Event Reviews

For many bands, it must be a burning ambition – often unfulfilled for all too many – to headline the most iconic venue in their hometown… in the case of Belfast, the venue in question is the Ulster Hall, a Victorian building which is the city’s equivalent, as more than …

My first time at Queens Hall, what an amazing place, and a first meeting with the guys and lady of Blues Pills. Coming out onto the main stage, this group of young musicians looked completely at ease as they set about getting ready for their first gig of only two …

Arriving at tonight’s gig, the long queue outside signalled both that the venue was going to be busy, but also that a lot of fans had got here nice and early to make sure they caught the opening act – Taiwanese band Chthonic.  At Download earlier this year they brought …

Tonight is the Metal Hammer sponsored Defenders of the Faith tour featuring Amon Amarth, Hell, Carcass and Bleed From Within.  Headliners Amon Amarth prove themselves to be great guys even before doors open by cutting their set 10 minutes short to allow Hell to go on 20 minutes after doors …

There are times as a music journalist when you want to cast aside the notebook and its pages of extraneous adjectives and hyperbolae and strip a review down to your most basic primal reaction to the event you have just witnessed… in the case of this evening’s debut Belfast performance …

A Selection of shots from the Satyricon/Chthonic gig at Belfast’s Limelight 2.   Photographs by Paul Verner /LIVE:i photographic agency for PlanetMosh www.livei.co.uk

On the 1st and 2nd of November Mudfest gives us the third edition of this festival. The first edition took place in the Azijnfabriek in Roermond (the south of the Netherlands), the second editon and the third edition which we are going to talk about right now take place in …

Alter Ego on Princess Street, Manchester was the basement venue where tonight’s bonfire night gig was taking place. Consisting or a warren of rooms with a bar to the left, as you enter, and a stage to the right, with the only access to the stage being across the dance …

So was getting up at 5am to catch a 6.30am train from Crewe to Purfleet,Essex for a gig worth the effort? It certainly was and i’d do it again at the drop of a hat if there is (and hopefully there will be) another Metalwave UK in 2014! Billed as …

Halloween 2013 finds me back in Glasgow joining Sheila for Paradise Lost’s ‘Tragic Illusion’ tour to celebrate the bands 25th year in the music industry. For this short tour of the UK the band have brought special guest Katatonia from Sweden and Lacuna Coil from Italy to join them on …

First up tonight were a London band, Nightlord.  Due to delays with getting into the venue I only managed to catch the last few minutes of their set, but what I heard sounded very good – some nice old school thrash. Next up were The Generals.  A mix of thrash …

Trio Corr Mhona took to the stage first. Being less familiar with this band, I wasn’t sure what to expect and after seeing them play I’m still not 100% sure about what I think. They had some really great elements; like the incorporation of the Irish language into some songs …

The definitive live performance, captured.   As the band head into the recording studio to begin laying down the tracks for the forthcoming sixth studio album (as yet untitled), this release ( 2DVD/3CD or 2BLU-RAY), may seem a bit of a stop gap affair. Far from it though, as the …

As I ventured out onto Brighton seafront ahead of the onset of St Jude for my fifth concert in five days, it seemed the storm would not only be brewing outside Concorde 2 but inside as well. Local band Cage the Gods were concluding their run of support dates on …

The love of music, in the purest sense of both the emotion and the form, is about opening your heart and soul to both, and especially opening yourself to new experiences of the art in order to fully appreciate why it lends itself to your undying devotion.  This evening was …

London can at times be like a bag of pick’n’mix where you can choose the best bits of different gigs in one night. Tonight’s support act of choice was Welsh band Buffalo Summer, who have not only appeared at Download Festival this year, but who also have the likes of …

In these difficult economic times, it makes financial sense – for both the fans and the acts concerned – for bands to team up and offer the best possible deal for their combined fan bases:  it’s a win/win, as they say in marketing circles, with both the bands and their …

  Since the release of their first album “Roads to Judah” in 2013, Deafheaven has been on my radar. This is a band that is black metal in essence but they broaden the genre by adding shoegaze, post-rock and a shitload of ambient. These genres definitely aren’t the easiest ones …

I interviewed two members of blues hard rockers Cage The Gods, who were supporting The Answer at The Garage venue in Glasgow, Scotland. Accumulating from all corners of the UK, I spoke with Welsh Bass player Mitch Witham, along with recent young English addition Colin Jones, who replaces the disappearing …

I caught Danish Rock Band Volbeat at Manchester Academy during their ‘Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies’ tour. With American metal band Iced Earth as the main support act and London based Punk Rockers The Howling being opening act on the UK leg of the tour I was expecting a spectacular show …