When you have a week to spare sandwiched between Guns ‘N Roses support duties and a prestigious slot at the “Back to the Beginning” Birmingham mega-show, what to do with yourselves? Well in Rival Sons case you get out on the road and pound some of the streets that rock shows sometimes forget. Last night was Bournemouth and tomorrow night is the rock n' roll capital of Stockton-on-Tees, but this very evening they have decided to prove that the North West rock scene protrudes much further than Manchester. Hard rocking shows by name artists are hard to find in Liverpool and the Scouse rock aficionados have done Rival Sons proud by filling the joint.
Read More
It used to be so clear cut. You either liked metal or you liked pop. They were two polar opposites, existing in different and wholly incompatible worlds. You never crossed the beams or even contemplated being able to like both, that was, frankly, heresy. Somewhere along the way, the younger generation have blurred the battle lines that we saw as being so uncrossable. They ignored our protests that pop and metal don’t combine, and you end up with nights like this.
Read More
If the joke isn’t funny anymore then nobody has told the five thousand people queuing in a storm to get into the venue. This is the night we were warned to stay in, batten down the hatches and hold our children close, yet a sold out crowd has ignored the prophets of doom and ventured out into the night. Even the Man Citeh game was cancelled due to Storm Ciara but Victoria Warehouse didn’t care that there was at least an hour long queue to get into the venue. Seriously if you’re going to frisk everyone and check the contents of their wallets then get more staff on the doors. Perhaps use the security who go around the vicinity bullying punters into paying £10 to park on public land would be a start.
Read More
When first informed about Norwegian band TNT’s upcoming 30th anniversary tour of ‘Tell No Tales’ featuring the return of the U.S. born Tony Harnell on vocals following his brief stint in Skid Row, I realised the only way I would get to see them would be to jump on the first plane to their homeland where their popularity remains strong to this day.
Add in the fact that over the last 20 years Tony had been consistently in and out of TNT, his latest return has done little to assure me that it might not be TNT’s last tour. As they were one of the 80′s finest hard rock bands I had yet to see live, I was left with no choice but to head for Drammen, a small town south of Oslo, on a cold dark Saturday night.
Read More