Blue Roses Fanzine

Ash

3rd February 2026 at London Scala

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve have seen Ash live but I remember the first time vividly- it was during their residency at the London Astoria, or ‘Ashtoria’ as it was briefly renamed. My first ever indoor indie gig, in March 1997. They had an incredible energy, and my overriding memory is of the sea of teenage crowdsurfers, getting bruised from the jostling and loving every minute, even though my delicate ears rang for days afterwards. I’m remembering all of this as I’m front row once again to see Ash.

Drummer Rick McMurray is on stage first and opens the show with beats to space age opening track Zarathrusta, then Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton arrive on stage, pick up their guitar and bass respectively, and add the melody and groove. It’s a fun start to the show at the London Scala, the first night of their February tour.

More songs from the new album Ad Astra follow. Fun People is played without Graham Coxon who appears on the record and joined the Scala gigs in September, although Tim later opens his denim shirt to reveal he is wearing a stripy T-shirt in honour of the Blur guitarist. New single Keep Dreaming, title track Ad Astra and Hallion are great, energetic new songs. Jump In The Line adds some funky Calypso to the evening.

While this is a showcase of their fabulous new songs, it’s also an opportunity to play their much loved career spanning hits. Fans love to hear the early material. 1977 was an exceptionally brilliant debut, an essential 90s album by teenagers for teenagers, and the hit songs sound fantastic live and have everyone singing along. I couldn’t help thinking that Goldfinger reflected the inclement conditions of the evening (the rain is lashing down tonight).

Oh Yeah was a highlight of the set for me. It’s so nostalgic, I think I spent an entire summer just listening to that song.

The opening bars to A Life Less Ordinary take me back to the 90s and the glamorous music video with Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor.

Orpheus, with its fast and heavy beats, was another reminder of how many great and varied songs they have.

Shining Light, which recently celebrated the 25th anniversary, sounded stunning. It was one great song after another.

The energy in the room is high. Occasionally Tim bounces on stage Britpop style, avoiding getting tangled in the guitar wires, and Mark leaps around the stage from one impossibly wide stance to another. I am trying, but failing, to read Mark’s Sex Pistols style T-shirt from across the room: Never mind the…? I’d rather be in Mike The Pies (it’s a live music venue in Ireland).

The set ends with a frenetic rendition of Kung Fu (though not as frenzied as the first gig, full of teenagers, that I mentioned).

A short break and Tim returns for the encore alone for an acoustic version of My Favourite Ghost. Mark and Rick join for Girl From Mars. Rick is sporting a Boy From Mars T-shirt, I’m guessing a popular item as there were none at the merch stall after the show. I think we are done, I’ve heard everything that I want to hear, but no, there is one more! The night finishes on a high with Burn Baby Burn!

Ash were as good as they always are. This was a fun gig with great songs and they are a band I love to see live whenever I can.

But before the night is over, I bump into Mark at the merch stall, and get my album signed by the band.

Bag of Cans

3rd September 2026 at London Scala

Supporting Ash at the Scala and for part of the tour are Norwich five-piece band Bag of Cans. Appearing on stage in matching orange boiler suits, some rolled up at the legs or down at the waist, the band are, fittingly, holding cans of Kronenburg 1664. Presumably the cans were in a bag at some point.

I’m not sure how seriously to take this band. Starting with Favourite Shirt – which is about a shirt that you really like, we are told – the band announce that the next one is about laundry, and there’s a ripple of laughter – although the next song is actually called Spin Cycle so it wasn’t a joke.

Their debut album is called We Are A Band. There are two singers, both called George, one also plays guitar and the other has a trumpet. The trumpet adds an extra layer to the sound. There’s something Parklife-esque about some of the songs sung by guitarist George. There’s also guitarist Tom, bassist Sam and drummer Joe.

There’s a bit of audience banter about the Fat Cat pub in Norwich (but which one, there are three) and Guinea-Bissau’s primary export (cashew nuts – I don’t think it’s a running gag that I’ve spoiled as that story got shut down pretty quickly).

The rest of the set contains songs about hangovers, milkmen delivering extras and checking carbon monoxide detectors (that one has a special dance) and other irreverent themes.

Great, fun set by Bag of Cans, and perfect warm-up to Ash on a rainy Tuesday night in London.

James

6th February 2026 (early) at Circuit, Kingston

Rescheduled from last November due to illness, this is an acoustic set with Q&A and the first of two intimate shows this evening. There are only 4 members of the band on stage (rather than the usual 85, they joke) – Tim, Jim, Saul and Mike.

The evening starts a somber tone. The first song is Broken by the Hurt, a poignant and empathetic ballad, which is dedicated to a mother that had contacted the band after losing her 18 year old son to drugs. This is followed by a moving rendition of The Shining.

On a lighter note, the Q&A prompts a story about how Sit Down caused everyone to actually sit down at the Locomotive club in Paris, which was Tim said was beautiful due to its spontaneity, despite club floors in the 90s being sticky with spilt beer and cigarette butts, and not particularly nice to sit down on! Additional detail, insults and “comic relief” was provided by guitarist and violinist Saul.

Technical issues meant that the band hadn’t sound-checked or rehearsed that day, however they played a beautiful, acoustic version of Say Something, which had a big singalong during the chorus.

This tour was originally timed with the release of James’ new album Nothing But Love, The Definitive Best Of… in November and they were asked about how they’d chosen the tracks for the triple album. Jim explained that it originally started out as a singles album, but they realised that there were many songs that were important to the band or the fans, that weren’t on the list because they weren’t singles. So Jim and Tim decided what to put on, from their back catalogue of over 400 songs, and swapping tracks in and out.

10 year old Ellen, who was seeing James for the third time, asked Tim what inspired him to become a singer?

He replied, “I came from a house where we didn’t even have a record player, and so music was a quite barren culture, and in my day, there were like 2 TV channels, and there wasn’t a bit much entertainment. And so when you did get hit by something, you got hit big. It was like if you did see something, it was magical.”

He goes on to tell us about the night at boarding school when he found out that his father was very ill and dying, but couldn’t show any emotion. Until he sneaked down and listened to a cassette of music, which contained “Birdland” by Patti Smith, about a boy losing his father and this song unleashed his emotions. This inspired him becoming a singer:

“It was the idea that somebody on the other side of the world could write something for you that was the perfect thing for you in that moment that could save your life”.

It was such a personal story, and felt like he was confiding in us, baring his soul to the thousand fans in the room.

To lighten the mood again, Saul declares that in as a strange segue, this next song is Patty Smith. They then played PS (although Tim said isn’t really about Patti Smith).

The next question from the audience was preceded by a solemn tale from a lady who saw James live last year, followed them around the country, learnt the lyrics and credits them with saving her life. It’s a heavy story, but the question itself was a cheeky marriage proposal to Saul!

The conversation then turns to a discussion of their favourite venues given they have played everywhere from arenas to little gigs like this. The Albert Hall is mentioned, along with some other places, but an annoying Aussie voice chimes from the back demanding to know their favourite.

Tim explains that it’s not just the venue, the audience play their part in the chemistry. He uses an analogy: “You don’t you don’t say to somebody, which is your favourite bed for making love on? You say which was the time you had the most amazing lovemaking experience, and it kind of depends on the 2 people.”

“I know it seems really cheesy, but this is one of the best venues I’ve ever played,” remarked Saul. “It’s amazing. It’s also because of you lot”. Big cheers.

The band started playing Hallelujah Anyhow, but Tim declares “I can’t remember the words to this one, I’m really thrown.” He asked the audience if anyone remembers the opening lines. A few people chipped in with the words and the proposal lady grabbed a mic and sang “Hold me, see, hold me”.

“You have triggered it, so thank you. As Chloe isn’t here, that isn’t the bit I’m going to sing,” laughed Tim. A very moving version of Hallelujah Anyhow followed.

Questions about venues aren’t finished – “James are a very intimate act, and a venue like this is perfect. Why are you playing O2?”

Saul quips, “Well, it was either play the O2, one night, or 223 nights here. And we can’t afford the hotels.”

Tim add, “We love playing the big venues as much as the small ones. So you get a different show, you know, that’s the thing. Can you make an arena intimate? And I think generally on a good day, we can, and you can, but on a good day, it is harder work, it’s a different experience, but it’s a great challenge.”

James had mentioned in advance that they wanted to do a jam/improvised session tonight, but given they were flying by the seat of their pants without a sound check, they decided to do two final songs instead.

An emotional Just Like Fred Astaire followed. The final song, Laid, takes me back to my university years when it was a staple in Manchester’s indie clubs at the end of the 90s. The audience are singing and dancing along with great energy.

My experience of Q&As is that fans want to declare their undying love for the band, and tonight was no different, but I felt that I got to know James much better in this intimate setting with the personal stories that they shared.

I hadn’t realised that James inspired such a loyal fandom. Many of the fans had travelled some distance and a lucky few also had tickets to the later show this evening. (I’m told that the songs were the same but in a different order, and that ribbing from the earlier proposal continued for Saul.)

I also hadn’t realised how great they are live. Though a short set of only seven songs (from their back catalogue of over 400!), it was an excellent selection to showcase the bands range.

Cast

5th February 2026 at Circuit, Kingston

Cast! Another blast from the past! Reformed and with new material, Cast are promoting their 8th studio album Yeah Yeah Yeah in Kingston.

The last time that they were in Kingston two years ago, they did three sold out instore gigs at Banquet Records but said they were looking at the ‘big’ artists that played in this venue. (It was Rod Stewart and Jools Holland that night, I was there). And now, here they are!

Their debut album All Change is another of my most played tapes in 1995. The current formation of the band is vocalist and guitarist John Power, lead guitarist Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson and drummer Keith O’Neill.

Starting with album opener Poison Vine, the band play a bunch of their new songs. They sound great but feel like I need more time to listen and get to know them. The new single Free Love was catchy and I particularly like Devil and the Deep, which John Power described as a folk song.

After the new material, it was also great to hear some old songs. Live The Dream is on second album Mother Nature Calls but I would swear I’ve heard it for the first time today, I just don’t remember it. It sounds so groovy. I love it. There a bit of an audience singalong, before John Power took over the vocals. (I do remember Guiding Star from the same album which was sadly removed from tonight’s set list, so I’m perplexed by the mind blank!)

The set continued with a magnificent trio of All Change favourites – Walkaway, Finetime and Alright. Lots of arms in the air and singing along. The audience shouted requests for Sandstorm, which would have been brilliant, but the show ended on a massive high with Alright sounding epic!

Cast are in fine form, performing great songs old and new, and fantastic live.

January Round-Up

Blue Roses Fanzine 2.0 is off to a flying start. I’ve already had about as many visitors as I sold paper copies in the early days of Blue Roses, from all over the world. It is very exciting that location is no longer a barrier to reaching music fans.

I’d love to know what you think. Please comment on here or on my socials (X or Instagram), subscribe or follow for updates.

Highlight

The Merch Market was incredible and allowed me to fully immerse myself in grassroots music and zine culture.

Read about my day at the Merch Market, The Cords, Tim Burgess and Zine Age Kicks. Plenty more to come over the coming months of my discoveries from the day.

Earworm of the month

“Fell on your sword

In a rush to be bored

I of course realise it was my mistake

But the point was just too hard to make”

A Point Too Hard To Make by The Cribs, from their new album Selling a Vibe, has been playing in my head for weeks. An upbeat, swirling tune with alternating vocalists for the chorus. It’s urgent, it’s raucous and the lyrics helped me navigate through a tough situation.

Coming up…

Excited that two 90s legends are back at Circuit next week – Cast and James playing back to back!

I’ve also got some exciting news about interviews with fantastic bands. Watch this space!!

Zine Age Kicks – Book review

Visual evidence of a life in music and magazines by James Brown

At first glance, the white cover of this book doesn’t give much away. Something about the Beastie Boys. Actually, the subtitle tells us exactly what it is: visual evidence of a life in music and magazines. But you have to open the cover first.

James Brown is the writer behind Attack of the Bzag fanzine, then went onto to work on NME, Loaded, GQ and Jack. Zine Age Kicks gives little snippets of insight into his life on each publication. He has already written a memoir, Animal House, and refers to Zine Age Kicks as the visual accompaniment. And I love the title.

Each page drips with nostalgia. There’s a cut and paste fanzine style to the whole book. There are some words, just enough to tell the story, but it’s the imagery that really illuminates the narrative and brings it to life.

By the time Blue Roses was born in the late 90s, fanzines had been around for a while. James Brown’s Attack of the Bzag was started over a decade earlier, but has similarities in style and content.

Zone Age Kicks contains photos, cassette tapes, ticket stubs, and front covers galore. Pages dedicated to The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Beastie Boys, amongst others. There are letters from NME “to whom it may concern” for customs purposes and contracts of employment, with actual (though likely long defunct) contact details – addresses, direct telephone numbers, telex and telegram (no, not the app!). Curious as to what came through on that line!

Come to think of it, I may have actually written to the NME at Kings Reach Tower for work experience. I can only imagine what I’d be doing now if I had got that gig.

Zone Age Kicks is a wonderful trip down memory lane, and an enjoyable read and peruse.

Kula Shaker

25th January 2026 at Banquet Records, Kingston

Kula Shaker were included in the Britpop cohort of the late 90s, even though their mystical sound was quite different from their contemporaries. I’m wondering if I’ve seen them live since their set at Knebworth supporting Oasis in 1996, given their debut album K must be one of my most listened to albums that year.

Thirty years on, they are back in Kingston. Front man Crispian Mills and bassist Alonza Bevan were at nearby Richmond College together and played at “an Irish pub near the Grey Horse”. (Someone suggested O’Neills but that isn’t really in the right area so I suspect it more likely to be Whelans, or the Artful Dodger as it was known for most of my lifetime. Anyway, not important.) They claimed to be a folk band but were accused of being a hippie band, so they resorted to playing a limited repertoire of covers by The Fureys on rotation.

I’m at the second of two back-to-back acoustic instore sets at Banquet Records. Unusually the music has started before everyone in the queue gets into the store. Crispian and Alonza are sitting on the counter, Jay Darlington behind the corner on keyboards and drummer Paul Winterhart tucked away to the side. It’s not a huge store and there is a large record display through the middle like a spine. It is very intimate, and the sound quality is excellent.

Crispian explained that they were going to play a different set to their earlier show, which is great for the lucky ones that managed to get to both. They had a song ‘bench’ so they could vary the set – but the songs on the bench contained girls names. Crispian mentioned Ophelia, and Ruby, both appear to be from their 2010 album Pilgrims Progress. They played Ruby, declaring that it was the first time that they played it live.

Lucky Number, the opening track on their forthcoming new album Wormslayer (according to Spotify), sounds great acoustic, more jangly and light than the complex layers of the record, which I also love.

I also like the catchy Infinite Sun, which I assume is a new song but I find afterwards it is actually 10 years old.

The band ended their set with a rousing rendition of their 1996 hit Govinda. Sung in Sanskrit, it brings out their influence of Indian music and spirituality, and led to a beautifully nostalgic moment.

After the set there was an opportunity to meet the band at a signing. I learn that I share a name with their first manager and their current manager… something to think about if I ever want a career change.

Wormslayer will be released on 30th January and I’m looking forward to hearing more new material from Kula Shaker.

Tim Burgess at the Merch Market

11th January 2026 at Troxy, London

The headlining act at Troxy was an acoustic set from organiser and self-proclaimed ‘Merch Market guy’ Tim Burgess, playing a selection of Charlatans classics accompanied by Sam O’Donovan on guitar.

Set list:

North Country Boy
White Shirt
Salt Water
For The Girls
Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over
The Only One I Know

This is something special. A reward for everyone that has stayed at the Troxy til the very end of the Merch Market. (It’s been a long day!)

Hearing the upbeat jangly classic North Country Boy completely stripped back was exquisite. Unlike the songs that followed, which sounded like acoustic versions of themselves, the arrangement of North Country Boy turned it into something completely different.

Tim Burgess & Sam O’Donovan live and acoustic

White Shirt sounded fantastic. I haven’t heard it in ages.

It was the first time I’ve heard Salt Water live. It’s a melodic interlude with few lyrics and invokes imagery of a cold winter’s beach, quite a contrast to the rest of the new album as it feels a definite change of pace, so fit perfectly into this acoustic set.

Another new one, For The Girls, was very well received and is soon to be considered a Charlatans classic, I’m sure!

Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over is always great to hear (“It’s a matter of taste, yeah!”).

And finally, The Only One I Know, which works amazing well as a stripped back acoustic version.

The set was short and sweet, and ended with a “Love you all” to the audience.

The Cords at the Merch Market

11th January 2026 at Troxy, London

The Cords are a Scottish sibling duo, sisters Grace and Eva Tedeschi. They have already played with BMX Bandits, Camera Obscura and Belle and Sebastian, and will be joining The Charlatans on their spring tour. Earlier, while being interviewed on stage, Tim Burgess had explained how he had handpicked them: “They’re fantastic. Friends of mine in Scotland had turned me on to them and I played them to The Charlatans and they all loved them.” But first, they have a prime slot on the Troxy stage during the Merch Market.

We get to know them a little during a quick interview before their set, Eva did most of the talking and explained that they’d grown up listening to music with their family and started playing quite young, both learning drums.

Taking to the stage at Troxy, with Grace on drums and Eva as signer and guitarist, they kick off their set with their fantastic single Fabulist. A fireball of jangly guitars and fast beats, it’s a classic indie pop tune that’s refreshing and energising.

“You’re nothing but a fabulist anywayyyyy”.

The pace continues though each song, each a perfectly packaged slice of musical energy. October is another frenetic stomp of indie heaven and there’s something enchanting about all the “ba-ba-ba-ba-ba”’s that appear in some of their songs.

Eva didn’t call out the names of many songs but I would guess that they played most, if not all, of their eponymous debut album during their neat half-hour set. Eva explained that they always end their set with a cover of “My Favourite Dress” by the Wedding Present, which was a great choice and perfectly suited The Cords style.

They have Scottish tour dates coming up, and their next London gig with Heavenly, at the Lexington is a matinee for over 14’s (accompanied by adults) to allow their younger fans to see them.

There’s a retro, nostalgic feel to The Cords, but they are young and fresh and exciting. I’m already looking forward to seeing them again on tour with The Charlatans.

My Day at the Merch Market

11th January 2026 at Troxy London and other venues

The Merch Market was created by Tim Burgess to support bands by allowing to meet and sell directly to the public, following a campaign to stop venues taking a cut of merch sales. The inaugural event was held in Manchester last year and was hailed as a success, with established bands including New Order, Inspiral Carpets and of course The Charlatans selling rare and exclusive items, alongside new and upcoming bands.

Apparently Troxy, a venue in Limehouse, east London got in touch to talk about running the next one, and several months later, here we are!

It was an early start for me, trekking across to east London in the rain on a Sunday when half the TfL lines don’t seem to be running.

Just before 11am, there was a queue stretching around the Troxy. I’d also passed the Clement Atlee, which was hosting the book event upstairs.

Inside Troxy

The foyer had the Tonic Music stall, selling T-shirts and other merch. Founded by Terry Hall, Tonic Music is a fantastic charity to support mental health in the music industry. They set up Terry’s piano and various guests played through the day, including Tim Burgess and James from Starsailor.

The main hall had stalls set up by bands, record labels and other merch sellers.

I made a beeline for The Charlatans stall as there was a promise of exclusive items. Tim Burgess had donated some of his own records so I had a flick through and selected an LP by The Kinks. I was listening to Tim’s Listening Party podcast recently and reminded of how great their songs are – it also reminded me of student days in halls and how we used to swap CDs to expand our musical horizons, and I discovered The Kinks because someone slipped their CD under my door one day.

I snapped up an exclusive “Best Lips in London” t-shirt, just like the one that had been worn by Tim Burgess at the Roundhouse last month and a limited edition illustration of all 14 Charlatans albums in the style of Saul Bellows. The main man himself made an appearance and I was able to get them both signed!

Bands

Bis had the stall opposite and were fanzine darlings when Blue Roses first came onto the scene so it was lovely to meet Manda Rin.

In the same area there were the Inspiral Carpets, Ride, ACR and Doves, with lots of T-shirts and signed merch.

One band that I was keen to see was The Cords. They will be supporting The Charlatans on their April/May UK tour so I had listened to their album and loved the jangly guitar. Eva and Grace Tedeschi are teenage sisters from Scotland. They also played a set on the main stage, but more about that later.

I’ve also been listening to Magic Seas, so it was great to meet John and James Prudence and pick up their album From This View, which was recorded with Ride frontman Mark Gardener.

Lovely to meet Mathew from Dodgy. We talked about the recent 35th anniversary show of The Dodgy Club at Bacchus in Kingston and how the whole thing started there. They have a new album and tour this year.

Chatting to the very cool, Natalie McCool about the lyrics printed on her tote: “You’re the 🥊 to my line”.

There are so many bands that I met and want to check out, it’ll take me a while to work through and write about (but please subscribe and you’ll get my updates!)

Other stuff

There were interviews on stage at The Troxy, starting with Andrew Trendell from NME chatting to Tim Burgess about the inspiration for the event, The Charlatans new album and the music scene. Tim explained how he had handpicked The Cords to support them.

There was a Timbola, with prizes donated by stall holders. Sadly I didn’t win anything.

Troxy held a raffle for a pair of Golden Tickets – a fantastic prize of free entry to any gigs at the Troxy for a year – to support War Child. Still got my fingers crossed! Troxy also arranged a couple of guided tours around this historic Art Deco building and former cinema, the largest in England at time of opening in 1933.

There were record labels showcasing their artists, record stores with stacks of vinyl, merch designers, and so much to explore.

Reading corner

Lunchtime for Wild Youth fanzine had prepared a special Merch Market issue for the event. I flicked through their back issues – they had paper copies going back to the early 90s! (I wonder if copies of the original Blue Roses fanzine should be reprinted?) I bought a copy copy of the 2025 review to read later.

Mick Jones of The Clash made a brief appearance at his Rock & Roll Public Library stall but I didn’t see him. I picked up a copy of the first issue of the magazine – the “birth of DIY culture” and “the ultimate mix tape” on the cover piqued my interest. There are three different covers so the magazine is on its way to becoming a collectors item itself!

Love the title of James Brown’s new book about music and magazines, Zine Age Kicks, and we had a nice chat about zine culture.

Live performances

There were several live performances at The George Tavern up the road and some of the bands looked really interesting to check out but with so much going on at Troxy, I didn’t get down there.

Troxy hosted live sets from The Cords and Tim Burgess acoustic – I’m going to write up the live reviews separately.

And then it was time for me to go home… it’s been a great day and I’m buzzing from immersing myself around so many fantastic bands, and going home with a wonderful collection of merch. After all, that’s what today was all about!