Event Reviews

Oregon quartet Red Fang have been undertaking quite a gruelling European trek, with something like 40 dates, made up of a mixture of festival slots and intimate headlining shows, and including visits to a number of places where they have never played before, such as Belfast (one of only two …

Tracer returned to our shores this week for the first of two visits this year and, having waded our way through the confusion of the Kings Cross station re-development (there’s a different way to go every time we come here) we headed across to the second night of their headline …

A selection of photos from the Red Fang gig in the Speakeasy, Belfast.     Photos by Paul Verner. www.livei.co.uk

I had first heard about Vintage Trouble through mutual friends and contacts in other band fan groups I had become involved in. After looking at their material and videos on YouTube and seeing how they perform live I was hooked and really looking forward to the day I could see …

When Walking Papers were first announced for Voodoo Belfast it seemed like the listing had been an error, given the personnel in the band and the relatively small size of the venue. This coupled with the fact that a week or two later it was announced that thrash giants Slayer were …

So two days of rock and metal carnage down, one to go. And as this punter walked down towards the Main Stage on the Sunday morning of Download Festival 2013, I couldn’t help but smile at the wires attaching the stage to the sound tower, knowing what they were for. …

So, after a Friday of absolute mayhem, perhaps the Saturday of Download would be a more chilled out affair? You might have thought so too with UFO (6) opening the Main Stage; the audience wasn’t the biggest but there was enough there to get heads nodding and ‘Doctor Doctor’ made …

Welcome to the first in a three part review of the 11th annual Download Festival. Once again, rock fans from all over the world descended on the hallowed turfs of Donington Park in Derbyshire for a five-day extravaganza that saw the festival outdo its previous years’ lineup by quite a …

Tonight was going to be a special gig – the first ever gig by new band, The Crunch.  A new band they may be, but the members are all experienced and certainly aren’t new to the music scene.  Singer Soren ‘Sulo’ Karlsson was the singer with Blues-rockers Diamond Dogs, Bassist …

It’s a real shame when additions to a bill are not made public. That’s what happened when I arrived at the Exchange in Bristol on Sunday evening. The venue’s website said doors opened at 7.30pm, however it turned out that, along with the three bands advertised, a further FOUR groups …

So here I am, at the first ever Helfast Metal Festival to be held in Northern Ireland. 5 hard rock and metal bands spread over several fun filled hours. This was one gig I was eagerly anticipating. Seeing Altus perform their first ever gig. Checking out Warcrux since I last …

An unusually sunny evening set the backdrop for this beauty of a gig, casting this amazing little venue into a sepia haze. The Hop is a hidden gem, stuffed down a grimy side-street, this converted mill has it all, 3 stages (that I know of), a huge beer garden, some …

Lists.  Love ’em or hate ’em (personally I’m of the latter school of thought), they seem to be an inescapable fact of life.  Subjective as they are, they are ubiquitous:  “what’s you’re top ten favourite metal albums?”, “who are your top five best guitarists?”, “what’s your favourite list of lists?”.   …

When Gloryhammer announced their first ever gig, I decided that I had to be there – their debut album has to be one of the best power metal albums of the year, so a chance to see their debut gig wasn’t to be missed, even if it involved a long …

It seems somewhat weird going to a heavy metal gig that isn’t actually a heavy metal gig – there’s chairs where the mosh pit should be, for feck sake – but, then, it is Scott Ian and there are few more metal than he! Always known as one of the …

A sunny Thursday afternoon finds me heading off to Glasgow to catch the mighty Canadian trio, Rush in concert on their Clockwork Angels tour.

The setting in the Classic Grand is very intimate for tonight’s show. The stage is dimly lit. The front section of the room has a few tables and stools close to the stage. There was gentle lighting around the small venue, which had plenty of space for people to chill …

Tonight’s gig was to be a very special one.  Firstly it’s being held at a site that is very special to rock and heavy metal – the headquarters of Marshall amplification , in a theatre they have just behind the factory that makes the iconic amps.  Secondly tonight is the …

2010 was the release of “Beyond Hell/ Above Heaven” and now Volbeat return with their fifth album “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies”.  It demonstrates their metal heritage more than they have in any previous albums.  The album comes across as a musical journey combing the genres from the past few decades into something …

Wildest Dream – formerly known as ‘Wrathchild…be thy name‘, are a local rock duo from the East midlands made up of Edd Smith and Terry Crofts. Mostly performing as a rock tribute band, they have though written and sung their own songs along side the many greats they enact.   …