Well, having stated seven months previously that I would never write in this again, I've decided to surface. Whilst this undoubtedly pains some people, the opportunity to write is a beautiful thing really.

So, what has happened in the last seven months? Well, I've been to several gigs, got (and about to lose) a girlfriend, been on a Canadian and American adventure and returned, continued on with university, went to a few football matches, drank a fair bit (no more than last night, which was perhaps a landmark in jakiness), and lost my teenage youth. 2004 has stank.

So, gigs attended. Certainly a new record for amount of gigs in a year...since May, I've seen (in no particular order) Ian Brown, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand (twice), The Complete Stone Roses, The Afterthoughts (don't ask), and possibly more that I can't bring to mind at the minute. Seeing Ian Brown was a joy to behold, especially with his resurrection of the Stone Roses numbers. He played seven Roses songs in all - Sally Cinnamon, Sugar Spun Sister, Where Angels Play, Made Of Stone, Waterfall, She Bangs The Drums and I Wanna Be Adored - and the Academy was heaving that night. Despite being a bit apprehensive pre-gig, it was a superb concert. Don't believe the stories that Ian Brown can't sing live.

The night after Ian Brown, I went to see Franz Ferdinand at the Barrowlands. Although I was shafted on eBay for tickets (£55 for two, double the face value), they were worth it. Although Alex had an asthma attack two songs into the set, they gave it their all. It's one of the roughest gigs I've been to, and perhaps the best. Probably surpassing Morrissey at Barrowlands in 2002. They have the "it" factor that so many bands these days lack.

Morrissey in December was eventful. Despite not knowing PJ Harvey's work, I found her to be delightful and certainly a lot easier on the eye than I expected. Then Morrissey. Bit of a strange set-list - a few too many B-sides perhaps? Maybe understandable as he's trying to flog the new platinum edition of the album - but all in all sound. Perhaps sounded a bit better than he did two years ago. And any setlist that has How Soon Is Now? and Bigmouth Strikes Again is always going to be good anyway.

Franz Ferdinand, for the second time, followed five days after Morrissey at the SECC. The band perhaps sounded better at the SECC than they did at the Barrowlands (there weren't any asthma attacks this time), which perhaps was a bit surprising considering the despicable venue that the SECC is. The crowd, however, were fairly dormant. They stood there, motionless, applauding politely whenever the band finished a song. That may be ok for a wishy-washy band like Keane, but not for the furious pace of Franz Ferdinand's songs. The new songs sounded superb, and I got a vinyl free after the gig.

The Complete Stone Roses were a bit of a disappointment. Always going to be good due to the quality of the songs they're playing, the new singer has taken them a bit backwards in my view. Also, I'm not quite sure what the band thought they were doing by interfering with the Resurrection outro. It's just not the done thing to do. Still, a decent gig, although it suffered from the same problem as the second Franz gig - I managed to get down the front fairly easily, and...nothing. No movement, no people. All content to stand and watch. A tad disappointing.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all bored and fed up now with this entry. I wish you all a pleasant 2005, as I'm not sure when I'll be back on here. Until then, fans.