Metal Racer [Doro Videos]

All my Doro Videos From O2 Academy Islington 19th May 2014 plus six of my archive Doro videos from the garage Islington (2012) & Wulfrun hall Wolverhampton (2009) Enjoy:

O2 Academy Islington (2014)

. . . .

The Garage Islington (2012)

. . . .

Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton (2009)

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GD Manofmetal.

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:

Forever Young [Gig Review]

Tyketto + Bonfire + Summers

Wulfrun Hall

Wolverhampton

22.03.14

Incredibly its twenty five years since Tyketto released their first album Don’t Come Easy on Geffen Records and the ensuing single Forever Young will be forever their signature song as well as mine and many other rock fans’ mantra. To celebrate this quarter century milestone Tyketto have embarked on a five date mini-tour of the UK before heading off to the Caribbean to take part in the luxurious festival that is the Monsters of Rock Cruise.

Tonight’s venue is the Wulfrun hall in Wolverhampton, that’s the smaller stage at the back of the civic theatre but with nigh on a thousand people in for the three band line-up it makes for an electric atmosphere. First up are self styled Southampton stadium rockers Summers, formed in the late noughties by brothers Crash and Ricky Summers this five piece melodic rock band were entertaining enough but they didn’t capture my attention half so much as the array of merchandise they were selling, you could even buy a ‘Summers’ novelty condom, for goodness sake what next? Mind you at the other end of the merch stand was, shall we say less of an array of commodities, Tyketto were selling a DVD, that’s it, just a DVD, no shirts, patches or prophylactics for that matter.

Moving quickly on and special guests for this micro-tour are some of Germany’s finest sons, Bonfire have been around for a very long time and made many studio and live albums however it is with their earlier material many folk are primarily familiar. Albums like Face The Light, Fireworks, Point Blank and Knock Out released in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s are what this band are remembered for the most. Tonight front man Claus Lessmann seems in fine form as between singing some great rock anthems like Sweet Obsession, Never Mind and American Nights he regales us about last night’s show at AOR Hard Rock Hell in Pwllheli North Wales and how we English have many different unintelligible accents. It has to be said for a German he does speak better English than a lot of us natives. It was a bit of a nostalgia trip watching Bonfire tonight, I missed them last year when they played Rock City in Nottingham and have only vague memories of seeing them play that very same venue in 1989 so to hear these great songs from one of the unsung heroes of the ‘80’s rock scene after all this time was an awesome way to warm myself and the crowd up for the headliners.

It was about a year and a half after first seeing Bonfire that I got to go to a Tyketto gig, well actually it was a White Lion gig, Tyketto were the support band on that occasion. After a few short years in the limelight sadly they vanished into the ether like so many of their contemporaries did at that time, however lead singer and all round good egg Danny Vaughn would frequently return to play solo shows, Tyketto numbers would inevitably be included in his set.

Danny was only on the first two studio albums back in the day so when in 2012 Dig In Deep was released, his first studio album with the band for eighteen years it injected new impetus into both Tyketto and their fans. Tonight no fewer than four songs from that album are included in their set and although they didn’t get as big a reaction from the crowd as the ‘classic’ songs I’m sure this is just because of unfamiliarity and not because those numbers are not liked.

Opening with Burning Down Inside and following this up with Rescue Me, Tyketto had the Wolverhampton horde eating out of their hands right from the get-go, it was apparent straight away that something special was happening. Sadly though this ‘special happening’ was taking place without lead guitarist Brook St. James who had other obligations when these spring dates were offered to the band so deputising for him on this tour is Chris Green a more than competent stand in who sounded and looked like he’d been with Tyketto forever, the rest of the dramatis personae are Jim Kennedy (bass) Ged Rylands (keys) and Michael Clayton Arbeeny (drums).

Danny Vaughn not only sings but also plays the six and twelve string acoustic guitars as well as harmonica on occasion, he’s a bit of a wit and raconteur and his mix of American and West Country accents adds to his charm. He tells us, with great amusement from the audience, that his band members have ‘come to England from the USA to get a suntan, this was going great then we went to Wales’.

With no less than seven of the ten tracks from their first album having an airing tonight backed up with the best from their second and newest albums the ninety minutes or sow the band were on stage seemed to flash by in a blur. Loads of singing along to the songs is always encouraged and lots of dancing and jumping was the order of the day, I’m pretty sure everyone in attendance at the Wulfrun Hall went home happy and happy in the knowledge that Tyketto return. The guys of Tyketto will have a great time on the Monsters of Rock Cruise in Florida (the line-up for that is astonishing) then it will really be time to top up their tans for sure maybe in an attempt to stay Forever Young.

Check out all tonight’s bands on their websites…

Tyketto: http://www.tyketto.de/seiten/index2.htm

Danny Vaughn: http://www.dannyvaughn.com/site/

Bonfire: http://www.bonfire.de/

Summers: http://www.officialsummers.com/

GD Manofmetal.

Video by GD @ The Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton:

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:

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.

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.

The New Crew [Gig Review]

Skeleton Crew

Ye Olde Salutation Inn [The Sal]

Nottingham

24.01.14

Skeleton Crew have returned to the Sal after a year long absence, sounding and looking a tad different, with not one but two new members in the band the five piece power rockers from the East Midlands are not waiting for an alibi that’s for sure. The Crew have beefed up their act and having heaved too and weighed anchor they’re about to take to the stage here at Ye Olde Salutation Inn on Maid Marion Way smack bang in the middle of Robin Hood country.

Just across the city Skindred have ‘sold out’ the world famous venue that is Rock City so it’s testament to the popularity of Skeleton Crew that here at the Sal there is more than a respectable turnout to see a mammoth two hour set featuring around twenty one songs of mainly original numbers with a few familiar covers thrown in for luck.

I first saw The Crew back in 2008 at the Sitwell Tavern Derby, since then I’ve been to many of their gigs and last year they appeared at the Rock & Bike festival which was the first time I saw Rick Townhill, he’s the fourth singer I’ve seen front the band and along with other newbie Jon Hillman (lead guitar) they’re joined on stage by old lags Drew Taylor (drums) Steve Evans (bass) and Graham Byron (lead guitar).

It’s around nine thirty and it’s show time, opening up with Oppressor a fast paced song from their second studio album Theatre of War they swiftly follow this with the title track from the same album before playing Four Letter Word a third song from that disc, it’s a catchy song and the crowd are hooked with plenty of dancing and head banging taking place at the front. I can still remember Skeleton Crew launching the Theatre of War album at this very venue back in 2012 they really pushed the boat out that night.

With this new line-up I’m hoping that a third studio album is in the offing, with all due respect to their previous lead singer new man Rick Townhill offers much more in way of powerful vocals and stage presence although it has to be said he could do with moving around a bit more, I know that was difficult with five guys on a stage the size of the Sal’s but something to think about all the same.

The fourth song is Thin Lizzy’s Waiting For An Alibi along with Hard To Handle, Out In The Fields and Breaking The Law making up the quartet of covers scattered liberaly throughout the set. Skeleton Crew are great value for money, tonight it was free entry and after around two hours they reached their final song of the evening, All Or Nothing it’s the opening track of their first studio album, Bring It On, it has very catchy ‘sing along’ lyrics and brings the curtain down a fabulous show, the boys from The Crew definitely don’t believe that less is more I think only Ken Dodd would have played longer.

Checkout Skeleton Crew on their website: http://www.skeletoncrewrocks.com/

GD Manofmetal

60th Birthday Badass – Bash [Gig Review]

Exit State + Captain Horizon + Babylon Fire + JD & The FDCs + Psychobabylon + The Idol Dead

The Maze Nottingham

18.01.14

Mr. Martin Short local rock fan and promoter has reached the incredibly ancient age of sixty and he’s decided to have an all day gig at the maze in Nottingham. Not only that, proceeds from the badass bash are in aid of two worthy charities, children’s hospice arts and the Sophie Lancaster foundation both worthy causes I’m sure you’ll agree.
Pictured Right: Mr. Martin Short & GD Manofmetal

It all got underway just after mid day but due to other commitments yours truly only managed to get there in time to see the last six bands so apologies go out to those I didn’t get to see.

Upon arrival at the Maze on Mansfield road Nottingham I discovered there was an interlude or food break, amidst the raffle stalls and various other merchandise and fund raising paraphernalia I spied a furtive looking Dave & Kieran Tonge (Noize Level Critical) loitering in a corner, the aroma of chicken curry and chips kind of gave the game away guys.

All that aside the live music once again got underway around six thirty with a band I didn’t wanna miss, The Idol Dead from Leeds are fronted by the enigmatic Poll Phluid who’s energy on stage is always turned up to the max. Describing themselves as “five men hell bent on making an entertaining racket” The Idol Dead sure do engage the audience with their hard rock sound and enthusiasm. All the bands today are playing around thirty to forty minute sets so it’s a quick turn around and sadly all to soon we arrive at The Idol Dead’s finale. Yes it’s time for the audience sing along song I.D.O.L. Moving through the crowd Polly Phluid gets the fans to sing eye, dee, oh, el, dee, ee, aye, dee! It just rolls off the tongue; I know I was struggling with it.

Next up are Psychbabylon another Yorkshire band and one I’ve not seen before, they’re practically out of the same stable as The Idol Dead but Psychobabylon have more of a classic rock sound and appearance. I do know the drummer though, I last saw Ginna around a year ago when he was skinsman for the now defunct Velvet Star. Playing an entertaining set of original songs like Factor 10 packed with catchy riffs Psychobabylon also have an edgy almost punk attitude that makes for an entertaining set, I’ll be looking out for these guys again.

                                                                                                                                                           
It will be no secret to anyone who knows me that JD & The

FDCs are one of my favourite underground bands of the last few years, I’ve written many words about the four piece East Midlands based band in the past, I was at their first ever show and let me tell you it was like the beginning of a super group, however this isn’t a biography so I’ll get on with it. Hitting the stage with verve, controlled aggression and a certain kind of confidence that smells of ‘we don’t give a fuck’ JD & The FDCs run through their

repertoire with practiced ease. Front man Jamie Delerict (JD) makes it certain everyone in the venue know that it’s his band and his rants and tirades between songs are amusing to say the least (he does sound very serious at times though) the forty minute set fly’s by oh so quickly and before you know it Jamie is mingling through the crowd picking on folk to finish the line which he starts ‘Stupid Music… Played By Idiots’ woe betide anyone who screws this up I’m sure he would have them shot at dawn if it was legal, of cause I’m only teasing I meant hung drawn and quartered.

Another Babylon next, Babylon Fire are a Manchester band signed to Rocksector Records they describe themselves rather modestly as “your new favourite British metal band” and they’re definitely metal with a capital M. They do have some good stuff such as the songs Darkness Draws Me In, Shattered Crown and Freight Train to name just three all of which are packed with thunderous drum beats and ear splitting riffs, sadly though there was too much growling vocals for my taste, a trend in heavy metal I’m nor over enamoured with and none of Babylon Fire’s songs needed the growling but then again maybe I’m just an old traditionalist at heart. Never the less these guys put on a cracking show and will appeal to fans of bands like Stone Sour, Machine Head and Five Finger Death Punch.

The penultimate band of Martin’s big birthday bash is a band I’ve seen many times over the last couple of years, from Birmingham its Captain Horizon. Their debut album The Light of Distorted Science released in 2012 is an accomplished work packed with intelligently written songs, Captain Horizon describe their style of music thusly “a unique blend of alt, prog, classic rock, indie and unashamedly glorious pop”. Their live set is pretty much made up of songs from that album and keeping the trend of enigmatic front men going, lead singer Steve ‘Whitty’ Whittington not only is in possession of fine vocal talents but fancies himself a comedian as well. No Captain Horizon gig would be complete without his trademark ‘table walk’ so as he leaps from one surface to another out into the crowd like a deranged supermodel on an assault course the show is completed.

Headlining tonight are another Lancashire band signed to Rocksector Records, Exit State whose musical style has been described by Powerplay Magazine as "melodic metal that deserves to be in the charts, nestling with the likes of Alter Bridge" well I don’t know about that but Exit State certainly deserve all the plaudits they get. I first saw them several years ago and they have come a long way since those days, last year they released their third album entitled Let’s See It All. Having played supporting slots on the Michael Schenker temple of rock tour as well as appearing at Hard rock Hell to name just two of their impressive achievements Exit State have reached out to a wide audience and won over many adoring fans. Front man Roy Bright is a top bloke and is even a published author no less. If you like a more melodic heavy metal give these boys a listen you’re bound to like them and you have my personal guarantee on that. 
Band Photographs Courtesy Of RSR Photography. 

Check out all the bands in this review on their respective websites:

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

Captain Horizon http://www.captainhorizon.co.uk/

Babylon Fire http://www.mwaweb.com/rocksectorbands_babylonfire.htm

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

Psychobabylon https://www.facebook.com/Psychobabylon

The Idol Dead http://theidoldead.com/

GD Manofmetal