Jimmy_G

That'll be you then? Welcome on board. More Shack photos here.

Gary Daly's stuff was absolutely lovely, him on acoustic guitar and Megan Kovacs on keyboard and backing vocals, delightful stuff. Nice little floaty love songs, one of which was just him, his guitar and his wife. He did that song at the Summer Pops when he was supporting Van Morrison, but that night he also had his band with him (not China Crisis, it included one of the Shack horn players and some of his other former band, Muddyhead). The full band stuff is, as you would expect, a bit more lively, a little bit country bluesy, well worth watching. America were dead good. Played plenty off the new album (including the 2 which Ryan Adams played on/co wrote, gave him a warm mention), as well as the expected classics and a few that I, a relative newcomer to the band, had never heard. No messing around, really tight band, a good night.

America are playing at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall tonight, I'm just listening to the live bonus disc which came with the recent album - lovely stuff. I'm looking forward to the show. It sounded better until the tosser in the flat above just turned on some shite, bland boom boom dance music, loud. Support comes from Gary Daly of China Crisis.

He's on the new album by Paul Hartnoll from Orbital: Paul Hartnoll : The Ideal Condition ACP Recordings ACP Recordings presents "The Ideal Condition", the solo album from Paul Hartnoll - his first major release since he and his brother disbanded their group, Orbital, three years ago. From their early success with "Chime" in 1990, Orbital became one of the most acclaimed electronic artists of the next decade. They made seven albums, and their live shows - groundbreaking both in terms of performance and production - became a legendary fixture of the festival circuit around the world and particularly at Glastonbury, where they performed for the final time in 2004. One attribute Paul carries over from his Orbital days is his nose for a great collaborator. Guests on the album include The Cure's Robert Smith on the single "Please". In addition to the Metro Voices choir, vocal contributions are also present from US singer songwriter Joseph Arthur ("Aggro"), Brighton's Lianne Hall ("For Silence") and South London's Akayzia Parker ("Nothing Else Matters"). You can hear some of the songs on his website here

They're coming this way in March: Tue 13 Mar 07 London Hammersmith Apollo info Wed 14 Mar 07 Wolverhampton Civic Hall info Thu 15 Mar 07 Cambridge Corn Exchange info Sat 17 Mar 07 Basingstoke The Anvil info Sun 18 Mar 07 Salford Lowry info Mon 19 Mar 07 Cardiff St Davids Hall info Wed 21 Mar 07 Gateshead The Sage Gateshead info Thu 22 Mar 07 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall info See here for more info