Beartooth were once the gritty and gnarly bastions of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but have reached such a point of success that they have become a slick mainstage alt-rock band for all. We’re promised the wildest night ever by frontman Caleb Shomo and, together with the superb Landmvrks and Polaris, it’s not such an outlandish claim.
Read MoreThe room we are in tonight is pretty basic for a venue with such a huge history (it’s the old Factory Records HQ). Bare walls, a small stage, not even any proper stage lights. Yep, basic covers it. The bar is well-stocked though and the atmosphere is warm and inviting in anticipation of one of Germany’s finest up-and-coming hard rock bands.
Read MoreThe reverential position that Lacuna Coil now holds has been achieved through the complete antithesis to overnight success. Formed 30 years ago in Milan asSleep of Right they have slowly but diligently built a unified fan base. This is their ninth visit to this fair city and on each excursion to our beloved northern outpost they have subtly but significantly increased the amount of people present. This evening's patronage is to herald the arrival of their 10th studio album (and first in six years) which will see the light of the day early next year.
Read MoreWhen OGUN returned after a fourteen year hiatus a couple of years ago, it might not have been in anyone’s minds that it would take them to their first studio album. But it has, and tonight sees the culmination of their hard work and efforts. This show at District in Liverpool serves not only as a headline gig for the band to launch their album “World of Hate”, but also allows us to see some of the best thrash that the area has to offer, as well as a progressive treat in a band we’ve not seen for a while.
Read MoreSometimes you just want a melodic alt-rock band that delivers soaring clean vocals and catchy sing-along tunes – enter a reunited Mallory Knox. A ten-year anniversary tour of album ‘Asymmetry’ has come on the back of reunion dates at SlamDunk, and tonight gives the Manchester fans another chance to dance and sing along to all the classics from the Cambridgeshire rockers.
Read MoreThe 80s are calling, and the Rebellion has answered. A night of heavy metal is in store, pious and pure, with studded leather, red bandanas and leopard print leggings the uniform tonight. This is one of the most glittering crowds to date at this Manchester main-stay venue, you could pluck any punter at random, throw them on stage with a microphone or guitar, and they’d look the part at least.
Read MoreFor all his household name and national treasure status, Alice Cooper is still very much an enigma. There are two distinct personalities at play. On the one hand, he is a Vaudeville showman, hawking around his macabre freakshow designed to shock and scare in equal measure. On the other hand, he is the custodian of probably one of the finest musical songbooks of the rock 'n' roll era. An Alice Cooper live performance is a fine-tuned balance between the two. As he sings in ‘Hello Hooray’ (sadly AWOL from tonight’s setlist) “Ready as this audience that's coming here to dream, Loving every second, every moment, every scream”. You go to Alice Cooper for a Circus of Horrors but packed with tracks that have perminated themselves into the rock lexicon. He is a living legend, with the musical credits to back up those credentials.
Read MoreCreeping around the dark corner into what feels like a witches cave, this vespertine exhibition of siren songstresses is just getting revved up and already the venue is filling out. The merchandise is set up in its usual space facing the bar, patrons peeking over their shoulders to marvel at the display of artwork as they wait in line for a beer.
Read MoreThere’s a notable and eager queue outside the venue as they patiently wait for the doors to open on The Ghost Inside headlining in Manchester once again. The whole bill tonight is a mixture of variations on hardcore and metalcore, and for each band there are elements that set them apart from their peers stylistically and visually.
Read MoreNostalgia is a potent force. It’s your own personal Time Machine, allowing us to revisit the sounds and the essence of our past exploits. It also has highly redemptive and restorative powers. It allows the whitewashing of career indiscretions and focuses on the highs, while simultaneously burying the lows. Queensryche are case in point, as the 80’s morphed into the 90’s they seemed poised to join Maiden and Metallica in the really big league of metallic heavy weights. “Operation Mindcrime “had position them as the thinking person’s metal band and follow-up “Empire” increased tenfold their commercial clout, thrusting them into arena status. For a short smidgen of time they had the Midas touch and could do no wrong. Then grunge happened.
Read MoreBlackpool’s favourite rock n roll rabble-rousers Takeaway Thieves return to their spiritual home, to celebrate the launch of their long-awaited second album “Diamond Point”. The Waterloo’s Sunday Service feels like an apt way to kick off this next stage of the Takeaway Thieves career as we all come together to worship at the altar of good-time rock n’ roll in the company of some of its greatest disciples…
Read MoreIt’s a crisp evening in Manchester, and the crowd are eager as they queue outside Rebellion with hopes of setting sail on a voyage led by symphonic-pirate-metallers Visions of Atlantis. The headlining band are fundamentally known for their captivating symphonic metal inspired by tales of the sea, and have been selling out venue after venue on this tour with their nautical nights of symphonic-metal dynamism. It’s another full-house tonight and the place is buzzing with anticipation, a palpable sense of musical narrative adventure hanging in the air.
Read MoreSwedish melodic death metal, that most geographically defined of subgenres. It arose in the mid-90s when our music was at its lowest ebb. Grunge, "alt-metal” and the early spectre of nu-metal have swept away the more traditional confines of our world. Metallica seemingly had turned their back on everything they had built and had started wearing eyeliner and trying to sound like Alice in Chains and a Bruce-less Iron Maiden couldn’t even get themselves arrested.
Read MoreIt’s a Thursday night in Blackpool, the weekend is almost within touching distance and what better way to bring a busy week to a close than to spend an evening in a great venue with an equally fantastic band providing some delicious rock n soul goodness. And no, that’s no typo, I did mean to type rock and soul; for that’s what Xander and the Peace Pirates deliver; music to provide a balm to the heart and mind and all points in between.
Read MoreEmbarking on an evening of dark bewitchment, Rebellion Manchester hosts four enthralling metal bands with Romanian rockers Bucovina at the helm. The essence of the night is Folk Metal, with mystical melodics taking centrestage, charming medieval quirks, and the undeniable stench of the Scandinavian metal spirit, blackening the night.
Read MoreLet's be honest with ourselves, in a band as cool as Guns n’ Roses (and there was a good chunk of time in the late 80’s when they were as cool as fuck) Duff McKagan was the really cool one. When we were miming in the mirror to our bootlegged copy of “Appetite for Destruction” he was the one we wanted to be. Whilst the others came from the lineage of glam metal, Duff with his short hair and snarl was 100% punk. He brought the aggro, he brought the attitude, he was the linchpin that stopped Guns n’ Roses from being yet another Los Angeles vanity project.
Read MoreWhilst on the face of it this tour may come across as a bit of a hodgepodge of a package, there is a defining factor that links all three acts. That is highly charismatic front men. James Bruner, Luke Spiller and Barns Courtney may all exist in their own distinct musical universes, but they share a compelling magnetism that is absolutely captivating. When each of them are on the stage they are like attention hoovers wielding a gravitational pull that sucks all the interest towards them. They all have the innate ability to hold an audience in their hands and it is that allure that makes this evening so fascinating.
Read MoreApocalyptica have spent over 25 years refusing to be typecast. Starting life as a classical style Metallica tribute act, their 1996 debut “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos” remains one of the most stunningly unique albums ever released. A further eight albums over a nearly 30-year career has seen them bring in a drummer and vocalist, write their own material and firmly break out of the mould of novelty cover act. All of which makes the decision to record a second Metallica cover album and tour it with a set list made up of exclusively Metallica covers both baffling and bold.
Read MoreHarbinger top the bill in what is otherwise a showcase of local talent for this all-dayer at Rebellion. There’s a mix of styles on display, but at the core if it all is metal, and some unique and fresh takes on various sub-genres at that. It’s an early start, and we’re told the venue has plenty of footfall from the mid-afternoon doors until the evening when we land at the venue.
Read MoreHaving an addiction to live music is not a cheap pursuit. Club gigs are now coming in at around twenty quid and to see a more “name act” in either an Academy, Apollo or various O2 establishments is probably going to set you back the best part of fifty notes. If you are parting with that much hard currency for a night out, you want dependability. You want to be reassured that you will have a good time and are getting adequate bang for your buck. Cannibal Corpse are nothing but dependable.
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