Live Review : Pupil Slicer + In Depths + Lure In @ the Live Rooms, Chester on February 20th 2022

Let it be known that the warriors of Rockflesh Towers will not be put off by a bit of wind! I am of course referring to the storms battering the nation at time of writing rather than anything more constitutional. Fortunately, the bands and a hardy few punters are also willing to brave the stormy weather for a bit of Sunday night experimental metal. I say experimental because much of what is on display tonight may be called challenging by some…and joyously unique by others. And, yep you guessed it, I’m in the latter camp.

Live Review : Skynd @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester on February 19th 2022

Also featuring a brief history on murder, death, and serial killers– those with a nervous disposition are advised not to read on…

“Come to a gig with freshly pierced nipples” they said. “You'll be fine” they said. I think they were telling porkies. I go to the gig anyway. I am a well-known local idiot after all, and I've battled through train cancellations and stormy weather to join the crowd for a performance by the ever eerie and utterly captivating Skynd.

Live Review : King King + The Damn Truth @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 17th 2022

The last time Glaswegian blues rock stalwarts King King played here was exactly 3 years ago; and a lot has changed since that date- the comings and goings of various members, an album, and the welcome addition of a certain big brother into the fold. Having last caught the chaps back in October at the Leeds Stylus, I knew just what a treat the crowd of mainly middle aged folks were in for if they hadn’t seen the new expanded line up before. First though, we needed to welcome The Damn Truth to open proceedings and it was quite a stir they proved to make.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Phil Beswick21 February 2022King King, The Damn Truth, Academy 2, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Phil Beswick, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : Paradise Lost + Moonspell @ Academy Club, Manchester on February 16th 2022

There is the mainstream and there is our world. Sometimes, like star struck lovers, they cross, but in the main we stay in our pre-designated lanes. Moonspell and Paradise Lost are unknown and uncared for in the world that sits above the Club Academy (I get quizzical blank looks from trendy students at the Union bar when I reply to their curious questioning of who’s on tonight). Both acts have heritage and a respective thirty and thirty four year pedigree, yet they have scarcely made a dent on the public psyche. They are akin to hidden treasures, worshiped by the throng of metallers and goths gathered in this subterrain haunt but ignored by everyone else.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas20 February 2022Paradise Lost, Moonspell, Academy ClubComment

Live Review : Bad Touch + Bastette + Shape Of Water @ The Bread Shed, Manchester on February 11th 2022

The start of Bad Touch’s Better Late than Never tour has apparently been postponed some 5 times over the past 18 months or so, and tonight, it finally gets underway. There’s an added bonus too with local band Shape of Water added to the bill opening the show.

Liver Review : PENGSHUi + Dead Retinas @ The Star And Garter, Manchester on February 3rd 2022

It’s a chilly Thursday evening as my train pulls into Piccadilly. I’ve recently shaved part of my head and remembered… “Wow, having no hair is cold”.

We’re early into the year, but already one of the albums which is on repeat for me is the blistering “Destroy Yourself” by tonight’s headliners PENGSHUi. I’ve seemingly been waiting forever to see these guys again since their amazing set at Download festival in 2019. My own life has gone spectacularly wrong in recent weeks… covid… a massive dose of heart break, cheating, betrayal… getting caught up in the recent John Badger scandal… oh and the eyebrow lady didn’t wax me the way I like. It’s been fucking disastrous, so I’ve needed tonight like it was some kind of medicine, a hefty dose of therapy. Nothing heals you better than the music you love, right?

Live Review : Saxon + Uriah Heep + Girlschool + Diamond Head @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on January 28th 2022

So, the light at the end of the tunnel has wheels of steel. Tonight, is a veritable oasis in an otherwise arid desert of cancellations and postponed shows. This show was meant to happen in October 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Saxon releasing their first record, however due to Biff’s heart problems and the inevitable onset of Covid, this is now a (as he coins it early into their headline set) a 42nd year commemorative show. Leading up to this evening the omens haven’t been good. Every other event and tour around it has hit the wall and even the Glasgow Barrowland leg of this short soiree around the country has been postponed. However, with the same level of dogged resilience that has seen them regain their position as one of the marquee names in British Heavy Metal, the band have vehemently maintained that tonight would go ahead,

Live Review : Daniel Tompkins + Novena @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester on January 27th 2022

Modern Metal is full of distinctive voices and this cracker of a tour celebrates two of them. Whilst TesseracT frontman Daniel Tompkins might be the main draw here, he has actually achieved quite a scoop in bringing along Ross Jennings of Haken’s side project Novena along for the ride. Jennings always seems a lot more relaxed with Novena than he ever does with Haken. This feels like his playground, where he can experiment and push his vocal cords in directions that the confides of his day job don’t allow.

Live Review : Ward XVI + South Of Salem + Pulverise @ Academy 3, Manchester on December 18th 2021

Academy 3 for the third time in just over a month?! Yes but is this the last time for a while… Sigh...? I arrive fashionably late, as usual, and am greeted by lots of familiar faces, but the room is quieter than expected and I sense that some people are obviously keeping away, some are lurking at the back and there are lots more masks to be seen.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Samantha24 December 2021Ward XVI, South Of Salem, Pulverise, Academy 3, Manchester, 2021, Live Review, Samantha Harwood, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : InVisions + Blind Summit + Clashmute @ The Bread Shed, Manchester on December 18th 2021

Clashmute are a last-minute addition to the bill following Ghost Iris having to pull out of the remaining dates of the tour due to a positive COVID-19 test (gutting as I was very much looking forward to seeing those guys perform their new album). They kick off proceedings with their aggressive hardcore-tinged brand of Killswitch Engage style Metal.

Live Review : Bossk + Dvne @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester on December 17th 2021

When this tour was announced earlier on in the year, this was a atypical main band / support act affair. Bossk were the main attraction and Dvne were along for the ride to make up the numbers. However, this all changed as the word of mouth about the incredible “Etemen Ænka” spread like wildfire. Critics and punters alike fell over themselves to heap praise on this album and the queue to get to witness them live at last month’s Damnation Festival (review here) was extraordinary.

Live Review : Beneath The Ruin + Deadwing + Atanamir @ Jimmy's, Liverpool on December 14th 2021

This is the second time I’ve been along to Jimmy’s in Liverpool for a gig, and I’ve got to say I’m fond of this place already. The Honeycomb Pale Ale alone is worth a visit! First up are Liverpool’s very own Atanamir. There’s a heavy doom, stoner, sludge vibe with these guys but mixed with enough groove and thrash Metal to keep it fresh and intriguing. In fact, they sound very reminiscent of Crowbar.

Live Review : Orange Goblin + King Creature + Urne @ Gorilla, Manchester on December 14th 2021

The reason I gig as consistently and as vociferously as I do is in the vain hope that once in a while, I will experience nights like I did tonight. This evening is one of those instances where the stars align, and everything clicks into place. Cutting to the chase, tonight Orange Goblin were utterly phenomenal and by a country mile the best live act I have seen this year, if not this decade. Everything was right and everything worked. The band were hyped, the crowd were pumped and the bond between the two felt unbreakable. But I am getting ahead of myself as initially the omens weren’t great (cue flashback music).

Live Review : Dirty Sound Magnet + Daxx & Roxane + Cosmic Mother @ The Live Rooms, Chester on December 11th 2021

This is a co-headline tour, but it seems that although they get similar set times Dirty Sound Magnet are scheduled to go on last tonight which surprises me a little as I thought Daxx & Roxane were the more well-known of the two. However, that might just be because they are the ones I’ve heard of and seen before.

I also got it wrong about the support. Cosmic Mother – hippies right? Dreads and paisley and beads? Nope. They are actually a 90s indie-type band. Very Manchest-or. The sound is in the vein of the Stone Roses, and they are good at it.

Live Review : Aleya + Oaths + The Perfect Escape @ G21 (The Saddle Inn), Chester on December 11th 2021

The Saddle Inn in Chester has reinvented itself as The Saddle Rock Bar, and is trying its hand at a few ways to generate the appropriate vibe (including band themed bedrooms in the hotel section!). One of these ventures is to use the renovated outhouse as a tiny gig venue called G21. It probably only holds 35ish people but is free to hire and is perfect for young aspiring bands putting on intimate gigs. Ryan and I make our way through the already busy pub (there’s a Foo Fighters tribute band on in the main pub later that night) and across the beer garden. Having had a chat with some of headliners Aleya (awesome chats I should add) we make our way into G21.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser14 December 2021Aleya, Oaths, The Perfect Escape, G21, The Saddle Inn, Chester, 2021, Matt Fraser, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : The Darkness + Massive Wagons @ O2 Academy, Liverpool on December 2nd 2021

It’s a cold and rainy Liverpool tonight, yet the O2 Liverpool Academy is rammed. This is good but not good, the place is steamimg and so are my glasses.

I wipe them just as Massive Wagons hit the stage. Wagons are a band who have slogged their arses off on the pub and club circuit for the last dozen years or so, and it’s been amazing to see them transform from a fairly average pub covers band to the new Britrock powerhouse that they have now become. This tour with The Darkness is yet another rung on their ladder to success – they are here as a last-minute replacement for Steve Harris’s British Lion who pulled out for unspecified reasons that appeared to involve covid precautions. Yes, THAT Steve Harris.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby9 December 2021The Darkness, Massive Wagons, O2 Academy, Liverpool, 2021, Live Review, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Punk Rock Factory + A New Hope @ Academy 3 in Manchester on December 2nd 2021

I arrive as A New Hope start their set within a fairly busy Academy 3. I would insert a Star Wars reference here but I know nothing and won’t embarrass myself so you can fill in for yourselves! Making my way to my usual position at the front I try to figure out their slightly squashed stage set up. A little way into proceedings it becomes obvious their singer is missing (apparently due to illness), so much respect to the band for going ahead with tonight’s performance. From where I am stood I see the drummer, guitarist and bassist. Behind the speakers I can hear someone else but I can’t see him.

Live Review : Fozzy + The Treatment + Stitched Up Heart @ Club Academy, Manchester on November 30th 2021

It may feel like the world is returning to hell in its ever-reliable handcart, but if we are going to go down the crowd tonight at club academy are going to go down partying. I am not quite sure why there is such a jovial atmosphere tonight, maybe it’s the time of year or maybe it’s the promise of being in close proximity to living breathing superstar, but there is an air of a runaway hen do from the off. Openers Stitched Up Heart benefit greatly from this.

Live Review : Wargasm + Death Blooms + Bambie Thug @ Rebellion, Manchester on November 30th 2021

Wargasm – up and coming genius, or annoying AF? Let’s explore…

But not before we visit the weird and wonderful world of tonight’s opener, Bambie Thug. I find her nestled on a Spotify Misfits Playlist between some of my other favourites like Cassyette, Nova Twins and Ghostemane.

All the way through her set I’m hearing the influences of pop, trap, electro, but it’s on a much darker and unusual scale, and I can’t actually stop watching her. She commands the crowd with ease, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people into an opener before. I may be wrong though, I am getting old and losing my memory a bit. By tonights crowds average age, I am practically their Nana.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Sarah Cummings2 December 2021Wargasm, Death Blooms, Bambie Thug, Rebellion, Manchester, 2021, Live Review, Sarah Cummings, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : British Lion + Airforce @ Rebellion, Manchester on November 29th 2021

Tonight’s audience is of a certain vintage and a certain gender. There are fadedIron Maiden t-shirts everywhere and a large gaggle of fanboys have already reserved their spot on the barrier and are not planning on moving anytime soon. Yes, a barrier at Rebellion (and two security guards), but it isn’t often that you get visited by Heavy Metal royalty. British Lion is Iron Maiden head honcho Steve Harris’s other band and there is a palpable level of excitement about being within touching distance of one of the most important and omnipresent figures in our world (presumably the barrier is there to stop any actual groping).