deckoff owns the two private islands

(Little St. James and Great St. James) formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

Deckoff, the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management,

(which sounds like the financial arm of a criminal cabal from a James Bond film)

purchased the Caribbean properties for $60 million in May 2023.

regards

Titus

(cartoon by Gary Larson)

Casting the Runes (1979)

A British supernatural television drama

produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network.

It is based on the story by M. R. James.

This adaptation differs from the 'Night of the Demon' version.

It is set in the, then contemporary,  late 1970s

and the central protagonist is reimagined as a female character.

Sorry MAGA.

The always excellent Iain Cuthbertson is cast as the sinister Karswell.

Can't think of any actor at the time more qualified for the role.

regards

Titus

link

Richard Thompson with Danny Thompson

Rytmeposten

Odense, Denmark

May 14th 2000

Another nice RT FM recording.

With Danny Thompson (no relation) on the upright bass.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Sights and Sounds of London Town

02 Bathsheba Smiles

03 Waltzing's for Dreamers

04 I Feel So Good

05 The Ghost of You Walks

06 Dog Eat Dog in Denmark

07 Uninhabited Man

08 She Twists the Knife Again

09 Al Bowlly's in Heaven

Disc 2

01 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

02 Down Where the Drunkards Roll

03 Easy There, Steady Now

04 Don't Sit on My Jimmy Shands

05 Ghosts in the Wind

06 Wall of Death

07 Turning of the Tide

08 Shoot Out the Lights

09 Crawl Back (Under My Stone)

10 I Misunderstood

link

'Music for people who are not into music'

Organised with all the finesse we've come to expect from the USA.

Excuse my 'French'...but what a fucking SHIT line-up.

Here are my suggestions:

Taylor Swift

Drake

Morgan Wallen

Kendrick Lamar

Bad Bunny

The Weeknd

Billie Eilish

SZA

Sabrina Carpenter

Zach Bryan

regards

Titus

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Konserthuset

Stockholm, Sweden

January 9th 1969

Remastered soundboard/FM?

regards

Titus

Disc 1 (early show)

01 preshow ambience

02 Killing Floor

03 Spanish Castle Magic

04 Fire

05 Hey Joe

06 Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

07 Red House

08 Sunshine of Your Love/outro

Disc 2 (late show)

01 intro/I Don't Live Today

02 Spanish Castle Magic

03 Hey Joe

04 Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

05 Sunshine of Your Love

06 Red House

07 Fire

08 Purple Haze/Star Spangled Banner

link

Jukka Tolonen

Stockholm, Sweden

September 3rd 1975

Remastered soundboard.

Excellent vintage fusion from Jukka and his band.

I don't know the venue.

Jukka Tolonen had become famous as guitarist

for the successful progressive rock band Tasavallan Presidentti

who had ceased trading a year before this recording.

Tolonen was eventually twice divorced, homeless and drug-addicted.

In May 2008 he was found guilty of stabbing his girlfriend

and was sentenced to 27 months in jail for aggravated assault.

Jukka was released in 2010.

While in prison he, apparently, dedicated his life to Jesus Christ.

So something of a flawed genius then?

regards

Titus 

01 Aurora Borealis

02 Django

03 Wedding Song

04 Hysterica

05 Silva the Cat

link

I'm not convinced Peter Mandelson will ever face justice.

The 'Prince of Darkness' is a well-practised slippery eel.

regards

Titus

The Time Travelers (1964)

A low budget B-movie that punches above it's weight.

Quite good effects considering the lack of funding.

The film inspired the 1966 TV series 'The Time Tunnel'.*

It veers between sci-fi, humour and soft core titillation

as if they couldn't decide which way to go with the script.

The ending is also rather odd.

For some reason this daft film has always stuck in my mind

ever since I first saw it as a kid.

Anyone remember it?

Multiple optional subtitles are included.

Other languages available on request.

Rush? :)

* I've been rewatching that series recently. It cracks me up.

regards

Titus

link

I sent mine back.

It was missing some stripes.

Still waiting for a refund.

regards

Titus

RPWL

Freilichtbühne Loreley

St. Goarshausen, Germany

July 24th 2022

Remastered cam audio.

The footage is on Nina-just-built-an-app Tube.

'Unchain the Earth' had tons of glitches/gaps which I have painstakingly patched.

It's not the full set but I put the songs in the order they were played

and made it flow as seamlessly as I could.

Some occasional localised talking doesn't spoil it too much

and there's a Pink Floyd section to tempt non-RPWL fans.

regards

Titus

01 Hole in the Sky

02 Light of the World

03 Not Our Place to Be

04 Cymbaline/Funky Dung

05 Unchain the Earth (The Scientist)

link