My Favourite Mormon...

... as the Undertones never quite sang.

To Cardiff on Guy Fawkes night to see The Killers, and what a great night it turned out to be.  'Brandon and the Beardie Blokes' as they probably should be known as, were on great form.  They were tight and they rocked. Terrific light show, with extra fireworks thrown in as well, I suspect, given the date.  They played all the old favourites and about half of the new album, which is slowly growing on me but doesn't do it for me in quite the same way as the others.  'Deadlines and Commitments', my favourite on the album, wasn't one of the somgs they played, but hey.    

One thing, and I did check with my family that it wasn't just my middle-aged man's hearing, but my experience of the sound quality that the Motorpoint offers wasn't great.  Saw Franz Ferdinand there once and thought the same, which is a great shame because the Killers were a bit let down on that front I suspect. 

A really good gig, which would have been great if it weren't for that.  The whole family enjoyed it and that in itself makes it the most successful family gig ever. 

Set List
Mr Brightside
The Way It Was
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman
Bones
Heart of a Girl
Bling (Confession of a King)
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Somebody Told Me
Here With Me
For Reasons Unknown
From Here On Out
A Dustland Fairytale
Read My Mind
Runaways
When You Were Young

Encore
Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
All These Things That I've Done
Battle Born

Signs playlist

Another Reel Issues tonight, where we watch a film at the local cinema and talk about it afterwards. Tonight we are watching Signs, the Mel Gibson film about faith, aliens and miracles (the signs of the film's name). I have been telling people it's not a science fiction film as such but as I was refreshing my memory on it this afternoon I fear I have mislead people. We'll see.

Again, for my own amusement I have compiled a few songs to play beforehand. Listening to The Killers and Prince a lot today as a result.

Sign 'O' The Times - Prince

Signs - Michael W. Smith

There's No Such Thing As Aliens - Sparks

Spaceman - The Killers

What Faith Can Do - Kutless

Joseph - a good man

Quickly trying to regain lost credibility (a scarce commodity as it is) after the last post.

I preached on "Christmas from a man's viewpoint" (idea from Hybels) last Sunday. In the course of my research I googled the phrase only to get, "Did you mean to search for: christmas from a woman's viewpoint". Says it all really. We looked at the stereotypical male who, like Jim Royle, sits in front of the TV rather than doing anything constructive to help at Christmas.

Contrasted that with Joseph who is described as being a righteous man. He was someone who left his fiance alone before they got married and then decided to do the honourable thing and go for a quiet divorce when he was devastated by the news that Mary was preggers. Also looked at him as a man who listened to God and obeyed him and someone who was fully involved in the business of raising Jesus. Amazing to think that Jesus would have learnt about God as a child from Joseph!

I then asked how we guys measure up to Joseph's qualities. Not so well I suspect. My conclusion? As a Christian I am supposed to become more and more like Jesus. I'm not sure I even look much like his earthly Dad.

The ladies loved the sermon. But next week it's their turn.

Anyhow, I only discovered this track today - too late to use in church even if it had been culturally relevant here. But it could be useful for a youth club talk on Friday. Don't know how I missed the song last year but there's a link here for those who are as out of touch as me.

Could be even better than the Wombles...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJe0ITqHHZA

Is there a better band around at the moment?

Listened to Sawdust for the first time today, despite having it for about six months. For a filler album of B sides, covers (including great ones of Joy Division's Shadowplay and Dire Straits Romeo and Juliet) and alternate versions, its a cracking CD. Saw them on TV a couple of weeks ago, the whole of their set from T in the Park, and they were just brilliant. Great songs. When You Were Young from Sam's Town (complete with refrain, "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus") would make a great basis for a Youth Group Talk on 1 Corinthians 7.39.

Even with U2 touring this summer I have to ask are the Killers the best band around at the moment? If not I'd like to know who.