With the news of Lemmys death still sinking in, i really wasn’t in the mood for going to this gig. But i had responsibilities as i was the driver. Whilst we were at the pub,pre gig, i wasn’t really taking anything in from the chats we were having. I was there, but i wasn’t there. Once at the Leadmill, i wasn’t impressed with either of the support acts. As for WSS, there was a lot of energy up there, but again i just couldn’t really get into it. Would have been great if they’d tried to do a Motorhead cover , but at least Loz mentioned good old Lemmy. Just a shame that half the kids didn’t seem to know who Ian Fraser Kilmisterwas though 😉 After their set was finished, the first song played over the PA was “Ace Of Spades”. There was no way i was leaving that venue till i’d heard the full song. R.I.P. Lemmy. This was a strange way to finish my gig going of 2015.
Him are one of those bands I’ve been into for many years. Once again, it was watching satellite tv from Germany that exposed them too me. Probably around 1999. I first got to see them live at rock city ,Nottingham 18th May 2002. They were playing in the downstairs “basement” room. ( Oh yeah, i remember when they cancelled a show at RC, in 2000 or 2001 & the person in the ticket office said “…oh don’t worry. They’ll be back soon as they’re always playing here !” ). I don’t really remember much about it, but, the one thing i do remember & have always had a problem with, was Villes attitude. One moment he’s all up/happy, the next he’s a moaning old git ! Dunno how much of this was due to the heavy drinking or what. I did miss out a couple of tours as i read about his problems…. I last saw Him at Rock city in 2013. My standout memory of that show was how LOUD it was. Not loud in a good way either; it just distorted & there was no definition to the sound. Honestly, it was rubbish. (One of my friends recently said to me “…there was plenty of times i didn’t even know which song they were playing, it was that bad sound…”). So this show, their only UK date in 2015, i really don’t know what to expect….
I got to RC 2 hours before doors & there was quite a queue already, almost as far back as the car park. I’d guess there were about 80 people in front (?). So that was that , no beer n burger tonight, it’s joining the queue in the hope i manage front row balcony. ( Cat & Reno went to the pub 😉 ) Luckily most people went straight down the front to the barrier. I managed front row balcony, but not my usual spot. I’ve never seen Rock City fill up so quickly as this show. It was quite amazing to see from my vantage point…
The support act, ” Empire ” were just ok. I thought the singer had a nice tone to his vocal,but, i didn’t really get into the band. I always struggle with new bands to me. So its to Spotify i need to go to give them a fair chance….
Once Him were on stage, straight away i could see Ville wasn’t having a good time with his IEM/monitors. Tyical. After a while he did warm to things & there were a few smiles. He even had a jacket & a bra thown up onstage to him. The sound was much better that last time i saw them, but, it could have been better for sure. I’ve got to say, i’ve never seen so many fights in the crowd than at this show.I just don’t get it. I think this will be the last time i go to see him.
Blabbermouth posted a link to my footage 🙂 http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/him-video-of-nottingham-concert/
Picked up Andy then we went to Grantham to pick up Cat & Reno. This was the first time i’d met Reno. Once in Nottingham we parked at Forest Park & ride as it only costs £2 return if you have an event ticket. Quick visit to FOPP & then it’s time for beer n burgers 😉 Go to join the queue,about an hour before doors open & who should be the last in queue but my mate Gary ! We’re both hoping the balcony will be open tonight 😉 There’s about 16 people in front of us, so we’re pretty sure of a decent place in the room. Disaster ! Balcony closed 🙁 So we end up in the other usual position 😉
The opening band ” Dead Soul” were interesting/different. Need to check them out properly on Spotify…
I’d previously only seen Ghost at festivals,so was looking forward to seeing them headline. I wasn’t disappointed ! After the (long) intro tape they go from “Spirit” straight into “From The Pinnacle To The Pit ” (Just like on the album) a great start.
Papa is a great front man. I was cracking up at some of the things he said. The show was presented very well. Everyone on stage plays their part great. I absolutely loved this night & really wanna go see them again…
P.S. I planned on going to see them in Manchester at the weekend (3 hours drive away. There’s not many bands i’d drive to Manchester for, but these are worth it) but unfortunately the show is sold out 🙁
Originally, i was meant to be seeing ” Hey Hello” today, in Sheffield. However, it got cancelled due to Ginger Wildhearts illness. Nowadays, i’m finding it harder & harder to just stay in at weekends, getting tired of my own company, so was on the look out for a “replacement gig “. There were a couple of options : 1. Ash/Amorettes Norwich, 2. Clutch Brixton, 3. New Model Army Rock City, 4. Def Leppard/Whitesnake/ Black Star Riders Nottingham (on 13th). As much as i love Ash & the Amorettes made it even better value, i decided on going to London for Clutch. I met up with Kristina for a late lunch “like the old days”. Rob arrived later & i gave him the Garbage CD i’d got from Japan for him. They then went to another pub, whilst i went to Brixton. I wasn’t expecting for it to be too busy early on (especially after seeing how quiet it was before the recent gig in Nottingham), but was truly shocked to find just one chap waiting around ! As Elliot said, almost made you wonder if people realised the venue had been changed from Shepherds Bush Empire to Brixton ! ( SBE has cancelled gigs till the end of the year as they found structural problems with the balcony !)After a while Jim arrived, closely followed by Carl & Lisa. Great seeing them again & i realised this would be the first time i join them on front row 😉 Typically, the hand scanner didn’t work on my ticket, so was slowed down a little getting in. No worries though as got the spot i wanted. The first band on were “Greenleaf” & were new to me. Lisa & Carl told me a bit about them as they’d seen them a few times on the tour 😉 In fact, they had even put them on guest list tonight :-). They were pretty decent live band. From Sweden & it was soon apparent their inspiration (like many bands from Sweden) stems from ’80s metal. I enjoyed them a lot. Next it was “Bombus”. Another bunch of metalheads from Sweden ! These are pretty heavy, especially as there are multiple “singers” amongst them 🙂 They get a great reaction from the crowd. Finally time for the mighty Clutch. The crowd had swelled a lot, as had the amount of drunks behind us ! ( “I’m sure that pint will end up down my back” ) They started with ” X Ray Visions / Firebirds” & it was soon obvious they were impressed with the turn out tonight ; ” It’s a shame about Shepherds Bush, but every cloud…”. They also thanked the Brixton crew, who should have had a night off tonight 😉
This was a truly great night from Clutch & what a way to finish their tour & their biggest venue in the UK so far.
I caught you in there Lisa & Carl 😉
Said quick goodbyes to my friends & was back on the tube to Cockfosters & the 2 hour drive home that followed. About half way home, i just felt hungry, so at about 2 am i was sat in McDonalds ! Later that day i was due to go out for lunch with my mum & i over slept! I was up & outa my place in about 10mins, so breakfast this morning was at the Chinese 🙂
P.S. The last couple of shows i’ve seen at Brixton, someone came along the front row, handed out a clapperboard type thing & took photos to go on Brixton academys website. I had “dressed up” especially & it didn’t happen this night. Anyways, here’s what i was wearing 😉
I happened to notice that the city hall offer reduced price car parking at Q Park on Rockingham street. Only £3 for 24 hours! Only problem was, even though it’s close by, somehow we walked around in a circle to find City Hall! Went to the Wetherspoons for beer & a curry, then off to the gig. This was originally gonna be in the Ballroom, but ticket sales were good enough to move to the city hall ( Agent to Fish : “Do you want to move to the city hall?” Fish : ” Erm, that’s where i’ve had many jinxed moments over the years!” 😉 )
The support act, ” Lazuli ” were interesting to start off, but, ultimately i found them a bit samey. So much so that i was dropping off to sleep ! They finished with all band member playing a glockenspiel together. That was quite impressive.
So, to the main man. I’d read that the previous night in Birmingham, he was struggling with vocals. First stop in Sheffield was A&E for Cortizone injections. This could fall below par tonight. The first song, i thought he sounded awful ! As the night went on & possibly as his vocals had warmed up, he started sounding better (Or was it *not* any better & i was allowing too much?) Fish told a story about being in A&E & there was a “typical Scottish drunk” there (Not him). It was a nice segue to ” Family Business” 😉 Then it’s time for “Misplaced Childhood”. Before the start, Fish basically said “Just enjoy yourselves, how ever you want”. This caused pretty much everyone to get to their feet.
Overall, Fish performed well, but, you could tell he was struggling a bit. I’m sure the loud audience spurred him on a lot though. Listening to “Misplaced” i was transported back to the Nottingham & Leicester gigs of 1986. So many great memories. Then we had “Market Square Heroes”….that took me back to Rock City 1983. Fish got it right when he said it’s great we can all still share these moments “together”after all these years. Whilst he doesn’t know us all per se , there is a great connection. Must confess, i thought finishing with “The Company”, didn’t really work for me. But that’s a minor complaint for a decent night out 🙂
Damn it was windy today ! Believe it or not, it actually helped us as regards car parking! Got to Sheffield & 1st car park was full. 2nd one was pretty much the same, except for 2 spaces which had some boarding that had blown down. So out the car we get, move the boarding & space secured ! (straight after, someone came into the next space lol) We went to the pub, for food n beers & then of to the Corp. There were a few in the queue before us, but, everything was looking good. Saw Simon Dunkerly & he said ” Have you seen the photo?” Me: “Erm what/where?” . Simon ” On the Winter Rocks page. Stuart asked for a photo to put up & i chose the one where you’re wearing the red top!” Me : ” Oh ace ! Cheers mate 🙂 ”
Once doors opened, we were then held in the bar area, whilst final preparations were finished. Skarlett Riot were sound checking (i shoulda filmed it under the shutters lol). Once in, front row was secured in the perfect position. Job done! First band on were Skarlett Riot. A solid opener for sure.
Next up, it was “Sumo Cyco”. (Bad Touch had to pull their set due to having traffic problems). I had never even heard of Sumo Cyco before, so it was all new to me. What can i say except that they rocked big time. They certainly brought the energy levels up. I really wanna see these do their own headline show now 🙂 P.S. My mate Ady thought that Sever/Skye was a “scary lady”….personally, i thought she had great attitude & knows how to pump up the crowd 😉
Next up it was “The Dirty Youth”. A band i’ve seen before & they’re not bad. But truth be told, anything after “Sumo Cyco” was gonna be an uphill struggle.
Next we had ” Tax The Heat”. I’ve seen these before & gotta be honest, whilst they are great musicians, they just didn’t get me going (again) sorry. I think my friend Rachel summed them up very aptly ; ” Too groomed, too safe……yawn ” 😉
Next it was The Graveltones. They’re always great. Apparently, this was their last gig for 2 months & it’s the first time in 5 years of touring, that they’re having 2 months off ! Respect ! As a bonus, they had Nick Fyffe (The Temperance Movement) jam with them as well tonight
Scorpion Child were next. Didn’t know anything about them, but they were ok.
Crobot followed & they were their usual awesome selves. Knew we were in for something special as before the show, i saw Jake with his bottle of Jack Daniels pouring himself a very nice measure. He was having a laugh n joke with some of the peeps down the front as well. This guy is a dude. I’m sure he also made the day for many ladies in the crowd as he performed tonight just wearing his pants !
Nonpoint were refreshing, due to their sound, but, ultimately were a bit boring. As for Fozzy ? Omg. Seriously ? The singer just loves himself waaaaay too much. I did think his jacket at the start was funny though! I mean, we’re coming up to Christmas, so all those flashing lights fitted nicely. Strangest moment of their set was a cover of Abba’ “S.O.S.” I turned around to see everyones reactions. There were as many people just looking stunned as there were really loving it.(I saw you gettin down to it Nina 😉 ) On reflection, i still don’t know what to make of it. The lass next to me tapped me on my shoulder with a “there there there” kind of gesture ! She’d noticed what i was thinking lol
Finally, time for the headliners, The Temperance Movement. I got chatting to a lass who had traveled down from Scotland just for this show. She was telling me that TTM are headlining Glasgow Barrowlands next year & that i should go. Must say, i’m impressed they’ve got up to that level. Just shows with quality songs & a lot of hard work touring, anything is possible. Tonights performance was just great.Not as great as the Bodega show though 😉 A shame they ran out of time ….
So, all in all, another great indoors festival at Sheffield. Was nice seeing some “old” friends there & being introduced to some others (putting more names to faces is always good) is always cool. Roll on Winter Rocks 2016 !
I got to London nice n early, went to the Beehive for grub & then went to queue at the Academy, 3 hours before doors opened 😉 My mate Jim turned up later, as did his mate Nick. O2 Priority is useful 🙂 I got front row on the left side, exactly where i wanted to be. Michael Schenkers Temple Of Rock were great, but, their set was way too short. I think probably about 7 songs & around 45mins. But Schenker was on fire. It’s great to see him looking so into the show & smiles all around.
Just the intro of “War Pigs” as enough to set the tone for Priest ! The crowd were so bloody loud singing along. They started with “Battle Cry” & then straight into “Dragonaut” off the latest album. (There were 2 more played tonight off “Redeemer Of Souls”), then bam ! It’s “Metal Gods”. So many Priest classics were played tonight. Rob Halford was spot on with his vocal delivery….something that cannot be said of some previous tours, where it was patchy. The “new” guy Richie brings so much energy & enthusiasm to the show. He fits so well in Priest. Strangely, i felt it was during “Turbo Lover” when the crowd got really rowdy. There was a lot of pushing around (even though it might not be that noticeable from my video). was great 🙂
When a band is this on & playing to such an up for it audience, there’s nothing can beat this. The show has just took second spot in my “best gigs of the year”. (Garbage @ Paris is number one) For sure i will see them again on the next tour, whenever that is.
