It’s funny how this job/hobby/whatever goes. Sometimes you get to see bands you love, sometimes ones you’re not so keen on. Sometimes you are in a crowd of thousands, sometimes you watch a great act give their all to two men and a dog. The dreaded coof knocked us all for six and that, coupled with the current cost of living crisis, has apparently been having a devastating effect on ticket sales for live events with many gigs and small festivals having to cancel due to low sales.
Read MoreI tend to compile my reviews in my head as I watch the band in question. With Stone Broken I had already decided that I was going to major on the fact they have successfully managed to combine slick, well-rehearsed arena rock with a real feeling of genuality. There is down to earthiness about them, like they have managed to remove the pomp and pretension form a musical art form that is swathed in it. And then the incident happened that curtailed the show and Rich Moss proved his spurs as an utterly decent bloke and showed that he has inexplicably managed to avoid all the egotistical trappings that comes from leading a band.
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 MoreOur life, like the universe, is largely made up of dark matter punctuated by the occasional bright spot. As we stare into the unnatural canvas of brake lights and computer screens, sat in our prescribed clothing trying to remain within prescribed behaviours, is it any wonder how close our demons lurk beneath this veneer? Something as simple as the organised vibration of air particles is enough to lure the beasts from all of us, unleashed and unburdened, a second state of you, fist in the air. Screaming “It has to start somewhere It has to start sometime, what better place than here, what better time than now? All hell can't stop us now”.
Read MoreIt’s getting to the busy time of year for gigs, Johann is out most nights. We agree 2018 is a year we could both forget. March onwards, 2019 beckons and omens are looking good. Transition is in the air. The countdown, the car & the traffic jams are all there. The European driving style is better suited to the city streets and tonight gets to the gig for the opening act. It’s dark all the time now, I see in perpetual orange and rain magnifies the colours in the windscreen. I’m a shit passenger, hanging on to the handrail on the passenger side for dear life.
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