I got email a few days ago saying that my uncle wanted to send me some trainers that he was sent. I had no idea what they were going to be. Today I got them and they are a new pair of New Vans Mastodon Blood Mountain sk8 shoes.  I think they are pretty cool. Here's a picture.

On Friday night I finished work early and got the train to Birmingham to see Funeral for a Friend and Fightstar at the O2 Academy as part of the Vans Off The Wall night. It was back in April I was last at the Birmingham Academy when I saw Papa Roach and since it as moved to a new location. It looks good on the outside and the inside is pretty nice too. There's 3 stages. The main stage which  is larger than the average venue (not including the big areanas), 2nd stage and the 3rd stage which is about size of a stage you find in a pub. The venue as a whole was ok but the sound in the main room didn't fill the room enough and having seen Fighstar 4 times and Funeral for a Friend 3 times it wasn't them! Oh and the price of a pint of Carling was a lot! £3.60! That's more than at Download and Sonisphere and they are festivals! The worset thing about the price is Carling tastes like piss.

Anyway there were load of bands playing but I can't remember the ones on the 2nd and 3rd stages. On the main stage was Attack! Attack!, Kids in Glass Houses, Fightstar and Funeral for a Friend. Didn't seem much of Attack! Attack! but they sounded alright. Kids in Glass Houses didn't do anything for me. The only reason I went was for Fightstar and Funeral for a Friend.

Fightstar are one of my favourite bands and I've seen them 5 times now. Unfortunately, the lead singer Charlie Simpson had a throat infection and so really couldn't perform at his best. Which is a real shame because his voice is awesome. He solidered on. Because of his throat the set was a little softer than the usual (they didn't play Deathcar) and he missed out quite a few lines but we, the crowd did what we could. I say Fighstar do have great fans. The music was, as always, bang on. Omar Abidi was playing his ass off on the drums. The bassist, Dan Haigh, seemed to take a bigger roll interacting with the crowd than normal. Alex Westaway was also doing a fine job. So to sum up Fightstar there were great if not slightly disppointing but rest assured I will be seeing them again. My Fightstar videos are on YouTube.

The task of closing the gig was upto Funeral for a Friend and they did it nicely. They were on top form. The start was a bit stupid as they had some guy in a banana suit come out singing a song... can't think what it was. After that it was great start to finish. They didn't play anything from Memory and Humanity which is a good thing as it wasn't their best. I think they played only 2 songs that weren't on their first 2 albums or early EPs. Into Oblivion is always great live, it's so up beat and just has such a great feeling to it. Others songs they played included my favourite Rose for the Dead. Can't really say any else than they were quality and here are my Funeral for a Friend videos. 

Overall a great night. Which ended at MacDonald's with a drive-through orchestra (about 10 cars randomly pressing their car horns), was pretty fun.