Scissor Sisters December 2010

Scissor Sisters strut their stuff!



In the Summer of 2010 Scissor Sisters toured their shiny new Night Work album across small venues over the UK. As a fan, of course, I was there. The night was hot and sweaty as Sisters from across the Midlands danced the night away.



With this still fresh in my memory, I could not contain my excitement as I rode the train to the LG arena on the 3rd December. Surely, there is no better way to spend a Friday night than in the company of the disco-pop sensation that is the Scissor Sisters?



As the lights went down and the audience roared, the support act Hurts started their set. Usually, support acts are a disappointment when you go and see your favourite band. Hurts are as contrasting as can be when compared to the headliners. With their straight suits and slicked back hair I was expecting to be bored to tears. Hurts use of a tenor along side electric keyboards gave an impressive performance of old meets new.



The only problem with a support act is the half an hour between them and the main act. Waiting around in the arena whilst a simple dance CD plays in the background, watching tech guys set up the stage, is a bit dull. Some people resorting to sitting on the floor.



This paled into insignificance once the Scissor Sisters started to appear on stage. The lights went down and blue seeped across the stage. Randy Real came bouncing across the stage, wielding drum sticks in the air to a rapturous applause. As he took his seat behind the white drums, Babydaddy and Del Marquis took their stance on stage. They stood, legs apart, staring straight into the audience. Ana Matronic, clad in pvc, danced onto the stage to be joined by Jake Shears, who looked like an American cop gone rude. They started singing Night Life, a track from their latest album, Night Work. Lasers danced across the stage and the audience started to dance along, elbows and handbags flying.



Hit record after hit record echoed around the arena. Shears sang the beautiful “Mary” on a stage in the centre of the audience, which seemed to appear from no where. In true Scissor Sisters style they went from sad to sordid in an instant. Once Shears disappeared from centre stage, Ana Matronic strutted onto the main stage in red pvc singing “Skin this cat” whilst dancing girls gyrated around her.



Ending on Filthy/Gorgeous, like they did in the Summer, left me in a party mood, wanting more from the fabulous five. They bidded us good night and left the stage, leaving a restless audience in their wake. Those in the seats started to stamp their feet, those on the floor jeered and clapped for more and much to our delight the Scissors reappeared looking like something from the campest musical you can imagine. Ana Matronic and Jake Shears stormed onto the stage in their glitter-soaked outfits, singing “I don’t feel like dancin’” as cannons blasted confetti into the audience.



When I last saw the Scissor Sisters live I thought I had a good night, that was nothing compared to the night I experienced on that snowy evening at the beginning of December.

Oh, Mr Murdoch, what have you done?

Rupert Murdoch is due to arrive in the UK on Sunday to handle the crisis at the News of the World.

Tomorrow, Sunday 10th July 2011, is the day that the gutter press that is the News of the World comes to an end.

Or is it the gutter press? Undoubtedly, when the phone hacking happened, yes. A journalist could not sink any lower. But over the past few years, those hackers have left and the poor journos currently working there are taking the blame.

Journalists have to do some horrid things to get a story, but nothing this low. I hate phoning the emergency services' press lines. I dread the day I have to interview a grieving family. We have to do some awful things, but you, the reader, reads them.


Without an audience, there is no story. The phone hacking allegations came out years ago, and yet the public continued to buy the News of the World. Hopefully, now readers will think twice about the newspaper they are buying or the TV channel they are watching.


Think about it. Where did the story come from? How did they get their information? Who is in charge of the company and who do they do business with?


Now is the time to act and not be a passive consumer.


By buying a newspaper, you are paying the journalist. You are providing the money for them to investigate stories. Is your newspaper morally sound? Did you pay the phone bill for the hacking?


Andy Coulson, Clive Goodman and another unnamed journalist are currently under questioning by the police. But there's one person missing from the investigation, Rebekah Brooks. Why is she being left to run News International? Maybe, over the next few weeks we will find out the reason for her continued support from Murdoch.



Just an interesting little article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14054497

Hopefully, those soulless journalists that brought the fine art of journalism into disrepute will be forced to face the consequences.



Best of luck to those that have been Murdochs scapegoats