"Thursday 24 October 2002: University of Wales, Aberystwyth Students Union: It just gets better and better. After a torturous eight and a half hour trip from Bournemouth involving a two hour stop for a broken down car, a rain storm, fog, getting stuck behind a skip transporter and a whole bunch of twisting A roads we ran into the venue a little late and managed to get from the car to starting the night in eight minutes flat. But it was all worth it, because this was one of the best nights we've had. There were two large rooms, packed with enthusiastic and friendly people, many of whom came over to chat to Ace and myself. But the pinnacle of the tour so far came at 1:00am when the venue's lights came on for the end of the evening. The whole crowd began a chant of 'More, more, more!', so I looked at the Ents Manager Steve and he agreed to give us one more song. I grabbed 'Teen Spirit', he whacked the lights back down and the place went f**king nuts. It was, quite frankly, perfect. So thanks to Steve, thanks to Aberystwyth and I guess thanks to Nirvana! An amazing night with an incredible ending."
For those of you who are willing to take as the truth the opinion of a website containing in its meta keywords 'Green Day' three times and 'The Offspring' twice, as well as the seldom-mentioned hybrid 'blink 182sex pistols', welcome to Aberystwyth. If not, welcome to hell. I hope that you enjoy this commemorative issue:
In this weeks issue:
Barefoot is best - why Something Corporate don't wear shoes
SOAD write poetry - it rocks our sensitive side
Wear it - 10 kewl t-shirts you should own
Dude, he's dead - Drowning Pool remembered
Andrew KW gave out correspondant AIDS
All other pages: The Osbournes
Something Corporate:
"Dude, it's not like just a clever name. We're from California and it's like the total essence of American culture to sell out to be true. We are something corporate." So said their singer, Brian Jefferies, on our meeting that I made up. You see this magazine is UK based and all the bands are US based, so they just fax us over a bunch of quotes and a photo and we make up questions to fit. When he said this, we laughed though we both knew it was too close to the bone. To validate this, he continued, "But dude, that's totally not to say that we're not a proper band. Our manager just told us this was 'business savvy' or something like that, haha. I mean, we write and play songs and we pose for the photos and that what it's all about, right?" And he's right. It's the new punk, which they are. Their following is our readership, so if we're rock, they are too. He doesn't wear shoes - that's real. "Yeah, the shoes, dude. That's because of two things. The first is that my shoes are canvas, and I stood in a puddle outside the venue last night and soaked them through. They're still drying. But more importantly than that, I saw Silverchair not wearing shoes. Something about channeling zen through your feet to the natural tree wood from which the stage is built." There you have it: another K! exclusive!
System Of A Down:
The singer has a new book, and it's poetry. He's a real revolutionary - he doesn't just rock, he THINKS. As well as writing political lyrics, he writes poety. Is he the most intelligent man alive in the world today? QUITE POSSIBLY. He wrote this:
"Art is the best way to the heart.
The hearts of men can and will change.
That change changes the world.
We can bomb with love and you cannot resist.
We can kill you with compassion if you do not assist."
Pure 5 K! beauty. (You see what we did there? Normally things are rated out of 5 stars, but I said 5 K!s because that reminds you what you're reading. It's quite clever really.) *
* = I didn't make this bit up. This is the opening stanza from 'Art', from the book 'Cool Gardens' as published by MTV Books and doubtless available in a sickening number of shops soon.
K! reader xAvrilx (age 14, from Bristol) says: "I hate Avril. She says she's punk, but she's not punk. But one thing she has done is to attract normal people to freak music. Thanks to Avril my friends now listen to bands like Something Corporate. It's not punk, but it's a start. I like punk bands like Sum41 and Good Charlotte."
K! reader Mud (age 21, from Reading) says: "I've been listening to hardcore mostly recently. I've been digging Linkin Park, because they're real. Even though they're rock and they tear it up, they still have that groove you get with chart music like Nelly. Before them, it was hard to stay 'true' to rock, but now I can. Plus they aren't afraid to look like geeks. I respect that."
K! reader Playah Hata (age 17, from Camberley) says: "People don't accept me for who I am, but I don't let them hold me back. I don't think I'm a goth. You can't label me, I'm just me, I'm unique. SOAD are my favourite band. I just hang and talk about murder, music, and vodka."
