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.
Inside Zine Age Kicks
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 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.
Kula Shaker poster
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.
Meeting Kula Shaker
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.
Signed tour posterThis week’s events at Banquet Records
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 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.
The Cords interview
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.
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 legendary piano
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.
Charlatans merch
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
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.
The Cords
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.
Magic Seas
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.
Dodgy
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.
Natalie McCool
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
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.
Rock & Roll Public Library
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!
Zine Age Kicks
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!
On the eve of the release of their ninth studio album, Selling A Vibe, The Cribs are back to play in Kingston to kick off their “Intimate Album Release Shows”.
The lights dim and some funky “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” music starts up (Tarzan Boy by Baltimora from 1985, according to Shazam) and the band walk on stage. Drummer Ross Jarman, guitarist and singer Ryan Jarman, and bassist and singer Gary Jarman are joined by another guitarist.
This is my first time seeing them live and the energy is great. Some of the songs from the album are being played live for the first time, including the title track. I love the catchy A Point Too Hard To Make, which has both singers alternating vocals. Mixed in with the brand new songs are the many early songs, including “one we’ve been playing for 20 odd years”, introducing Things You Should Be Knowing.
Ryan had much love for Kingston, he said there wasn’t anywhere else that they would want to debut their new songs.
The area in front of the stage was very lively, not quite a mosh pit but definitely energetic during the more well known songs including Martell and all the woh-oh-oh-ohs.
The energy stepped up a gear during the final song, the anthemic Men’s Needs had everyone bouncing about.
Great gig! I reckon Kingston loves The Cribs as much as they love us.
I’ve heard a lot of great music recently which has inspired me to reboot Blue Roses fanzine… but where to start?!
I’m incredibly lucky to have Banquet Records on my doorstep and have enjoyed the live shows in Kingston for many years. The original Blue Roses had me traipsing up and down the country to see great bands, and these days I mostly see them in Kingston!
My resolution for 2026 is to see even more live music. Plenty of my favourite bands from the 90s are touring and I also hope to discover some new and exciting artists.
I haven’t written in a while so I set myself a challenge of reflecting on some of the gigs that I went to in 2025. Some are more detailed than others as I’m writing from memory but I wanted to share some of the live music that I have experienced in the last 12 months.
Doors are opening extra early at each venue on this tour. Instead of having a support act, there will be a two-part set with an interval so they have more time to play more of their extensive back catalogue. What a treat!
The Roundhouse is packed to the rafters. Before the show, words appear behind the stage in turn, building anticipation: These Are The Days. This Is The Place. We Are Love.
The Charlatans take the stage at the Roundhouse
Introductions come later but on stage we have drummer Pete Salisbury, formerly of The Verve, and percussionist Loz Colbert joining bassist Martin Blunt, guitarist Mark Collins, keyboardist Tony Rogers and singer, and occasional guitarist, Tim Burgess.
The band opened with Kingdom of Ours, the opening track of new album We Are Love. A dark brooding number. Then straight into beautiful and upbeat Weirdo. Next up, Tim brings out an electric guitar and the band launches into For The Girls, one of my favourite tracks from the new album with its classic Charlatans sound.
Fan favourite North Country Boy follows and gets the crowd rocking. There’s plenty of North Country Boy/Girl t-shirts around and I have t-shirt envy!
The rest of the first part is full of belters, new, old and somewhere in between. Many a Day a Heartache (with another guitar for Tim), Oh Vanity, Let The Good Times be Never Ending, Blackened Blue Eyes, and then back to their first album with Then, which was dedicated to those that were with them from the beginning. From the sound of the cheers, many of the audience considered themselves included. And just like that, part one was over.
Many a day a heartache
While the band went off stage for 10 minutes, security guards at the front were handing out cups of water. Very old school. (Tim tweeted from backstage that he’s got watermelon.)
Back refreshed after the interval, the band launch into Forever, an epic swirling tune (not dissimilar to Kingdom of Ours which opened part one). Hearing Forever live takes me straight back to 1999, a young optimistic student in Manchester. I’m in a daze, and get completely lost in the song. So powerful.
Each song sounds sublime. We Are Love sounds like a statement (emphasis on the ’Are’). Tellin’ Stories has Tim Burgess blowing kisses at the audience while they sing back at him, and for the next song Out on Our Own, he is singing while sitting on his knees.
Kisses from the ‘Best Lips in London’
Another new song Deeper and Deeper already feels like a comforting old friend. The energy has been building all night and the atmosphere is so incredible right now, but then it gets even better.
I haven’t yet mentioned the images projecting during the show, changing for each song and heightening the experience. An image of The Charlatans eponymous fourth album appears and they play a trio of songs from that period. This was the first album I discovered and still one of my favourites. “I love this song,” said Tim about Here Comes a Soul Saver.
The Charlatans segment
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a gig with a genuine mosh pit but I can see one swirling to the side of me in front of the stage. With the double whammy of One To Another and The Only One I Know, there’s no holding back and the mosh pit is in full action. (I was tempted to join in until I remembered how many bruises I came away with when I was a teen.)
The Only One I Know
There’s a moment of calm when a harmonica starts up for the melodic Get On It. And then the band disappear off stage as part two comes to an end, while the audience try to catch their breath.
Back for an encore. “Before we play the last song from our first album, we are going to play the last song from our latest album.” This introduces Now Everything, which is followed by Tremelo Song. Someone yells from the audience. “We love you too,” replies Tim. “I think that’s what you said anyway. There’s a lot of love in the house”.
Sproston Green
Understatement! The house is buzzing. The atmosphere is incredible. But all good things have to come to an end, and anyone who has seen the Charlatans before knows that that Sproston Green is the final song. I spy a crowd surfer in the mosh pit. The audience is going crazy.
And then, 2 hours 25 minutes after they started, it’s over. Wow!
Set list
Here’s the set list – I was lucky enough to get copies from a sound guy.
The release of The Charlatans 14th studio album We Are Love brought them to preview their new songs here at Circuit.
Opening with the album title track and latest single, We Are Love gives a taste of new songs to come. Then we are straight into an oldie, Weirdo, the favourite Charlatans song in the US, apparently.
The next song is a real treat, the live debut of For The Girls, with Tim joining in with a very cool black electric guitar. A new song with a familiar Charlatans sound. Launching straight into audience favourite North Country Boy, with the entire audience singing along.
A surprising old song next, Toothache, an album track from The Charlatans album, which sounds absolutely fantastic. We are pulled back to the present with a couple more new songs, including Tim on acoustic guitar for Many A Day a Heartache. It looked like the lyrics for Deeper & Deeper were taped to the floor of the stage.
Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over sounded magnificent. There’s something special about singing “I’m coming home” while your favourite band is playing in your hometown.
Another new one, Glad You Grabbed Me, followed by the classic One To Another. Crowd going crazy for it. The band disappear off stage and return for an encore a few minutes later. But they surprise us by deviating from the set list. They kick off with Then, which was beautiful, almost haunting, and follow this with Let The Good Times Be Never Ending. I missed Sproston Green – has a Charlatans gig even ended without it? – but “Good Times” was a fantastic closing song, leaving the crowd wanting more.
Absolutely sensational performance, I loved every moment. Great mix of songs, old and new, but all fantastic.
They must have enjoyed it too, the next day they announced that they would be back next month for a warm-up gig for their forthcoming December UK tour!
Blue Roses Fanzine 2.0 