Tonight 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 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.
Read MoreIt's debatable whether the demarcation of "big in the nineties" is a term of endearment or code for select appeal. What isn’t debatable is that when Skunk Anansie were big in the nineties they were distinctly out of kilter with the rest of the Brit rock fraternity. Part of it was their stereotype-trouncing frontwoman Skin, who single-handedly upended the pre-held perceptions of what skin colour and sexuality a rock front person should be, but a large chunk was due to their unique take on nineties rock. They simultaneously melded grating heaviness with a swaggering, funky sensibility. They produced in your face music that you could dance to, when everybody else was busy shouting “sorted” and tending to their egos.
Read More“Liverpool!” yells Crows Frontman Shane as they come on stage. “Are. You. Ready ?!!” A familiar sound, they have introduced themselves like this for many years and it seems that Liverpool is indeed ready.
Read MoreThe wheels have come off The Wildhearts juggernaut so often that it is a wonder they are not sponsored by kwickfit. Ginger Wildheart is a self-proclaimed difficult man to work with, who has an undeniable knack of surrounding himself with difficult to work with people. The latest reunion of the classic line lasted 4 years, 1 pandemic and 2 rather spiffing albums, grinding to a halt in 2022 in flurry of mutual acrimony. Whilst lived experience has taught us to never count The Wildhearts out, this KO felt particularly final. So we were all really rather taken a aback when an all new version of the band arose from the ashes last year. Whilst Ginger is the one constant in this iteration of the band, it is a very different version of the Geordie workhouse. This is a happier, healthier Ginger who has shed both physical and emotional weight to look, god forbid, like he is actually enjoying himself.
Read MoreYou can probably tell just from the band names what kind of music we are in for tonight. Gloryhammer came to be back in 2010 as the side project of Alestorm singer and keyboardist Chris Bowes, and since then, they have released a slew of vaguely related concept albums in which various band members assume characters in the ongoing story. Despite some social media controversy following the departure of their original singer, they have weathered the storms that surrounded them and come through more or less unscathed to provide us with entertainment tonight.
Read MoreOccasionally, someone comes along on the “ones to watch” list that you suspect is destined for superstardom if there is any justice in the world. Tonight, while he is no overnight sensation, I think it’s safe to say that Dan Byrne is teetering on the edge of the last chasm to cross to reach his nirvana. The question is, will he soar or will he fall? Only time will tell, but this evening’s performance gave a good indication that he is finally getting the wings he has worked so hard for…
Read MoreAre Royal Republic a rock band? They say not, but a capacity crowd at Bloodstock 2023 begged to differ and let’s face it you’re not going to argue with 20000 rabid metalheads, are you? They have been blowing audiences away with their brand of humorous pop-rock patter for a good few years now and here we have a full UK tour in support of their most recent album “LoveCop”. Tonight the Royal Republic train is hitting the buffers in Manchester to show us what they’ve got.
Read MoreTonight we are not in a cellar, which is good. Zanzibar is a decent venue with plenty of space and a good screen so that’s a good start.
Local band Seas Of Neptune kick things off. They play cheerful slightly indie-tinged rock interspersed with a bit of typical dry scouse wit. It’s not outright metal, leaning more towards maybe The Killers or even Arctic Monkeys for inspiration, but it’s hummable and well-performed. At the moment the band are a little raw and unpolished, but with a bit of elbow grease they might turn out to be a gem.
Read MoreTonight Chester is getting its goth on. It’s only two days to Halloween so it’s quite fitting that the self-described mad Frankenstein drag queens that make up Wednesday 13’s entourage are here. It’s equally fitting that England’s favourite glam-goth wannabees South Of Salem are snapping at their heels.
Read MoreThe room we are in tonight is pretty basic for a venue with such a huge history (it’s the old Factory Records HQ). Bare walls, a small stage, not even any proper stage lights. Yep, basic covers it. The bar is well-stocked though and the atmosphere is warm and inviting in anticipation of one of Germany’s finest up-and-coming hard rock bands.
Read MoreLet's be honest with ourselves, in a band as cool as Guns n’ Roses (and there was a good chunk of time in the late 80’s when they were as cool as fuck) Duff McKagan was the really cool one. When we were miming in the mirror to our bootlegged copy of “Appetite for Destruction” he was the one we wanted to be. Whilst the others came from the lineage of glam metal, Duff with his short hair and snarl was 100% punk. He brought the aggro, he brought the attitude, he was the linchpin that stopped Guns n’ Roses from being yet another Los Angeles vanity project.
Read MoreHave you ever been to a gig which you suspected was going to be good, but when you got there it exceeded all your expectations? Well if you managed to catch The Lazys and Junkyard Drive on their current run of UK dates you may very well have. Both are not regular visitors to these shores, with The Lazys hailing all the way from Australia and Junkyard Drive hopping over the North Sea from Denmark, and both absolutely brought their A-game to the Tivoli on this occasion.
Read MoreFirst visit to Percy’s tonight and wow, what a venue. It’s small, cosy, quirky and interesting. The band room is out the back and despite being fairly cramped the sound is good so if necessary you can sit in the comfort of an ex-aeroplane seat (with table in the arms and a working recline button) or dentist chair, with your drink on an NHS trolley, and watch proceedings on a video screen.
Read MoreAfter a hectic week or so of dashing around the world in pursuit of musical excellence it’s good to be back in the dark, cool confines of The Tivoli for 2 of the UK’s finest alliterations, Tigertailz and Takeaway Thieves. The bar is cheap, the atmos is friendly and the crowd is keen – just how a good gig should be.
Read MoreWhen you think about The Wildhearts, there are certain pictures that immediately come to mind. From a musical point of view they are very positive, but from a relationship point of view there has been a toxic dynamic for a long time. The band thrives, falls apart, splits, reforms, thrives, falls apart, splits in an endless cycle that has gone on for years now. Eventually there has to come a point in any dysfunctional situation where you have to walk away for the sake of your own sanity, and it seems that after many years of being drawn back in for the highs, CJ has finally managed to find himself in a situation where he is older, wiser, and comfortable in his own skin.
Read MoreMetal’s inexplicable love affair with Eurovision seems to be baked into our psyche. In recent years many “big” names from our world (The Rasmus, Blind Channel, Voyager and Lords of the Lost) have taken part and even bigger names (Avantasia and Keep of Kaslin) have unsuccessfully tried to be selected for their respective home nations. This is alongside the fact that every Baltic state entry seems to sound like Evanescence and Italian alt-rockers Maneskin triumphed in 2021 with a ditty that sounded all the world like a shunt job between Rage Against The Machine and Jane's addiction.
Read MoreThere’s an old joke that goes “what’s the best thing to come out of Norfolk? The A11!” Tonight though I am here to witness the re-emergence of something else good coming out of Norfolk, the country-tinged blues rock of Bad Touch. They have been around on the circuit for a while, I think I first encountered them well over 10 years ago, and with at least 5 albums under their collective belts their popularity has ebbed and flowed like the tides that erode their home county’s coastline over those years. I don’t think I’ve seen them yet post-covid, so tonight I’m looking forward to getting re-acquainted with them. Enough poetic imagery though, we have bands to watch!
Read MoreOn the eve of their biggest headline show in a packed out Wembley Arena, the award winning, Tik Tok trending powerhouse of UK metal that are Skindred are warming up at a sold out Manchester Academy. As always, Skindred promise to bring their usual high energy party vibes to the masses, and as always, the clientele is a fantastical mix of full-on-metallers, wide-eyed ravers and those of us who happily swing both ways.
Read MoreWe were having a discussion at ROCKFLESH Towers the other day, wondering which band we have reviewed the most since we started. General consensus was that as we are a local website for local people, it would probably be a local band. In the end we decided it was likely to be Massive Wagons, who seem to have stayed true to their local roots too despite achieving not just national but international success in recent years. Tonight we are just up the road from their hometown, so I settle in my usual position lurking at the back to see how they are doing these days.
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