Sons of Wolves [Gig Review]

Sons of Icarus [SOI] + Fighting Wolves [FW]

Tap N’ Tumbler [TNT]

Nottingham

22.02.14

Tonight I’m at the tap n’ tumbler in Nottingham to check out not one but two rock bands from down south, from Guilford it’s the much talked about Sons of Icarus who are currently on a nine date co-headlining tour with London’s Fighting Wolves. Both bands are unfamiliar to me which seems to be a reoccurring theme to 2014 so far.

On arrival I find the TNT already packed to the rafters a whole hour or so before show time and after the sound checks it’s even more crowded and the air of anticipation has increased to maximum. Around half past nine we see the first band hit the stage, Fighting Wolves are Paul Blue (lead vocals/guitar) Danny Martin (drums) Jack Bourne (guitar) Connor Blue (bass) and Pierre Badass (guitar) he’s from France you know. FW are a post grunge rock band who you will like if you’re into bands such as the Foo Fighters, amongst their achievements so far are playing the steelhouse festival in 2013 the year they released their debut album Chapter 1. Tonight they open their set with the song Breath in Breath Out, it’s a slow build up rising to a crescendo, front man Paul Blue injects plenty of energy into his performance so much so he seems to have to hang onto his trousers for the entirety of the set (tighten ya belt dude). In fact most of their songs go up and down in tempo from melodic lyrics one minute to hard edged grungy vocals the next, all the songs are driven by rock solid drum beats and punchy riffs. FW finished their ten song set with One Minute More a cracking number which raised the roof at the TNT and rounded off a very entertaining show, Paul Blue humbly declaring to the audience to stick around for Sons of Icarus “they’re a much better band than us” pretty much highlighted what a great bunch of guys Fighting Wolves are.

A quick change over, well not that quick and it’s time for Sons of Icarus to entertain the Nottingham masses, this young four piece band were not what I was expecting and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The presence of Maria Artingstoll in the audience should have alerted me to the quality and style of SOI, she is the former booking agent for the now defunct Mars Bonfire (boy, they were a band). Over the last few years SOI have played with the likes of Black Stone Cherry, Rival Sons, The Answer and Clutch to name just a few and apparently they played Sonisphere in 2011, I was there but sadly missed their set. Describing them selves as “a brand new, young, British, organic, visceral four piece hard rock band” and comprising of Andy Masson (lead vocals/guitar) Steve Balkwill (guitar) Alex Masson (bass/backing vocals) and Mike ‘Quilly’ McQuillan (drums) SOI immediately had the TNT crowd eating out of their hands. Musically reminiscent of the afore mentioned Rival Sons SOI mixed up their set with both original songs and a few covers in fact when I spoke to Quilly after the show he told me they gauge the content of their set by the audience, playing what feels right at the time. Their original songs like Sick to the Teeth, You Want it All and Can’t Let Go are prime examples of the bands inherent style, rip roaring vocals from Andy Masson (suffering no ill effects from having his hair cut short) to immense lead brakes from guitarist Steve Balkwill are bound to impress. The band eventually finished with their new single Let it Burn, I say eventually because the usual trick of leaving the stage and waiting for the audience to shout encore backfired on them, they came back and made us have it anyway. Let it burn isn’t typical of most SOI songs it’s a fast paced rock number that will grab wider attention but that’s what singles are meant to do after all. If you get the chance to catch SOI live then go see them I will definitely be checking them out again in the future. 

With the curtain coming down on yet another great show at the Tap N’ Tumbler the boys from both bands are heading north of the border up to Glasgow after spending the rest of the night in fun filled Nottingham.

GD Manofmetal.

Check out both bands on their websites:

Fighting Wolves: http://www.fightingwolves.com/

Sons of Icarus: http://sonsoficarus.com/

Videos of Fighting Wolves & Sons of Icarus from the Tap N' Tumbler by GD:

Ship Ahoy! [Gig Review]

East Town Pirates + Lipshock

The Tap N’ Tumbler/ Sitwell Tavern

Nottingham/ Derby

06/07.02.14

Last September I was Shanghaied by a scurvy bunch of pirates I sailed off into the seven seas of sin with the East Town Pirates, they were the support band for JD & The FDCs on two back to back gigs at the tap n’ tumbler Nottingham and the following night at the Sitwell tavern Derby. They were an instant hit with me, I bought both of their albums the eponymously titled East Town Pirates released in 2010 and the 2013 album Seven Seas of Sin and I’ve hardly stopped playing them ever since.

So another year and two more back to back gigs at the same venues they played last year, this time however the East Town Pirates are travelling from their home port of Ipswich to the East Midlands to headline both shows.

The first of these being at the tap n’ tumbler in Nottingham and the decks have been swabbed, the bar staff have matching pirate eye patches and there’s some spiced rum punch served up in a Captain Morgan’s cannonballs with the dubious title of ‘cannonballs deep’ it had to be drunk so it did me hearties oooh arrrrr!

Support on both the shows comes in the form of Coventry hard rockers Lipshock who describe their musical style as “trashy, hook-laden rock n’ roll from the heart of the UK” and they sure do have an eclectic sound, there’s Black Sabbath style riffs, sleazy vocals reminiscent at times of Buckcherry, it’s hard to pin this band’s style down. The twin guitar sound perfected by Thin Lizzy back in the 70’s is all there and it sounds to me like the creative influences behind their song writing is harvested from many sources ranging from Velvet Revolver to The Sweet. The cover that they finished the Derby show with was Wild Cherry’s Play That Funky Music (White Boy) well I didn’t see that coming, well I did because they played it in Nottingham the night before but it was not what you’d expect from this band. If you get the chance go check out Lipshock don’t hesitate, they had the girls at the Sitwell tavern dancing, a big stamp of approval and no mistake.

Ahoy me hearties it’s all hands on deck for tis time to weigh anchor and splice the mainsail for our journey to the seven seas of sin as the East Town Pirates (ETP) prepare to fire a broadside salvo, so avast ye scurvy varmints and come along a me. There’s no way I can finish this review writing like that and indeed apart from the lyrics of their songs the ETP don’t go overboard with the old pirate thing, musically they’re a rock punk band as opposed to a punk rock band. Hailing as they do from the east coast port of Ipswich it’s easy to see where they got their name and the crew members are, Rikki Rumoldew (lead vocals) Shameless Seamus (bass/vocals) Kutthroat Kev (guitar/vocals) Jonnie Murder (guitar/vocals) and last but not least Zac Cousteau (drums).

From their first moment on stage right to their last the ETP ignite a powder keg among the audience with their infectiously addictive songs, songs like Glory Days, Ship Ahoy and the titular East Town Pirates are guaranteed to get you singing and even dancing along. Lead singer Rikki is 100% punk rock with his delivery while the rest of the band provide harmonic backing vocals throughout the set of lively songs, most of which have a story to tell.

The Ballad of Tobias Gill is one such song, based on the true story of a negro Dragoon found guilty of murder in 1750 it was only after he’d been hanged that they realised he was innocent. Another song is The Revenge of Emmy Tot it’s about how a lady was abducted by a Dutch sea captain and how subsequently she escapes by cutting his head off and The Curse of Captain Blood is another tale of caution.

John Dobbs’ Bones is witty ditty about how when someone committed suicide they used to be buried face down at a crossroads, all these songs are introduced by Rikki like he’s auditioning for Jackanory.

Every song is a jig dancing gem all played out tongue in cheek the lyrics of Throw Your Arms Around Me Darling are worthy of a ‘carry on’ double entendre “let me take you in the galley let me love you fore and aft let me chase you round the poop deck cos’ I know it makes you laugh” queue Sid James laugh ooh no stop messin’ about. At the Sitwell gig the ETP played a brand new song Voodoo Pirate Rock n’ Roll it came over as being more ‘glam rock’ than punk and if there was any justice in this world it would be number one in the hit parade (does that even happen any more?) this song was dedicated to Mr. Jamie Delerict of JD & The FDCs fame who was lurking about at the Sitwell, it’s not often I see him in his civvies.

Both these gigs were maximum fun, they made the sun shine indoors while it blew a gale outside and I have to say this, having only seen the ETP a couple of times before from the moment I walked in the tap n’ tumbler they personally came over to talk to me as if we were old ship mates, that kind of personal touch can make all the difference when it comes to show time. In Derby the ETP came into the Weatherspoon’s pub for something to eat before the gig, I happened to be there as well, we all sat around a big table as if we were in the ships galley eating hard tack or was it Nachos? Anyway the upshot of all this was, I think I’ve been hired as their catering manager, “it says two sausages” Rikki.

The night after the Sitwell gig the boys were setting sail for Coventry to round off a three gig raid on the east midlands but I’m sure we’ll be able to shout ship ahoy!  Before too long when the East Town Pirates next sail into port to play for us their nautical ditties of smuggling and mutiny.

Check out both bands on facebook…

East Town Pirates: https://www.facebook.com/easttownpirates.1

Lipshock: https://www.facebook.com/lipshock

GD Manofmetal.

Seven Seas of Sin [East Town Pirates Videos]

Six videos from the East Town Pirates gigs @ The Tap n' Tumbler Nottingham & The Sitwell Tavern Derby (February 6th & 7th 2014)

Casket Case [Gig Review]

Teenage Casket Company [TCC] + Three Thirds Below + LeeTabix

Tap N’ Tumbler [TNT]

Nottingham

30.01.14

For the first time sine the Noize Level Critical all-dayer back in May of last year I’m off to see Teenage Casket Co. play a full ‘plugged in’ set tonight at the Tap n’ Tumbler in Nottingham and I can’t wait. I’ve been going to see TCC since 2005 an unbelievable nine years ago, coming through several trials and tribulations over the years the current line-up of the band, Rob Wylde (lead vocals/guitar) Rob Lane (bass) Mike ‘Spike’ Hollinshead (drums) and new boy Dave ‘Silverjet’ Kerr (lead guitar) give a different dynamic and slightly different direction than previous line-ups have. Most of the old favourite TCC songs are still in the live set occupying around 50% of the stage time were as the rest of the time is filled up with their new songs off their brand new album, the aptly named Still Standing.  

But I’m getting a head of myself a little, it’s Thursday night here at the TNT and around the corner at The Rescue Rooms The Quireboys are playing an acoustic set so the turn out at this gig is quite a remarkable achievement and speaks volumes for how much TCC are loved in Nottingham. First up tonight are a last minute (and I mean last minute) replacement support band called Three Thirds Below a four piece local group who describe themselves as a post hardcore alternative band, I’ve never seen them before but after playing around a forty minute set I would definitely go see these young guys again. They sounded like a melodic ‘classic rock’ band but they had a hard core edge and boy can they play. 

During the changeover between the bands we were entertained by one man oral percussion orchestra LeeTabix this guy is an insane ‘beatboxer’ with an amazing talent, you wouldn’t believe the sounds he can achieve however at the risk of sounding like an old fart, I just don’t get why he was playing this gig, musically his repertoire had nothing to do with rock music and belonged more in a R&B club.

Back to the main action and TCC’s set opened with the title track off the new album Still Standing, this was swiftly followed by other new songs First Night of Your Life, You only Love Me When You Hate me and Takes a Little Time. For a couple of years TCC went out as a three piece and the one guitar approach to their material didn’t work in my opinion so with ‘new’ boy Dave Kerr, an accomplished guitarist, lead singer and song writer in his own right joining the band their sound is now ‘full’ once again. In fact all four members of TCC have many other musical projects on the go all at the same time, Rob Wylde is a current member of the glam rock legends that are Tigertailz and Rob’ Laney 74’ Lane has played for many other bands in his time including LA hard rockers the Bullet Boys and together they form half of the Poison tribute band Poizon.

Spike plays a plethora of instruments as well as the drums and peruse many solo projects whereas Dave Kerr front’s his own rock band Silverjet.

Sadly I had to leave at the start of TCC’s penultimate song, Cocaine a song from their 2006 EP Eat your heart out, it’s Thursday night and when the last bus goes GD Manofmetal is out of here, maybe starting the show a tad earlier on a week day would be the sensible approach. Having read the set list I know another old favourite, Don’t Look at Me Like That was due to be the
last song of the night but by then I was on the Rainbow 1 heading for the boarder. 

The Videos below were shot @ the tap n' tumbler Nottingham (30.01.14)

Check out the bands on their websites:

Teenage Casket Co.: http://www.teenagecasketcompany.co.uk/

Three Thirds Below: https://www.facebook.com/Threethirdsbelow

LeeTabix: https://www.facebook.com/leetabixuk

GD Manofmetal.