Category Archives: gig

Review: Green Day – Brixton Academy 21/08/13

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Although Green Day‘s music has been alive and well in the UK, with their musical coming to our shores last winter, its been a long time since the band actually set foot in a venue around here.

That explains the excitement over tonight’s performance. Brixton Academy being a relatively small venue for a band that have sold out the Emirates stadium, its clear why the ticket price (a steep £40) hasn’t deterred the fans.

Starting off on a high note, Queen’s Bohemian Rapsody pours out through the speakers before the band’s drummer, Tre Cool appears onstage, dressed as a rabbit.

Theatrics aside, the band put on a good show. Launching into their more recent hits, ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ recieve a resounding applause from the audience.

what follows is an inspiring story from frontman Billie Joe, about his experience of drug use and getting clean. The opening rant about being hounded by cameras, though, is more worrying than uplifting.

The trio then bravely decide to play the whole of their first album, ‘Dookie’. This, being based on it being nearly the 20th anniversary of the record’s release, means that many of the audience members are not actually aware of the tracks.

The stongest moments of the record, primarily the singles ‘Minority’ and ‘Basket Case’ go down well, but the show begins to drag and many in the seating area are making full use of it.

It comes as a relief when Billie Joe signifies the end of that section of the performance, with the emergence of a t-shirt gun. Firing off the last item into the audience, the band return to top form.

The epic ‘St Jimmy’ is the band’s choice for an encore, receiving a full and joyful appreciation from the fans. With the thunderous applause that follows, it seems the band are back on track at last.

RC xx

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London Rock Gigs: April

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Wow, April’s really crept up on me. I’ve been more than busy, starting a new job (yay!), flat hunting (difficult) and other things which have really eaten up my time lately. Hopefully you didn’t miss the Paramore gig at The Garage this week, which actually I didn’t go to either. Heard some great things about it though.

Anyway, as per usual, here’s my roundup of the best London (and other UK) gigs this month:

 

Bleeding Through

Camden Underworld, Fri 19 April, £17 TICKETS

If you’ve heard of Bleeding Through, you should’ve bought tickets for this already. Hardcore metal. Enough said.

 

Canterbury

The Garage, Tues 23 April, £9 TICKETS

I’ll always have a soft-spot for these hometown boys. They’re great and the gig is cheap. If I haven’t convinced you to go yet, have a watch of this:

 

Lower Than Atlantis

Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Thurs 25 April, £16.25 TICKETS

Pop-punk from Hertfordshire in the style of You Me At Six. Go for a bit of a dance. Go on, it’ll be fun..

 

Honourable mention: Hit The Deck Festival in Bristol / Nottingham on Sat 20th and Sun 21st April. Lineup includs Mallory Knox, Sonic Boom Six, Fearless Vampire Killers, Rolo Tomassi, Lostalone etc

Tickets from £22

 
RC xx

 

News: Anti-Flag Announce London Show

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Pittsburgh punk-rockers Anti-Flag are celebrating their 20th anniversary with shows across the US and a one-off London show. On Thursday July 4, the band will be busy playing all the hits at the Electric Ballroom in Camden with Sharks and Gnarwolves supporting.

Tickets are £15 +fees, onsale now from here.

If you’re still not convinced that you NEED to go to this, check out this video:

For the band’s US tourdates, check their Facebook.

 

RC xx 

Rock Gigs in London – February

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Well its a new month. Fresh start. Not so cold as January (hopefully!).

Anyway, here’s my monthly update of the best gigs coming up, February edition..

The most exciting one I can see on the horizon has to be the Kerrang Tour. It’s got Black Veil Brides headlining, with a bit of post-hardcore from Chiodos, pop-punk with Tonight Alive, and the always amazing, Fearless Vampire Killers.

London date is Brixton Academy on February 15th, but its up and down the country in the two weeks before that. In fact, its on the road already. Go catch it! (tickets are here).

your demise

Another not-to-miss gig is hardcore punks Your Demise hitting up the Garage, London on February 23. All UK dates and ticket links on their Facebook.

 

For a bit of nostalgia, (and to hear the new album, of course) be sure to check out Funeral For Friend. The Welsh lads have a pretty extensive UK tour lined up. If you can, definitely take the chance to see them playing the small places.. Dates here.

 

If none of this takes your fancy, try the ‘wild card’ option: Derby trio Lostalone are at London’s Borderline on February 24. With some great support from Kerrang! and NME, you won’t be seeing them at the mini-venues for much longer.. Tickets and dates here.

 

RC xx

Wednesday Wish List – Download Tickets

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Did anyone else see the Download announcements today? I have to confess , I haven’t been in a long time. (And I’ve heard horror stories of bad weather in the last couple of years).
Looking at the line up though, it’s really starting to tempt me. Slipknot, The Gaslight Anthem, Queens of The Stobe Age, Enter Shikari.. and now Papa Roach too. I think those tickets will be going pretty fast.
If you haven’t got them already, they’re still going (for now) with prices from £170 for arena only, to £205 (ouch!) for 5 days camping. Fancy it? Grab your ticket http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets.
RC xx

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The Nightmare After Christmas Tour, The Star Inn 8/1/13

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The back room of Guildford’s Star Inn is starting to buzz. Tonight, The Nightmare After Christmas tour is bringing local heroes Orestea back to the arms of their loyal fans.
Geek rockers Critical Hit warm things up with a dose of pop-culture covers, from Pokemon to Team America, which has the room singing along (though some maybe only in their heads).
Next up is Bristol goth-punks Ashestoangels. Tearing through their set, vocalist Crilly decides there’s not enough room on the stage (he’s already crashed into two of his bandmates) and promptly jumps straight into the crowd. As he screams into the faces of the girls in the front row, it’s hard to tell if they’re terrified or enthral led, or both.
After a brief pause, Orestea take the stage. For reasons that go unexplained, four of the five band members have decided to paint their faces, Kiss-style. (I hear they tried the look out the night before and were escorted out of a local park).
New song ‘Miss Catastrophe’ goes down well in the suddenly-packed room, particularly with the girls in front, who seem to be emulating frontwoman Lisa’s striking turquoise locks.
Her perfectly clear voice soars through, not faltering even when she joins the crowd to lead the jumping along. (It works well).
Expect some good things from their second album, coming later this year.
RC xx

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On Tour This Month – January 2013

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Stuck for things to do this month? Here’s my pick of the best tours for January 2013. Get your tickets now for some (almost) guaranteed great nights out..

Funeral For A Friend

South Wales Post-hardcores hit the UK and Ireland with melodic hardcore band Such Gold, I Divide and Major League. US punks Daytrader have pulled out of the tour. Dates are here.

The Nightmare After Christmas

Female fronted melodic metallers Orestea take on the UK with a bit of help from Bristol 5-piece Ashestoangels. Tickets and info here.

Asking Alexandria

Harcore / screamo quintet tour the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe this month. For a really good night, go to Brixton, Birmingham  or Manchester, where While She Sleeps and Motionless in White are supporting. Check out the dates here.

The Blackout

Welsh post-hardcore boys bring their partying ways to the UK this January, then mainland Europe for the Vans off the Wall music nights in February. More info here.

We Are The Ocean

The Essex four piece will be playing the hits from their latest album ‘Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow’. Catch them in the UK this month and next. Dates and tickets here.

RC xx

Enter Shikari, The Roundhouse 16/12/12

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Walking up to Camden’s Roundhouse on a Sunday evening, you can’t help but notice the crowd. Snaking along the road, past the petrol station, masses of skinny jeans and hoodies.
Apparently security have implemented new rules about mobile phones, meaning that only ten gig goers are being let in at a time. The queue for the cloakroom is growing steadily.
Inside, Cancer Bats are giving it their best, despite a poor soundsytem and fairly minimal crowd (most are still outside).
A recorded message counts down the minutes to Enter Shikari, with thundering applause. The headliners blaze onto the stage and promptly destroy it, frantically clambering onto amps and diving into the crowd.
This outpouring of unbelievable energy lasts the entire performance, the audience meeting it with mosh pits appearing in every corner of the room. New tracks ‘Gandhi mate, Gandhi’ and ‘Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here’ go down as well as old favourite ‘Return To Energiser’.
Before going offstage, the band apologise for the delay on entering, a touching moment that serves as a reminder of how close knit they are to their fans.
After a brief pause, they return for the encore, bringing out a member of their stage crew to propose to his girlfriend. She says yes (obviously) and the entire audience cheers as glitter explodes across the stage.
As the crowd filters out to the sound of classic dance hits, the floor is lost under a sea of cups, glitter and Santa hats. Job well done, guys.

RC x

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