The ET Rock Blog

 The first Saturday in February. That’s right folks, we’ve made it through January and to our first gig of 2023! So, grab a brew and get comfy for a tale of Wendy(s), a ticketing cock up, Rugby, a Nissan Leaf, Epica and the Underworld. Now, before we begin we need to tell you of one of our famous cock ups… Earlier in the week, T did the sensible thing and as E who had the tickets, E said he did and then T mentioned he had a set too. In typical ET style we’d managed to both purchase a set each and have double the number required. Wonderful. Only we could manage this! With attempts to shift the tickets failing we had no option but to swallow this. Still, could have been worse, too many tickets is better than not enough! The meet point for a lovely Saturday gig was declared as E’s with the crew being joined by honorary member I for this adventure. With T arriving in good time for the first ET crew outing of the year a brew was had whilst waiting for I to make the short journey fro...

 Monday. Traditionally one of the worst days of the week with work and what not. However, this particularly grey Monday even by British standards was about to be brightened up significantly by the ET crews latest exploits, mainly a Halestorm gig in Southampton! So, grab a brew and get comfy for a tale of pizza, pint cocktails, chicken shop rage, and a gig thrown in. We do spoil you lot! E was the first to arrive at Southampton central and was shortly joined by T who was already hungover having a night of Vodka (this was a sign of things to come). Not wanting to waste VDT (valuable drinking time for the uninitiated) and to give T a chance for some hair of the dog, the ET crew were soon depositing our bags in our digs for the night and munching on pizza hut pizzas washed down with a few San Miguels. Now, readers of our Skindred post will note last time we visited Southampton we took in the Stable pizza and cider place, but alas this is no more. No doubt another hospitality industry...

 615 Days. That’s how long it had been since the ET crew last were at a gig, this being the fantastic Sabaton at Wembley arena, alas no write up for this one, with hindsight we should have done one, but oh well, we can now bring you a blog post written from a recent gig rather than from memory and what a start we have! The amazing Skindred at the o2 Guildhall in Southampton. Not only are these guys a particular favourite of the ET crew, this is a brand-new venue for us so get comfy, maybe grab a brew for we’re about to tell a tale of Pizza, Scholars, Reggae Rock and a Lord of the Rings themed pub! The day had arrived. Friday 15 th of October. A date which the ET crew had been looking forward to since the return of live music was announced by BoJo and Skindred had announced their show time tour taking in various UK cities. Now, regular readers will know that we usually take in most of our gigs in London and there was indeed a stop over at the roundhouse for the Newport reggae roc...

 Monday. Traditionally a day for getting back to work after the weekend then heading home for a quiet night in, In other words, the worst day of the week. However, for the ET crew Monday 12 th November was set to be far from this. E arrived into Paddington shortly before T and soon the crew were on the bus heading towards Euston and our digs for the night. With bags dropped and with 4 hours until stage time, it was off the Euston Flyer to kick things off with a few pints of Fullers ale. The Euston flyer is a regular haunt of the ET crew when in this part of London and for good reason! A massive pub with a cracking ale selection. Nicely warmed up, it was onto the bus for the short Journey up the Hampstead Road for the lining of the stomachs in the excellent (sadly now gone) Istanbul Grill. As our regular readers will know, the ET crew are very much partial to a late night donner, however with it being 6pm and us only being two pints in the more sensible choice of shish kebabs was...

 Sunday morning at Download festival. The ET crew were just emerging from the blissful land of sleep for the final day of what had been a weekend full of booze, junk food, hardly any sleep and of course, fantastic music! Tea drunk, cereal bars eaten and with the ET crew vaguely resembling human beings (as far as is possible at a festival) it was off to the guest area for the lining of the stomachs. The Sunday line up meant the ET crew had a late start with the first band of the day, Amon Amarth not taking to the stage for some time, a fairly relaxed late morning/early afternoon was had, starting off with, as readers of the Day 2 post will have heard about, some ‘Spicy bois’. Stomachs suitably lined (and probably also destroyed) it was back to base camp to put another dent in the remaining plastic bottles. Whilst warming up for Amon Amarths set with a mix of Brothers of Metal, Slipknot, Tool (who were headlining the main stage that evening) and various others was put on with the E...

Saturday morning in a field in Leicestershire and the ET crew were waking up for their second day at Download! Ordinarily the ET crew would have expected to wake with absolutely shocking hangovers, especially given the events of the previous night following Def Leppards headline set, but for some reason Download is the land of no hangovers! Result! Before we recount the events of the second day at Download, we need to explain a story called ‘the spicy boi incident’. Following Def Leppards excellent performance, it was back into the guest area for a few pints and then back to our living quarters. E got the drinks sorted whilst T sorted the tunes out. It was at this point T exclaimed “Petition to rename fire ants to spicy bois!”. A combination of being plastered and surprise had E in absolute hysterics and thus, the spicy boi term was born. Turns out T was reading something on his phone and stumbled across it. This term got used to describe all sorts of things throughout the weekend in...

 Wednesday 17 th June 2019. A time long before covid. For E this meant the last day in the office until next week and for T, a journey to E’s for the next day, the ET crew would be making the journey north to the hallowed fields of Donington Park. Why you ask? Well, for the uninitiated, this is where the legendary download festival, the UKs largest rock and metal festival takes place! T arrived at E’s shortly after 8 and for the ET crew this naturally meant one thing, the pub! Off to E’s local it was where the crew settled down for a few pints of London Pride for T and a few of Cornish Orchards cider with an obligatory pub salad. Plans were hatched for the following 3 days with the crew working out possible clashes and how to dart between stages. With plans made and the clock nearing 10pm, the ET crew made their way back to E’s for the last night of proper sleep in a proper bed for 4 days. The next morning, with final showers taken and the car loaded (thanks to honorary member T...

 Sunday. For most normal people this is usually a day of rest with a nice roast dinner in preparation for Monday. As you’ve probably gathered by now, the ET crew are far from normal so what are we doing? Preparing for Heilung at Camdens roundhouse! The crew met at Paddington and then it was onto the bus towards Euston and the ET crews’ lodgings for the night. Check in completed and with 4 hours until stage time, it was down the road to the Euston Flyer for a few pints of Fullers London Pride before heading round the corner to the wonderfully named Mabel’s Tavern, a lovely Shepherd Neame pub. It was packed, so the ET crew ended up sitting outside on the street but fortunately heaters were available. This is a lovely little pub and thoroughly recommended if you’re ever in the Euston Area. With the stomachs starting to growl it was onto another bus for the short journey up the Hampstead Road to Camden. With the ET crews normal pre gig eatery permanently gone, it was into the decen...

 Metallica. Few bands in the metal world evoke such excitement when they announce a gig, so when the ET crew learned they’d be playing at Twickenham it was no questions asked, we’re going. With tickets bought, fast forward to June 2019 and the ET crew are disembarking their train at Twickenham station and making the short walk to the George pub on Twickenham’s queen street. For this outing, the ET crew were joined by two honorary members, T and D. With a table secured, it was time for the warm up to begin. Several pints of various beverages were sunk, with the ET crew getting into discussion with some fellow Download goers from the week before. Suitably Hydrated Soon, it was time for the pre gig feed (with hindsight we should have done this before going to the pub) so over the road to KFC it was. Two sharing buckets ordered between the 4 of us, perfect pre gig food. Unfortunately, the poor staff somehow got the orders all mixed up and the ET crew were soon provided with a bag conta...