Tag Archives: gig review

Nottingham Rock City

11^th 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.

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 15^th April 2013).

They are also performing on the main stage of Download on Sunday 16^th 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