Sunday, 17 August 2014
Rock & Blues Festival [Videos]
Sunday, 3 August 2014
NWOBHM Never Dies Part Two: The Lion’s Share.
Vardis [Review]
Rock
& Blues Festival
Pentrich
Derbyshire
25.07.14.
For
the second weekend running I find myself at a festival in Derbyshire watching a
New Wave of British Heavy Metal band,
last week it was Girlschool, this week it’s the turn of Vardis who have
returned to the fray after an absence of twenty eight years. I last saw Vardis
in November 1986 at the mardi gras Nottingham which must have been one of their
very last gigs, until now that is.
Formed
in the 1970’s Vardis rose to their peak of fame in the early 80’s with their debut
album 100 MPH which uniquely for a first LP is a live recording. I saw them
back then support Hawkwind on the Levitation tour and Slade on
the Till Deaf Do Us Part tour as well as opening up the Heavy Metal
Holocaust festival at Port Vale in 1981.
Rumours
of a reunion began last year and in 2014 it came to fruition with a successful
appearance at Brofest(UK)#2 and the re-release of their 1986 album Vigilante
which has been digitally re-mastered. Today at the Rock & Blues festival we
see Vardis playing their third show since the comeback and lead guitarist and
lead vocalist Steve Zodiac bares little resemblance to his appearance of
yester year, gone is the mane of long blond hair and the bare foot and bare
chest demeanour but not gone is the inimitable guitar sound that so impressed
the NWOBHM audiences back in the day.
Joining
Steve Zodiac on stage is Terry Horbury (bass) and Gary Pearson
(drums) it was Gary
Vardis
are in good company at the Rock & Blues festival being joined on the bill by
Toseland, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Acoustic TV, New
Generation Superstars and many more great live bands. Headlining the main
stage on Friday they follow State of Quo which was good for them as 100%
of the audience have heard of Status Quo, considerably less of them have ever
heard of Vardis.
It’s a testimony to the quality of their songs that not only the ‘hard core’
fans down the front were rockin’ to the hour and a half set but many of the
Vardis initiates were engrossed in the show as well. Songs like ‘Let’s Go’ ‘Out
of the Way’ ‘Destiny’ ‘If I Were King’ ‘100MPH’ and ‘The Lion’s Share’ standing
the test of time and sounding as fresh and relevant as they did over thirty
years ago. On the strength of tonight’s performance I’m sure there are now many
more Vardis fans in the world, if I were king I’d have a lion’s share because
NWOBHM Never Dies… GD Manofmetal.
Visit
The Vardis Wbsite:
Gee It's Steve Zodiac!
All Five of My Videos From Rock & Blues Festival...
Saturday, 2 August 2014
NWOBHM Never Dies Part One: The Girls Are Back In Town.
Girlschool [Review/Interview]
Rock
& Bike Festival
Carnfield
Hall
Derbyshire
18.07.14.
To say this band have been around for thirty six years they’ve lost none of the vim and vigour that they possessed back in the early eighties, in fact like many of the bands from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era they’re still going strong and still have an audience who want to watch and listen to them which is reassuring.
The
current band line-up comprises of three of the original members of GS, Kim
McAuliffe (guitar/vocals) Enid Williams (bass/vocals) Denise Dufort
(drums) and Jackie Chambers (lead guitar/vocals) who took over from
Kelly back in 1999 and it’s Jackie ‘Jax’
Chambers who I managed to interview at Rock & Bike, here’s how it went…
GD: Having taken the first six
months of 2014 off prior to playing the Rock & Bike festival at Carnfield
Hall, what are Girlschool’s plans for the rest of the year?
Jax: Well we have a couple of
gigs to do in Finland
GD: Unbelievably its six years
since Girlschool’s last studio album, the brilliant ‘Legacy’ and three years
since ‘Hit and Run – Revisited’ are there any plans for a new album?
Jax: lol… and just for you I
answered 2 questions in 1... there are plans but nothing concrete as yet,
here's hoping!
GD: After thirty six years
together what keeps the grand dames of British heavy metal going?
Jax: I think it's because we
love music and playing on stage is just the best feeling in the world. As long
as the crowds want to hear us then we'll keep on playing.
GD: Do you find Girlschool get
more recognition in Europe than they do in the UK
Jax: Yes I think we do but
lately we've done a few more gigs here in the UK UK
GD: Fellow all female metal
band Rock Goddess have recently reformed do you think any future collaborations
between the former rivals are a possibility, i.e. touring together or maybe
sharing the bill at a festival?
Jax: I wouldn't say that Rock
Goddess were ever rivals, in fact we're all the best of friends. Me and Den
(Denise Dufort) were in a band with Tracey Lamb and Jody Turner (of RG) a few
years back called No Class when things weren't busy with GS, great fun! But to
answer that question I do hope we will play together somewhere along the line.
GD: Jax, I hear you have plans
to form your own band can you tell me how that is going and what style of music
you’ll be playing?
Jax: Yes, whilst GS aren't so
busy I'd love to be playing more (love it) I've been doing some writing with a
singer and now I'm looking for a drummer and bassist... It will still be good
old Rock n Roll in the same vein as GS... early days yet though but hope to be
gigging by the end of the year?
A
huge thanx to Jax Chambers for the interview and a massive thank you to the
rest of Girlschool who came off stage at the Rock & Bike festival elated by
the protracted ovation they received by the enthusiastiv crowd… proof that
NWOBHM never dies… ‘Cheers you lot’ GD Manofmetal.
Above: Enid Williams & GD Manofmetal @ Rock & Bike Fest 2014.
Visit
Girlschool’s official website: http://www.girlschool.co.uk/mainindex.htm
Four Videos From Rock & Bike 2014 by GD...
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Metal Racer [Doro Videos]
O2 Academy Islington (2014)
. . . .
The Garage Islington (2012)
. . . .
Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton (2009)
. .
GD Manofmetal.
Sunday, 25 May 2014
30 Years Strong And Proud
Doro
O2
Academy
Islington
19.05.14
When
you get the Manofmetal on an express train to London It’s got to be for
something special, well it doesn’t get much more special than a one off gig by The
Queen of Heavy Metal Doro Pesch. As part of the ongoing celebrations of
Doro’s thirty year anniversary, it’s 1983 since she burst onto the music scene
with her band Warlock; Doro is playing just one show in England
Having
travelled down to the capital I find myself in the middle of theatre land where
I’m staying for the night and after the disappointment of finding rock pub The
Intrepid Fox boarded up plan B comes into operation, a pub crawl round Soho
before it’s time to journey over to Islington via one of the nine circles of
Hell that is the tube.
So
the scene is set and as the Doro ‘clan’ gather we’re entertained by support act
Nulldb (pronounced Null Dee Bee) a German metal band who sing all their
songs in their native language, not too much of a problem except they manage to
sound like a Teutonic Metallica. The guys in the band were super confident
however and must have thought in their heads they were playing to an audience
of thousands at Wembley stadium instead of a few hundred in the Islington O2
academy. The half hour set they played couldn’t come to an end soon enough for
me, sorry guys, nice try though.
So
after the Metallica flavoured starter let’s move on to the main course and boy
what a main course, like an all you can eat carvery with four meats and real
Yorkshire puds.
Known
as heavy metal’s Queen, Doro Pesch fronts the eponymously named band Doro
whose current line-up is Johnny Dee (Drums) Luca Princiotta (Guitar, Keyboards)
Nick Douglas (Bass) Bas Maas (Guitars) and Harrison Young (Keyboards). They
arrive on stage to a raucous reception from the crowd who’ve crammed into the confines
of the venue to enjoy this special anniversary show.
Doro
herself looks so happy just to be there on stage as she always does, applauding
and thanking her fans at every opportunity throughout the set. A set which
begins with no fewer than four Warlock songs, I Rule the Ruins, Earthshaker
Rock, Burning the Witches and Fight For Rock all classics from the early period
of her career. The next pair of songs are from Doro’s last two studio albums,
Night of the Warlock and the titular Raise Your Fist in the Air, by now both
crowd and band are hot and sweaty as the emotive show gets better and better.
More
than half the material in tonight’s set comes from Doro’s Warlock albums, every
one a gem, songs like Metal Racer, Für Immer, Out of Control, Metal Tango and
the Anthemic chant along song All We
Are. The lyrics are so familiar to the devotees in the house, there’s singing
along aplenty coupled with much chanting and raised ‘horns’ these antics are instigated
and encouraged by Doro herself. Also there’s always room in her shows to pay
homage to her hero’s and influences so Judas Priest’s Breaking the Law and
Dio’s Egypt (The Chains Are On) were enthusiastically received by the knowledgeable
audience, Warlock toured with both Priest and Dio in the past and Doro wrote
the song Hero as a dedication to the late great Ronnie James Dio.
After
what seemed like an infinite drum solo from the spirited Johnny Dee we are
acquainted with the band members by The Queen of Heavy Metal herself while
bassist Nick Douglas does the honours for Doro, with his American drawl and
delivery sounding like he was introducing the heavyweight champion of the
world.
Then
Doro mentions her meeting with fellow metal Queen Jody Turner (I honestly
thought she was gonna walk on stage) Jody is the front woman of Rock Goddess
who have recently re-formed after many years and are currently working on a
brand new album (plug over) Doro seemed hopeful of a collaboration of sorts
‘maybe we can do something together, I always like to do collaborations’ was I
think the quote.
The
show went on and on, twenty two songs in total, nearing and passing the curfew
time Doro just didn’t want to leave the stage asking the crowd to suggest songs
for them to play. Love Me in Black and Unholy Love seemed to bring the curtain
down on a fantastical show however one more request was forthcoming, Evil a rare
Warlock song eventually brought to an end a superb performance by a brilliant
heavy metal band. All six members take a protracted ovation from some of the
most loyal fans in the world, in fact Doro herself seems to feed off the
adulation of her fans like a benign succubus, she is only a year younger than
me and at fifty she still looks like she’s in her early thirties I think that
portrait in her attic was painted by Dorian Gray.
As
we near the halfway mark of 2014 tonight’s show has been a major highlight of
the year so far for me and with the promises of a return to these shores in
December as Saxon’s special guests (for the London show at least) it’s
beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
For
more info on Doro visit the official website:
Doro
on facebook:
Doro
on youTube:
GD
Manofmetal.
Rock Paper Scissors
Sack
Sabbath + Thin Lizzy Experience +
Hi-On Maiden
March
– October
The
rock paper scissors tour features three of the best tribute bands around at the
moment. If you’re a fan of Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden then this
is for you. The tour runs from March to October covering many towns and cities
in England Sheffield the city of steel, here
are my videos from that gig… Enjoy:
To
learn more about these bands check them out on-line:
Sack
Sabbath: http://www.sacksabbath.co.uk/
Thin
Lizzy Exp: http://www.thinlizzyexperience.com/
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