I don't know about you, but music is, and always will be a major part of my life.

The first song I remember hearing, first single I bought, the first gig I went to.¹ There are other stand out memories, too. My first Glastonbury (glorious, sunny - successfully avoiding Elvis Costello) The gigs I've taken my children to and the reactions of the gig-goers to them. I will never forget the day I told my eldest two boys that if Faster Pussycat and/or Thunder ever reformed I'd take them...guess what happened the following year?²

There *is* a soundtrack to my life as I'm sure there is to almost every single one of us.

I make compilation CDs for out and about in the car and quite regularly just make random playlists on Windows Media Player, all of them for different times of the year.

The picture you can see here is of Perttu Kivilaakso, one of the members of Apocalyptica, a Finnish metal band, who play sat down on Cellos.³ it was taken on the Worlds Collide tour in 2007/8. Fantastic night, very warm, but then it always is in the 'sweat box'.⁴ As a band they started out covering Metallica and then started writing their own material and collaborating with the likes of Corey Taylor and Max Cavalera among many others⁵. Check 'em out they're better than 'Picking on Led Zepplin' and almost as good as Hayseed Dixie.

This challenge is all about finding out what rocks *your* boat, not whether Iron Maiden are the best band in universe, (we all know they are, anyway) but what makes you stop, and pause a while, and remember another time, another different place perhaps.

I have some stories to tell, some pictures to share, and I'm sure you lot do too. So come on. Anything you like, from a personal review of a gig or album or artist, to something more in-depth, or even more trivial. Prose, poetry, pictures, Guide Entries - hey, we're not fussy. All comers are welcome, old, young, somewhere in between...(did I mention we're not fussy?).

Join the party and share, people. Share.