Noize Leval Critical [Videos]

• Little Mammoth
• Spill 16
• Teenage Casket Co.
• Dirt Box Disco 
• Gypsy Pistoleros 
• Exit State 
• Dead Audio Saints 
• The Goddamn Electric 
• Hellbound Hearts  
• Suicide Tuesday
• The Maze
• Nottingham
• 03.05.14

Noize Leval Critical [Festival Review] Part 2:

Exit State + Dead Audio Saints + The Goddamn Electric +

Hellbound Hearts  + Suicide Tuesday

The Maze

Nottingham

03.05.14

This review is the ‘edited highlights’ of the first day of the annual two day festival hosted by Noize Level Critical Radio Show (NLC) in aid of RACP UK (Rock Against Child Pornography). With around two dozen bands playing over the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th of May at the Maze on Mansfield road in Nottingham it’s a positive feast of the best underground bands around at the moment. This year The Manofmetal only attended day one so here’s my highlights of the second half of that first day of the festival.

Exit State are a Lancashire based band I’ve seen many times before, I caught them headlining this very venue back in January of this year, they always deliver an entertaining set and today is no exception. Fronted by the likable Roy Bright (lead vocals/guitar) along with Matt Harris (lead guitar) Phil Ireland (bass) and Peat Hicks (drums) Exit State fit into the hard rock genre of music but they make many forays into the realms of heavy metal, punk and indi. They’re signed to the Rocksector Records label and have achieved much over the last few years but it’s the quality of their songs that is the main reason why they are so popular and with three full albums already under their belts there’s plenty to choose from. Playing for a meagre half hour here at the maze today must have posed somewhat of a dilemma when compiling their set list, ‘I Know Where You Are’ off their first album ‘Death of a Rock Star’ and the sing along ‘Is There Anybody Out There’ being particular favourites of mine, while bringing us bang up to date ‘Pull the Thread’ from their current album ‘Let’s See it All’ are the highlights of a quality set.

If you’ve read part one of this review you might remember a reference I made to ‘rock family trees’ well the next band to take the stage are progeny of that particular genealogy. Dead Audio Saints were born only last year, brought forth into the world kicking and screaming out of the ruins of Velvet Star, upon first viewing both bands don’t seem dissimilar however there are several contrasts. Lead singer Danny Jones has reinvented himself for Dead Audio Saints, gone is the shirtless Iggy Pop like posturing in favour of a darker more erratic performance. The shirt remained on throughout (despite the pleas of some ladies in the crowd) and using two mics for the duration of every song (one normal, one with echo) Danny manages to look and sound considerably different from the Velvet Star days. Inevitably Dead Audio Saints do play some old Velvet Star songs an occurrence given time I’m sure will cease to happen. Their facebook blurb says DAS are “Bolstering gritty garage punk vibes with contemporary loops Dead Audio Saints blur standard genre lines!” This is a pretty accurate description of what they sound like but don’t take their word for it or mine, go see them for your self and report back to me, I’d be interested in your opinions.

The next two bands on the bill here at NLC festival are new to me, The Goddamn Electric hail from the Manchester area, they claim to spend more time in the rehearsal room than they do on hairstyles, this is a fact. With an eclectic appearance The Goddamn Electric comprising of Tommy (lead vocals) Al (lead guitar) Justin (bass) and Gavin (drums) took their name from the Pantera song of the same name however they’re definitely not Pantera clones, they’ve got more in common with bands like Black Stone Cherry with southern rock and blues overtones to their music. I definitely want to see this band again as they seemed to be on and off the stage before I had chance to blink, a hors d'oeuvres when I wanted a three course meal… with chips.

The penultimate band of the night are Hellbound Hearts a three piece from York they describe their brand of rock music thusly: “Saw toothed guitars and a rhythm section capable of levelling a city block.... rock and roll as it should be.” A bold claim and one they delivered in a short space of time. Front man Danny Lambert (lead vocals/lead guitar) is both charismatic and amusing as he chats to the crowd between songs while constantly retuning his guitar, his brothers in arms are Jase Brooks (bass) and Andy Black (drums). Again, like the previous band I need to see Hellbound Hearts again, the too short a set proving tantalising, not satisfying, they were good solid stripped down hard rock a trait of most three piece bands that always proves refreshing.

And now the end is near and so I face the final curtain… Suicide Tuesday ceased to be a functioning band toward the end of last year but being staunch supporters of the NLC and RACP they’ve reunited to put in one last performance, to headline day one of the 2014 festival.

So for one last hurrah! Rikki Valentine (lead vocals) Oz Paul (lead guitar) Luke James (drums) and Jonny Suicide (bass) have taken to the stage here at the maze to play an emotional set of memorable songs we all know and love. Songs like ‘Church of Sin’, Dirty Little Thing’ and the poignantly titled ‘Last Time Around’ It’s like they’ve never been away, in fact that’s not true, whether it’s the fact that we will never see Suicide Tuesday again or whether the band members themselves are functioning under a different mind set to normal I’m not sure but tonight’s show is one of their best ever performances.

Last year Suicide Tuesday and Gaz Harris from Gypsy Pistoleros teamed up to record Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ which has become Rock Against Child Pornography and Abuse’s anthem, the song is available to download, all proceeds going to RACP. Tonight’s show was finished on that song with Gazz joining Suicide Tuesday on stage along side guest guitarist Kezza T and the girls of Hell on High Heelz to bring the curtain down an a fantastic first day of such a worthy festival in aid of such a worthy cause.

Just one thing though, although Jonny suicide has moved on to join New Generation Superstars I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Suicide Tuesday, it aint over till it’s over and in one form or other I think we will see this popular Nottingham based rock band return at some point in the future… Watch this space.

For part one of this review check out my previous posting: http://gd2014reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/noize-leval-critical-festival-review.html

For more information on the bands in this review follow the links:

Suicide Tuesday: http://www.suicidetuesday.co.uk/

Hellbound Hearts: https://www.facebook.com/wearehellboundhearts

The Goddamn Electric: http://www.thegde.co.uk/

Dead Audio Saints: https://www.facebook.com/DeadAudioSaints

Exit State: http://www.exitstate.com/

Hell on High Heelz: http://hellonhighheelz.wix.com/hellonhighheelz

GD Manofmetal.

Noize Leval Critical [Festival Review] Part 1:

Little Mammoth + Spill 16 + 

Teenage Casket Co. + Dirt Box Disco + 

Gypsy Pistoleros

The Maze

Nottingham

03.05.14

This review is the ‘edited highlights’ of the first day of the annual two day festival hosted by Noize Level Critical Radio Show (NLC) in aid of RACP UK (Rock Against Child Pornography). With around two dozen bands playing over the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th of May at the Maze on Mansfield road in Nottingham it’s a positive feast of the best underground bands around at the moment. This year The Manofmetal only attended day one so here’s my highlights of the first half of that first day of the festival.

I got there in time to see a band I’ve been hearing lots of good things about recently, Little Mammoth are a brand new female fronted four piece band from the Nottingham area. Lead singer Holly Bolus is an old acquaintance of mine; I say old she’s still only in her early twenties, previously I’ve seen her sing in the very heavy metal band Keltic Jihad and the progressive hard rock band Inner Eden. Well her new group Little Mammoth who formed only last year couldn’t be more different from those early forays into the live music scene, playing a blues rock style of music akin to what bands like Rival Sons are doing so well with these days and having more than one foot onboard the dirigible that is Led Zeppelin, Little Mammoth are the perfect outfit for Holly to showcase here singing and song writing. The three guys behind her are Mark Davies (lead guitar) Alex Leggett (bass guitar) and Sam Renshaw (drums) together they make a tight unit, not surprising as they were all former members of The Vulcans and are the perfect accompaniment for Holly’s ‘Joplinesque’ vocal abilities. With a full album set for release later this year things are moving fast for this elfin elephantine ensemble and judging by the four tracks that are available on their reverbnation page it’s gonna be a debut album to savour.

It’s a quick turnaround here at the maze and next up are Spill Sixteen or Spill 16 if you prefer. Last year the Yorkshire based band had some line-up issues which verged on the farcical in fact casting my gaze around this venue today I spy many other Yorkshire muso’s who’ve been at one time or other members of different bands playing this festival, all very confusing, I don’t envy the person who gets to compile that particular rock family tree. Personnel issues aside it’s good to see Spill 16 back and playing live again, they take inspiration from everyone from Bad Company to Shinedown according to their facbook blurb, they do have an eclectic sound, front man Stevie is in possession of a powerfully soulful voice and along with his fellow cohorts of JJ (guitar) Mewsy (guitar) Indy (bass) and Jon? (drums) I can’t say for sure it’s Jon on drums but that’s the name I’m sticking to. With line-up debacles hopefully a thing of the past I trust these guys will keep going as they have many great songs and are always entertaining; it’s good they’re back. If you want to read my review of Spill 16’s debut album check out my Discworld blog: http://discworlddog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/spill-sixteen-let-it-all-hang-out.html

The heat and humidity inside today’s venue is to say the least uncomfortable so during the changeover periods it’s advisable to exit the building and goldfish like, gulp down copious amounts of fresh air. When everyone is suitably re-oxygenated it’s time to get our selves back into the fray to catch the next act, a band I’ve eulogized over many times before, Teenage Casket Company. Always giving a good show, these days TCC are riding high on the back of their new album, ‘Still Standing’ once again returning to the top of their game, pleasing both old and new fans alike. The constitutional parts of TCC are Rob Wylde (lead vocals/guitar) Dave Kerr (lead guitar) Rob Lane (bass) and Mike ‘Spike’ Hollinshead (drums) all of the above have many strings to their collective bows but today they’re 100% Casket cases playing a short but rousing set of vintage numbers alongside more contemporary songs. As ever with these guys they leave me wanting more especially today as all the bands are playing around half hour sets, basically between six and eight songs. If you want to read more about TCC from yours truly check out a couple of my previous blogs: http://gd2014reviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/casket-case-gig-review.html

http://metaldirt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/whatever-happened-to-likely-lads.html

The last band before the forty minute ‘tea break’ or kebab break (I had a meat pie) is the incomparable Dirt Box Disco the neo-punk masters of mirth are an unusual choice to play this festival but welcome none the less. I saw them a mere two weeks ago in Derby where they played in front of over one hundred fanatical Dirt Box fans who danced, jumped, pogoed, and sang along with all their songs, today however it was a bit different. I think the NLC crowd didn’t know what to make of Dirt Box Disco but what is there to make of a bunch of guys in fancy dress who play catchy rock anthems that you’re bound to sing along to. Anthems like ‘Burning’ ‘I Just Want to Be a Girl’ and ‘My Life is Shit’ are infectious and if you don’t like this stuff then you’re a po-faced bore, this is what rock and roll is all about. DBD tend to only play punk gigs but in my opinion they should branch out and start doing rock gigs too, even if today’s crowd reaction doesn’t support that theory. The Dirt Box boys were a man down today which didn’t help their cause and rolling up from a late night playing a Welsh festival was also another factor against them but they put in a short and memorable set, a taster of what they’re really capable of.

To round off the first part of my NLC festival review is a band that could to all intense and purpose headline the whole event.

The Gypsy Pistoleros rode into town like a bunch of desperados on the run from the law, packing six shooters they burst through the saloon doors… Hold on thar cowboy!!! Sorry guys that’s the opening draught of my next western novel, getting back to reality this is how Gypsy Pistoleros describe themselves…

“The mongrel offspring of fiery gritty gutter glam, the Gypsy Pistoleros’ were born roamin’ somewhere between Barcelona and Birmingham, brought into the world to a soundtrack stack-heeled anthems of sleazy 70s America”.

These days the Pistoleros posse are Iggy Pistolero (lead guitar/backing vocals) Jeff Pistolero (drums/backing vocals) Kenny K Doll (bass/backing vocals) and newcomer and former Wrathchild front man Gaz Harris (lead vocals). Playing a fast paced eight song set the Pistoleros are glam n’ sleaze n’ attitude all rolled into one with song titles like ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll’, ‘Go to Hell’ and ‘Psycho Bitch’ the boys put on a show packed with every aspect of insurrection, their two fingered saluted stance to society may sound like a cliché but it’s an entertaining one none the less. My favourite song of the set was ‘Hear the Thunder’ a number which seems to have more about it than some of the others. Their new single ‘Dirty Side of Midnight’ saw the guys joined on stage by Hell on High Heelz, a duo of ‘rock n’ pole’ dancers who for today have foregone their metal shafts for more of a down to earth cavort with the Pistoleros. These beguiling sirens returned to the stage for the finale a rocked up version of ‘Livin La Vida Loco’ which not only drove the crowd loco but also brings the curtain down on part one of my review, part two will follow after a short intermission, watch out for my next blog posting…  TBC.

For further info on the bands in this review contact:

Gypsy Pistoleros: http://www.gypsypistoleros.co.uk/

Dirt Box Disco: http://www.dirtboxdisco.co.uk/

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

Spill 16: http://www.spillsixteen.com/

Little Mammoth: https://www.facebook.com/LittleMammothUK/info

Hell on High Heelz: http://hellonhighheelz.wix.com/hellonhighheelz

GD Manofmetal.

       Above: Hell on High Heelz with GD Manofmetal @ Wildside Nottingham

Hell Hath No Fury [Videos]

Sunday the 13th of April and it's time for some 
Grrrl Punk'n'Roll courtesy of Headcheck Records @ the old angel Nottingham. 
this event is part of Polish band Brains All Gone's UK tour 
Here's five videos of all bands from the Hell Hath No Fury gig. 
If you like any of the bands featured contact:
http://www.headcheckrecords.co.uk/

                
               
               
               
               

Contact all the bands @ their websites...

Brains All Gone: https://www.facebook.com/brainsallgoneofficial?fref=ts

Healthy Junkies: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Healthy-Junkies/128020360589230?fref=ts

Maid Of Ace: http://www.maid-of-ace.com/

Hearts Under Fire: http://heartsunderfire.bigcartel.com/

Kerosene Queen: https://www.facebook.com/KeroseneQueen?fref=ts

New Muscle & Blood [Gig Review]

New Generation Superstars [NGS] + Latexxx Teens + First Wave

Sitwell Tavern & The Salutation Inn

Derby & Nottingham

28/29.03.14

Embarking on a three date mini-tour taking in the town of Corby and the cities of Derby and Nottingham at the end of March, New Generation Superstars and their special guests, Italian industrial metal band Latexx Teens scarcely have time to breath before the whistle-stop tour is over. The hat trick of gigs culminates on the eve of British Summer time, and talking of new beginnings…

It’s another new era for New Generation Superstars as sadly a couple of months ago NGS said goodbye to their rhythm section Alex and Rick and welcomed on board their latest drummer and bassist  Mord Fustang and Jonny Suicide. New muscle and blood adding a fresh dynamic to the Leicester/Nottingham based band who have been around for more than a decade now and with three albums under their belt and a fourth in the pipeline they show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

It all kicked off on Thursday 27^th at The Zombie Hut in Corby, it’s a venue I’ve not been to yet but according to Jonny Suicide it is an awesome little venue, a kind of ‘mini rock city’. I did however manage the remaining two dates and rocking up as I did at the ever dependable Sitwell Tavern in Derby was a surprise lying in wait. First Wave were into their set when I got there, the Leicester punk band had stepped in a few weeks ago due to the original support band puling out and blow me recognition suddenly hit, First Wave used to support NGS a few years back about six years back to be precise since I last saw them but here they were, a blast from the past firing on all cylinders. Here’s a thing, First Wave’s new lead guitarist Graham Warne was NGS original guitarist, it’s a small world init?

The intimate nature of the Sitwell only enhances the atmosphere generated by the audience, who as a rule are enthusiastic so when we’d been treated to some old school punk rock the ardour of the crowd grew even more grandiose as we prepared to welcome NGS’ special guests, who’d jetted in Thursday morning from their home country of Italy.

Latexx Teens are neither teenagers nor do they wear latex so any preconceptions made about them from their name was blown out of the water the minute they began their set. All the way from Italy this five piece outfit combined industrial heavy metal with a glam/punk attitude which makes them alluring to many people. Both nights’ I saw them they went down well, especially at the Nottingham show where they went to town on their makeup, looking like the bastard sons of Marilyn Manson. My biggest criticism was the sampled keyboard sounds which tended to drown out both the lead guitars; however they were a great success and a counterpoint to the headliners.

Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons is not what you’d expect to hear as an intro for New Generation Superstars but that’s what we got, a new era indeed as at both the Derby and the Nottingham show’s the patrons were treated to a ‘new’ look and a different sound driving the familiar songs we know and love.

As ever AJ Superstar (guitar/lead vocals) and Davey Messiah (lead guitar) are at the helm of the ship but now they’re joined by new ship mates, former Suicide Tuesday bass player Jonny Suicide and former Wraith sticks man Mord Fustang. The new line-up has changed the dynamism of NGS but I suppose we won’t feel the full effect until new material has been written and introduced to the shows.

On these three dates NGS were playing an interesting set which contained about 80% of the songs from their 2013 album Rock n’ Roll or Die, however they did play some of the old favourites from their two noughties albums such as  Come Over, Star, Beat Em’ Down and the by now anthemic Overload.

The Derby show was excellent, the intimate atmosphere of the Sitwell Tavern made for a fun evening, it was like being invited into a conclave of rock and metal. The Nottingham gig by comparison, felt more like an arena show; NGS never fail at the Salutation, they’ve played that venue many times in the past and it always comes up trumps for them.

With all four band members now having shall we say a surfeit of tattoos my ‘heckle’ of Tattoo Wars previously directed at AJ and Davey now encompasses the whole NGS personnel, I think Jonny the bass player is losing this war and he is in possession of two full sleeves. Another amusing part of proceedings is the now traditional Ramones’ cover at the end, there’s usually an ex-member of NGS floating about the Sal who joins them for the finale, this time its Dirty Berty, who along with the Latexxx Teens boys invade the stage on mass to round off a fantastic evening and bring the curtain down on the March mini-tour.  

What about that Ernie Ford intro song I hear you say, well when I asked AJ what was that all about, he gave this as his answer…

“I guess it was in the lyrics ‘poor man made out of muscle and blood. Another day older and deeper in dept.’ Sort of sums it all up. We do it for the love of Rock n Roll, not the money or fame!”

In the lyrics of one of their own songs from their first album ‘I don’t do it ‘cos I have to I do it ‘cos I can… Man!’

Check out my Rock n’ Roll or Die album review: http://discworlddog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/new-generation-superstars-rock-n-roll.html

Find the bands on their websites & facebook…

NGS: http://www.newgenerationsuperstars.com/

Latexx Teens: https://www.facebook.com/lxtofficial

First Wave: https://www.facebook.com/pages/FirstWavePunk/142964532412055

GD Manofmetal.

Videos of Latexx Teens & NGS from the Salutation Nottingham by GD:

Voodoo Cruz [Gig Review]

Voodoo Six + Santa Cruz + Fahran

Rock City

Nottingham

20.03.14

Filthy weather and a gridlocked Nottingham is the starting point for this evening’s night out and having made an ungainly exit from the bus (via the fire escape door, don’t ask) I’m just in time to see the first of tonight’s three band line-up playing the basement here at rock city. Voodoo Six along with their special guests from Finland, Santa Cruz are just over halfway through a ten date tour of England and Scotland by the time they hit Nottingham and Voodoo Six are pretty much heading straight off to mainland Europe after the tour is over to support rock legends UFO.

Anyway like I said the first band on tonight are the local (ish) boys Fahran, formerly known as Toxic Federation this five piece hard rock outfit have undergone several line-up changes over the years I first saw them in 2008 but only lead guitarist, Jake Graham and drummer Josh Windsor are left from those days and along with Chris Byrne (guitar) Josh Ballantyne (bass) and new boy Matt Black on vocals Fahran are a totally different prospect from way back then. I really think that they have turned a corner in their musical career, many comparisons can be made between them and Heaven’s Basement who they supported last year, both groups have undergone many changes only to come out the other side stronger and more popular than ever before. Many influences go into the style and sound of Fahran, I haven’t time to go into all that now but suffice it to say they never fail to entertain and if you don’t believe me then please go and check them out at a live show soon.

Special guests this evening are Finnish hard rock sensations Santa Cruz, initially inspired by bands such as Skid Row and Guns n’ Roses this Scandinavian four piece comprises of Archie (lead vocals/guitar) Johnny (guitar) Middy (bass) and Taz (drums). Receiving an ear impaling ovation from the throng of female fans at the front as they hit the stage, Santa Cruz are more than just big hair, good looks and glam rock poses, they have pleasing songs too. Songs like Aiming High and Restless Renegades to name but two, the appeal of the familiar works in their favour, bags of catchy riffs and sing along lyrics abound but they also have a quality to them as well. You definitely couldn’t fault these young guys for the effort they put into their thoroughly entertaining set, using the bar as a ‘catwalk’ was definitely in vogue for Archie and Johnny during their show. Not every band can reach the dizzying heights of stardom but I’m damned sure Santa Cruz are gonna give it

their best shot and they may just succeed as well.

Rock city basement only holds a few hundred people and tonight sadly it’s not full but to say it’s a Thursday night and persisting it down with rain outside I think the crowd is admirable as well as enthusiastic. Voodoo Six keep the ball rolling as they take to the stage; it’s about six years since I first saw these guys play live, supporting Baze Bayley here in Nottingham and although they’ve been around for some time 2013 was a big year for them. With the release of a new album, Songs To Invade Countries To, they also were main support on Iron Maiden’s Maiden Europe European tour which took in twenty eight shows over eighteen countries playing to an estimated 300,000 people, a cool statistic to add to your CV and no mistake.

Voodoo Six personnel consists of Luke Purdie (lead vocals) Matt Pearce (guitar) Chris Jones (guitar) Tony Newton (bass) and Joe Lazarus (drums) and although they appeal to fans of ‘classic’ rock they do have a harder edge to them, if you look at the success bands like Black Stone Cherry have been enjoying recently you can see Voodoo Six basking in that sort of adulation before too long. They have an impressive repertoire of songs and tonight they played over an hour of crowd pleasing material. I can’t finish this review without mentioning bassist Tony Newton, he is very sprightly on stage brandishing his bass guitar like a violin one minute and at others like a semi-automatic machine gun, he also plays very intricate bass lines, he told me after the show the reason for this was that he gets paid by the note, boom boom. After the gig pretty much all band members were milling about willing to chat, sign merchandise or have photos taken with the fans making this evening an enjoyable one. The Santa Cruz boys even came back to the Tap n’ Tumbler around the corner for further drinks (with the girls) oh to be young again.

Check out all three of tonight’s bands at their respective websites…

Voodoo Six: http://www.voodoosix.com/

Santa Cruz: http://www.santacruz.fi/

Fahran: http://www.fahran.com/

GD Manofmetal. 

Rock Until You Drop [YNT Videos]

Four videos from YNT the Y&T tribute band who played Rock Until You Drop @ The Salutation Nottingham on the 15th March 2014.

Rock Until You Drop is a bi-monthly 'classic' rock night held at the Salutation on Maid Marion Way Nottingham on the third Saturday of every other month. 

YNT: https://www.facebook.com/pages/YNT-Tribute-Band/627408520650179?fref=ts

RUYD: https://www.facebook.com/bud.chatwin.1?fref=ts

Knocking on Heaven’s Door [Gig Review]

Heaven’s Basement + Glamour of the Kill + The

Dirty Youth

Rescue Rooms

Nottingham

14.03.14

After travelling to pretty much all points of the compass including Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada in recent months, those lovable hard rockers Heaven’s Basement have returned to more familiar shores. It’s only the second date of their Welcome Home tour and already they’re playing to a sold out show here at the rescue rooms in Nottingham, the tour covers most of the UK in March and many countries in mainland Europe during April.

Over the last couple of years Heaven’s Basement have grown from strength to strength and with the release of their 2013 album Filthy Empire on Red Bull Records they have gathered around them an even bigger fan base than they had before.

I’ll keep the history lesson brief, I first saw the beginnings of this band a whole decade ago when they supported the mighty Queensrÿche in 2004, called Hurricane Party at the time the only member of that line-up in today’s band is drummer Chris Rivers. Moving on to the monsters of rock festival at Milton Keynes in 2006 and now going out under the moniker of Roadstar I caught up with the guys again, this show was guitarist Sid Glover’s first gig with the band so I’m reliably informed. 2008 and Roadstar become Heaven’s Basement but still many trials and tribulations befell the band until the beginning of 2011 when the current line-up of Aaron Buchanan (lead vocals) Rob Ellershaw (bass) Sid Glover (lead guitar) and Chris Rivers (drums) released the Unbreakable EP and thankfully three years later they’re finally breaking into the big time.

Nottingham has always been a happy stamping ground for Heaven’s Basement in the past (Trashstock, Wildside etc.) and tonight’s show is no exception, the enthusiastic crowd were packed into the rescue rooms to see the boys play a blistering set of old and new songs. As you might expect they opened up with Welcome Home the first track off the Filthy Empire album, a lot of the songs from that album are in the set tonight but I’m glad Heaven’s Basement haven’t forgot their older material. Lead guitarist Sid sings his now trademark song Paranoia about halfway though the show and the band finish off with a couple of old favourites, Reign on My Parade and Executioners Day as well as an encore of Jumping Jack Flash just for the hell of it.

It’s been about a year since I last saw Heaven’s Basement, this band have grown into a top act with stage antics by belt and braces front man Aaron Buchanan always making an impact, tonight he walked out onto the audience's hands and clambered up onto the balcony before later in the set, crowd surfing on his back whilst still singing, I remember seeing him at the High Voltage festival in London 2011 making a similar move, always impressive.

I would say tonight’s audience were bordering on 50% male to female ratio and as you probably know for rock bands this is unusual, I’m guessing both Heaven’s Basement and the main support band tonight, Glamour of the Kill are responsible for this statistic, to say they were eye candy for the girls would be a little rude so I’m not gonna say it (Oooops).

And so onto Glamour of the Kill and they’re a band I’ve not seen before, made in Yorkshire this four piece band more than held my attention for their entire set. Heavier than the headliners GOTK play slick heavy metal with very powerful double kick drum beats and a full guitar sound and although there was some ‘growly’ vocals on the whole you could hear the lyrics as being sung by front man/bassist Davey Richmond who is ably acompanied by Chris Gomerson (guitar/vocals) Mike Kingswood (lead guitar/vocals) and Ben Thomson (drums/vocals) I would go and see these guys again they seem like they’re going to be around for a long while yet.

Tonight’s show was opened by Welsh rockers The Dirty Youth, I saw them a couple of years back but sadly tonight with the show being sold out the delay between opening the doors and the first band coming on stage is very marginal for everyone to get into the venue in time to see the first band. Why it takes so long to get everyone through the doors I do not know, the queue meandered around the block so by the time I got in I only saw the last two songs of their performance. However on a more positive note the lead singer of The Dirty Youth Danni Monroe assured me they would be embarking on a headlining tour of their own later in the year so I’ll keep my eyes peeled for that.

Below: GD Manofmetal & Danni Monroe.

Check out all of tonight’s bands on their websites…

Heaven’s Basement: http://heavensbasement.com/filthyempire/

Glamour of the Kill: https://www.facebook.com/glamourofthekill

The Dirty Youth: http://www.thedirtyyouth.co.uk/

GD Manofmetal.

Videos From The Rescue Rooms By GD Manofmetal:

Nine Men in Black [Gig Review]

JD & The FDCs [FDCs] + The Idol Dead [TID]

Tap N’ Tumbler [TNT]

Nottingham

27.02.14

This week I’m off to see two bands that I’ve not only seen many times before but two bands I’ve already seen this year. JD & The FDCs and The Idol Dead are playing the Tap N’ Tumbler in Nottingham on the last Thursday in February and I for one am not gonna miss this show. Back in the middle of January I caught up with them both at the twelve band extravaganza that was Martin Short’s sixtieth birthday bash at the Maze. Tonight however they will both get a longer set than they did that night, the FDCs are headlining so it’s the turn of some of Yorkshires finest sons in the form of The Idol Dead to play first.

With bottled water and towels in place on stage courtesy of Craig the land lord (all it needed was some Robertson’s barley water and you’d have thought we were at Wimbledon) and its show time. Opening up with the brilliantly fast paced Buckle N’ Howl (note to self: video this next time) TID immediately invigorate the crowd with chant along lines like ‘hell yeah!’ and fuck yeah!’ this is a great song to open with. The Leeds based band’s personnel are Polly Phluid (lead vocals) Tim (lead guitar) KC Duggan (lead guitar) Suggy (bass) and Nish (drums)looking resplendent as they do in their black shirts and lime green ties. TID play post punk hard rock (a cliché I know) but then again fulfilling clichés are one of the bands ambitions apparently. Although all the members of TID give it 100% on stage a special mention has to be made about the over excited antics of KC on guitar and Polly’s St Vitas dance like movements they both draw the eye. The poignant song Travelling Man is one of the highlights of their set for me but the only draw back is they only played half a dozen songs or so; a few more would not have gone a miss. I.D.O.L is the final song it’s a rip roaring sing along number with mucho contributions from the audience as a microphone wielding Polly Phluid weaves his way in and out of the masses. Both bands tonight have an array of merchandise on sale but I have to mention TID’s green and black ‘punky’ teddy bears, you wouldn’t give one to a small child in case they had nightmares. 

If you was wondering why this review is titled Nine Men in Black then wonder no longer, when the FDCs take to the stage they always wear black shirts with white armbands sporting the legend FDCs so tonight we’ve seen nine similarly clad band members on the TNT stage (like nine back riders in the lord of the rings) ok well not really like that but it’s what ran through my weird imagination at the time. Opening up with Ujpest Dozsa an upbeat song that’s become a staple of the FDCs set it’s swiftly followed by This Ship is Going Down, the crowd are ‘up for it’ as JD leads his band of merry men through an unfamiliar set which contains three brand new songs even I’ve never heard before. For those of you reading this who aren’t familiar with the FDCs they are Jamie ‘JD’ Delerict (lead vocals/guitar) Dazmondo (lead guitar/vocals) Joey Strange (bass/vocals) and Danny Gunn (lead drums) this band seem to be constantly on the road and have reached a wide audience over the last four years or so that they’ve been together. Although front man JD was struggling a bit with a bad throat the new stuff came across well and the man flu didn’t effect his sardonic banter with the crowd and with his fellow band members, I think Dazmondo has been ‘sacked’ at just about every gig they’ve played. The penultimate number of the FDCs set is the now anthemic Burn This City Down, with audience participation at maximum it would be easy to finish on this one, however no FDCs gig would be complete without the trademark Stupid Music Played by Idiots (whimsically dedicated to The Idol Dead) another crowd participation song, many of the audience shying away from JD as he pounces on unsuspecting victims to sing along. In fact the FDCs are a band that get the crowd joining in all the time, from ‘Slade thumbs’ to constant shouts of YES! A word written on the back of Daz’s guitar lest we forget it. They’re a band that you either ‘get’ or you don’t get, it makes no difference to Jamie he is a man driven by the force of rock n’ roll and I think he’s never gonna stop. 

If you were at this gig tonight you will have witnessed two groups who express the real meaning of what live rock music is all about, I also know many like them that give so much of their valuable time to the cause for very little financial reward. I’d better get off my soap box now before I get started on about bands with no more talent than these guys who manage somehow to get away with charging exorbitant amounts of money to go see them in an arena… Never… Gonna… Stop!

Find both tonight’s bands on their websites…

JD & The FDCs: http://www.jdandthefdcs.com/

The Idol Dead: http://theidoldead.com/

GD Manofmetal.

Both videos bellow shot @ The Tap N' Tumbler Nottingham by GD: