Sick Of It All - Dublin [17.08.16]

Not that these legends need an intro but here ya go! Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1986 in Queens, New York. The band's current lineup consists of brothers Lou Koller on vocals and Pete Koller on lead guitar, Craig Setari on bass, and Armand Majidi on drums. Sick of It All has been a major part of the New York hardcore scene.

Though their 1989 debut album Blood, Sweat and No Tears was a moderate success, Sick of It All did not achieve commercial success until further albums. After the release of their 1992 second album Just Look Around, East West Records saw the band's potential and signed them in 1993. Sick of It All's third and major label debut album, Scratch the Surface, was released in 1994 to critical acclaim, and included the singles "Scratch the Surface" and "Step Down" (the video for the latter single would also be featured in the 1995 Beavis and Butt-head episode "Premature Evacuation"). Their 1997 follow-up Built to Last was also highly acclaimed. Despite the success of Built to Last, Sick of It All was dropped from East West and signed to Fat Wreck Chords in 1998, who released the band's next three albums before being dropped from the label in 2005, when they signed to Abacus Records, a subsidiary of Century Media.

This label released their eighth studio album Death to Tyrants in 2006 to positive reviews (Abacus eventually went out of business, though Sick of It All would remain on Century Media, which released the band's next three albums). Sick of It All's latest album, The Last Act of Defiance, was released on September 30, 2014.

Here they are tearing up the Voodoo Lounge in Dublin, probably at the best in the seven times I've seen them.



















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Humans of New York

Humans of New York a project by Brandon Stanton, like the title suggests is a photographic collection of the Humans if New York. I came across it on a blog/Facebook a couple of years ago, his Facebook page has now grown - well deservedly - to over 1 million likes.

Check out the Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork - its an astonishing piece (1,000s of pieces!) of work. Its kind of street photography, but the people know the photograph is being taken and provide some information about themselves. I've done plenty of street photography, its probably the hardest style of photography I've done, its not easy, but going that one step further and asking strangers on the street can you take their photograph has to be admired. 

Brandon also made a trip to Iran and did the same thing there, check out some of those great photos and stories here: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/iran

Well time to get to the point on this post! The project is finally being released as a book (304 page hardback) in October with four hundred color photos, including exclusive portraits and all-new stories. Its available for pre-order now on the Book Depository, I can see this one selling out on its first print run. UPDATE: Now available!

Buy now on Book Depository

"I want to be an architect." "In thirty years, if there is a newspaper article about you, what will it say?" "It will say that I underachieved." "Underachieved? Why's that?" "Because I can do all the work, make the right grades, and get all the right degrees. But once I'm off on my own, I won't be the guy pushing for new clients. I do really good work, but only when I'm working within a structure." "Everyone is like that. You just have to practice discipline and routine so that you can create your own structure."

"I've got an art degree, but I'm thinking about going back to school for physics." "What draws you to physics?" "Well, physics is like art to me, in that I think it's sublime. But in physics, there aren't trends to grab onto. It is what it is."

“What was the happiest moment of your life?” “When I proposed to my wife.” “How’d you do it?” “Well, the first time we ever met, we played Clue with another couple. So when I was ready to propose, I set up a game with the same couple who introduced us. Then I put the proposal in the envelope where the final answer normally is. The funniest part is, when she opened it, she said: ‘Wait. Does this mean I didn’t win the game?’

"We met at a college convention in 1941."

"I tend to click well with quiet people because they let me talk a lot."

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER | TIFF 2013

So "Finding Vivian Maier" has finally been released this week at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). No news yet on full release, but hopefully it will be coming to a decent cinema near you soon!