Tag Archives: live review

Belfast’s doom heads were out in force for this evening bringing together three of the finest exponents of the art on the local scene, with headliners Black Magician having headed over from England for the start of a brace of gigs on this side of the Irish Sea. Dublin trio …

When Shine Promotions – best known for their activities on the local dance scene – bought over the historic Limelight complex after its previous owners went into administration, it has to be admitted that many rock fans baulked.  After all, what the fuck did a bunch of dance promoters know …

Having just released their debut album – an opus which nearly didn’t see the life of day following guitarist James Coogan’s near death experience, when he feel from a fourth-floor balcony in an horrific accident which left him in a coma for six weeks – Dublin hardocre quartet Wounds returned …

It’s not too hard to tell when the local university semester is in full flow, as inboxes quickly become filled with invitations from Radar, the inhouse promoters at the local students’ union, encouraging one and all to come along to their weekly free showcase gigs, featuring an eclectic – and …

If there is ever something which can be honestly described as an institution on the Belfast metal scene, then it truly is RocKD.  Started up almost a decade and a half ago by James ‘The Nicest Man In Metal’ Loveday as a Saturday afternoon showcase for the best in local …

Welsh metalcore heroes Funeral For A Friend have very much returned to their roots with their sixth album, ‘Conduit’, which, as we noted in our recent review – http://planetmosh.com/funeral-for-a-friend-conduit/ – is a lot more grounded in the 1990s hardcore sound that characterized their first couple of releases.  This approach also …

Gigs like this make me feel decidedly old.  As I stand on the balcony looking out over the basement venue, the floor below me is a seething mass of pre-pubescent bodies, each and every one of them, without exception, younger than my own daughter… behind me, the bar staff are …

There are fewer things more miserable than a cold, wet January Sunday evening in Belfast city centre. Tonight, in the warm surroundings of Belfast’s Voodoo which is a premier up and coming music venue and provides a traditional style bar downstairs for rabid metal heads to stock up on beer …

It must be said, Dublin’s Vicar St is one of the best venues I’ve been to:  a purpose built modern theatre, it is designed in such a way that it can accommodate everything from comedy to heavy metal with ease.  I’ve been to it on several occasions over the past …

Three words summarized tonight’s gigging experience: commitment, dedication and resilience. On the part of both the bands and their fans. On the face of it, there probably could not have been a worse night to stage the first big metal show of the year – at least, one outside the …

After some 15-plus years very firmly at the top of the local tree, NI death grinders Condemned shocked many fans a little earlier this year when they announced their decision to call it a day. The reason was not the usual ‘internal divisions’ or ‘musical differences’ bullshit that many acts …

It’s a discussion which has been held in bar rooms up and down the land – and, indeed, on these very pages: the merits and demerits of what happens after an iconic band loses one of its pivotal members – and particularly someone in turn as iconic as their frontman. …

Things weren’t going too well at the start of this evening’s debut visit to their Irish diaspora of fans by Polish ‘legends’ Turbo. First of all, local support Bäkken – who less than a week earlier had officially launched their worthy ‘Death Of A Hero’ album – pulled out at …

There are many great guitar players in the world, a few of whom can be described as truly innovative – Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Richie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour and Joe Satriani are among the names that comes instantly to mind in this regard. There are …

It confounds me. No, it really annoys me. Actually, it makes me really fucking angry. OK, I know there’s a recession on and all that, but for four damn fine bands – including one who have travelled since the wee small hours to play the gig – to play to …

Co-headline shows are awkward beasts.  And, personally, I’m not a huge fan of them… I mean, you either have a headline act or you don’t – right?  Running a bill with two headliners has inherent problems – who goes on first, what happens if the opening act are better than …

Anthrax have been more regular visitors to this little part of the world than the vast majority of their counterparts, with this – their only UK headlining show, during a ‘night off’ from their support run with Motorhead – being their fifth time playing Northern Ireland. And, the sense of …

The song ‘Cat’s In The Cradle’ carries a particular resonance for Northern Ireland rock fans.  While, almost exactly 20 years ago, our counterparts in the rest of the world were propelling Ugly Kid Joe’s cover of the Harry Chapin ballad back into the upper reaches of the charts, the government …

The TDC Auditorium, part of the Triskel Arts Centre in city-centre Cork, tonight plays host to a ream of great Irish talent, with a definite lean left in audio and aesthetic sensibilities.  Darkened sans the solitary projector up the back and some odd stage lights, it feels different here than …

Sometimes, you just know it is going to be one of those days… Well, we had known for some time that this particular day was going to be one of those… and it was nothing to do with this Essex ‘post-hardcore’ (will somebody please explain what in the name of …