Event Reviews

Today was the first full day of the festival.  Having sorted out wristbands etc on the Friday, we were able to skip the queue at the box office and head straight into the venue on arrival. The first act of the day was Dutch band La Ventura.  I’d seen them …

It’s that time of year again. Leeds is swamped with figures in black heading towards Leeds University, ready for a night of music and mayhem, except this year we are also celebrating 10 years of Damnation. This years show is completely sold out and we look forward to a fantastically varied line …

The guys of Vega descended on Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms last night (1/11/14) to a nearly packed venue for the first gig of their mini tour since releasing the new album ‘Stereo Messiah‘. Before the gig I had a brief moment to speak with brothers James and Tom Martin about various …

Tonight’s show was advertised as having an early start – with the doors opening at 7pm, Asia were due on at 7.30.  Things went as planned and Asia came on at 7.30 and kicked the night off with two songs from their very first album before playing a track from …

On 26th June 2008, my first real taste of live music photography was shooting Def Leppard and Whitesnake at Wembley Arena with their support band which to that point I did not know called Black Stone Cherry. Jump ahead six and a half years of hard work and not only has …

Sometimes I feel like I live in Belfast’s most famous music venue rather than five minutes ’round the corner, given the amount of time I spend there… this was my something like my 26th or 27th gig here this year so far (a that’s not counting the amount of evenings spent …

Halloween.  One of the most important nights of the year… the one when the veil between the worlds comes down… or when spidey dickheads get to cross-dress without fear of ridicule from their equally spidey dickhead mates and make even bigger drunken pricks of themselves than usual… or, in the …

Tonight’s show marked the first night in the UK of this monolithic tour. With After the Burial headlining the show, supported by Circles and Monuments; you know it’s going to be a night of pure, unrelenting energy and sauna rooms. It’s fair to say that, ‘The Joiners’, is one of Southampton’s …

The second day of Firefest’s Final Fling promised to be the strongest, in terms of the quality of the names on the line-up, and this was reflected in the fact that breakfast had barely settled in the stomachs of most of the some 1,800 who queued outside the venue to …

A little more than 40 years ago, a movement developed among classically trained musicians who also were fans of rock music which saw them experiment in merging the two disciplines, as well as throwing elements of jazz, folk and other musical forms into the mix:  the result was prog!  Over …

I caught Skid Row on their United World Rebellion tour this month. The aim of this tour, which was their fourth visit to the UK in eighteen months, was to play in venues and places they haven’t played before which included some venues I have been to and love, The …

I’m a great believer that when you go to a gig you should make every effort to see and support every band on the bill… but, sometimes circumstances conspire against you. And so it was that, due to a scheduling conflict, as Belfast’s own Overoth (pictured left) took to the …

Friday night saw fans from around the world gathering at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze just outside the Belgian town of Aalst for a weekend of female fronted metal bands. As always the lineup had plenty of variety, from symphonic metal to Japanese metal, to Thrash, a Doom and more.  MFVF …

There’s an old saying that all good things must, eventually, come to an end, and so it is that, after a run of 11 years, Firefest this year (apparently) threw its final fling, with a combination of established favourites who had graced its stage over the past decade or so, …

This year’s Damnation Festival marks ten years of extreme metal chaos at Leeds University. Hard to believe it has only been ten years. There have been many interesting line ups for this fest and a few surprises over the years (namely Carcass when they had their “last ever re-union show”) …

The 10th Damnation festival (which is already totally sold out!) is coming up rapidly and so in very few days the marathon of metal in Leeds will begin. Many visitors will go there for at least one of the headlining bands – Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse or Saint Vitus. Some …

I have frequented the Bierkeller in Bristol on many occasions for both their club nights and their theatre productions, but I had never been to a gig there until this particular night in question. I was also very aware of how hot it could get inside the venue itself, but …

It’s been a few years since the southern rock sixteen wheeler has rolled into Dublin and hot on the heels of Blackberry Smoke playing two weeks ago, their heavier cousins Black Stone Cherry returned to The Academy with their Magic Mountain tour featuring special guests Theory Of A Deadman. Opening …

We don’t celebrate Sundays? What’s not to celebrate when Nashville Pussy are in town?! I’d heard great things about this band so I was more than happy to head into Manchester for a Sunday gig at The Roadhouse, a small basement venue on Newton Street, conveniently near to Manchester Piccadilly …

Junkstars were first up, a young Swedish band. They got a slightly mixed reception – while quite a large percentage of the crowd clearly enjoyed their set, it was noticeable that there were others who weren’t keen, possibly because of the punk edge to their rock music.  I personally enjoyed …