Category Gig/Festival Reviews

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Torsdag 24 januari.

Att anordna en tredagars festival i slutet på januari i Stavanger i Norge är ett ganska ovanligt initiativ. Att göra det för första gången och boka band som Mayhem, Arcturus, Gehenna, Negura Bunget och Dimension F3H är ytterligare en bedrift. Mannen som står bakom detta heter Marius Steffenssen och har en rolig förklaring till sitt ambitiösa projekt.
-Det började med att jag ville spela på lite större konserter med mitt band ”Saints in Sin” men ingen ville förstås boka oss så då började jag arrangera spelningar själv där jag satte in mitt band som support. Verksamheten växte successivt och så föddes idén till en festival.

Det är väldigt länge sedan jag kallade något så enkelt för festival...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Some new sounds, unknown face, young talents rocked the stage of Babel in Malmö last week. Participated at a band contest, showed for the audience, how various could be the real music at all. I was just wondering why there is not that much people interested in upcoming, or simply unsigned bands. Most of these concerts was interesting, feelingful, and exciting. Just an advice- listen to them!

„Competition called Emergenza, formed as a music festival for upcoming bands. In the early 90s were a bunch of musicians and their bands together and organized a one-day festival on the outskirts of Rome, Italy. The festival was such a hit of that year after organizers were inundated with requests by the band that wanted to play...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tangowerk is the first solo album from Berlin based producer NHOAH. With this project he has brought together some very different sounds and merged them into one of the most interesting and unusual albums I’ve heard for some time. South American Tango music, modern electronic music, 80s pop and a whole host of other influences have been combined in Tangowerk.

The Tango and electronics make up the core of the sound with other influences appearing at different times throughout the album.

Brief comments on a few of the tracks..

The album opens with ”One more kiss”. The vocals are real crooner style and these are set against music which is a mix of South American classical dance and electronic. At times it’s got an 80s pop feel to it as well as having the Tango feel...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Indie rockers Darktown Jubilee come from Manchester – a city that has spawned countless Indie rock bands. The band formed in 2010 and after releaseing a couple of singles, are now releasing their debut album.

The album opens with ”Breakdown”. The song was released as the first single from the album and it’s clear to see why. Smooth vocals, a great tune and strong chorus plus enough guitar to give it a solid rock base make this a really good song. I’ve listened to it a lot already and it doesn’t lose any appeal with repeated listening.

Next up is ”Stay”. The keyboards are more prominent here and give the song a different feel. It’s another great song.

”The great escape” opens with acoustic guitar and piano-like keyboards...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Lawnmower Deth, self-proclaimed Godfathers of British Thrash and Usurpers of the buffoonery crown, have announced their only club show of 2013.

Since being pulled out of retirement for a one-off show at Alexandra Palace with Bullet For My Valentine, the band have refuted reports of reformation. ”It’s a regurgitation, get it right!” states singer Qualcast Mutilator.

Appearances have been rare but always event-based. Three Download festivals in four years, Damnation Festival, Hammerfest Festival, Bloodstock Festival, and now announced for 2013 Hard Rock Hell Festival.

However, the draw of an even rarer club show in their home town was just too much. This will be the band’s first home town gig in 20 years, and their only club show of 2013.

Nottingham Rescue Rooms on December 20th, 2013 w...

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THE HIVES & The Fume @ KB Malmö 7/2

Vill du möblera om? Ring The Hives!

The Hives har äntligen återvänt till KB med sin senaste skiva Lex Hives i ryggen (2012). Det har tagit herrarna hela fem år att komma ut med nytt material. Efter att ha spelat oräkneliga festivaler är de äntligen tillbaka till klubbscenen.

Precis som på nya skivan börjar The Hives med Come On. Sagt och gjort, ger publiken svar på tal direkt. The Hives och publiken får den isbildning på kulturbolagets tag att smälta redan under de första tre låtarna. Det är trångt. Det är full rörelse och det hoppas vilt. Alla ville stå längst fram!

Howlin´ Pelle och gitarrvirtuosen Nicholaus Arson ligger lika mycket över publiken som de står på scenen! Undertecknad fick agera stödben åt dessa två herrar större...

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Frontiers/BAM

TEN formed about 20 years ago, as vocalist GARY HUGHES was preparing a new solo album and had a big song surplus. 1996 saw their album debut with “X” and now they also have 10 albums to celebrate. There has been a lot of member changes, as celebrities like Don Airey, Vinny Burns, Ged Rylands and Mark Zoner (of FATES WARNING) have come and gone. Apart from ubiquitous band leader, vocalist, programmer and guitarist Gary the line-up consists of guitarists Dan Mitchel and John Halliwell, bassist Steve McKenna, keyboardist Darrel Treece-Birch and drummer Max Yates.

The album is more mixed and uneven than I wished for. They know their RAINBOW tendencies and they have lots of melody but “The Gates of Jerusalem is only ok. But the restrained feeling is omnipresent on the disc...

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The night started with Chimp Spanner, a band who are fast making a name for themselves and who I was looking forward to hearing. The first surprise for many people is that they are an instrumental band. The second surprise is just how good they really are. Musically tonight they were superb – some really impressive music, but the lack of vocals meant that after three or four songs I was starting to get a little bored. It’s not that the music is boring – far from it, I just find instrumentals less enjoyable normally than music with vocals. It was great but it just didnt feel right on a tour like tonights...

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Love at first bite – Vampire Weekend
The charismatic American four piece bought their effortless charm and indie rock appeal to Sydney’s Big Day Out Festival this month, attracting a huge crowd of excited fans.
So excited in fact, that when in the crowd strangers took to biting mine and others necks – perhaps hoping to spread the Vampire love?
And maybe it worked, as a first time crowd-goer for this band it was love at first bite for me.
Angular, fast paced time signature manipulating songs like “California English” and “Cousins” are so intricately recorded that to see them performed live just as perfectly against 47 degree heat, with band members still smiling, dancing and chatting to the crowd, indeed deserves respect from anyone enjoying the show.
The impeccable drumming of ...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Den gamla dansbanan Björksäter i Hässleholm har väckt liv igen i sin hårdrockssatsning – Club Metallic. Corroded och Bonafide delade scenen (i dubbel bemärkelse) tillsammans denna kyliga lördag kväll.

Först ut var Bonafide mot min förvåning då jag trodde dem skulle avsluta kvällen! Men vad gör det. Lika bra att börja med det bästa direkt. Med nya Ultimate Rebel i ryggen, ytterligare en ny kritikerrosad platta så bjuds det givetvis friskt på nytt material från denna. Startskottet är energifyllda Doing It Pretty och löper vidare med To Fire Up, The Mess och Rebel Machine. Däremellan hinner dem med att bränna av rökare som Dirt Bound, Butter You Up och odödliga Down.

Niklas på trummor har fått låna Corrodeds trumset och leker ständigt med klockspelet...