Keeping Rock n' Roll Alive…
Posts tagged Metal
Download Festival, Day Two
Aug 7th
A much enhanced lineup greeted us at the start of Download Day 2, as a matter of fact so did a cute radio presenter for Download FM who interviewed us for our respected thoughts (although she was drawn to us mainly because we had beer in hand at 11:30am!). After spreading the words of the DiR.net crew to the listening public we managed to get to our main stage destination for the first band of the day.
Taking Dawn were exactly what was required to start the day. A bunch of mega-enthusiastic rockers who are obsessed with hard rock and glam metal without any of the stupid hairstyles.
Taking Dawn
Their metal infused take on Gn’R era hard rock was bright, upbeat and on the whole massively enjoyable. They played their instruments precisely with more than few catchy riffs and flashy solos, not forgetting to throw in plenty of vocal hooks and melodies to get the uninitiated singing along. The lead singers enthusiasm was unrivalled as he shouted…
“I’m coming to get the whoever goes the craziest during this next song”
True to his word he launched himself off stage and bounded over the barriers right into the midst of the ever growing crowd. Amazingly he was still playing his guitar as he ramrodded through towards the lucky one. This was a great little set which I really enjoyed and as we wandered off for the next band, we could only see the singers legs as he crowd surfed back towards the stage
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For something completely different we headed to the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage to witness one of the oddities of the weekend. The Urban Voodoo Machine are kinda like a Nashville folky-blues band who wear quirky costumes that decided to hire some circus acts to be in the band. Every member seemed to have a role/character to play which gave them a real extra appeal. Their visuals were great, from the sharp suited gravel toned singer to the green ogre drummer and a gyrating Moroccan cymbal playing dancer who was wearing very little. Sonically they were pretty catchy too with their multi instrumentalists, acoustic backbone and dual drummers (who loved to jump about on their stools)! A highly effective act for a short set which brightened up an already scorching morning!
The Urban Voodoo Machine
After a last minute alteration to the schedule we were left standing in front of Atreyu. Now not being the greatest fan of theirs I was greatly surprised to hear they sounded a great deal more impressive live. Their metal grooves were mostly melodic and were surprisingly accessible. Vocals weren’t the greatest, but none of the piercing screams from the record made an airing this afternoon. Much of their set was packed with great singles like the classic rocker Blow, emo-ish Bleeding Mascara and the rip roaring pop metal of Ex’s & Ohs. Atreyu were a real surprise package of my weekend.
Atreyu
We grabbed some lunch and decided to perch ourselves on the hill to see whether Flyleaf would actually play today given their missed slot. However, you put together Beer + Sun + Food and inevitably it = Sleep. Arising, slightly sun-dazed from a nice nap we saw something which resembles the Flyleaf singers back as she waltzed off stage. Never mind hey!
Rejuvenated we dived into the shade of the Pepsi Max stage to see whats on. The Genitorturers need no introduction. tight Dominatrix style leather catsuits, over the top make-up, S&M mentality, & punk rock music. Their most attention grabbing quality was their appearance, musically it was pretty average no brainer loudness.
We Are The Fallen
We Are The Fallen were created by Evanescence’s guitar duo so that already tells you alot about their sound. Gothic styled hard rock with female vocals and middle of the road poppy rock offerings. It was enjoyable but not breathtaking as lead singer Carly Smithson (6th in Pop Idol USA season 7) did well to hit some rather high notes. However our next Female Vocalist literally blew her out of the water!
Halestorm
The third female fronted rockers in a row were by far the most impressive. Halestorm played good ol fashioned power chords and rang out plenty of hugely catchy and melodic hard rock with a pop heart. Their strikingly beautiful lead singer had the attention of all the men in the tent even before she opened her mouth or slung a guitar over her shoulder. Her voice was one of the most powerful things I’ve heard! She had the perfect rock voice which flitted back and forth from angelic to demonic in the blink of an eye, rasping high notes and blasting lows were by far their main attraction. Given they had a superb array of damn catchy tunes like I Get Off, I’m Not An Angel & Bet You Wish You Had Me Back, leaves not doubt in my mind they were one of the finds of the festival!
Megadeth
Megadeth were up on main stage and it was great to see one of thrash metals long standing behemoths doing what they do best. They played very tight and threw in a few of their classic tunes to the rapture of the crowd such as Sweating Bullets, Hangar 18, Rust In Peace & Symphony Of Destruction. This was a lesson from the old school that metal is still alive, and judging from the amount of hair flailing around near the multiple mosh pits i can safely say this was very well received.
Y&T
We departed the main stage to head for some cheesy 80′s reviver’s Y&T. They was exactly as advertised, plenty of melodic guitar lines, flashy solo’s, pop rock chorus’ and wrinkling skin. Yet they seemed to be having such a great time it was hard to fault their performance!
Deftones
Sub-headliners Deftones I have come to realise are not my thing. Here in the huge outdoor spaces their alternative-metal was drab which lacked energy with most of the crowd appreciating as opposed to enjoying. I was not on their page tonight which is a shame as I’ve only heard good things, yet i found it a bland set to sit through.
Now we find ourselves in an almighty tussle for position as the people hurdle, push, smash and steal their way to get a better view of tonight’s headliners who are on their UK Victory Lap, after sensationally scooping the Christmas #1 slot after the public led campaign to oust Simon Cowellites from the top spot. Rage Against The Machine kicked straight into Testify as anarchy reigned in the crowd as the once still mass of people around us, went absolutely mental! Leaping around, as it turns out is best way to get in the Rage groove (plus you get a decent view for half the time). With each song bringing a heaving bomb of alternative rock with humongous riffs and instantly recognisable melodies it was easy to see why these guys are so popular.
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Rage Against The Machine
In fact the second tune of the set Bombtrack had to be halted. As worried fans and security guards looked on it was apparent not all was well! Suddenly after a considerable silence band front man Zach de la Rocha asked the crowd to take 2 big steps back, as it was getting increasingly dangerous down the front. We all took his instruction and we continued…only a little further away.
Zach de la Rocha
With a classic band on stage it is very hard to fault, Zachs raps were spot on and guitar legend Tom Morello was on top form. Tom’s array of special effects pedals and engineered sounds drawn out from his guitar were mesmerising. I especially liked his playing of the strings behind the nut and also playing with an iron nail showing that it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it! This masterclass in slow riffs and the ability to mutate his instrument to suit his needs was brilliant, there is none more creative or versatile an axe man playing today.
Tom Morello
A few more classic tracks (the Led Zeppy Wake Up, riff-mungus Bulls On Parade, funk laced Guerrilla Radio) a superb clash cover (White Riot) and a couple of political preaches (Israel’s Gaza blockade being the topic of these rants) later we all waited
Sure enough it came and passed. Not without rocking this field of baying fans with an outburst of stomping drums, huge bass, precise guitars and plenty of “F**K you I won’t do what you tell Me’s…” A fitting end to a cracking day!
Download Festival, Day One (Ac/Dc Day)
Jul 25th
11th June 2010
After a night on my friends couch, a Tesco breakfast (quickly becoming a pre-festival tradition) and an emergency Argos run for camping chairs, the diminished DiR crew arrived at Download 2010. After a menacing hike in the blazing sun we managed to find a nice quiet place to pitch our tent on high ground away from the possibility of bogginess (let me stress this wasn’t actually a choice…it was what was available).
Parked in our sumptuous, newly acquired chairs, we shared some early afternoon comfy cans of rapidly warming beer before heading into the arena, almost 2 miles away from our current location. As the first days proceedings didn’t kick off until a rather civilised 3pm we had time in abundance to march over there!
Having not been to a proper (ATP not included) UK summer festival for some time, I was surprised by quite how massive these places are! With the Download site containing 5 stages with 2 huge outdoor stages this felt a lot bigger than Reading and I will say had optimal landscaping with natural bowls by every stage. Plus the sun was shining (unexpectedly), you couldn’t ask for much better than this. Especially with tonights headliners bringing their own world tour stage with them, today already felt somewhat special!
Year Long Disaster
Starting the day in more humble surroundings in the Pepsi Max Tent were Year Long Disaster. Kicking off the festival was always going to be a hard slot and it proved so. Their underwhelming sound failed to make a real impression as they drifted through their set of decent but not special, vintage hard rock.
Anathema
Seeing as there was plenty of hard rock and metal on offer over the weekend, we decided on something a little bit different for our next band. Anathema played to a majority sunbathing crowd who were delighted with their sweeping atmospheres and slow but hard hitting melodies. In the open air this was total bliss out territory and just as we were all floating into dreamland they sadly departed only to be replaced by A Day To Remember who played us some wishy-washy screamy hardcore mixed-up with emo-pop punk. Needless to say we weren’t impressed with their interruption.
Coheed & Cambria
Prog-Rock titans Coheed & Cambria were next up, inflicting their metal ambitions loose on the gathered masses at the second stage (aptly renamed the Ronnie James Dio Stage, after his passing away). With his hair fluttering like a badly groomed poodle, Claudio Sanchez led intricate melodies and extended prog meanderings which were both amazingly technical and surprisingly catchy. Taking much of their set from their new album this was a standard execution of their material with little or no crowd interaction. Thankfully for them the audience were to busy being in awe of their bonkers sci-fi rock to care. Finding time to throw in the epic metal tune Welcome Home just before they bailed out was a masterstroke which ensured a grand ovation and calls for an encore (which were quickly ignored).
Them Crooked Vultures
With the greatly reduced line-up the only thing left to do was to head towards the main stage in order to set up camp for the evenings main event. If you were clever…like I…you placed yourself dead centre between both main stages and enjoyed 2 sets of classic rock and roll. The first of which came from Them Crooked Vultures. TCV are quite rightly the hottest supergroup around, and this evening they proved worthy of their super title. Their bluesy shuffles and sparkling fuzz guitars were ploughing through riffs like a naked guy through a crowd (yes…this happened!). The interaction between the three prized musicians was astounding! John Paul Jones & Josh Homme had their guitars intuitively connected not forgetting Dave Grohls drum set becoming as big a weapon as those wielded in front of him. Their poppy scuzz blues and slightly too long blues jams went down superbly. But slowly but surely the crowds attention began to fade and with it severe long-stage-drift towards the currently unoccupied stage decorated only by two inflatable red schoolboy caps branded with one huge ‘A’ each fluttering in the wind. It was time for what we’d all been waiting for…..
I have never witnessed such anticipation for a single festival set (nor any performance actually) in my life. The crowd was absolutely buzzing and after a what felt like an eternity, the lights went up as Ac/Dc the living legends & godfathers of Hard Rock n’ Roll blasted onstage revealing just why they needed their own stage. They not only brought with them a seemingly endless catwalk which stretched nearly 30 metres into the crowd but they also thought they’d bring a train too!
Ac/Dc
The speakers they brought with them was gargantuan too!! Being nearly 3 times bigger than the festivals main stage, they sounded absolutely massive, small children would have been blown away and stray dogs had no chance against these things…it was that powerful. This only made hearing a seemingly endless barrage of timeless rock n’ roll classics even better. Front man Brian Johnson who could probably apply for his bus pass introduced the set with the following choice words:
“We’re here for one reason and that’s to rock and roll, and the party starts right now,”
Now that’s exactly what did happen as the crowd exploded in a wave of jubilation as the first chords of Runaway Train rang out. It was no great surprise to find the crowd knew every word, to every song and yet despite the packed conditioned everyone found room to hop around and sing them manically to strangers (whoever though music could not connect people?).
Brian Johnson
The songs which got the crowd the most excited was most definitely the bass kicking Thunderstruck, ballsy Shoot To Thrill, the classic riffs of Back in Black & Highway to Hell, not forgetting the huge singalong on You Shook Me All Night Long.
My favourite moments were when the legendary guitar god Angus Young rose high above the crowd on a huge elevating platform while playing his heart out not far from me. He may be old, but he can still rock with the best if them! Also in true rock style he flashed his pants, only to reveal the band logo of course. His axe wielding was brilliant with big time classic blues solo’s, those unforgettable riffs and a magical presence in front of a crowd nearly 100,000 strong.
Angus Young
The train wasn’t tonights only prop either, confetti & fireworks aside they also had a huge bell was lowered onstage to be rung for the opening sequence to Hells Bells, a 30ft inflatable woman (Rosie) with ample cleavage provocatively perched upon the train for Whole Lotta Rosie and a line of cannons which exploded during set closer For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).
Rosie
I can find no words to criticise tonights performance, this was simply the greatest rock show I have ever witnessed and it doubt it will ever be topped! Ac/Dc wrote the book on Rock and tonight they played it in it’s entirety too! A truly awe inspiring performance! Lets hope this is not the last time we see them out on tour!
Camden Crawl 2010: Day One
May 23rd
Who ever thought that putting a music festival on in London on a May Bank holiday weekend probably thought it was a good idea? Granted that extra days recuperation was great, but with general London transport chaos even arriving in Camden would be a half day mission in itself. Luckily for myself and the team, DoesItRock Towers is handily close by. We wandered down to the Roundhouse to pick up the days schedule for day one, laughing in the face of a weather forecast that would make the Outer Hebrides look like the Caribbean.
After seeing the schedule it’s easy to get swamped under the sheer size and scope of the lineup. 17 evening venues and 27 daytime events…where do you start? This of course leads to a music fan’s worst nightmare, clashes! Then you have to filter in the venue choice, venue capacity, arrival times in order to gain entry and if you have to pay extra stealth charges to see bigger bands. So under the enormous strain of options we did what any gaggle of men would do in times of difficult decisions…head to the pub!
With opinions flying at all angles, a plan finally came together. Hence it was time to get down to the serious business of catching some bands!
Dissolved In
We arrived rather chilly and windswept to discover the new for 2010 Outdoor stage was running late. S we ended up catching the tail end of an upbeat set from this Punk-pop quartet. They sounded quite promising and they have decent enough guitar melodies and vocal harmonies, although I am only judging on their final 2 tracks, the rest could have been pants!
Dissolved In
KASMs
Talking of pants, KASMs lead singer was liberally showing off hers as she catapulted around stage in all manner of screwball methods (including powerslides & Japanese schoolgirl kooky leaps). This in fact was a glad distraction from the noise generated by her screechy adolescent vocals. Ignoring the voice the music was edgy and alternative with plenty of sound effects which were largely hit and miss. They have lots of good ideas, outstanding energy and cannot be faulted for effort but today they failed to captivate. An indoor venue would definitely improve their sound, but for the time being, you get an E…more work required!
KASMs
We had been very lucky with the weather and the rain held off as we dived from pub to pub taking in quizzes, jazz sessions and musical bingo until we were en-route to the Electric Ballroom for the first of the evening performances. When the rain finally arrived, it was ferocious! Driving rain hammered the streets, turning Camden high street into a new canal extension! Drenched like hamsters in a washing machine we gained swift entry and prepared to be rocked.
Camden Lock before the storm
Pulled Apart By Horses
This young band from Leeds are a huge part of the experimental alt-metal scene developing in the city and from watching them tonight you can see why they are at the forefront of the movement. They play with a voracious intensity and skull denting power. An ever changing time signature, stop-start melodies, plenty of epic anticipation building crescendos and technically superb massive metal riffs litter their sound which is unpredictable and compelling to behold.
Pulled Apart By Horses
Almost as precarious is their crazed stage antics which left their bassist sporting a bandaged up knee prior to this evening. Yet he still managed to ascend to stand and leap off a 2 storey stack of speakers, meanwhile the vocalist went on aimless walkabouts through the crowd knocking over fans with his wildly flailing mic/guitar leads. Put simply they are entertaining and totally bonkers!
Ready for a Fall!
Lead vocals are, as one DiRocker pointed out “A bit shouty” & other noted “quite Blood Brothers-esque”, hence not easily accessible but still drive each tune with catchy melodies which demand your attention. Their volume is deafening as is the thump of their drumming but all this combined to form a brilliant set which is not going to be forgotten for some time to come. An essential new band worthy of attention!
That Fucking Tank
Next we trotted off to The Dublin Castle for another slice of Leeds originated alternative rock, this time a little more subdued, or so we thought. That Fucking Tank are an instrumental duo (drummer and guitarist) who play in perfect harmony some of the biggest goove heavy beats of the weekend, despite their minimal stage setup.
That Fucking Tank
Monster drumming and big guitars laced each tune, each craftily setup into an instantly recognizable riff, rhythm, chorus, solo structure. They are one of those catchy bands you can’t help but dance to, no matter how hard you try to resist. Scuzzy electro riffs, progressive trip-outs, heavy muted power chords and classic rock influenced interludes were all present in this great set proving variety is key without any vocalist to liven things up.
Throwing in a couple of classic licks from the likes of Nirvana and Springsteen helped really get the party going as the stage was overtaken by stage divers leaping back into the tiny mosh gathering down front. Their success was evident as the crowd would not be settled until they played an encore. This is a band you need to see live! On record they are good but nothing can recreate the duo’s almost telepathic musical connection and raw sound which is just as ease at the disco or the rock clubs! A huge prospect to keep an eye on!
Alex Metric
While Calvin Harris was entertaining the (supplementary ticket buying) crowds at the Roundhouse we were checking out a worthy rival to his electro crown in Alex Metric. His live performance was pretty good with hard hitting bass lines, snazzy keyboards and catchy vocal led dance tracks proving very popular. However the venue was hugely overcrowded and just too tiny, for all the fans that turned up and could not get within 10 meters of the stage, this was a disappointing outing. In a club venue this would have been rocking, instead it was subdued and underwhelming.
Alex (is back there somewhere) Metric
Teenage Fanclub
Instead of providing a springboard to the wee hours Teenage Fanclub lulled the crowds packed into KoKo into a sweet harmony of blissful semi-consciousness. Majorly indebted to 60’s folks The Byrds and love for the jangly melodies and high pitched sugar coated vocals were great for about 20 minutes. From which point on the relentless floppy haired mid-tempo acoustic strum-by-numbers became monotonous, tedious and lacking in invention.
Teenage Fanclub
Mixed in their set were a few good little pop numbers, but they were only resonating well with the long term fans who seemed to know every lyric. Their performance was mediocre and so it received lukewarm appreciation from the DiR mob as we jumped back in the taxi towards HQ for the night, ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Steel Panther @ Brixton Academy
Apr 15th
Friday 19th March 2010
Long permed hair, Bandana’s, skimpy jeans and torn t-shirts were to be spotted aplenty on Brixton high street this evening, something not too often to be said in these modern times. Of course they were heading to the academy to witness the heavy metal harking, power chord striking, split jumping retro rock of the 21st centuries premier 80′s hard rock throwbacks Steel Panther. They are indeed a big draw and the sold out crowd is proof that they are a force to be reckoned with in their own right.
It is true they have taken the 80′s hair metal parody so far as to be off the scale it’s coming back round again for a second go. Their male dominated attitudes, liberal sexual views and beer driven antics are comical to the point of absurdity, which is why they are so loved. No other band could get away with writing an album full of dick jokes and sexual innuendo and still have a solitary fan. Of course the reason is their outstanding musicianship and their sublime live shows (with a little glazing of nostalgia thrown in for good measure).
Their support for this evening’s performance was far from ordinary. In fact they were stunning! All three of them were! The Sirens were to be perfectly honest 3 very hot & extremely agile strippers who danced provocatively is progressively less clothing for the crowd to the sounds of Slipknot and Lamb of God. It was totally shallow & male adjusted but who else are you expecting to perform when the headline band’s greatest ambition is to go one month without contracting an STD? Just made me wonder why more bands didn’t employ these tactics to get the crowds through the door.
The Sirens
After a substantial wait (probably due to setting up the camera crew who were filming this evening’s performance for a live DVD), Steel Panther emerged from the 80′s time machine and set up camp on their full 80’s stadium style stage setup complete with ramps, oversized drum kits and a mind blowing 24 full sized Marshall stacks!!!
Panther Look the part with typecast characters for each member Michael Starr the enigmatic lead singer who gets the girls, the hair preening, mirror obsessed bassist Lexxi Foxx, hard rock all night Guitarist Satchel and the dumb drummer Stix Zadinia. Self proclaiming that Heavy Metal is back is easy to understand once you have been panthered. Energy levels of this band are incredible, Starr, Satchel and Lexxi were constantly bounding round the stage, Starr even put in some impressive David Lee Roth style ball busting split jumps!
Vocals tonight were superb! Snows voice propels to the higher ranges of human hearing as well as having a great deep rock and rolling roar. Early set highlight came in the shape of Party All Day sparking a massive sing-a-long and thousands of fist pumps! The Devils Horns were brandished at every occasion by both crowd and band, sharing in the absurdity!
With only one albums worth of material it was always going to be a stretch to fill time. Good job they know a few jokes and are good storytellers! Each song was preceded with inter band banter of monologue length. This did begin to wear thin by the end, but again this wasn’t unexpected.
Top tunes from the set included the 2 fingers up to mainstream music in the shape of Death To All But Metal,the polygamous triumphing ballad Community Property and all out comedy of Fat Girl (Thar She Blows) each played extremely tightly with Satchels guitar skills showing great prowess!
A review of the show is not complete without mentioning their gimmicks which kept the show interesting. They recruited a bunch of strippers from the local joint to gyrate onstage during Stripper Girl, handed out foam Shocker hands for the song of the same name and I mustn’t forget the blow up dolls or confetti!
After exhausting their repertoire the encore had to include the one thing they can do better than anyone else…80’s covers! Two of them in fact, both note perfect homage’s to days gone by. Avoiding as many clichéd bands as possible they settled on the great Motley Cru’s Shout At The Devil & an absolutely amazing version of Gun’s & Roses paradise city which really blew the roof off!
A brilliant night of ‘Heavy Metal’ drew to a close and the Steel Panther boys they promised to be back and confirmed they’d be playing Download Festival in the summer (oh yeah!). This is one promise I hope they keep as tonight was man rock fun at its peak!
Heavens Basement @ Camden Underworld
Mar 3rd
December 18th 2009
Heavens Basement, Dear Superstar, New Device @ Underworld, Camden
Note: I wrote this before the news of Richies Hevanz departure from the band and thought it should be published as it was intended!
Heaven’s Basement are finally on the road to success. In the space of 3 months since their show at Bridgehouse2 they have recruited a new bassist and been out on tour supporting Papa Roach. Word has clearly got out of their amazing live shows (of which they have performed 125 already this year). The result? A queue for tickets stretching out on the frozen streets of Camden Town.
Descending in the decedent Camden Underworld venue which was filling up nicely at this early hour, we headed for the stage in order to catch the first band who have recently signed to Classic Rock magazines own Powerage record label. With the record deal already in the bag and debut album on they shelves, they have come a long way in a short time, but now having seen them play I understand why.
New Device
New Device are a band steeped in 80’s stadium rock influences with elements of Bon Jovi’s insanely catchy melodies (In The Fading Light ) and Motley Crue’s harder edged riffing (Make My Day). Each tune was great start to finish with a hefty classic rock Les Paul/Gibson sound and a lead guitarist to do the combo proud. Other songs to watch out for include Until The End (which sounds an awful lot like Bon Jovi’s Raise Your Hands), the drum stomping On Fire and the guitar wailing Takin’ Over. lead singer Daniel Leigh (who was seriously suffering from illness tonight, but still giving it his all despite rasping vocal torture) sings, “We Are The New Device, Were Takin’ Over”. With performances like this I’m inclined to believe them on both counts!
Dear Superstar
Next up were the boys of Dear Superstar who took the trip underground to strut the Camden stage. This is where they belong, in a dark and enclosed space where nobody will bother them, as tonight they failed to make any impression other than distaste. Noisy metal riffing was good in parts like on poppier number Brothers In Blood but sadly the lead guitar lines failed to ignite that elusive spark. The vocalists attempts at being a sleaze rock and roller succeeded only in being incredibly annoying, if he put as much effort into his singing ability as he does into pulling faces, Dear superstar would be better for it. The icing on their cake was a cover version of the kinks classic Lola, rehashed as a sleazy gutter thrash-metal outpouring of plunderous noise. It sounded just as bad as you imagine, trust me!
The full complement of Heaven’s Basement band members lined up to the crowd tonight and wasted no time in ploughing out their classic rock influenced rock and roll. New bassist Rob fit straight into the line-up nicely as their performance of their first track Tear Your Heart Out displayed a much heftier sounding band, brimming with confidence. This confidence flowed throughout the whole performance with a titan sized stage presence and outstanding vocals from front man Richie Hevanz.
HB were back doing what they love to do, laying down cracking melodies intertwined with soaring guitar riffs backed with infectious sing-a-long chorus’. Terrific songs aplenty such as Graduation and Reign On My Parade with their immensely catchy rousing chorus, Can’t Let Go’s outstanding vocal harmonies complete with plenty of woo-oh-oh-oh-oh’s.
Richie Hevanz
They shook things up a little tonight testing out some new material which was promising, but yet I feel have a little bit of polishing to do before they can count them as the finished article. This included a song sung by rhythm guitarist Johnny Rocker who you can tell is not the most confident, neither the greatest vocalist but he managed to pull off an entertaining tune admirably.
Johnny Rocker on Vocals
Where they excelled themselves this evening was the reworked version of their early demo song Mirrors. They managed to turn this potent rocker into an slow burning introspective ballad, with honest lyrics addressing image consciousness. “No they’re never gonna stop, Trying to make you someone that you’re not, They will make you question your reflection, Take it or leave it…..Don’t ever believe in the mirrors” swoons Heavanz pouring an emotionally charged heart into each word. This outstanding song was a great surprise, one which was greeted with much admiration from this onlooker.
The band at their brilliant best arrived on farewell track Executioner’s Day rapid fire lyrics, a racing bass line and a fiery guitar lick reaches its bursting point at the chorus where Heavenz unleashes his vocal talent leading a leading a mass of crowd voices singing it right back at him. The extended laid back atmospheric interlude is brought back from lulling subtlety into an epic building riff crescendo complete with fiery guitar solo.
Sid and Johnny
It’s this superb song craft which stands Heavens Basement out from the crowd and it’s what will propel them forwards in years to come. They are out on tour again in February so get your tickets now, you will not regret it!
Motorhead @ Cliffs Pavillion, Southend
Jan 21st
24 November 2009
Tonight the UK’s very own Heavy Metal legends head to the seaside for a gig of epic proportions. Wild, turbulent and stormy…this was just the weather upon arrival. The terrible weather did nothing to deter the huge crowds at the door bustling to get inside. Girlschool were just beginning their set upon my setting foot in the venue. A quick dash to the bar proved tricky with the entire length of the bar being packed 3 deep with beer thirsty motorhead fans.
The mix of people here was astounding, metalheads, bikers, geeks, teens, emo’s, grungers, the very old and the very young all mixing together sharing a good time. Plus there was enough leather in here to start a small sofa business.
After fighting my way stage-wards I managed to catch the final few tracks from the all girl hard rockers, Girlschool. They played their rock in a no nonsense fashion, loud, with simple repetitive lyrics. These girls have disregarded getting old and are still throwing their energies at being rockstars which is great to admire. If I’m to be honest, they were not at all bad. Simple as they were, what they played was catchy, plus the appeal of their hard rock style will never will go out of fashion! Going out of fashion is something which the next band are clearly used to (either that or they were never really in fashion in the first place).
Girlschool
The Damned are cited as a genre defining psychadelic punk rock group who alongside the Clash and Sex Pistols helped kickstart the whole Punk era. Personally I feel they should have stayed in that era! Their music wasn’t terrible, but it was only the punk riffs of guitarist Captain Sensisble (looking like a character from the beano) that stopped this set from being a total disaster. Lead vocals (from a guy who looks like your dodgy uncle who wont give up those shades and leather jacket) were badly spoken, monotonous and without change in tone. There was clealy a political message in there somewhere, one which is probably redundant these days, hence they fell on deaf ears. Nobody got even in the least bit excited, meanwhile the bar mob swelled to 5 deep (all 12 barstaff were kept busy at least).
The Damned
It goes to show that attitude punk from old boys who are clearly way past their anti-establishment years have lost their message, diluted with age prehaps. Legends in the book they may be…but their time has past. The Damned did however have a spitting image of Susan Boyle on keyboards, seeing him attempting to bounce, jump and mosh were some of the funniest things I’ve seen!
Motorhead arrived to an enormous ovation which almost rased the roof of this venue which is more accustomed to xmas panto’s and all seated theatre productions. It was heaving in here as the metal legend Lemmy thrashed the first clubbing basslines which trademark Motorheads hard, fast and heavy sound. Within the first few tracks I could already feel my ears beginning to take the brunt of the extreme amplitudes. Lemmy was on fine form with his great (and apt considering its Movember) handlebar moustache circling one of the most distinctively rugged voices in the whole of the music industry, period. His soul breathes rock and roll and he is bursting at the seams with crazy loud, hard and fast attitude.
Motorhead
After a short while of skullcrushingly heavy riffs and wah-wah fuelled impressive guitar solo’s the formula was wearing a tad weak. Enter guitarist Phil Campbell who showcases his exemplary skill by performing a grand Steve Vai-esque instrumental solo in the spotlight which rang beautiful melodies and effect drenched hooks. After this short interlude its back on with the rock and roll. Notable tracks were One Night Stand, Bomber, Fast and Loose. The axe wielders of this rock trio then took a break and let the drummer Mikkey Dee take over. This was a solo of epic proportions, so loud that the drummer had donned a pair of heavy duty ear protecters before setting to the task of smashing the skins to within an inch of breaking point. Each and every thump was like a firework exploding . This was spectacular and massively impressive!
Back from a short break, they shook up thew formula with an old school blues number, with dual acoustic guitars and Lemmy playing the Harmonica…odd indeed! Lemmy then instucted in more traditional fashion… “Get up all you lazy Bastads sitting up there, Get Up!” as her waved at the all seater balcony in a menacing manner, they duely rose! Shaking off the mellow they thrashed out their only true classic track Ace Of Spades which had everyone headbanging along. Finishing on the epically noisy Overkill they faded into the night as did the crow. Each person reeling from the onslaught of tonights superb metal slaying at the hands of the legends that are Motorhead.
