I could probably list multiple, but I'm going to share what's possibly the most overwhelming and mind boggling events in my streaming "career".

For some background, I have a crippling sense of pride and the idea of asking anyone for anything, particularly monetary, kills me but one of my biggest dreams in life has always been to have a gaming PC. I started streaming from a PS4, the community then funded me to get a PS5 (also overwhelming) but what was to come next in just over a year is above and beyond that. After upgrading to a PS5, I bought a cheap office PC that I could use for a very bare bones set up streaming wise, I say bare bones, but that alone was a MASSIVE upgrade from directly streaming from my PS5.

Some time later, everyone started trying to persuade me to set up a donation goal for a gaming PC and I resisted heavily but eventually I bit the bullet. I decided that if I was going to ask for money, I was going to do something ridiculous for it so I set up some ridiculous milestones like dyeing my hair whatever colours the community voted for, karaoke on stream, eating really spicy hot sauce (for context, I am a BABY with spice) and a few others. These milestones were a hit with the community, they pushed me out of my comfort zone and provided a good laugh for everyone (I think/hope).

One night I was struggling my way through Dark Souls 2 and all of a sudden my alert went off and I glance over at my second monitor and see the donation, THE donation. I think there was £260 left on the goal and an anonymous stranger donated the remaining amount. I was just so shocked, firstly that it was that amount all at once and secondly, the mystery of who it is, the fact that I hit this huge milestone. It was overwhelming and humbling in equal measure.

This was about 3 years ago now and I still remember it to this day, when I think about it I feel that rush still and even still everytime I play one of those games that I couldn't play because I was console, I STILL get that hyped feeling without fail after 3 years.

Twofold question for me - 1989 for catchy bobs and bangers

Evermore for the most beautiful songs.

Midnights for a mix of both.

Any other "Swemos" in here? I'll be wearing a Blink tee singing along to TS with no shame haha

Here are a selection of my favourite feel good songs, I love that you preface this bounty with the fact that "feel good" looks different for everyone.

This is a bit of a mixture for me, you'll find some songs I grew up with, songs my dad loved. Some of these songs, especially Mr Blue Sky and Walk of Life, were very difficult for me to listen to for a long time after he passed, but suddenly they became great sources of comfort and good vibes as time's passed.

Beyond that, you'll simply find songs I love that harbour positive emotions, whether it be nostalgic, a catchy rythm that gets me moving or a song that energises or motivates me.

The last 2 years I've been in the fortunate position to have been given the chance to review the last two COD releases and each time this has been the crux of my reviews; what can they improve on?

My take on it is that they need to stay true to the already loved formula, whilst also giving gamers the satisfaction of something new and not simply a reskin of every other COD game. I can't tell you what that looks like to me, because I simply don't know!

One thing that needs to be removed, not just from Black Ops, but everything COD affiliated, is SBMM. There is no conventional reason for it to exist in pubs, or unranked, if you will. SBMM totally ruined Warzone for many of us. Nobodies gaming experience is enhanced or improved by the existence of SBMM.

Here's a little whistlestop tour of my gigs this year. It was VERY hard to narrow this down to 10 videos...

Part 1

2024 (so far) in gigs

What a year for music and the fact there's more to come.... 🤤

In order:

@the1975

@knucklepuckil

@catbiteband

@hotwatermusicofficial

@johnnymarrgram

@officialblue

@tenaciousd

@slamdunkmusic

@goldfingermusic

@_pennywise

#Music #Gigs #UK #slamdunkfestival

On Sunday I was just at Slam Dunk Fest North and in the early hours of the day I had a free slot with no bands I wanted to catch so was wandering about the site getting my bearings, a beer, all the important things and settled at a stage for Beauty School. British band, great sound, super engaging with the crowd, good presence. I'm glad to of caught them because they really impressed me and I'd no doubt go and see them again if they happened to be playing shows locally. Here's a link to their Spotify page...

I was at Slam Dunk Fest (North) on Sunday and had a little gap in my schedule for the day, so took a wander around the site to get my bearings and a beer (the most important things). I landed near a small stage to find Beauty School playing. British and have great energy, locked in sound, the folk there who knew the words were super passionate (despite the pouring rain and it being sooo early in the day) and it was just all round a good time.

One of my favourite songwriters has got to be Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio. He just has such a penchant for finding the most interesting metaphors with constant double meanings and ambiguity that keeps my mind guessing even after all these years.

My favourite Alk3 songs are always forever changing, this very second my favourite song by them is "Blue In the Face". The song seems to be navigating either a break up or a toxic relationship, I'm not sure which, but both fit. One of my favourite lines is, "And all that followed fell like mercury to hell. Somehow we lost our heads for the last time".  That imagery is just the standard that I've become accustomed to as an Alk3 fan. This song finishes with, "And I don't dream since I quit sleeping. And I haven't slept since met you. And you can't breathe without coughing at daytime. Neither can I. So what do you say? Your coffin, or mine?" These little word plays never go amiss in Alk3 songs for me. It's the use of these simple writing principles that I have always loved.

I could very easily talk forever on my favourite songs by Alk3, and if I answered this question a week ago, or a year ago or 6 months ago... you'd of received different answers every single time. So I'll drop some of my other favourite lyrics with song names attached.

"If I'm the captain of this boat then all my shipmates are fools, and all the stars in the world couldn't help me steer my way out of this kiddy pool" - Fine

"Between the moon and you, lunacy is setting in." - My Little Needle

"A Poinsettia in poison rain" - Emma

"I wrote the words to this song on the back of a photograph. Behind your back it goes" - Armageddon (ironically took me too long to understand this lyric)

"Whats black and white, and whats red all over? This tired book, this Organ Doner" - All on Black

Heres a playlist of all the songs mentioned, if you like them, I'd proudly make an "Essential Trio" playlist for JA friends!

Blink 182

Green Day

Alkaline Trio

Hot Water Music

The Flatliners

All my favourite bands in one festival. Lots of crossovers as well musically, Matt Skiba from Alk3 stepped in when Tom left Blink and features on two Blink albums. A dream would be to hear some of the Skiba-era songs live, with Matt would just be magical. Then there's the crossover between The Flatliners and Hot Water Music too and even a small crossover between Alk3 and Hot Water Music who done an album together, so the potential for guest appearances from Chuck Ragen during Alkaline Trio's set, or Matt Skiba jumping in to sing a Blink song. That's the dream for me.

Blink and Green Day have been the soundtrack to my life since I was 8, Alk3 coming during my teens, but Hot Water Music and The Flatliners are fairly recent additions to my music tastes but not loved any less than the others. Fans of Alk3 should instantly fall in love with Hot Water Music, alt kids and elder emos would feel at home.

As for who the ultimate headliner is... That's such a hard question, based off numbers alone I'd say Blink 182.

Share your top 3 "no skip" albums

I'm horrible at listening to new music and I think you'd find that almost all of what I currently listen to is the same as what I listened to when I was a kid and teenager but lately I've been getting better at listening to new music and I'm thoroughly happy with this development. Largely, a lot of that has come from having friends who enjoy similar music to me. One of my favourite recent discoveries came from a recommendation from a friend, they have a similar kind of sound to a band I already love (Alkaline Trio) so it was easy to just instantly fall in love and feel that sense of familiarity with them. I'm off to see Hot Water Music next week and I'm really excited for it.