Live Review : Last In Line + Vega + Gin Annie @ The Tivoli, Buckley on November 27th 2019

Wednesday. It’s a bastard of a day. Just far enough away for you to be forgetting the fun you had last weekend, not close enough to the fun you’re going to have next weekend. It’s a desolate, bleak day, it’s the place where you can view a long horizon during the hell of another working week. So whose bright idea was it to have one of the best gigs I’ve been to this year on it then eh? Eh? Eh? I want to know who is responsible for this travesty! Well that would be the people at the Tiv, a venue that is continuing to improve every time I go there. It’s now got a lovely, shiny, new, long, well-stocked bar, so naturally it’s Wednesday and I am a) driving home and b) needing to be up for work in the morning, so I don’t get to sample the wares. Bloody Wednesday!

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby30 November 2019The TivoliLast In Line, Vega, Gin Annie, The Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Heart Of A Coward + Unprocessed + Severenth @ The Live Rooms, Chester on November 26th 2019

It’s exciting to get a tour with excellent metal bands coming through Chester – it simply doesn’t happen that often – so with Heart Of A Coward and Unprocessed choosing to stop off at The Live Rooms, ROCKFLESH jumped on the chance to get along for the fun.

First up are local lads Severenth. They’ve only just reformed this year after disbanding back around 2013, and are looking to hit the ground running with a new album in the works.

Live Review : Florence Black + Revival Black + The 99 Degree @ FAC251 , Manchester on November 26th 2019

Whoever coined the phrase "Dance like nobody’s watching bla blah blah" obviously haven't seen The 99 Degree play, or they would have changed it to "Write songs like nobody will ever hear them because that's the way you love them, then scare the shit out of everyone by letting people hear them".

Gig Review©Gregg Howarth28 November 2019Florence Black, Revival Black, The 99 Degree, FAC251, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Gregg HowarthComment

Live Review : Midnite City + Saints Of Sin + King Voodoo @ Nigthrain, Bradford on November 23rd 2019

It’s a grim day today. The weather is dreadful, and low cloud hangs like a pall over the city of Bradford. So what better way to get past it than getting my glitter on and heading out for a night of party rock?

First band King Voodoo didn’t appear to get the memo. They are good, but in more of a broody, bluesy, dark kind of way. Their songs have an edge to them, and although I enjoy them they are not exactly party animals.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby26 November 2019NightrainMidnite City, Saints Of Sin, King Voodoo, Nigthrain, Bradford, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Attila + Veil Of Maya @ Academy 2, Manchester on November 20th 2019

I feel like all my gig reviews start with a weather and/or travel update…so I’m not going to change the habit of a lifetime! This installment of Matt-attempts-to-get-to-Manchester features the usual train debacle, but has an undercard of ROCKFLESH head honcho Johann also being stuck on the M62. Unfortunately, it means we both miss opening support act Sylar.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser25 November 2019Academy 2Attila, Veil Of Maya, Academy 2, Manchester, 2019, Matt Fraser, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : D-A-D + Hangarvain @ Academy 3, Manchester on November 20th 2019

Tonight is an Alice In Wonderland kind of night, in the sense that I am on the M62 looking at my watch and thinking “I’m late. I’m late”. The traffic is moving slower than a sloth with a bad leg, and although on the bright side they haven’t actually closed the motorway (yet) I am fretting that I won’t make it in time for tonight’s support.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby23 November 2019Academy 3D-A-D, Hangarvain, Academy 3, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Periphery + Plini + Astronoid @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on November 14th 2019

When Astronoid describe themselves as ethereal they aren’t half on the money. Brett Boland’s vocals are only just there. Delicate, haunting and drenched in emotional fragility, they juxtapose with the thrashy prog of the band behind and you end up with music that is deep, passionate and varied. You get caught up in the swirls of driving rhythm and layered guitar and it all feels like a whirlpool that is sucking you further into its core.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas16 November 2019O2 RitzAstronoid, Plini, Periphery, O2 Ritz, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Earth + Helen Money @ Gorilla, Manchester on November 11th 2019

Earth are the thinking person’s Doom act. There is not the scuzzy riffs of sludge or the deep depressing tones of trad doom. They produce a wonderfully thoughtful, partially optimistic and slow variant on the whole thing. This is the blues but at half or even quarter speed, in fact the whole pace is measured, drawn out and unhurried. But before I pontificate further on the utter under-rated genius of Dylan Carlson, I need to first deal with opener Helen Money.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas12 November 2019GorillaHelen Money, Earth, Gorilla, 2019, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Machine Head @ The O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester on November 4th 2019

Machine Head are the ultimate metal survivors. Each time we think they are down and out, they get back up again, dust themselves off and re-enter the fray. In the mid-noughties it looked like they were outdated and out of ideas but then they returned with “The Blackening”, still one of the best metal albums of this century. This time last year it looked like once again Machine Head were over. Robb Flynn on Facebook dramatically announced that Phil Demmel and Dave McClain had left the band and for a while it seemed that was that. However twelve months later here they are again selling out the 5,000 capacity Victoria Warehouse.

Live Review : A Pale Horse Named Death + OHHMS + Petrichor + MAIRU @ Phase One, Liverpool on November 4th 2019

A month on from my nu-metal euphoria I have returned in all my chubby glory to review A Pale Horse Named Death. Again. I for one could not be happier.

My ability to attend gigs has decreased rapidly in recent months so I am absolutely determined to savour every moment of tonights doom-laden sorrowfest.

I rock up to the club like “What up, I've got social anxiety and I want to go home”... nah, but I am late from work and I was making my journey on public transport. So inevitably I miss a bit of MAIRU.

Live Review : Marillion + Harry Pane @ Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on November 4th 2019

Support tonight is from Harry Pane, a youngish singer/ songwriter firmly in the folk tradition, less ginger than Ed and a tad less cheesy. There’s a decent variety to his lyrics and an authentic connection that translates in his delivery pretty well. Of particular note was the third song in, he introduced as a tribute to his father who passed in 2016, 'Fletcher Bay' rang true and was the strongest contender for deeper ground within his set.

Live Review : Buckcherry + The Treatment + Rocky Kramer @ The Tivoli, Buckley on November 1st 2019

I have no idea who tonight’s first support, Rocky Kramer is. A person? A band? Having watched them I now know it’s a person AND a band. Rocky is a rather charismatic Noel Fielding lookalike who hails from Norway and is now based in the US, and his band are a competent if somewhat proggy outfit that back up his singing and guitar playing.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby4 November 2019The TivoliBuckcherry, The Treatment, Rocky Kramer, The Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : Thrice + Refused + Gouge Away @ Academy, Manchester on 31st October 2019

It seems like an age since I last reviewed a gig, but in fact it's only little under a month - it appears time does not fly when you’re not having fun. Fortunately, my first reviewing gig back is for a co-headline treat. Both Thrice and Refused don’t visit England that often (well, certainly not the North West), so I’m eager to catch a couple of my formative musical acts in the flesh for only the second or third time. As always I jump on the train, hoping that I’m not going to be held hostage to some trick or treat irony from Transport for Wales (spoiler: a rail replacement bus on the journey home turned out to be the trick).

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser4 November 2019AcademyGouge Away, Refused, Thrice, Academy, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Beyond The Black + Mister Misery @ Rebellion, Manchester on October 30th 2019

Any assertion or illusion that symphonic Metal does not have a following here in the UK is shattered by the fact that Rebellion is heaving on a Wednesday. Not that Beyond the Black would accept that label. When we speak to them earlier they distance themselves from that particular genre positioning themselves as more melodic metal. As far as I am concerned you can call what they do Bob for all I care. What matters is that it is well made, well performed and beautifully orchestrated. But more about Beyond the Black in a mo.

Live Review : Black Star Riders + Stone Broken + Wayward Sons @ O2 Ritz, Manchester on October 27th 2019

Having had the pleasure of seeing all the bands on tonight’s bill before, there's a rather pleasant feeling in the Autumnal air heading to the gig. All three are peddling new wares at the moment. It’s a killer bill, with each one offering something a bit different from each other.

Live Review : Sunn O))) + Anna Von Hausswolff @ The Albert Hall, Manchester on October 27th 2019

Anna Von Hausswolff is the personification of effortless cool. She alludes such arty coolness that she makes everyone else in room seem like gorky teenagers with haircuts courtesy of their mums. She and her band of equally hip dudes started slowly and ethereally. There is no typical drums or bass here and the solitary ghostly notes meander their way across the majestic setting of Manchester’s Albert Hall.

Live Review : Conjurer + Earth Moves + Armed For Apocalypse @ Star and Garter, Manchester on October 25th 2019

This is not an ordinary review but then again last Friday was not an ordinary day. I had my plans and they were watertight. I would head to London for work and then come back in time to jog across the road from Piccadilly Station to the Star and Garter for Conjurer. What could go wrong? Well I hadn’t banked on someone going walkabout on the tracks by Wembley. So when I arrived at London Euston to get the train that would get me in just in time for Armed for the Apocalypse, I discovered the station was closed and there was no trains North.

Live Review : Kris Barras Band + Elles Bailey @ Academy 3, Manchester on October 25th 2019

There's a real buzz in the air surrounding these guys at the moment. A band fronted by yep, you guessed it Kris Barras, they are literally taking the UK by storm, treading the boards up and down the country in support of their third album; the recently released “Light It Up” and, by the sound of things on social media, they are literally doing just that, playing to near capacity and sell out crowds every night. Tonight sees the 15 date tour rolling into Manchester once again this year. Early in February, I saw Kris and the boys play at the Deaf Institute, but tonight sees them take a step up and play a cracking venue in the Academy 3, a credit indeed to just how their powerful high energy mix of rock, blues and country are turning people's heads and blowing them away wherever they play.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Phil Beswick25 October 2019Academy 3Kris Barras Band, Academy 3, Manchester, 2019, Phil Beswick, Gregg HowarthComment

Live Review : Pete Way Band + Burn Out Wreck @ The Tivoli, Buckley on October 25th 2019

Sadly the motorway gods are not kind to me tonight and I manage to completely miss The Clan due to sitting in traffic on the M56 for far longer than I wanted to. Sorry The Clan, I’ll catch you again soon no doubt.

Burnt Out Wreck are a band I’m not familiar with, and they are a proper old-skool metal band. They sound an awful lot like early Saxon, I think because the vocals are very similar, but not in a “this sounds just like a Saxon song” way, more of a “this sounds like a song that Saxon might have written” way. So similar, without plagiarism.

Live Review : Lost Angels + Saints Of Sin + Takeaway Thieves @ The Layton Club in Blackpool on October 23rd 2019

Bit of a last-minute one this. Was told about it by Neil from the Takeaway Thieves the previous weekend and asked if I fancied coming up to cover it. Hmm. Blackpool from where I live at teatime on a weeknight? Not sure about that, I mean I love the Takeaway Thieves but I don’t know the other support band and who the hell are Lost Angels anyway? Well actually they are a bit of a supergroup, I will explain shortly, and when I realised who they were I immediately changed my mind and prayed to the gods of the M6 for an easy run. Sure enough we got to the venue in plenty of time and as the Grumpy One went in search of beer I marvelled that this cracking little venue exists in the upstairs of what, from the outside, is a fairly standard working mens club in the middle of a housing estate!