Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Some surprises on showcase night.
Firstly for those of you who know your venues, I can report that the main Academy venue has had a makeover. Or to be more accurate is in the process of having one. At the moment this consists of draping large black curtains over the walls and refurbing the toilets, at least that’s the reason for us all having to trek outside to use portakabins I hope. One thing they might consider is putting in a second bar as the one existing one is hopelessly oversubscribed. Still the bar staff did their best and respect is due to them, I’m sure they were far too busy to watch the bands. Read the rest of this entry »
First good album of 2008, but live?
California Tuba Alles
First off a little bit about our venue for tonight’s entertainment. Leeds Irish Centre has been around putting on bands for as long as I can remember. It is first and foremost a social club and try as I might I can’t get Phoenix Nights out of my mind everytime i go in. The venue consist of a large room with a standing area close to the stage and a raised area at the back with pub lounge type seating and decor. There are 2 bars one on each side, both busy (well it is an Irish club).
Excellent performances, shame about the audience.
Firstly the medical bulletin. My eyes are still a little bloodshot and my ears have stopped ringing but my hearing is still a bit off. Yep, I went to a gig last night. I’m afraid I missed Plastic Toys, but the second support, Die so Fluid, were superb. Good modern metal with a goth leaning and solid playing had the small crowd nodding along happily. The performance was tight and well ordered (with the odd sly reference to the track list) and the set seemed too short, Read the rest of this entry »
Seeing out 2007 in some style
Support bands first then. Wander Phantom started events off with some lovely bassy goodness, no complaints. Certainly, they exceeded my low expectations for the start of the evening as their sound thrummed through the floor. The Dirty Backbeats were a little prog rocky and it took me a little while to warm to them. I thought the music was excellent and the band were tight. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the last few years the Wireless events sponsored by some small telecommunications company have quietly crept into the festival calendar and become well established. This year saw venues in London and Leeds play host to a 3 day bash, boasting pretty eclectic line ups. Our involvement was the Friday at Harewood House in Leeds to see a rocky looking line up headlined by the White Stripes. As it is a new festival location to us and quite a few others this review, as well as rating the bands, will attempt to rate the festival in several key categories. First up though something we don’t have very much control over, the bloody weather. Read the rest of this entry »
AOR Tastic from US Veterans.
Last year, Journey came over to the UK for 3 dates – their first over here for 25 years. (That’s 1982! – Ed). Thankfully, they decided not to wait until 2032 for a return visit. They liked the audiences so much that they came back this year for another 9 shows. The audience were also obviously pleased to see them back. For some, it was a (bloody expensive) family event. For others, a chance to see if some of the old glad rags still fitted – in many cases, sadly not but they still tried – fortunately in other cases the leather trousers and lacey white blouse still looked great – but enough of my attire, onto the music. Read the rest of this entry »
Celtic epic rock makes up for a missed Elbow.
It was a new venue for me in Manchester for Snow Patol. I was filled with anticipation….how would the GMEX fare opposite the crappy and corporate MEN for a bigger venue, and would it be as good as the more intimate Academy? Read the rest of this entry »
The North East’s rising stars treat us to new material
Well after a weekend of moving heavy furniture I could have done with a nice bath and an early night. But the Park were in town so I headed to the Academy and hit the Redstripe to numb the aching muscles and bruising. We missed the first support band – a bunch of Scousers called Hot Club de Paris which was a shame becuase apparently they were a lot better than the second support band….who were that bad I hid in the back bar and can’t even remember what they were called (they were called Love is All – ed) Read the rest of this entry »
The night the Glow Team met the Go Team to warm the hearts on a dark cold night in Leicester.
Goths and shoe gazing indie emo’s will not like the Go Team cos they are too damn colourful and happy. And when your tunes are influenced by ZX Spectrum games, Sesame Street and Salt n Peppa you ain’t gonna be trying to put the world to rights or – more importantly moaning about it ! Read the rest of this entry »
Sparkling glitterballs and cheesy 80’s pop this could have been an 18th birthday party above a pub in Cleethorpes. But no it saw the return of Wakefields favourites to Yorkshire. Now being far to big to play their home town they decamp to this appalling venue. Narrower than a goths view on clothing and longer than the queue for the bar it was never gonna be a classic gig. Read the rest of this entry »
It was a welcome return to my fave Manchester venue for what was hoped, a rocking evening of entertainment. As you can probably guess the evening didn’t fail to disappoint! Our first words upon entering this fine establishment and locating the Red Stripe bar was “Lets get beered up”! And so, we proceeded to carry out our intention. Read the rest of this entry »
We missed the first few bands completely, since it was quite a nice day and we couldn’t resist a pint or several at The Hole in the Wall, a stroll along the beach, getting in some stone skimming practice, a few goes on the slotties etc. We were then slowed down on the steep climb up to the castle by the fact that I am tragically unfit. (No Adele it wasn’t just you, it was fcukin’ steep – Rob, Mark and Steve). Read the rest of this entry »
