Event Reviews

This was my first time at Bearded Theory.  It’s held in the grounds of Kedleston Hall, so the setting is beautiful – festival-goers walking from the car park to the campsite cross a bridge over a weir by a lake, with a  nice view of the hall  on the hillside  …

When you’ve spent three days at a music festival, it takes a special gig to make you want to go out the next night.  Fortunately for me, I was heading to such a gig after three days at Bearded Theory – the arena tour of Journey, Whitesnake and Thunder.  That’s …

I cannot be the only one struck by the irony of the coincidence… just days before Black Star Riders – basically, Thin Lizzy with a bit of makeover – release their much-vaunted but ultimately disappointing ‘debut’ opus, the one band acclaimed by many as the natural heirs to the crown …

Doors opened for tonights gig at 6.15pm – and early starts on a weeknight generally mean reduced attendance early on, and that was certainly the case tonight. First band, Killfloor mechanic went on stage pretty much as soon as the doors opened.  Heavy and loud with a mix of clean …

A saturday in May saw hundreds of fans of female fronted metal descend on the Robin 2 venue in Bilston, just outside Wolverhampton for the Dames of Darkness festival.  The third festival by that name, it’s the first for a few years, and the first to be held at the …

Launch gigs can be weird affairs… all too often, the band doing the launch, be it an EP or whatever, deliberately pull together a rather lame supporting cast, so as not to expose their own weaknesses.  The alternative, and much more preferable option, is to invite along support acts which …

Tonight is about hostility, invasion and violation. The Academy 3 is a great venue to hold such a gig, intimate for circle pits and a PA that can actively hold and handle a sound of deathcore metal. Manchester based Empire’s Fade step up to open for one of the most …

The night kicked off with Fallen Mafia, a female fronted band from the North East of England.  With five bands on the bill, the running order was stupidly tight, so as the doors opened earlier than normal at 6pm , Fallen Mafia took to the stage.  As a result as …

As I climb the stairs towards tonight’s venue I can’t help but wonder why exactly a band the size and stature of Hatebreed are playing in a small 400 capacity club venue when they could easily be playing any of the bigger stages in town.  However the energy packed into …

It may be seven years since Lordi firmly put their particular brand of comic book metal well and truly on the international map with their sensational, tongue-in-cheek win at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, but the fascination with the band nevertheless endures, with the memory of that night in Athens …

The night kicked off with Welsh band Revoker.  With their gear set up in front of the headliners the stage was very cramped – as the band came out I genuinely thought the guitarist was going to fall off the stage as he squeezed past the drumkit , it really …

Having seen Kiss a few years ago in Glasgow, and enjoying every minute of a spectacular Rock and Roll show. Made even better by some very talented showmen, dazzling stage set with amazing pyro, light and sound. I always thought I’d go see them again but they have not been …

For those of you who havent heard of Damaged Stock before, it’s an all-day charity festival held at Rock City’s Basement in Nottingham to raise funds for Epilepsy Action.  It’s organised by a bunch of escaped lunatics (or Evil Scarecrow as they prefer to be known) and their Manager Jennifer …

A few weeks back, one of PM’s young buck recruits took it upon his fanboy self to pop along to the end of a pier somewhere on the English coast and review his favourite band, metalcore/dubstep crossover wunderkinds Enter Shikari (http://planetmosh.com/enter-shikari-grand-pier-weston-super-mare-10th-april-2013/).  Nowt wrong with that, you might say – and …

Barnsley’s most famous NWOBHM band Saxon headline at The Ritz in Manchester celebrating St George’s Day. Tonight’s performance from The Quireboys was an excursion of rock and roll blues with drenching and heart throbbing riffs. Vocalist Spike has this explosive energy with so much feel and emotion of letting go …

On the strength of seeing Helloween a couple of years ago dominating Hard Rock Hell 4 in Prestatyn, I jumped on a train and travelled down to London to catch them again on their Hellish Rock Part 2 with fellow countrymen Gamma Ray supporting them for another dose of power metal.

  The un-matchable guitarist Mr Michael Schenker,of UFO and Scorpions fame, also known for his solo group ( The Michael Schenker Group ), brought his powerhouse of sound the “Temple Of Rock” show to Rock City, Nottingham this weekend. On stage tonight with Michael were the ex-Scorpions star’s Herman Rarebell on …

After counting down for weeks, the moment had finally arrived. I was finally going to get to see Hypocrisy for the first time! I was probably more excited than a 5 year old at Christmas! Since the gig started at the most random time of 16:30 (what kind of time …

The second day at the HRH AOR and Prog event started early as I was interviewing Arthur Brown two hours before the first band started.  Sadly that meant two hours less sleep than I’d have liked, but the early start was well worth it to chat to such an amazing …

This weekend was to see the first HRH AOR festival and the first HRH Prog festival.  Uniquely both events were being held at the same venue on the same weekend.  This sounded like a crazy idea at first, trying to run two events side by side, but the organisers had …