Black Dahlia Murder + Skeltonwitch + Fleshgod Apocalypse
Newcastle O2 Academy
20th January 2012
Reviewed by Rob Barker

Looking through bands’ touring schedules you could be forgiven for thinking that Newcastle is a leper amongst other cities. Whether it’s due to the comparatively small size of the city itself or a lack of venues, it seems as though bands base their tours around avoiding us Geordies (and if they’ve seen Geordie Shore that’s fairly understandable).

Still, when bands do finally penetrate the North East, they’re met with hungry crowds, and with a line-up like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Skeletonwitch and Black Dahlia Murder the fans were ravenous.

Arriving far too early and falling victim to a near lethal dose of rum I soon settled at the edge of the crowd to see Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse take the stage.
Decked out in tattered and bloody tuxedos, the symphonic metallers exuded menace, with vocalist Tommaso Riccardi holding the crowd’s attention while they were pummelled by an onslaught of pounding drums courtesy of Francesco Paoli.
For fans and newcomers alike the set was far from disappointing, mixing old and new, with crowd favourites such as Thru Our Scars and The Violation winning the band a number of new followers.
The only downside was that, as is so often the case at the Academy, the mix caused a lot of the band’s unique sound to become lost. Strings and keys occasionally broke their way through, and while Cristiano Trionfera’s guitar playing looked intense it fell on deaf ears thanks to the drums and bass taking centre stage.

In stark contrast to Fleshgod’s classically tinged orchestration, Skeletonwitch’s straightforward old school metal hit the crowd like a tonne of blackened bricks, albeit after some slight technical problems.

Doing away with every shred of staged theatrics, vocalist Chance Garnette proved that all you need to put on a great show is a tonne of adrenaline and a formidable beard. Both his infectious energy and a blitzkrieg twin guitar assault provided by Nathan Garnette and Scott Hedrick ensured that there’d be sore necks the next morning.

With the atmosphere at maximum voltage (and the rum having fully taken hold on my nervous system) Black Dahlia Murder stormed the stage. Mixing elements of Fleshgod’s symphonic strings with Skeletonwitch’s straight up brutality, it was as though the lineup was perfectly crafted. From the outset it was clear that frontman Trevor Strnad lives to play live. Grinning like a madman while pacing the stage and throwing his all into every line, he seemed just as happy to be onstage as the crowd were to watch him.

While it was obvious that the set would be weighted towards the band’s latest offering, Ritual, covering the likes of 'Moonlight Equilibrium' and 'On Stirring Seas Of Salted Blood', TBDM were more than happy to oblige fans of their back catalogue. Cue guitarist Ryan Knight shredding through 'Everything Went Black' and 'What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse'.

Though Newcastle might not see itself on every list of tour dates, it proved that the fans are up there with the best of them, and when it comes to metal, in the best possible way, it really is grim up north.

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The Toot Toot Toots
The Vanguard, Sydney
21st January 2012
Reviewed by Meghan Player

The Toot Toot Toots are an interesting band. Drawing inspiration from an era gone by and mixing it with a modern context, their sound lies somewhere between a spaghetti-western with a Tom Waits blues injection.

Tonight, the band bring their A-game. Taking to the stage in regular fashion, the sound that pours out of the speakers immediately grabs the crowds attention, and by the second song of the night, the dance floor is packed with swinging couples.

All round, the band operate like a well-oiled machine - their, albeit 'unique' sound is almost flawlessly delivered, their onstage chemistry, undeniable. Vocalist/s Dan Hawkins and Giuliano Ferla are at their howling and hollering best - two voices that are perfectly suited to the bands style of 'story-telling'.

New 'single' 'Let Lead Rip' makes the cut tonight - a stirring, shamble of a tale based around the Gold Rush in Australia, while older tracks such as, 'Oh Maggie!', make a welcome appearance.

What is most intriguing about the band tonight, is you don't know what to expect next. At one stage the band rip into an Elvis Presley cover, then round out an encore with a song about Sandra Bullock. Their avant-garde and engaging performance keeps the audience on their toes - but leads to one entertaining set.

With the band set to release their new album in March, followed by a yet-to-be-fully-confirmed tour in Europe towards the end of the year, 2012 is looking like a promising year for the Toots. And, if tonights performance is anything to go by, the band is more than capable of not only causing a stir, but winning over a new territory of fans.

Photos from the gig are online now: http://www.pushtofire.com/photos/TheTootTootToots210112/index.html

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Asking Alexandria + Blessthefall
Cardiff SU
19th January 2012
Reviewed by Daniel Mackie

It's been a long time since I've seen a crowd so pumped for a support act. Chants of "Blessthefall" flood Cardiff's Solus Bar and when they finally arrive on stage they show exactly why they have such a loyal following, blasting out their insane hardcore riffs with a combination of screams and whiney style vocals. This band are a perfect support act with front man Beau Bokan sending the crowd insane and fired up for the main event.

The Snowdroppers + Jackson Firebird + Kill City Creeps
The Metro, Sydney, Australia
9th December 2011
Reviewed by Emma Dean

Opening the night were Sydney '60s rockers Kill City Creeps. After witnessing their original and catchy pop rock tunes a few weeks ago, I was happy to see that I remembered most of the songs and the few early punters that were there lapped up their set. They are a promising up and coming local band, and I expect big things from them.

Next up were Mildura two-piece Jackson Firebird. I'd only heard good things about these boys, but I had no idea what to expect so I was slightly taken aback when instead of climbing behind the drum kit drummer Dale Hudak began to enthusiastically start drumming along to guitarist Brendan Harvey on an upside-down, miked up “bottle bin”. Half Animal from Sesame Street, half Brazilian street drummer, his energy grabbed the crowd’s attention and held it until their final track.

As the first three Snowdroppers took to the stage for their final show in the risqué ‘Lo-fi Thigh-high’ tour, bassist London received the loudest cheer - this being his only show of the tour after breaking his arm "fighting a polar bear" (aka arm-wrestling) two days before the tour started in October. Joining him were "The Man. The Riff. The Maverick" guitarist Pauly K & the enigmatic gentleman Cougar Jones on the drums.

Front man Johnny Wishbone raced onstage to the screams of the crowd and the strains of first first song ‘Bitch Left Me Boogie’. With his Wile E Coyote/foulmouthed 12-year-old stage persona armed with a banjo and harmonica, Wishbone and the Snowdroppers have really come into their own this past year (and for damn good reason).

With their modern take on a decades old genre, the Snowdroppers have brought the blues to a new generation by fusing it with sex, drugs and rockabilly.

Their set was a mix of tracks from their debut album ‘Too Late to Pray’ and new stuff including latest single 'I've Been So Lonely Now Since You've Been Gone', ' Another Lover' and their cover of The Wiggles children’s hit 'Wags the Dog'; as well as favourites 'Good Drugs Bad Women', 'Do the Stomp', 'Rosemary' and ‘Fucked Up Blues’.

And during ‘Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms, there's nothing quite like being in a room full of people screaming the opening line 'Shit Fucken Yeah!' at the top of their lungs.

A nice touch to the night was the cameos from the bassists who stepped in for London during his recovery - the Rumjacks Johnny McKelvey and Gay Paris' Dean “Slim Pickins” Podmore – adding triple the bass to new track ‘Excavating’.

Throw in a half naked stage dive from Wishbone, some sweet Elvis-inspired dance moves, subtle product placement and a giant white balloon (which popped on the lighting rig), the Snowdroppers continue to prove why they draw in the crowds and satisfy them every time.

Truly a band that needs to be seen live to be fully appreciated.

For those of you in Sydney their next gig will be at the Vanguard on New Year’s Eve and for everyone else their album ‘Too Late to Pray’ is available on their website and iTunes.

Photos from the gig are online now: http://www.pushtofire.com/photos/TheSnowdroppers091211/index.html

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Textures + The Ocean
Relentless Garage, London
25th November 2011
Reviewed by Leo Kindred

The Ocean have been a favourite of mine since I first went to see them back in 2009.
Rolling, heavy waves of weighty sludge metal pass over the audience with the monumental pull of a tide of concrete, completed with visuals that set off a performance which is as honest as it is enticing.
The movements around the stage seem to have taken on a level of intensity, maybe rubbed off from their close contact with recent energetic touring comrades Dillinger Escape Plan.
There's the occasional spasm of guitar shaking and striding from the Dillinger school but what comes across is the crowd interaction has markedly been beefed up a notch.
Vocalist Loïc Rossetti frequently ends up in, on and up in the face of the crowd, not missing any of his passionate yet gritty vocal lines, as do some of the other members of the band.
Passionate is the way to describe not just their sound and style but primarily the ethic to which they play and conduct themselves throughout, and getting treated to tracks from their recent works, which memorably include 'Anthropocentric' and 'the Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov' brings out the best aspects of watching a talented band put on a set with heart not to mention some brain behind it.

Textures are far more stagey and nimble than their oceanic predecessors, borrowing from the djent school of technical metal and giving it a warm injection of life-affirming vim means they come out bouncy and in attack mode. Theirs is a big sound, somehow as angular as it is smoothly executed, and even though the change of pace and the slightly more generic stage banter ruffles at first the sound is perfect, making for a show which is fascinating in its depth but accessible with it.
The uneven yet seamless melodic delivery of 'Storm Warning' is as catchy as it gets and to hear the place join in the gorgeous vocal refrain is further testament to the success of this package in delighting all round.
I'm not a fan of djent per se and if one was being unkind then “Meshuggah for girls” would be heard from the troll's mouth, but there's no doubting the excellent delivery and when the bowel-loosening riffs keep coming with the melodic sense that most aren't capable of you know you're in the presence of exceptional masters of the art.
The proud new soaring number of 'Constant Hemispheres' from recent album Dualism is aired before the encore and the monolithic drum line of 'Laments Of An Icarus' pounds out across the venue to adoration and respect, bringing the curtain down on a modern metal exhibition from some of the best bands around.

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Every Time I Die + Trash Talk + Defeater + Spycatcher
Corporation, Sheffield
9th December 2011
Reviewed by Adam Smith

Every Time I Die have garnered a reputation as one of the world’s most venerated and influential hardcore bands and, with Trash Talk and Defeater in tow, hit Sheffield Corporation tonight with an astonishing line-up.

Before the trifecta of hardcore is introduced, Spycatcher warm up the audience with their melodic rock offerings. Undeniably, the band appear misplaced on tonight’s line-up, yet they make a more than decent account of themselves, eliciting a respectful response from a crowd that is eagerly awaiting the incoming hardcore onslaught.

As Defeater step on stage, there’s been a discernible increase of people in the room, illustrating the hype that has surrounded the band since their ‘Empty Days and Sleepless Nights’ release earlier this year. Bizarrely, the Massachusetts mob elect to open with ‘But Breathing’, an acoustic track that is simply anti-climatic, leaving the audience comparable to starving wolves expecting slices of meat who are left with a smattering of corn. Consequently, the set’s momentum suffers slightly, until it is galvanised by a ferocious rendition of ‘Warm Blood Rush’. From this point onwards, Defeater do not relent, pulverising the airwaves with impassioned performances of ‘Blessed Burden’, ‘Empty Glass’ and ‘A Wound And A Scar’. Finally, ‘Cowardice’ wraps up their set frenetically, enshrining Defeater’s name into the memory of the venue’s occupants.

With a number of UK tours under their belt, Trash Talk are a familiar name in Britain, so it’s unsurprising that they’re warmly received tonight. On record, the Californians’ output is enjoyable, albeit far from remarkable, but they’re an entirely different commodity in a live setting. ‘Hash Wednesday’ is uncompromisingly heavy, while ‘Sacramento Is Dead’ is transformed from a hardcore punk track into a one minute long grindcore slaughter.

The short nature of Trash Talk’s material means that their set flies by rapidly and, in seemingly no time at all, Every Time I Die grace the stage.

Although the New Yorkers only performed here last September, the crowd tonight is larger and more enthusiastic, greeting ‘Apocalypse Now And Then’ with sheer bedlam, before ‘Ebolarama’ rolls back the years in riotous fashion. Since this current jaunt is taking place in between album releases, Every Time I Die opportunistically insert golden oldies such as ‘I Been Gone A Long Time’ and ‘She’s My Rushmore’ into their set, igniting nostalgic sing-alongs and widespread movement from the crowd. With his buoyant attitude, vocalist Keith Buckley instils a party atmosphere in the venue, epitomised by a stage invasion during ‘Floater’ that closes a night where Every Time I Die demonstrated that hardcore music really can be a whole lot of fun.

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The Undertones
The Cockpit, Leeds
9th December 2011
Reviewed by Neil Short, photo by Chris Charlesworth

Well we arrived just in time to see one the greatest punk bands EVER!! I’d been waiting for this show for weeks, and the fact that things out of my control were stopping me getting there on time was shall we say, slightly frustrating. Still, I made it – just. I walked through the door to a right eclectic mixture of a crowd; old, young, & middle aged folks had turned up to see The Undertones.

I wasn’t so sure what to expect from these guys, I’ve known about them for years and years, know pretty much all of their singles, and I guess I was in the mood for some musical anarchy. The musical anarchy bit? They came through on that for sure, blasting everyone away with such an energy it left me thinking, “How the hell are they still doing this?”

So, the Undertones kicked it all off – from the word “go” they had the attitude, the moves, and definitely the voice. Some of my friends refused to go to the show with the lack of old Feargal – I hate to say it, but the dude wasn’t needed. Paul Mcloone (vocals) made every track his own, literally. I haven’t seen a frontman perform like that for years, to a sea of people jumping in perfect harmony with the tempo. The tracks we all wanted to hear were played; 'Teenage Kicks', 'My Perfect Cousin', 'Jimmy Jimmy', and 'Here Comes The Summer', as well as the entire first album.

Lacuna Coil + Straight Line Stitch
Manchester Academy
12th November 2011
Reviewed by Emma Stone, photos by Emma Stone

I think that everyone, at some point in their life, is guilty of wrongly judging a book by it’s cover, and that’s exactly what I found myself doing tonight. That book is Straight Line Stitch, it’s cover; singer Alexis Brown. Her slight stature and heavily swept side fringe led me to believe I was about to watch some mediocre pop-punk vocals over rather sub-standard riffs. What I actually watched was 25-minutes of raw, throat ripping screams, crunching guitars and blistering solos. Not only are Alexis’ vocals impressive when screaming, she has a great voice when harmonising too. Adding to the allure of the band is simply how down to earth they are; Alexis seems genuinely overwhelmed at the positive reaction from the crowd, and baffled that there are actually people in the audience who even know the words to their songs. Through a mane of hair fallen over her face, she addresses the crowd in her deep American accent, drawing them out and encouraging them to “make some noise”, as tonight they’re being filmed for the tour DVD.

Ellwood + Acid Drop + Eat Defeat
The Parish, Huddersfield
9th December 2011
Reviewed by Suzy Harrison

I don't think I've ever been to a gig as cold as this one. I could barely feel my feet for the entire show and I've never before had to wear my coat and hat throughout a full gig. It was therefore surprising to see Eat Defeat take to the stage with some members in shorts and t- shirts and frontman Summers in a non-sleeved top. Needless to say they encouraged everyone to move forward and generate some heat. The set itself was a bit messy with broken strings and discontinuity between songs, but they were battling with freezing cold temperatures so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

Manning Bar, Sydney, Australia
1st December 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

There is something a little off-putting when an opening band abuses the audience, whilst at the same time wanting us to like them. Such is the case tonight with opening band, Coffin.

Taunting the small sized crowd for ‘not drinking enough beer’ and ‘not cheering loud enough’, the bands attitude was a little high-horse for tonights gig.

Abuse aside, these guys certainly embody the heart and soul of a great punk band with their tight as hell tunes. The fast-paced, ridiculously shambolic and hideously snot-nosed style these guys play is a welcome relief to the so- called ‘punk bands’ that attempt this sound in the mainstream.

Next band up, Melody Black shift styles completely – opting for a slightly more metal/goth sound that is literally music to my ears.

Their crunching guitar licks, post-hardcore style vocals, and cathartic melodies are engagingly brilliant – with frontman Johnathan Devoy staring each member of the growing crowd down, wanting to engage each and every punter tonight.

However, by the time the crowd had grown to quite a grand size, all eyes were on the stage for not only one of the most original punk bands, but also one of the most influential bands of all time.

Taking to the stage in horror/goth/punk attire and makeup, the Misfits were greeted with an astounding level of noise and applause from the crowd. This is the band they had come to see.

Wasting no time at all, the band launched into an epic set list that touched on nearly every album of their vast career – from the classic ‘Halloween’ to the newer ‘Devil’s Rain’.

‘Monkey Paw’, ‘Hybrid Moments’ and ‘Hatebreed’ all made an astounding appearance, perfectly executed by the original [and still the best frontman the band has ever had], Jerry Only.

Playing with the same level of ferocity and charisma that the band started with in the late 70s, the band were nothing short of brilliant tonight, winning the hearts and minds of, not only original Misfits fans, but a new generation of fans that were caught up in the ‘fiend’ fire along the way.

Tonight, also ultimately demonstrated just how recognisable and influential the Misfits have been in shaping, not only the music scene, but in shaping our pop culture future.

Thank you Misfits. Thank you.

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Kill City Creeps
The Beresford, Sydney, Australia
26th November 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

This month, local band Kill City Creeps have been enjoying a residency at the new, and somewhat trendy venue The Beresford Hotel. Tonight, on the last night of their stint here, seemed like the perfect opportunity to get along to catch the band, and see what people have been talking about.

Taking to the stage in a generously filled room, the first thing that strikes you about Kill City Creeps is just how cool all the members of the band are - with attitude to boot. From the first song tonight, it became clear just why so many people had come along to the gig tonight. These guys can belt out a tune, and look good doing it.

Undoubtedly, the highlight for tonight was 'I Got A Letter' - a track that is currently enjoying rotation on the national radio station, Triple J. The thudding guitar/drums combo provides a perfect beat to get peoples feet moving, and clearly that was put into practice tonight.

Tonight, above all else, demonstrated just why these guys are getting their name out there. Their blend of glam rock and 60s psychedelica is completely unique and is perfectly showcased in a live setting. This young band have a very promising future.

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The Getaway Plan + Break Even + Gatherer
The Metro, Sydney, Australia
25th November 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

"You're here to see the music, right?" screams Break Even frontman Mark Bawden - which is greeted by a roar from a ridiculously young, all ages crowd. Undoubtedly, this is the running theme for the night.

For the part few months, the build up to The Getaway Plan's 'The Requiem Tour' [in supprt of their new album] has been immense. So, before tonight had even begun, expectations were already high.

Opening band, Gatherer did well to engage the small, but growing crowd. The crunch of the guitars grabbing my attention almost immediately, the bands blend of heavy rock and indie is a unique combination - however, tonight it was a well-balanced and perfect suited to this tour.

Break Even were next on the bill, grasping the complete opposite end of the spectrum with their melodic, post hardcore/screamo sound. For a while, it almost felt like we had been taken back to the hardcore scene of 2005, when screamo was dominant as danceable pop is today. Unsurprisingly, the band were met with enthusiastic punters who wanted nothing more than to mosh and start a circle pit.

Tonight, however, the focus was more importantly on The Getaway Plan. After a short career of ups and downs, a blistering debut album which was followed by the band 'calling it quits' - tonight was the perfect opportunity to let everyone know that 'Hey! We're back. And this is why."

Taking to the stage with the gorgeously cathartic first single, 'The Reckoning', my expectations for the evening suddenly hit a brick wall.

Despite the bands' efforts to put on a great show, their performance seemed to fall flat in parts, and proved lack lustre in others. In moments where you expected to be taken to new heights regarding sound and quality, disappointingly, the audience were only taken half way there. While there were a few dedicated punters spread throughout the venue, tonight didn't seem to resonate with the audience as much as I first thought.

That being said not all moments were lost tonight. The stirring live versions of 'Where the City Meets the Sea', acoustic closer 'Requiem' and new single 'Flying Colours' were all greeted with enthusiastic applause, and showed how perfectly capable these guys are in causing a stir in within the local and international music scenes.

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Royal Chant + Surprise Wasp + Mother & Son
Good God Small Club, Sydney, Australia
15th October 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

Good God Small Club, whilst only a new live music venue, is already steadily building a solid little reputation. Walking into the venue tonight, I can't say I entirely knew what to expect. The 'western american prom' feeling was a little unnerving, but thankfully, tonights entertainment took plenty of attention away from the decor.

Opening band Mother & Son are an intriguing guitar and drums combo. Their surf rock ethos is undeniably enjoyable, and guitarist/vocalist Bodie Jarman's 'Magnum PI' moustache is about as amazing as they come. For a young band, their grasp of a genre that was before their time is commendable - with each song delivered with incredible grit and intensity.

Already having a 'hard act to follow', Sydney locals, Surprise Wasp, took to the stage with punk rock gusto that undeniably got the crowd moving. Fronted by Dean 'Slim Pickins' Podmore, the band are a far cry from Podmore's other band, Gay Paris - and their swamp, shack, blues style. However, tonight, every song embodies the spirit, heart, grit and growl of cracking punk rock tune.

Headliners Royal Chant take to the stage next - showcasing the small club crowd their blend of local and American rock. Considering the small turnout tonight, the band still played as if the room were packed to the hilt - thrashing and flailing with instruments in hand.

Having not seen the band live previously, it was comforting to see that the compelling, yet simple rock tunes that made up the bands recent album 'Raise Your Glass and Collapse', work perfectly in a live set.

Overall, tonight has once again shown the level of talent that is on offer in the current music industry. The varied genres, styles, sounds and personalities of the bands tonight are testament to the thriving Australian music scene, and the willingness and acceptance of punters to embrace these new bands.

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Sonic Boom Six + Mr Shiraz + Route 19
The Duchess, York
1st November 2011
Reviewed by Henry Raby

Usually one starts a review with the first band on, however I’ll get to them in a minute. Firstly, let’s look at Mr Shiraz, Huddersfield’s kings of funk-metal. They’re not the same band they were from many years ago, once upon a time a ska-punk band with the flavour of Sublime and Suicide Machines. Now they have embraced their undiluted love for high energy rock music, a blitz of music chocked full of rock locks, an AC/DC or Motorhead flavour meeting with Black Flag/The Bronx hardcore.

Juke Baritone and the Swamp Dogs + White Knuckle Fever
30th September 2011
The Vanguard, Newtown
Sydney, Australia
Reviewed by Rachael Kelly

Studio recordings of Juke Baritone with or without the Swamp dogs can really not prime you for the Vaudeville of their rare live performances. The Swamp Dogs and Juke take up the whole tiny Vanguard stage and their presence fills the whole room, pretension is forced out the door. There's a mime dancing in front of me. Bag Lady prances through the crowd and billy goat gruff Juke asks the crowd for a whiskey. The whole crowd writhes to the twisted tales Juke croons, delivering a cover of Amanda Palmer's 'Missed Me' that would make her so proud. Everyone seems transfixed by their absurd presence and fall head first into their narratives and if not are amused by their on stage antics. Bag Lady manages to spill Jukes whiskey mid-song, Juke goes on to break a glass not to long after - And none of this interrupts a seamless performance. The thing that makes these performances all the better are the self-deprecating, compassionate, politically sound and perceptive songs teamed with a twisted sense of humour, which every member on stage performs in all senses of the word.

The half time act White Knuckle Fever harnessed incredible amounts of energy and female vocalist Celia Curtis seems to be channeling a combination of Joan Jett and Imelda May. The 'psychobluesabilly' duo pack the psychotropic punch that is expected. Curtis screams like an assault siren and jumps around the stage with a crass but elegant energy that has everyone mesmerised, which gives Baglady enough time to run around the crowd drawing Dali moustaches on both men and women. And before you know it its change over.

The trip was then picked up again by Juke and his cohorts. Juke played keys for the second half, not his iconic accordion. He was like Tom Waits in a top hat singing 'The Piano Has Been Drinking' as he created his unruly art stomp into a sublime piece of junkyard sound sculpture from both albums. The piece de resistance of the journey was 'Bill Hicks' even if it was cut short by closing time, which just added more urgency and euphoria to the experience. The gruff guide Juke left the crowd with a message of how he thought the world should be before disappearing into the ether - Love is all about gettin' in and gettin' out, Love is all about gettin' high and gettin' laid.

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Enter Shikari + Letlive + Your Demise
Sheffield 02 Academy
16th October 2011
Reviewed by Adam Smith (Photo by Carl Fleischer)

After saturating the press like ocean water to the Titanic it’d be an understatement to say that Letlive are critically acclaimed. Nevertheless, they’ve won over the music press for a reason and they show it tonight with a remarkably chaotic set.

‘Casino Columbus’ resembles Glassjaw’s early output and is performed in a frenzied, yet technically adept fashion, triggering mosh pits aplenty. Meanwhile, ‘Day 54’ harnesses Deftones-like beatific melodies with boundless aggression. Although their next album will be the true test of Letlive’s longevity, on tonight’s performance, they live up to the hype.

Similarly, Your Demise are riding a wave of popularity at the moment. On the back of last year’s album The Kids We Used To Be, the southerners have expanded their fanbase substantially, a fact that is clearly evident by the hordes of fans passionately singing their lyrics tonight.

Packed with energy, sing-a-longs and ground-shaking breakdowns, their set is an irrefutable success. ‘Miles Away’ and ‘Burnt Tongues’ represent two of the night’s highlights and vocalist Ed McCrae brilliantly demonstrates his aptitude for clean vocals as well as the band’s trademark screams.

As well received as tonight’s supports are, it’s unequivocal that Enter Shikari are the primary attraction.

It is almost five years since Take To The Skies helped Enter Shikari permeate the mainstream, but the band have evolved since then, while managing to retain an ardent legion of followers in the process.

Changing Lanes Festival
17th September 2011
Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia
Reviewed by Meghan Player

With the weather starting to warm up, it can mean only one thing in Australia...the beginnings of the festival season! And, Changing Lanes, with its ridiculously good lineup of bands this year, got things off to a cracking start.

Opting to move the festival from its usual home in Newtown, the decision to place the festival firmly in the heart of Surry Hills, was a move embraced by all.

Spread out across the lower part of Devonshire St, and taking full advantage of the close-by, yet varying venues and different genres of music, meant that there was more on offer for punters throughout the day.

Kicking off the day browsing the streets, and feeling ridiculously untrendy, the Gaelic Club became the venue of choice for today - with a huge array of unquestionably good, local talent.

Kira Puru & The Bruise took to the stage early in the afternoon, warming the crowd up with Kira's soulful, seductive vocals that would make anyone weak at the knees. The bands own raw, blues yet industrial sound is a gorgeous feast for the ears, and in a live setting, is turned up a notch - with every inch of each members' soul, on dramatic display.

Melbourne quartet, The Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders took to the stage in devilish fashion, with their foot-stomping, hip shaking, dirty blues fever that majority of punters couldn't help but being swept up into.

The band's set was entirely what you would expect - loud, intense, sweaty and no doubt a special reminder that your hips are there for shaking.

Upon Lanie Lane's arrival onstage, the Gaelic Club was undoubtedly packed to the hilt. A stunning rockabilly chick, Lane has enjoyed an increase in popularity since returning to Australia, after working with the enigmatic and ridiculously talented, Jack White.

Drawing on the packed room, Lane engaged the young crowd with her unique, blues-esque/country style of music - demonstrating a level of talent that sometimes neglects to be noticed in Australia.

If there was an award for the possibly the coolest frontman in the room, it would have to go to Mikelangelo of Mikelangelo and the Tin Star. Taking breaks between tracks to comb his slicked back hair, this band undoubtedly has a reputation as being cool as fuck.

Their blend of early rock 'n' roll and surf, got the crowd's feet moving, and not one person was left without a smile on their face after the set.

In direct contrast in terms of style and genre, avant garde and explosive local band, Gay Paris, hit the stage with ground shaking fevour. Fronted by caped wizard WH Monks, the band's performance grabbed the audience by the balls, and thrust them into a realm of filthy, swamp/shack styles that, without doubt, all involved would have been praying for their sins the next day.

Undoubtedly, after a day of killer bands and killer music, headliners, The Snowdroppers had a huge benchmark to step up to by the time they took the stage. Thankfully, they are more than capable of rising to a challenge.

From the first bars, the band owned the 'packed to capacity' room, and didn't stray from their engaging style for the entire set.

Mixing in some new tracks, along with those tracks from their debut that everyone has come to know and love, the band demonstrated tonight just why they are a band to watch out for. Dangerous, loud and full of pep - the band are exactly what makes the current music scene here, exciting.

Without doubt, Changing Lanes hit the nail on the head this year, especially band wise. There was something to cater to everyone's musical tastes, resulting in, what I think the organisers and punters will call, a successful festival. Well done Changing Lanes. Well done.

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Between The Buried And Me + Animals As Leaders
25th September 2011
Birmingham Academy 3
Reviewed by Hannah Sebestjanowicz

Between The Buried And Me are back in the UK for their first ever headline tour, and with 2 sold out London dates it'll hopefully mean the beginning of many more trips across the pond for the prog-metallers. Tonight though it’s all about Birmingham, and there are already fans outside the venue at 6pm- an hour before doors open, ready to get a prime spot to witness the brilliance of both Animals As Leaders and Between The Buried And Me.

The intimate size of Academy 3 makes it the perfect venue for tonight’s proceedings, and the room is almost full when Animals As Leaders take the stage to a great cheer from the crowd. It’s always interesting to see how a fully instrumental band goes down, it can get a bit tedious, this however is not the case for Animals As Leaders. It’s mesmerising stuff all 3 band members are so incredibly talented, but it's guitarist Tosin Abasi’s guitar work that has everyone craning their necks to get a better view of his insane playing. They get a huge reaction from the crowd with tracks like 'CAFO' and 'Waves of Babies' getting heads banging. The smiles on the band's faces confirm that they just killed it.

Between The Buried And Me are the kind of band that will have you breaking out the air instruments in your bedroom, and there are a few guys who couldn’t resist breaking them out tonight. I don’t blame them! Tonight is truly a show of pure musicianship and the headliners don’t disappoint. Opening with ‘Specular Reflection’ off their latest EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues it begins like a soundtrack to some epic sc-fi film; that is until singer Tommy lets loose, as powerful live as on record. It’s a well thought out set with the songs flowing into one another; like the first 2 tracks of The Great Misdirect, ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Obfuscation’, which are flawless and get the crowd banging their heads in unison. The band is so tight, going from bruising metal to a more a melodic softer sound effortlessly. ‘Prequel to the Sequel’ sounds huge with Paul and Dustie’s duelling guitars and ‘Viridian’ shows off Dan Brigg’s epic bass skills. It’s the masterpiece that is ‘White Walls’ that gets everyone going though, fifteen and a half minutes of pure awesome!

BTBAM leave the stage to rapturous applause and with chants for more from the hungry crowd the band return to the stage to play 'Selkies: The Endless Obsession'. London may have got Colors in full but Birmingham definitely didn’t miss out tonight.

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Wormrot + Evisorax + Black Mass
10th September 2011
The Grosvenor, London
Reviewed by Leo Kindred

The Grosvenor gig space in South London, which I'd pretty much describe as “a large room in a pub”, seems a suitably gritty low-fi place for a grindcore gig . Having lost Cthulhu Youth due to illness, we get under way with Black Mass. Boasting some impressive drumming and a decent bass line their performance is unfortunately marred by poor sound quality, not aided by their singer being noticeably self-conscious and mumbling his banter, all the while with his back to us. Factor in the guitarist's strap falling off twice and the bass player accidentally letting his pick fly off mid-song it doesn't make for a great performance.

Evisorax are more what the doctor ordered. That is if the doctor really didn't like you and wanted to make your head hurt. A three-piece of vocals, guitar and drums it's a sudden, violent outburst of deathgrind, with the only lyrics I can catch being: “Aaaaaargh!” This vocal flourish comes from both singer Chris Grenfell and guitarist Dan Lynch, the latter delivering ridiculous technical bastard-ry from his fretboard and periodically breaking off to yell at the audience, making for quite an ordeal. Combined with the assault from drummer Simon Brotherton the resulting racket is the sort of thing that will torture neighbours, scare away animals and, make all the nearby crops die and deform into gnarled, twisted shapes. An anti-social, sadistic farmer with a taste for horrid gardening is far from being the only demographic Evisorax appeal to as it turns out, both pleasing and terrorising the audience. After paying tribute to tonight's headliners Wormrot's vocalist Arif lends a growl for a track, and after barely 20 minutes of material they're done- either running out of energy, or songs, or both. Great noisy stuff.

Singapore's Wormrot are more accessible with their catchy riffing and drum work but lack nothing in heaviness. One second it's full on blasting from the Asian three-piece, before giving way to guitaring that gets people jigging. With tracks only averaging a minute or so it gets impossible to work out what songs are coming our way, but the hitherto mostly stationary audience comes alive with reckless endangerment. Punk-ridden grindcore guarantees and demands movement. Fit's drumming is as hook-laden and catchy as Rasyid's guitar work, and on tracks like 'Born Stupid' there's the closest thing to skanking going on I've ever seen at a metal gig. Music this extreme shouldn't be so fun.

Chris and Dan from Evisorax come back on for more, amusingly dwarfing the shortish Singapore trio, and imbue the following song with yells of utter anger before taking their leave. Material comes from both new album 'Dirge' and predecessor 'Abuse' as Wormrot show why there's been so much hype around their name in grind circles. The easy professionalism of the headliners, resplendent in Arif's case in his flip-flops, pushes the night up to a climax with infectious blast after blast. The encore is greeted with cries of “5 more songs!” from the audience, before Arif invites us to“go ape-shit” as they power through with breathless pace to the grind finale.

Wormrot's set, much like themselves, is short and savage, and it closes tonight with the ridiculous extremity of grind's reputation intact and as buoyant as a bloated corpse.

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Kaiser Chiefs
10th September 2011
Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds
Reviewed by Neil Short

The Ricky Wilson trademark shout “WE are the Kaiser Chiefs” rang out more than once through Kirkstall Abbey during the course of their first homecoming show in over three years. To be honest, the 10,000 strong crowd didn’t need reminding who they had been waiting to see. Following the release of their interactive fourth (top ten) album, The Future is Medieval, the Chiefs were certainly on top form, with Wilson giving the crowd his high jumps and mad pogo dance moves for the duration of the set and it was obvious from the opening of the show that the Chiefs were back to make an impression…Again.

Taking Back Sunday + The New Regime
1st September 2011
Birmingham Institute
Reviewed by Hannah Sebestjanowicz

Taking Back Sunday are in Birmingham tonight to take the crowd on a nostalgia trip as we travel down memory lane back to the days when emo was huge and bands like Taking Back Sunday and Brand New were the forerunners of the genre.

Things have changed since, but as we find out tonight they still know how to turn back the years as the play a career spanning set of hit after hit.

Chances are you have probably seen or heard the front man of The New Regime without realising, as he has drummed for both Lostprophets and Nine Inch Nails but Ilan Rubin has stepped out from behind the kit, donned a guitar and has just released his second solo album under the moniker of The New Regime.

The majority of the crowd tonight don’t seem familiar with the music, which makes it harder for Ilan to get the reaction he deserves. Tracks off the new album like ‘Radiate the False’ sound great, and there are solos aplenty throughout the set but its ‘Enjoy The Bitterness' with its haunting piano intro that makes the biggest impact.

Shame the crowd aren’t more into it but Ilan and the rest of his band put on a great show.

Is it 2011 or 2001? Who the hell cares!

This is Taking Back Sunday with its original line-up back together after fall-outs, new bands; and boy are we in for a treat tonight as they open up with 'El Paso' off their brand new self-titled album.

The set-list is a great mix of old and new but completely bypasses 2009’s New Again. All the hits are there though, and the crowd has no problems singing along to every word of the likes of ‘You Know How I Do’ and ‘One-Eighty by Summer’. It's great having John Nolan (vocals/guitar) back in the band, and by the look of the smile on his face it seems he’s glad to be back too, his vocals complementing Adam Lazzara’s sultry tones perfectly.

The Beards + Gay Paris
19th August 2011
The Annandale, Sydney
Reviewed by Meghan Player

When you put two bands on the same bill that like their beards long, music loud and the crowd moving and shaking, you're pretty much assured a rip-roaring good night.

Local band, and an act that keeps popping up on the Push To Fire radar, Gay Paris, delivered what is entirely expected - a hammering, noise explosion that the growing crowd couldn't help but be drawn into. Despite the technically difficulties, the band perserved like any good band should, and definitely kept the crowd on its toes.

Judging by the amount of men in the audience stroking their beards, it was easy to assume who the packed house was here to see. Thankfully, headliners, The Beards would not have left anyone disappointed tonight.

Opting for the rented tuxedo look, the bands personality onstage would put even the most miserable person in a good mood. Even more undeniably enjoyable is the bands' 'schtik' of only singing songs about beards. While some may think that would be a hard topic to continue writing songs about, the band somehow manage it, and manage it well.

Songs such as 'You Should Consider Having Sex With A Bearded Man', 'No Beard. No Good', 'A Wizard Needs A Beard' and 'If Your Dad Hasn't Got A Beard, You've Got Two Mums' were all received with tremendous applause from a heavily bearded crowd.

On a side note, tonights venue was a wise choice. The sticky floorboards, crumbling interior and genuine Australian pub style of the surroundings definitely makes for a more low-key, but twice as fun, evening for all punters involved - and was the perfect backdrop for tonight.

Without a doubt, tonight perfectly demonstrated how a band doesn't have to take themselves seriously to be considered 'serious' musicians. The Beards and Gay Paris have both found a niche sound and personality that works for them - a trait that will only keep winning them respect from their live audiences.

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UK Subs + 20 Tons of TNT + Shotgun Effect
The Duchess, York
7th July 2011
Reviewed by Henry Raby

Shotgun Effect's uncompromising Anti-Nowhere League/Motorhead crossover punk/metal, has much the same raw energy of a shotgun explosion. They rip through their set full of heavy rock songs with a punk bark leaving a lasting impression as a respectable and, above all else, loud local band.

Second band on, 20 Tons of TNT’s whole set leads up to another final tune “about whiskey”, which is explosive and by far their best song. Save your best for last and leave the audience very much impressed. It's US punk to-the-point with gritted teeth much like Hot Water Music or Red City Radio's style of music. Lyrically some songs stand out as fuelled by a surge of anger and vigour, with eagerness to prove themselves a sharp band.

UK Subs themselves have been going over 30 years and in that time gone pretty much everywhere and released more albums than you’ve had hot dinners. To that end, Charlie Harper, lead singer and punk-legend-cum-royalty, doesn’t really try too hard. He casually makes some gags about his songs from time-to-time, sometimes introducing them, but is often cut-out by his band cracking on with the songs. Which seems a pity, I’d love to hear some Harper-wisdom, but I suppose they are running late and the songs should speak for themselves. Stranglehold, Warhead, I Live In A Car and CID are all thrown in at the end, almost as an afterthought to keep the fans happy. The band tour constantly and play gigs over and over and over again. In an interview with Vive Le Rock magazine, Harper essentially says if they stop gigging, they starve. But I can’t help but feel the band are going through the motions tonight. Maybe the crowd don’t really get going, and there’s a lack of punky energy in the room. Harper belts out the songs defiantly enough, and the rest of his band play loud and fast but the night seems somewhat lacking in the viciousness, the rawness, even the danger of a dirty punk gig.

There’s a fellow who’s drunk to the point of being nothing but a clumsy problem. His Red Stripe goes over me and everyone around him, he barely knows the songs and keeps flopping into people with the vague intention of starting a pit. A member of the audience keeps looking at him sharply, and then at the end of the gig comments to me how much the drunk fellow stinks with a hint of repulsion in his voice. This crowd are the older punk generation, appreciative of simply the fact they can still see the UK Subs, older, wiser, more respectful and safe in this touring circuit. Harper is the same, he gives the songs scream, hops around somewhat and is totally dedicated, but this isn’t where you’re going to find the most intense stage shows, fiery stage antics, violent riffs or the most intense mosh pits. This is where you find tried and tested, decent classic punk rock and roll.

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Papa Roach + Yashin + Slaves To Gravity
Sheffield O2 Academy
17th July 2011
Reviewed by Adam Smith

The first observation I make arriving at the congested O2 Academy is the alarmingly low age of tonight’s audience. It appears in the present day Papa Roach have converted a large number of kids to alternative music much like they did in the early millennium, certainly all to the greater good.

Playing to such a young crowd could be an odd proposition for many bands, yet Slaves To Gravity pull off their supporting set with admirable panache. Their sound is a throwback to the enamoured grunge era of the early nineties, mixed with a modern twist, and their tremendously executed performance ensures an undeniably warm reception from the highly excitable audience.

Next up are Yashin, who deliver post-hardcore that foregoes creativity for black hair dye and contrived screaming. The kids obviously lap it up, but it’s obvious that there's a vast assortment of bands who can offer a far more impressive take on a genre that has long suffered from over-saturation.

In the seconds before Papa Roach take to the stage, teenage screams flood the air, re-affirming the fact that Jacoby Shaddix and his peers have been able to survive nu-metal’s extinction and somehow manage to attract a completely new generation of fans.

The band’s material from Time For Annihilation: On The Record & On The Road offers little in the way of musical depth, meaning it is hard to believe that tonight’s elder watchers aren’t here purely on grounds of nostalgia. In spite of this, those who perceive Papa Roach in a serious light are missing the principle of their music. Classic, yet simplistic nu-metal tracks such as ‘Dead Cell’ and ‘Blood Brothers’ are performed with boundless energy, transporting many of tonight’s onlookers to their formative years.

Predictably, ‘Last Resort’ wraps up tonight’s show in anthemic style, proving that while Papa Roach may not be the most sophisticated or praiseworthy band, they remain a decidedly fun live act.

Photos from the show can be found here:http://pushtofire.com/photos/PapaRoach170711/index.html

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Björk: Biophilia
Campfield Market Hall, Manchester International Festival
7th July 2011
Reviewed by Leo Kindred

It is a rare and singular pleasure to see a musical hero. It is even more so when in such a small and intimate space as Campfield Market Hall. For a few weeks, Björk; avant-garde singer, musical explorer, quirk mistress and all round Icelandic wonder woman has set up shop for a performance of her latest wacky piece of innovation: Biophilia, a project uniting three main themes; technology, nature and music. To this end the central stage area contains an odd selection of musical apparatus, which includes electronic synthesiser equipment, some large wooden pendulums, and a ramshackle Gondry-esque bit of machinery resembling a collision between a gramophone and a boiler.

When the lady of the hour appears it's to noisy and devoted applause. Flanked by two dozen or so Icelandic female choristers and dwarfed by an enormous deep-red wig, none other than Sir David Attenborough's dulcet tones narrate an introduction, the atmosphere is electric. And then it actually is. A FUCKING TESLACOIL is lowered, emitting lightning and a crackle at different pitches to provide accompaniment as Björk and her choir embark on a magical evening.

New tracks from the forthcoming Biophilia concept album are introduced by the voice of Sir David, and have an extra touch of the exceptional. Beautiful and fascinating videos on the themes of the pieces; ranging from biology, to tectonics and space are shown on big TV screens, plus the bits of eye catching musical machinery, and it gets close to overloading the viewer. You don't know where to look (“Björk! Amazing video of reproducing cell things! Sir David! Massive pendulum things! Björk! Argh!”), and in numbers like 'Crystalline' and 'Virus' I feel giddy. Someone I know actually fainted during one of these performances!

Happily old numbers feature too with 'Mouth's Cradle', 'Isobel' and the bizarre 'Where Is The Line With You' surfacing to continuing wonderment. The crowd are rapt and fawning- one gentleman somewhere off to my left, as a sombrely touching track finishes yells: “FUCKING LOVE YOU!” into the pregnant silence.

When she departs it's to a sound of adoration, and the encore is a trip through glittering classic material. 'One Day' performed with just herself and a percussionist on an electronic drum is spellbinding, followed with a beautiful rendition of 'Joga'. The knock-out comes with the rabble-rousing 'Declare Independence', with the choir jumping and dancing on the stage, all decorum gone as the place comes alive, finishing the event on a high festive note.

The latest chapter in Björk's saga is unlikely to appeal to those uninterested by her weird and unorthodox style, but to the converts it is a move which will cement her ever firmer into their hearts and assure her place in history as a musical force of nature like no other. Incredible jizz-explosions of awesomeness? You just got Björked.

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Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders + Gay Paris + Mother & Son
The Sando, Newtown, Sydney, Australia
22nd July 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

The Sando has a reputation around Sydney of being a 'ruff' venue. And while the outer exterior might give you that feeling, walking in and up the stairs to where the gig is tonight, you instantly feel relaxed, at home and amongst friends.

Opening band Mother & Son, a drum and guitar combo, packed a mean punch with their ferocious 50s surf guitar melodies. While the crowd was only just starting to file in during their set, they might as well have been playing to a packed room - with each song played with the same level of enthusiasm and energy that grabbed the attention of every person in the room - and kept them thoroughly engaged.

During the last song, a problem with the amps onstage occured but, maintaining a level of professionalism, the band laughed it off, used it to their advantage, and kept going.

Next up were derelict darlings, Gay Paris. Being familiar (and a fan) of their live performances in the past, tonight the band were in unquestionably good form - yet again blowing my mind at the level of energy each song is delivered with.

Kicking off with "My First Wife? She Was A Fox Queen" was always going to be an interesting start (considering it is usually a good closing song), but it definitely secured the attention of a large part of the growing crowd, and kept it for the remainder of their set.

Despite being 'under the weather', frontman WH Monks still managed to howl and growl ridicuosly well, backed up brilliantly by fellow enthusiastic band members: Black Tooth, Six Guns and Slim Pickens.

Gay Paris know how to put on a show, and there is little wonder after tonights set, why more people are coming along to their gigs.

However, tonight was undoubtedly topped off by headlining band, The Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders - who from the first minute they stepped onstage, connected with a large majority of the crowd.

Being that tonight also was the bands album release show, it was a perfect opportunity for the crowd to hear a live version of the completed album, entitled 'The Year To Forget'.

Perhaps it's the flailing of frontman James Grim's arms and husky vocals, the driving double bass, or the brilliant dirty blues melodies of the guitar/drums combination - one thing is sure as hell - these guys put every ounce of themselves into their live performance.

And while it took some members of the crowd to warm up to the band, this didn't stop them from trying - and it's safe to say, by the end of the night, not one person was standing still, without a smile on their faces.

Tonight, above all else, proved that the Australian music scene - especially amongst the blues, rockabilly, swamp, shack styles - is building and thriving. There is such a wealth of local talent right on our doorstep, and tonights bands were without doubt a winning a combination - and definitely a set of bands that people need to keep an eye on in future.

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The Snowdroppers
The Beresford, Surry Hills, Sydney
15th July 2011
Reviewed by Meghan Player

When your waiting for a band to start and the person beside you is subtley pouring 'extras' from a hip flask into their drink, you know the night is about to get interesting. Fortunately, Sydney misfits The Snowdroppers are an interesting band.

Developing their own signature of 'fucked up blues', the band are building quite the reputation amongst the local and national scenes alike - albeit for their energetic and engaging live performances. Tonight, the band seem to have turned the performances up a notch since returning from their stint at SXSW in March, and had little problem getting the crowds feet moving.

Running through a setlist of token tracks from debut album, 'Too Late To Pray', the band fired through tracks such as 'Fucked Up Blues', 'Rosemary' and 'Good Drugs Bad Women'. Even a rendition of 'Yakkity-Yak' was delivered with such intensity, its a wonder noone spontanesously combusted.

Possibly the only fault you could make tonight, was the choice of venue. While The Beresford is good for the trendy people of Surry Hills to gather, a large portion of punters seemed to be at the gig mainly 'to be seen' - entirely losing the important point of live music being about the music, not being trendy.

That being said, a track such as 'Run You Down' was partially overshadowed by the amount of people talking in the room - making it hard hear even the band at times. Which is a shame - seeing as how the track is brilliantly dark, powerfully emotive and was perfectly executed by the band.

Overall, The Snowdroppers seem to be on the up and up. Their scene status is definately rising, and more and more people are getting into their music. I'm hoping at least one person walked away tonight with a copy of their album in tow.

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Random Hand + Chief + Sounds of Swami
The Cockpit, Leeds
28th June 2011
Review by Henry Raby (photos by Suzy Harrison - more here)

The first time I saw Random Hand was back in 2006, at our local little dirty scummy venue known as Certificate 18, as charming as the bands they featured. That band was, of course, Random Hand and five years later here I am, skanking next to a moshing punk and a headbanging metalhead. Random Hand have played gigs across Europe, America and the United Kingdom, from the dirtiest dives to a mere handful of true believers to festival stages to local gigs swarming with adoring fans. They’ve gigged with all the key bands of the ska-punk scene and produced an EP and three killer albums. They’ve influenced a score of bands to combine genres of music and become, without question, one of the most reliable ska-punk bands to catch live for a decent show.

Tonight is their 1000th gig, or thereabouts. Pretty much every single Random Hand t-shirt design is present at the gig tonight, from their Red On Black EP standard Hand design to their Change of Plan Joe-Tilston-Television-Head design to their recent Bones image to promote their single. There’s the fist-hi-five red/black look and the We’re Scum declaration. Their entire discography can be mapped in the clothes of their fans tonight.

First up, Sounds of Swami are old mates of The Hand and start proceedings with fast rock/hardcore punk, a mixture of Fugazi and The Bronx, an emphasis on creating intricate but powerful rock music. They deliver a fast-paced and eye-catching set, complete with spot-on cover of Nirvana’s Breed.

Chief arrive just in the nick of time, and to say they’ve literally just jumped out the van they deliver a strong set. Their straight-to-the-point punk style has the rage of Strike Anywhere or early Against Me!. They play fast and with sweaty energy, and though I’ve seen them perform more furious gigs their set is still packed with stand out tracks from both their early material and tracks off their most recent release.

Random hand open with one of their earliest tracks, the slapbangwhallop skankmaniac track Mr Bib Wakes Up, followed by a collection of tracks from their first, second and third releases. Tracks from their second album, Inhale/Exhale, prove to be the mainstay of the night, the songs acting as decent enough high-energy tracks in-between eagerly awaited Seething Is Believing songs and tried-and-tested Change of Plan classics. The audience never let up, skanking, moshing and headbanging in equal measure to the well-crafted ska-punk-metal numbers. The crowd are most definitely on Random Hand’s side. Who cares if the gig’s been ‘degraded’ to the middle room of the Cockpit? It just makes everything more intimate, tight and sweaty.

Luke from Sounds of Swami performs a dazzling crowd surf to Floating Ghosts (after falling flat on his arse leaving Robin, RH’s lead singer, struggling to sing the next verse without bursting into laughter). Tracks like Anger Management, Bones and British each prove their worth as sing-long perfections. The classic Change of Plan tracks will always be the songs that get the audience most worked up, but the value of the more recent songs cannot be misunderstood, Tales of Intervention and Britain will stand the test of time and gigs to come.

 

But there’s a reason, beyond the dynamic and punchy songs, that Random Hand have remained one of the ska-punk scenes most adored live outfits. Matt the guitarist looks like he was born to be on stage with a great big grin on his face, like some almighty Rock God picked him off a rock in hell and plonked him straight into ska-punk heaven. Tilston provides a keen and intricate undercurrent of bass and strong backing vocals. Sean Howe on drums slowly transforms during the gig from a controlled and tight performer to almost raging with shirt bare and arms flailing wildly. Robin has never disappointed, and I’ve said this before in other reviews, but he’s a fan’s musician. He knows what a crowd expect or even need from a lead singer. He throws himself around the stage like a lurching ska Quasimodo, unchainable to any part of the stage, one second he’s in your face screaming to Roots In The Crowd, the next crowd surfing to finale Scum Triumphant. An acrobatic trombonist, leaping like Spider-Man into ska. It is no exaggeration to say it is very hard to keep your eyes off him. His intense gaze and quick-fire trombone skills are infectious and make any crowd as lively as an army of skinny ska-punk fanatics.

But perhaps one key factor of their live show which will one day make them bigger than U2, Coldplay and Beyonce combined is their banter on stage, as seen flawlessly tonight. I would like to hope, maybe, in 5, 10, 20, 30 years time I end up going along to Glastonbury because RH will be headlining. And I would like to imagine that, just like tonight, Robin will make a reference to wanking into a sock and for the encore return to the stage, forever triumphant, sock in hand.

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Tyrannosaurus Alan + Claypigeon + Stand Out Riot + Copasetics
The Well, Leeds
20th June 2011
by Henry Raby

I heard someone recently declare they can’t stand bands that describe themselves as ‘fusion’. For me, that’s never been a problem. The combination of genres has tested the skills of bands and produced not only new, amazing music but also explored cultural and political unity. With bands like Mouthwash (who recently decided to call it a day), Capdown (who recently decided to have another bash), Sonic Boom Six and Random Hand paving the way, there’s a new wave of these ‘fusion’ bands knocking about. The Skints are probably the biggest band to find success in the 2010s but other bands like Broken Nose, Gecko, Resolution 242 and Beat The Red Light are becoming more and more well-known and hitting the touring circuit. Of course some of these bands have been around a fair while, but personally I feel like you can sketch out the ska-punk scene a little better than maybe a couple of years back. The hyphen between ska and punk is a much more of a blurred line.

So, to the gig: Tyrannosaurus Alan are stuck in Chesterfield or somewhere, their mode of transport (Pamela VANderson) letting them down once again. So after a slightly delayed start, York’s Copasetics start proceedings with their silky smooth ska mixed with decent punk riffs. The sound is akin to 3rd wave bands like Sublime or The Slackers but with a hint of 2tone acts. Whilst appearing to be the ‘lightest’ band of the night in the sense they’re more SKA-punk than ska-PUNK, lurking beneath their danceable and infectiously bouncy tunes lies a keen eye for song-writing, a real bite and energy controlled within each chorus and verse.

Stand Out Riot are the perfect example of a band whose name lives up to their reputation. A mash-up of punk, rock, metal and ska, the band are the bastard children of Capdown/Against All Authority/Streetlight Manifesto with a love for hardcore and even gypsy music thrown in for good measure. The band are a fan’s band, that is to say they know what they’d want from a decent band, and thus deliver it to their audiences. Francis, the untameable lead singer, knows what an audience demand from a front man. Frequently throwing himself into the audience, making quips about pinching Beat The Red Light’s sound and their violinist becoming invisible, Stand Out Riot not only make riotous music but quite simply they stand out with the same energy and spirit of any music-lover who knows what makes live music addictive.

Claypigeon have their own defiant energy, lacking the madcap stage antics of Stand Out Riot but allowing their well-crafted songs to prove the band more than capable of writing decent songs that, again, incorporate ska, hardcore, punk and rapping. In fact, I’d say anyone looking for decent UK rappers should look no further than the ska-punk scene. Tyrannosaurus Alan’s vocals are mainly rap-based, but do boast the occasional shout-along chorus. Their songs are bouncier than Claypigeon, a hip-hop vibe like a Reel Big Fish and King Prawn combination, roots based in hip-hop but also Fishbone and possibly even Skindred.

The audience enjoy every single band, it’s a night for fans of the ska and punk combinations that take a detour over to various other influences. It’s a joy to be part of a night with a versatile take on musical culture and welcomes various styles but still with the hard-hitting punch of decent, very loud music.

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The Defiled + Romeo Must Die + Boneyard Babies
The Cockpit, Leeds
1st May 2011
by Emma Stone

Boneyard Babies are yet another band demonstrating that the ever growing trend of hardcore thrash metal bands isn’t going away any time soon. The lyrics often seem a little forced, they don’t really flow too well and the vocals are also off tune for the most part. Similarly the backing vocals seem quite weak, which then makes me think they might have come across better had the sound been improved. The band themselves are good musically, doing justice to the bands who’ve influenced their overall sound. They get quite a few boos when they announce their final song, clearly the audience haven’t had enough of them yet, but it’s time for them to pack down and let Romeo Must Die take control of the stage.

Romeo Must Die received a fairly subdued reaction from the crowd, and unfortunately don’t get much more when it’s time for them to play. Nevertheless, they play their thrash/groove metal with such aggression and energy, it was as though they were playing to a room full of adoring fans. Having given away their debut album free via Metal Hammer in March this year, it’s surprising that there’s not more people here to see them give it their all. Luckily, it’s hard to ignore this fivesome; loud and intense, they’ve got what it takes to appeal to metal lovers everywhere.

It’s the opening night of The Defiled’s first headline tour, and despite playing countless gigs and having supported the likes of Breed 77 and Murderdolls in the past, you could forgive them for first night nerves. Not here, not tonight. Blazing onstage looking as though they’ve risen from the dead, oozing confidence, they completely dominate the stage all night long. They work their way through almost all the tracks off Grave Times in the order they’re listed, as well as a couple of heavily requested E.P tracks, ‘1888’ and ‘Blood Sells’. Their fans are obsessed with them, reaching forward through the ranks to stroke singer Lee ‘Stitch’ D’s legs or clamouring for a swig of the Jagermeister keyboardist The AvD is doling out. With bands that attempt the combined singing/screaming style, it’s usually the case that they’re infinitely better at one or the other, and more often that not, it’s the screaming that overshadows weak or off-tone vocals. Fortunately, Lee has mastered both, and it’s almost a shame when he reverts back to screaming as his vocals really are that good.

In the midst of their songs about Jack the Ripper and the Black Death, 'Call To Arms' has message behind it that any political punk would be proud of; “Call to Arms; we’ll change the system from the inside out Call to Arms, it's our turn now, we'll reclaim the street again.” As a band, they’ve got the whole package; big songs, an interesting, if a little odd, look and the ability to keep the audience in the palm of their hands for the entire night. Not only that, but they’re more than happy to have a chat with fans after the show, signing gig tickets and taking up offers of drinks with people in the bar round the corner.

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Slam Dunk Festival North: 2011
Leeds University
28th May 2011
By Emma Stone

It’s May Bank Holiday weekend, and you all know what that means. That’s right, Slam Dunk is back. Now in its 6th consecutive year, Leeds University is completely packed out with people coming to enjoy the host of bands on throughout the day.

People are queuing round the block waiting for the doors to the Jägermeister Main Stage to open, and it’s up to Londoners The Skints to kick off the day. Having worked their way up from the Vans stage, they play their reggae-punk to a full room, mixing older songs 'Bright Girl' and 'Roanna’s Song' with 'Can’t Take No More', a track off their new album that really shows off vocalist/drummer Jamie K’s voice to his full potential and also features Marcia on acoustic guitar; is there an instrument out there that this girl can’t play?! Finishing up with Dawn Penn’s 'No, No, No', The Skints show they’ve certainly earned their place here on the Jägermeister and set the tone for the rest of the bands to play on the main stage today.

Next up, HelloGoodbye prove that they’ve got more about them than just that 'Here In Your Arms' song they released god knows how long ago. Expecting the same synthesised vocals on every song, I was surprised to hear Forrest Kline's vocals sound as though they wouldn’t be out of place at an acoustic-folk show. Playing softer pop-punk numbers with acoustic guitars and even a ukulele, songs such as 'Getting Old' & 'Would It Kill You?' are the proof that HelloGoodbye are more mature and not in the slightest the gimmicky band that I first presumed.

A trip round to the Macbeth stage and I’m just in time for Preston boys Failsafe. Playing Slam Dunk for the first time since their debut in 2007, it’s a shame to see them lower on the line up on a smaller stage than last time, but they don’t let that hold them back as they unleash their alt rock sound on the crowd. 'Actions For Answers' is dedicated to the fans who saw them here four years ago, were with them before that and those who have been ever since. They play 'Only If We Learn', the song made famous by their appearance on C4’s ‘The Inbetweeners’ last year, which gets a massive cheer when mentioned.

Claiming that it’s been far too long since they’ve played the UK, Anti-Flag sure as hell make up for lost time and crash their way through their set with anarchic abandon. They’re a little heavy on the “Fuck the Government!” anti-establishment chat, but what else would you expect from one of the leading political bands in the US. Their set is comprised of songs old and new, ranging from 'Fuck Police Brutality' from their 97 debut Die For The Government record, to 'This Is The End' and 'The Press Corpse' from 2006’s For Blood And Empire. They make their cover of The Clash’s 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?' one of their final songs before ending with 'Power To The Peaceful'. Though aware that maybe not everyone in the audience are dye-in-the-wool fans they compare themselves with the likes of Green Day simply because they’re all part of one big movement, making a difference through music. Given the hearty cheer that greets that statement, I think it’s safe to say the audience wholeheartedly agree.

The Atticus stage is pitch black and absolutely rammed with people waiting for VersaEmerge. When vocalist Sierra Kusterback bounds onstage, she’s met with a mass of screams from the girls in the crowd, one of whom actually asks for her hand in marriage. It‘s easy to see why comparisons are made between Sierra and Paramore‘s Hayley Williams; not only are they on the same record label, they’re both strong, young front women with the ability to rile up the crowd, and have very similar vocal styles. However, where Paramore concentrate on pop-punk, VersaEmerge have successfully achieved an all out alternative rock sound. The fans reaction to her leaping from the stage to sing over the barrier to them or straddling the amps at the front is overwhelming. For a band so young, they’ve written powerful songs and the passion behind those songs is only amplified by VersaEmerge performing them live.

I couldn’t have picked a better moment to dash back round to the Jägermeister stage for Goldfinger. Though their clash with VersaEmerge meant I only caught the last two songs of their set, I was lucky enough to find that those two songs were their most well known anthems; 'Superman' followed up with anti-war anthem '99 Red Balloons'. Between the two tracks, singer John Feldman drops in a joke about Osama Bin Laden's last known Facebook status (“BRB, someone at the door”). Too soon? Of course not. Ever the entertainers, they all come to the front of the stage to take their bows, and then playing an unknown riff to accompany their departure, they goose-step off the stage Basil Fawlty style to a much amused crowd.

Having last year had the honour of being picked by Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge to open the K! stage, Francesqa have worked their way up to an impressive slot on the bill on the Atticus stage. Suffering from a couple of technical issues setting up the guitar and very quiet vocals on the first song, Francesqa are nevertheless on form despite losing guitarist Joe Hicks just 3 weeks ago. They’ve built up a massive fan base since playing last year, most of whom seem to be in the room tonight.

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen ex-King Prawn bassist Babar Luck, and it’s great to see he hasn’t lost any of his pizazz. Barefoot, he spends half his set generally chatting to the crowd who slowly pay more and more attention until he has the focus of the entire room, and the other half playing his heavily accented reggae/punk/folk songs. His slightly controversial additional lyrics (“Ma girlfriend said, ‘You smell like an Indian takeaway'”) gets a few laughs as the audience appreciate his tongue-in-cheek comments.

Playing Slam Dunk for the first time is Less Than Jake. There’s no messing about making us wait for the best songs until the end of the show, they play 'All My Best Friends Are Metalheads', 'Look What Happened' and 'The Science Of Selling Yourself Short' one after the other. There’s a rather bizarre piratey rendition of 'Spongebob Squarepants' followed by a fast punk version of 'Scooby Doo'. They only throw in one new song; one minute long and they don’t care if we think it’s shit! Though their setlists rarely change each time they play over here, they’re the kind of band whose audience wouldn’t appreciate them not playing their most well known songs, and to prove my point a massive cheer greets the intro to both 'Johnny Quest' and final song 'The Ghost Of You and Me'.

Having last headlined the festival in 2007, Reel Big Fish are their usual energetic selves. In the same respect as Less Than Jake it’s a great thing that Reel Big Fish are another band who don’t vary their set much, as I doubt the whole room would be skanking to a random new track as much as they were to the likes of 'Good Thing' and 'The Kids Don’t Like It'. Their version of Toots & The Maytals 'Monkey Man' goes down a storm, and The Skints’ Marcia returns to the stage to join in on 'She Has A Girlfriend Now'. I just managed to catch 'Where Have You Been?' before nipping round to the Macbeth stage for the final band of the day.

Finishing up the festival, Set Your Goals headline the Macbeth stage and their melodic hardcore has the entire room up in arms enjoying one of the stand-out bands of the day. The dual vocals really add to the performance, even if when one of Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown is singing, the other looks a little out of place just bouncing around. They have a friend diving back and forth from crowd to stage, although he seems to give up on his final attempt after face-planting the stage when trying to jump back up, but it adds to the entertainment nonetheless. Having heard previously that they can start to get a bit “samey” once you’ve seen them a few times, I’m lucky enough to say that this is the first time I’ve seen them and would willingly see them again. I can safely say I think it could take a while for this band to grow old, especially when they treat the fans to 'Exit Summer' and 'Start The Reactor', both songs off forthcoming album Burning At Both Ends out later this month.

Once again a great Slam Dunk experience and we can't wait to see what next year's festival brings!

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The Sword
Manchester Academy 3
11th May 2011
By Emma Stone

The Sword’s arrival on the stage is met with a chorus of rowdy, blokey cheers, and with the thrash of overwhelming guitars and pounding drums, they plunge headfirst into their set with Warp Riders opening track 'Acheron/Unleashing The Orb', delving straight into 'Tres Brujas' next. Due to a combination of bad sound and having reached the end of a long tour, John Cronise’s vocals were a little off at the beginning of the show, but they picked up and improved as the set progressed. They worked their way through pretty much all of Warp Riders chronologically, with older and more popular tracks such as 'How Heavy This Axe' and 'Freya' slipped in for good measure. The Sword’s sound isn’t something that’s new; they admittedly take heavy influence from bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden, therefore comparisons are rife, but they’re a breath of fresh air in the current musical climate of posing metalcore bands, unoriginal indie and repetitive dubstep.

The last time The Sword played in the UK, I heard all about the sweaty, intense and absolutely packed carnage at Camden’s Barfly. Having expected a similar atmosphere in Manchester’s Academy 3, tonight isn’t quite as epic as legend tells, but the following that this band have is almost at cult-like proportions; they have a room full of people head banging none stop and constantly shouting "Sword! Fucking Sword!' Never has a more daft question been asked as when John Cronise enquires "Do you all like Thin Lizzy?". The eruption of cheers across the room provides the answer that "yes, of course they bloody do!" Playing the intro to 'Cold Sweat' they then work their way into an amazing rendition of 'Massacre', leaving fans after asking, "what were the chances of ever hearing them play that song!?".

After 'Winter’s Wolves', The Sword leave for a brief respite, but are soon back onstage for the encore. One fan gets his own way after a night of yelling for them to play 'Iron Swan'. They happily oblige and the inevitable mosh pit breaks out; a room full of people bouncing off each other to a band that can truly rouse a crowd.

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Jonah Matranga + Mikee J Reds + Falling Into Difference + Boss Caine + Arran Johnson
Basement, City Screen, York
2nd June 2011
By Suzy Harrison

Local musician Arran Johnson opened the night's acoustic performances. It was a bit of a difference seeing Arran on his own on stage - he usually plays in metal/rock band Drowned in Flames - but he looked right at home. His songs were well written and well performed. Arran's voice sounds great. An enjoyable performance and a really good start to the night.

Next up was Boss Caine and the vocal sound was a total opposite to Arran Johnson. Boss Caine has a more country-southern-bluesy style sound to his music and a very deep voice to go with it. It's not the usually music I would listen to but there was something about the performance and music that really got my attention. The music was thoughtfully written and the tempo of the songs reflected this. It wasn't always obvious that he was from York in terms of accent, with the exception of the odd word here and there.

Falling into Difference from Bristol played next. They did an acoustic set as a band which is not the norm for them. They were very different to the other acts on the line up, playing more up beat music with just two guitars, a singer, and drums. The vocal harmonies worked well and was obviously something they good to use to their advantage in comparison with the other acts (who were all solo).

Mikee J Reds (Call of the Search, previously The Sketch) was the penultimate singer of the night. He seemed a little nervous at first but soon settled into things and played a short set that showcased his great vocals and song writing ability. Mikee also spoke to the audience a few times throughout the performance making it clear that he was grateful for being on the line up with the other acts and especially Jonah (he's been a fan of Jonah for years). He played mainly his own material, but also covered a song ('Rotting Away') by his old band The Sketch. 'Living Well' was Mikee's final song and a good choice to end the set with.

And finally it was time for an hour long set from Jonah Matranga (of Far, Gratitude fame). I'd seen Jonah before back in 2005, where he performed acoustically in a record store (Concepts) in Durham and then played with Gratitude at Trillians in the evening. So I was looking forward to hearing him again with his own material. The set consisted of some of Jonah's own songs (e.g. Livin' Small and Got my List - Onelinedrawing) but also a cover of Neil Young's 'Helpless' and Gratitude's 'Sadie'. For Jonah it was clear that the whole experience of touring was more than just music and performing songs - going out and meeting people. His interaction with the audience definitely showed that he appreciated people coming to the shows and supporting the music. In some ways the whole experience reminded me of the way Mike Park does his acoustic shows - telling stories and giving thoughts on music and life more generally. Jonah played some songs with a backing track (a bit casio-esque in places) and also got Boss Caine back on stage to accompany him which also brought something else to the set. The atmosphere was nice and it didn't feel like an 'us' and 'them' situation in terms of audience and performer. Jonah is definitely an acoustic performer you have got to see at least once.

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The Faceless + Born of Osiris + Veil of Maya + Gorod
Camden Underworld
16th May 2011
By Leo Kindred

Contrary to some of the advertising running up to the gig, Gorod are actually on the bill. And thank fuck. To have missed such an impressive display of technical brutality and musical ingenuity from some of the most competent and original purveyors of the tech-death genre would of blown donkeys' testes. High-note density, high speed riffs and solos barrage out from the stage like shrapnel from the Frenchmen, playing like pros and at no point letting up in delivery or grins. I think I may have jizzed myself during 'Disavow Your God'.

New school deathsters Veil of Maya are indicative of where a lot of death metal has gone across the Atlantic. The sporadic blunt riffs and breaks means that the guys with flesh tunnels and fringes are given a chance to punch each other, which makes them happy, and there's a suitable level of atmospheric ambience and guitar runs here and there to stop everyone else getting bored. Overall it's a pleasant surprise as I was expecting * shudder * deathcore, and whilst many will probably describe them as such, Veil of Maya for my money offer up a reasonably varied package to avoid the usual pit falls and trappings that have made so many other bands in the field interminably boring.
Also one cannot doubt the commitment of a band when the guitarist stage dives onto the crowd and continues playing whilst sailing the uneven sea of hands.

It's a similar story from Born of Osiris, even their name sounds alike to the previous band, but I'm aware they're aiming higher with their sound; the scale of the diversity on display with their new album The Discovery being impossible to ignore.
Live though rhythmic chuggery abounds, along with stop start riffs. In addition the keyboards don't have huge clarity live, which doesn't help on tracks like 'Abstract Art' and 'Now Arise' where they add an extra element.

I crack a grin though when they use a Charlie Sheen sample to start a track, and the bodies fly and writhe with huge energy as new track 'Recreate' gets them firmly off the ground and stratospheric. Final track 'Bow Down' is nothing but a slam-fest. As usual there's the clearing of space as everyone gets out of the way of the six or so guys who then proceed to do some spastic backstroke dancing. Overall though, despite the difficulty redressing the new on-album complexity versus the immediacy of live performance, the set is a definite a success. The conceptual ground they're standing on may be a little uncertain but they've got it where it counts, packing a punch and simultaneously aiming for more progressive grounds.

Rising alien tech-death stars The Faceless have a few false starts with backing tracks playing up, all just making the crowd more impatient.
These, though are the only technical problems. Suddenly exploding into life there's a flurry of brutal riffs and silver-slick solo lines flying at us, starting with 'Prison Born' and moving onto the glory of 'Coldly Calculated Design'.
Having watched earnest crowd interaction of the last couple of core-er bands, The Faceless are by comparison a text book performance of ridiculously proficient musical ability, rather than goading or rallying the crowd.
Guitarist Michael Keene is the main familiar face amongst The er...Faceless, and the back and forth guitar proficiency between himself and Steve Jones (whose mannerisms and looks remind me of Prince) is tighter than a nun's arsehole. He takes a second to introduce us to new bass virtuoso Evan Brewer and new vocalist Geoff Ficco.
New bass player, new singer, it's hard to recognise the band I've been familiar with ever since their début. That's another thing: hardly any old tracks materialise throughout the set, not that we're in shortage of epic shredding death metal, as Geoff gives us 'Xenochrist', a song he describes as being about “the otherworldly rape of the virgin mother”.
A new song from the forthcoming third album which is currently in the works is a promising teaser for fans, and against the new comes the only older track. Thankfully 'An Autopsy', is one of the best, which speeds with as much dysfunctional brutality as the record promises.
Limited on stage presence and banter, The Faceless rely on uncompromising instrumental prowess and a highly original delivery to make their point.
Both would have been exceptional, but tonight it's more than enough to have made this more than just another death metal gig, and transformed the night into an otherworldly brutal triumph.

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Hellbound Hearts + Japanese Voyeurs + The Black Spiders
The Cockpit, Leeds
5th May 2011
By Emma Stone

Surprisingly, Hellbound Hearts are playing their first ever gig tonight. I say that’s surprising, because first gigs are usually filled with nerves, uncomfortable communication with the audience and at least two or three instrumental or lyrical cock ups. Defying that, Hellbound Hearts make it clear that they’ve wisely spent their time practising, honing and perfecting their hard rock songs before making them public. This means that their set is brilliantly tight and songs wonderfully crafted. Their onstage confidence can be credited to singer/bassist Danny Lambert, who joined Terrorvision as replacement bassist on their three date tour in 2007. Guitarist Sean Bowers has mastered that irritating art of managing to play some amazing riffs and solos whilst making it look completely effortless. I can see Hellbound Hearts being a band to keep an eye on, as they seem set on making their mark on the scene.

Japanese Voyeurs faced a couple of technical problems at the start of their set which led them to only play a short while. “You’re So Cool” was very nearly interrupted by a broken string, but front woman Romily Alice managed to carry on unflustered whilst a merry dance was led backstage trying to find a replacement. To fill the uncomfortable void of waiting for it to be found, Japanese Voyeurs break out into an off the cuff version of NIN’s “Fuck You Like An Animal”. After the replacement was found, it was back to their own material. Having heard comparisons with Brody Dalle, I was expecting a growling, deep voice and full frontal attitude. However, Romily’s more comparible with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O, her voice a combination of light, breathy tones and squeaks, although it was a little hard to hear her over the dirty, grungy backing riffs at times. The issue with the guitar led them to miss a couple of songs from their set, but that only made me more eager to catch them at a later date, hopefully seeing them play a headline tour soon.

The last couple gigs that I’ve been to have been filled to the brim with teenage girls; in contrast, tonight The Black Spiders have a crowd of men with an average age of about 40, all ready to rock out to a band who seem to have time travelled straight from the '70s. With deep, heavy riffs and a fast tempo, The Black Spiders are a band who deserve far more recognition than they’ve gotten so far. Though I’m sure tons of bands will cite bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC as influences, you really can tell that they’ve heavily influenced this band. At times, Pete ‘Spider’ Spiby sounds very much like Ozzy Osbourne, especially on “St Peter”. He keeps the crowd entertained and laughing by re-telling a long running joke regarding a dream he had about a Jagermeister induced dream involving Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, prompting the song “Kiss Tried To Kill Me”. The Black Spiders have captured the back to basics, classic rock sound, which clearly works well with their audience given the fact that the crowd had by this point stripped off their shirts and were jumping around as though they were ‘back in the day’.

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Laughing in the Face Of + Darko + The Fear + By Default
Stereo, York
24th May 2011
By Suzy Harrison

Openers for the night were locals By Default. The three piece started off the night by playing fast paced punk-rock and had a reasonable amount of energy on stage. The band had good rapport with the crowd, despite claiming that banter wasn't something they were good at. Plenty of on stage interaction between the band members and they definitely put their all into the performance. By Default also managed to get the crowd to move closer to the stage... something that is notoriously difficult at York gigs. Impressive start to the night.

Next up was another local act - The Fear. The band has been around for several years and was formerly known as 'Death Defying Life' but with a line up change a while back they decided to change their name and write new material. Having seen them a couple of times now, I have to say that this was the best I've seen them so far. They came across as a committed band with a passion for their music, but also managed to have fun on stage. Kudos to the drummer who was suffering after a trip to the dentist but played through the pain. A great performance.

Unfortunately some of the crowd decided to leave after they'd seen the two local bands play. It's a real shame that there is the mentality at York gigs for people to only see bands they have heard of/seen before/are friends with, but unfortunately this is happening more and more. Don't get me wrong, it's important to support your local music scene and encourage local acts, but it's also equally important to welcome bands from elsewhere to your local scene and make them feel like they haven't made a wasted journey. I would encourage people in York to take a risk and watch bands they may not be familiar with, and also be more polite and check out the entire line up instead of walking out of the venue before the headliners. You might just discover a new band you really love.

Soon it was time for Darko, a band we have covered on Push to Fire previously (interview here!). Hailing from Guildford, their set marked a shift from the northern local punk rock acts to the southern bands on the bill. This was the first time I'd seen them and I was pretty glad that I had made it down to Stereo to check them out. I was blown away by the amount of energy they had on stage. Playing fast punk rock/hardcore, amazingly they were able to keep the energy levels high all the way through their set. They were really tight despite all the movement. They acknowledged the crowd, telling us about their experience of filming a music video and also revealed that their new EP will be out later in the year. I can't wait to hear it and I hope to see them again sometime soon.

Finally it was time for the headliners. The energy stepped back a bit for Laughing in the Face Of, but that didn't mean that it wasn't a good set. It picked up as the set progressed and the music went down well with the crowd. The band were clearly glad to be on the line up for the evening, impressed with the other bands on the bill. Laughing in the Face Of was another band with a drummer suffering injury - playing to a high standard, despite blisters on his hands. In terms of music they were like a southern version of The Fear. They came across as a bit more reserved than Darko and a little more serious, but it was a good end to a night of decent punk-rock.

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Anaal Nathrakh + Drugzilla + Xerath
Camden Underworld, London
15th May 2011
By Leo Kindred

Xerath have been a hopeful arrival into the death metal scene. Being both British in origin and modern in sound, comprising of elements of symphonic and groove-djent they have a sound which reminds of Meshuggah meeting Dimmu Borgir (not too likely as a touring line-up). It works well and there is a great deal of good feeling towards the guys who are supporting their new album II. They don't really exceed expectations, yet the sights and sounds provides chunky head banging riffs and fun a-plenty. One to watch out for.

Right. This is interesting. Drugzilla, who have been picked up for this tour...I'm not sure why, are not what you might expect. Blasting abusive music is a similarity with the headliners. The genre, speedcore/gabba, is not. The best way to describe the sound is extraordinarily obnoxious dance music. Hyper-fast beats and assaulting electronics assail the rather bemused audience, the primary reaction being more curiosity rather than outright hostility. Wearing a mask, which provides the answer to the question we've all wondered at some point: “what would Darth Vader's helmet look like if he were really into bondage?”, the set mostly consists of one member of Drugzilla crouched over a laptop and occasionally rearing up like a demon at the crowd or shouting into a microphone adding to the jumble of chaotic beats and searing noise. More vocals materialise with another masked bloke and Dave Hunt from Anaal Nathrakh, who shouts non sequiturs read out from a ring-binder file.

This is surreal at best, and as the set wears on it begins to outstay its welcome. Come the end of the performance though there is a sort of odd respect for the sheer level of endurance Drugzilla's extremism requires. That and closing with a humorous ending sample describing the band members being arrested for raving to “washing machine music” adds to the overall WTF factor.

Sunday evening travel arrangements means there is precious little time left to watch Anaal Nathrakh. A suitably devilish intro is struck up by the various Mick Kenney and co. before Dave Hunt joins the rest of the band and proceeds to rend himself with barks, screams and obscenities over the apocalyptic barbarity of blastbeats and Mick's guitar savagery. Dave's soldiering on with a bad back, an injury which caused the cancellation of last night's show in Cardiff, not that you'd know it by his litany of anguished cries. Every time I see Anaal Nathrakh I'm overwhelmed and just can't think anything other than “Oh God. This is fucking heavier than Africa...if all the elephants were made of iron!!” New numbers from the forthcoming record Passion are blasted, including a treating to 'Violenti Non Fit Inuria', and I was fortunate to witness the appalling, bowel-loosening brutality of 'Submission Is For The Weak'. As Dave yells “Die on your KNEEEES!!” it unleashes an epic maelstrom of deranged musical viciousness I've yet to experience from another band live.

The only thing heavier tonight than the armageddon of mind-bending blackened grind is my heart at having to tear myself away from it and the band creating the ungodly din, who surely are one of the best bands in the UK.

I'll have to get myself back for more. ASAP.

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Twin Atlantic
Manchester Academy 3
5th May 2011
By Ellen Tomlinson

Promoting their new album Free, tonight brings Twin Atlantic back to Manchester, headlining the Academy 3. Having released their 4 track debut A Guidance From Colour in 2008, and mini-album Vivarium in 2009, the band have remained on the live circuit, teasing us with potential tracks from their long awaited full length album.

A long wait it has been, but I’m sure everybody here tonight will agree it’s been well worth it. Armed with perfectly polished new tracks and a lot less facial hair (except drummer Craig Kneale, who’s sporting a moustache Frank Zappa would highly approve of) the band explode onto the stage to first single ‘Edit Me’, and the sheer delight of this crowd who have clearly been waiting for this moment a very long time. Singer Sam Mctrusty moves around the stage, sporting a grin you just don’t see on musicians anymore; genuinely happy to be here tonight and for everything that’s happened to the band, and clearly, for everybody else here tonight, the feeling is mutual. Whilst showcasing new tracks such as ‘Time For You To Stand Up’ and the absolutely beautiful fan favourite ‘Crash Land’, to the crowd’s delight the band still perform as much older material songs as new, including the classic ‘Audience From Audio’ and ‘A Guidance From Colour’, bringing the always welcome addition of Barry McKenna’s cello.

The Academy 3 is a small venue and usually provides a perfectly average level of sound quality, but it is clear that years of relentless touring has really paid off for Twin Atlantic. Although alterations in live music can be highly enjoyable, their performance sounds just like they do on record, just turned up as high as it could possibly go! Without feeding you line upon line of poetic review language to describe this gig, quite simply, they sound absolutely incredible. It’s the perfect way to perform the new tracks to their fans, and you instantly feel like you have heard them a million times over. With constant support from Kerrang, Twin Atlantic have always been surrounded by some kind of hype, but tonight they make it absolutely clear why.

As the lights go down the crowd flocks to the merch stand. Despite several delays, the new album is clearly set to send Twin Atlantic on their way. They have exceeded everybody’s exceptions tonight and it looks like finally, the Biffy Clyro comparisons will finally be put to bed, because this band are in a league of their own. Anybody who knows Twin Atlantic loves them, and anyone here seeing the band for the first time are 100% converted, armed with new album and T-shirt.

Like myself, I’m sure everybody here is glad they got to see this gig tonight, as Twin Atlantic will probably never play a venue this small again.

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Groezrock 2011
Meerhout, Belgium
April 22 - 23 2011
Reviewed by Carl Fleischer

DAY 1

After a 12 hour journey, (Leeds – London – Belgium – Meerhout), I arrive at Groezrock Festival ready to rock. I’m in and off to the Second Easkpak stage. I caught Scottish alt-rockers Twin Atlantic first who pulled a pretty decent crowd, I’ve not seen the guys before in the UK. Unfortunately the Groezrock crowd didn’t seem to be into it - personally I think this was down to the band playing a huge percentage off their soon to be released record Free.

Next up for me was the poppy outfit Cute Is What We Aim For. The front row was swamped with girls star-struck by the only original member of the band Shaant Hacikyan. A pretty plain-Jane set with lots of sing-alongs. After the three songs I stayed for the heavens decided to open. Rain, rain and more rain!

25 years ago a band called Sick Of It All formed and today they’re still going strong. They took the main stage with a sea of horns from the crowd. Lead singer Lou requesting a circle pit for the first song, Groezrock did not let him down; I could see at least 3 going on from the side of the stage.

Punk rockers Millencolin were definitely not shy of playing Groezrock, this being their fourth time. Last time being 13 years ago, playing alongside bands such as Good Riddance and AFI. I’ve never really listened to them, they were pretty relaxed for the first couple of songs, playing acoustic on the third song. A pretty average set overall, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

A jog over to the third Etnies stage. This stage was easily my favourite of the weekend, lots of crowd participation and in your face hardcore bands! I arrived on time and on stage for some rockers hailing from Canada. Liam Cormier's favourite line opened the set: "If you don't know who we are, we're the Motherfuckin' Cancer Bats!" The band played mainly songs from their 2008 release Hail Destroyer, to great aplomb and tons of singalongs and chanting.

Back over to the Easkpak stage to see two of my favourite bands, both playing Groezrock as a one off show. First up was Every Time I Die, this being their first show in 2011. A few songs in and it was breakdown after breakdown - the crowd having a great time. ETID was the first band of the day to have such a tight set. Awesome riff after riff, with the top anthemic vocals from Keith Buckley.

After a quick equipment change metalcore giants August Burns Red took to the stage. They opened with the track 'Composure' from 2007's Messengers and a look back at the crowd showed they were loving each lyric, chord and beat hitting them right in the face. Their set got better and better as they worked their way through the archive of great metalcore tracks.

Back in 2010 a few bands that were playing Groezrock had to cancel due the ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcano. One band was Connecticut metalheads Hatebreed. Ten seconds into their set and the crowd were chanting along to opener “We Still Fight”, and this was no small crowd. The main arena was packed with people spilling outside. After playing songs 'I Will Be Heard', 'Every Lasting Scar' and 'Doomsayer' Front man Jamie Jasta informed the crowd that if there was any one standing still they had his permission to move their ass. This advice said, the whole arena was moving, making Hatebreed easily my favourite performance on the main stage that day.

Over to the Easkpak stage for the last band there, Underoath. I was quite excited to see how Underoath were going to live up to their usual great stage presence without their drummer Aaron Gillespie, who left the band in late 2010. Also absent from the band was keyboard player Christopher Dudley, away due to family reasons. They opened with 'In Regards To Myself', it was almost midnight and the young crowd for Underoath were giving all they had, mainly screaming girls on the front row. Underoath put on a powering show, my favourite for the day on the Second stage!

Last up for me on day one were Irish-American rockers Flogging Molly. I could see a wide variety of fans rocking up to the stage. They opened up with a new track 'Speed Of Darkness' and carried through into their hour long set with a wide variety of new and old songs. The crowd reacted with lots of dancing, observing the tradition for a FM set, ending the Friday well with everyone including myself leaving with a smile on their face.

DAY 2

20 years in the making and day two was AWESOME. First up was the Canadian 4 piece outfit Gravemaker. I saw these guys the night before Groezrock on tour with Comeback Kid, so I knew what I was in for. Having 2 albums under their belt since 2008, and this being there third time in Europe Gravemaker are making a great impression. Saying this the crowd was pretty small, but those who made it there were on top form; crowd vocals and stage dives all round!

Next up over at the main stage were old pop-punkers GoldFinger, who gave the fans what they wanted with hit after hit in the form of 'Here in Your Bedroom', 'Open Your Eyes', 'Superman' and of course their novelty take on Nene's '80s classic - 99 Red Balloons. Lots of fun had on stage, a great band.

Thursday was the band up next were playing their second set for the weekend, the first was on the Friday playing their entire album “Full Collapse”. This set was all about their sixth studio album No Devolución, this being the most dark and moody album Thursday have to offer. They played songs such as 'Empty Glass', 'A Darker Forest' and 'No Answers'. This was a really energetic set, but their performance on the smaller stage the day before seemed to capture the audience better. Still an amazing effort for Thursday, the only band to play two sets.

Another Canadian hardcore band on the line-up was Comeback Kid. Walking into the arena was a struggle; they pulled a pretty big crowd, if not the biggest so far for the second stage. Comeback Kid have been going for nearly ten years and definitely still know how to put on an energetic show. They opened up with some of their oldest tracks ‘False Idols Fall’ and ‘All In A Year’ with lyrics I can relate to, telling us how the hardcore scene is now dying. Saying this Comeback Kid are still keeping hardcore strong in 2011.

I expected that the next band would be a big treat. The highly influential Californian pop punk band Descendents took to the stage, although with not as much energy as I was expecting from both the band and the crowd. The set was a very long one with songs such as ‘Nothing With You’, ‘Silly Girl’ and ‘Everything Sucks’. Even though I thought this was a pretty average performance, the fans came alive with the last 2 songs, creating crowd surfing heaven.

One of my favourite bands H2O were back for the second year in a row to headline the Etnies Stage. The stage is perfect for this style of band, no barrier. That meant crowd vocals, stage dives and crowd surfing galore. The tent was seriously packed, as well as the stage. Bands Cruel hand, CIV and Madball came along to watch the show. H2O arrived with the song ‘Don’t Stop Believing' then right into a perfect start with ‘1995’. The crowd sang back so loud that it nearly over powered Toby’s vocals: amazing! They played a incredibly energetic set, songs 'Still Here', 'Nothing To Prove’ and ‘Role Model’ providing the soundtrack to an awesome time. They finished the set of f as they did in 2010 with the song ‘What Happened’. The crowd invaded the stage, and then there was crowd surfing and head walking on the people on the stage. Mental! H2O round off the festival and were easily the best band of the weekend for me, so much passion and energy. The crowd enjoyed every second of it!

Photos from the show can be found here:http://pushtofire.com/photos/Groezrock2011/index.html

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Gay Paris + Claude May
The Vanguard, Sydney
15th April 2011
By Meghan Player

"Tonight is 100% sold out!" the sign on the door to the Vanguard reads. Already, tonight is feeling like its going to be one to remember.

Solo act, and opener Claude May is in fine form tonight - showcasing his blend of blues that pleases the building crowd, no end. His energy, enthusiasm, laid back attitude and infectious tunes undoubtedly win some new fans tonight - and provides a solid benchmark for the rest of the evening.

Gay Paris take to the stage with flambourish stride, WH Monks leaving his glass of red wine with a "bearded lady" in the front row. With a minimal of fuss, the band launches into a plethora of tracks from their debut album, 'The Skeleton's Problematic Granddaughter' [which was released today].

The bands unique blend of 'swamp rock' is engaging to say the least, and its not difficult to see why they have an ever growing fanbase across the country. Tracks such as "Black Tooth Supper Club", "House Fire In The Origami District" and "Deadrie Fell's Dog Park Blues" satisfy the hungry crowd, but finale "My First Wife? She Was A Fox Queen!" receives the biggest response and applause from the crowd tonight.

One thing is certain, you are never left 'disappointed' at a Gay Paris gig, and once again, tonight was no exception. The bands onstage presence and personality, plus the ability not to take themselves too seriously makes for an enjoyable live set, and no doubt, a performance many people won't forget in a hurry.

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Bowling For Soup Acoustic, Linus Of Hollywood, People On Vacation & Erik Chandler
The Cockpit, Leeds
7th April 2011
By Emma Stone

Unfortunately due to the gig starting pretty much as soon as doors opened, I miss Erik Chandlers set, but I’m just in time to see People On Vacation, the side project of BFS’s Jaret Reddick and Smile Smile’s Ryan Hamilton. Despite only forming the duo in 2010, there are still a surprising number of people singing along word perfect, regardless of the fact that on their MySpace there are only two songs. Prior to hearing them, I wondered how well Jaret’s pop punk style would gel with Ryan’s folk/indie background, but it did work well, in an upbeat, happy way.

Linus Of Hollywood, formally of pop punk band Size 14, is up next. A lot of his songs are comically immature; ‘When Are We Gonna Do It?’ is about as subtle as the title suggests. He breaks out into a short cover of Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’, which to my astonishment actually managed to get a few cheers and claps. Erik joins Linus to provide backing harmonica on ‘Here Comes The Summer’, then Jaret returns to the stage again to contribute to Linus’ cover of Size 14’s ‘Claire Danes Poster’, which, quite simply, is a song about him wanking over a poster of Claire Danes. Given that the average age of the crowd this evening seems to be about 14 years old, they don’t necessarily know who Claire Danes is, but there’s still a lot of cheering anyway.

Pie Race Festival II
The Well, Leeds
9th April 2011
By Sam Smith

Three hours late and running on fumes I arrived at The Well to photograph and review Pie Race Festival 2, it seemed like it was going to be a long day. But then the sound of music pricked my ears and a nine hour musical journey began.

Wandering towards the bar I noticed the Bar Room Hero stage had an act just warming up, an acoustic three piece wielding a ukulele, double bass and a cajón going by the name of Speed Dinosaurs. Playing hard, fast and funky they mixed up a combination of covers from bands such as Bad Religion, Rancid and the Beastie Boys with a number of entertaining original tracks with the Leeds Kazoo Orchestra lending a hand to help cover Bad Religion’s ‘Sorrow’. Probably the highlight of their set however was the funky, rockabilly cover of Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Bullet in the Head’, it was a refreshing change from other bands who try to imitate the songs original style and generally fail.

Ten minutes later and another band are kicking off on the main stage, Warrington’s very own The Roughneck Riot. They sound something like the bastard child of The Clash and Flogging Molly with the tempo cranked up another notch for good measure. They may have been on early in the day to a smaller crowd but they certainly weren’t quiet and the bands energy overflowed from the stage. Quite literally at the end of the set with Chris (guitar) and Caitlin (banjo) jumping into the crowd as the band performed blistering cover of ‘I Fought The Law’ to round of a set of original, fast, Celtic folk punk.

After scuttling away for an early dinner I realised that I had missed Ram-Man on the Bar Room Hero stage so apologies there, will have to try and catch them next time they are about. On the upside I made it back just in time for The Swindells. With their Yorkshire pride and a can of beer in hand they managed to hold down the fort between the three of them. Their straight up, no bells attached punk and locally inspired lyrics went down with the older punks and also with the younger members of the crowd with a couple of them jumping up on the stage to join in the choruses. Despite the crowd starting to thin for dinner towards the end of their set, a number of them came scurrying back when they started playing ‘Yorkshire’ to round off the pre-dinner acts. On which note, what would Pie Race Festival be without pies?! Coming in both meaty and vegan options (with quiche available to pie haters) with or without peas for a reasonable £1.50, both the crust and filling were of a decent quality however my dislike of peas causes me to rate them at 7/10, maybe next year there will be a gravy option too?

Picking up after the pie break X Ray Cat Trio kicked off with their usual blistering punkabilly magic. Creative lyrics backed up by buckets of musical talent allow these guys to get people shaking down to tunes about pretty much anything (including prosthetic limbs). Unfortunately half the crowd didn’t seem to appreciate their rock and roll style punk as much as their usual fans so the response from the back was a bit motionless sadly. Back on the Bar Room Hero stage the Longshots energetic performance was impressive, especially considering the size of the stage they managed to move around an awful lot! With a pop punk style that reminded me of Millencolin the Longshots are definitely a band to keep an eye out for.

Following up from Roughneck Riot’s earlier performance, Leeds own Bootscraper are the locals in a similar vein. Well, as much of a vein as they can ever be in! although Tim (vocals/acoustic) may have pointed out for the benefit of Joel (accordion) that they are in fact not a pirate band they do sound that way at times. Having grown another two members since I last saw them which means the stage was looking a bit crowded but they still managed to keep things lively without hitting each other was quite an impressive feat. Keeping the crowd lively with tracks old and new the band seems to be going from strength to strength and the addition of their new members adds to their punky, folky, celtic, (piratey) sound as opposed to just cramming more members on the stage for the sake of it.

For anybody that hasn’t heard of the one man comedy genius that is Captain Hotknives I strongly recommend you find out where he is playing near you next and go and see him. Words can’t really do justice to his combination of wit, creativity, satire and insight (?) which is held together by the sound of his acoustic guitar and possibly a bit of glue. After reducing the crowd to hysterics and then getting them to sing along about racist polar bears my only problem with his set was that it was too crowded to get any photos!

Middle Finger Salute were one of the bands I was anticipating quite a lot of people to come and see, having seen them play to a crowd of 20 grizzled bikers in a backwater town supporting the UK Subs a couple of years ago. They’ve come a long way since then, with catchy riffs and bass lines that drive the songs along. With a stage presence matching their abilities my only complaint with their set was the crowd - half of the people that turned up were milling about outside the venue missing a fantastic band seemingly because they weren’t bothered about hearing someone new from out of town. The last local band of the night was Acid Drop. Having seen them play countless times before they certainly didn’t disappoint this time! With a mix of previously unreleased material and old favourites like ‘I Won’t Forget You’ and ‘You’re Gonna Pay’ the crowd was lapping it up. Between the human pyramid, crowd surfing mohawks, skinheads pogoing and the Kazoo Orchestra once again taking to the stage everyone knows it’s a punk show and if you haven’t already seen these skate punk rockers their 100th show is coming up soon, go check them out. They will not disappoint.

Faintest Idea were the final act of the night, coming to us all the way from Kings Lynn, unfortunately for them it appeared that a lot of the people at the gig had mostly come down for the local acts... either that or everyone was too pissed after 10 or so hours in the pub and they ended up performing their set to about 50 of us at most. Not that they were by any means bad, their ska street punk sound was a good mix of melodic brass and raw vocals coming together to provide something you could skank and shout along with. Whatever your punk taste there was something for everyone at this year’s Pie Race but there is no doubt about the fact that it was Acid Drop that stole the show. Looking forward to the next Pie Race!

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Fireworks + Make Do And Mend + Save Your Breath
The Cockpit, Leeds
29th March 2011
By Emma Stone

You‘ve got to hand it to Wales, they’ve produced some bloody good bands. Funeral For A Friend, Lostprophets, Skindred, and now Save Your Breath have emerged from Newport to add themselves to that list. Though busy for a Tuesday, the Cockpit crowd is a little quiet tonight, but SYB get them suitably warmed up and singing along to their cover of The Movielife’s “Walking On Glass”. Informing us that they’re currently writing more material for their debut album which should be out around the beginning of June, Save Your Breath manage to encapsulate that catchy, upbeat pop/punk sound, without being too cheesy or cliché.

Connecticut’s Make Do And Mend are now firmly cemented as one of my favourite bands. Singer James Carrol’s gruff, deep voice is a brilliant cross between Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan and the deeper tones of Less Than Jake's Chris Demakes, the former being an obvious influence on their musical style. Their songs sound raw and honest, a sentiment that the band manage to portray in themselves through their down-to-earth, hard working approach to playing. Make Do And Mend are renowned for their DIY ethic, and yet they don’t bother trying to charm the crowd into buying their merchandise; they let the songs speak for themselves and the audience make up their own mind. They do seem genuinely overwhelmed that this many people have come out on a Tuesday night and stuck around to listen to them. They played two or three songs from their ‘Bodies Of Water’ e.p, “TL” being a highlight for me, but then in saying that, “Shambles/Winter Wastleland” sounded spectacular also. “Night’s The Only Time Of Day”, one of their newer tracks released last year, receives just as much of a warm welcome as their older tracks. If you love punk rock at it’s rawest and best, I’d definitely advise listening to Make Do And Mend. Hopefully you’ll love them just as much as I do.

Devin Townsend Project
O2 Academy Islington, London
26th March 2011
By Leo Kindred

There are few times as a jaded reviewer/gig-goer you get nervous before a gig. Tonight has failed to be halted by the anti-cuts protests in London, but I find myself on shredded nerves. What if there's equipment failure? What if I need a piss, lose my place to go to the toilet and end up being stuck near the back? I should now declare the complete bias I have towards the comedic, zen-metal odd-ball Devin Townsend, and the trepidation I endure waiting to catch his first headline tour in the UK for something like 400 years is probably similar to how pre-pubescent girls feel just before a Justin Bieber concert.

I catch sight of Herman Li of power metal absurdists Dragonforce, and I'm distracted further from my nail-biting anxiety nausea during the sound checks.
“Ziltoid Radio” blasts from the PA system, a mock programme hosted by the coffee-obsessed alien puppet created by Townsend as a villain for one of his albums.
Tracks played by the foul-mouthed Ziltoid include Beyoncè's 'Single Ladies' and Aqua's 'Barbie Girl', all part of the package of unassuming good-time humour synonymous with Townsend.
Ziltoid appears on the screens, announcing that the gig will be presented in “boobaphonic” sound, before Vengaboys plays and the band emerge. Besuited and wielding his signature axe, Devin grins and waves. As the opening riff of 'Addicted' crunches out, the party starts.

What follows is a tour de force taking in most of the diverse Townsend back catalogue; an odd cross between industrial metal, pop, prog and ambient. As well as the title track from latest album Addicted we receive 'Supercrush', and a smattering of varied tracks; the massive 'Earth Day' from Terria, the old upbeat favourite 'Life' from Ocean Machine, and the evil boogie of 'Bad Devil'. Whether the operatic surge of 'By Your Command' or the beauteous 'Deadhead' it is an utterly rockin' show, somehow hanging together through all the different Dev era's.
Devin himself is the gig. His showmanship and comic timing is second to none, and his bounding about the stage is accompanied by a hilarious selection of facial expressions, none of them pretty.

As an encore, or as Devin explains, the bit where they pretend to go away and we make a lot of noise, we receive 'Color Your World', 'the Grays', and the wonderful 'Deep Peace', featuring an improv break as the inner-hippy is fed. Finishing off this combination of comedy and zen the band re-appear one last time. Devin continuously cracks jokes as he explains the finale will allow only 15 people up on stage, otherwise he will be “castrated” by the authorities. The lucky few clamber up before hilarious bad dancing/singing ensues to the metal-poptastic 'Bend It Like Bender'. Smiles appear are on all sides in pleasure and gratitude.
The sheer euphoria brings a festive atmosphere, and as the last bars are belt out it ends a gig of fun and joy, not things associated traditionally with metal.
Unique and brilliant, Devin Townsend is still the finest purveyors of fresh music out there- and I mean out there.
Tonight, we're all addicted.

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The King Blues + Sonic Boom Six + Random Hand
Leeds Met
5th April 2011
By Henry Raby

If Metalheads can boast they have ‘the big 4’, I would argue that as far as the ska-punk genre goes, I suppose ‘the big 3’ are the bands on this bill. Yorkshire’s Random Hand, (a ska-punk-metal-rap listen-to-me fist-to-the-face word-to-the-wise riot), Manchester’s Sonic Boom Six (the bastard children of N.W.A and The Selecter, it takes a nation of Rebecca Black fans to hold them back) and of course, Hackney’s ska/punk/rap/folk export The King Blues.

There’s no doubt The King Blues are a different band to the group that wrote and recorded Under The Fog back in 2006. But bands are always changing and evolving, just like people are always changing and evolving. All 3 bands on the bill are going through moments of transition. Random Hand have just released their 3rd album, the highly acclaimed Seething Is Believing and have gained a new drummer, Sean Howe. Tonight, they play largely from this album, and it’s clear they have a gritted-teeth faith in these new songs. Bones is their stand-out song that one plucky fan recognises within milliseconds, and Tales of Intervention gets the same sing-a-long response as their older songs. Robin leaps around stage like some demented Ninja ska spider, but then the band engage in light banter between songs as if they were playing the smallest of dives. Their 1000th show is coming up in June, check it out at the Cockpit if you like circle pits and sore throats.

Sonic Boom Six too are working on new material, New Style Rocka (their new single) a hip-hop-focused track that marks a shift in their sound to re-explore their roots in rap and even drum & bass, more Asian Dub Foundation than Strike Anywhere. This is probably due to Ben Childs leaving the band, a further example of bands evolving and changing and their music changing too. Kids of the Multi-Culture is Barney Boom’s new middle-finger salute to Cameron and his claim that a multi-cultural Britain isn’t working. This new track is perfect for them, the best defence (of multi-culturalism) is to go on the offensive (write and sing a song about multi-culturalism). Their live set is very impressive too, they have a real sense of control in these bigger venues hard won from so many gigs (and their recent tour with Reel Big Fish helps too).

So, onto The King Blues, a band whose acoustic folk style has shifted into a more rock sound. Again, this might partly be due to a line-up shift, with various members, including Fruitbag, deciding to leave the band. To this effect, their live sound has less of the smoother soul, replaced with waves of rage and energy emanating like dynamite going off. Their new songs work efficiently, Set The World On Fire and We Are Fucking Angry two cataclysmic songs in the same vein as Gallows or Enter Shikari. However their older songs, Mr Music Man and Under The Fog, do seem to lack a certain charm, more like a punch to the guts than a hug full of love. The set itself does feel a little bit uneven, the mind-bogglingly strong Streets Are Ours, which still works in this context of a huge crowd (and is even more relevant than ever) and Mr Music Man, once the lynchpin of their sets, are casually brought out quite early in the gig. On stage the band do have a very direct and sharp energy, Itch prowls the stage as if he’s pacing a cell, his way out to scream the walls down. The new members do well as backing energy to Jamie Jazz doing, to be fair, what he’s always done. Sweat buckets rock ‘n’ rolling over a guitar.

So The King Blues are a different band. I’m sure they’d admit it themselves. They’ve evolved from the sunshiney acoustic-folk-ska sound associated with Chris Murray, Bedouin Soundclash and Billy Bragg, and heading in a more straight-forward angry and raw direction. In doing so perhaps they’ve shed some of the chilled-out peacefulness they once had. So they appeal to new fans, and some fans still remain loyal. Their live show is still impressive, but in a different way to their shows in tiny clubs and outside gigs back in 2006. Their music is still appreciative punk music, but in a different way to the Household Name sound they once had. This might not work for some older fans, who noticeably bitterly left after SB6’s set. But then plenty of old school fans at the gig were having a whale of a time. Whether you’re an old fan or a new fan, if you believe in The King Blues, they do aesthetically deliver in live performance.

Check out Henry's interview with Itch from The King Blues - online now: http://www.pushtofire.com/TheKingBlues.html

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Funeral For A Friend, Rise To Remain & Tiger Please
Manchester Academy
24th March 2011
By Emma Stone

Tonight’s opening band Tiger Please seem to be heavily influenced by the likes of Kings Of Leon in the way their mellow verses build up to massive choruses, and occasionally in singer Leon‘ Standfords vocals. Whilst I’m pretty sure I couldn’t sit and listen to Caleb Followhill bleating on about his sex being on fire, I could easily listen to Leon’s Eddie Vedder-esque voice, tinged with a raw, gravelly edge all day. Sometimes sounding as though he’s on the verge of shouting, the power behind his voice comes naturally to him, unlike other vocalists who sometimes seem like they’re having to force it.

They play songs off their Seasons EP, ‘Spring And It’s Offering’ and ‘Autumn Came The Fall’, and the way they each tell a story from each seasons reminds me of the way The Gaslight Anthem put together some of their songs in a similar fashion. If you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned bands, I’d advise giving Tiger Please some of your time.

With only a couple of EPs under their belt, I wasn’t expecting a particularly long set from Rise To Remain, but I had hoped for more than the 5 or 6 songs they did play.

Just as I was getting into it, they were announcing their last song and leaving the stage. Though I’m not a massive fan of the ‘roaring’ style of singing, singer Austin Dickinson (yes, he is Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson’s son) has got it down to a tee, whereas his melodic singing can, at times, seem a little off. Unfortunately Austin seemed to find it hard to shake the faux American accent that we all had to endure, which given the fact that he’s from London, get’s a little irritating after a while. Nevertheless, the set was filled with influences of traditional, old school rock heard in some of the breakdowns, and definitely in some of the solos, giving a great mix of songs from their 3 EP’s and one from their forthcoming debut album, yet to be named.

I’ve seen Funeral For A Friend before at festivals, and although I’d never given them my full attention, I found them enjoyable enough. Tonight, however, they completely blew me away. Singer Matt Davies-Kreye was brilliantly entertaining in both his performance and when addressing the crowd between songs. He berated the "cool kids" at the back of the room and demanded they start a circle pit, whilst indulging in his own personal circle pit onstage, which really did just consist of him running round in a circle waving his hand in the air.

With their fifth album Welcome Home Armageddon released just over a week ago there was no doubt that they’d play tracks from it, and choosing 'Sixteen', 'Aftertaste' and 'Spinning Over The Island' was a wise choice, each demonstrating the balance they seem to have found from the more mature songs from Tales Don‘t Tell Themselves and their earlier albums.

Throwing in the likes of 'Juneau', 'Monsters' and 'History' kept the old school fans happy, and before we knew it, they‘d left the stage. At this point, I was quite disappointed they’d not played anything off Tales Don’t Tell…, but then the lights came back up and the intro to 'Into Oblivion' kicked in, heralding a climatic conclusion for a great set.

A perfect way to end the evening.

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My Ruin, Head charger & Sanctorum
Leeds Cockpit
16th March 2011
By Emma Stone

Due to an earlier start than expected, I only caught the rear end of Sanctorum’s set, and I’m pretty gutted that’s all I saw. Though I’ve never really been a massive fan of thrash metal, it’s easy to see when a band are bloody good at what they do, and Sanctorum demonstrate that perfectly.

With some amazingly fast double-bass pedalling and throaty, roaring vocals, their final song ‘Call To Arms’ leaves me wishing I’d manage to see the rest of their set as, although the crowd aren’t necessarily getting into the swing of things at this point, they sound as though they could kick up a right good old fashioned mosh pit with their killer sound.

French band Headcharger are a band that maybe should be heard, but not seen. Had I spent the entire set with my eyes closed, just enjoying the well-balanced mix of bluesy stoner rock and hardcore riffs, I’d have probably left completely satisfied at the end of it. However, it’s hard to take them seriously when they’re throwing out such clichéd rock poses and some genuinely baffling dancing from singer Sebastien Pierre.

I’m torn between admiration for the fact that he’s obviously really enjoying what he’s doing to fuel so much energy into entertaining the crowd, but also snobbishly wanting to ridicule his onstage antics. There’s not too much interaction with the band other than attempting to urge them to move closer to the stage, instead they just concentrate on playing. 'Intoxicated' catches my attention, the simple-but-strong, repetitive riffs holding the song together and making it one of my favourites of the set.

'You Wanna Dance, You Gotta Pay The Band' sounded pretty good until it got to the chorus, where Sebastien’s vocals seemed to go a little out of tune. If a showy performance is just your cup of tea then you’d probably enjoy watching them live, but for me, I’d rather listen to them on record and let the music speak for itself. Despite hearing that My Ruin had to cancel last night’s Glasgow show due to illness, I find it impossible to notice anything amiss in their set tonight.

Bad throat or no bad throat, Tairrie ’Mrs B’ Murphy screams and shouts every word as though nothing’s wrong. She is a truly amazing front woman whose close relationship with fans genuinely means something to her. There’s not one song where she doesn’t pass the mic to someone to sing into, touching people’s faces, or gripping their hands tight, doling out lipstick kisses and general adoration to those who adore her equally.

Amidst heavy applause and cheering, she welcomes back old drummer Matt ‘Frenchy’ LeChevalier, and introduces new bassist Luciano Ferrea. Though there’s some rowdy fans in the audience tonight- one mentioning the death of Tura Satana (the legendary actress who Tairrie’s former band were named after) and, later, a fan constantly heckling the band and trying to get onto the stage- instead of humiliating and berating them, she takes it in her stride and tells them that everyone here is out to have fun, and just to enjoy the evening, again showing the respect she holds for the fans…even the dickheads. As this tour is to promote their latest album Ghosts and Good Stories, new songs 'Excommunicated', 'Repose', 'Money Shot' and 'Digging For Ghosts' are aired and thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd.

Though the sound is occasionally marred by bad feedback, tunes such as 'Burn The Witch' and their version of AC/DC’s 'Have A Drink On Me' (recorded for a Metal Hammer compilation last year) still sound great. At the end of the show, Tairrie takes the time to warmly thank members of the audience who still come to shows and buy merch to support them on their tours, a sentiment which not many bands who’ve been touring for more than 10 years seem to share anymore, and it makes a nice and refreshing change.

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Gay For Johnny Depp, The Computers & Castrovalva
The Cockpit, Leeds.
20th February 2011
By Emma Stone

Any band that describes themselves as a combination of grime, breakcore and hardcore has never really made it onto my radar, and tonight, Castrovalva failed to either. It took me a little too long to cotton on to the fact that there was actually no guitarist; thanks to a mass of pedals and some tricky finger work, their bassist had both guitar and bass parts covered. However, their singer’s diverse range of vocal style at times made it seem like I was watching two different bands.

Banter onstage was a little awkward and aimed at each other as opposed to the crowd, as was their overall performance. A lot of the time, they had their back to the audience, and their singer barely moved from his position at the far right of the stage. All in all, I was left unimpressed.

Luckily, The Computers were on hand to change all that. This is the first time I’ve seen the Devon four piece, and hopefully not the last. Their performance was a breath of fresh air after the previous set, and the perfect set up for headliners GFJD. If you’re not a fan of ‘screaming hardcore’ bands, then I say these guys are the perfect place to start if you fancy listening that style of music.

Referring to themselves as hardcore punk/blues, their catchy riffs aren’t too heavy, making them easy on the ear and enjoyable to listen to. Singer Alex Kershaw’s cocky onstage presence is more endearing than irritating, and his antics are especially entertaining to watch, not least when he runs through the bewildered crowd and halfway down the stairs.

A month ago, I’d only heard the name Gay For Johnny Depp, but never given them the time of day. Once I heard they were playing tonight’s show at the Cockpit, my curiosity got the better of me, and am I glad it did. I was impressed enough when I listened to their new album What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You, but nothing had prepared me for just how brilliantly they would perform it live.

Though the top room in the Cockpit doesn’t necessarily make for the best gig space, GFJD’s raw energy and sound seemed intensified by the small room and eager crowd. Not many bands could stop mid-song to break out into Robbie William’s ‘Angels’ AND manage to get the crowd to sing along with them, yet the crowd in the room tonight were more than willing to participate.

Throwing in older tracks such as ‘Hey Fucked Up’ and ‘You Have a Theory, I Have a Gun’, they power on through their set, singer Marty Leopard constantly involving the fans;’ hugging them tight, handing them the mic and throwing himself into the midst of them, much to their delight.

Due to the length of their songs, not many of them lasting longer than three minutes, the set seems to be over rather quickly, but as the saying goes “Time flies when you’re having fun”. And fun was definitely had in the Cockpit tonight.

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Devil’s Brigade
Manchester Moho’s
9th March 2011
By Henry Raby

You might be mistaken for thinking tonight is a psychobilly gig. The odd quiff, brothel creepers, psychobilly bands on t-shirts and stands- up basses in all 3 bands. But this night is given over to that rare genre of ‘punkabilly.’ Rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll sped up with punk bite and punk snarl. A psychotic Bill Haley with The Clash as backing band. How can 3 people make such a vicious sound? The Hyperjax play their set like they’re defending their hometurf, Liam Revenge glaring at the crowd like a rockabilly basilisk behind his double bass, whilst lead singer Sam Wood is a like a rabid dog ready at any second to bite, striding the stage in territorial challenge whilst all the time Kev Prescott offers some blitzed drumming. Their sound is reminiscent of Nekromantix or The Meteors but the rockabilly spite and flair for showmanship of Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry.

However if The Hyperjax are a devastating hand grenade, The Grit, are a tank battalion. They conquer the stage with sheer weight of numbers and tidal wave of energy. There are not many bands who can enter the stage whilst the sound system plays one of their own tunes (Straight Out The Alley), but The Grit are met with rapturous applause. They blast through mostly their latest album with a handful from their earlier work, aspects of The Creepshow and Social Distortion, which lacks the trademark ghouls and ghosts theme of psychobilly, but instead celebrates the middle-finger salute of punk rock, with stand-out tracks Surrender and Lunatics, with elements of ska and even country. The crowd love these Geordies, and The Grit feed off that energy for a crowd invasion for their final tune.

Devil’s Brigade are Matt Freeman from Rancid’s side-project. Check out Devil’s Dance from ‘B Sides and C Sides’, a hint of Rancid’s taste for rockabilly and psychobilly. Think The Kings of Nuthin’ or Demented Are Go or Mad Sin without the layer of make-up. Lyrically, think close to Dropkick Murphys or Street Dogs Union ideology with Swingin’ Utters bark and Agnostic Front swagger. Devil’s Brigade rip through their entire album without much ado, tracks like I’m Movin’ Through and Shakedown are celebrations of the band as Matt’s chance to find his own voice and own style without the confines of the Rancid label. Matt even jokingly talks about his bandmates finally being out of the picture after years of being reduced to singing the odd song and doing the odd solo. Matt oozes a warmth, this band are some mates having fun with good, fun, loud rockabilly/punkabilly music. He covers a Lars Frederickson & The Bastards tune, Maggots, as well as an assortment of other Rancid tracks such as Black Derby Jacket, LA River and Tenderloin (which really fires the crowd up). It is, to be quite frank, interesting to see the assortment of Rancid fanboys in …Out Come The Wolves t-shirts with Rancid tattoos going more mental for Rancid tracks rather than Devil’s Brigade songs. But it shows Matt Freeman’s love to play old school songs and not get caught up in the ego of a side- project. He even jokingly shows his inability to play an Operation Ivy track (Yellin’ In My Ear) on stand-up bass. Vampire Girl is pretty much the only psychobilly song of the night, and the crowd lap it up (they’ve waited for this live since 2002’s Give ‘Em The Boot compilation). Protest Song is a delight, when you take a look at the lyrics it’s, as the song suggests, quite simply nothing but a basic Protest Song. But played live it shudders in the rebellious hearts and minds of the crowd, striking a deep chord. Devil’s Brigade finish off with a Dead Kennedy’s cover, Police Truck, and the crowd beg for more. But they’ve played everything they’ve written and a bucketload of covers to boot. If I’m going to be honest, The Grit has more raw live energy than Devil’s Brigade, but there’s something historic about Devil’s Brigade, who summarise not only Freeman’s career in a short set, but also his life. 25 years of Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll!

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Shatterfest 2011
Stereo, York
13th February 2011
By Henry Raby

Doors open on a wet and, let’s face it, predictably miserable Sunday afternoon here in York, Yorkshire, UK. But inside I’m desperate for a warm fire, because Travels by Telephone has opened the day’s music with his sleepy, warm woolly-jumper acoustic folk music.

Fat Phace follow, a band usually renowned for dirty, crude pop-punk. Today, they’re stripped down (thank god not clothes-wise) to acoustic, dirty, crude pop-punk. Songs about having sexual intercourse with my mother are only a small inclination of these four lads' dirty minds who manage to reference The Final Solution seemingly from nowhere. It’s good enough daft fun though, with a decent enough ‘cowpunk’ sound, good Misfits covers and their use of a synth/key board quite possibly the highlight of the early afternoon.

Open Invitation treats us with some gentle emo pop songs on acoustic guitar. Johnny turns his shyness into a strength alongside his notably strong voice.

Pray For Hayden open up the electric band stage over in the main room, a punk/rock band in the style of Jimmy Eat World who genuinely appreciate playing in York (apparently we’re a much better crowd than they’re used to in their hometown of Leeds!).

Back in the front bar a selection of The Kings of Wishful Thinking present some speedy and exciting pop-punk on acoustic guitar. Martin Wainwright (who also performs his work solo) has a big smile on his face plus a sound and energy that radiates warmth and friendliness. Their bright acoustic pop is infectious, they grapple with a genre you don’t see all that often and transform it into their own agreeable sound.

By Default are the second electric band up, an alternative rock band with traces of Rise Against or MxPx. They deliver a pretty damn energetic live show despite it being a lazy Sunday afternoon outside.

By this point Stereo’s pretty busy now and as people natter about the bands they’ve seen or about to see, GT Turbo from Boss Caine plays some strong American country music of his own gruff stylings.

Don’t Let Paris Fool You unfortunately don’t live up to the potential that band truly have. Elliot, the lead singer, has sadly snuffed his voice out, and the band normally relies heavily on his screaming down the microphone in early 00s Against Me! style.

Mind you, he does a good job of singing along to Onsind (One Night Stand In North Dakota), a political folk-punk duo taking after Andrew Jackson Jihad and Mischief Brew with their angry, but still uplifting, intelligent and exciting music. Lyrically very strong, this pair captured the audience perfectly and delivered a racing set of songs that snapped the attention of the room. Certainly a highlight for the acoustic stage, they seem genuinely amazed and honoured at the crowd’s response who clearly know the lyrics (which are presented like insightful screaming poetry).

Acid Drop are a band who are never short of gigs, but never fail to deliver their fast skate punk rock with sweaty, sweaty, sweaty energy. A mix of old and new tracks, they get the best response from the audience so far with the odd punk or two having a little bit of a boogie to their Bad Religion and Face To Face inspired punk.

Possibly the more unappealing act tonight is sadly Mike Scott, whose acoustic punk doesn’t really grab anyone tonight in the venue. It doesn’t help his music matches his stage presence and banter in-between songs, fairly miserable and downbeat. When he’s not moaning about his divorce or how old he is (29) or the long drive back home, then he’s writing a song about some equally sad topic. Whilst his stuff clearly has appeal in more political surroundings, like fund-raisers or squat gigs, this afternoon the acoustic stage belongs to bands with an upbeat and fun set, like Fat Phace, Kings of Wishful Thinking or Onsind (who are equally as political as Mike but with more gusto and Evan Greer-esque zest).

The band stage, however, well and truly belongs to Uncommonmenfrommars, a French punk rock band who blitz the stage with damn fine punk rock which has some elements as heavy as Strike Anywhere’s barrage of fierce bite, whilst retaining other elements as fun and catchy as early Blink-182 or early 90s Offspring. Certainly out to prove their worth in a new country and showing us that punk rock is all over the world, this band hopefully are a good insight into French punk rock.

The Fear play a similarly lively set to a large crowd of fans, proving themselves a decent homegrown York-based rock band capable of delivering barking vocals and a tight sound.

Despite gigging for about 5 years now, Mike TV have never actually played York, and it sadly shows as the numbers filter out and miss a great pop-punk band with killer harmonies and sing-a-long lyrics; the sort of band that American pop-punks Offspring or Green Day should have stayed. The Peter Pans of lightning-fast, zany skate-punk rock, their songs are great, but the banter is even better as they bounce off each other with strange humour, taking the prize for surreal comedy moments with “I’ve never been to a Shitter Fest than ShatterFest”, and the unsettling conversation about self-pleasuring whilst on tour.

So there we have it, a fair few locals lads and a handful of French punkers all mashed together in one long, yet engaging, afternoon and evening. Acoustic punk is an odd little genre, certainly even punks themselves doubt its validity. But acoustic punk is not just for those who can’t find other like-minded guys to start a band (or are too difficult to work with), but acoustic and folk-punk are self-contained genres with their own bands and following, and it is great our hosts at Shattered Glass Media can recognise and accommodate this.

Roll on 2012!

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30 SECONDS TO MARS - 'HURRICANE' SCREENING AND Q&A
Sydney, Australia
28th February 2011
By Meghan Player

Not too long ago, US band 30 Seconds To Mars released a video to accompany their new single, 'Hurricane' - a powerful, and brilliantly stirring track, and personally a favourite on their latest album, 'This Is War'.

Notorious for their videos, or as they should more aptly be described, short films - 30 Seconds To Mars embarked on yet another cinematic endeavor for this latest video.

Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins [aka frontman Jared Leto's 'alter ego'], the film is a confronting, highly sexual, arty piece that has caused a lot of controversy in its wake - including being heavily censored and/or banned in various places across the world.

Tonight, by invitation from EMI, fans and other members of the media were invited to watch the short film at Sydney's Fox Studios, in its entirety - uncensored and on the big screen of the theatre.

Having seen the censored version previously, as had most of the audience, it was an opportunity to see the piece the way it was meant to be seen - and as an added bonus, the band were available afterwards to answer any questions about the film and its intentions.

The film itself is around 14 minutes long - essentially "too long for a music video, too short for a film", but remarkably features an entire narrative throughout, complete with three different chapters - birth, death and life.

If you were viewing this film for the first time, you would undoubtedly be struck by how highly sexual the content is - the main theme revolving around S&M and bondage. And while that won't appeal to everyone, essentially the video isn't about leather clad ladies in gimp masks - it is about the idea of power.

The band discussed the film afterwards with a group of lucky fans - who were also fortunate enough to ask the band members any questions they may have had.

Drummer Shannon Leto and guitarist Tomo Milicevic seemed happy to let frontman and director, Jared Leto 'handle' most of the questions put to the band - making the occasional comment here and there. While I've known of some people seeing this as the younger Leto trying to 'take the spotlight' - tonight it was clear that it wasn't about that at all. Shannon and Tomo are happy to follow Jared's lead, and ultimately trust him and his vision when it comes to making their videos.

Nile + Melechesh + Dew Scented + Zonaria
Redemption, Derby
10th February 2011
By Leo Kindred

The rather good Redemption club’s a relatively new joint on the block, unlike ancient Egyptian themed headliners Nile; who have been doing the rounds as a by-word for brutality for as long as I’ve been blasting my head in with death metal, and then some.

Younger upstarts Zonaria start off promisingly, but begin to feel like their brand of melo-death with bits and pieces of keyboards is only really capable of one gear, rather failing to capitalise on their more impressive on-record sound.

Dew Scented though smack onto the stage with the force of a racist joke at a papal address. Beginning with new number ’Arise From Decay’ they rampage through their set, packed full of the kind of high pace modern thrash that Testament are still failing to make. Picking between choice cuts from their extensive back catalogue, heads stays in permanent motion throughout the heady rhythm changes and unbridled riffs. Whilst maybe leaving out some stronger numbers from their repertoire the set is captivating, and Dew Scented get a big cheer of fondness and genuine appreciation as they rumble to a halt after an awesome neck work out.

Melechesh have a reputation to live up to, and the middle-eastern roots of the band come through as they side-step the conventional black metal pot holes and trappings with rhythmic, almost hard rock, riffs over the top of some hugely impressive skin-whacking by drummer Xul (aka Yuri Rinkel). With organic drum fills and rolls it creates an almost improvised feel, and where Dew Scented were mechanically driving Melechesh are organically flowing, gradually winning the crowd with heart and passion. Guitarist Moloch and guitarist/singer Ashmedi bait and yell at the crowd, as numbers from recent album [i]Epigenesis[/i] are weaved out alongside other Mesopotamian-flecked numbers, leaving Melechesh victoriously fulfilling the weighty expectations that discerning metal fans have come to expect of this outfit.

On an historical eve for the present-day Egypt Nile bring a dark, malice-filled sound inspired by the heart of the ancient land of Cleopatra. Lead by now permanent member Chris Lollis on bass, the four-piece tear into a set of the same epic, crushing intensity presumably felt by the poor bastards that were forced to build the pyramids.
From the first razor-sharp, searing notes and growled vocals the place erupts into frenetic chaos, as ‘Sacrifice Unto Sebek’ delivers a short sharp assault of note-dense brutalisation, and the epic title track from current release ‘Those Whom The Gods Detest’ beats down on us like the furnace of the Egyptian sun-blasted desert.
Like the river for which they’re named, Nile go though cycles: faster-than-a-sandstorm technical blasting (that would make most bands crumple like a paper cup), to the slow, menacing grind of a sandstone being dragged, as the guitars of Karl Sanders and Dallas Toler-Wade blaze and burn with the intensity of the Egyptian sun.
As fingers fly over fret boards like epileptic spiders, behind is the utterly unnerving sight of drummer George Kollias. Sweaty and shirtless, he hammers away with superhuman accuracy on a drum set so large you couldn‘t fit into your living room (no, seriously). Eyes closed, his pained expression reminds of a man on a rack, cross or some other such torturing device, arms a-blur with devastating competence. Faster-than-fuck favourite ‘Black Seeds of Vengeance’ closes things up, probably cracking the venue’s foundations (or should that be catacombs) after a stunning hour and a bit from the death metal pharaohs.
Egypt’s future and tomorrow is still being written, but as the sands settle on the ruins of tonight, Nile’s epic brutality have made damn sure the past won’t be forgotten.

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Carry On Moshing Fest
Purple Turtle, Camden
13th February 2011
By Jack Padurariu

All-dayers and small scale festivals are always a bit of a gamble. When done wrong, they can be unforgivable wastes of time, leaving you, your ears and your wallet feeling a little violated, having somehow paid more to see a cornucopia of support bands you never wanted to see anyway.

Rest assured though, your time and money were in safe hands at Carry On Moshing Festival, and first to take to the stage were No Reality, surprising but not blowing away the ever-filling audience with a set of rough-around-the-edges Weezer covers.

Collars were pulled at and awkward glances exchanged, but in good nature.

Pariso baptised the Purple Turtle’s stage proper, their vocalist leaping straight from the stage while the band behind dealt in frenzied angular hardcore, Holy Roar flavour.

A Long Time Dead sounded pretty primitive in comparison, running through a few songs of metal-tinged beatdown, neither offensive to the ear, nor inspiring, although vocalist Dhearbhla was on formidable form.

Wayfarer left less of an impression than their supremely groove driven hardcore should have, but No Omega lit up in contrast, doing a great Modern Life Is War pastiche with enough of their own stripped down style to wow. Kudos to the nutcase in the pit doing front flips, too.

A fair few present were more into the cerebral side of the proceedings, and so Welsh hardcore stalwarts Ark Of The Covenant got the most amount of appreciation from the increasingly intense pit. Okay, but it had been heard before and certainly was to be heard again before the night was through. They also marked the beginning of the plague of mic problems which beleaguered the night from then on in.

Full Of Hell is a pretty accurate description of the band, venom-laced hardcore grit, very dark sounding and all the better for it.

There was another act, or maybe even two, but through a haze of mic problems, changing vocalists and jackets, flailing limbs and no way of telling the running order, I have no idea what was going on. I think they may have been Ironclad, they might have been okay. They certainly paled in comparison when stood next to the phenomenal AYS who succeeded them. The Germans were charged, an incandescent Schommer throwing down the mic and screaming into the crowd at the end of every song. AYS, three letters which will reverberate in the mind for a while yet.

From strength to strength with the UK’s undiscovered champions, Hang The Bastard, scooping everyone back into the venue with their horrendously heavy sludge/hardcore, reigniting the flame from the fumes off Iron Monkey’s corpse.

Deal With It brought yet more simple heavy heavy hardcore to the table, although the best of their ilk tonight. Queasy frontman Mike played the part of in house entertainer and occasional though provoker, when he wasn’t grabbing his crotch, telling the audience to punch someone or singing into a drum mic. Unsurprisingly, they’re doing a split with Ark Of The Covenant later on this year, a bond each band displayed by doing hard time in the pit for each other’s set.

Originally Naysayer were pencilled to close to show, but tonight being that small thing of Throats’ last show, the two swapped round, leaving the American hardcore imports faced with a lot of expectations to meet. They lacked much of the musical merit a penultimate band should possess, but it was an enjoyable performance by a band who were clearly enjoying performing.

And then the band which everyone was here for took to stage. A culmination of fury, noise and a seething crowd made for a transcendental performance, unrivalled in every respect. On record, their songs are vicious lashings out, down cast and dangerous, and on their final night, never did they sound better. Their criminally short three year career yielded some truly astounding results, and surely they will be remembered as a defining sound for a despairing time. Farewell, Throats.

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The Kerrang! Relentless Energy Tour 2011
O2 Academy, Leeds
11th February 2011
By Suzy Harrison

The Kerrang! Relentless Tour has definitely become an annual event on the gig calendar, bringing the UK some amazing established and also up-and-coming acts. Previous years have seen sets from Mindless Self Indulgence, Bring me the Horizon, All Time Low and The Blackout. In some cases it's brought fans from rather opposite bands together in the same room, as if trying to encourage them to sample a different type of music to what they're used to, and the tour has a knack for picking out great performers and giving the audience a fantastic show. This year the tour was a mix of hardcore, punk and pop punk.

Openers on this year's tour were The Wonder Years from the US, who seemed genuinely pleased to be back in Leeds and proud to have worked their way up from their first gig in one the city's pubs. to The Cockpit to the O2 Academy. Due to their previous appearances in Leeds, they definitely had a lot of support from the crowd as well which is sometimes unusual for an opening act. They played a good solid set and the atmosphere was pretty good, but The Wonder Years are definitely one of the those bands who would go down even better in a small venue without any barriers between fans and band. A great opening set.

Framing Hanley were the second band on the stage and it was clear as soon as they appeared that their singer Nixon has a huge female following, with plenty of screaming. He walked about the stage with a calm confidence, hardly phased by the reaction from the crowd. They had energy, but it seemed quite controlled at times. They played melodic post-hardcore, which sounded a little like FFAF in places. Strong guitars and good vocal lines.

In contrast, Four Year Strong provided a more chaotic set, with the three main singers running all over the stage. At times it was a bit too much, and it was difficult to know who to watch. But they went down brilliantly with the audience. As with many previous Kerrang! Relentless tours, it seemed that there was a divide in fans between the headliner and second headline act - some people clearly came to the show for FYS and chose not to stick around in the main room for the act that followed.

So finally, ten minutes late, pop punkers Good Charlotte took to the stage. Any fears of them only concentrating on the newer material were completely dissolved as the band opened with The Anthem, followed by Girls and Boys and Bloody Valentine. A good choice of starting songs as it got the crowd singing and created an amazing atmosphere in the venue. The bass was extremely loud at times, possibly a bit too loud in places as Joel Madden wasn't always easy to hear. But besides that there songs were executed as well as their recorded versions and having been together around 15 years they certainly didn't seem tired or to have lost their ability to put on a good show.

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Devil Sold His Soul + Feed The Rhino + Fallacies
HMV Institute, Birmingham
3rd February 2011
By Hannah Sebestjanowicz

Devil Sold His Soul are back in Birmingham and this time it’s for a headline tour hitting the newly refurbished HMV Institute. 2010 proved very successful for the band; with a critically acclaimed album, and a well-received support slot on the Rock Sound tour with Architects and Norma Jean, it’s going to be interesting to see what 2011 has in store for them.

First up are local-ish lads Fallacies who hail from deepest, darkest Wolverhampton.

Their blend of hardcore goes down well, a very impressive performance and the lead singer delivers his lines with passionate venom, screaming like his life depends on it.

It’s a shame there aren’t more people here but after their set they manage to give away all the copies of their EP [i]Searching For Conviction[/i], so they obviously won over a few new fans tonight.

Feed The Rhino are up next and the room has filled up a bit more.

Lead singer Lee Tobin demands the crowd move in closer to the stage, and they more than happily oblige.

It’s their first night on the tour and also their first ever time playing Birmingham, not that you would guess. Tobin just oozes confidence and charisma; they are barely two songs in and already he's cleared the barrier and is in amongst it all, prowling the floor like a man possessed. The next minute he’s up on the speaker stacks baiting the crowd for more.

The songs are great too; heavy riffs with a slight southern rock edge. It’s an impressive performance, just pure raw energy comparable to the likes of Gallows.

Devil Sold His Soul kick things of opening with the first track off their latest album [i]Blessed & Cursed[/i]. The slow burning 'Tides' builds into an almighty crescendo of noise as the pounding drums make way for the haunting screams of Ed Gibbs. 'Drowning/Sinking' swiftly follows it, fitting in perfectly and for such a diminutive guy Ed has one heck of a vocal range, going from crushing screams to soaring vocal melodies within seconds. New bassist Jozef Norocky, previously of now disbanded Rinoa, has slipped into his new role seamlessly, and with the performance tight Devil Sold His Soul live is like being on a roller-coaster. Each song twists and turns, going from soft and calm, then building up into a wall of sound that threatens to burst ear-drums and floor the crowd.

'Crane Lake' is hauntingly beautiful, and the latest single 'The Disappointment' gets the best reaction of the evening. Being their most accessible song it still clocks in at just under 7 minutes long but there isn’t time to get complacent as the crowds screams the lyrics back at Ed Gibbs with as much passion and energy as the man himself is giving on stage. Even in their quietest moments the energy is immense and the anticipation for the inevitable drop keeps the crowd on their toes, and when it comes it threatens to destroy everything.

Devil Sold His Soul have proved tonight why they are being hailed as one of Britain’s best young bands. It’s taken them more than 6 years to reach this stage, and people are finally starting to sit up and take notice

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Walter Schreifels
Fibbers, York
29th January 2011
By George Osborne

Left to anyone less experienced, tonight could’ve been a disaster; by the time the headliner is due onstage barely 40 people populate Fibbers - and they’re all firmly rooted to the walls. Thankfully the man in charge is the enigmatic front man of Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand and, most notably, Rival Schools, Walter Schreifels, who with a cheeky glance to his band, coerces everyone in the room to come close to the stage and share in his irresistible rock 'n' roll road show.

Comprised mainly of solo material, tonight sees Schreifels looking as though he has finally found his animus. Yes he pays homage to both the hardcore scene that made his career and the emotion that drives him, (with a seamless mash-up of songs by Sick Of It All and The Smiths) and admittedly he even unleashes Quicksand’s 'Thorn In My Side'”, much to the delight of the old school faithful. However he looks most relaxed and in his element when playing his sixties-inspired solo material, as demonstrated by a perfect rendition of the title track from his first album 'Open Letter To The Scene'.

Ending the night as only he could, with a 10 minute jam about how he’d like to take his car on the German Autobahn, Schreifels proves that a total reinvention from hardcore to folk (Frank Turner, take note!) is both possible and, when executed credibly, hugely enjoyable.

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Frank Turner
The Corn Exchange, Cambridge
6th December 2010
By Danny Sambuca

As a heartbroken but curious Million Dead fan back in 2006 my first experience of witnessing Frank Turner performing live occurred. The venue was the newly opened Cambridge Barfly, and although the place was busy it wasn't rammed - in fact most of the punters were recognisable to me as being massive fans of his previous band. Like me, they wanted to see what the brains behind that band's brilliance was up to now. Frank was literally travelling alone, going from gig to gig with just his acoustic guitar and a small selection of merch and manning his stall personally. After watching what can only be described as an awe-inspiring performance it was apparent he had replaced the venom and anger in his rhetoric of old with a new found sense of poetic perspective. A perspective that transcended previous boundaries and allowed him to communicate with the masses about the real life experiences that really mattered to them and to him.

Four years down the line and the rise and rise of Mr Frank Turner, although breathtaking in its speed of ascendancy, has not surprised me because the man is a troubadour of the finest variety. Once again Cambridge is the setting for his show, but this time it's a sold out Corn Exchange crowd that awaits his arrival on stage with the kind of baited breath only reserved for the cream of recording artists. Outshining the achievements of Million Dead, I get the impression he is still yet to peak.

Promoting his new EP 'Rock N Roll' and with backing band Dive Dive in tow, Frank delivers knock out blow after knock out blow, leaving the audience punch drunk with a relentless sing-along assault, proving his growing popularity and current heavyweight position in the UK music scene is totally justified. Few solo artists of today can command the sort of personal response from an audience like Frank Turner is able to, and it's partly because of this, and the timelessness of his song writing ability, that I think if he continues to grow and refine his talent. I am sure in the years to come we will begin to appreciate him as being akin to a Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash of our generation.

Right now, one thing is certain: the boy has done good, real good, and he can look back on the whirlwind that has taken him from pub sized stages to some of the finest live venues in the country, knowing he did it his way. He's battled against the winds of mediocrity and apathy that have been blowing across the UK mainstream music scene for the past few years, and it's a battle Frank Turner has won.

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Fear Factory + High On Fire + Daath
Manchester Academy 2
18th December 2010
By Mike Perry

Having laid waste to Academy 2 once this year already, Fear Factory return to Manchester to offer up a second helping of their latest album Mechanize, this time with the Atlanta-based metallers Daath and Californian stoner metal heroes High On Fire in tow, for what promised to be a truly great night of metal.

Daath get things off to a suitably strong start with their furious mix of death and thrash metal; hell, there's even a bit of prog thrown in for good measure.

Having recently released their self-titled latest album, little over a year after 2009's awesome The Concealers, the band are currently riding a strong creative wave, and what's more, they're not too shabby live either. Because of their broad mix of musical styles, it's kind of hard to put your finger on the band's sound, but whatever it is they're doing, all I can say is long may it continue.

High On Fire, on the other hand, are much easier to pin down, as the Oakland power trio are all about two things: crushing heaviness and infinitely catchy riffs, both of which are in abundance tonight.

Focusing solely on their last two albums, 2007's Death Is This Communion and this year's Snakes For The Divine (which, as an aside, is one of the best records of 2010), the band's all-too-brief set may only consist of six songs, but what songs they are!

Opening with the unrelentingly heavy 'Frost Hammer' the band proceed to pound the audience into submission with the likes of 'Fire, Flood, and Plague' and the brooding 'Bastard Samurai', before finishing with the epic title track from the new album. They may not have had long to play, but they certainly made the most of what time they had.

Having bought Demanufacture back in 1995 when it was first released, it's somewhat strange that until the start of the year, some 15 years later, I hadn't seen Fear Factory live. However, this has been more than compensated for in 2010, with tonight being show no. 4, and thankfully, the band don't disappoint.

Sure, the setlist may well have been pretty much the same every time, but it's still great to hear the likes of 'Replica', 'Self Bias Resistor' and 'Edgecrusher' played live, no matter how many times you see it. What's more, the band play a great deal from their new album as well, which, for my money at least, is some of the strongest and heaviest material they've released to date. Tracks like 'Mechanize', 'Powershifter' and 'Christploitation' deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned classics, and it's not without reason that they garner some of biggest and wildest pits of the night.

Tonight was a great showcase for three bands that've all had a great 2010. Each group can take credit for producing some of the best music we've heard all year, and some of the best music of their individual careers. Daath proved that they've got what it takes to progress much, much further than they've done so far, High on Fire cemented their already excellent reputation as a great live band with rafts of epic tunes to boot, and Fear Factory showed why; 20 years after their inception and following numerous personnel changes, they still deserve to be considered one of the powerhouses of modern metal. We really do need more tours like this.

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Asking Alexandria + Miss May I + The Amity Affliction
Leeds Cockpit
14th December 2010
By Simon Daish

After seeing The Amity Affliction last time they were in the UK I made a point of getting myself down to the venue early to make sure I could beat the early rush and secure myself a decent vantage point. It was very encouraging to see that I wasn't the only person with this intention, as it’s clear that a large majority of people are here to see the Aussie five piece.Anyone with a copy of Youngbloods would have been more than the happy with the set choice, including 'I Hate Hartley', 'Anchors' and, of course, 'Youngbloods'. If I'm being extremely picky here my only criticism would be the band’s stage presence, as at times they seem a little static, but this is more than overcome by the quality of singer Joel Birch and bassist Ahren Stringer’s vocals.

Having heard loads of positive comments from around the venue and recommendations for album of the year, I was hyped up for Miss May I. As soon as they hit the stage the crowd instantly reacted with pure carnage, resulting in what has to be the largest number of stage dives I think I have ever seen in the space of 30 minutes. Their sound however seemed to be lost in the cockpit’s speakers, and the set soon became a little tiresome after the first few songs. MMI however still managed to resucitate the crowd’s enthusiasm, coupling their madness with a fantastic stage show making for a very interesting set, even if the finished product wasn't the greatest.

Cue Asking Alexandria to finish the night off in style. Entering the stage to 'Alerion' it’s clear from the outset how strong their sound is and how tight they are as a band. I was extremely surprised at the quality of frontman Danny Worsnop's vocals, who was clearly losing his voice but keen to please this sellout crowd by carrying on regardless, firing out 'Cowboy King' and 'Sincerity' in quick succession. Taking the time to regain his breath, Danny mentions the band has been messing about in America for a while but are back in the UK where they belong to thank the true fans for continuing to support the band. No matter what people say about AA for leaving for the states it’s clear the results of endless touring has paid off, as the whole set from my perspective is simply stunning, and almost note perfect.

The band exit the stage after ‘Hey There Mr Brooks’ to promptly return and finish up with the brutal ‘The Final Episode’, a perfect complement to what was one of my favourite live performances of the year. The band will be returning year next year with Of Mice And Men which I simply cannot wait for and I strongly suggest anyone who hasn’t seen these guys live do so!

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Sonic Boom Six + Dead Rebellion + Copasetics
14th December 2010
The Duchess, York
Reviewed by Henry Raby

The way you treat your audiences is a funny thing. You can pester and make demands of them for the entire set, or you can leave them to their own devices. I’ve seen bands win over the most apathetic of crowd, and I’ve seen bands demand the audience “jump” and be met with a lead boots reaction.

Copasetics play in front of a mixed crowd of familiar faces met with SB6 fans who have popped along early. Copasetics let their music speak for themselves, crafting tight music akin to smooth 2tone bands such as The Beat or 3rd wavers The Slackers or The Aggrolites. There’s a focus on the soulful side of ska, lead singer Ben not too far away from Jimmy The Squirrel’s Liam O’Kane. Copasetics have a punkier side to them, but it’s still got the friendly vibe that some ska bands sadly lose when they try for a harder sound. All in all, they don’t pester the audience, but they do win them over by simply being confident in their music and having the humble appreciation that people checked them out early.

Dead Rebellion, on the other hand, wish they were rock stars. And to that end, they make demands of their audience to treat them like rock stars. Admittedly, they get people dancing as their set goes on, but at the price of alienating other members of the audience by simply being demanding and jumping around like mad hares on stage without any real focus or lyrical back-up. The sound isn’t all that bad, a sort of watered down Nu-Metal rock sound with the rap elements of Lethal Bizzle or N-Dubz. The performance by twin-vocalists is downright irritating, as if this is some giant stadium gig to adoring fans. It’s not, and their insistence that the situation is any more than a dozen people dancing in the dim, dingy Duchess on a cold Tuesday in York is isolating.

Sonic Boom Six are tired. This is the end of another long, long tour. They start of slightly sluggish; tracks early in the set, like ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’ and ‘Sound of a Revolution’, lack the bite that they really should live. But, as any committed gig-goer will tell you, bands feed off their audiences and York tonight give the Boom a run for their money. There’s a lack of dirty punks and ska kids here tonight, just people up for a good time as uncoordinated mosh pits break out quickly. Laila of the Boom calls upon an audience member to kick start a circle pit. That audience member promptly gets everyone to spin round like madcap nutters. That audience member certainly knows his stuff and must attend SB6 gigs regularly. And loves ska-punk. And has a good taste in music...

Later songs like ‘Through The Eyes of A Child’ promote a lovely skanking atmosphere you rarely see at ska-punk gigs these days, whilst their new acoustic number not only sounds brilliant, everyone formed a skanking chain, arms locked on shoulders, that eventually blossomed into a dance-yer-socks-off moment. A Wall of Death follow suit, something I’ve never seen SB6 promote before. The real treats of the night are the classic ‘Shareena’, a real rarity in SB6’s set, and their finale is the beautifully written remix of Toots & The Maytal’s ‘Funky Kingston’ (‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’). By the end, The Boom are on good form and given us a healthy dollop of ska-punk. They give a shout out to Push To Fire’s very own Suzy, as well as Copasatics and Dead Rebellion and thank the audience heartily for a good night.

The fact remains, a band come for the audience just as much as an audience come for a band. Alright, so that audience member I mentioned early? He was me. But the fact that Laila knows who I actually am and remembers me at every gig in the past 4 years I’ve been following them proves the band do genuinely care about their audience, and remembering faces is just as essential as remembering lyrics.

Live gigs are two-way streets, especially when dealing with punk rock. Regardless of the stage show (which is decent) or even the music (which is well-crafted, intelligent and loud) the sheer fact The Boom can have such a friendly, open and warm appreciation for fans at live gigs proves their lyric from ‘Sound of a Revolution’ rings as true now as the day they penned it in 2007: “This is where I belong for tonight”.

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Slam Dunk Xmas Punk and Ska All-Dayer
12th December 2010
The Cockpit, Leeds
Reviewed by Henry Raby

Over a decade separates us from the 3rd wave ska movement - bands that helped cement the UK ska-punk scene like Capdown, Lightyear, Howards Alias and King Prawn have either vanished or played their final gigs. But ska is nothing if not persistent. Just as ska evolved into the 2tone movement and 3rd wave was born from the sounds of 2tone whilst ska-punk and skacore made its mark on the world in the '90s, are we, the children of the 21st century, forwarding in this generation triumphantly? Tonight should prove an example of the finest ska-punk bands the UK scene can offer, plus some extra treats here and there. Alas Mouthwash sadly pull out, so Acid Drop are ready to get the crowd in the right mood.

Backed by their home-turf-home-crowd, Acid Drop play a variety of tracks from their releases with their pure and simple skatepunk NOFX-Bad Religion-Snuff sound. But Acid Drop’s greatest qualities are their onstage warmth, whether that be toasting their departed friend for ‘I Won’t Forget You’, choreographing little jumps onstage, dancing offstage in the pit or making great (hilarious) use of a little slide whistle. To say they’ve got chemistry on stage is an understatement. It’s more like the entire Periodic Table thrown into a blender. Check ‘em out, they’ve always got a Yorkshire show somewhere. [Editor - in fact they are playing in York on 20th Dec at Stereo...]

Dirty Revolution strike up in the next room, and the crowd slowly plod to check out a band that, to my knowledge, have barely played the North, never mind Leeds (one gig at the Fenton a few months back was their debut I believe). The last time I saw Dirty Rev was 2 years back in London, and since then they’ve signed to and released an album on Rebel Alliance Records. Though the crowd mainly stood in curious judgement for most of their set, things did kick off for the final anti-racist track ‘I Love Reggae’ helped by the odd skanker. Dirty Rev are perhaps the perfect example of a modern up-and-coming ska-punk band. Whilst some bands were willing to accept that some of their fans might be part of right-wing organisations or hold racist views, Dirty Rev make their point very clear. “Who the fuck listens to Nazi music?” declares their finale song. They give a shout-out to student protestors for ‘Where Are The Police?’ but for the most part let their music speak for itself, a decent sound with roots in the 2tone movement with a sharp punk bite here and there, Reb Elle with a very controlled stage presence.

I’ll be honest, I come close to shedding a tear for The Hydropaths, a Leeds folk-punk band that have decided to call it a day from gigging. To describe their sound as just simply in the same style as The Mahones, Flogging Molly or The Pogues doesn’t do their energy and grit justice. They’re not just a tribute band to folk-punk, they epitomise this drunken, gutsy genre like a cheetah epitomised speed. A drunken cheetah perhaps. I hope the other bands learn a thing of two from The Hydropaths, such as lead singer Tarpey’s incredible ability to tell audience members who look bored to piss off. They play all their strongest songs, from the ballad ‘Wailing Away’ to the Irish republican anthem ‘Dancing On Your Land’. They finish with their impressive ‘Where Have All The Good Men Gone’, with Tarpey giving a shout out to anyone working to tear down Cameron’s ConDem Government. The Hydropaths were a band all about speaking your mind, being true to your beliefs and having conviction. “I was brought up on the left/I was brought up proud/brought up not to stand for bullshit and speak my mind out loud”. The Hydropaths are dead long live The Hydropaths!

The Skints are no strangers to Leeds, since their first noobie ventures oop North supporting The King Blues and Random Hand, The Skints have really built a defiant fanbase. Tonight, despite the odd technical problems, they treat the audience to a set built mainly on their more chilled out tracks rather than the heavier punk tunes, as well slipping in Bob Marley’s ‘Stir It Up’. Their lyrics and delivery are always tight-knit, especially the new songs they treat us with, including their single ‘Up Against The Wall’ that make the audience drooling for new material from this talented 4-piece. This band grew up listening to UK ska bands, and here they are now fronting the new generation in their own voice.

The Creepshow are certainly the black sheep of the night. A Canadian Psychobilly band, they’ve attracted a small following of male and female Psychobillies eager for some fresh punked up rockabilly. The problem with psychobilly, it it’s got more rules than a POW camp. You’ve got to use a stand-up base, you’ve got to sing about graves and ghouls, you’ve got to be fast and you’ve got to have a specific look. For me, it’s the polar opposite for ska music, which is all about flexibility and evolution. The Creepshow have all the same talents of HorrorPops, Tiger Army, Mad Sin and Nekromantix and the usual faces of the modern scene. But goddamn their live show is good. Sarah Blackwood is a fantastic frontwoman, her unification of screeching voice, madcap energy onstage and furious guitar playing backed behind her by McGinty and McNab on keys and upright bass cement their show as a blink-and-you’ll miss it affair. Blackwood leaps into the audience for photo opportunities as she blasts out her guitar as everyone moshes around her. Matt Gee ravages the drums like a man possessesed. Maybe he is. Their stage antics are impressive, and their music is damn fine psychobilly and scuzzy punk. The show is a little ramshackle as they try and pack as much as possible into an uncertain and vague set time. They fulfil all the expectations of a Psychobilly band, but nevertheless I maintain are a million miles away from the modern ska-punk scene. Whilst The Skints sing “If you hate someone for the colour of your skin I hope they find your body in the bottom of the bin” and Dirty Rev sing “Who the fuck listens to Skrewdriver?” The Creepshow are apolitical. It’s all about the moment, the look, the sound, the scene and the fun. Well, they certainly had fun and so did we. Yorkshire welcomes the Canadian Creepshow. For 30-40 mins we were Yorcadians.

And so the headliners, Random Hand, mainstays of the ska-punk scene who have gigged, toured and played dives in every corner of this county, constantly touring and building their fanbase through sheer persistence. And tonight the crowd are ready and willing to dance to whatever they throw at them. With the old classics bookmarking the show, ‘Play Some Ska’ sets everyone going early on and Scum triumphant finishes them off. Inbetween tracks off the upcoming March-release album (‘Seething is Believing’ is the title I believe) go down equally as well, and of course 2nd album tracks like ‘Devil’s Little Guinea Pig’ and ‘For Ronni’ never fail to appease. But The Hand’s real strength is their onstage banter, able to make hundreds in a large venue feel like this is a tiny pub gig. Robin has the amazing ability to make it seem like he’s chatting to everyone one-on-one, with improvised declarations about America and Canada being the same thing and asking the assembled mass to buy Adam, The Skint’s merch fella, a drink for his birthday. For a new track (titled ‘We’ll Catch You If You fall’ maybe?) one lucky chap gets to crowd surf for the entire song. Perhaps in a Freudian desire to become the new ska-punk generation and desire for a ritualistic symbol, Random Hand beat Capdown’s giant circle pit from many years ago with their own huge flood of speeding, shouting audience members for ‘Anthropology’ (or maybe just ‘cos it’s fun). A massive wall of death promptly follows.

And so this might be the power of the modern ska-punk scene. The politics are there, strong and firm. We’re unified and we’re about love and community. “Nothing is right about war” sing The Skints, “[the police] have nothing better to do than take a piece of me” sing Dirty Rev, “no surrender from the past, just pray this time is the last” sing The Hand. The politics are there on a plate, you can build your views straight from the lyrics of these bands. But there’s more to it than that. These bands are just normal people, it’s Robin from Keighley, Jamie from London Town, Reb from Cardiff, willing to chat at their merch stall, speak one-on-one to the front row, engage in banter with audience members onstage and appreciate this ‘scene’ not because their audience are the people who buy their CDs and t-shirts, but because their audience are their mates. I don’t envy kids in the '70s for having The Specials, nor 90s U.S. kids for having The Toasters, because this is our generation and the next stage in Ska Evolution (Skavolution if you will). “This dream we have, we will not let it die!”

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Madness (matinee show)
5th December 2010
Leeds O2 Academy
Reviewed by Suzy Harrison

The afternoon of Sunday 5th December saw the first of two Madness shows at the Leeds O2 Academy. At around 2.30pm it was time for the 'family' matinee performance. There were quite a number of kids in the venue with their parents, sporting Madness merch. Instead of the support act who would later open the evening show (Paul Heaton of Beautiful South fame), there was about an hour's worth of dj set. The set consisted of some ska classics as well as some more mainstream songs (e.g. Blur) to get the crowd warmed up for the main event. By the time Madness took to the stage beer was flying and there were several older members of the audience who had clearly spent the entire DJ set drinking; it was a bit of a strange mix what with the fact that there were families with young children in the audience.

The stage set-up for Madness was pretty impressive. There was a projector show which acted as an introduction to the gig and later displayed live footage of the band on stage. All the band members were easily seen and spread right across the stage. There were props such as an umbrella (which Suggs subsequently managed to break) and a hat stand on stage as well. Opener 'One Step Beyond' was a great choice and it got everyone at the front dancing. The set list consisted of old favourites such as 'Baggy Trousers', 'House of Fun' and 'Must be Love' (dedicated to, "all the kids who got dragged here today"). But there were also some brand new songs which went down pretty well with the crowd. The performance was tight, as you'd expect, and at points people were dancing from the front right to the back of the venue.

Midway through the set we were told that the band had been joined by a stand-in sax player. Apparently the previous night Madness's Lee Thompson had fallen off the stage so was having to take some time out to recover. The replacement did a great job filling in for him and managed to do so in a way that didn't overshadow Thompson.

It was good to see mums and dads dancing to the music with their children - quite a novelty considering that gigs are often in the evening and aimed at an adult audience. The band didn't forget that there were kids in the Academy either and at one point one of the members of the band addressed the audience and start pulling objects out from a bag on the floor. This was mainly bottles of water which were thrown out to the crowd, but soon a huge magic wand from pulled out from the bag (in Mary Poppins style!) which was definitely something aimed to appeal to the kids.

All in all a great show full of family fun and classic favourites.

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As I Lay Dying + Suicide Silence + Heaven Shall Burn + Sylosis
Corporation, Sheffield
30th November 2010
By Rich Wilson

Having trekked through the snow for an hour to get there, I walk in to find Sylosis starting their set. Pounding but uninspiring, this British band take basic rhythms but do very little interesting in terms of riffs. Some discordant choruses and seemingly persistent solos don't make enough impact alone, and their progressive breakdowns create some interest but not enough to convince me they're the next big thing. As showmen they put on an average display, solid in their performance but lacking charisma and originality.

Heaven Shall Burn are another band failing to break from the mould. After a promisingly ethereal feel as they came on stage, it descended into a heavier version of screamo with noise at the expense of melody. There were short lived moments when the melody could be found amongst the wall of sound. Towards the end of the set the riffs became a bit clearer, the sound was more cohesive and they finished on a strong note. There's hope for this bunch of Germans yet.

Suicide Silence are up next, trying to avoid personal opinion here is difficult but I did not enjoy them at all. Screaming, chugging pitch irrelevant instruments and tinny, tinny drums. Whatever structure there was to their songs, I struggled to find and the difference between their songs is beyond me! The amount of jumping and hair waving on stage was amusing more than entertaining. While the number of strobe lights might be intended to add atmosphere it just gave me a headache. If there was another room to go to that wasn't outside, I would have. This said, the band had a positive reception from their fans, but there was definitely a large portion of the crowd who shared my viewpoint. This was one for lovers of the circle pit and flailing limbs, but fans of melodic music should avoid.

As a fan of As I Lay Dying it's sometimes difficult to take an objective viewpoint of a show. It was a great, well orchestrated performance with a carefully chosen set list that covered the range of their albums. Pleasing since the most recent album is often given too much weight on a tour, but with a few albums under their belt, the band aren't neglecting the fans who have been there all along. It did feel unfortunately short, perhaps due to the large number of bands on the bill, but I always feel a headline act should play for at least an hour. Stage lighting worked well in their favour, on a large scale for a smaller venue, with some very professional and practised control. As a performance it maintained a good steady pace throughout, a lot of energy from all band members with some decent showmanship and audience interaction which I felt the support acts had been lacking.

Overall, a decent final night for the tour, with some promising, if perhaps slightly unoriginal support acts. While not all the bands were to my personal taste, it was an enjoyable gig with a surprisingly decent turnout of fans in face of the adverse weather.

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The Warlocks
Botanique (Brussels, Belgium)
November 27th 2010
Reviewed by Magali Decamps

On Saturday 27th November, The Warlocks played Brussels and, for the first time, I had the pleasure of seeing them play live.

The Warlocks are an American rock (neo-psychedelia) band based out of Los Angeles. The band was formed in 1998 by Bobby Hecksher; you might be familiar with the fact that Hecksher started out playing on the 3rd album of Beck (playing bass on "Stereopathetic Soulmanure").

Le Botanique is a really special and great venue for gigs, like this one especially. La Rotonde is a small circular stage within the venue and one of the factors that makes for an intimate show.

The concert was almost sold out and there was no support band for this night so the gig began pretty early. At 8.30pm the band took to the stage, opening with "Red Camera" and quickly following with "Isolation" and "So Panaroid". Just as expected, the songs were more powerful than the recorded version, and were so mesmerising that people lost all sense of time. The songs were well played but there was limited communication with the crowd.

'Worn Thin' was the last song, and seemed to be reached so quickly (within 45mins). After a "thank you and good night" from Bobby, the band left the stage. The crowd yelled for an encore but it never came, despite the setlist indicating that there would be four more tracks from the band (The Midnight Sun, Song for Nico, Baby Blue, You Make Me Wait).

It was an interesting and good show, but needless to say the lack of an encore meant it felt a little bit short for many people; some of the audience were pleased with the performance but there were a number who were slightly angry at the fact that the band 'only' played for 45mins.

The setlist was as follows:
Red Camera
Isolation
So Paranoid
Shake The Dope
The Dope Feels good
Caveman Rock
Angry Demons
Stickman Blues
Hurricane
Worn Thin

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Arch Enemy + Grand Magus + Malefice + Chthonic
HMV Forum London
27th November 2010
By Leo Kindred

As in many places across the isles of Britain, it’s a cold night, Kentish Town being no exception. As a result many are determined to get in, and it is to this enthusiastic and, above all warm, group that Taiwan’s prime black metal exports Chthonic open proceedings.

Reduced in numbers since I had the pleasure of seeing them in 2007 Chthonic have lost their keyboard and Chinese violinist, but none of their ability. Muscular in sound but eerie in appearance, the music Chthonic casts our way comes out of the ghostly mists, more powerful and potent with every song. Singer Freddy Lim pulls out the elusive violin on a couple of occasions, shifting gear from thundering neck-snap thrash to gloriously epic symphonic textures that sets jaws at half-mast.
Agamoth from local black metal stalwarts Abgott bounds on and we get a pant-wettingly good Judas Priest crowd pleaser finale, as Chthonic unleash from the East with a cover of ‘Painkiller’, leaving with the kind of triumphant applause that a headliner would be pleased with. Awesome.

Malefice have a tall order to follow and they get to work with in unapologetically pugnacious manner. One can see the comparisons to Lamb of God etal. as we’re hammered by low end riffs peppered with blusters of technicality amongst the rhythmic battering.
Energy abounds on stage and whilst the certainty of the circle pits and walls of death thrill some in the crowd, it stifles the enjoyment for others. Trying to orchestrate the wall of death, singer Dale Butler quips to the audience “you’re all looking at me like I just fucked your mother!” when his instructions are greeted with confused faces.
The enjoyable complexity on record doesn’t make it into the live experience, but despite bringing the physical rather than the musical and potentially polarising the audience, they go down well and there’s respect on all sides as they take their leave.

It’s worth noting that I’ve been a fan of Grand Magus since I was at school and have, until tonight, never seen them live. In other words, I am biased. With only three members and none of the Spinal Tap metal gloss of the main act (their drum set has only about 4 drums, whutt!?!) the closest we get to grandeur is vocalist/guitarist JB committing the ridiculous fashion crime of wearing reflective aviator sunglasses inside. At night. And in winter. Opening with the storming ‘Kingslayer’ they work through material from their last three albums. JB’s vocals are as legendarily soulful as on records, boasting a classic guitar sound which could have come straight out of the 70’s. JB has amusingly poor stage banter at times, but every hit is met with pleasure. When they change pace to the slow burning ‘Wolf’s Return’ the atmosphere of the smoke floating across the stage is mystical, almost pagan, giving a performance that lives up to expectations.

Arch Enemy are for death metal what Iron Maiden are for power metal or Dimmu Borgir to black metal, and when the lights dim they arrive with all the drama and theatrics you would expect: big intro track and chains dangling from the lighting gantry. Vocalist Angela Gossow struts out flanked by the Amotts and they blast away through a set list which is surprisingly light on the material from their latest release.
Only one song ’Revolution Begins’ comes through from 2007’s Rise of the Tyrant, the band performing more from the meagre Doomsday Machine. High octane musical flair runs through the veins of the performance, but we could do without the self-indulgent drum solo and various guitar solo sections of the show, and it’s tempting to shout “get on with it!” a few times. Despite the quality it feels much the same as the show I saw four years ago. Gossow dedicates two songs to the audience, that makes one wonder if she’s forgotten the first time, and her near constant head-banging, putting one in mind of a psychotic blonde chicken, gives a highly rehearsed show that dampens things a bit.
You got to love stormers ‘Ravenous’ and closer ‘Nemesis’, but for the reputation and glitz their name brings you question when they’ll hit the stride they threaten so often.
Still, high note density, high ability give high enjoyment for many tonight; low spontaneity and no ‘Blood On Your Hands’ not withstanding.

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Matt Berry
The Duchess, York,
26th November 2010
By Rob Evans

Matt Berry makes music. Did you know that? 'Cause he does. You know who I mean, right? He’s that one off the Mighty Boosh who can hide a pistol in his moustache, and he does that ‘there’s somebody at the door’ dance on the I.T. Crowd.
Recently voted most sexual being in the world by anyone with any sense, too.

Anyway, yes, he is a well respected comedy actor, DJ and voiceover in confectionary adverts, but he also makes music. One can only speculate how many people in the Duchess actually knew this before they got there, or how many came away disappointed to not have seen a deep voiced stand up routine, but that’s probably not that important. What is important is: Matt Berry, of all people, is bringing back prog rock, and he’s making it the sexiest music genre that ever existed.

His backing band is already in full swing when Mr. Berry strides on stage in his double-breasted blazer, clutching a beer and then grabbing the mic with a confidence that can only come from knowing, without any doubt, that you are in the top ten percent of greatest men to ever exist.

As soon as that booming voice begins to sing, the velvety tones washing over the venue, Berry has the crowd in the palm of his sensuous hands. It doesn't seem all that likely, really, does it? People actually enjoying a prog rock show without having paid fifty quid plus to see people qualifying for a free bus pass play songs that really stopped holding up after the 70s.
But here it is, happening right in front of an adoring crowd, with more electric organ than you can wave a magic wand at.

It helps that Berry doesn’t follow all the rules that made prog rock so unbearable in the first place. No song overstays its welcome, and the 45 minute set is made up of songs that all end before the five minute mark.
They’re clearly not taking themselves insufferably seriously, either: although Berry is all business, as is his persona, you can tell that he and his band are having fun, especially the topless, afro-wielding guitarist.

They work their way through songs from the self-released debut Opium, a folkier number that is led by the clarinet-playing backing singer who Berry describes as "a black witch", a song from the musical AD/BC , co-written by Berry and Richard Ayoade, a track that we are warned will "BLOW YOUR TITS OFF!", as well as newer songs from the as-yet unreleased Witchazel.
There’s also the delightful prog cliché of the solos round, where each band member gets a few seconds to show off and the bass player breaks out the freakiest slap bass imaginable (that thumbwork!), and Berry holds down a key on his vintage synth for longer than is comfortable.

The absolute highlight of the set, however, comes when the band plays a jerky reggae number that Berry dramatically calls a halt to a couple of minutes in.
"Wait!" he says.
"That was the whitest reggae imaginable. You deserve something better."
They then launch in to ‘One Track Lover’, the song from TV show Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, earning the most excited reception of the evening.
Where Matthew Holness would normally sing his verse, Berry breaks in to the chorus of ‘In The Air Tonight’. It’s uncomfortably erotic.

The show ends after a too-short encore with Berry throwing down the microphone with reckless abandon and striding off stage. Suave bastard.

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Devil Driver + 36 Crazyfists + Eluveitie + Idiom
Leeds O2 Academy
6th November 2010
By Paul Thomson

With the doors opening at 5.30 Idiom opened up the night 15 minutes later to a small eager crowd. Idioum Vocalist Matt Sharland, a very entergetic frontman, got the crowd banging their heads to songs like 'World's Worst Shortcut' and the heavier 'Something Perfect'. As the room slowly started to fill there was great energy from the band, especially bass player G Bird, interacting well with his deep sound and punishing groove.
After 6 songs Idioum left the stage with a good impact to Leeds o2 Academy.

Next to take the stage were Celtic metal band Eluveitie hailing from Switzerland. The anticipation made palpable by the crowd’s rather comical reaction to the line check, as every non-traditional metal instrument, be it hurdy gurdy, violin, bagpipes, mandolin, or whistles, was greeted with a big, nerdy cheer.
It was an exuberant 30 minute set; Chrigel Glanzmann snarled away, flanked by violinist Meri Tadic and hurdy gurdy player Anna Murphy, who spun their long hair like dervishes. The highlights included 'Quoth the Raven' (one of the stronger tracks off their new album), the ubiquitous 'Inis Mona', and the rousing, epic closer 'Tegernakô', which had the place absolutely jumping.
I personally missed the presence of brothers Sevan and Rafi Kirder, who had a stage presence that made shows even more fun, but despite coming off as considerably more static, their replacements were nevertheless very good from a musical standpoint.

With an hour long set ahead of them the Alaskan quartet 36 Crazfists return with a mind blowing set to accompany their most recent album Collisions and Castaways.
Kicking it off with a long crescendoing instrumental they play staight into 'End of August', the crowd really going crazy from singing along, to headbanging, to jumping!
Vocalist Brock Lindow informs the crowd "its been four years since we played Leeds and my god its good to be back", then asking the crowd if they wanna hear a song off their latest release. The response, a sea of horns! Playing songs 'Revolver' and 'Rest Inside the Flames' the whole crowd get really into it. Lucky as Leeds had to be in shape for the next part. 36 Crazyfists wanted a circle pit for the whole of 'Ready For the Bottom, the Bottom of You' the crowd didn't disapoint! Although their music is heavy and seemingly stems from darker places, their demeanor onstage is anything but. With an incredibly likeable Lindow at the helm, their live show was nothing short of a party. During the set they had the crowd collectively sitting on the floor for an “Indian-style head bang” (equally as awkward as it was entertaining to watch), before eagerly encouraging fans to join them for handshakes and shots after the show.

When Devildriver hit the stage it felt like an atom bomb had been dropped. Frontman Dez Fafara simply screamed, "Leeds motherfuckers, I want to see you go absolutely nuts!"
As his band mates ignited the beginning of 'Nothing's Wrong', he got his wish. Drum demon John Boecklin is one of the fastest guns in the west, but that's not even the best part of his playing—he can groove. Bashing his kit while firing off barefoot double bass, he conjured the eye of the storm. "Why can't you see you're in my way?" barked Fafara, as Jon Miller's Satanic bass thud bolted down the musical violence. Miller locked in with Boecklin, and it was a massacre to say the least. Fafara's remark could very well reference his band's competition—everyone is in Devildriver's way, and they'd better get the hell out of it before this machine steamrolls them.

On "Not All Who Wander Are Lost," Fafara circled the stage madly like a possessed predator. He delivered every line with a combination of vibrancy and vitriol. A seasoned frontman who knows how to put on a show, and he gets better and better all the time. His energy can't be contained, and it's infectious, as evinced by the fan explosion. Fafara's voice has never sounded more unbridled and evil either. None of the other bands on the bill could muster Devildriver's combination of death metal intensity and near "pop" groove— contemporaries Children Of Bodom having fallen into shred histrionics while Lamb Of God now just pummel.

'I Could Care Less', 'Clouds Over California' and 'Before the Hangman's Noose' allowed guitarists Mike Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick to truly shine, oscillating from melodic grooves to thrash fireworks. Not only proficient, both play powerfully, never missing a soul-ripping note, culminated with a battering 'Meet the Wretched'. As the band leave they must feel like the 300 Spartans, having successfully fought off larger forces.

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Coliseum + Bison BC + Kvelertak
The Well, Leeds
20th November 2010
By Mike Perry

After a brief reccy across the Pennines for Damnation Festival earlier in November, it's back to Leeds for the second time in as many weeks for a gig that, on paper, promised to be a great night. Norwegians Kvelertak, the current darlings of the UK metal press; Bison BC (or simply Bison, if you'd prefer) from Vancouver, whose latest album, 'Dark Ages', is surely one of the heaviest things committed to CD all year; and Coliseum, who, despite their headliner status, were, for me at least, a bit of an unknown quantity. Still a compelling proposition nonetheless.

Hopped up on Red Bull (spot the designated driver…), I head into the notably empty main room at the Well just as Kvelertak are poised to start, with a look about them that suggests they're ready to tear the venue a new one. For those of you who may have missed out on this band so far (where have you been?), these guys literally came out of nowhere this summer, with an insanely good self-titled debut that combines rock n' roll, hardcore punk and black metal, that, for my money at least, just screams 'Album of the Year'.

What's more, they've already carved out a reputation for being a great live band, and tonight is no exception. Frontman Erlend screams every syllable with such intensity that it's a minor miracle he hasn't permanently buggered his throat already, while Vidar, Bjarte and Maciek on guitars masterfully trade riff after infectiously catchy riff, whilst Marvin and Kjetil on bass and drums, respectively, keep the band remarkably tight and together, all the while going suitably nuts on stage themselves. After bringing their set to a close with the 'Mjød' single from their self-titled debut album, to a man, the band leave the stage exhausted and dripping with sweat, safe in the knowledge that they've left a hard act to follow.

Bison, however, are more than capable of picking up the gauntlet thrown down by Kvelertak. As with their Norwegian predecessors, Bison have also released a truly brilliant album in 2010. Their release, Dark Ages, juxtaposes crushing riffs and guttural vocals with some sweet guitar melodies and, well, slightly less guttural vocals, to create a cacophonous and doom-laden yet infinitely listenable record. That said, the band's previous album, 'Quiet Earth', is an absolute stormer too and, thankfully, both of them get a good airing, much to the delight of both your humble reviewer and the Bison faithful draped over the front of the stage.

Co-frontmen Dan and James take turns to either scream the place down or pull lead guitar duties, which at the drop of a hat can switch from noodly stoner/blues to a primeval chug which leaves you feeling as though you've been punched in the gut. Repeatedly. By a rhino. Bassist Masa flails wildly behind the two, keeping the low rumble of the band's brooding sound coming, made all the more impressive by the fact that he only has three strings on his guitar (at least, that's how many he had left by the time he'd finished with it), while drummer Brad pounds his kit so hard it's as though he's got a personal vendetta against his snare.

A performance like Bison's was worthy of a headline slot, but before the night is out, there's the small matter of Coliseum. However, judging by the smaller crowd, it seems as though a lot of people actually came just for Kvelertak and Bison. A number of people opt to hit the bar, check out the merch, go for a smoke or play some pool, which is a real shame, as Coliseum put on a great show.
They may have shot themselves in the foot a little by bringing such strong bands on tour with them, as compared to the livewire antics of Kvelertak and the overwhelming heaviness of Bison, Coliseum's set does seem a little tame, but I don't want to devalue it in any way. they still prove they've got the tunes and the muscle to go toe-to-toe with their tour buddies, which comes through in droves in their energetic performance.

Unfazed by the diminished crowd (according to singer/guitarist Ryan, previous nights on the tour have drawn as few as 10 people), the three-piece throw themselves into their set of raucous punk rock with real intent, most notably bassist Mike, who bounds around the stage as though no-one's watching, accompanied by Ryan's impressive guitar work and Scott Kelly- esque wails.
They seem to truly love what they do, a fact emphasised by the impassioned speech Ryan delivers at the end of their set, in which he thanks the bands on tour and everybody in the room for letting Coliseum do what they do best for just that little bit longer.

As anticipated, tonight's show was nothing short of amazing. Each band impressed in equal measures: Kvelertak were on fire as always, it was great to finally see Bison BC in the flesh, and Coliseum were also undeniably great fun to watch. It really was a fitting showcase for three bands that are surely destined for greater things; it's just a shame that more people weren't around to see it.

That said, on the strength of tonight's show, I'm in no doubt that the next time these bands hit the UK, a low attendance won't be a problem.

Photos from this show: http://pushtofire.com/photos/Coliseum201110/index.html

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Paramore + B.o.B.
Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
11th November 2010
By Suzy Harrison

If anyone was thinking that seeing the main support act (B.o.B.) would consist of a set from a solitary hip-hop artist, this expectation was instantly destroyed when the lights went up. B.o.B. was accompanied by a full live band, several backing singers and even a couple of dancers; the sheer number of musicians giving us plenty to watch and plenty to listen to. As the performance got underway it was clear that B.o.B. is very capable of writing music which doesn't all sound the same. He may be classed as a hip-hop artist but the music isn't generic and there's a lot of variety between the songs. B.o.B. also showed the crowd he can play music as well as sing, picking up a guitar. The set included 'Nothin' on You', 'The Kids' and of course 'Airplanes'. Hayley Williams joined B.o.B. on stage; her appearance greeted by much screaming and a standing ovation from the audience. Having 'Airplanes' as the last song from B.o.B. worked really well as it gave everyone a taste of what was to come. By now the crowd was suitably warmed up and eager to see the headline act.

The changeover was relatively quick for such a big event. The lights went down and everyone showed their enthusiasm, standing and cheering for their favourite band. The show started with the band playing 'Ignorance' behind a backlit curtain, the silhouettes of Paramore visible. The curtain soon fell to reveal an amazing stage set-up. The opener was followed by 'Feeling Sorry' which involved a break part-way through for Hayley to say hello and introduce Paramore... as if they needed any introduction. 'That's what you get' followed and soon the band played older hit 'Emergency'. It was notable that the newer songs got more of the crowd singing, but there was still enthuasiasm for the older material in the set.

Hayley's orange/red hair is now pink and she was looking very much like Gwen Stefani (circa No Doubt's fourth album The Return of Saturn). The look was completed with a white vest, braces, black trousers and black work boots. She commanded the stage with as much confidence and presence as Gwen Stefani, which was extremely impressive given that Paramore has only been around for a fraction of the time. Hayley also two-stepped/skanked around the stage throughout the performance; perhaps a subtle reference to her love of punk/hardcore music.

Eight songs in and it all went acoustic with Josh and Hayley standing on the left of the stage playing 'Never Let this Go'. They were soon joined by the rest of the band for a few more acoustic versions of songs including 'When it Rains' and 'Where the Lines Overlap'. It was nice to have a breather in the middle of the set and probably acted a welcome break for the band before they threw themselves back into the set with an energetic performance of 'Crushcrushcrush'. The audience were encouraged to get on their feet and dance with Hayley, to which they obliged.

The band weren't done though and there was an exhilarating performance of 'Pressure' which included bassist Jeremy doing flip over Josh.. complete with bass in hand! The stage-set for the show was ever changing, with five 'picture frames' hanging down (like those in the current album artwork). The frames played different videos and images to reflect the different songs. For 'Looking Up' there was fantastic stop motion footage of each band member in the frames - giving those at the back of the venue something to watch. The main set ended with the beautiful 'The Only Exception'.

And finally time for an encore of the two songs that had to be included in the show - 'Brick by Boring Brick' and 'Misery Business'; the latter complete with a lucky fan on stage performing the song with Hayley.

Paramore put on an absolutely amazing stage show which demonstrated their dedication to both their music and their fanbase. They were entertaining to watch and the songs were performed as well as, if not better than, their recorded material. The lighting, back-drops, screens and pyrotechnics were that to be expected from an arena tour, but despite the props, it was the band that made the performance.

As Hayley said "Tonight you belong to us... and of course we belong to you" and she couldn't have been more accurate.

Photos from this show: http://pushtofire.com/photos/Paramore111110/index.html

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Less Than Jake + Zebrahead + We are the Union + New Riot
Leeds O2 Academy
7th November 2010
By Suzy Harrison

What better way to start off the gig but with uk ska-punkers New Riot? The six-piece consisting of ex-members of Fandangle provided a non-stop high energy opening set. Their sound is more American than a lot of popular UK ska punk and with this in mind it wouldn't be unusual to assume that New Riot would go down well with the fans of Less Than Jake. In a way though it appeared to work against them and unfortunately at times their enthusiasm seemed to fall a little flat on the crowd. Perhaps it was too early and people were too sober to fully appreciate the party atmosphere that New Riot brought to the stage. A well performed set, but not as well received as it could have been.

Next up, We are the Union. This band was met with some uncertainty from the crowd, possibly as they are pretty unknown in the UK at the moment. We are the Union hail from Michigan and play their own brand of pop punk/ska punk - heading more towards the heavy pop-punk side of things, but with brass lines and fast drum beats. They were possibly the most 'serious' act on the line up, looking more like a punk/hardcore act on stage than a typical ska punk band. But it was refreshing to see a band placing more emphasis on music than the gimics. Even though they weren't met with reception they deserved, hopefully they enjoyed the show and hopefully some of the audience will take the next step by listening to them again online and buying their records.

The penultimate band on the line-up was Zebrahead. If you had to sum them up in one word, that word would be 'fun'. They want to have fun on stage and they want their fans to have fun too. This show was no exception; there was crowd participation as the band encouraged the audience to jump up and down to the music. It was certainly a good warm-up set to get us ready for the headliners. The band are consistent in their performances and when you buy a ticket to a Zebrahead show you are guaranteed a good time, especially if you get right in the crowd and take part. If you've seen them a few times the structure of their set can appear a little repetitive, but nevertheless the band sounded great and their set went down brilliantly with the fans.

And finally, 3rd wave ska-punk legends Less Than Jake. It was brilliant to hear 'Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sell Outs' so early during the set, with the band blasting it out third song in. On the whole there was a good mix of songs from across the band's discography and each song was performed with as much enthusiasm, energy and perfection as the last. One of the best things about LTJ is their ability to entertain us both musically and comedically. The between song banter was funny and they are a band who can think fast on their feet. They invited several different members of the crowd onto the stage, including one of the oldest people in the room (who was pretty drunk but did a shot with the band nevertheless) and a couple of people who'd interviewed Less Than Jake earlier in the day. This break in the set was good at first but after the third time it did get a little tiresome. For a band that have been around for circa 18 years they still put everything into their performance; the songs sounded fantastic and I'm sure that everyone in the venue was pleased with their decision to attend the show.

Photos from this show: http://pushtofire.com/photos/LessThanJake071110/index.html

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Alexisonfire + Chickenhawk + The Computers
Leeds Met
6th November 2010
By Suzy Harrison

Having only seen opening act The Computers play small venues I wasn't sure how they'd go down at Leeds Met - a venue at least five times the size of some of the rooms where they play their usual shows. I didn't need to worry though. The band blasted out their powerful hardcore punk and gave us a performance equal in energy to that of any other show they've played regardless of crowd/venue size. The Computers might make the effort to be noticed visually (donning their uniform white outfits), but the music always makes the biggest mark. They throw themselves into every live show they play and work hard on stage. They're clearly not a band who take things for granted and it was completely evident that they were truly grateful to be the opening act on the bill. A brilliant start to the show.

Next on the stage were Leeds band Chickenhawk. As they started their set smoke drifted across infront of the band, adding to the atmosphere created by their distinct guitar sound. Technical yet raw, loud and heavy, energy driven metalic-hardcore with dramatic guitar lines - this is what Chickenhawk are all about. The home crowd lapped it up, showing their loyalty to a band who have come so far in the past few years. In return, between songs Chickenhawk expressed their gratitude to the audience for showing them such support (and jokingly asking where they were when they were playing the Fenton three years ago, once a week). The band finished their set dripping in sweat - a sure sign that they'd given it their all. By the end of their set the room had been comfortably full, but with a large number of people milling about outside by the bar it was clear that the atmosphere for the headline band was going to be intense.

Soon the room was heaving and the temperature in the venue had dramatically increased. The headliners were due to take to the stage any minute and it was worth the wait. As soon as Alexisonfire started playing the crowd went crazy, with plenty of crowd surfing and people singing back the words to every song. Each individual in the band was working the crowd in a different way and each member was pretty distinctive when it came to appearance. Whether it was the shirtless figure of lead singer George Pettit or the amazing moustache on Chris Steele's face. None of the band seemed to stay in one place for long, moving from one side of the stage to the other. Even when Pettit wasn't singing and it was Dallas Green's turn to take the vocal lead, the lead singer was shouting the words as well (off mic), encouraging the crowd to sing along. The set consisted of a good mix of material spanning all their albums, from 'Pulmonary Archery' off the debut album to 'Happiness by the Kilowatt' (Watchout!) to 'Heading for the Sun' (from 2009's Old Crows/Young Cardinals). They went down a storm and the atmosphere in the venue was brilliant. A great headline act to end a great live show.

Photos from this show: http://pushtofire.com/photos/Alexisonfire061110/index.html

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Dillinger Escape Plan + Rolo Tomassi + The Ocean
Club Academy, Manchester
30th October 2010
By Rachel Hand

The crowd eagerly awaiting The Ocean is decidedly male, and predominantly rather Viking-like. The German prog-metallers get a rapturous welcome, and it’s easy to see why; their show is dramatic and absorbing, with subtly shifting lights outlining statuesque figures. ‘First Commandment of the Luminaries’ is well-received, as are tracks from upcoming album Anthropocentric. Despite being robbed to the tune of €6,000 a fortnight ago, the band seem in good spirits and put on a brilliant show; sadly it’s a short support slot, so they can only play five or six songs. Like their closest relations Isis or Cult of Luna, they bring precision, power and passion to their doomy epic metal.

The crowd is a lot more mixed for Rolo Tomassi, but a few young ladies emerge horror-struck from the moshing that kicks off to ‘French Motel’. However, it looks a lot worse than it is, due to a few guys turning up covered in fake blood for Halloween. In a bright and intense set, they storm effortlessly through the likes of ‘Fofteen’ and slow things right down with recent triumph ‘Kasia’. In fact, all the songs they play from Cosmologysound absolutely stunning, and the "brand new song" they play sounds like more of the same impossibly punchy synthcore. Closer ‘Party Wounds’ hammers home the brilliance of this young and boundary-pushing band.

Finally, The Dillinger Escape Plan emerge onto a stark stage lit by swinging white lights. They’ve donned full face make-up for the occasion, but after first song ‘Farewell Mona Lisa’ they look like they’ve been down a mine. Ire Worksclassics ‘Black Bubblegum’, ‘Milk Lizard’ and ‘Lurch’ are sung along to with real dedication, and admittedly seem better-known than songs from 2010’s Option Paralysisor older material like ‘Sugar Coated Sour’, but that’s the problem when one album takes you from underground to critically acclaimed.

Meanwhile, the pit is absolute carnage, even in the jazzy interludes. The band join in too, with Greg Puciato dragging his mic stand into the crowd and guitarist Benjamin Weinman leaping from speakers to stage to pit. An hour-long set is followed by a three-song encore; the end of the gig sees dozens of half-naked men covered in sweat, fake blood, and what looks like silly string, and every single member of the crowd is blown away. Because at their best, Dillinger fill you with so much thrumming joy and energy that it feels like an epiphany.

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Architects + Norma Jean + Devil Sold His Soul + Lower Than Atlantis
The Cockpit, Leeds
30th September 2010
By Sean Pattison

As soon as I walk into the venue there is a seriously vibrant atmosphere, even with the room still only half full for Lower Than Atlantis. Their take on modern British hardcore punk oozes energy and gets the crowd going even if they've never heard them before. Bassist Declan screaming at the crowd throughout a lot of the songs and pushing them to get involved and move. Towards the end of the set the room starts to fill up.

After a quick drink break Devil Sold His Soul to take to the stage. The room now pretty much full and people getting more excited. Even with their quite melodic music the band take that stage and make it their own... jumping around and flailing guitars around. Some of crowd seem a bit unsure at times about what to do, but most know every single word, singing and screaming along with these guys.

After quite a lengthy changeover and a few more ciders it's time for a band that people have been waiting years to see - Norma Jean. As soon as they casually walk on stage the room is alive with people screaming and jumping about. The set itself consists of some of their most popular tracks; Bayonetwork, Memphis Will be Laid To Waste and more which the crowd are ecstatic about. Massive amount of energy from the band which really gets people moving.

Finally it's time for Architects to come on and show what they can do. Opening with their newest single "Day In Day Out" they instantly make an impact on the crowd. Older songs followed from past albums including "Buried at Sea" and "Early Grave". The sound from these guys is immense and they're so tight; they prove just how good they are and why they sell out shows all over the world.

Photos from this show: http://pushtofire.com/photos/Architects300910/index.html

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The Birthday Massacre + Raggedy Angry
Corporation, Sheffield
17th October 2010
By Leo Kindred

The last time the headliners fellow Canadians Raggedy Angry were here supporting it was on the same bill. And they were rubbish. So phazers are set to the less well known setting of “low expectations leading to terminally unimpressed and bored shitless” and off we go.
As the band appear in silvery jumpsuits gleaming under the UV lights it becomes clear they’ve changed direction. Or at least image.
Electronics, synthesisers and keys add to a slightly Mindless Self Indulgence-esque futuristic sound that catches the attention. But like a teenager with a new fad, the band’s image change doesn’t fix the problems they have.
The electronic voice that precedes every song is in the same annoying clichéd vein as ever, spouting the same attention-seeking drivel about drugs, sex and rebellion that’s been said before and better. Singer Irvin Scabtree’s is still whinging and meagre, and when he dons a C-3PO mask and provides vocoder for a Daft Punk cover of ‘Robot Rock’ it completes the feel I’m watching the same performance as last time with a makeover. That being said, I will give it to them they still weren’t quite as rubbish as last time.

The Birthday Massacre walk past us and take to the stage to a warm welcome as they kick off with ‘In The Dark’ from the new Pins And Needles album.
There are times when you grow indignant at a band’s success. Your personal hatreds and prejudices at the injustice and monumental, cretinous idiocy of trends and trend-followers consumes you, making you irrationally, and with self-righteous delusion, spit vitriolic, spleen-rending hatred every time you see or hear mention of that band or artist.
I am unable in words to tell you how utterly opposite The Birthday Massacre are to this sentiment and, on the basis of this performance, I cannot say enough positive things about this band.
As vocalist Chibi arrives in usual school girl attire and trademark pantomime cuteness everything falls into place perfectly.
With synths, vocals and guitar coming through with precision, beautifully brilliant track follows brilliant track. ‘Video Kid’ gives way to ‘Falling Down’ which is followed by awesome numbers like ‘Red Stars’ and ‘Looking Glass’. New tracks are unknown to many but are mostly so accessible it doesn’t matter, the best newbie for my money being ‘Pins And Needles’ itself. Chibi points and waves at individuals in the crowd, and when she sings on ‘Midnight’ “tonight is forever” there is a part of us wishing it was only true.
Old favourite ‘Horror Show’ performs as a “most-awesome-track-of the-evening-OMG”, and the performance takes on the genuine chemistry and excitement that can only be brought by a truly extraordinary band.
After a sinister outing of ’Blue’, where Chibi’s singing flips from sweetness and cuddles to menacing and psychotic, we encore through ’Sleep Walking’ and the old flame ‘Happy Birthday’. They leave this evening as one of the finest bands I’ve ever watched.

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Sabaton + Alestorm + Thaurorod
The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton
15th October 2010
By Leo Kindred

First band on in the low-ceilinged Slade Rooms are Finnish Thaurod, who represent everything I both respect and loathe about power metal. The stupid voices, the amazing playing technique, the terrible dress sense, the crystal clear professional sound, annoying lyrics about warriors…yet I must say that whilst I won’t be running out to get their album, they are as competent and talented as any of the main bands in their field, and you’d be hard pressed not to wish them every success. The perfect appetiser to what is undoubtedly going to be a lot of gay fun. Both meanings intended.

Alestorm’s is possibly the jolliest of sets (and Rogers…ha!) ever to set sail from fair Scotland, and as we chart a course through the swaying sing along of ‘Nancy the Tavern Wench’, new “song about rum”, ‘Rum’, and eurovision cover ‘Wolves of the Sea’, the only song I have heard that includes a calypso breakdown, it’s all epic seafaring entertainment of the first order. Countless cheers and cries go up for more, and despite the finale of ‘Captain Morgan’s Revenge’ and the jigtastic ‘Keelhauled’ being blighted by guitar failure it does nothing to dampen the salty seadogs’ triumph. Aaaaaarrg, and all that.

Sabaton I have only had described to me as “really gay, but good fun” and as having “songs about war”. Truly, I was not misled. Frontman Joakim Brodén bounds onto to a rapturous welcome…wearing body armour, aviator sunglasses, and, to complete the look, an intricate goatee - putting one in mind of a Faith-era George Michael, out on work experience with Blade (and I do mean “out”). My jaw eventually stops hanging having being confronted with this visage, as Sabaton go over the top into ‘Uprising’, a song about the Warsaw insurrection (song about war; check!). Joakim is a great frontman who jokes (mostly about his cock) and commands the crowd’s attention masterfully, which is quite useful given the rest of the band have the charisma of a tangerine. Although tangerines tend to grow tidier beards.
After initial hesitancy I warm to them, and despite my personal distaste for using their mid-paced, grinning power metal to tackle grim topics- like the holocaust on ‘The Final Solution’, and tragic warfare with ‘Cliffs of Gallipoli’- I’m on board by the fun closer ‘Metal Machine’. All that’s missing is the shiny motorbike.

With this blistering hom(o)age to old school metal Sabaton take their leave.
A gay ole’ time had by all.

Hell On Earth Tour 2010
Every Time I Die + Terror + All Shall Perish + The Acacia Strain + Down To Nothing
Corporation, Sheffield
24th September 2010
By Sean Pattison

Unfortunately I missed Thick As Blood but I heard good things about them, Down To Nothing are next up - some serious energy from these guys even after a few days solid touring. Their riffs set them apart from your average hardcore band and you find yourself nodding your head along to most of their set, even if you don’t know the songs. The crowd interaction was pretty good, these guys having visited Sheffield a few times before, so a good chunk of the crowd were shouting and screaming their lyrics back at them.

Smashing heads is a big part of The Acacia Strain's set, both in the pit or by using their brain-meltingly low, groovy riffs and the brutality of Vince Bennett's voice. He keeps going and going with his gritty deep roar through the whole set while the crowd screams back at him.
A technical problem with a guitar early set seems to take a little away from the energy on stage, but roadies sort it out within the first two songs and then they are back in business, playing a good mix of tracks from the new album Wormwood and tracks from their older albums too. Definitely a must-see band!

There's a good turn out by the time All Shall Perish take to the stage but the crowd seem a little more calm, maybe saving themselves for the next bands. Extremely tight as a band, they all show that they have been doing this a long time. As the set progresses, people start to move a lot more and when the older songs kick in people really get going.

One seriously mental set from Terror; stage dives, people climbing on each other and a circle pit that nearly fills the room. They really want people to get involved with everything and make a serious point about there being barriers in front of the stage (vocalist Scott Vogel is not happy!). He orders people to climb over and get on the stage to join him during the set, which is pretty awesome until it backfires on him and a rather drunk fan climbs up with his T-shirt ripped to shreds, bleeding quite badly from his hand, and then proceeds to shake hands with Scott and take his microphone to start screaming. Needless to say security quickly escort him off the stage, but it can't be said that this takes away from the serious amount of energy and passion in the set.

And finally it's time for headliners Every Time I Die. These guys leave me speechless. Trying to concentrate on the whole band is pretty hard with guitarist Jordan running around, jumping, spinning and throwing himself about like a rag doll. These guys show what 12 years experience gives - a seriously tight sound and a ridiculously good stage show. Vocalist Keith Buckley decides to advertise the rather large hole in the crotch of his jeans, which the crowd only seem to encourage. An awesome mix from all the albums is a great thing to hear from these guys - not just the new album plus a couple of oldies. By the end of the set about 80 people are up on the stage singing and jumping along with the band. A seriously epic end to an awesome show!

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Rebellion Festival
August 5th - 8th 2010
Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Reviewed by Frankii Torok

Rebellion is the worlds largest independent punk festival. Every year, everyone that considers themselves a punk, skinhead or psycho-kat/kitten spends a 4 day weekend under one roof, away from dull, miserable reality. See old friends, make new ones, or just get wasted and see some cool bands, Rebellion is the perfect punk getaway. Situated in the ideal Winter Gardens, there's all you need: bars, stalls and (obviously) bands.

The theatre and opera house has 6 stages: the Empress Ballroom (largest), the average-sized Arena, Olympia 1+ 2, The Pavilion- home to the Bizarre Bazaar and Literacy Fest, and the tiny Theatre Bar- where the Almost Acoustic magic happens.

Thursday
Playing mid afternoon on the first day of the festival was Geoffrey Oicott. His old school punk about Yorkshire pride, growing up and women didn't excite the fairly large crowd that had gathered in the Arena. Also in the Arena were local lads Middle Finger Salute, whose singer's voice is so deep, he could make every girl in the room orgasm just by clearing his throat. Joking aside, the young lads put on a catchy set of pop-punk songs, including 'We're Shit', which seemed to get everyone involved.
Later on in the Ballroom, California's The Aggrolites took to the stage and presented their self-dubbed 'Dirty Reggae' style. Unfortunately, the songs were really quite slow, and got repetitive after a while, making the set seem to drag. Still had a lot of fans getting their groove on though.
Next up were Streetlight Manifesto, from a similar genre to the band before them, but the performances couldn't have been more different. Streetlight pulled off a great set, of popular songs, to a big crowd. They filled the room with energy, from the stage and the pit, despite the sound guy not doing them any justice with the technical side of things. Afterwards, it was clear a lot of the crowd for SM were waiting for today's headliners, The King Blues. The Ballroom was packed as Jamie took to the stage to firstly introduce the S.O.P.H.I.E Campaign, which they, as well as many at the festival, proudly support. Itch then appeared alone on the stage, to kick off the show with the thought provoking and empowering 'What If Punk Never Happened'. A well executed set followed, including a couple of new songs, 'Headbutt' and new single 'Holiday', with both sounding upbeat and passionate, the sound to expect from The King Blues. They finished their encore, and the festival for today, with 'Taking Over'- another unifying song, perfect for this occasion.

Friday
Early afternoon in the Arena and the acoustic alter ego to Sonic Boom Six, Baby Boom, played their reggaed up covers (including a heartfelt version of ABBA's 'Close To You' in respect of a close friend that passed away) and original songs, to an impressed full room. Opening the Ballroom today were Sweden's Zooparty. There wasn't much of a crowd to see them play their typical punk songs, there wasn't anything new or unique, so not much appeal.
In the same room were Jaya The Cat, a band that know what they're doing. Their proper ska went down a treat, and everyone enjoyed their energetic set, full of alcohol fuelled (and themed) anthems. If Jaya weren't enough to get the party started, what followed certainly did.
The increasingly popular Sonic Boom Six took to the stage and got everyone moving to their unique ska/punk/hip-hop soundclash. Songs from all their albums appealed to old fans and new, and the samples of old-school ska like The Beat and The Specials was sure to impress even the most cynical OAPunk. The welcome return of ex-guitarist Ben C for 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' put cheesey grins on everyone's faces, and the set was finished with a brilliantly clever cover of Puretone's 'Totally Addicted To Bass'.
All the psycho-kats and kittens crammed into the Arena for this evening's (and weekend's) psychobilly offerings. The wrecking commenced to Frantic Flintstones, Demented Are Go and King Kurt, with the latter two proving experience is key, by being the most professional - aka sleazy and fun.

Saturday
Kicking off today's shenanigans on the Olympia 2 stage were Darlington hardcore 4-piece Keyside Strike. Their true old-school hardcore is refreshing to the ears, but the venue did them no justice- they'd sound so much better in a grotty little pub, up close and in your face.
First to take to the Ballroom stage were cockney reggae punkers Mouthwash. They played a great set, to a busy room, but there wasn't much movement or signs the crowd were enjoying themselves.
Also on the Ballroom stage were Los Fastidios, playing skinhead street-punk, and hailing from Mexico. Their rugged set, including the odd bit of ska for good measure, provided the perfect wake-up call to all the hung-over punks. The somewhat legendary Texas Terri played the Olympia 1 stage. There's no doubt she is a very eclectic front-woman, but with the acoustics in that room, it was hard to tell what all the fuss is about.
The Literacy Fest is taking Rebellion to all new heights with it's interesting insights into the genre that created a way of life for so many, so many years ago. Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant told the history of the hugely influential Crass, from their personal points of view, as well as their view on the punk scene/culture, held together by some excellent questions from host John Robb. A great way to chill out on a Saturday afternoon.
Too many bands think because Rancid are popular, they can get that way by copying them. Strawberry Blondes (Arena stage) are one of them. Their sound is nothing new, and the techies didn't help them out either. A female punk group, backed by Tim Armstrong, played the Olympia 2. Nope, it wasn't the Distillers, but new faces Civet. You wouldn't have to be an idiot to get them confused though, just like most other female fronted punk bands, they're just a rip off of Hole. New bands take note, this is what you should look and sound like: Goldblade. It's clear where John Robb's main passion lies, and it's so easy to become mesmerised by the energetic front-man. The biggest, most enthralled crowd so far sang and danced to the old-school style anthems.
Another big crowd in the same room gathered for Rebellion regulars and UK heroes, 999. They played a fantastic set of songs from their entire back-catalogue, and demonstrated perfectly how punk should be - positive and fun. Providing a welcome change from the usual female-fronted bands around nowadays, and the typical 'punk' sound, were Star Fucking Hipsters, with their unusual mix of hardcore punk and ska. They also presented the best sound from the Olympia stages all weekend to a fairly big crowd of dedicated fans.
Packing out the Almost Acoustic room for some heartfelt folk punk was ex-SB6 guitarist Ben Childs. His emotional set was ended excellently with a sweet rendition of 'Floating Away' with (a very drunk) Laila K. Enough to bring a tear to your eye. The biggest room in the venue was packed to the rafters and a long queue appeared outside the Ballroom just to get a glimpse of the legendary Charlie Harper and his UK Subs. Every single body sang and/or danced along to the songs that have influenced every generation since their release. Probably a good idea to turn up early next year to avoid being disappointed- cos if you miss it, you will be.

Sunday
Ones to watch are Leeds/York lads Acid Drop, with their catchy NOFX/Bad Religion inspired honest punk-rock. They played a solid set (including an appearance from the legendary Leeds Kazoo Orchestra to liven things up) on the Olympia 2 stage, to a decent sized crowd. From the same neck of the woods (well, county anyway) and on a bigger stage than last year were Random Hand, with their meaningful and passionate ska-core. The extra space was filled easily, and most sang and danced along.
Time for some violent thrash-core from Canada, in the Ballroom. Fucked Up's vocalist, Damien 'Pink Eyes', spent most of their energetic, well articulated set in and amongst the crowd. But that was nothing compared to what came next. The Godfathers of NYHC, Agnostic Front, made their appearance, filling out the Ballroom with boys and girls of all ages. If you're a fan of HC, or even just punk rock in general, you haven't lived until you've seen AF. Nothing can compare to the sense of unity they create with their anger filled NYHC.
A chill-out was in order to conserve energy for the epic end to the weekend, and what better way to relax than with the down to earth, mellow acoustic set by Random Hand frontman, Robin Leitch, on the Almost Acoustic stage. Very different from his usual offerings, but still an enjoyable endevour.
In the Arena, the catchy (old) Green Day inspired pop-punk was provided by the insane Petersfield 4-piece Mike TV, who will, one day, be as popular here as they are in Japan!
A trippy set in the Ballroom, by the confident influential industrial Dwarves was the perfect warm-up to the weekend's headliners and guests. A busy Ballroom, but the cocky stage presence of frontman Frank Carter gave mixed feelings amongst the Rebellion crowd. Still, as usual, the hugely popular Gallows brought a well executed set, unfortunately consisting of mainly tracks from Grey Britain. Their cover of The Clash's 'I Fought The Law' redeemed them on the whole though.
Now for what you've all been waiting for. All weekend. Perhaps even for the past few months. No need for pyrotechnics or fancy stage props. What you see is what you get with Bad Religion. And boy is it one of the greatest things you will ever see (musically anyway). Mainman Greg conducted his fellow band members and fans, to an exceptional outcome, as he confidently marched to and fro onstage. The entire crowd was eating out of the palm of his hand, with the musicianship and quality at the same high standard as on record. A great display of every milestone in their career was topped off with a brilliant cover of the legendary Sham 69's 'Unite And Win', with not one mouth closed in the entire room.
Seeing Bad Religion live should definitely be near the top of any punk's '100 Things To Do Before You Die' list.

So that's it. It's all over for another year as the mohawks and tartan clad individuals make the way back to their little corner of the world. But not to worry, time will fly, and next years 15th Anniversary of the festival (and 35th Anniversary of Punk) is sure to be a weekend you'll never forget. See you all next year!

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Every Time I Die + Terror + All Shall Perish + The Acacia Strain
23rd September 2010
Moho Live, Manchester
reviewed by Rachel Hand

Moho Live is cosy to say the least. With tickets sold out and girls apparently flashing the bouncer to get in, it’s uncomfortably so by the time The Acacia Strain round off a blasting metalcore set with ‘JFC’.

Next are All Shall Perish, with their immaculately-performed grindcore and breakdowns worthy of Suicide Silence. They rip passionately through songs like ‘Never Again’ and ‘When Life Meant More’, cementing 2008 album Awaken The Dreamers as a triumph.

In contrast, Terror don’t seem to merit their rapturous reception. Self-proclaimed Hardcore ‘Keepers of the Faith’, their sound seems a bit lightweight. They’re not bad, but Scott Vogel’s ubiquitous lectures about all being brothers, and how music saved his life, really are bad; stop with the honour crap and have a good time.

They do cause crowd surfers and a circle pit, but compared to what happened next, it was small fry.

Every Time I Die claim tonight was the rowdiest gig they have ever played. That’s not hard to believe: spotlights are torn down, people climb up the speakers, crowd surfers are squashed against the low ceiling, and the barrier has disappeared so you can’t tell who’s band and who’s crowd.

Security have evidently given up. The destruction is fuelled by the infectious party atmosphere of ETID’s set; suddenly, you have to be in there, even if it means being trampled and drenched with other people’s sweat.

Kicking off with the fastest, loudest ever rendition of ‘No Son of Mine’, spitting out blistering masterpieces like ‘The Marvellous Slut’ and ‘The Sweet Life’, and getting brutal with older material like ‘Floater’, it’s exhausting and just so much fun.

Closer ‘We’rewolf’ sees about a hundred fans surging into the pit and onto the stage, with Keith Buckley’s voice completely drowned out by a dozen others shouting into the mic.

Believe me, work the next day was not easy.

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Hevy Fest
6th-8th August 2010
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, Kent.
by Keely Appleyard

OK so we finally arrived at Hevy Festival! I had no idea what to expect because it was only the second year that the festival had been running. The festival was on the site of a wild animal park which was pretty awesome. I must admit I was slightly disappointed with the advertised fun fair though. These were meant to be the greatest fun fair rides in the country; but it turned out that there were only two rides, one of which was the waltzers. The festival as a whole was pretty awesome. It was really hot and the bands were amazing. There were a few teething problems but this is to be expected from such a young festival.

We rushed to get a space in the Red Bull Stage tent before Heights started their set. I was really excited to see the Heights guys because I’d seen them play and hung out with them in Leeds earlier this year. This was another great show for the guys, they got the chance to play courtesy of being one of the winning bands of the Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition. The tent filled up as soon as the band started their set. They were seriously energetic, rocking out all over the stage. They are the epitome of the hardcore genre. They look the part, they act the part and they definitely sound the part. More and more people were trying to fit into the tent as they played. They should have been in a bigger tent or stage! If things keep going as good as they have been for these guys then they will be next year!

I'd heard good things about TRC and wanted to see how crazy they really were. The band are a mix of aggressive vocals and heavy riffs with deadly beat downs and it was awesome to see one of the two vocalists, Anthony, throw himself into the pit and get involved in the carnage. The crowd was huge and were brawling throughout the set, vaulting over the barriers and screaming along. They definitely deserved to be on the main stage and really got the crowd going mental.

Hardcore/Metal/Punk band Dead Swans were amazing! They were crazy energetic and the crowd loved it, screaming back every word and running riot. Vocalist Nick shouted "Hevy Fest start a fight with someone!" The third song in their set was seriously heavy and bassy and got the crowd throwing themselves around even more. They put on a seriously impressive and brutal show. Nick volted into the crowd and surfed across the masses of people. The security team were battling to get him back onto the ground but he was having none of it!

I was really impressed with Rolo Tomassi. I had heard them before but never seen them play live. Their set started out quite slow and dramatic with soft vocals, then the feminine and dainty vocalist Eva Spence let out a raw, earth-splitting scream that shocked the hell out of me. She's such a sweet and innocent looking young lady that can sing both beautifully and hold notes perfectly and then spew out the most brutal and fierce noises. Guitarist Joe Nicholson was up at the front of the stage going mental and making the crowd move like crazy. Even playing on the main stage the crowd filled the entire field for their set. As I was stood watching, I noticed that I was stood next to the one and only Johnny Truant vocalist Olly Mitchell. I nearly wet my pants! The crowd raged into a pit and everyone absolutely loved them. I have to say that I personally feel they are one of those bands that you have to see live.

Pulled Apart By Horses form a well respected alternative rock band from my hometown, Leeds. The tent was absolutely rammed for their set and everyone was jumping around screaming along. I love how 'northern' they are, really raw and gritty. You could tell that they put everything into their music it really shows, rather than looking a certain way and being 'cool', which was really great to see from an up and coming band like these who I know have shared the stage with some very big names in the alternative music scene.

The Hexes guys had a rough start when they had to delay their set because of a broken amp, but technical issues aside, they put 100 per cent into their set and drew everyone in with their deep, melodic punk sound, which was so intensely heavy and powerful. Guitarist Jay was jumping around the stage screaming with the crowd. Main vocalist and guitarist Daniel P. Carter who also presents BBC Radio 1's Rock Show stood still for most of the set but I thought this really worked, surprisingly. Because everyone was thrashing about around him, it added to the intensity of their music. They played some seriously catchy riffs, I even noticed that I was trying to dance and write at one point!

Comeback Kid put on a seriously passionate and amazing show. Both the band and the crowd were hyped and ready to brawl. They were ridiculously energetic and put everything into their performance, definitely the perfect band to get the crowd going for the epic saturday night line up. The band played really tightly and have a really fun hardcore punk sound that was really catchy. Their stage presence was immense, they were really powerful and raw but not pretentious despite being such a big band and got a great response from the crowd.

Gallows headlined the main stage on saturday night. I went into the photo pit for the start of their set. There was an absolutely amazing, intense atmosphere and a hell of a lot of tension building up before they came on, and then some silly circus tune came on! The band then came on and everyone was screaming like crazy. Practically the whole of the crowd were screaming the lyrics instantly. The band were quite mellow compared to what I expected, as always they were quite impersonal and arrogant. The quality of the sound wasn't great but this was down to the venue not the band. I personally think they should have started with some of their more well known songs to get the crowd more pumped. Overall it was a good show but they were definitely lacking enthusiasm.

Me vs Hero were a good, energetic and happy band to start the sunday main stage. Their sound is very americanised pop punk and it's a shame that a lot of people hadn't managed to face their hangovers yet and had stayed in the campsite. The crowd that were there were all really energetic and having a great time. They promoted their upcoming tour with the band Deaf Havana who also played at the festival, and I was really impressed with how much energy they put into their set and thought that they were really great at what they do.

Failsafe have a really upbeat jazzy pop punk sound. They played main stage but the crowd was quite flat and sparse. They played really well musically but they didn't seem to put in enough energy into their performance as they probably should have done for the genre of music to get the crowd going more.

We were in the tent stood by the sound desk waiting for Despised Icon to play. It had been about ten minutes after they were meant to be on then I heard the sound guy say to his colleague that Despised Icon had only just turned up to the festival. Interesting. The tent was absolutely rammed and no one had bothered to announce to the crowd that they were running late or why. Half an hour passed and still nothing so I ran off to catch the King Blues.

The King Blues were seriously impressive. They have a really fun uplifting punk/ska sound and there was a really chilled and happy atmosphere.
The crowd were all dancing around in the sunshine singing along, and little cheeky vocalist Jonny 'Itch' Fox was just great! He was full of positive energy and put on a great performance even though the crowd wasn't as big as I thought it should have been. The band have an unusual look when together but I really think this works with their chilled out music and the fun atmosphere.

Black Dahlia Murder had an absolutely awesome start to their set. They were seriously heavy and loud and the crowd started pitting instantly! The band were all full of energy, spazzing out going mental with the crowd.
The tent filled as soon as they started playing and I don't think there was one person in the room that wasn't moving to the music. They played seriously heavy awesome metal. 'Statutory Ape' came on and a circle pit opened to the width of the tent. People were going crazy! Throwing people around the room and thrashing around.
The band are a set of seriously talented guys that know how to make the crowd go insane. Truly brutal! By far the most enjoyable set that I saw at Hevy Festival.

Glassjaw! The last time I saw them I was rather disappointed so I was quite nervous to see how they performed this time around. They had a really epic stage presence and the lighting and ambience was beautiful.
To be honest I was seriously impressed by the band. They played all of the old favourites which was really cool and it really made my weekend; singing along on my boyfriend's shoulders to all of the songs I used to listen to years ago.
They put on a really great show. The crowd was huge and there were loads of old fans singing along as well as lots of younger people coming to check them out. They performed an awesome send off to a great weekend full of legendary bands.

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Motion City Soundtrack + Foxy Shazam
26th August 2010
Underworld, London
by Mark Plummer

This might not have been a sold out crowd, but it didn't have to be to feel the excitement in the venue tonight. Used to playing venues a few times bigger than this, Motion City Soundtrack are giving their fans a treat with a rare (and small) one off show before their Reading and Leeds Festival shows.

First up Foxy Shazam share their brand of pop/rock with a generous crowd. Whilst going down well and being somewhat entertaining, it was the long over-done speech from front man Eric Sean Nally that took this band from good to average live. Cut the crap and get on with the show, people didn't turn up for spoken word!

Motion City Soundtrack enter to enthusiastic applause and copious amounts of synergy. Everyone's here to make this a night to remember and enjoy. Taking tracks from across three albums and maybe a couple you wouldn't expect, they showcase a tight repertoire. Even front man Justin Pierre can be excused for some minor slips as he laughs it off with the crowd and band. Drummer Tony Thaxton stole the show for his mesmerizing closing fill in 'Time Turned Fragile'. It might be a shorter show than normal and missing some songs you'd expect, but everyone’s united and having fun by the time 'The Future Freaks Me Out' closes the evening. It's a pity they won't be back anytime.

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The Black Dahlia Murder + Despised Icon + Martyr Defiled + Dyscarna
9th August 2010
Corporation, Sheffield
by Leo Kindred

The plus side to there being a cock up that means you are unable to interview the headliners is that I have the opportunity to watch support band Dyscarnate. A dark blast of earthy death metal a lá Misery Index meets Behemoth is well appreciated from the London threesome, giving a sinister lining to the cloud that’s hanging over me. It’s certainly not rocket science, but as a support I was happily surprised at their brutality and proficiency.

The same cannot be said for the abomination that is Martyr Defiled, who pull out every tired cliché in the book, as they push through some turgid deathcore by numbers. Being confronted by a skinny teenager who’s probably nearly a quarter of my age lecturing me about religion from under his ludicrous bleach blonde fringe was never going to win my vote. Some of the kids lap it up, but as they stop a song mid-churn to call for a wall of death I’m bored beyond belief.

Next it’s more of the same from deathcore icons Despised…erm, Icon. This is their final tour of duty, having announced much to their legion of fans dismay that they’re calling it a day. The testosterone brims with the two vocalists cajoling the crowd to pit and beat the living hell out of each other- as if they needed any encouragement. Breakdown follows breakdown, and snails pace bludgeoning low-end riff follows one after the bloody other, to the point I decide to go grab somewhere to sit whilst they finish. Oh, and surprise on top of unpredictable surprise: there’s another wall of death.

Snide sniping aside the set passes off well, and with the lower than low-brow sound they are designed to be play live. Whilst others like myself are left cold by the macho simplicity, to others it’s just what the doctor ordered, and when they bid a fond final farewell, to the guys in the pit and a lot of the audience it’s goodbye to one of the scene’s backbone bands. To people like me it’s good riddance to bad rubbish.

Black Dahlia Murder finally give me something to enjoy and not merely be grudgingly objective about. Fun is the message given out by portly vocalist Derek, sweating almost from the second he’s onstage and moving around more than most of the crowd. An ideal front man, he’s accomplished, recognisable, and packed full with more energy than a teenaged girl at a Jonas Brothers concert…whose just been fed crack.

Taking a hardcore vibe but grabbing musical cues from the Gothenburg melo-death scene they hop-leg it relentlessly through neck-snapping paced songs whilst grinning and waving, to the crowd. Deflorate’s songs pepper the mix of favourites, as ‘What A Terrible Night To Have A Curse’, ‘I’m Charming’, ‘Statutory Ape’, and ‘Funeral Thirst’ rattle past like carriages on a high-speed train. Then the crowd surfers pitch in, as jovial pandemonium begins to take hold. Derek tirelessly punches the air to the last through and as they close up the devastate set they’re all drenched in salty bodily fluid (not that one). Wherever they go next I hope there’s a towel and a shower waiting.

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Fear Factory
4th August 2010
Corporation, Sheffield
by Leo Kindred

In a nutshell: the band split up after the fat guitarist fell out with the rest of the band. Then the rest of the band came back, moving their bassist to guitar and getting a slightly less fat Canadian who played with Strapping Young Lad to play bass. They wrote a good album, a crap album, and went on hiatus in 2006.Their singer then fell out with the other original members, announced a new band with the fat guitarist, who he had realised wasn’t so bad after all, and called it Fear Factory, taking the Strapping bass player with him and grabbing an equally fat drumming legend who also used to play with Strapping to complete the line up.

Tonight though this doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the rammed house here to see the celebrated band, even if it’s unclear which one it is. With a bludgeoning trademark low end machine-gun attack, and an unruly greeting from the assembled, the band blast into the title track of the new Mechanize album.Synchronised strobe lights throb as we rumble and blast our way through, ‘Shock’, ‘Edgecrusher’, and the automaton stomp of ‘Linchpin’. The band seem clearly marked out between the original members and the hired guns. Burton (vocals) and Dino (guitar) sweat profusely from the get go in the heat, and come up close to the front of the stage to get the crowd going. To Byron and Gene it looks more like a job, hardly breaking a sweat throughout. But let’s be clear about this. No one cares. Dino’s name is even chanted, before a slightly less flattering chant of “You fat bastard”. Dino grins and replies, “I’m not the only fat bastard in this band now!” as the portly Gene waves at us from behind his drums.

The only other criticism is that the fine material from the Dino-less comeback album is left out of the set, presumably for legal reasons. The material left to them is great, but there are weaknesses in the set list which stick out like the sorest thumbs where I would rather of heard something from Archetype. When ‘Replica’ comes out to play it makes no difference to the enjoyment had, and all of the problems, the drama, the back-stabbing, the sheer selfishness of what’s gone on in the wings is forgotten. It’s a great performance by one of the biggest names in metal of the last couple of decades. Nearly everyone goes away satisfied and tempted to buy a ‘Replica’ shirt, which you can ironically buy replica copies of outside. Fear Factory has a concrete legacy as a pioneer of metal in recent times, that legacy is only overshadowed by the recent grubby politics.

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30 Seconds To Mars + The Art
30th July 2010
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
by Meghan Player

A close to sold out crowd packed into Hordern Pavilion tonight, a venue that has hosted some of the best local and international acts throughout its long history.

Already threatening to break the crowd barrier before opening band The Art had even taken to the stage was a good indication of how the rest of the night would proceed.

The Art did exceptionally well playing to the die-hard 30STM fans, with their mix of alt rock tunes that managed to get the crowd on their feet. Their constant references to the headline act however drew the loudest screams and applause.

A white veil donned the front of the stage as the lights faded out for 30STM, and the opening bars for "Escape" built a dramatic tension - to a borderline deafening roar from the crowd. As frontman Jared Leto's silhouette appeared beyond the veil, the crowd was nearly ready to burst at the seams.

Heading straight into 'Night Of The Hunter' (after a massive scream of "THIS IS WAR!") the band played an epic set list, comprising most of the material from their latest album.

Drummer Shannon Leto was at his dynamic best, with each beat of the drum as powerful as the day it was recorded. An unexpected change occurred when the drummer took to the front of the stage, acoustic guitar in tow, to play his poetic, stirring instrumental, "L490" - with guitarist Tomo Milicevic providing an emotive accompaniment.

Acoustic tracks "Alibi" and "100 Suns", plus the reworked version of "Hurricane" were brilliantly powerful in the live setting - building on the opinion that This Is War is an album that is meant to be played live.

The sheer bravery of Jared Leto to appear at the back of the venue, amongst the crowd, guitar in hand during the set - is an area that most bands would fear to tread. However the charismatic leader seemed strangely at home, completely in his element.

What is no doubt the most astounding feat of the night is the level of crowd participation during every single song. Lyrics to songs were screamed and yelled with an unrelenting amount of passion and enthusiasm. It was ultimately clear throughout the night that the band make everything for and about their devoted fans - summed up by Leto screaming, "This is your night tonight!"

Fans, and perhaps those less devoted, couldn't help but being drawn into the experience, almost hanging on every word to escape the frontman's mouth. Evidently, if Jared Leto were to ask you to jump, you could only ask "how high?"

Ultimately, 30STM can no doubt put on less of a show, more a spectacle. The entire band are clearly in their element on stage, engaging with their fans and doing what they love most. And why would they want it any other way?

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William Control
21st July 2010
Fibbers, York
by Daniel Easton

Aiden's Wil Francis brings side project William Control to York's Fibbers.

Upon arrival at the venue we are pleased to see a decent queue, perhaps twenty five excited looking people from a broad mix of demographics, hinting towards the wide appeal of the band, as it goes these dedicated few formed the majority of tonight's audience. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in energy however, as they packed the barrier-less front of the stage and stayed throughout the support acts.

The band comprise of Wil on vocals, Kenneth on guitar and Nick on bass, the black clad, tattooed trio form up at the front of the stage and are backed by a laptop from the rear. Wil takes to the stage smoking, the cigarette's burning end compliments the seedy, brooding red glow emitted by the extra lights on display, throughout the set throbbing strobes emphasise the surreality and pounding beat of the music which varies in influence from Joy Division to KMFDM.

William Control are a very contradictory act, their subject material covering death, suicide, emotional hurt but their ethos and delivery is very much focused on fun, having a good time and dancing. Photographers do not conform to this "vibe" and are requested to shoot the spectacle from the stage! The audience's palpable enthralment, optimised by 'Beautiful Loser', is intensified when Wil joins the crowd and hysteria ensues with hand shaking, hugging of some obvious regulars and dancing akin to the club scene from the first Blade movie with a sense of uncontrolled euphoria.

The live experience ultimately added extra depth to the music. Having listened to the debut Hate Culture and recent release Noir prior to the show I certainly got a lot more out of actually being there and "feeling" the music, which was dispatched from the artists with a passion which, for me at least, didn't quite transcend when received via audio only.

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Heaven's Basement
23rd July 2010
Fibbers, York
by Daniel Easton

I first shot Heavens Basement on 5th December 2009 and was recently disappointed to hear that vocalist Richie Heavenz, who had been attributed to the their naming (they used to party in his basement….), had decided to part company with the band at quite short notice.

Bad news for Heavens Basement fans, good news for theFallen’s Johnny Fallen. The York based front man filled in and allowed the ‘Basement to fulfil the remaining tour dates. The rockers have since found a full time replacement in the form of baby faced James Sinclair.

As usual for a Heavens Basement show the venue was packed, the fans were hyped, happy and anxious to meet their new song-smith. Suitably warmed up by the youthful but edgy Frantic Alice and an exceptional set from theFallen the crowd are kept waiting while HB prepare, word of mouth runs free and positive whispers are heard from past shows, it seems James has already made an impression on the dedicated fan base.

Minus the new man, and guitarist Jonny (victim to a football injury!) Heavens Basement come to the stage to rapturous cheers, the intro furthers the suspense, after seemingly an age James makes his appearance. Seminally they open with 'Unbreakable', James visibly giving his all in a dedicated display of reassurance.

Initially I’m unconvinced, visually Sinclair is from a different mould than Richie, he looks fresher, more youthful, cleaner and guy-liner free, leather clad, his voice fits though, and that’s the important bit. Heavens Basement’s fan base is built on the strength of their songs, not the look of their singer. James delivers the catalogue exceptionally, with emotion, confidence and vocal grit that perhaps set him above his predecessor, by the end of 10 song set you’d be forgiven for asking “Richie who?”

Perhaps a renaming is in order, Sinclair’s Penthouse?

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Cattle Decapitation + Gorod + Beyond Terror Beyond Grace
27th July 2010
Moho Live, Manchester
by Rachel Hand

Australians Beyond Terror Beyond Grace deliver a slick set of brutal deathcore. Vocalist Blake Simpson spends most of the set on the wrong side of the barrier, going head to head in the mosh pit with what looks like Eliot from Hollyoaks; occasionally he stands barefoot on the barrier itself. The last song is epic and stirring, ruined only slightly by Simpson slipping and ending up on the floor in the photo pit.

Next up is French fivepiece Gorod, who give an exemplary performance. Their sound could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of British death metal, but it has that extra something common to a lot of French bands: a love of melodic guitar solos and riffs, no matter how fast and lead-heavy they are. It’s a rapturous set, as though Gorod are genuinely happy to be here.

In the decade and more that Cattle Decapitation have been making their pro-veggie goregrind, they have garnered rather a large following, and the mood during the interminable soundcheck is expectant. Suddenly they explode into life, the guitar grinding against intricate rhythms as three members of the band provide an awesome display of technical prowess.

Meanwhile, vocalist Travis Ryan, the polite young man I interviewed a few hours ago, has transformed into an eye-rolling, tongue-lolling demon, spewing spit all over his t-shirt and the front rows like a rabid dog. It’s pretty effective: new materia