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I was at the Guns N’ Roses concert at the O2 in Dublin, and I was appauled at the behaviour of so called fans when Guns N’ Roses eventually took to the stage at around 10:30pm. The support act were late finishing and for 1h 30 minutes there was a gap. For the most part it was good humoureed with a few Mexican Waves, cheers and so forth. However once it came near 10:15pm booos started to ring out.
The band took to the stage at 10:30 to a tirade of boos and jeers. Then bottles and cups full of liquid started hitting the stage and for Axl all hell was breaking loose.

For a performer, being on stage, with the lights in your face, you may not see very much – so if a bottle or cup full of beer is thrown you have no way of avoiding it. I think that sort of behaviour from “Fans” was uncalled for. Axl asked for people to stop and said that he would walk if it happened again … only minutes later this is exactly what happened and I don’t blame him. No performer should be attacked in this way.

The start to the show was spectacular, fireworks, pyros, huge intro so it wasn’t a half-baked or poor performace. There was no need for the jeering or throwing. Many people left when the house lights came back up, thinking it was all over. I asked an O2 steward and was told ” There is no chance of him coming back on “. Apparently the promoter, MCD, restrained Axl and prevented him from leaving the venue after walking off stage. The promoters did come on stage twice to ask for calm and patience while technical difficulties were looked at.

I left the O2 once the house lights came back on, and 20 minutes later I got a phone call from my sister (Thanks Elaine) letting me know that the concert was back on. We went back and the atmosphere was less hostile but still not right. Axl was back mid-stage to avoid any missiles, almost at the drum kit. He just stood at the mic and sung, breaking once or twice to play the piano – November Rain was excellent. The band itself were excellent and it good humour despite what happened.

They played until just before 1am to a creshendo of tickertape and pyros.

I think the organisers should have had the stage better perpared, as they seemed to be doing sound checks, stage clearance, wiring and so on for about an hour. Also, having people drinking for 4 hours before Guns N’ Roses appeared on stage was not a good idea. Although Guns N’ Roses have a history of problems and late shows, you know this about the band and its not a reason to run riot and physically attack an artist.

Guns N’ Roses released a statement after the concert which read: “Despite every effort being made by promoters to ensure Guns N’ Roses would go on stage on time, they went on at 22:26hrs having been due to be on stage at 21:45hrs, support artist finished at 21:00hrs.

“During the second song Axl requested members of crowd who were throwing plastic glasses containing unknown substances to immediately stop or he would have no option but to leave the stage. He confirmed band’s wish to perform stating “we want to stay…one more bottle and we go home”. Despite his continued appeals, having tried to continue performing for 22 minutes, people continued throwing unknown substances leaving artist with no choice but to leave the stage.

“From the stage MCD Promoter Denis Desmond again appealed to audience to refrain from throwing items and stated that the band would be back on stage shortly.

“The artist was prevented from leaving the venue by the Promoter and following backstage discussions Guns N’ Roses went back on stage at 23:20 hrs and performed their full set until 00:53 hrs.

“While the artist has a long history for being late on stage (Slane 1992 – crowd waiting 2 hours and last weekend’s UK Reading festival), NO artist should be subjected to missiles and unknown substances being thrown at them. However, despite this the band went back on stage after people stopped throwing items performing their full set of songs in full.

“MCD and The 02 wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused due to late running of the show.”

Video – Guns n’ Roses at the O2

If you missed the original iKitt iPhone App review then you can read the full details here
http://shanemcdonald.org/myblog/2009-09-29/ikitt-ipod-app-review/

This is just an update regarding the iKitt iPhone App’s operation as a speedometer using GPS as you are travelling.

Turn the iPhone on its side and you get the classic Knight Rider / Kitt speedometer. As the iPhone gathers the GPS coordinates and positioning it calculates the actual speed you are doing (please do not do this when driving!! I don’t want people telling me they crashed when trying this out!).

A screenshot of the app in operation is shown below.

The speed of the iKitt speedometer is not realtime, sometimes it will update once a second sometimes longer. However it is quite accurate. The actual speed when testing above was approx 90kph.

I was very tempted to try this in a 737 when taking off from Gatwick recently but felt the “Please turn off all mobile devices” was enough to get me to turn it off.

Its a very good app and well worth the €0.79c price tag on the iTunes App Store, even if it is just for the retro sentimentality.

I was recently in Lanzarote and visited the New World Chinese Restaurant located opposite the Fariones Shops in Puerto del Carmen. The staff were very welcoming and the interior has excellent decor with Chinese paintings and sculptures adding to the atmosphere.

There are a wide range of starters including the usual favourites but I went for their Dim Sum which is excellent (#4 to be exact) followed by fish in mushroom and bamboo for the main course (only €5.95 for the main)

I have eaten here twice in the past 2 years and each time I come away happy. The food here is excellent matched also by the service. 2 starters , 2 mains and 2 soft drinks came in at under €30… If only you could get the same value in Ireland!

If you are in Puerto del Carmen this is a must visit restaurant!

Please note there are some small spoiler alerts in this movie review

First off,  This is not supported to be a word for word telling of the famous Alice in Wonderland story – this is actually the second time she has been down the hole. Therefore this is actually a sequel to the Alice in Wonderland story based on the 19th century novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is now 19 years old who has forgotten about her last childhood journey into Wonderland – yet her dreams still recall the visit.

Just as she is proposed to by a insufferable bore of a ginger haired “Lord”, she wisely avoids the proposal of marriage and ends up falling down a rabbit hole and falls back down to Wonderland. Of course she thinks this is all just a dream and plays along for a while.

Alice is then given the mission of saving the Wonderland from the madness of the Red Queen played by Helena Bonham Carter (Helena Bonham Carters playing of the Red Queen reminds me of Queenie from Blackadder – even mis-pwe-nounces a wange of words using w’s for r’s). The Red Queen is still as we remember her, obsessed with shouting “Off with her head”. I though it was quite funny the way she always asked for a warm pig to put her feet on – it is this sort of curiouser and curiouser imagery which makes the film work. The film is just unusual – so don’t go expecting straight forward.

One of the main draws of this film is the portrayal of the Mad Hatter by Johnny Depp. This is a very good performance with lots of madness, and a very unusual “Futterwacken” dance, but there is a kind of scottish accent which Depp tries to use but in these places the dialogue is hard to understand. Other characters include the Cheshire Cat which is perfectly voiced by the one and only Stephen Fry.

The film itself has live action and CGI mixed quite well – the film looks amazing … I don’t think it looks like any other film of the last few years in the way digital and film are combined. Don’t go to the film expecting the original “Alice in Wonderland” story – perhaps a title of “Down to Wonderland again” might have been a better title. It is a fun film but there are some scenes younger children might not appreciate (i.e. lots of roaring and chasing monsters).

The film flaws are mainly that the story is not as well developed as it could have been and there is a little drama, but being a Disney film this is to be expected but Tim Burton’s visual creativity makes up for any lacking in the film.
If you can, see this film in 3D as it does add soemthing extra.

Movie Classification: PG
Director: Tim Burton
Film Cast: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helna Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen

Rating: 8/10

Zaika is an Indian restaurant located on Kensington High Street in London, just opposite Hyde Park. I stopped off here last September when in London on business and was very impressed with the restaurant which offers Indian cuisine incorporating both traditional classic favourites as well as a few original recipes (I’m only now getting around to posting my restaurant review for Zaika nearly 6 months later).

Inside you are welcomed to a very highly decorated and sumptuous interior with carved high ceilings and double height windows.

The menu is vast, and even for a lunch menu it was quite varied. I chose a Butter Chicken dish for my main. While I was waiting I got a pre-starter which was very tasty. I also ordered a Corriander Naan, and although it was not on the menu, they made one up for me. The main course of Butter Chicken was not what I expected; I was expecting more of a korma style sauce, instead it was a fusion style tomato based sauce and was like an Indian style pasta sauce … Don’t get me wrong, it was still very enjoyable and was served with a light pilau rice. As expected, in a UK Indian Restaurant, the dishes are a bit spicier than in Ireland. The portions are of a decent size, not too large but enough to fill adequately (as you can see below).

The dinner experience here is apparently a very refined affair with low lighting, good music and a more extensive menu.

The one thing which was obvious was the service. At all times attentive and attention to detail and service is very personal – there was a French waiter the day I was there and he was chatty but not intrusive, leaving you to enjoy your meal.

I really enjoyed the food and the ambiance here, £20 for lunch and a drink is a bit much, but worth enjoying a great restaurant experience such as this. Definitely 5 stars for food and ambiance but 3 stars for value as I’m sure you can get an Indian Lunch menu for half the price but you may have to compromise on the end result.

Contact

No1 Kensington High Street, London W8 5NP, UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7795 6533

http://www.zaika-restaurant.co.uk/