On Wednesday I was lucky enough to see Southampton horror rockers Creeper perform at possibly the last tiny show they’ll ever do, for The Callous Heart EP launch.
With the sounds of Jim Steinman’s Teenager In Love, the band wore their matching jackets as they took their place on the stage.
Tearing through track after track, the band finished with a heartfelt Love In Decline. They were called back to the stage though, for a final rendition of Novena.
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
For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Islington’s Electrowerkz is a reasonably small, industrial focused venue not far from Angel tube station. It keeps up the industrial theme inside, where the actual venue feels like the background of a Victorian warehouse. Oh, and the toilets are unisex..
It’s actually the perfect venue for the night, as the mix of industrial, electro and ‘goth’ (I always use the term loosely) bands lined up for to perform will attest.
Due to some house-moving issues (read: I moved house on Sunday), I only arrived in time to see the last support acts take the stage. I found out later that the wonderful Fearless Vampire Killers were special guests, which makes it even more disappointing that I missed the other supports.
The support, whose name I couldn’t find anywhere (Obscure Pleasures have pulled out of tonight’s show) are obvious fans of Joy Division, based on their musical content. They’re also definite ones for theatrics, having a male (or female, I couldn’t tell) dressed as a mannequin for nothing more than stage decoration. The band made a good show of feigning paralysis during segments of their songs, even crawling to the floor for their finale.
By the time William Control takes the stage, the audience is still slim pickings. It doesn’t deter him though, as he launches into the crowd, hugging members of his support acts at random. The crowd sing along religiously, with the first three rows turning into some kind of goth club night, bodies jumping up and down to the dark beats.
There’s still a remnant of his days at the frontman of Aiden, as he twirls the mike leads across the stage, or spits out water into the audience’s faces. With his slick-back hair and suit though, there’s something much more debonair about him than his younger incarnation. The boundless energy is still there, and its what’s always been key in William Control / Wil Francis‘ performances. It’s what grabs the crowds attention and holds it. Its why every band on this bill clearly look to him as a role model.
It’s a shame there’s such a thin crowd, but that may be more due to the over 18 limit on the venue, than the actual draw of the act. Because this is really something not to be missed.
RC xx
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
RC xx
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
You might think with last month’s Kerrang! Tour, this month might find it a bit hard to compete. Well fear not, there’s some awesome gig night for you to rock your socks off to. Have a lookey below:
Wednesday 13
Weds, March 13 – O2 Academy Islington, £15
Massive props to whoever booked Wednesday 13’s London gig on that specific day. Also, to the Murderdolls frontman himself (if it was his idea) for booking in some great home-grown talent to support him on this tour. Two bands that have previously graced this blog, Orestea and Ashestoangels will be joining the band in Brighton (March 6) and Bristol (March 7), respectively.
Punktastic Presents: Attention Thieves, Neck Deep, Rat Attack
Weds, March 13 – The Old Blue Last, FREE
Here’s another couple of bands that you might’ve read about here before – I highly recommended checking out Attention Thieves and Rat Attack. Sorry, Neck Deep, I’m sure you’re very good too! This looks like a great night of new music, plus its free! What more could you possibly want?
Cancer Bats
Fri, March 15 – Koko, £13.75
Sadly I only caught the end of Cancer bats when they supported Enter Shikari at the Roundhouse on their last tour. Based on what I saw though, this is going to be a good night..
The Gaslight Anthem
Fri, March 29 and Sat, March 30 – Troxy, £27
I LOVE this band (as you’ve probably guessed) so may well be taking myself along to this. Although I’ve never heard of Troxy before and the tickets are a bit pricey!
Other notes: Bullet For My Valentine and Halestorm tear up the Roundhouse on March 17. Unfortunately tickets are sold out.
RC xx
So the festivals are starting to announce lineups for this year. I’m still picking out where to go, so if you are too, here’s a few tips for you! I’ve tried to keep the genres a bit varied, in case heavy rock isn’t quite your thing..
Redfest – Redhill, Surrey
July 26th and 27th
£58 Camping
Go to see: Dry The River, Arcane Roots, Bury Tomorrow, Bleed From Within
Takedown – Southampton Uni
May 11th
Tickets from £30
Go to see: The Blackout, We Are The Ocean, While She Sleeps, Mallory Knox, Maramozets
Hit The Deck – Nottingham / Bristol
April 20th / 21st
Tickets from £20
Go to see: Don Broco, We Are The In Crowd, Bleeding Through, Sonic Boom Six
RC xx
After two weeks of ransacking the UK, the now infamous Kerrang tour finally reached the capital. I went along, just to see what the fuss was about..
Arriving late, I breezed through security and rushed straight into the main standing area, just in time to catch Tonight Is Alive performing their last few songs. There’s a nice moment where the crowd get their lighters out (only in London would there be more lighters than mobiles). It’s only slightly ruined by a friend of mine telling me how much the band like to run around naked backstage. Constantly.
The Aussie’s slick pop-punk tunes go down nicely. Its just a shame the venue isn’t more full. It might be the downstairs age limit, or the early start time, but for a tour so huge, its surprisingly to see so many empty spaces.
The arrival of Chiodos is heraled by Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ blaring out of the speakers. The crowds reaction is overwhelmingly positive. There group of barely clothed teenage girls behind me scream and dance around. They scream even more as the band come onstage.
The band growl their way through the set, inspiring a few ‘hands in the air’ moments, but overall its nothing spectacular. By the time they start to clear the stage, the crowd are already chanting..
‘Black Veil Brides’. ‘Black Veil Brides’. ‘Black Veil Brides’.
The sound echoes off the dusty ceiling. Swarms of kids in face paint and black skinny jeans push past us, racing to the front. Its clear who everyone is here to see.
There is a thunder of applause and screams as Black Veil Brides appear. Playing at about 10x the volume of all the other acts might give them an unfair advantage, but its one that they don’t need. They tear through the set, mostly comprised of tracks from their mind-blowing new album ‘Wretched and Divine’.
Wil Francis joins the band for a brief moment, but the real star of tonight is vocalist Andy Biersack. Strutting about the stage in jeans so tight they may as well be painted on, he exudes a confidence far greater than his rakish frame would suggest.
The banter between songs is short, but the performance is immaculate. There’s two brief, and slightly unnecessary disappearances from the stage, but the audience doesn’t seem to mind.
Black Veil Brides are clearly a band on the way up. From what I’ve seen tonight, there’s going to be no stopping them..
RC xx
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).
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
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
The Rock Chic 