Live Review : Uriah Heep @ The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on October 3rd 2022

Uriah Heep are in town this evening celebrating a 50 year career with the ‘Lockdown to Rockdown’ tour postponed from November 2020. A band that has by and large escaped my musical radar over the years, there’s absolutely no disputing just what a colossal contribution these giants of rock have made to the world of music. The Bridgewater Hall provides a fitting venue to host the celebrations, with its beautiful seated auditorium and choir circles that spiral their way up towards the ceiling. It’s the perfect backdrop to enjoy a relaxed evening’s music now spanning more than 5 decades.

Live Review : Parkway Drive + While She Sleeps + Lorna Shore @ AO Arena, Manchester on October 1st 2022

Tonight’s gig is not only a masterclass in charismatic vocalists and virtuoso lead guitarists, but also in how to be an arena band, with all three bands nailing each of those elements perfectly. Grabbing my ticket and taking up my seat stage-side with the arena still filling up, we see openers Lorna Shore take to the stage. Hitting us straight off with their deliciously brutal onslaught, many of the crowd around me and even in the standing sections up close to the stage, seem taken aback by quite how extreme and heavy the New Jersey deathcore crew are.

Live Review : Anthrax + Municipal Waste + Sworn Enemy @ Academy, Manchester on September 29th 2022

In my head the fortieth anniversary tour is the preserve of the aging rocker or a fading folk star, but here we are celebrating four decades of metal thrashing madness. Anthrax may well have had more than their fair share of carrier mishaps, but they are still here and, since Joey Belladonna’s return in 2010, they have reaffirmed their place as major players.

Live Review : VOLA + Voyager + Four Stroke Baron @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 28th 2022

We queue up and make our way into the venue just as openers Four Stroke Baron finish setting up. I hadn’t heard this three-piece from Reno before, but had been told they were a good fit for the heavyweights on the line-up they share the bill with tonight. The immediate impact is intrigue, with funky rock bass, technical yet driving drums and almost math-rock guitar churning away. Kirk Witt starts up his heavily effected vocals, and it’s clear to see something isn’t right.

Gig ReviewJohann Wierzbicki1 October 2022RebellionVOLA, Voyager, Four Stroke Baron, Rebellion, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : Soen + Lizzard + Oceanhoarse @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 26th 2022

Lets cut to the chase. Soen (and their impressive undercard of Oceanhoarse and LizZard) have managed to between them to attract a more than respectable horde for a Monday. Rebellion is healthily busy, and this reflects well on those of us who like our metal with more intelligence and melody. All three acts seem intent on pushing the boundaries of what our music entails, not in a “lets add a Venezuelan nose flute” sort of a way but in their attention to detail and their desire to add more light and shade than your average screamo outfit.

Live Review : Deafheaven + Lauren Auder @ Gorilla, Manchester on September 26th 2022

One of Metal's many beauties is its blurred edges. Yes, at its heart there is a core that is all metal and nought else. However, as you travel to its furthest borders there are territories that seem to simultaneously exist within numerous other genres. Both of tonight’s acts blatantly use metal as a tool in their artistic endeavours, but would not fit its more conservative definitions or templates. Let’s just say Five Finger Death Punch, this isn’t.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Darth Ghoul28 September 2022GorillaDeafheaven, Lauren Auder, Gorilla, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : The Black Crowes + Reef @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on September 24th 2022

We have come full circle. Thirty-one years ago (almost, almost to the day) The Black Crowes played Manchester Apollo on the crest of a blues rock wave. Their star wasn’t just ascending, it was hurtling towards the cosmos. They had stolen the show at Donington Park the month before and a year after its release, their stunning debut was finally winning over British Audiences. Fast forward three decades, various reunions, countless line-up changes and an awful lot of sibling squabbling later and they back at the Apollo playing their now revered “Shake Your Money Maker” in its entirety.

Live Review : Evergrey + Fractal Universe + Virtual Symmetry @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 20th 2022

We are still in catch up mode. Evergrey were meant to visit these shores just as Covid first reared its ugly head. They then made another doomed attempt last Autumn as the pandemic’s tailwind still thrashed around the world. But finally, over two years late we are on. However, so much water has passed under the bridge they are now here to promote not one but two new records produced during the global slumber. Selective appeal is tonight’s watch word. Academy 3 is not particularly heaving but everybody here seems to both know and revere all of the three of the acts on offer.

Live Review : Polaris + Alpha Wolf + Great American Ghost + Stepson @ Academy 2, Manchester on September 18th 2022

It’s a Sunday evening, and a fairly early start at that. But that doesn’t stop the crowd filling up quickly for first-on support Stepson. The Brisbane, Australia based hardcore band set about their work with enthusiasm and vigor. Elements of Touché Amoré and Our Hollow Our Home can be seen in their sound, and their jagged guitars provide the perfect backdrop to Brock Alan Conry’s raw emotive vocals.

Live Review : Battle Beast + Future Palace @ Academy Club, Manchester on September 16th 2022

Another day, another Finnish band to go and watch, hurrah! Tonight is another step outside my musical comfort zone, I’m not familiar with either band although I have seen and enjoyed a band connected to the headliners via their former guitarist, so I settle into my usual spot at the back and get ready to have a good old listen. This is because Club Academy, although a decent size and with decent sound, is a basement venue with a low stage and a lot of random pillars dotted about the place. The chances of a short person like me actually seeing much of the band is fairly minimal, although I do occasionally catch a glimpse of the tops of their heads!

Live Review : Cassyette + Kid Bookie @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 15th 2022

Walking up to the Student Union Building I can see a ridiculously long queue and am momentarily perplexed. I push my way to the front, noting the support band are due on in five minutes and as I enter the building can see swathes of young whippersnappers on their way to Academy 2 for something obviously less palatable than the delights on offer upstairs.

Within minutes Kid Bookie takes to the stage. It is loud, louder than any other gig I have been to in here for a while, heavy, obnoxious and sweary. Described as rap rock (also trap rock – anyone?

Live Review : Blind Channel + Lost Society @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 14th 2022

It’s Wednesday night, hump day as some like to call it. So what better way to get over that hump than to head off to Rebellion and watch some Finnish Eurovision hopefuls? Yep, you heard that right. Finland’s 2021 entry are here tonight in a club that for some bizarre reason seems to get smaller every time I visit it. This time the comfy seats at the back so beloved of my Grumpy Husband have disappeared, there’s a maze-like screened bit to get in, and they appear to have demolished the toilets. No, really. Two large off-corridor loos are now steps down to a couple of cubicles and the outside. Don’t even get me started on the queues, for a moment I could have been in London waiting to see the Queen (RIP)!

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby15 September 2022RebellionBlind Channel, Lost Society, Rebellion, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Cancer Bats + Witch Fever + Graphic Nature @ Arts Club, Liverpool on September 12th 2022

Opening tonight’s proceedings are Graphic Nature. Stepping in for XL Life on the tour, the Kent metallers are very much in the modern vein of metalcore tinged deathcore. On record they are definitely worth checking out by fans of new nu-metal bands like Blood Youth and Death Blooms, but it’s live that this five-piece come to life. Harnessing the brutal guitars and bass of Emmure, and mashing that with harsh metal-hardcore vocals akin to Loathe, they are a splendid and invigorating assault on the senses.

Live Review : Machine Head + Amon Amarth + The Halo Effect @ AO Arena, Manchester on September 12th 2022

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.

Live Review : Lonely the Brave + VLMV + The Throwaway Scene @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 9th 2022

Arriving late (I know there is a theme emerging) I only caught the end of The Throwaway Scene. The venue is quite empty, but it is early, and it has been a surreal day after the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth yesterday. This trio are rock/ emo comprising a rather smartly dressed singer, a bassist, and drummer. Having no guitarist is weird, so we get a stripped back sound, but it works; a mix of clear, angsty but energetically delivered vocals with a heavy accompaniment. They have recently added the video for ‘Conscience Alley’ to YouTube, so give them a listen.

Live Review : Crippled Black Phoenix + MØL + Impure Wilhelmina @ Rebellion, Manchester on September 9th 2022

Being a devotee of an underground and under appreciated band is rather like being a fan of a third-division football team. For one there is an awful lot of tedious travel involved. My incredibly unscientific poll (I heard a smattering of Scouse accents and spoke to people from as far afield as Leicester and Lancaster) showed that people had travelled from all over the northwest (and further) for tonight's show. Secondly, there is that gnawing loneliness caused by the fact that most of the time nobody else seems to really appreciate what you see in them.

Live Review : Reckless Love + The Treatment + Collateral @ Hangar 34, Liverpool on September 3rd 2022

It’s a funny sort of night tonight. This is one of a long line of covid-hit gigs, originally scheduled to be Reckless Love and Dan Reed Network co-headlining, with Mason Hill supporting. Then covid happened, and it all got postponed, and rescheduled, and postponed again, then things happened in the Dan Reed camp and he dropped out, the dates didn’t work for Mason Hill, the original venue (grand Central Hall) closed down and we began to wonder if any tour at all would happen.

Live Review : The Interrupters + The Skints + The Bar Stool Preachers @ the Academy, Manchester on August 29th 2022

Arriving fashionably late I miss part of The Barstool Preachers set and hover at the back, disappointed with myself as the few songs I caught, including ‘When This World Ends’ and ‘Barstool Preacher’ have the place buzzing. I have heard good things about the band and have heard a few tracks on the radio, but until tonight I know very little about them.

Live Review : Death Angel + Thrown Into Exile + Reaper @ Rebellion, Manchester on August 15th 2022

If Uada provided a stiff Aperitif for Bloodstock, then Death Angel is the perfect lengthy digestif. And I put the emphasis on lengthy, as even though the UK dates are right in the middle of a continental festival trek, Death Angel resist the temptation to just give us their mid-afternoon set and instead serve up a whopping two-hour plus show. We even get a decent undercard with much fancied Liverpudlian thrashers Reaper opening up proceedings. There is something wonderfully endearing about watching a bunch of kids, who weren't even around when thrash first happened (hell, whose parents probably won't even around) play this music with such conviction and obvious enjoyment.

Live Review : Uada + Panzerfaust @ Rebellion, Manchester on August 9th 2022

Tonight, serves as a cheeky aperitif to the impending metalageddon that is the Bloodstock festival. However, the one question that it does raise is why the hell our Vicki didn't manage to snare either of these bands for her jamboree of noise. You see both Panzafaust and Uada are part of a new generation of Black Metal bands that are determined to leave the genre’s constricting templates behind. Rather than embroil themselves in decades-old conventions and constructs, they use Black Metal as a launchpad to explore other sonic landscapes.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas17 August 2022RebellionUada, Panzerfaust, Rebellion, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Ryan HicksonComment