If you want proof that the cost-of-living crisis is beginning to bite, then you need not look further than the woeful attendance for tonight's show. Both Machine Head and Amon Amarth are titans in our world, yet once-in-a-lifetime pair up has sold less than 5000 tickets for a twenty-two thousand-capacity arena. The underpopulation and unadvertised early start mean that the Halo Effect are shoved out in front of a bare handful of people. This is a crying shame as they are absolutely astonishing this evening.
Read MoreMachine Head are the ultimate metal survivors. Each time we think they are down and out, they get back up again, dust themselves off and re-enter the fray. In the mid-noughties it looked like they were outdated and out of ideas but then they returned with “The Blackening”, still one of the best metal albums of this century. This time last year it looked like once again Machine Head were over. Robb Flynn on Facebook dramatically announced that Phil Demmel and Dave McClain had left the band and for a while it seemed that was that. However twelve months later here they are again selling out the 5,000 capacity Victoria Warehouse.
Read More