It’s been quite a weekend. Some months ago, April in fact, when we were still in lockdown and the world seemed bleak, The Offspring announced a winter 2021 UK Tour. This was received with some derision at ROCKFLESH Towers. It’ll never happen, they said. Other, better bands have booked and then cancelled. And anyhow it’s only The Offspring, are they even relevant these days? A little part of me died inside at that one, because I love The Offspring. Much of the 90’s passed me by musically (I’ll come back to that in a bit) but not The Offspring. I first heard ‘Self Esteem’, the “hit” single from their third and breakthrough album “Smash”, on German TV as the soundtrack to a programme that I couldn’t understand about the Isle Of Man TT. I was instantly hooked, tracked it down, bought the album and played it relentlessly. To this day it’s one of my all-time favourite songs.
Read MoreI’m dashing to get to the venue for the earlier start time, only to read online that Kill The Lights have pulled out of tonight’s show due to illness. As it turns out, they’re fine to play the next night, so who knows what the illness was. Anyway, I cross my fingers that it means longer sets from the remaining two excellent bands, and as it turns out we get good lengthy sets from them both.
Read MoreIt is weird being seated in a Philharmonic auditorium for a prog-rock gig, with hardly a head bobbing along to each song, let alone any other action. No circle pits or walls of death tonight my friend! Antimatter are the only (non-advertised) support on this tour, and they’re fundamentally now Mick Moss’ solo project. Tonight, they perform as an acoustic guitar/electric guitar dark/prog-rock duo, and as the crowd make their way in and to their seats there is a gentle murmur of appreciation.
Read MoreYes’s Pink Room is as you would imagine it, very pink. It feels like some bizarre torture chamber designed to affront the victim with pastel colours. Shading put to one side it is still a strange venue. The stage is carpeted meaning that Serena Cherry’s DM’s leave indentations in it as she stomps around the stage. There is also a nice curtain (pink obviously) behind the stage that makes it feel a working man’s club (one of course with an odd taste in interior design). Finally, it is hidden away, sandwiched between two hipster bars. If you don’t know exactly where you are going it is incredibly easy to miss its almost concealed behind a pink (obviously) door.
I head into Rebellion for the first time since the before times of January 2020, slightly disorientated by the new wall around the entrance (pretty sure that wasn’t there before?) and even more disturbed by the toilets now seeming to be outside… and while the original toilets were not great now I am greeted with portaloos! Bar isn’t much better as I order a pint of coke but it’s more akin to Rola Cola than something more palatable. Urgh.
Read MoreIn a time where tours are being pulled left right and centre, it is certainly hats off to Batushka and Belphegor for preserving with their co-headline endeavour. Across the continent, venues have changed and host cities have been swapped at last minute, but somehow, they have managed to keep the wheels on this tour. Maybe being in league with Satan is good for something after all? They pull into Manchester after a night in the Heavy Metal capital of Bedford (no me neither) and the Black Metal hordes of the north west are certainly out in droves to meet them. In many ways this line up is a promoter’s dream as Batushka, Belphegor and Diabolical all have their own fiercely loyal fanbases (don’t worry Warhammer and Almost Dead, your time will indeed come) and the presence of not one, but three well stocked Merch tables illustrates that all three are headline material.
Read MoreBritish AOR and melodic rock giants FM are in town with their first UK dates in nearly two years. It’s been a long time to wait since they last graced the stage on their Big 3-0 tour with Dan Reed Network and Gun, and tonight the tour that was postponed in support of their twelfth studio album 2020’s “Synchronized” finally gets underway.
Read MoreFirst on are hardcore thrash merchants Last Wishes. We’re only about five bars into the first song and the roundhouse-kick-brigade are in full force. This guys sound a lot like Madball or Terror, and when they hit their stride remind me of very early Stick To Your Guns. They’re intensity and passion is contagious and the energy in the room remains high throughout their set. They do lose my attention at points with repetition within songs, and the guitar tone is a tad tiring with the nu-metal mid scoop.
Read MoreOxford Road’s Academy 3 welcomes the Wayward Sons back to Manchester this evening for their eagerly awaited headline shows of 2021. With the recent release in October of third album “Even Up the Score” to promote, and with a ridiculously low ticket price of £12 and quality T shirts for just £15, where else would you rather be on a wet Tuesday in November?
Read MoreLive music on a Saturday night? On my birthday? In Manchester? Yes please. I might be gigging alone but as I enter the venue I remember what a great little space Academy 3 is.
I go back through the files in my brain and as usual (obviously my age) I draw a blank as to the last band I saw in here but I’m thinking maybe Clutch but that was a LONG time ago (before they were well-known and after I saw them originally with one of my favourite bands Corrosion of Conformity). Even further back in the annals of time I saw Jerry Cantrell in this room and what an absolutely mind-blowing experience that was…
Read MoreIt’s my first time reviewing at Victoria Warehouse, although I’ve seen plenty of stuff here as a punter, and as I join the long queue there’s plenty of anticipation for the great night of varied metal ahead. I catch our photographer Ryan before he’s able to use his photo pass to duck the queue (damn him!), but actually everyone is chatty and in high spirits for the night ahead despite having to stand around in the cold with COVID passports at the ready.
Read MoreSome things in life will inevitably never change. Stuff like death, taxes, and of course The Quireboys. OK that’s maybe a little tongue-in-cheek but for over 30 years now, The Quireboys have been up there, out there, doing what they do best. Bouncy fun-time rock and roll, with a hint of country and a lot of bonhomie. The lineup may have changes slightly over the years but the core of Spike (vocals), Keth (keyboards), Guy (guitars) and Paul (guitar) seem to have settled into a groove that is almost a canyon. Well-worn, familiar and somehow comforting, The Quireboys are the pipe and slippers of rock music these days.
Read MoreTo say the music scene has taken a battering over the past eighteen months or so is somewhat of an understatement at the very least. So much so that this iconic bastion of the North West almost closed its doors for good; but like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes, thankfully it didn’t and appears to be bigger, better and bolder than ever before with a new stage and mixing desk and the ‘small venue with a massive attitude’ continues to throw its doors open to welcome a variety of international and local acts. With its impressive array of memorabilia and posters adorning its walls and ceilings, selection of real ales and good food, it’s exactly the sort of place to enjoy a gig such as this one this evening. Headliners VEGA need no introduction to those familiar with this hard hitting melodic 6 piece, those who have seen Revival Black pop up on numerous support tours for the likes of Mason Hill will no doubt have been suitably impressed.
Read MoreWalking into Academy 1 felt normal until I got to the front and suddenly it hit me... I’ve not stood here in literally YEARS. Even before lockdown I had been to gigs in Academy 3 but I could not tell you my last gig in 1, probably pre-2017 (Machine Head? – it’s actually starting to annoy me!) And now here I am at my second gig since lockdown lifted, but unlike at Devin Townsend I am not flying solo and have some companions with me
Read MoreTonight I have travelled on the Highway To Hell. No really. The M6 is not my favourite place at the best of times, but tonight it exceeded itself to make my life miserable. Some of it was flooded. Some of it was on fire. This meant the bits of it that weren’t closed were moving incredibly slowly, oh and just for laughs there was also torrential rain to contend with. Deep joy. 2 hours later and I am in Blackpool just in time to catch most of openers Heartbreak Remedy’s set.
Read MoreIt used to be so clear cut. You either liked metal or you liked pop. They were two polar opposites, existing in different and wholly incompatible worlds. You never crossed the beams or even contemplated being able to like both, that was, frankly, heresy. Somewhere along the way, the younger generation have blurred the battle lines that we saw as being so uncrossable. They ignored our protests that pop and metal don’t combine, and you end up with nights like this.
Read MoreDread Sovereign tread an impressive line between punk and doom. They are a chaotic and wonderfully ramshackle live experience, a million miles from the smooth professionalism of Nemtheanga’s day job Primordial. It is that raw kinetic energy that makes Dread Sovereign such a fantastic live proposition. Nemtheanga and guitarist Bones career around the stage (and into each other) like Tasmanian devils on speed.
Read MoreBands talk of shows being special and unique, and then precede to play the same set in about a dozen other cities. However, tonight is the real McCoy. This is a one off, never to be repeated gig packed to the brim with emotional resonance. Originally scheduled for 2019, this was initially conceived as a celebration of the life and works of Mike Alexander, Evile's late lamented bassist who tragically left us in 2009. However, it has taken on additional significance, as last year Matt Drake made the decision to step away from the band and music all together. The band (now fronted by his brother Ol) have already forged on without him, but Matt was never going to miss this performance and tonight’s tribute to Mike now also serves as his last hurrah with the band he led for so long.
Read MoreIn a small sleepy suburb of Liverpool something primal has awoken. The true spirit of rock n’roll has arisen and has once more taken physical form. Like a pulsating parasite, it has crawled out of the primordial ooze and taken new human hosts. The ancient spirits of sex, drums and rock n’roll have been with us since the dawn of time and they chosen this moment, this day and this place to manifest themselves once more. They have chosen the decaying bodies of six (seven if you include the dynamic super sub drummer) aging homosapians from which to once more dominate the four corners of the known world. For a fleeting but pivotal moment Allerton has become the rock n ‘roll centre of the universe, the very eye of a tempestuous storm.
Read MoreI’m late and lost. Ancoats is a labyrinth-esque playground for mancunian’s hip and trendy twenty-somethings. Given that I am soon to enter my sixtieth decade on this planet, I haven’t got a clue where I am going. I finally discover Halle St. Peters to find it bathed in reverential hush. Local lass Elle Mary is bearing her soul and you can hear even the very inkling of a dropping pin. I surreptitiously creep in, awakening memories of trying to sneak in late to assembly without catching the headmaster’s eye.
Read More