This is the third experience I’ve had of Empyre (the first time being in a Library of all places) and like a fine wine they seem to be improving with each year. Constant touring and hard work has honed them into the tightly disciplined and impressively together band that grace the Waterloo’ stage tonight.
Read MoreThose who have so kindly taken their time to read my reviews know that one of my biggest musical passions is Grunge. I am constantly making references to Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden etc and support act, Empyre, are what happens if you put the power and emotion of Grunge into a blender, with a sprinkling of the type of grooves you would associate with Mastodon and the intricacies and guitar flourishes that wouldn’t look out of place in a 25 minute prog rock Opus.
Read MoreYou know what my first thought was about tonight’s bill when I was asked to come out and watch it? Any of the three bands playing could actually be headliners. Despite their different styles and their different strengths and weaknesses,I am genuinely amazed at the quality of some of the bands knocking about on the club-sized venue circuit in the UK at the moment. Tonight we are treated to three who are all different, yet also share an eagerness to make music and perform it, a keenness, a hunger. It’s good to see that although not a sell-out there is a decent-sized crowd gathered, and also good to see that most of them get in early and stay to watch all three acts.
Read More16 months! 16 months since the Tivoli closed its doors and was then not able to open them again until this show. It feels like forever. But hey ho, here we are, and after imposing seated limits on the Tiv that would have meant they couldn’t break even, the Welsh Government have allowed tonight’s show to go ahead unrestricted as a pilot. This means that everyone who came had to show proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within the last 24 hours, and also bring photo ID. Masks had to be worn whilst queuing outside the venue but once we were in it was business as usual.
Read MoreIt’s been a helluva week. I started out by getting caught up in civil insurrection in Spain, got home intact thankfully only to come down with some variety of D&V bug that completely knocked me out for a few days. So it was a fragile Jo that trundled up the M6 to Blackpool on the Friday afternoon to attend the Massive Weekend. Massive because both nights feature local Lancashire lads Massive Wagons as headliners, ably supported by a plethora of some of the best up and coming bands on the circuit.
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