Category Archives: Music reviews

Concert Review: Halestorm

Nottingham Rock City

11th March 2013

Support: Sacred Mother Tongue

             In This Moment

 

I’ve finally recovered enough to write, although I think I’ve come down with a chill from standing in the cold waiting to get in. Either that or all the singing has completely wrecked my throat. So I had a great night, eventually, if you hadn’t already realised that. But I’m supposed to be reviewing the whole night, not just Halestorm.

Doors opened at 7.30pm and I left my hotel and strolled up to Rock City at about 7.50pm, getting there for 8pm. Which was a massive mistake; I should have got there much earlier and waited in the queue. But I’m not much good at queuing so I stayed at my hotel and listened to Kerrang! radio instead. Anyway, there was queue, a massive queue. The crowd were cheerful, even in the cold, and the anticipation of a good night was palpable.

Rock City’s door staff are efficient enough that I was only waiting for ten minutes to get in. The Main Room, in which Sacred Mother Tongue were already playing, was packed almost to the doors. I managed to get myself a decent place to stand and stayed there for the rest of the night.

Halestorm: As good live as they are on their records.
Halestorm: As good live as they are on their records.

Sacred Mother Tongue

8.00pm – 8.25pm

Andy James – Guitars

Darrin South – Vocals

Josh Gurner – Bass

Lee Newell – Drums

I managed to hear the last fifteen minutes of their set, three songs – and I actually recognised one of them (Seven, from their EP ‘A Light Shines’)! I really quite liked this band, even if occasionally their singer, Darrin South, swerves in to yelling rather than singing, their guitarist (Andy James) is spectacular and the songs are really good. Their set was a great way to start the night.

After the gig I bought their EP from the merch stand; it was an enjoyable listen this morning, certainly woke me up anyway. I had a listen to their album ‘The Ruin of Man’, it was slightly heavier than ‘A Light Shines’ but still enjoyable. I shall look forward to hearing their new album ‘Out of the Darkness (released 15th April 2013).

They are also performing on the main stage of Download on Sunday 16th June 2013, and I shall undoubtedly be there to see them.

In This Moment

8.45pm – 9.20pm

Maria Brink – Vocals

Chris Howorth – Lead Guitar

Travis Johnson – Bass

Randy Weitzel – Guitar

Tom Hane – Drums

 

I’d never heard of this band before Monday night, and I’d happily never hear from them again.

The singer tried, possibly too hard, but no amount of props and swirly hair can make up for the fact that her voice is weak, she didn’t annunciate clearly – I had no idea what she was saying most of the time – and her voice had the same effect as nails on chalkboards i.e. I wanted to plug my ears with cheese. The rest of the band was good though. They dressed up in a slightly less silly a manner than Ms Brink, while still being  a bit daft, their stage antics and interaction with the crowd as well as their skill with their instruments almost made up for the shockingly bad singing and incoherent lyrics. They almost had me bobbing along to the second song but I lost interest again on the third.

Strangely enough, I didn’t bother getting anything of theirs from the merchandise desk on my way out.

Halestorm

9.40pm – 11.00pm

Lzzy Hale – Vocals, Piano

Arejay Hale – Drums

Joseph Hottinger – Guitar, Vocals

Josh Smith – Bass Guitar, Vocals

 

It’s not often a band sounds as good live as they do on their records but Halestorm are definitely one of those that do. Playing a set that mostly consisted of the songs from their most recent album ‘The Strange Case of…’ as well as a couple of covers, and the odd song from ‘Halestorm’, they opened with Grammy awards winning ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’.

Lzzy Hale is an engaging front woman, who sings with passion and plays her guitars with skill. Her ‘Beautiful with You’ almost moved me to tears, while ‘Daughters of Darkness’ had the crowd screaming along. Her interaction with the audience was a mixture of rabble-rousing and humility. She couldn’t thank us enough for coming to see them.

Arejay Hale is an impressive drummer; his drum solo during ‘Daughters of Darkness’ was certainly memorable, especially after he threw his sticks in to the crowd and continued with his hands, and then the gigantic drumsticks. He also suggested, before ‘I Get Off’ that Nottingham should change its name to Naughtyham.

The Hale’s are an amusing pair but their guitarist and bass player are no less impressive musicians for not being as forward. The chemistry and friendship between every single member of Halestorm was obvious, as was the fact that they were having fun.

I had a great night, and invested in a t-shirt, patch and signed copy of ‘The Strange Case Of…’ to remember it by.

 

I’m not going to dissemble; I went to Rock City hoping that Halestorm would impress live as they did on their records and I was not disappointed. I discovered a new band, Sacred Mother Tongue, which I will try to see again, and saw a band, In This Moment, that I hope never to have to hear again. Other people might disagree, but then I heard a few people mutter that they didn’t think much to the support acts either.

Well, that’s my review of the night. Going to rest again now, I still feel rather rough,

Rose

 

Still recovering from a Halestorm!

Just a quick post, because I still feel like I’m hungover even though I didn’t drink last night. I understand this feeling is referred to as the bangover. Whatever name it has it’s exhausting, but worth it.

Last night Halestorm showed why they are the exception to my ‘I don’t like female metal/rock bands/singers’ rule. I honestly find most female singers too ‘screechy’ – their voices are too high pitched and have the same effect on me as nails on a chalkboard. Lzzy Hale on the other hand has a lovely voice.

I’ll tell you all about it and review the whole concert, including the two support acts, when I’m feeling human again, can get my notes in order and can get my laptop to a WiFi connection.
Bye

Rose

Review: The Rasmus, 15th December 2012, Nottingham Rock City

In an intimate venue, to a decent crowd, The Rasmus finished their tour of Russia and Europe.

The Main Room of Nottingham Rock City last night played host to the band mostly known in the UK for ‘In the Shadows’, their 2003 hit from the album ‘Dead Letter’ for the forth time. A mixed crowd waited patiently from half six when the doors opened until half eight for the band to appear, drinking and enjoying the music.

The Dirty Youth, the support act, warmed the crowd up, attempting to organise a sing-along with the crowd, most of whom had never seen them before. I think they will have gained a few fans at last nights show though. The songs were good, annoyingly catchy, and the musicians talented. They made the effort to sign things and talk to people at the merch desk after the gig.

And I had to resist the urge to steal the guitarists hat.

The Rasmus were welcomed vociferously by an enthusiastic crowd. While the room was not packed the floor was full. Giving a great performance, a mix of new songs – ‘I’m a mess’, and older hits – ‘Falling’ etc, the band really entertained. At one point Lauri grabbed a guitar, climbed on a stack of amps and performed from there. The audience sang every song with the band as they celebrated a successful tour.

Part way through the band were interrupted by ‘Scandinavian hunks’ with a letter which Lauri (vocals) read – it was to a young lady in the audience from her boyfriend – a proposal. The lass in question was called on to the stage and asked for her answer. The band sang in Finnish a song Lauri considered perfect for the occasion. Luckily the woman said yes.

The gig continued with some gentler songs as Lauri joined Pauli on guitars and sang as they all took seats at the front of the stage. The night continued and was over far too soon. Towards the end I found it a little difficult to hear what was being sung, although whether that was Lauri’s voice or the volume of the crowd was hard to tell.

The shouts of the crowd for ‘more, more’ after the band left, and the cheers and clapping when they returned for their encore could leave nobody in doubt as to the band’s popularity.

I had a great night, the music was excellent and the venue good. Even from the back of the room there was a great view of the stage and the band.

And now I’m going to collapse on the train home and try to get some sleep.

Bye,

Rose

And something else I remembered I had to do

Add to the previous list

7. Transfer some of my short stories from here to Live Journal Done, just now.

8. Finish typing up a short story I wrote at the beginning of the month. Done, just now. Interrupted multiple times by having a conversation with friends. All these social media sites are very distracting 😀

Time to go and do the rest of the things on my list.

Review: ‘The Rasmus’ by The Ramus

I don’t often review anything but books, but I felt like reviewing this album. There may be more album reviews in future. Specifically I am reviewing this album because I’m going to see The Rasmus in concert in December, and since I’m going to review the concert I may as well review the album the tour is supporting.

The Rasmus – Lauri Ylonon (Vocals), Eero Heinonen (bass) , Aki Hakala (drums), and Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar), released this, their eighth album in June of this year.  Produced in Finland and released on Warner records, this self-titled album shows the influence of Ylonen ‘s solo work. It has more of an electro-pop feel to it than previous albums from The Rasmus. However it also shows a continuation in tone from 2008’s ‘Black Roses’. It is possible to see an evolution in the sound if The Rasmus from their energetic early albums ‘Peep’ and ‘Playboys’, to the more ‘rock’ ‘Dead Letters’ through to the present day. The more mature sound still has a rock edge to it but also returns, a little, to their earlier more ‘pop’ or ‘electronic’ sound.

As usual the subject matter lyrically is that of love lost and found, again a common theme in their albums since 2004’s ‘Dead Letters’. Tackled with their usual poetic lyricism the songs do not feel hackneyed. I particularly like ‘I’m a mess’. I thought the video for ‘Stranger’ the best. Although I still can’t work out why Lauri’s while wandering around a city dressed as a king.

All in all, I enjoyed The Rasmus’s self-titled offering. It’s a bit different, but not such a departure from their earlier albums to make the difference jarring.

5/5

Blink 182 At Sheffield Motorpoint Arena 17th June 2012

On June 17th 2012 Blink 182 appeared in Sheffield as part of their UK tour which covers many major cities in June and July this year.

At Sheffield they were supported by Glaswigian quartet Twin Atlantic, and fellow Americans The All-American Rejects.

Twin Atlantic faced the twin difficulties of being fairly ‘new’ compared to those who followed them, and the half empty arena as the crowds made use of the bar and merchendise stands. They recieved a polite if unenthusiastic welcome from those present but their presence on stage didn’t prevent people from nipping off to the toilets and the bar.

Sam McTrusty (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) tried to get the crowd going, and finally managed to get the front few rows bouncing along, unfortunately it wasn’t until they performed their penultimate song ‘Make a beast of myself’ that the crowd really warmed to them, and they got their biggest cheer. They finished well on ‘Free’.

Twin atlantic – 3/5 for effort, and they weren’t too bad.

The All-American Rejects entered to the largest roar of the evening thus far, the arena being almost full at this point, althought people were still making their way in.

‘Dirty Little Secret’ opened their set, ‘Gives you hell’ closed it. They had the whole crowd singing with them annd were cheered wildly as they left the stage. Tyson Ritter (lead vocal, bass guitarist) had a great rappour with the crowd, encouraging the to get wild, complaining they weren’t wild enough and calling a member of the security staff a banana at one point. Described by one audience member as ‘the most entertaining front man’ they had ever seen, Tyson Ritter seems to lose control over his legs at times, darting about the stage and tumbling to the ground, singing on his knees at times.

The All-American Rejects – 5/5 thoroughly entertaining, I hope they get to headline a tour of their own soon.

Blink 182 appeared briefly to much excitement once sound checks had been made, teasing the crowd, and then the curtain dropped. when it was raised again the audience made the band very welcome. The entire audience was on their feet by the second song, their backdrops and light show were fantastic, the giant side screens showing close-ups of mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge.

They proved themselves still as childish as they were ten years ago, although this time they had their own children with them. Mark Hoppus mentioned his son being in hospital, and when later on in the evening a message was sent that he was out of hospital the crowd cheered. The onstage banter was amusing and proved that they might be older but not that much more grown up than when they started twenty years ago.

The set list was a mix of classics such as ‘What’s my age again?’ and material from Neighbourhoods (2011) such as ‘Ghost on the dance floor’. The arena was hardly full but it didn’t make a difference, the audience sang along and had a great time.

Towards the end there was an excellent drum solo from Travis Barker, displaying his technical skills with flare, followed by a short accoustic set by Messers. Hoppus and Delonge, who appeared in the sound pit unexpectedly in the centre of the crowd, playing two songs including ‘Reckless abandon’ to much excitement and joy.

Blink 182 – 5/5 Again a thoroughly enjoyable set.

It was over all an excellent show, and special mention must be made for the four fanboys who were sat in front of me and couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen, and who sang every song, danced all the way through and were in general quite adorable.

This was the first concert I have ever been to, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’m planning to go to as many more as I can afford. Next up should be Rasmus in Nottingham in December, but I’m hoping to get to see ‘Reckless Love’ in Sheffield in October, and ‘LostProphets’ and ‘Frank Turner’ in Lincoln in November, but we shall see what happens.