In my previous post, I mentioned how I felt the rock scene was well and truly happening in the Northwest with an endless list of local bands performing for anyone who took the time to rock out between snow storms. Last Friday night, Massive Wagons at Rebellion with the support from Manchester's KYNGS and Welsh Henry's Funeral Shoe only reinforced that feeling.
Read MoreAnvil is Anvil, a band which came out of Toronto back in the early 80's influencing today's most popular metal acts. The release of the rockumentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" in 2008 certainly helped them gaining a renewed interest. But could a gig on a subfreezing Sunday night in the rather small town of WIgan attract the most diehard metalheads?
Read MoreWho can argue that Operation: Mindcrime is one of the greatest metal concept albums of all time? - and arguably one of the finest that rock & roll in general ever produced. I’d pretty much worn the tape threadbare back in the late ’80’s on my blag Walkman, in the days were teenagers used to walk everywhere with a bag full of ferric tapes. The album struck a chord with me at a time when Rock and Metal music was to me in its transcendence; it became my life, as did this album.
30 years on (where the hell did that go?) and NOW my phone has unlimited access to millions of songs covering all that man has created. I’m regularly drawn back to Mindcrime. It sounds better than ever after the remastered job of 2003 and it’s part of my rock DNA, spiraling through my soul.
I don't know anything about Death or Black Metal and I have never pretended to. The heaviest gig I have attended might possibly be Opeth, on their "Ghost of Perdition" UK tour, 10 years ago. But I guess in these kind of pentagram circles, they could be considered pop.
I arrived in good time only to realise that the gig was sold out and the venue packed, we had to queue for a good 15 minutes. I had no idea who the opening acts were and neither did the staff, or maybe didn't dare to spell or pronounce their names.
Read MoreLast week, at short notice, I managed to get the authorisation to shoot Santa Cruz, you've read that right, not Santa Claus, but Santa Cruz, the hard rock Scandinavian quartet from Helsinki, Finland.
Read MoreI was informed that I might possibly get a photo pass for Marilyn Manson at the Manchester Apollo on December 4th. As I had no replies by Sunday afternoon with confirmation, I decided to focus on plan B, just in case they may be other options in the area. To my surprise, I found out Tyler Bryant & and The Shakedown were at The Ruby Lounge on that same Monday night. I had previously checked them out earlier in the year and definitely settled on them as a viable option.
Read MoreOn November 30th, I returned to the Live Rooms for the swedish Electric Boys who were touring the UK for the 25th anniversary of their release "Groovus Maximus".
Beth Blade and The Beautiful Disaster were the only support act on the night and the Cardiff quartet wasted no time in introducing their highly energetic set of melodic hard rock. Beth had great vocals and great stage presence whilst assuring the crowd that she does not bite.
In the last couple of weeks, I have been quite busy with my photography work. While one may think that the glamourous life of being a rock photographer allows me to lounge around the rest of the week and write at my own leisure. But with a full time day job, I am not fortunate enough to have this luxury. So here is a weekly roundup of recent gigs.
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Is it getting harder to commute to Manchester or am I getting slower? After my last experience on Tuesday, I decided to set off from Liverpool in good time to ensure I would arrive well before the support act Blackfoot Gypsies were due on stage.
The opening act was not publicised on any of the UK dates, was this meant to create an element of surprise or a last minute decision?
Read MoreOn a classic Mancunian night of rain and football, Faster Pussycat, were too fast for writer and photographer to make it to witness one of Hollywood’s finest sleaze rock merchants strut and swagger across the academy stage. We arrived in time for the opening track of second support The Answer. A Northern Irish classic rock outfit in the tradition of Rival Sons, a mixture of blues, country and folk blended together with a rocking pentatonic swagger and groove. Cormac Neeson on vocals is a charismatic frontman, affable and talented.
Read MoreI had to start to start someday so why not today. After having photographed many bands over the last couple of years, I have never really put pen to paper except on rare occasions when I think I know what I am talking about. Now is the time, the first time.
The festivals season is over and done, the students are back to what they do best (drinking) and bands are once again touring our local clubs. The australians Lagerstein are currently visiting the UK on their Young, Dumb & Full of Rum Tour and last night were in Manchester Satan's Hollow supported by Nottigham's Red Rum.
Read MoreWhen first informed about Norwegian band TNT’s upcoming 30th anniversary tour of ‘Tell No Tales’ featuring the return of the U.S. born Tony Harnell on vocals following his brief stint in Skid Row, I realised the only way I would get to see them would be to jump on the first plane to their homeland where their popularity remains strong to this day.
Add in the fact that over the last 20 years Tony had been consistently in and out of TNT, his latest return has done little to assure me that it might not be TNT’s last tour. As they were one of the 80′s finest hard rock bands I had yet to see live, I was left with no choice but to head for Drammen, a small town south of Oslo, on a cold dark Saturday night.
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