Punk rock and funk rock, not the most obvious of bedfellows to be sharing a stage. But The Spangles and Electric Boys have more in common than you might immediately think. Both bands although musically at different ends of the rock spectrum, do things firmly their own way, defiantly and fiercely standing proud against the vagaries of time, fashion and convention.
Read MoreSleaze punk. An evocative phrase, possibly even a contradiction in terms. However, it comfortably describes each of tonight’s bands even though they are as like each other as sleaze and punk.. If tonight’s act were coffee Suicide Bombers would be a dark, strong espresso, Continental Lovers would be a warming, familiar americano and Trench Dogs would be a light and frothy cappucino, possibly with marshmallows. All have the same roots but present them in their own style – put the kettle on and let’s settle in for the next couple of hours!
Read MoreCombichrist have been a massive name on the industrial metal scene since the early 00’s and they haven’t let up in recent years. This current UK/EU tour gives the lucky punters a further chance to see the aggrotech industrial metallers deliver their pounding electronic beats and thrash-heavy guitars, while dancing hard and passionately all night long.
Read MoreToday is a big day for the Tivoli Venue. This year marks the 100th birthday of the building, and while there are celebrations galore planned to mark this auspicious occasion tonight’s gig is the official opener of the Tiv’s 100th year. Originally a venue for pantomimes, there is panto planned for later in the week but first we get to celebrate with a bit of party rock. Atlanta’s Kicking Valentina are no strangers to these shores, but support act Sisters Doll are here on their first ever UK tour, and they are raring to go.
Read MoreWho are the most influential rock guitarists in the world? Well there’s a number of contenders, but not all of them are still out there plying their trade. Van Halen died, Page is retired, Blackmore is fol-de-rol-ing in the forest. One man who is definitely up there amidst the greats and still regularly bothering our ears though is Michael Schenker. Once the wunderkind who revived the fortunes of a somewhat flagging little prog band from London before returning briefly to his brother’s band and then embarking on a solo career that’s kept him busy ever since, today’s Michael Schenker is something of a living legend. Last year he revisited his youth, releasing “My Years With UFO”; a double album of his best UFO songs re-imagined with a plethora of fantastic vocalists, and now it’s time to bring the nostalgia fest to his still-adoring public. First though, the support….
Read MoreGenres like metalcore and deathcore actually cover such an eclectic range of bands that it’s sometimes hard to find a balanced bill. Tonight, we have as close as you’d get to that balanced bill, with four exciting bands that while slick and cohesive, are all different in their own way. Make Them Suffer have evolved from a deathcore band to something much more creative, and headliner tonight’s offering with a couple of ROCKFLESH favourites Resolve and Conjurer in tow. All the bands tonight have evolved but never skimped on passion and raw energy.
Read MoreIt’s quite incredible to think that Blaze Bayley has been a presence on the UK rock scene (and by extension in many of our lives) for over four decades. From Wolfsbane to Iron Maiden to his solo material, Blaze has always been a performer of passion and fire, and tonight’s show, centred around the anniversary of his first solo album “Silicon Messiah” - itself now a staggering quarter of a century old – shows just why he’s still held in such high regard by so many after all these years.
Read MoreWhen is an undercard not an undercard? When the supporting bill seems to receive as much, if not more, love and adoration as the main feature. Tonight in Manchester doesn't feel like a typical package tour with several make-do filler acts leading up to the central event. For all intents and purposes, it has the air of a triple headliner affair as Warbringer and Cryptopsy are treated with the same level of reverence as nominal stage closer Decapitated. This doesn’t mean the Polish legends get short shrift, it means that every one of them receives a reaction fit for a canopy-topping act.
Read MoreThree performances, three very different styles, the one thing bonding them all, regardless of genre or approach, is uniqueness. Often a scarce commodity, tonight’s bill is a celebration of that uniqueness, of bold originality and distinctive creativity that is so vital in a too often identikit and anodyne world. It also means that this is a night quite unlike any other…
Read MoreTiberius are what live performances should be all about – musicianship, energy and fun. The infectiously joyful pop-prog-metal quintet stop-off at Manchester on a mini-tour promoting latest album “Singing for Company”. At each date they’re joined by three local up-and-coming acts, but before we get to the gig at AATMA we grab an interview with the loveable Edinburgers.
Read MoreIt does feel somewhat surreal having a titanic thrash gig in Chester on a Tuesday night. There’s no escaping that fact. But the three bands on tonight’s bill have travelled from overseas and Chester isn’t a place to disappoint such commitment! The Live Rooms has a queue before opening and a healthy crowd from the off. I say healthy as in numbers, because it’s a gloriously motley crew of battle jackets, thrash t-shirts and punk hoodies on display for the mighty Vio-lence, Exhorder, and Kuazar.
Read MoreFittingly for Easter Sunday, Jesus has decided to make his long-anticipated return at tonight’s show. Gama Bomb vocalist, Philly Byrne, deadpans with surprise “Oh you're back, you should see what's being said about you and also what they are doing in your name and by the way after the show can we have a quick word about what's happening to kiddies in Ireland”. However, when “Jesus” gets on stage to dry-hump Philly during ‘Give Me Leather’ it becomes clear that he is a costumed imposter as opposed to the actual second coming. What it does show, though, is the sense of fun around this evening's proceedings. There is a general air of irreverence, as Sam from openers Raised by Owls eloquently puts it, metal is just angry panto.
Read MoreTonight is a contrast in times. Headline frontman Toby Jepson was something of a rock superstar in the late 80’s. His band Little Angels bothered the UK charts many times before dissolving acrimoniously in the early 90’s. Toby went on to a career as a minor actor before re-discovering his love of writing and performing music, and a short but lucrative solo career morphed into Wayward Sons, a band that has been entertaining us with classic rock sounds for some nine years now. In the meantime, support acts Muddibrooke and White Lightning are snapping at his heels with Muddibrooke taking us on a more 90s-focused journey whilst White Lightning, despite their tender years, are firmly rooted in the 80’s that Toby emerged from.
Read MoreSometimes you get the chance to attend a gig that throws up a new band for you to experience live. Sometimes it can be a couple of bands that you get to experience fresh. But rarely do you get to see two fantastic new bands in a brilliant new venue for ROCKFLESH. Tonight, we have the pleasure of not only catching the awesome Belgian prog-metal bands Hippotraktor and Cobra the Impaler - as well as getting to interview both bands (see here and here) - but also we get to cover the gig at the impressive Future Yard in Birkenhead.
Read MoreThe spoiler, that crucial bit of information that reveals the denouement and shatters the sense of surprise. Rosebud is the sledge, Darth Vader is Luke’s dad, and Bruce Willis is dead (for those who think the last one is cruel, I haven’t said in which film…). The curtain has just come down on the first show in Ghost’s imperialistic trek around the globe. No media were invited, no photographers were present, and everyone’s phones were locked away in rather nifty pouches. So how do we talk about it without giving away any of the surprises and preserving the intended air of mystery?
Read MoreThere is a cavalcade of young British metal bands determined to break out of the underground into the open waters of the mainstream overground. Heriot are at the vanguard of that movement. Fiercely independent and uncompromising, they have their eyes firmly set on world domination, as opposed to eternal select appeal. There are two impeccable and remarkable things about this roster of new acts reshaping our music, the first is that they are diligently doing things with metal that we never thought was possible. The second is that they have broken up the macho monopoly and defused metal’s decade’s old fortress of toxic masculinity. This is metal reinvented but also simultaneously holding on to the aggression and nonconformity made it so exciting in the first place.
Read MoreThere's a theme running through all the bands tonight, and it’s something revolving round the concepts of two-step dancing and jaggedly brutal hardcore. How else should you spend your Friday night than treating yourself to an early gig offering up such joy! Boundaries are the headliners and the undercard is packed with some equally exciting hardcore talent to wet the appetite.
Read MoreIt’s not often that you get to go to a gig with a heads or tails nature. On this particular tour, co-headliners Skies Turn Black and Andromedous are just that though. They are flipping who is last up at various venues on the tour, and tonight that distinction goes to Skies Turn Black, but Andromedous are hot on their heels. The thing is, what you have here are two bands at total opposite ends of the Metal spectrum. On the one hand, a melodic power metal band with strong hints of AOR, on the other an aggressive electrocore outfit with masks and a rhythm section in a box.
Read MoreCatch Your Breath are a modern melodic pop-metalcore band that you can’t sleep on. The venue is sold-out and packed before the first band have even started. Bands that speak to a variety of bases of interest across a wide span of fans are few and far between, but CYB have the tools and backing to be able to make it big. Very big.
Read MoreTonight the Academy 2 looks and smells like I imagine the inside of Alice Cooper's wardrobe would. It’s dark, and there are strange beings looming in the gloom. The smell is partly of musty clothes not worn often, but mostly it’s the smell of fear. Monsters walk amongst us, and not all of them are on the stage. Finland’s Eurovision winners Lordi most definitely are on the stage though, and their elaborate set covers an awful lot of the available space on it.
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