Yet again I am being criticised for my reviews on Phoenix Live, which just added more weight to my thinking of killing the site. “I believe the reviewer should review his technique!” is what was the crux of the message among other things, I have written reviews the same way for the last 18 months, and I am not going to change now, I would rather not write reviews than compromise my writing. It’s the same old shit time and time again, and I really am losing all interest in the alternative live scene, and the alternative music scene completely as its far too bitchy, for no good reason, a good joke, goes along the lines of “how many hardcore kids does it take to screw in a light bulb?” and the answer is “one, and the rest to criticise”, just about sums it up. I do feel like completely withdrawing from public life (The Phoenix and Phoenix Live) completely, as its not worth the effort, and each time more bullshit is posted, I simply get more and more disillusioned and lose any incentive to go to gigs now. Another thing that winds me up is that people moan about my comments about instruments being too loud, and they resort to saying the soundman / sound system is crap, when that is not even remotely true. The bands crank up their 4×12 amp/cab combos to max volume, and the soundman can’t do anything with it, and often turns off the guitar/bass channels on the mixer, which then caused all sorts of problems with feedback through the vocal microphones. If the bands work with the soundman, it will sound great out-front, and if they don’t, it will sound a mess, especially guitars/bass clashing with the vocals, making them inaudible. If you are interested in reading all this, its can be found in the comments on the review for the Wishlist gig.