So ..After being advised a Tublr blog would be a good thing to get into, here I am !

I have to admit its been a long time since I sat down and wrote a blog in fact I can recall the last blog I ever wrote was on triviumworld many many moons ago

but blogs are about the now, the present so what is happening in my life may you ask well this weekend just passed I had the pleasure to head down to Birmingham with Karen (my wife) and spend some time with our friends and shoot some video, aside from work an socializing there was a lot of partying involved, with both Paolo & Nick into the early hours..

Birmingham we discovered upon arrival is much more vivid and entertaining that we expected, that weekend fell host to the international food festival, a veritable smorgasbord of foods from all corners of the planet, knowing Matt is such a huge foodie, we sensed this may have been more than coincidence but a happy one none the less, after much deliberation I settled on the Mumbai food stall, they provided me with the most tender Lamb Shish wrap, I’m sure never to be matched in my lifetime!

Karen however was not swayed she was on a mission, to sample some delicacies from her home country of South Africa, sadly she was disappointed to find nothing from our searching and settled on the staple consumable provided by the Golden Arches.after our bellies were stuffed, we bumped into Nick & Paolo who I’m sure had been allured into the city center by the idea of food or perhaps just a chance to explore.

we soon decided to visit the “Home of Metal” exhibit on show at the gas chamber (odd name for a museum) regardless we found it to be an interesting visit, although there seemed to be an extremely heavy bias towards napalm death.. I’d say about 50% of the exhibit was napalm death, non the less it was entertaining. at this point our great friends Ela & Dennis managed to locate us, and the group was set !

for the remainder of the day we saw sights and ate more food, before taking an afternoon nap, which was great considering our early 4:00AM start from Ashington, but totally worth it

our evening began in a bar called the Sun and the Hill with a hipster DJ to boot, playing nothing but the most random set list, regardless our group had fun, by this time our group had swollen to a mighty 10 strong group of friends from across the globe, Sweden, Finland, Germany, USA & UK

After many hours of merriment we headed off to our late-evening destination of Eddies Rockbar, this I have to say was an odd place, had I really traveled half way down the country to visit a Rockbar  not to dissimilar than the one in my home town, complete with dated decor and easily spotted regulars, apparently I did !

Regardless of this we all had a great time, by the time Nick and Paolo did their thing, I was too inebriated to notice, i knew the morning would be a difficult concept.

“somebody turn off that damn light” it was early and the blackout blinds in our hotel room only seemed to amplify the light at the edges, searing our faces until we woke.

this day seemed to drift along somewhat maybe it was the mild hangover, but I was in no rush to party just yet !

having only recently acquired my newest gadget my canon 550D I was keen to try it out, shooting seemingly arbitrary footage that would later become my staple B-roll footage for the video I was to create

heck we even saved some ducks ! .. not much to say on that .. we saved some ducks in a canal +1 rep for us !

it was getting on in the day and it was time to head to the venue, we did still bleary eyed if I’m honest, and met with the fans outside, regaling the night before. we headed inside to see the CKB practicing and setting up, alone on stage, we soon met with Justin & Matthew, soon on everyone was down to business, time for a sound check, and time for me to get some practice shots in !, after fumbling with my gear i managed to drop my new camera at least 3 meters from the ground to the floor … CRACK, I’ve never felt such a wave of anxiety flood my system after being so careful, like golam with his precious ring .. my precious lay on the floor .. scuffed with minor damage but mostly cosmetic. luckily my £1 audio cable i had plugged in and the uv lens filter took brunt of the industrial concrete floor

Lens filter cracked and audio cable destroyed, I continued on, undeterred by the heart stopping event that wretched my insides through 180 degrees

once the sound check was over, I put my equipment away .. CAREFULLY and sat outside, we got chatting with the venue owners Jaci & Roy, they are without a doubt the nicest venue owners … I’m going to say it … IN THE WORLD

they ran there business like a family, and it showed for a 9-5 business that would suck, but for a venue with living breathing music, it worked !

7 o’clock came a little to soon the room flooded with faces i have met some I remember some I don’t i paused to consider how small an issue this is in the grander scheme compared to the band who must be faced with new people every day who have met them before

the show was to powerful it is hard to summarize but it felt like the best show I’ve ever been too, I cant explain but I can show you .. thank you !

The Asylum @ Birmingham 19/06/11 from Trivium Official on Vimeo.