Event Reviews

My annual deja vu quote of “Another year, another Bloodstock Open Air Festival” returns and 2018 saw a wealth of talent spread along four stages in the beautiful location of Catton Hall. First band up at the eye rubbingly time of 10.30am on the New Blood Stage were Dumfries based …

Arriving at Bloodstock feels like coming home. I’ve been coming here for years (this is my tenth Bloodstock), and while the bands are the advertised attraction, it’s also about meeting up with friends that you havent seen for a while (often since the last Bloodstock). Even before the bands start, …

Tonight I headed out to The Picturedrome in Holmfirth as The Dead Daisies brought their Summer Tour 2018 to Yorkshire. The Dead Daisies aren’t actually a group, as such, but a collective of musicians assembled, only five years ago, by David Lowy and Jon Stevens. The Antipodean Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller? As …

Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the beast tour reached Birmingham tonight. It’s fair to say fans were excited and ready to party with the bars nearby all full of Iron Maiden fans for hours before the doors opened with some bars running out of Trooper. The ticketless entry seemed to work …

Black Star Riders (BSR) turned up the heat, bringing their Heavy Fire tour to the city of Wakefield at venue, Warehouse23.  Approximately 900 rock fans sold out the show, as they travelled far and wide to support one of the best British/American rock bands.  Black Star Riders feature former members …

Tonight’s support act was due to be Ginger Wildheart, but as he’s currently dealing with some health issues he was replaced by Gaz Brookfield. While Ginger is a great performer, this was clearly a popular substitution among Levellers fans. I’d heard plenty of good things about Gaz Brookfield from friends …

This year’s North West Calling, an annual event held at O2 Ritz Manchester, took place on the 30th June. I haven’t been to this prestigious event before, as I’ve always had other arrangements in place. I hadn’t actually intended to go but plans change, so the day before the gig …

With an ambient lit stage, Leeds Stylus hosts a sold out show for Myles Kennedy in its 1000 capacity venue.  The crowd are packed in and are eager for some entertainment, and whilst the fans endure the heat of the place some chants emerge from the back audience in reference …

Sunday kicked off with more hot sunny weather (quite unusual for Ramblin Man – I think this was the first year where it’s been nice weather the whole weekend). The first band I caught today was The Last Internationale, opening the main stage. They’re a band I didn’t know much …

Just inside the entrance to the arena was the Rising stage, and the first act on were Those Damn Crows. They’d pulled a large crowd and that wasn’t just because they were the only band on, or because being in a tent meant they attracted people seeking shade. No, they …

The compass points to the North this weekend and the weather looks glorious for being that far up in the UK. Despite the unbearable heat and the show starting around 8 (and the sun is not even close to setting even so late in the afternoon), the Head of Steam …

What a difference 3 months can make. Exactly three months before this show, Kris Barras played his album launch at Thousand island (upstairs at the Garage) in front of a fairly small crowd. Since then he’s toured with Beth Hart and gained a load of fans in the process, and …

Tonight’s gig suffered attendance-wise with it being mid-week and scorching hot sunny weather, meaning people preferred to stay outside rather than heading to a gig in a hot venue. It’s a real shame as anyone who didnt attend missed a great night. The night kicked off with Pat dam Smyth, …

Tonight’s gig was a great lineup. The Damned, The Darkness and the Hollywood Vampires. The Damned opened the night. Lets be honest, a band like the Damned as openers? That seems crazy, but it’s testament to the strength of tonight’s bill. Personally as I prefer them musically to The Darkness …

In contrast to the first rock n roll day of Stone Free, the second day was a more prog oriented affair of bands. Along with a wide set of bands playing again in the Indigo, The Orange Amps Stage and All Bar One in the O2, with almost 12 hours …

Gates are open for the third annual Stone Free Festival in the O2 and the line-up for the first day of the weekend in the main arena seems pure lush. For people who wanted to enjoy a whole day of live music, the O2 offered three different stages during the …

Starcrawler kicked the proceedings on second stage at Downoad off with a set where the attention was clearly focussed on their painfully thin singer Arrow de Wilde. I suspect it’s mainly an act as she staggers around and generally comes across like she’s off her head on drugs. She chokes …

Saturday didn’t start well for me. After getting the bus from Derby, it was time to get the shuttle bus round to the guest and media entrance. Sadly security decided to stop and thoroughly search every vehicle entering the guest car park and that resulted in 2 mile queues causing …

Roger Waters is currently on his “Us and them” tour which started last year and is now making it’s way through Europe including four nights here at the 17,000 capacity Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. On this tour there is no support, just Roger Waters and his band doing two sets …

You know when you see a band for the first time and you know they have the X factor? Well the Takeaway Thieves have the whole alphabet and enough letters left for the Countdown conundrum! This Saturday lunchtime acoustic set recorded for a future CD release at the Waterloo Music …