campaign to get a street in king's cross named 'muldoon avenue'.

There's a competition afoot to name one of ten new streets in King's Cross. I would like one of these streets to be named 'Muldoon Avenue'. So I have entered the competition.

The competition website states:

We would welcome suggestions that have a strong link to King’s Cross, but other names will be considered. Put simply, we want people to suggest appropriate, interesting and engaging names for the new streets.
All names will have to be consistent with Camden Council’s guidelines on the naming of streets.

 Armed with these instructions, I entered the following reasons why I think a road should be named 'Muldoon Avenue'.

• Muldoon is an Irish surname. 'Muldoon Avenue' would be a nod to the Irish history in King's Cross, as The Pogues formed in the area. Everybody likes The Pogues.
• It's my Dad's surname, and I think having a street named after him would make him really proud. Especially as I don't think I can be bothered to give him a grandson, which I think he'd prefer. So you'd really be helping me get out of that one.
• According to my research, there's only one street in the UK to namecheck the surname; Muldoon Park in Omagh, Northern Ireland. And it's a really really tiny street. This doesn't seem reasonable, as it's quite a good surname isn't it. Plus there are LOADS of streets with Muldoon in their name in the USA. And do you know where's better than the USA? King's Cross.
• It's my surname as well. I would like a street named after me. It would be mad japes.
  
  Many thanks in advance,
  Mark Muldoon.

The competition is open until the end of May. If you agree that this is a valid, nay, important campaign, why not give the reasons why you think a street in King's Cross should be named 'Muldoon Avenue' over on the competition website. Thank you for your time.

nottingham’s new tourism campaign in london is the finest advertising i have ever seen

 

Dear fellow Londoners,

I imagine, like me, you’ve already spent much of 2013 gazing at the bare summer months in your calendar app, painfully aware of how most years this season passes unfilled, each of us lonely and imprisoned in our respective dwelling-houses. Perhaps also like me then, you sensed a great weight lift from your shoulders recently, as posters went up across our city’s transport network (two spotted so far!) showcasing events forthcoming not here, but up the country a little bit, in my home county of Nottinghamshire.

Please, at this juncture, take a moment to admire the above poster. The more astute observers amongst you will by now have realised that it appears to be advertising some manner of medium sized outdoor concert. And so let us linger in order to further admire the impeccable timing of this poster campaign. For as only the canniest of Nottingham’s marketing brains will have noticed, London has been cruelly starved of medium sized music events in recent years. Quality entertainers simply don’t gravitate to this city. The situation has become quite dire, with people being spotted wandering around various London parks, listening to Smooth Radio, and trying to imagine a way of seeing such hits performed by the people that wrote them.

But puzzle no longer, wandering citizens of England’s capital! A plucky city in the North has rushed to our aid. The less cool-headed Londoner might slap their head in embarrassment, that none of their own had hit upon such a winning event formula. Although I know it will take a degree of swallowing our pride to depart our city for Nottinghamshire, I hope my fellow Londoners will be as commendably mature as I am, and join me on that journey.

If that seems impossible, and you tire of gazing North with your thinly veiled jealousy, let us instead examine our advertisement in question with the appropriately mature admiration that it deserves. Alongside the totemic headliners the London music industry have been kicking and screaming in its attempts to book for years – Blondie and Paloma Faith – we see a number of other borderline arrogant claims. Aside from the brash assertion to hold 12 of some fantastical creation called ‘music venues’ (presumably 11 now), one also notes that apparently, (and please fellow Londoner, steady yourself before reading on) Nottingham has given birth to “one top album artist”.

Well, I can only assume you are also in stunned silence. The only course of action remaining appears to be damage limitation, and so I issue a critical warning to my fellow capital dwellers, not yet versed in the beauty of England’s green and pleasant county: book those train tickets early. Once summer finally rolls around St. Pancras will verge on riotous scenes for the hordes of culture starved capital-dwellers fighting for a place on a train to get to a city where a person has produced a successful album. Let alone a person as admirably refined as Jake Bugg.

In closing, I can only enter a plea to the Gatekeepers of Nottingham: act with greater delicacy in future! Be sensitive to our already blindly jealous eyes! Did NBC advertise their US presidential election coverage across Syria? London life is a daily struggle as it is. I just ask for our plight not to be rubbed in our faces. Many, many thanks, and obviously, see you in June.

the top 10 songs and albums of 2012

Quite a good year for music, all things considered. As usual with these countdowns, any act can only appear in either the albums or songs list, not both.

Top 10 Songs of 2012

1. Usher - Climax
2. Muse - Madness
3. M.I.A. - Bad Girls
4. Bloc Party - Kettling
5. High Contrast - The Road Goes On Forever (One Minute To Midnight Extended Mix)
6. Kindness - House
7. Odd Future - Forest Green
8. Plan B - ill Manors
9. Porter Robinson  - Language
10. Palma Violets - Best of Friends

Listen to the Top 10 Songs as a Spotify playlist. It's 30% unbearably sexy, 70% party anthems.


Top 10 Albums of 2012

1. Chromatics - Kill for Love
2. Richard Hawley - Standing On The Sky's Edge
3. Kendrick Lemar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
4. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
5. John Talabot - fin
6. The Very Best - MTMTMK
7. Angel Haze - Reservations
8. The 2 Bears - Be Strong
9. Yppah - Eighty One
10. School of Seven Bells - Ghostory

Listen to the Top 10 Albums as a 10 track Spotify playlist. It's an equally sexy, but mostly more relaxed listen.

You may also look back over the album countdowns from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007, and the single countdowns from 2011, 2010,2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006, if you're having a peerlessly sedate evening. x

keiran muldoon comments on my top 10 songs of 2012

Over Christmas, my brother Keiran Muldoon listened to my top 10 songs of 2012 Spotify playlist, and shared his thoughts on each track. Please find these thoughts below.

1. Usher - Climax: Awful. Too high-pitched. One out of ten

2. Muse - Madness: Oh I know this one! Good guitar solo. Like it. 8/10.

3. M.I.A. - Bad Girls: Some gangsta music Mark? It's a bit rude girl. (At this point our mum started doing a gangsta dance around the kitchen) Pretty poor. 4/10

4. Bloc Party - Kettling: American high-school Nirvana wannabes. It's just noise. There's no riffs or a hook. 2/10

5. High Contrast - The Road Goes On Forever (One Minute To Midnight Extended Mix): It started off well but it hasn't gone anywhere. It's one big long intro. 6/10

6. Kindness - House: Mum: Oh this is horrible. Keiran: It sounds a bit like they're playing it backwards doesn't it? It's alright. Late night background music. 5/10

7. Odd Future - Forest Green: Good if I was going drag racing in Philadelphia in a car with blacked out windows. But I'm definitely not. 3/10

8. Plan B - ill Manors: Sounds like that boy that sang Bonkers. It's not awful. Rebecca, Sister-in-law: "Can we put White Christmas on after this?" Keiran: It's alright. 5/10

9. Porter Robinson  - Language: Quite like it. Intro has a touch of Air about it. I can imagine listening to this in a cool French bar whilst skiing. David, middle brother: It sounds like Basshunter. Keiran: I'm giving this 8/10. No wait actually 7.

10. Palma Violets - Best of Friends: David Muldoon: Sounds like Hard-fi. The biggest pile of poo I've ever heard. Seriously. Keiran: It's a bit shouty but I like it. Good electric guitar. 7/10

There's also the Top 10 albums of the year list. After this exercise, there was little enthusiasm for listening to any of those. Instead, we put on White Christmas, which everybody seemed a lot happier with.

a modern midnight conversation

We leave Shepherd's Bush Empire quite late on a weeknight. Simon suggests having a pint at the pub. I want to get home soon, so suggest we buy two bottles and drink on the tube. In the shop, Simon wants to buy lager. I want to buy Bulmers Raspberry and Lime flavour. It's new and looks interesting. I get my way.

On the platform in Shepherd's Bush station, we open our bottles. Five minutes later an announcement comes over the tannoy system.

"Passengers are advised that the consumption of alcohol is prohibited across the entire London Underground Network"

I look at Simon, laugh to myself, and rest my bottle in my bag.

"Passengers are advised that the consumption of alcohol, or carrying of an open container of alcohol, is prohibited across the entire London Underground Network"

I down what's left of my drink and put the bottle back in my bag. Simon hides behind the corner and attempts to neck half a bottle. At this point the help point next to us crackles into life.

"We can still see you."

"What on earth? Where? Oh. We're finishing them as fast as we can"

Simon panics. Tries to drink faster.

"What are you drinking anyway? Looks disgusting."

We hear several people in the control room laughing.

"It was Simon's choice, not mine."

"Well just remember, big brother is always watching."

We all laugh. Thanks TfL, love you.

top 10 albums and singles of 2011

Time again for my annual countdown of half decent music. A grand internet tradition since 2006!

This time last year, I suggested that I'd probably be bored of Kanye West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by February. How wrong could I be? Very. That and Janelle Monae have been my two most listened to albums of 2011, despite both being released in 2010, and neither featuring in the upper ranks of last year's countdown.

So it's in that spirit of success, and the fact that I've been traveling for the last nine months - and so more detached from music than usual - that I present this year's 10 best albums and individual tracks. Now more valid than ever!

As usual, an artist will only feature in one list or the other, not both.

Albums

1. The Antlers - Burst Apart
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. The Horrors - Skying
4. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne
5. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
6. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
7. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
8. Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia
9. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
10. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine

Listen to one track of each of these albums as a Youtube playlist. It's mostly a calm, enjoyable listen.


Tracks

1. Elbow - Lippy Kids
2. Coldplay - Paradise
3. Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said
4. Alex Metric & Steve Angello - Open Your Eyes
5. Noah & The Whale - L.I.F.E.GO.E.S.O.N
6. The Vaccines - Post Break-Up Sex
7. Arthur Russell - Walk On The Moon (Labyrinth Ear edit)
8. Nicola Roberts - Beat of My Drum
9. Kount Masloff - You Came to Win
10. The Go! Team - Secretary Song

Listen to the top 10 as a Youtube playlist. It's quite a brash, upbeat listen.

You may also look back over the album countdowns from 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007, and the single countdowns from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

the struggle for aloofness

It's 6:13pm. The sun has been considering whether to set or not for a couple of hours, and it seems now to have settled on an answer.

We're in a beach restaurant in Karnataka, India, but it could be any backpacker orientated hangout worldwide. All the hallmarks are present and correct: patio furniture, hammocks and facial hair. There's banana pancakes on the menu, and the same five Bob Marley tracks repeating on the stereo. Everything is familiar here. Comforting. Today will not be remembered for its life altering developments.

There's six of us enjoying an early dinner. People have been competing to try and out-liberal each other. Sid took an early head start when he pointed out he's a vegan and that he doesn't own a TV. Samantha however, announces she has her own vegetable patch. Her opponents are sent reeling.

It's in the midst of this that KC asks me what the time is. 6:13 I reply. "Oh, that's precise of you", he retorts. Everybody giggles. KC has dreadlocks. An unkempt beard. KC has no interest in the exact time. KC has no interest in the exact anything.

I feel bruised by this encounter. I have tried to help out my friend KC. Why should I be mocked for merely trying to provide people with a helpful level of accuracy? You've asked me something, I'm now trying to assist you to the greatest possible extent. Yet, I get laughed at if I don't give you a worse answer.

For me to round the time to 6:15 actually requires extra effort on my part. I'd have to think about that. Do a quick calculation in my head. It is you that has asked the favour of me. If you're going to ask me the time, but want a pleasingly inaccurate answer, round things off yourself. You go through the effort. Seen as I'm doing you the favour.

Failing that, just don't ask at all. Seemingly you don't really care what the actual time is anyway. You see the sun is about to set. You've been hanging out in this place for five fucking weeks. I would've thought you'd have a supernatural gift for time estimation by now. Roping me into proceedings seems unnecessary. You do the rounding. You do the aloofness. It's best off I leave it to the professionals.

weddings, deaths and public urination

Due to the graphic nature of this blogpost, reader discresion is advised

This weekend, six things happened to me that had never happened before. For instance: I'd never accidentally bought women's clothing before. Now I have. I'm not yet very good at telling the difference with Indian clothes. Here's some further examples:

I'd never been a guest at an Indian wedding before. I manage to get off at completely the wrong Metro stop, and arrive late to find the party in full swing. After five minutes they play one of the very few Indian-influenced songs I know (Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke), so thinking this might be my only chance I'm immediately on the dancefloor, trying my best not to look an idiot. The food meanwhile, is a bewildering array of dishes to pick and choose from. Taking my cue from everybody else, I pile my plate with 15 or so different flavours - roughly 70% of which I'm unfamiliar with - and tuck in, before heading back for seconds. Otherwise the wedding is a backseat affair, and I observe a procession of rituals being performed, most of which I don't understand even once they've been explained to me.

Another first: leaving the wedding in a taxi, traffic suddenly envelopes us. It is a short wait before we pass by the cause. A man is lying in the street, having been knocked off his bicycle by a bus. His head is against the ground, except for roughly a third of it, which is scattered a few feet away. I've never seen a dead body before, and this is a horrific, perspective altering first time.

I've also never seen a film in a Bollywood cinema before, and so watching Bodyguard is an interesting experience. Nobody bothers to switch off their mobiles. Kids scream and run around in front of the screen. The film has complete disregard for whether what is happening is physically possible or not. At one point in the second half, the lead female character is lying in bed, watching on TV a scene from the first half of the film.

I've never seen a woman urinating whilst standing up in the street before. That was weird.

And I've never been in Nepal before. Until yesterday. Despite me being a (comparatively) tall westerner, I was forced to sit in my allocated seat for the 12 hour journey, which just so happened to be the one with the least leg room on the entire bus. Over the course of the journey I take increasingly desperate and absurd measures to highlight my discomfort. At first simply trying to sit elsewhere, then leaning on the guy next to me, then just giving up and sitting on the floor. Eventually I'm lying on the floor, deliriously trying to catch any sleep I can. As I understand, Buddhists believe that the head is the highest, holiest part of the body, and the feet are the lowest, dirtiest part. So the sight of this westerner deliberately lying with his head on the dirty metal floor must have been pretty bewildering to them.

So what do I think of Nepal? Seems to be full of unflinching, westerner baiting order-Nazis. I'm sure I'll find that to be wholly representative.

i'm an idiot.

I'm an idiot. I recently spent a full 60 seconds trying to remember what side of the road people drive on in Britain. Having just written that sentence, I've now been struggling to remember which side of the road is used in India, where I've been travelling for six weeks now.

There is a more impressive example of my advanced idiocy though. In the northern city Amritsar, I leave my bank card in the ATM (British readers! That's the crazy name they have for cash machines in this country!) and walk off. Several hours later I'm confused when I can't find it. I head back, and there's no card, but a sign says that any swallowed bank cards will be returned to the nearest branch.

It's Saturday night, so I resign myself to the fact that I will have to stay in town until Monday to see if the card is safe. I tell pathetic lies in emails and Facebook messages to friends, saying I'm stuck here because an ATM has cruelly swallowed my debit card.

Monday comes, I walk to the branch and... It's closed. Public holiday, I eventually work out. Tuesday comes, and I get told to return the following morning with my passport, and they'll have my card. Wednesday comes, and it's a relaxed, conversational atmosphere as I'm sitting at a desk, signing paperwork to get my card back. I pop my passport back in my bag, wish everybody well and leave relieved. Five minutes later I turn around and start walking back again. I walk into the bank once more and five employees are in fits of laughter. I pick my bank card up off the desk and walk out again.

I'm surprised I haven't absentmindedly stabbed myself in the eye with a biro yet.

postcard from washington dc

"The mind boggles at how much terrorism has been avoided since 2001, when companies started introducing a $4 tax on it."

Checking out of a youth hostel in Washington DC, I ask to put my backpack in their storage room until my coach leaves later that day. A fairly standard request. They explain that it's $4 per day for a locker, or for each time you enter the locker.

Mild extortion, but I agree to it.

In the storage room there's a sign warning people not to leave bags unattended, as "this is Washington DC, and people tend to be pretty paranoid about these things".

Now then. I know I'm nearly ten years late with this observation, but the terrorism America has seen over the last decade hasn't really been based on unattended packages, has it?

That's what we're constantly being told, "Please be aware of unattended packages". Any unattended package, be it outside the White House or outside Gateshead Plumbing School, may be the next step in Al-Quieda's deadly campaign of terror.

If I was a one of today's young aspiring terrorists, I'd be quite insulted by this misunderstanding of my craft.

And let's hope they don't come up with the idea of just putting their explosive inside one of lockers. I reckon 2011's sharp-minded terrorist might deem their 'destruction of western civilisation' cause worthy of a $4 outlay.

And what a time to insult them! "Hello young terrorist, I know you were thinking of blowing this youth hostel sky-high, but we're assuming you're too tight-fisted to pay for the privilege." If there's one time you don't want to be throwing around insults, surely just as they're making final preparations to blow up a building is that exact time?

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. DAY

TERRORIST: Well I was having momentary doubts about my cause, about everything I've been taught, and about whether my beliefs are worth turning a six storey building to rubble for. But then I read that I had to pay $4 first? As some sort of barrier to entry for terrorism? Well from that moment I was convinced. And I didn't bother phoning in a warning either.

The mind boggles at how much terrorism has been avoided since 2001, when companies started introducing a $4 tax on it. Given the immeasurable success, it's perhaps time to extend the policy to other problem areas. Waging an unwinnable war on drugs? A £3 tax on drug trafficking should fix things. Depressed about iIllegal immigration? A £5 tax on war refugees will do the trick. And I seem to spend more money checking my Vodafone voicemail than I do on lunch, which is exactly why I've never entertained thoughts of hacking the voicemails of murder victims.

glastonbury plans

Here's who I'm planning to see at Glastonbury this year. Let me know what your matches are. The last few years my spiritual home seemed to centre around the Other Stage, this year I'm gravitating more towards the Pyramid. Here's how we're looking:

Thursday:
campfire or aimless exploring

Friday:
Wu-Tang Clan
Biffy Clyro
Morrissey or park special guests (Arctic Monkeys?)
U2
Stanton Warriors or Zero 7 DJ set

Saturday:
The Gaslight Anthem
Pulled Apart By Horses or Mark Thomas
Patrick Wolf
Tinie Tempah
The Horrors
Noah and The Whale or park special guests (Pulp?)
Janelle Monae
Coldplay (tight timing. Chemical Brothers if too busy)
Orbital DJ set

Sunday:
Laura Marling
Dan le Sac vs Sroobius Pip
TV on the Radio
The Go! Team
Pendulum
Beyonce
no evening plans

Media-wise, I'm back tweeting for the Guardian, and I'm co-writing Drowned in Sound's review. So if you're not going, I can still irritate you about it.

postcard from louisiana

Am I just lucky, or do remarkable things happen every day to everybody in New Orleans?

The threat of flooding from the Mississippi had continued as I carried on down towards its mouth. On the coach into town we're driving along bridges over marshland. Except today the locks have been opened and the area is being flooded to divert water from the city. It seems we're passing at exactly the right moment: we witness the sight of colossal amounts of water gushing into the area, overwhelming trees as it goes. The guy next to me said he's been traveling this route for 40 years, and never seen anything like it.

The best description of New Orleans I'm told is that I shouldn't think of it as the south of the USA, but as the north of the Caribbean. This seems accurate. And I say so with all the authority of somebody who has never been to the Caribbean.

My first night out in the city I am taken to a bar that feels more like an off-license, with patio furniture set up in the back garden, fairy lights decorating the fences, and musicians playing classical music in the corner. After that it's off to a private members bar/pool club where we relax drinking whiskey sours in the pool until 1am.

Hours before leaving the city I'm heading back to my hostel, along a street I'd already walked on several occasions. This time however, one of the parks is filled with a stage, the stage is filled with a reggae band, and 3000 people are partying along for free. I change plans, and join in. I ask the guy next to me why this is all happening, and his response describes New Orleans better in three words than I could in 300: "It's Wednesday, brother!"

postcard from arizona.

Silliness, really.

postcard from tennessee

Two objectives whilst in the Deep South: eat some BBQ, and see some live blues. I'm told these are the two most important things to sample whilst in the region.

Every now and then whilst traveling, you get lucky. I arrive for my 24 hour visit to Memphis and am told that today is the final day of the World BBQ Championship. 250 teams are competing. I get the feeling that today is one of those days.

It's a remarkable set-up. Teams have gone to great personal expense to build big stalls, and variously provide music, alcohol, elaborate stall designs, matching uniforms, games and gimmicks to provide the perfect BBQ atmosphere.

Team names pun around the subject of pigs. Two personal favourites: Notorious P.I.G. and The People's Republic of Swina.

All the while, judges go around sampling each stall, and marking their BBQ on the minutest criteria. I eat (for free) at about 14 stalls throughout the day, and struggle to discern anything other than superficial difference between them.

As the sun goes down, everybody gathers at the main stage, and 40-something awards are handed out ("and the ninth place in Ribs category goes to..."). A couple of winners cry on stage. The involved crowd cheer at any mention of local pride, local sports teams, or overcoming the floods (the venue was moved from it's usual spot on the banks of the Mississippi*). The biggest cheer comes when - apropos of nothing - a winner calls for the crowd to support their troops.

It's all very surreal, but a strangely moving experience. It's an taste of what gives people a sense of social harmony out here, in the same way that soccer and royal weddings do back home. Everybody leaves exhausted, elated, and very drunk.

We then head back into town and catch some live blues. That's pretty damn good too.


*superb analysis of the media's reaction to the Memphis flood can be read here

postcard from montana

I've edited together a little video of a one day hike I did in Glacier National Park, Montana. Do you see?

By way of previous updates, you can see 42 postcards from April here, postcards from the Middle East, Japan and South-East Asia by scrolling back through here, and my postcard from Coachella festival here - find out which two headliners played the gigs of their career, which one had people down the front falling asleep, and which act Paul McCartney skanked to...

i'm backpacking again.

Oh hello. I'm back traveling again. Which is nice. In the interests of brevity though, I'll only be posting to this blog if I have any stories worth telling.

For regular updates and silliness, follow me at http://twitter.com/muldoon. This is better than me flooding blogspot/facebook every time I'm feeling narcissistic.

If you're not on Twitter, you can just create an account, tell them your phone number, and then choose to have my tweets sent via SMS to you for free, should you wish. Technology!

Semi-interesting stories will be posted at the excellent audioblog service ipadio. There's a semi-interesting one there now about hiking in Yosemite National Park. It's semi-great!

The occasion photo will end up on flickr, and maybe the odd video on youtube.

If you like writing and countries, you can read what I typed about countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Japan by clicking here and scrolling past the silly long Glastonbury post.

BYE MULDOON BLOG. x

Brighton Rock: assumed film review

Can I review a film, based on watching just the last 20 minutes?

So I saw the trailer for Brighton Rock a week ago. Looked enjoyable. Action packed, I would say. Perhaps even over-packed. Were any plot details left out?

Then yesterday, I read a review that mentioned that the climactic scene of the film is on a clifftop. Hang on! I thought. That trailer spends its last 20 seconds having emotional confrontations on clifftops!

Happy that the film promoters had already provided me with a handy two minute recap of 120 minutes of cinema, I returned to the cinema last night, when there was only 20 minutes left of the film.

And it was a very enjoyable 20 minutes, thank you. It tied up that nasty cliffhanger the trailer left me on, and I saved two hours of my life. Which I opted to spend in the pub. RESULT.

glastonbury 2010: a twitter memorial

I've just been sorting through some old tweets, and ended up reading through my timeline from when I was at Glastonbury 2010. Thought I'd post the collection up here.

muldoon

Just finished washing last years Glastonbury mud off walking boots, ready for this years Glastonbury mud.

19 Jun

muldoon

Here's a fun fact: I'll be part of the team tweeting on the Guardian's website as part of their Glasto coverage. Expect MUSIC OPINIONS.

21 Jun

muldoon

Got into west carpark at 6am after 45mins crawling towards the site. Not bad. Now in W36 car park queuing for gates to open. #glasto

23 Jun

muldoon

Last #Eng game I saw at #Glasto was when they went out on penalties against Portugal in '04. Similarly electric atmosphere here today

23 Jun

muldoon

Suddenly I'm sat 60 meters from Prince Charles, standing on the Pyramid stage. Surprising.

24 Jun

muldoon

Detroit Social Club and Courteeners have put in decent sets so far. Hoping for big things from Bonobo #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

Best t-shirt slogan seen: 'GIVE WAR A CHANCE' #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

Bonobo: ace. Current rumour is that tonight's secret set at The Park is Thom Yorke. #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

LATEST: Guy spotted on his friend's shoulders, eating a fry-up. The Big Pink's set, Park Stage. #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

All pretty exciting up at the Park stage. Half the crowd think its The Strokes, half think its Thom Yorke... #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

A 'well lubricated' Jamie from the Klaxons has left however, having been more interested in seeing The Big Pink. #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

It's Thom Yorke! And Jonny Greenwood? #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

Oh my days. Thom Yorke. Jonny Greenwood. Radiohead classics. Incredible. #glasto is ruined

25 Jun

muldoon

Last minute change of mind. Gorillaz too packed. Groove Armada instead. Have you heard their latest album? It's phenomenal #glasto

25 Jun

muldoon

Risk of seeing Groove Armada completely vindicated. They and the crowd were as one, and we left dripping with sweat. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

A raucous late night DJ set from Chase & Status in Shangra-la just about makes up for not being able to see their live set earlier #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Here be my Friday #glasto Top 5: 1. Thom Yorke & Johnny Greenwood 2. Groove Armada 3. Bonobo 4. Local Natives 5. Chase & Status (dj set)

26 Jun

muldoon

I wish I had found the time to make my HELLO STEVIE WONDER #glasto flag.

26 Jun

muldoon

It was going to be that or FLAG FOR SALE. ONE PREVIOUS OWNER. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Peter Hook talks Hacienda in the Park. "stock-take tip: if you manage a bar, it doesn't mean letting the staff take the stock." #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Peter Hook talks Hacienda in the Park. "...I don't know if you've ever tried to reason with a gangster on crack carrying an uzi" #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Not fussed by this footy tournament going on, but is anywhere here showing the Doctor Who finale? #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Was expecting a bigger crowd for The National. Thought word had really got out about them in the last couple of months. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Overheard: 'picking your favourite National song is like picking your favourite sexual position' #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

If The National are any later coming on stage I can kiss goodbye to seeing Biffy Clyro for sure #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

We live in a world that is still only beginning to wake up to what a special band The National are. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Despite running from the Other Stage, can't even get where i can see Biffy Clyro's set at the Park. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

"You are fully aware that Shakira is currently on the main stage, right?" - Ryan Jarman, The Cribs. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

So how's the TV coverage of #glasto going so far? Has Jo Whiley been nice to a band she secretly hates yet? Perhaps @gracedent can advise.

26 Ju

muldoon

Have they begun EVERY SINGLE SHOW discussing the weather? Has @zanelowe said the Pyramid crowd is the biggest he's seen? #glasto @gracedent

26 Jun

muldoon

Monochrome is the last theme I ever expected for a Scissor Sisters set. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

#glasto This backing singer has got a little over confident. #ohitskylie

26 Jun

muldoon

Excitement in Muse crowd is off the chart. Wish I'd been able to see Laura Marling though. #glasto

26 Jun

muldoon

Speechless due to fatal attack of Muse. Normal service will be resumed shortly. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

I would have been tweeting throughout, but it was JUST TOO GOOD. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

And having been previously cynical, what a wonderful choice of collaboration track Streets Have No Name was. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

A Four Tet DJ set seems like a good way to loosen up after such a night. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Oh Four Tet, you were very wonderful #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

#Glasto Saturday Top 5: 1) Muse 2) The National 3) Four Tet (dj set) 4) Peter Hook (in conversation) 5) Silver Columns

27 Jun

muldoon

#glasto All I want is a curry before noon, but YOU'RE ALL only selling bacon butties

27 Jun

muldoon

#glasto Haven't heard any celebrity death rumours yet. Cliff Richard has usually corked it by this point

27 Jun

muldoon

Twitter! Help me start the rumour that Robert Kilroy-Silk has died! #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Oh em gee! Just heard Robert Kilroy-Silk has died! Run over by a shopping trolley apparently! #glasto
27 Jun

muldoon

I'm not sure the guy with the DROP BEATS NOT BOMBS t-shirt has considered the real world practicalites of such a foreign policy. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Walking across #glasto site. Surprising numbers avoiding #eng #worldcup game. Temper Trap and Jaguar Skills playing to good crowds.

27 Jun

muldoon

Meanwhile Broadcast 2000 on BBC Introducing stage are playing the football commentary in between their songs! #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Alex Metric felt lacklustre, so have come to Cabaret tent to see Shappi Khorsandi tell jokes instead. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

"I read this wonderful piece in the paper - no sorry - the Metro, yesterday" Shappi Khorsandi, Cabaret tent. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

I Am Kloot are making some beautiful noises in the Queen's Head right about now. The new songs are a revelation #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

I Am Kloot were wonderful. They'll be the set everybody talks about on the Other Stage at #glasto 2011, that's my prediction.

27 Jun

muldoon

#glasto Seeing LCD Soundsystem twice already this summer, so am at Faithless instead. Want to hear Insomnia live again

27 Jun

muldoon

Faithless: only just not as good as Scissor Sisters last night. Imagine they've won a lot of fans back.#glasto

27 Ju

muldoon

#glasto Fair to say the majority of the audience are at Faithless just for the hits. New stuff is winning them over though.

27 Jun

muldoon

#glasto Just saw four policeman on horseback each wearing Village People headwear. They were probably cheered louder than Gorillaz on friday

27 Jun

muldoon

Orbital release thousands of glow sticks into the crowd! Via strategically placed friends in the crowd! #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Orbital Doctor Who end set madness! #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

We made a dash for Four Tet's set after Orbital. Never a decision one is going to regret. #glasto

27 Jun

muldoon

Four Tet was as beautiful as one could wish for. Now rushing to The Park because have heard a Chemical Brothers DJ set rumour. #glasto

28 Jun

muldoon
Made in to a gay club in Block 9 where you pay £2 or just flash your penis for free entry #glasto
28 Jun

muldoon

We obviously took the latter option. #glasto

28 Jun

muldoon

Now at Arcadia. Haven't experienced an insaner club night than this set up. And it only lasts 3 days a year. #glasto

28 Jun

muldoon

No queues to get out the car park! Woo! I don't think I've ever had happier news. Thank you #glasto, and happy birthday.

28 Jun

muldoon

#Glasto Top 5 of Sunday: 1) Orbital 2) I Am Kloot 3) Four Tet 4) Shappi Khorsandi (Cabaret tent) 5) Faithless

28 Jun

» muldoon

Top 5 of #Glasto: 1) Thom Yorke & Johnny Greenwood 2) Muse 3) Groove Armada 4) The National 5) Orbital

28 Jun

muldoon
#glasto Reading my tweets I was too drunk to remember on the Guardian's site. An odd feeling, one I imagine few people can ever have

28 Jun




In 2011 I'll be at Glastonbury again, as well as Coachella. Expect more livetweeting then.