GOING LIVE! Live shows and stuff, written about by some people.

Billy Talent, July 2006, Newcastle. Support Reuben

Reuben are one of the bands that I've been banging on about for ages now, anyone who knows me will probably be sick of hearing me verbally suck their cock. So when they were added as support for the awesome Billy Talent I was well chuffed. Felt a bit gipped at the fact that there was no other support, which is a relatively new phenomena, as when I started going to gigs 2 band bills were the norm, but these days 4 and even 5 band line ups are not out of the ordinary so just 2 band seemed a bit shoddy, but then, given that they are 2 of my favourite acts, I did feel I was nit picking. However, Reuben were, unfortunately, shit. I don't mean bad; I mean shit. They looked like they didn't want to be there, and as a major fan I was just frankly baffled. I really can't wait to see them again, as I want this put right. I stand by Reuben being brilliant, but not tonight, not at all. The lead singer either knew this, or really needed a shit, chucking his guitar down and storming off stage after their brief unsatisfying set. So in half an hour the night has turned from a hoped for treat in Newcastle to what might really be a big waste of time and effort. That wasn't worth a two hour drive any day of the week. I have that sinking feeling, christ if Billy Talent suck this is going to be a very bad night. Fortunately Billy Talent do not suck. In fact they are just amazing. Their second album is still growing on me and this gig helps it along the way, their set mixing new with old, and whilst there is no real great change growth in sound, with classics such as River Below and Try Honesty you don't really need growth, just more of the same. High energy throughout this is a night pulled out of the shit by a headlining band that don't so much beat the competition, they make them look pointless.

Download 2006, Donnington Park, UK

As me and Sarah once again decided not to bother with the first day, and then also spent lots of time there drinking and watching football, there will be large gaps in this review. Hopefully someone else will fill them in for me later, but for now, to get the feel of things, if there is a band you'd like me to have reviewed that I didn't see, simply imagine the review being on a website that would take you 38 minutes to get to on a stupid one way system, only to discover that you can't get into the site once you get there. This will give you some idea as to why I saw so few bands, the all new "improved" round trip 40 minute hike to the other stage sucked the gloss off lots of bands I was only "quite" interested in seeing. The rule for this years Download was simply, stay put, and watch whatever is on. Whatever happens to be on as we arrive in the main arena for the first time on Saturday morning is the surprise band, Down. With the exception of Phil Anselmo's sometimes amusing, always far too slow, in-between track banter, they are an absolute fucking yawn fest. I don't like them on CD, and live they just never seem to stop. A trend for the weekend is also set, as they complain about how short their set time is, but then slowly and rigorously introduce every band member, to the expected cheers for Pantera members, and polite "good show's" to the rest. On the plus side, they make Satyricon look even better, and they are pretty fucking good in the first place. I couldn't tell you which of the eleventy thousand people on stage are actually in the band -  apparently it's the singer and the drummer- as the hired hands seemed to be having the time of their life, and after the droning start to the day, things were finally exciting. Worried glances to the area we are to watch the football in reveal the main problem of the day, but more on that later. Next we head to the smallest stage, sponsored by you love it or hate it my space dot com, and some guitar company or other. The reason we head there is to see Exit 10, a band who we saw support Everytime I Die. Once again, they are amazing, better than the first time we saw them, as now we know the songs, and the energy and straight up fun that is being displayed on stage is as good as remembered. Hopefully a band to watch for the future, I'm currently trying to get them confirmed to play up here this summer!  Next then, it's time to make for the smallest area of the arena. Not the lost property area, or the signing tent, but the bit of space they'd put aside for people who might want to watch football. After all, it's a metal fest, and metal heads aren't bothered about stuff like that are they? hey it's only England's opening game of the World Cup, surely a space for about 5 thousand people will be plenty...? D'oh! the concept that only about 5% of people at download would want to watch the football has, by the time we arrive, over an hour before kick off, been proven to be contemptible. The area, which is about a third of the size of a football pitch is already full. We (Pieman, Ash, Sarah, Lee, myself) find a small space but are comfortable and have a good view of the screen, we've all got a beer, maybe this will work. Then all the other people who've left it till late, but not too late, turn up. It goes from being full, to being jam packed. Watching football tightly packed, as though "down the front" for a band, is not ideal, far from it, still it's not too bad. Then all the people who've left it to nearly the last minute turn up. 15 minutes in fact before kick off, and it's breathing space only.... Then everyone else turns up. It's frankly beyond a fucking joke, and the organisers should realise how badly they fucked his up. More annoying yet is the thousands of people choosing to use this clearly gridlocked area to get between two stages. People can be heard to say "I'm at a rock festival and want to see bands, get out of my way". Fair point, but there is no fucking where to get out of your way to. Long story short, England win, but it's a shit game, and is weirdly one of the low points of the weekend, purely because of the lack of thought from the organisational point of view. Still, happy that England have 3 points in the bag, and more to the point, glad to be able to move freely again, we go eat some nutritious Snickers bars for tea, and head to see Avenged Sevenfold at the main stage. Scottish Craig spends the entire set berating this band, apparently because of some recent interview comments from M.Shadows, but that aside they sound great. Look like cunts, but sound great. Sticking with the main stage now - it's so fucking busy everywhere that in the heat we simply can't be arsed to move, it's fortunate that most of us want to see Trivium. I personally am not so bothered, but 40 odd thousand people can't be wrong, and the main stage is packed. Too much too soon is my honest opinion, and 3rd headers seems a bit strong, nevertheless, they play well and go down a storm. Korn are next, and I've spent the last hour telling anyone who'll listen that the scrolling message no the screen about Jonathan Davis not performing today is just a spoof text from some idiot. As the band take to the stage to tell us tha JD is in hospital and cannot perform, I suddenly feel quite the fool. However in a brilliant-like-Metallica-2-years-ago move they announce that a lot of special guests will be doing vocal duties. Skill. The first guy, can't remember the band he's from, struggles a bit with the mic levels, but never the less this is clearly gonna be something special. Matt Heafy, Des Faraffarafrafra and M.Shadows (the possibly homophobe performing with Korn?) all feature and do a good enough turn but it's Benji from Skindred who really lights things up, and then Corey from Slipknot/ Stone Sour who ultimately blows us away, aiding and abetting Korn who clearly are still a force to be reckoned with. I was sick of this band a year ago, now they look like heroes! Remember Corey's "All Korn's albums are shit apart from the first one" comments? No? presumably neither does he, as he is simply brilliant and as Korn leave the stage, the whole show leaves us wanting more, and not a few of us wondering if Metallica can follow it. first though, we go to see Reuben on the Myspace stage. As they ever are, Reuben are brilliant, and the atmosphere in this tent is cracking. Lare on there will be disagreements over how busy it was, but no one can doubt Reuben put on a cracking set, which shows what a mistake last years Shitters Bowl debacle really was. Right then, back to the main stage, it's Metallica time. Hours pass, Metallica are exhaustive, the entirety of Master of Puppets is played, there is the worlds longest encore, and they keep going and going and going. By the end of it everyone is knackered, and it's brilliant. Sarah isn't a huge fan and was visibly flagging toward the end of the set, which perhaps could have been a song of two shorter, but for the hardcore fans there were no complaints, this wasn't a festival set, this was a fan set. I would have liked it shorter, but to even mention that is to invite ridicule, as it was so flawless to ask for more, or less, is to be a twat. Brilliant. Will tomorrow be as good one wonders, before falling to sleep in my own filth.

The answer to yesterdays late hours question, is clearly no. We watch a few moments of I-Def-I, wow, screaming and singing, how'dyou come up with that? this is perhaps unfair on them, but already I just can't be arsed. We go shopping for a bit and finally discover that at last download has got this right. the range is huge and the shopping village manages to distract us all the way through to Dragonforce. We actually set off to see Soilwork, planning to attempt for the first time the rumoured nightmare one way system, but just before getting onto it change our mind and decide to watch a band we really don't care about, just to be with our friends. Aaaw. Dragonforce sound ok to me, but I don't really like them anyway, and the fans with us say they are shit. Hard to tell really, I think they are good at what they do, I just happen to think that what they do is double wank. Soilwork on the other hand cancelled, so it's not like we missed much apart from frustration, and there's loads more of that left to go round. 36 Crazyfists seem ok, not really my favourite band of all time either, but the fans of them think they are ace today, and certainly the singles sound strong. In Flames are excellently entertaining, not as heavy as I was expecting, but it's a good show and a couple of tracks they play are on my to find list, and it's in good spirit that I head back to the tent for a bit of a barbie. Sarah had been to see Fightstar and as I'm serving her, Steph and Toby up fabulous culinary treats, tells me they were really good. I'm not sure they are capable of that, but bow to her less cynical judgement. From the tent we can hear Aiden doing their fat ugly tribute to My Chemical Romance and in fairness it sounds pretty good. Mind, we don't have to look at the fat fuckers here do we? Some period of time goes missing, and we arrive back in the Myspace tent to see Skindred, it's packed and they are bouncing. Too much inbetween songs sampling and shit goes on, but when they are actually playing they are brilliant, a new album would be nice though? Is it out yet, or are they still pushing that one that's huge in America? Anyway, brilliantly entertaining welsh nu-reggemetalcore. Grinning like the stupid cunts we are we set off to ruin the weekend. We knew realistically that The Prodigy playing in a tent was a mistake, and we also knew we should have set off well in advance to make sure we didn't miss it. So we spend the next hour stood too far from the tent to see anything, but close enough to be frustrated, and get wound up by the security letting people out but no one in. It's a farce,  it's fucking irritating, and it's too hot and dusty for reason to set in and us just to give up. Lordy Lordy we should have just watched Lordi. Wishing that Craig and Neil - the kings of party the day before had not gone straight edge, we head back to the main stage where Axle Rose's Guns n' Roses experience are decent enough, the new songs sound great and the classics are just that, but it's all gone to shit really, and a decent enough weekend ends up seeming fairly average overall as we drift in and out of sleep whilst Dan and Simon drift in and out of extreme paranoia telling us that the world is going to end in a massive riot, that may or may not be going on as I'm staring at the ceiling of the tent looking forward to Leeds/reading.

Saturday 5 Sunday 1, weakest Download yet - but lets be fair, they've been some belters before so one duff one's allowed. And Saturday was fucking ace. 1 day ticket next year anybody?

Live Review : Stray FM's Knock out Rock out final, Rat and Parrot, Harrogate, 25th May 2006 with Dance Girl dance, The Superlatives, Mulholland, The Ideals

The first of tonight's 4 bands, is on stage as we arrive at the venue, and to be honest, the sound quality is so bad, they could be awesome, of they could be terrible, it's anyone's guess. I would assume as they made the final they are not the latter, Dance Girl Dance certainly look good, but I just couldn't really tell you what they sounded like, save from a hint at an indie artrock vibe I got, but that could be way off... A concern is that this is the sound companies flagship gig, and it sounds like crap. I've heard the company do sound before and it's been good, so I'm not going to name them, it could have been out of their hands I guess.... As we look around, the place is packed by the way, this looks like an organizational nightmare. Half the pub is there to watch the football that's on, a pointless England friendly against Belarus, that they go on to loose 2-1. The night itself is hosted by Stray FM. That's right, the local commercial radio station that does ... exactly what....?... to promote Rock music in the local area, hosting a Battle of the bands contest... hmmm, what's that smell? Oh, it's money. Venues pay a good deal of money to host a heat for this, and my ire is already rising as I look about the throngs of people there to support their mates band, but have never been to another local gig in their life. Fortunately the band I'm there to see, The Superlatives from Wetherby, soon take to the stage, and I get distracted mid strop. The Superlatives are a sweary cross breed of The Arctic Monkeys, The Hives, and The Stone Roses. The band are tight and together, and the vulgar vocalist has a level of self confidence that makes you want to be that young again, smoking fags and getting all pissed and acting like a dickhead. I dj'd the first heat they were in, they liked my "DJ Trev is a cunt" flag, and then called me a cunt over mid set, which at a Battle of the Bands hosted by Gay FM was very cool, and meant they've been in my hearts ever since. They are youngish looking, the average age is about 17 I guess, and their set is a foul mouthed romp. I've not seen the remaining two bands and I already want these guys to win. Up next are Mulholland, who perform a capable set, at least one of their songs is great, but for some indefinable reason, they look as though they've already accepted their role of always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride. The sound problems finally get resolved in time for the last band of the night. The Ideals are very image, but for the first song and a half, that image is wrong, the stage dynamic doesn't work, and they look awkward and clunky. Then, halfway through their second number there is an instrument change, and lo, it all clicks into place. For the remainder of their set they are great, jerky pop indie with decent choruses, that if you could get near the dance floor, you could probably dance your tits off to. However, clever instrument changes are all very well, but when you lose all impact for nearly half your set, perhaps should be saved for full length gigs? It still looks like a close run thing though, and perhaps psychologically the judges are wary of voting for The Ideals as they were the only band that got to play with a decent sound. As it turns out, apparently there was a dead heat, and the emergency judge was called in to cast a deciding vote. The Superlatives win it, that on the balance seems pretty fair to me, they seem closest to a finished article on what I saw, and certainly have the strongest front person on offer. I feel a bit sorry for Dance Girl Dance as they had least chance, but overall I think that The Superlatives (who may btw have changed their name to Puftermonk in a somewhat baffling display of punk rock) are the most promising band of the night, and as they were who I was shouting for in the first place, I can go get drunk feeling happy.

Live Review : The Cazals, Leeds cockpit, 26th March 2006 supported by ???

The fact I can't remember the names of the supports would suck, if they were much good. So it's no problem. The first one was OK, if you like Gomez trying to sound new and exciting by adding a somewhat convoluted intro to every song to make them sound like The Coral, before then sounding like Gomez. The second one were in fairness better, however I can't remember the name, and I'm not bothered enough to find out. I was there to see The Cazals, a band I know very little about save one song on a really good  compilation, but it's a rubbish Sunday night, and what else was I going to do? Knowing so little about the band would explain my embarrassment at asking the lead singer what time the venue opened as though he were the bar staff, but ah, he is too cooly dressed to be pulling pints. They open with "Poor innocent boys" the afore mentioned song I know, which is a cool indie hipster piece of dancefloor gold. But no one dances; it's still a fucking cool song. Indeed no one dances through the entire set, which seems to vex the lead guitarist somewhat, a bit understandable given the fact that this clearly is DANCEFLOOR indie, but then, I'm not going to be the first one to dance, are you? Crowd wise it's all a bit school disco awkward, but show wise the tunes are great and well worth the bus fare to drizzly Leeds.  (T)

Live Review : The Buzzcocks, Leeds Cockpit, 19th March 2006 supported by Gear & ???

As the first band took to the stage, it was refreshing to realise that the lead singer had taken a shit on my landing. Not that night, obviously, but about a year ago, when he accompanied ROBOCHRIST at the Christmas Jump-around night. I seem to recall his name is Ian, and that he did one as soon as he woke up, and has avoided me since. I can't tell you the name of his band, which is a shame, as they were quite good, entertaining punk attitude with a bit of comedy thrown in. If he can avoid shitting on my floor, they might do alright.

Next up were gear, who were even better. Groove led punk with leanings towards the current trend of a touch gloomy indie, they were excellent, great and I probably would enthuse about them more apart from the fact that...

Jesus fucking wept, The Buzzcocks were AMAZING! So, no crap, no fucking around, no "banter" to speak of, simply belting through song after song, some familiar, some totally new, some absolute classics. I only have a double greatest hits collection, and was fairly sure they wouldn't be doing "Ever fallen in love" so wasn't expecting to know everything, and indeed probably only knew a third of their set beyond vague familiarity but it didn't matter, the songs are catchy enough to love at first listen (as on CD, a band it's easy to get into) and the ones that I did know were even more magnificent. With a stage time of at least 90 minutes (part of me is sure it was closer to 150) you would expect some kind of let up, or even an interval, but the energy just didn't stop. Bearing in mind that most tracks come in around the 2 1/2 minute mark, you would think there would be lots of padding, plodding chat, but what there was was as natural as you'd expect with their vintage, but all the same was markedly more interesting and amusing than you often find; more often than not short and sweet, and ultimately, a nice accompaniment to what I was really there for. Mid set "What do I get" would have been a highlight, but then when they DO play "Ever fallen in love" you think surely that's as good as it gets, but the 3 or 4 song? - encore was just anthemic, and it's "Orgasm addict" that won the day, in a set where to describe anything as a stand out highlight would be to do a dis-service to the rest of an immaculate peformance. Punk's not dead is a fucking horrible cliché, but judging by the Buzzcocks, it's not even old. Stunning. (T)

Live Review : Stiff Little Fingers, Leeds Met, Monday 27^th March 2006 supported by Guns on the Roof & another

reviewed by Scott Thomson

Going straight into Tin soldiers the whole place erupted with a blend of young punks and Bank managers.  Lead singer Jake Burns introduced Bass guitarist Ali McMordie back on the road with the band for the first time in 15 years.  A few new tracks were fitted in but all the old classics ‘at the edge’, ‘barbed wire love’, ‘fly the flag’ were still there and went down a storm. Sorry should I have started by writing about the support bands? ok they were pretty shit especially the old bloke in the first band trying to look 18 again and the next band were even worse the final band were not to bad (granted I was in the bar during 90% of their set) 4 out of 10. Lets face it support bands are just like foreplay – you know you have to go watch them but would rather go straight for the main event. SLF finished off the set with the Bob Marley hit they made their own ‘Johnny was’ then followed two encores leaving us with the classic (which I cannot believe has not been covered or even sampled by anybody) ‘Alternative Ulster’. Fantastic night good to have a few beers with Trev pity about the curry which went in ok but by the time I got home wanted too come out faster than Will Young after pop idol. Before going to the gig I was quite apprehensive, I am no spring chicken and realistically SLF were before my time, it is only due to my older brother educating me on good music (the stranglers, Angelic Upstarts, The Clash, etc) so what age group would be there? The crowd of 3000 or so were a variety of ages.  It was a bit surreal to see a 40 year old punk with a Mohican and his middle aged wife who had got her hair done for the night and the two six foot skinheads standing next to me who were having a discussion on what to have from the bar, when one turned round and said he would have an orange juice because he was working the next day and had a presentation to do, it brought things into prospective but 20 years ago they would not have stood out of place at any punk gig in Britain and of course Bottom of the Bottle.

Live Review : Fightstar, Leeds Met, Tuesday 14th March 2006 supported by Laruso, Last days of April & Reuben

Laruso are on stage as we arrive at the venue, and if you like Spineshank then these guys will seem, well to be fair, probably still a little average. Musically they have nothing on offer for me, though if they hadn't looked like they were merely playing rockstar I might have paid more attention, particularly given that due to being sick as fudge I couldn't use the bar as a distraction. Next up were Last Days of April, and continuing a theme, if I'd never heard Placebo I would have been interested, instead I just wanted to hear this done right. They were OK, but I've seen Peacethrough Superior Firepower and another Muse/Radiohead/Placebo bastard child seemed unnecessary. A delightful break from mediocrity came in the shape of Reuben. If Last Days of April want to be an intelligent rock act, I hope they are paying attention to these guys for the duration of this tour. This was the first time I've been to a gig just to see the support act, Reuben being one of my top fave bands these days, and whilst six songs was way too short a set, they were great. As one man put it, a bit like having half a wank, you feel the best bit was still to come, however Reuben after a mere half dozen gave way to Fightstar, and the best really had left the building. Fightstar open things up promisingly, the drum sound pounding to the core, and sounding lots heavier and simply better than on their - surely recorded with mics in a bucket of marmite - Palanuik's Laughter EP, and by their second track I though overall I was going to be pleasantly surprised. However by the third, the standard pattern of loud metal bit, slow bit with singing, loud metal bit, repeat repeat, was a yawn fest. Mid set they began a song that promised to be a Foo Fighters esq rock classic, and just as I was leaning over to Sarah (big fan, BTW) to say "If only they can manage to finish this song without slowing it down and attempting touching melody it will be an awesome track" they duly slowed things down and fucked it up . Charlie's repeated "Get the fuck up"'s drew a line under the fact that whilst lots of Emo is, as touted, a progression of Hardcore and Punk, lots of it is merely the next step for Nu-Metal. It's sad to say, without Busted these guys would be nowhere, a shame as Charlie is the strongest in the band and does have a likeable presence, but the rhythm guitarists appearance of malaise twinned with vocals that were like fingers on a blackboard throughout for example, don't really back him up, and by the end of the night my enforced tee-totalism was slowing time to a blurry sludge of boredom. Set closer Palanuik's... is a great song, and there were other highlights, however most were overshadowed by the toe curlingly embarrassing keyboard led encore that came before the final good tune, and the wait of 6 minutes for them to come back on stage and subject you to this made in no less palatable. So, 6 great tunes from one great band, 3 or 4 great tunes from a very average headliner, and to be honest, a bit of a waste of time. No worse than the last time I saw Funeral FAF in Leeds, average average average. I was excited about going to a gig stone cold sober, thinking that I'd take more away from it that usual, as it was, there wasn't that much to take in the first place.

A Taste of Chaos Manchester Apollo  6 November 2005 review by Trev

With Reggie and the Full Effect, Rise Against, Story of the Year, Killswitch Engage, The Used & Funeral for a Friend

Bowling for Soup Sheffield Uni Octagon  20 October 2005 review by Trev

With American Hi fi, Mc Lars & Army of Freshmen

Everyone is off to see Bowling for Soup, a band I don't like, play in Sheffield. But here's the interesting bit, they're off in one of them cheesy Wildcats stretch limo's. I wasn't gonna go to this, because watching BFS seems like the epitome of torture to me, but then I realised, I am far too often a miserable bastard that would rather sit at home, so rather than pulling a Mark - no, not my death metal cup of tea - Heath when a spare ticket comes up, I'll swallow my musical snobbery and go for a laugh, after all, it is Ashley's birthday, and she is probably the best thing to happen to Pieman since, well, pies. So, there we are, in the worlds most uncool yet cool embarrassing yet ace 60 foot car. Getting to the venue support act Army of Freshmen are on stage, and even though I watched 4 songs of their, I couldn't tell you what it is they do. They are American (or possibly Canadian), like all tonight's acts, and are harmless I guess. Unchallenging would sum them up and whilst I frequently can be heard spouting that things don't need to be different to be good, the bar seems a more inviting prospect. The highlight is the appearance of Bowling for Soup to do one of their songs with them. The kids - and I mean kids - go nuts. Next up is MC Lars, who wasn't advertised on the bill, and immediately I'm in a more chipper mood having read a couple of things about this guy and wanting to know more. Post-punk-laptop-rap is his chosen field, and it's the most punk thing on offer all night. If you get Robochrist, listen to Beastie Boys, and are amused by the Bloodhound Gang, this guy's a shoe in. Possibly not as clever as he thinks he is, it is nevertheless entertaining and smart, the sound quality only slightly losing some of the witticisms of his lyrics. Great to listen to at home, "Mr.Raven", a rap take on Edgar Allen Poe's poem of more or less the same name is not in fairness a great spectacle live, even with the lead singer of Army of Freshmen trying his utmost to get the crowd into it. There are a few boo's even, but for the main part MC Lars' set is cool, if receiving a muted response. If Army of Freshmen were too unchallenging, MC Lars is perhaps over challenging for tonight's crowd who are, admirably, clearly there to drink. If they are old enough. The crowd vaguely get into it for the second appearance of Bowling for Soup, who join in on excellent track "Signing Emo", which sounds like The Streets meets Linkin Park and is pretty much an insta-anthem. Music to feel clever to is perhaps not the greatest live spectacle as a support act for a band like Bowling for Soup but puts me in a great mood as in my musical snobbery I can wallow in my merriment feeling far superior to the ten year olds in their Starting Line t-shirts. I may be a musical snob, but I was into it before it got cool. When, later on, he drew a portrait of me on the back of one of his t-shirts, he went even higher up in my estimations. Next on are American Hi-fi. I bought their album after liking the poppy anthem "Flavour of the weak" and found it to be a dire sack of lacklustre crap, so was most surprised when live they fared much better. Having seen and dismissed them at Reading a few years back American Hi-fi fared far better with a more indulgent crowd, indeed at stages this almost felt like a double headliner. I'm not going to have another listen to the album, because musically I don't really give a shit about this kind of stuff, but in the live environment they come across better performing catchy - if forgettable - songs with no small amount of flair. On to Bowling for Soup. If ever there was a band that are far too cheerful for me it is these guys. But no matter how much I avoid listening to them in the confines of my own home, live it is a different story. Having seen sections of the band on stage with each of tonight's supports (the bass player joined American Hi-fi at some stage) they are clearly hugely at home on stage and, no matter what I think of them on album, are top drawer entertainment. The more poppy of their songs are of course massive, but their earlier stuff goes down just as well, proving that the crowd know their field, and the enjoyment is contagious. Each of the band members has a distinct on stage presence, and it would be folly to dismiss Bowling for Soup as pop punk rubbish. Pop certainly, punk? possibly, rubbish? Definitely not. Lots of fun.

Reuben Josephs Well, Leeds  12th October 2005 review by Trev

With Adzuki, Fighting with Wire, Covergirl & Mascara Story

Cardiff is a lot fucking further away than it looks on a map. And then when you get to Wales, they charge you £4.50 to get in. Really. So we were quite disappointed with Cardiff before we'd got there. As a City in itself, it was ok, but not much better than York, and kind of didn't know what to do with itself as a capital. The newly glammed up Bay area is the best bit, and that's where Reuben were playing, in a bizarre oak panelled room that would seem more at home hosting a witch trial. That would perhaps have been more entertaining than opening act Covergirl, who have clearly seen Funeral for a Friends recent decline in quality, and thought: we can do that. By the numbers Emo Screamo offers less every day. Faring far far better were Adzuki. While these days millions of bands throw around terms like melodic, but actually mean that for 2% of their songs they are just not screaming, Adzuki have melodies and tunes to spare. Second track "Fivefour" takes them beyond being an interesting distraction to a band that really make you sit up and pay attention. A chanting sing song that is as catchy as it is cool is one of the major highlights of the night and they stay as strong for the duration of their short set. The most interesting thing about the band is that at no point do they scream. At all. Now, that seems like the most obvious piece of genius going to me. I head to the merch and buy a t-shirt and a CD, and pleasingly have change from a tenner too. Fighting with Wire were ok but did little to stick in my mind, more interesting were The Mascara Story. Immediately they are facing a challenge, because most people know this band won a competition or something, and so they have a pop idol tag readily attached. This is unfair to them, as any band in their right mind would use up as many legs ups as they can get, but never the less there are a few beard stokers who have their arms firmly crossed as they take the stage. I personally do not like the music they do, but they do it really really well. This is music for the Steph's and Kay-cee's (girls in baggy's) of the world, very commercially orientated, very catchy, and in truth lying somewhere between Busted and My Chemical Romance. But whilst if they were American that would mean they sound like a whiny Drive Thru band like Simple Plan there is no whine evident, just well performed songs. Not my bag at all, but well executed for all that. Finally then to Reuben, the band that we spent half a day trying to watch at Download - missing 5 other bands in the process - and we had driven 270 miles and paid £4.50 Wales tax to see. Fortunately they didn't disappoint. The band, who's been out front watching all the supports, which was sporting of them, were clearly enjoying themselves already, and their set was punctuated by the kind of genuine unrehearsed banter that only actually funny people can get away with, and rather than watching two guys run through the same jokes they did last night, this was just a bit of chat, un forced, and far more worth listening to. Their songs are just quality, the new stuff sounding just as smart as the ones you know inside out, the only down point of the set being the inexplicable omission of "Blamethrower", which for me is the lead single from recent album "Very fast, very dangerous". I hate it when I get pissed off by a band not doing my new favourite song, and tried not to be vexed to much by it, but what can you do... In the end Reuben's set was awesome, and after the gig whilst chatting to the guys out of Adzuki, said hello to the lead singer, who was, in all honesty, the nicest guy in the world ever. So I'll let them off for leaving out "Blamethrower", this once. After the gig, we went out in the City centre, and if the shopping had disappointed during the day, the drinking at night more than made up for it. Spent most of the night with one of the Adzuki boyo's - perhaps the second nicest guy in the world -  who taught us a lesson in alcohol, and even got us some toast, at some stage, somehow. Great night, and Cardiff is worth £4.50.

If you would like to know more about the £4.50 entry to Wales charge, take the M40 into Wales and try not to swear when you realise that it costs that much to get over a fucking bridge.

If you would like to know why Dj Trev is such a tight cunt, see how much Regain TM costs.

Decapitated Josephs Well, Leeds  22nd September 2005 review by Trev

With Dam, Detonation & Gorerotted

Last time I saw Decapitated, they were, to be fair, boring. Technically they were brilliant, but there was little flair, and the supporting bands blew them off the stage. So as Dam opened up the night fantastically I though, here we go again. Dam not only cracked smiles, they cracked jokes, something I wasn't really expecting from a line up of bands this heavy. As they executed their songs in quick fire succession the fact that they were chatting to us inbetween tracks really opened them up, and you could tell they wanted to be there and were having fun. Up next were Detonation, another band I have never heard of before, and they were better again. Once more showing a warmth that had been lacking from Decap's last show, this was already a great night with non of the hard faced-ness that was present at Rio's. Having already seen two great bands I was happy, and was party expecting the last two groups of the night to be crap, purely on the basis that there are rarely no disappointments, so when Gorerotted took to the stage I was more than pleasantly surprised. They were absolutely storming, firing through their set with speed and aggression, the stand out track being "Stab me til I come" if for the title alone. Gorerotted do Death metal but with a definite but indefinable punk edge which made them stand out most from the excellent bill, it's harsh and abrasive, and totally fucking brilliant. Therefore, by this time I was totally ready for Decap to be poor, each of the bands so far had by far surpassed my expectations for the night, and so I grabbed a beer, ready and willing to not enjoy the headliners with no hard feelings. The first thing I noticed was they had a new lead singer, and hot on the heels of that was the revelation that this is actually a fucking amazing band. The transformation was amazing, before they had been moody and trying too hard to be dark, now they were a rock n' roll band that happen to do death metal. The new lead was having the time of his life, making jokes that really did not translate well, but you still laughed because he was making them, and his energy was simply infectious. The language barrier that had only been slight for the first two bands, after vanishing for Gorerotted's "Knee's up mavver brahn" cockney charm was back, and if anything added to the prescence of Decap, the charm of a deathmetal joke falling dead and a lead singer not giving a toss and still grinning like a loon was brilliant, by the fourth song, I loved this guy! When they got the lead singer from Gorerotted up on stage to do a number, instead of moving to the back and stroking his beard whilst nodding, he stayed on stage and rocked out throughout! This was like watching a completely different band to the one I saw last year, and whilst the songs were in essence the same, because all the band was so clearly having a great time, they came across as far better tracks; this was a rock show, rather than just a band playing back their songs for you. On a night where each band was better than the last band this really was the peak of an amazing, and eye opening evening. Whether this is happening with the rest of the, shall we say, difficult, death metal scene, I don't know, but this was as entertaining a spectacle as watching a band like Iron Maiden, and I couldn't have been more impressed. Insanely dark and fast music doesn't have to be miserable then. Awesome!

Standing in the Shadows The Junction, York  1st September 2005 review by Trev

With Dysfunktion, Mantra & Brutal Chainsaw Murder

Please note, if anyone reading this knows how to contact Standing in the Shadows so I can book them again, please cal me on 07939 550381. Ta.

Mantra are from Scarborough and starting their set sounding like Creed, they went via Godsmack, through Metallica and even hinted at Torsohorse, who are after all from the Eastcost too, and whilst they are not an earth shattering band, they were really fun to watch and were tight and exact with their set. Most notable was the girl on bass, who was a real joy to behold. Wow, a girl on stage, not fronting the band, having a good time, not pouting and looking glum. Before them were Dysfunktion who suffered very much from bad sound, and as such I can't really tell you what they were like. They seemed to be having a good time though, which is worth something, particularly given that with the sound most bands would have ground to a halt. The problem was sorted about half way through the set, but by then I was chatting to the band that I had come to see and thus distracted.

When Standing in the Shadows played at Carringtons 2 nights prior to this evening, they took a little while to get going, but by their 3rd song I knew I was going to come out to York to see them again, somthing I've never done before. Sounding like Funeral for a Friend before they got wussy, they are on towards Poison the Well, but with a more commercial bent, and cynical long haired tramp looking types will write them off as pretty boys. In truth, they are pretty boys, the best looking band I've seen since the Lost Prophets, but when they look that sharp, half the battle is won. You see them, and instantly want to know if they look as good as they sound. And they really do. The lead singer (like a thin Danger Lee for the Harrogate girls) can actually sing, as well as having a highly watchable presence with a scream to back it up, and backing vocal duties are exchanged between him and the other lead singer (Ed Norton in Primal Fear), who only starts singing 3 or 4 songs into the set. This in itself is refreshing as you instantly have different shades to take in, and different kinds of songs and sounds. The rest of the band, each of whom seems to have their own look and personality (all be them all under the broader umbrella of emo) could be watched individually all night, and the end product is a group that could have been manufactured, and I by no means mean that as an insult. This is polished rock, and I don't give a fuck it's too mainstream or fashionable for some people, they are wrong, and Standing in the Shadows are right. Absolutely fantastic. Still, shit name.

Finally on tonight are Brutal Chainsaw Murder, if I have their name correct. They are very young and do a mixture of Straight metal and I guess black metal. I get the impression they want to be a death band, the singer growls the in-between song banter as it is, and they perform with aplomb beyond their years. I'm still not sure about the Black metal and Death metal is on the edge of laughable, but when it is got right is impressive, and whilst not nailing what they do completely, BCM are far more advanced than you'd expect at first sight, and with a little bit more of the fledgling humour on display could be a lot of fun. It's bullet belts and nails, and its a good round of to a really good DIY low key gig, and was well worth the trip.

Leeds Festival, Sunday Bramham Park  28th August 2005 review by Trev

Shit.

Do you know, the temptation to leave it as a one word review is overwhelming. Still... it wasn't great...

Eighteen Visions might have been brilliant, but the sound was too quiet, Kings of Leon were great for moments, but rambled for hours, Hatebreed sounded like a lesson in Metalcore mediocrity, and the best band I saw were Razorlight, who, live at least, were fun and adventurous. The very fact that Razorlight were actually excellent gave some hope to the day, chuck in Juliet Lewis and The Licks possibly giving the women of rock the woman of rock they've been waiting for, sexy, talented, and not just aping men, and the day was possibly not a total waste of time. I had a great time with Sarah, and the shopping was fantastic, but when you are talking about the Big hard rock festival of the year, you are now talking about Download. The Charlatans sounded just like they do on CD, but their music is not something I particularly find exciting, more interesting were the - I presume - duo The Kills. I'm sure it was a drum machine, and they amused us for 5 minutes. But that was the problem of the day, lots of bands were worth watching for 5 minutes. The Longcut's 5 minute instrumental intro was great, but then they were, well, ok. Later on, watching Pete Twatgherty and Baby Shambles from outside the tent was ok, for a couple of minutes, but then you want to be able to see more than the back of peoples heads. The tents this year seemed much smaller than last year, certainly The Lock-up stage was small, and as I mentioned earlier, the actual volume levels were far too low. I hate it when gigs are stupidly loud, but when you can have a chat 10 yards from the stage, that's bollocks. The day started poorly with Senses Fail, who sounded awful, but Biffy Clyro on the main stage sounded great, if not totally my cup of tea. From then on it was the above rollercoaster of averageness I've described, and whilst myself and Sarah freely admit to ourselves that we were foolish to totally miss Foo Fighters, by that stage we were pretty much beyond help, and the super hot kebab shop and ferris wheel were, alongside the totally surprise Razorlight, the highlights of the day.

Ferret Records Hit & Run Manchester Academy  11th August 2005 review by Trev

Everytime I Die Support from 12 Tribes & A Life Once Lost.

Sometimes you can look forward to a gig too much, and whilst seeing them at Download quenched my thirst for a while, I have pretty much been looking forward to seeing Everytime I Die in their own environment again since I saw them supporting Chimera, in February last year. Since then they have become the band I annoy everyone about, and "Hot Damn" is one of my most favoured albums. And so you build your self up, and sometimes you get let down.

A Life Once Lost did that to themselves a little bit, appearing in Kerrang! the week prior to the gig declaring that people that stand around at their gigs are twats, and how they don't appreciate passive crowds. So as they took to the stage I was expecting them to really rip into the crowd and be uncompromising. As it was, they played a set of songs. They played them well, but their was little of the expected intensity. That is until they played their final track, "Vulture". Only then did they, and the venue, come to life. "Vulture" is an awesome song and they tore through it with the passion and fury I had been hoping for for the rest of their set. For one song, A Life Once Lost were amazing, and for that reason alone I'll be getting the album and looking to see them on their own terms.

The drummer from 12 Tribes had already weirded us out by standing next to the merch stall playing a skin with his drum sticks instead of pulling his shift on the stand, and to be honest whilst drummers clearly burn with an inner rhythm that constantly expresses itself by them having to hit something all the time, and even whilst the patterns he was knocking out were impressive, it seemed more that he would have been better off wearing a t-shirt saying "Hey girls I'm in a band wanna kiss?". 12 Tribes on stage fared pretty poorly, the band on the bill that you could say sound like something you've already heard. They were not bad at it, but Killswitch Engage are great thanks, and I don't need to hear a slightly more Nu-Metal version of that thanks. They do have some good songs, and perhaps wouldn't have seemed so naff if the lead singer hadn't done the singularly most embarrassing piece of crowd play I've ever seen. Towards the end of the set he asked the obligatory "Do you know what a wall of death is" and when the crowd had duly separated, he seemed to get distracted and forgot to tell the crowd when to run at itself. Now perhaps a more fired up crowd would have taken the initiative, but he had said wait for me to say when, and then never did. It was truly cringeworthy, and they never recovered.

Everytime I Die are great at producing a live sound and tonight was no exception. Unfortunately they decided to invite all of the crowd onto the stage at all points in time during their set. I realise this is great entertainment for punks at punk rock gigs, but I'm sorry, I travelled a long way to watch a band do their songs, and don't want to have to watch some fucking borderline special twat I've never met repeatedly grab the mic and perform the role of lead singer. The first time it happened it was cool, and worked really well, but then it just didn't stop. Stage divers are all well and good, so long as they actually get off the fucking stage pretty quickly, but that wasn't encouraged, so lots of ETID's show was lost in a barrage of people who, for my money, should go to a karaoke night if that's what they want. I know there will be plenty of zany punks shaking their head now saying I'm missing the point and I probably am, but for me, if I go to see a band, I want to see the band, and was really disappointed that at no stage was line drawn under the interactivity of it all. As we all get to text our ill informed opinions to "news" shows I realise the future is going to be a bleak place for me; most entertainment is going to become a nightmare of people grabbing their own 3 seconds of fame, so next time your at a gig and you see the miserable get at the back complaining about having to watch people with no discernable talent get in the way of the artists, that'll be me. Shame. A good gig made average, I was there to watch people who are better at something than everyone else, and got to watch everyone else be ok at it. The worst thing about it is that now a want to see them again even more, and it was heightened anticipation in the first place that led to me being let down. Two after this gig, Everytime I Die released the best album of the year.

Motley Crue Manchester Evening News Arena June 2005 by Scottish Craig

Support from Killing Joke.

This was easily one of the best gigs I have ever seen. After Spending what seemed like hours trying to get a taxi to the venue we eventually arrive in time too catch some overly priced beer and support act Killing joke. Killing joke are an excellent band but this doesn't seem like the kind of gig for them, however they leave us impressed and I would definitely see them again. For the latest Motley Crue re-union tour they have decided to theme the stage like a giant circus which is very impressive and extremely cool. As the curtains open the band kick into the first of two hour long sets. the first set is made up of old material for the die-hard fans and people who really know there Crue. A good idea as it leaves less room for complaints like why didn't they play the older stuff. After an hour of die-hard Crue there is a fifteen minute before the show restarts with classic 'Girls, girls, girls' this is where things really get going, fireworks, midgets, strippers and lots of fire. It's impossible to find yourself bored as your treated to hit after hit combined with breathtaking onstage antics. mid set we also get Tommy Lees classic 'Titty cam' where we get to see various crowd members showing there boobies. You wont get me complaining. The set ends with Nikki Sixx smashing his bass in time to some massive explosions then throwing it about 30 feet in the air. You really don't get much more rock 'n' roll. If it's good time no brainer Rock and roll you're after the Motley Crue are the band to see live. You definitely will not be disappointed.

Funeral for a Friend Leeds Refectory  30 June 2005 review by Trev

Support from Gratitude & Bullet for my Valentine.

Shitbags, I thought this gig was at the excellent Leeds Met, unfortunately it's at that places bigger, more stupid, brother, the Refectory. A school assembly hall with a shit echo-ey sound quality that when filled with emo kids singing along sounds like a school concert recital, complete with crying parents. A really early start to the nights drinking meant that I cannot remember if a Static Lulaby were on first or second, I do know they were vastly superior to the other "early doors" band Gratitude, who are middle of the road pop punk wank . Whilst they did start to get things going fairly well, half way through the lead singer decides to give us a well informed political speech. I'm all for well thought out political debate. However, standing on stage and saying "I hate George Bush, who hate's Tony Blair as much as me?" is anything but that. Even if I thought that half the kids screaming "Yeah" and "Wooh!" could be arsed to go out and vote, this is unappealing shit and is not for grown ups. Twat. With those feelings of self righteousness I decided to stand back and eye up the 15 year olds -yeah-wooh!! Bullet for my Valentine really need to get a fucking album out, and while they pissed me off no end by allowing the kids to sing most of the actual singing bits, they did raise the atmosphere by doing just that, and ripped through their half hour or so with great aplomb. further more when he actually was singing, the vocals were impressively spot on. Not yet the most exciting metal band for years that people hope (Trivium Trivium Trivium) they are certainly still very promising, and surely with the amount of name dropping that goes on between them and the afore mentioned Americans, a support slot/double header with them must be coming. On then, to the main event, Funeral for a Friend. Two good albums in this is the third time I've seen them, and of the three is the least impressive. To be fair, the fact that out of nowhere the night before I saw one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen so  far (see below) may have given them an automatic mark down, and it's not to say that they were not good, they just weren't amazing, as they have in the past proved to be. In another albums times, when some of the filler tracks are dropped from the list, this is really going to be a band to be reckoned with, just now, they still don't seem to be totally happy with where they are musically, and some more structure with heavier highs and mellower troughs is needed to avoid sounding like an average indie band, they need to decide if they are metal, of emo, or possibly straight up pop. They are surely capable and on a better day can still rule.

Cephalic Carnage Fibbers, York  29 June 2005 review by TrevSupport from Support from The Final Sigh, Crow Path, plus one.

It's my first time at Fibbers, and this is a venue that has recently stepped up a gear in the amount and calibre of bands booked to play, and tonight's line up is a great way to go about a drunken introduction. Very similar to Manchester's Roadhouse, this is an awesome small venue, and the production, as well as the beer, is spot on all night. First band on in a band who's name I can't remember and I have neither the time nor the inclination to go find out... Picture, if you can imagine, a bunch of blokes in tight black t-shirts, half the time playing with their backs to the crowd, a sideways standing lead singer with big curly hair, lots of t-shirt holding and bending over, screaming, and sounding like every other band that does that, and you'll have it. Indeed with the exception of the lead singer, the rest of the band look as though there's other things they'd rather be doing, and the lead singers enthusiasm is cancelled out by the miserable looking back line. After being bored for 5 minutes I went to the back of the venue, and when I couldn't actually see the band, they were shit loads better. Musically this is fine, but visually this is coma inducing. Fortunately then soon on stage were The Final Sigh. An excellent York band that I spoke to later about playing Harrogate and seemed interested but thus far have not got in touch, ah well, if I can get them to come over I will, they were pretty damn good. Crow Path were crap, but as this was a gig I'd come to with no expectations I wasn't bothered, and went to play some fussball with my brother to await Cephalic Carnage. I'd  come to see this band on the advice of Mark Heath(damnation) who couldn't tell me enough times that this was a band I'd love, and despite struggling to get anyone to come with me found company from my Brother, hip-hop wigga that he is, and we were bonding well over my Murphy's and his quadruple Gin and juices by the time Cephalic Carnage took to the stage. An unknown length of time later they left the stage, and what had happened in-between can be summed up by one word. Unbelievable. Ripping non stop through a barrage of tracks with precision and energy Cephalic Carnage simply destroyed. Playing material to which I was entirely unfamiliar, the progress of the band from their more straight forward earlier song to their current blend of mathmetal intrigues was instantly apparent with numerous highs throughout the set and no lows. Indeed, even the gaps between songs were entertaining, with a variety of loops faded up to ensure there were no awkward silences. Second or third song in a guest vocalist took to the stage, possibly for "Dying will be the Death of me", though I couldn't be sure, to tear through that one and there was no let up before that or after. Everything from the music played to the heartfelt please of "If you wanna get stoned later stick around and we can" was stunning. Afterwards my brother, who was similarly as impressed as I (and remember, he is a hip hop head, and this band clearly do not do hip hop) rushed around getting t-shirts CD's and drumsticks signed, and the band seemed to really enjoy it. Certainly the best live show I've seen this year, possibly the best one I've ever seen so far. UN-FUCKING BELIEVABLE. A great night with great company from my brother and I owe hEATHDAMNATiON a beer.

Download Donnington  2005 review by Trev

3rd Annual Download festival planner -  preview by Trev to be found on the news page

HGHC present...Stalls Bar , Harrogate  1st June 2005 review by Trev

The Stalls bar is a cracking little venue, stiflingly hot, nicely sweaty, and almost tailor made for a gig of tonight's magnitude. It's size works well with the amount of people there early on in that it seems busier than it is, and once FWF play later on it will seem packed. First up though are C4. As Craig later put it they may be the token metal band on the scene, but the older folk are definitely into them, and whilst lacking the youthful response that is saved for later they go down well, given that for me, it was a fairly average C4 show. To be fair though, I saw them the night before, and you can get too much of a good thing. Fuck with Fire are clearly Harrogate's punk scene hero's at the moment and their set receives the best response of the night. Treading carefully as I say this, the pit that forms seems more to be about having a mosh pit than expressing any kind of emotion. There are certainly a couple of scenesters that get irritated looks from people who are there to actually hear some bands, as opposed to just kick fuck out of each other. Hey ma look at me I'm a punk aside, Fuck with Fire are as ever excellent entertainment, Luke's in between song banter gets better and better each time you see him, and Toby, playing his second set of the night is now more man than machine, twisted and evil, and fucking fast. I guess if the kids are going to be into a band because its cool its better for them to be into F.W.F. than Steps, but the frankly outrageous way that some of these non more punk types don't even bother to listen to Fighting Shit later on is an indication of just how punk they actually aren't, because Fighting Shit are cracking. Super fast 40 second thrash songs follow one another thrown at you from a lead singer who must have Red Bull for blood, so animated and furious his back and forth stage pace is. The people who are watching the band are suitably impressed, this is certainly exciting stuff, and whilst I would prefer something a little more long winded, it's hard to fault tonight's show, save to say that the only thing I understood the lead singer saying was "If you only like band who play for an hour and a half you came to the wrong show". No shit, it hardly seems they started before they are done, but as I mentioned before you can get too much of a good thing. I'm not sure how long you could stand in the face of this pace with the deafening volume to boot, I would have liked a longer show, but that said if a band leaves you wanting more like this, its gotta be a good thing. Glad I made the effort to see this on a night when I was fucking tired, if you are sat at home saying there's nothing to do in Harrogate, you surely aren't even fooling yourself anymore. Check the site to see what else these zany funnsters have coming up :  www.hghc.org

Converge Cockpit , Leeds  2005 review by Trev

The Cockpit is packed out for this one, I only just managed to get a ticket when I decided last minute to come to the gig, and there are people here who clearly live for this. But straight away it has to be said there are also people here who clearly live to be seen at an event like this. To cut a long story short, this is scenester city. The guy with the banjo who opens things up is very nice and jolly, and its quite a cool opening act, but the way some of these fuckers are stroking their beads and saying (and I quote you word for words one such thing I over heard ) "I say, this guy is really amazing, I'm going to have to get hold of some of his CD's", is just frankly bollocks. This is entertainment to be into so you can sneer at lesser mortals who but artists that sell CDs. I am by no means saying the guy isn't good because he was indeed, but it's the cool value that won the day really. Far noisier were Modern Life is War. After turning to a guy and asking who it was on stage and getting the reply "I don't give a fucking shit all I care about is Converge" I was starting to form an opinion of the crowd assembled. M.L.I.W. were pretty good, to give you an idea, I bought a CD, but then today is the first time I listened to it and the gig was a while back now. Quality traditional hardcore vocals but with an easier on the ear musical sound, but hey, it's not cool to like a support band unless they are a mime artist or something, for fucks sake, so they got a luke warm reception. Planes Mistaken for People were meant to be playing and had to cancel and I found these guys to be a more than adequate addition to the bill. Finally to Converge, a band who are hardly easy on the ears and mind, they played a frantic set but suffered from a crowd who, as far as I can work out were more bothered about looking like they were really getting the music than just enjoying it. After all, why clap and cheer a song when you can hold your chin and nod your head in a thoughtful manner, whilst looking out the corner of your eyes to see if the person next to you agreed. You could almost hear the post gig discussions "I say, what did you think of the band?" - "Um, well, ah, um, what did you think?" - "Really good, really clever" - "That's what I was going to say". For me Converge didn't help themselves by repeatedly breaking the flow for the guitarist to ask - quite justifiably "What the fuck is wrong with you people, why are you just standing around" whilst more bafflingly the lead singer would say "Hey its so good to see everyone out supporting punk rock your all great". He wasn't being sarcastic either, 5 or 6 time he said something along those lines, how great punk is, how great everyone there is for being into punk. That was Converges only stumbling point to be fair, I don't think they are the best band in the world but they were good and deserved a better reception then they got, although no doubt most of the people there will think they responded to them amazingly. I toyed with the idea of going into the pit for a bit, but once again the prospect of getting round-housed by the obligatory h/c high kicker put me off, and pits at these kind of gigs in Leeds seem to be about punching each other, and that's not for me thanks. Must be getting old. not a bad night, but too cool for me.

NYHC present...Little Wonder , Harrogate  23rd Feb 2005 review by Trev

It is colder than the Ice Queen's clit out side and getting into the snug Little Wonder is a treat in itself. I don't often get to stay for the duration of the mysterious NYHC's nights which are always good, and generally it is galling for me to have to bugger off to work halfway through the night. So when I found out this date was on a night off for me, I was very excited. Crash Unit are a really good band and have a very nice relaxed vibe chatting back and forth between each other and the crowd without stepping into uncomfortable panto esqu cliquey ness that other punk bands tend towards. The NYHC's super strict 25 minute set rule keeps it nice and tight too, and Crash Unit's Weezer end catchy punk opens the night really well, and is a nice accompaniment to Guinness and pool. The Minor Fall hail from Leeds and feature members of D-Rail among their line up. I don't know if she features in another band herself but the girl is very hot and adds infinitely to the band in that not only are they good, they make you want to have sex. Again less punkey screamy than a deal of Harrogate bands around these days, these Leeds types know what they are doing, and while for some of their set seemed to be nodding and winking a little bit too much at each other, The Minor Fall had continued what Crash Unit had started in fine style. On to headliners Face Tomorrow then. I wasn't expecting a full on Emo band despite what the flyers had hinted at, and was expecting them to be more towards the emerging metal core end of that line. What I really didn't expect was the lush almost indie sound Face Tomorrow presented us with. The usual DIY style sound system itself seemed to have been replaced with a perfectly balanced beautiful PA that delivered a sound quality I've simply never heard before in Harrogate. And Face Tomorrow had the tunes to match it. Emotional Indie is really the way to describe it, as there was little in the way of "post-hardcore" that emo bands tend to be, but also their songs are not just 3 minute jangly efforts knocked out by this weeks ripped jean fraternity. The leadsinger who comes off as a cross between the twat out of Razorlight and someone you actually like has soaring vocals that its easy to get swept along in, and the band itself is so tight I certainly had the feeling I was watching something really special. A lot of the NYHC regulars had lost interest, and indeed on asking could be heard to use words like "boring", but that's fine, the two and a half minute shouting matches they often like are not exactly my bag so it stands to reason that Face Tomorrow's more meandering 5 minute-ish heart wrenchers were not going to be for them. All in all it was a really interesting and even brave line up to put on, and once again salutations to the NYHC organisers for an outstanding night of music.

Bubonic Zygote, Carrington's, Harrogate  15th Feb 2005 review by Charlotte the hot Punk.

Good gig, really good!First up are late additions to the bill, the youthful Waking Theo, sort of screamy metalcore noise mayhem.  They are a great choice of support for the mighty Zygote, their dense loud metal styling set a great atmosphere for the evening.  The performance definitely has room for improvement and the set is not without mistakes but Waking Theo have the potential to get it spot on.  They have plenty of good songs and a style that works really well.  The set tonight included a Killswitch Engage cover and a new song, although neither were performed perfectly (which after all is a lot to ask) I came away from the gig feeling very impressed by what Waking Theo had to offer. A Transparent Lie are the next band of the night.  Another metally act but not as screamy and aggressive. ATL are a good live band with some ace tunes, just a bit different from your average "bang bang scream bang grunt" hardcore bands but still rock like hell. They have a really cool sound and they did good tonight but when the singer had to look at the words for a new song it looked like he was doing karaoke, bless! so anyways, Bubonic Zygote are good aren't they? I like drums, I like drums in bubonic zygote because they are really fast and loud and it makes me giddy.  Tonight I got very excited as the entire band vacated the stage area leaving Donny in the spot light bashing the shit out of his kit going absolutely mental, it was pretty fucking impressive to say the least,  I don't feel that any words that I can think of would be adequate, it was fucking awesome! I like drum solos. We all know that Bubonic Zygote are a fangasmic band and Craig is ace as a frontman and all that, but Donny, he plays the drums.

Shuriken, Carrington's, Harrogate  8th Feb 2005 review by Charlotte the hot Punk.

Don't be late says Trevor, there's a change in the line up. Duck with fire are replacing Asomvel. I am content. It's dead when the bands start, something that's becoming a habit, seriously there's about five of us it's ridiculous. Most of the crowd are making their way down the road cos they didn't get through the door because they didn't have any ID... FWF are good though, they always are. Between songs Luke mimics firework displays which is quite funny. Their almost metal fused hardcore is really enjoyable whether you want to dance or do the ironing. They are great live and the cd (if you don't have it you should) is always in my stereo. It's hard to talk about a band that consistently maintains such a high standard of performance so, onwards to C4. Another consistently good band. I think there's roughly nine of us watching now. Even though the crowd is so poor C4 like FWF put every effort into playing a good set. Pure chugging metal at its best. I know I have said before that I don't like metal, but music like this can be appreciated by anybody who has a sense of taste. Metal such as Pantera and Slayer that punks can enjoy as well, not that bloody Bruce Dickinson! This evenings performance is very satisfying and notice also that Craig is sporting the original punisher t-shirt, suarve.  "Extensive research shows that Shuriken rock" it says on the flyers, and indeed  that's exactly what they do, melodic, if somewhat straight forward rock. The set is really chilled after tonight's opening bands, but by no means comatose. There are moments of heightened arousal when a really good chorus thumps against your eardrums, though overall Shuriken are your basic music channel rock act. That's no bad thing however, with tonights gig being of the sort where you could either sit and chill or get up and nod your head a bit. Generally the performance was good but there was one bit that really bugged me...on one song there was a random stop start thing and although on cd I'm sure its funky but live it just sounded like they kept fucking up. The evening was overall a winner though and now, my friends, I'm going to get off my face drunk because lifes too fucking long.

Fuck With Fire, Carrington's, Harrogate  25th January 2005 review by Charlotte the hot Punk.

Crash unit are a band that you can take home to your mother. Very nice well rounded boys. Sort of middle of the road melodic punk rock. I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean they're not too heavy and not too mellow, just nice steady rock, great melodies and very listenable.  Tonight's performance was good, well delivered and enjoyable. I think I noticed a couple of slight time lapses but they were recovered so quickly who can tell? Crash unit have some very memorable songs I can easily find myself humming while doing the hoovering and they make a good start to the night. After Trevs 15 mins of "honestly just 2 more songs" and Bubonic Zygote were on, performing for me for the first time... WOW! These guys are heavy as fuck! The drummer is amazing, absolutely mental, double bass pedalling so fast his feet were a blur and he didn't even break a sweat and Craig's voice is great but we knew that anyway. Bubonic Zygote's performance was crisp and the songs were fast load and heavy. Absolute winner! I was VERY impressed and I'm looking forward to the next time. Harrogate legends Fuck with Fire were tonight's headliners. Lead singer Luke was pissed and kick proceedings off with comedy drink spillage.  Technically FWF have played better sets but tonight that didn't matter because it was oh so entertaining! Full of amusing drunken banter and jazzy moves pissed Luke turned into a very amusing and animated frontman. FWF are quite good at making gigs a bit different with fire works and such and this evenings variation on the theme was very funny indeed. When you've seen a band so many times you need them to keep things spontaneous and with the help of a few bottles that's just what they did. The set wasn't sloppy and they played a few new songs as well as the old anthems joined on stage for the last song by mike Tim and Pete. We all had a good time and a good laugh and then I went to Asda. Top dog!

Behemouth, Josephs Well, Leeds  20th January 2005 review by Trev

There were two other bands on the bill tonight, and I saw them both, but I truly cannot remember their names, Deathmetal bands being what they are I couldn't read the banners. They were good, but the whole thing about Death for me is the precision with which it is executed, and both the supports seemed still a little wet behind the ears, not tight enough, and as not a major fan of the genre, they were decent enough, but not great. The second band had one exhilerating moment utilising a military marching beat that stickis in the mind well, but as I can't tell you their names, it is of little consequence telling you about it at all. My bad... Moving on then to Behemoth, this was stereo typical death metal, corpse paint and all. But damn you eyes its good. Drumming patterns that must be lazer guided they are so well nailed, and an engaging front man. My experience of Death Metal live is limited, but Behemoths front man does what no other death band I've seen does, in that he drops the undistinguishable growling in-between tracks and actually talks. Hence, instead of the usual - ie: track ends, singer grunts a bit, you can perhaps decipher the particular Scandinavian country they come from in there, but that's about it, more grunts, then another song, whose name you are non the wiser - you actually get a bit of info on what they are doing and what it means to them. It is such a small touch but makes all the difference. Mainly, it makes the (easy to mock) posturing of Death Acts less risible. I agree vocals need to be harsh, but grunting your way through the "talking bit" just looks and sounds stupid, and Behemoth avoid looking stupid. Indeed they look mighty impressive on tonight's showing. Well structured songs complete with a Shine on the performance that entertains and impresses in equal measure. Good show!

Asomvel, Carrington's, Harrogate  11th January  review by Charlotte

I'M A NINJAAAAA! Master shredder, first band of the night except they were supposed to be last but there was some issue with Harrogate and district bus service. There was absolutely no crowd which I thought was so shit I spent the whole night apologising. Despite the lack of turn out and resulting  pitiful applause Shredder, well...shredded! I love these guys so much not just 'cos they're my mates, they're one of my favourite bands. Caliban-esque thrashy metalcore with fantastic riffs and superb drumming. Charlie and Josh work together fantastically as frontmen dancing round each other and issuing perfectly syncronised grunts.  The band respond to each other perfectly switching flawlessly between rhythms and "mosh or die" breakdowns. Multiple injuries were up next. First of all respect to the assert t shirt wearing guitar shredding muthafucka who gave me a free t shirt. Cheers maaate! I've heard MI once before but I was very drunk so tonight was like the first time. They offered a high quality performance, very smooth beat changes shredding riffs and drums that would force an O.A.P to mosh, in many ways similar to Shredder. They have some great songs to mosh to and I love the surprise endings. The headliners this evening are Asomvel, well by this time the crowd had multiplied and mutated into a bunch of heavy metal fans long haired and leather clad.  I don't know much about hair metal really cos its not my thing but here goes...First thing that struck me was the fact that the sound seemed to have gone slightly down hill, fuzzy and muffled but not completely crap just...noticeable. Second thing was the drummers hair, awesome. And thirdly people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I admit at times they rocked, proper headbanging music, but overall I'd say not above average. It's hard not to be biased but I think Asomvel are a metal band for metal fans and they really don't reach out to other alternative music fans. The solos weren't bad but the rhythms weren't particularly technical following the other two bands. I suppose it doesn't matter as long as the songs work, and they did. Can't really say much more... they wore cowboy heeled boots.

ROBOCHRIST, Carrington's, Harrogate  28th December review by Charlotte

Every cloud has a silver lining, from darkness there will be light, and following a rather unfortunate toilet episode will emerge triumphantly the almighty ROBOCHRIST ... Twice!! Yes folks, two helpings in one night. Tonight was the second coming of ROBOCHRIST to Carrington's and blow me was it good. Maybe it was a bad idea of Trev's to ask me to write a review because it is obviously going to be biased seeing as I'm completely arse over tit for 'the Christ and anybody who doesn't understand why clearly wasn't there tonight, the night when we saw both sides of ROBOCHRIST, and Chris... Maybe I should backtrack...

 The much anticipated line up for tonight was A Transparent Lie, C4, Human Fly & ROBOCHRIST. Things kicked off early 'cos of the big line up and everything was running smoothly. Everyone for once actually had instruments (seriously, there have been occasions) all the PA was fine and ATL were playing to a reasonably full venue (all as usual for a Tuesday). And very well they did too, but I'm gonna plough on as I want to talk more about ROBOCHRIST and C4 are still to get through. They were as good as they usually are, I suppose they are the "house band" but that doesn't make them any less rock stars. They are brilliant live and I'm a big fan. but, oh shit, Trev doesn't look happy... He's talking to a manager type guy, and what's this? Human Fly are putting their coats on. It transpires that they have been caught doing bad things in the toilet and are no longer to play. Round of applause to C4 for playing an extended set thus giving Dj "I'm developing a bald patch because of this"  Trev a bit longer to think of something. Introducing Chris, better known (though probably not by his mother) as ROBOCHRIST. He offers to do an acoustic set as well as his planned set, so there he is on stage on a stool with an electric guitar doing a fully plugged amped up acoustic show and it was marvellous. It feels very personal, and having no idea what to play he asks for requests, most of which he "politely" declines to indulge. He spends a long time talking to the crowd, indeed finding out what people got for Christmas amongst other things! He's clearly a very nice funny man (here I go) very funny indeed. We get to see the rock n' roll superstar saviour thing dropped revealing a real, friendly man who is also a talented musician. He plays songs he's written when younger, he plays Johnny Cash, A-Ha, The Pogues, and he stops occasionally to shout "Shut up" at the gathering crowds. Chris is joined halfway through by his friend who has a video phone which he uses alot, who also sings. Then finally there is a break, so that Chris can make his transformation . Finally the call comes over "If you don't have a drink you should be ashamed, ROBOCHRIST is playing in exactly 47 seconds so get to the stage you filthyslags" (or something like that). Oh my god! It's a sea of glow sticks! Where did all these people come from? It's fantastic and they are packed right up to the stage. The atmosphere is great, and no matter how many times I will hear ROBOCHRISTS full set, I will never get bored! It's brilliantly composed and mixed, clever, funny, unique and it Rocks like hell! There is no way of describing its genius, you should buy the CD (Tonight priced just £1!). Tonight in both forms ROBOCHRIST was the undisputed star, you should never have expected otherwise. One more thing, for all the little sluts out there, I'm marrying him, and I have a pick axe for anyone who thinks otherwise... he bought me a drink... *sigh*... I'll shut up now.

Dillinger Escape Plan, Northampton Roadmender  8th December 2004. review by "Dj" Trev.

If anyone tells you that Northampton isn't bastard miles away they are a filthy liar. Northampton is essentially a bigger Harrogate. If you live there, and know where you're going I have no doubt that it is great. As a visitor, trust me, get a taxi everywhere otherwise you'll be looking for the "Roadmender" for some time indeed. The venue itself is a gorgeous arts centre, for this event filled with arty metal types as would befit the show we are to see. Opening things up were Ephel Duath. I got their album "Painters pallet" and found  the free form metal light style somewhat too jazzy for my own pallet, nevertheless I was looking forward to checking them out and seeing how the intelligent side of metal came across. And they were simply splendid. A strange word to be sure, but you could hardly be blown away by what they do, it is simply not that immediate. What rapidly became apparent however is the sheer skill and tightness of this band, taking the jazz leanings of headliners DEP to its logical conclusion. Whilst musically not my favourite band of the night the flawless execution on show coupled with the demented antics of the (apparently) mentally troubled destitute that is their lead singer, Ephel Duath were the best band of the night in. And as an added bonus I can now listen to Painters Pallet with a far better understanding of what is actually on offer. Poison the Well were comfortably 40% of the reason I was there tonight, and despite the lack of material from the (I'm shamefaced to admit) only album of theirs I own, they still were fantastic. Opening with a long drawn out solo building to a massive instrumental of Monolithic proportions, they stuck with the prog flow of the night without venturing into self indulgence. A genuinely funny heckler put down only added to the good feelings all around the venue. Yes, it was disappointing that "Ghost chant" for example was missing, but this gig was never going to be about anthemic pop sing alongs, and PTW were more than strong enough to carry you over with previously unknown tracks. Then it was time For Dillinger Escape Plan. By now the venue was packed with a decent mix of super cool moved on from emo types, art rockers who choose to look like the guy out of Hundred Reasons, and more stereotypical smelly moshers. Taking to the stage with his hood up over his head lead singer Benjamin? oozed stage presence, and indeed I could go on for some time about his Herculean physique as he is one of the few men that I would let "do me like a bitch". And then he started singing. Anyone else in the would carrying themselves about the stage in that manner (dragging one side of his body as if suffering a stroke for the main part) would look like a twat, but coupled with the precision metal of the rest of the band and his barrage of perfectly timed screams and rants his performance was superb. He is a big mother fucker and his command of the stage is in direct proportions to the circumference of his biceps, ie: just awesome. I'm still struggling to work out how this band managed to play quite as immensely tightly as they did, but by the third track I'd stopped puzzling and was swept away in it all. It is high praise indeed to say the Ephel Duath were the best band on the night because all three bands were stunning. A truly cracking gig!

Deicide, Bradford Rio's    3rd December 2004. review by "Big dave" Dave.

This gig was a pretty big deal to me, I was meant to see Deicide before in Wales but they cancelled the tour which just made me want to see them even more.  I'd never been to Rios before but we arrived just in enough time to get a few drinks and be amazed at how small the place was, and how few people were there. 

Gore opened, I'd never heard of them before and its always nice to find a good new band.  They were quite impressive and pretty precise but every song was similar, which is the only downside of the entire gig. Unfortunately they didn't get an amazing crowd response, but that might just be cos there was still only about 30/40 odd people there! 8/10

Arkhon Infaustus were up next. No surprise to know I had to look up what they were called and how to spell it before writing this ;) The place had filled up slightly by now and a few people seemed very up for headbanging to them, and I don't blame them 'cos they were bloody class.  All their stuff sounded different but it was all equally mental fast and loud :D they certainly ripped through their set and left everyone very up for Deicide, after all that's the band we were all there for. 9/10

As soon as the aforementioned band had finished, a nice gap appeared right against the stage which I dived into and didn't move from for the next hour and a half.  But when Deicide came out I was shocked that there was no Hoffman's. Both the guitarists I didn't have a clue who they were so I was a bit worried the set might not be as good as it could be. I was wrong though :)  The first track they played was 'Scars of the Crucifix' and surprisingly enough everyone behind me, and everyone on the front row just went mental. Obviously the changed line up were a long way from being a second team. The rest of the set was totally brutal as they ripped through songs off every album, mainly focusing on their debut album 'Deicide.' Considering it was the Scars of the Crucifix tour, it was good to hear so much old Deicide as well.  Some of the highlights were 'They are the Children of the Underworld,' 'Bastards of Christ,' 'Deicide,' 'Serpents of the Light,' 'Lunatic of God's Creation,' 'Dead by Dawn,' and a few more off their newest album 'When Heaven Burns' and 'Enchanted Nightmare.' And that's just a few of their 17 song set-list that I can remember :)  It was just as I was hoping, mentally fast, mentally heavy, amazing solos easily as good as the recorded versions and better. It was just totally incredible that a band can play such fast music without faltering.

I've found out since the gig that the Hoffmans aren't actually in the band anymore, since about 2 weeks ago, and the people standing in for them had to learn the entire set in 2 days before the tour started. That just impresses me even more, and makes it better that I shook the hand of the guy who is now a permanent member, and stupidly good on guitar :)

Definitely the best gig I've ever been to, it easily gets 10/10. can you tell I like Deicide quite a lot? :D

For those who think death metal is shite, for whatever reason, you can't deny that it is incredible that someone can play music that fast that actually has a lot of catchy riffs in it and amazing guitars.

Lamb of God, Cockpit Leeds    2nd December 2004.