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What a difference the

weather makes !

Last years Rhythms of the World certainly left many of us feeling that the whole idea of moving the festival to the Priory grounds was indeed a washout ! In every possible sense !

However, the sun shone, the people smiled and the whole day became as memorable as any festival in past years

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What a difference the

weather makes !

Last years Rhythms of the World certainly left many of feeling that the whole

idea of moving the festival to the Priory grounds was indeed a washout ! In every possible sense !

However, the sun shone, the people smiled and the whole day became as memorable as any festival in past years

check the HitchinGigs.co.uk website for their up and coming gigs and those of the other bands.

I wont bore you all with my dissection of all the performances — sufficient to say

Well Done Everybody !!

The bands, the organisers, all the people behind the scenes who came together like a well oiled machine and proved once again that Hitchin is the best place in the world for live music !

The three stages were continually surrounded throughout both days and nights and the bands gave of their best to have the crowds cheer-ing, clapping and gener-ally being festive !

Our old favourites Chron Gem were on the main stage early in the proceedings and as always gave a sterling performance —always good to see them in action

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THE BLEACH BOYS

As always, a stunning assault on the senses by a band who have delighted their fans for almost thirty years

These boys are a no holds barred extravaganza and there were a few faces in the crowd who had obviously not seen them before

Haven’t seen that much sweat for a long while !

I appreciate that lots of you are already familiar with the work of this band, but those of you who have not yet experienced them I urge you to do so at your earliest opportunity.

I am converted and I am officially a follower of the band that stirred my soul to its very foundation

But be warned, you have to be prepared for anything !

-that was interesting ! My guess is they were hoping for a bit of Surfin’ Safari !

There is no way to categorise this band — I guess the closest would be raw anarchic punk at its most brilliant and passionate, these guys really give it their all !

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I am converted and I am officially a follower of the band that stirred my soul to its very foundation

But be warned, you have to be prepared for anything !

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WEDNESDAY JULY 8TH—

HITCHIN TOWN HALLSchools in Concert 7pm

THURSDAY JULY 9TH

ST MARYS-NORTH HERTS YOUTH JAZZ CONCERT 7.30PM

FRIDAY JULY 10TH

THE VENUE– CHAOS:BABY

SATURDAY JULY 11TH

CLUB 85 –SCAR MY EYES, A LONG TIME DEAD £5

SUNDAY JULY 12TH

CLUB85 DEAD CAMELS, TYRANNOSAURUS ALAN, JOHNNY

HOT WHEELS THOMPSON £3.50

THE SIR JOHN BARLEYCORN, BEN SMITH AND ANDY SKELTON

3PM

HITCHIN TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB, LAUREN AND FRIENDS 8PM

FRIDAY JULY 17TH

CLUB85 YOUR DEMISE MANY THINGS UNTOLD SANTA CARLA

PAY NO RSEPECT. THE RISE OF SIRIN £6

FOR ALL OTHER LISTINGS VISIT HITCHINGIGS.CO.UK

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ar

In recent years we,ve known this place as The Adam

and Eve, The Tut and Shive and recently The

Phoenix.

Now in its latest reincarnation the aptly named The

Venue is Hitchin’s newest live music spot.

The Bar has been split in two, what was the lounge

Is now a dance floor and stage, and the public bar

has benefited from a thorough clean and new

furniture.

There is plenty of standing room, and smoking areas

both to the front and in the garden to the rear, there

is some on street parking to the front but parking

round the back of the pub can be a bit of a squeeze.

The Bar manager and staff are young professional,

friendly and enthusiastic, and the Band Promotor,

Ricky tirelessly sources new talent, such as the 18

year old Finola, as well as firm favourites such as

The Skallywags.

This weekend sees Chaos:Baby headlining with

support from the Debt Collectors.

Entry to all gigs at the Venue is Free of Charge,

but as its popularity is growing, I would get down

there early.

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PHONE N97

Battery 6 hrs on 3G

Weight 150 grams

Screen 3.5 inc

Touch Screen Yes

Qwerty

KeyBoard

Tilt and Slide

3G Yes and WiFi

Video 640 x 480/360

Camera 5 mega pixels

Network Any

This really is a battle of Geek versus Chic.

The Nokia N series has always been a firm

favourite of nerds every where, and this latest

addition is sure to be to be no exception.

Boasting a massive 32 gig memory, a tilt and

slide keyboard as well as a touch screen this

really is Nokias best phone yet. The N95 set

the world buzzing and the N96 was slightly

refined but not so different to cause any great

excitement, however the N97 promises to

bridge the gap between phone and PDA.

Time will tell if suffers the problems of stall-

ing and slow reactions the early predecessors

did. It will never be considered as good look-

ing as the iphone, but that has never worried a

geek

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PHONE IPHONE 3GS

Battery 5hrs on 3G

Weight 135 grams

Screen 3.5 inc

Touch Screen Yes

Qwerty

Keyboard

Virtual

3G Yes and Wifi

Video 640 x 480 pixels

Camera 3 mega pixels

Network O2 only

The first iphones didn’t have 3G ,even the

very recent iphones didn't come with video,

now Apple have started to include these fea-

tures for the techno savvy, twitter happy pub-

lic. Battery life may suffer a little but its now

even slimmer profile and crystal clear screen

Is its biggest draw.

Lets face it iphones are for the beautiful peo-

ple, it ‘s ever so pretty, its touch screen is irre-

sistible, and the endless apps available from

Apple mean you can fool yourself into think-

ing this more than just a smart phone.

Does anyone actually use a £300 phone as a

spirit level?

I’ve always been averse to anthing quite so

trendy, but I must admit I want one.

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Is it possible, that after all this time I can

now get music free of charge and free of

worrying about my ISP cutting me off.

Well yes and no. Spotify does offer free

membership for those who want it but you

are then burdened with adverts, not a mas-

sive crisis though as most songs are avail-

able, and even the free version allows you

to create playlists you can share with

friends.

Spotify also offers two pay for sub-

scriptions. A one day pass for just 99p

Which also has the added advantage

Of creating Radio Stations playing spe-

cific music genres. And these are all

advert free, in addition there is the pre-

mium service for £10 for a months

unlimited access which includes a ac-

cess to pre release tunes and a Concert

ticket lottery.

So there we have it, I can uninstall

Lime Wire and other P2P software and

cancel my subscription to Napster and

Itunes then.

Well not quite yet!

This isn't a download service it’s a

streaming service.

That means , unless you are very com-

puter literate and have too much time

on your hands,

You cant store the music itself on your

computer, and therefore you can’t get

it to your mp3.

This is limited to at your PC usage at

the moment. Fear not though this only

a Beta, and more features are prom-

ised soon.

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This is af un and esay to use web app,

and one which should be used with

care.

Hiding web cams to spy on people or

to broadcast lewd content may well be

against the law. As would using this

system to stream copyright protected

property.

If you decide to broadcast some con-

tent let us know about it, and we might

Feature it next issue

Ever fancied your own reality TV

show? Or did you want to see what

your dog does when you are at work?

Now its easier than ever, all you need

is an internet connection and a web

cam.

Visit USTREAM.TV and set up your

free subscription and you can stream

live video directly from any video

equipment you can link to your PC.

Ive used my Bluetooth active phone to

act as an impromptu CCTV camera,

Which sites do visit? Have you discovered any killer apps, in-

valuable shareware or some-

thing that’s weird and wonder-ful?

Then email us at hitchingigs@live.co.uk

or through the contact page on

www.hitchingigs.co.uk

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Michael Jacksons untimely passing has predictably led to mass hysteria

on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ive never been a fan of Michael Jack-

son, and often found his displays of ec-

centric celebrity distasteful and disturb-ing, without factoring in the additional

and more serious controversies of his

life.

However, it is true to say that his music

has touched generations of people and is sure to for time to come.

For me Michael Jackson’s biggest talent was to adapt to the new technology that

then was video, none more so than

Thriller

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The 14 minute or so video played a like short movie, and has been the subject

of many an accolade.

His energy and skilful performances have

left many a crowd shouting for more and

the 50 stadium s full of fans in this country

will undoubtedly miss his unique style.

I hope that his influence on music will be

seen in future generations, rather than his

influence on celebrity .

That said it is a sad time , the King of Pop is

Is dead, may he rest in peace

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