The Highway Gigger

Music is my life and passion, I beleive that everybody has a song in their head as they go about their lives, its an internal soundtrack that either motivates you or adds extra melancholy to your depression. Who hasnt listened to sad love songs after a breakup? Even hardcore death metal lovers will attune to Dido or Boyz II Men when the time called for it..in their head. Its the soul and the passion in music as a form of expression that gets me. again, how many people make a mixtape for that special someone hoping to spark the right chord(Pun-O-matic)and pull their heart strings? Emotion in music is everywhere as a certain song will jog distant memories and for us living in seasonal climates, music can add a loose form of pathetic fallacy to the weather or feelings. I am a huge fan of live music and unplugged sessions, the rawness of a live intimate set always strikes me as the best way to listen to music,no dubbing, no effects or lip syncing, just the artist expressing his thoughts through song.

With that i headed down to the Half Moon in Putney to not only catch a live set but get a chance to see my old friend Ben Wheatley play an acoustic set. Coming in at a reasonable £2.50 i caught Redvers Bailey, the man behind the Monday Night sessions and he immediately struck me as a budding Art Garfunkel with his smooth imagery in his lyrics of 'Roses Garden' and soft sentiment written in his tracks. Amazingly the next artist struck me as a hint of Neil Young more so through stance and mannerisms coupled with his anthemic folk musings. On the back of two great starters a blues players Richard Kitson caught my attention as he muscled his way through his delta blues like musings with great accuracy and vigour. Hailing from the North it must have been quite a trek but the audience appreciated his work. Next up was Ben Wheatley who started off with 'Undiscovered Lovers' moving onto 'Paper Aeroplanes' and finished with 'Blow your cover' struck me as the reports i had read before as a mix between The Police and Maroon 5 with his soulful lyrics. The night was headlined by Elsa Chapman, not only did she bring a different instrument(a piano) but she has provided vocals for Youassnou D'iors '7 Seconds' which was not surprising as she blew the audience through her confident stage prescence coupled with an amazing R&B voice. After checking out all these acts on myspace, the chance to see them live allowed deeper meaning into their work as they have all worked hard and slaved countless hours crafting and perfecting their songs. all in all, the night was a great gig as all artists showed that there is talent out there, it may not be heard on commercial radio stations but listen closer to the sound of the underground, you never know what you might be missing out on.

Feet Do The Talking

Athletes competing at this summer's Olympics are fighting for a trip to the medal stand. For Nike and Adidas, the Beijing games are a brawl for 21st century dominance of the sneaker world.

While every Olympics is a dogfight for the longtime rivals, this year's games are a bigger deal. Beijing's the doorway into a vast new market. There are 2.6 billion feet in China, most of them without sneakers. Both companies expect the country to be its second-largest market, after the U.S., within a few years. "It's the ultimate land grab," says Swangard. "There's been no other Olympic year in this kind of growing market."

For Adidas, it's especially important. After an ill-fated 2005 deal for Reebok failed to juice Adidas' results, the three stripes finds itself increasingly marginalized by the swoosh. Adidas sees this summer's Beijing Olympics as a way to make up ground.

Adidas paid approximately $100 million in cash and merchandise donations for the partnership rights, according to various reports. The company will supply apparel to athletes, staff volunteers and technical officials, plus sponsor interactive Internet gaming featuring several Chinese athletes, to place its brand in front of the crowd. Nike's gone another way, focusing, as usual, on sponsoring specific athletes. "Nike has never had to be an 'official sponsor' to make inroads," says Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

Despite the relative strength of Germany-based Adidas in Europe and weakness in Nike's flagship U.S. market, Nike has expanded its global lead over its rival over the past three years. Nike's 36% worldwide market share dwarfs the 21.8% share for Adidas, according to Sporting Goods Intelligence. Adidas has been consistently dragged down by the once-mighty Reebok brand, which contributes about 6% to its parent's total.

Yes, the deal brought some volume savings by letting Reebok piggyback on Adidas' production infrastructure. The company has also successfully pruned its distribution network, getting out of discount stores that slashed the brand's image along with its prices. But, notes industry expert Barbara Smit, author of The Sneaker Wars, there's still the matter of re-launching the brand and growing sales. "So far, we haven't seen any results," she says.

By the time the games begin in August, Adidas plans to have 4,000 exclusive stores in the country, including a 10,000-square-foot palace in Beijing. Nike has close to that number of stores as well, in a country where a dearth of general sportswear chains like Foot Locker make building your own outlets necessary.

The problem for Adidas is that,while it's staked out its turf as an official sportswear partner, Nike has more top athletes. They include Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer and Australian track star Craig Mottram, along with old standby basketball legends Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

The fact that Nike's athlete's aren't guaranteed to win at the games means there's risk in going the performance route but also bigger payoff if they do. And to make local inroads, the company has signed up 22 of China's 28 sports federations to outfit most of its athletes. That means even Yao Ming, the Chinese marketing sensation who plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets, will be outfitted in a Nike basketball uniform despite a personal deal with Adidas' Reebok unit.

The deal is just one of 40 that Nike signed with various national federations, including the U.S, Germany and Russia, ensuring that team members will be decked out in Nike gear during play regardless of where they have their individual endorsements.

So for many of 3,000 athletes in the Adidas stable who will compete in Beijing [about a third of the total], donning the three stripes will be limited to the medal stand. During play, they'll be in Nike gear. Major Adidas endorsers include U.S. basketball star Dwight Howard and Chinese soccer star Ma Xiaoxu.

On the plus side for Adidas, the company's status as an official Olympic partner shouldn't subject it to too much risk from the volatile political climate that has protesters shouting down China's human rights record, Swangard thinks. Because Adidas' primary objective is building business in China, it can actually benefit from being seen by the locals as supportive of the country.

But while referees and staff will be running around Beijing in their Adidas, the bulk of the athletes getting attention will be competing in their Nike gear--and getting most of the air time, both live during the games and in all the follow-up photos and video to be viewed for years to come.

As Smit puts it: "A high jumper will have a Nike shirt on while jumping, then an Adidas shirt when receiving a medal on the stand. Which would you rather have?"

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