Month: December 2017

Him, Rock City, Nottingham, 15-12-17

 

This was a strange one ! Before i even got to Nottingham, i was already disappointed ! Why? Well, because a friend i know, who is a massive HIM fan was gonna follow them around the UK & i hoped we’d meet up at Nottingham. We’d been trying to have a meet up for a long time, but something always seemed to stop it happening. I was under the impression that at least we could have a meet up at HIM in Nottingham. So, the reason why i was disappointed was that about 4 or 5 days before the gig, she told me she wasn’t going 🙁 Oh well, c’est la vie….
I did in fact consider not going myself. But as i’d skipped a few gigs recently (wasted money on tickets) & i’d prepaid the hotel, i thought i should go. Oh yeah, there’s also the fact that this will be the last time that HIM will play Rock City, as they’re splitting up! So it HAD to be done 🙂
I’ve seen HIM a few times over the years. The first time was in the Basement of Rock City 2002. The last time was Rock City 2015. Over the times I’ve seen them, what pretty much decided if it would be a good show or not, was Ville Valos state of mind 😉
Tonight i managed to get my usual spot on the balcony & was interested if the’re might be some little extras or stuff they’d not played for some time.
I did like the intro music, which was suitably apt for tonight : The Everly Brothers “Bye Bye Love” 🙂 As soon as they hit the stage, i straight away realised that the lighting was pretty rubbish. First song, there was no definition to the sound. Yeah, a great start !

I tried to capture some video clips & a few photos, but as the lighting was poor, my results were the same. 
I’m not gonna write much about this show. Yes, they did play a varied set which covered most of their career. Probably even added up to about 20 songs played. But in all honesty, i thought they just dialled it in. Just going through the motions. There was very little chat from Valo (nothing new there)…basically no interaction between him & the crowd.

I’m sure that most of the crowd went home happy. For me, what i expected of them was to go out in a blaze of glory, but instead, it was more like a damp squib. However, i’m still glad that i managed to see their last show at Rock City 🙂

 

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Rock City, Nottingham, 6-12-17

I must confess, i’m a bit late to the Frank Carter party. Maybe it’s because i didn’t like the previous band “Gallows”?. After seeing some great live footage of FC&TR on TV & Youtube, i decided i had to go see them. What better venue than Rock City 🙂
Did my usual thing ; train to Nottingham, stayed at Roomzzz hotel, went for grub, back to hotel to relax, then off to the gig.
Before going to this gig, i’d seen online that Frank had not been very well recently (Both mentally & physically) so i wondered how the show would go.
I got my usual spot on the balcony & the place soon filled up (It was sold out).
First up was “Ecca Vandal” (spelling?) I’d never heard of her before. The short set was ok, but nothing to get much excited about.
Second support was “Basement”. Again,I’d never heard of them before! They got a great reaction from the crowd & it was during there set that the first circle pit of the night was formed 🙂
So, to Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes…
From the off, it was a high energy rock n roll show. Frank was all over the stage & i couldn’t really tell that he’d had tonsillitis (or whatever it was) for some days. Hell, he probably spent as much time OFF the stage, amongst the crowd, as he did ON the stage !
During the first song “Primary Explosive” there seemed to be as much energy onstage as off the stage. The crowd went mental ! Whilst i did take a few photos, i didn’t film any clips till about 5 or 6 songs into the set. I was just taking it all in & was in awe of the energy in the room !
During “Juggernaut” Frank comes out into the crowd. He was held up, standing on the shoulders of people in the crowd. But not only that, he even did a handstand ! Very impressive 🙂
He dedicates a song to all the people working at this legendary venue tonight, it’s called “Vampires”

Before “Wildflowers” Frank invites the girls to crowd surf up to the stage. By the end of the song, the stage was absolutely packed! (It was nice seeing the security helping them onto the stage etc. I’ve a feeling that they might have got rid of some of the previous security guys as i didn’t recognise many of the faces)

During “Modern Ruin” Frank goes out into the crowd & up on the balcony. He ends up finishing the song on the level where the bar is.  There was a cool moment when the guitarist went into the crowd…complete with guitar!…& Frank just had to join him : 

Something that i really liked about this show was the straight talking from Frank. When you first look at him, you probably see a feisty crazy mofo (Which of course he is 😉 ) but he also showed his vulnerable & caring side. He talked openly about his mental health problems. I have a lot of respect for him by doing that. Maybe , by him being so open, members of the crowd will take that away with them & they will be brave enough to share their demons with family/friends. Don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying everyone in the crowd had issues,but lets face it, we all have certain aspects in life that we bottle up & don’t let out.

The main set finishes with “Paradise” & it’s dedicated to the victims of terrorist acts at music venues etc. It’s not long before the encore. They play “Devil Inside Me” followed by “Snake Eyes”. After “Lullabys” Frank tells us ” You have no idea how much this means to me! “. He then explains his journey/progression from the band Gallows, to Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes & how they sold out the rescue rooms & have now sold out Rock City. He’s a very happy man 🙂 When he’s asking everyone to give a round of applause to the security, a girl is lifted over the barrier. As she goes over, some idiot in the crowd punches her ! Absolutely despicable behaviour by that numpty. Fortunately, the security saw him do it & they kicked him out. Frank wasn’t aware what had happened, so he asks “whats happening?” The security/crowd explain that a lass was punched. He says he’s so sorry for that happening. Also “This is an event for love, for peace” That’s followed by “..well we know who we’ll be singing this song to don’t we?!” Next he says “No more crowd surfers, everyone find a partner or someone strong & get up on their shoulders”. The crowd then pretty much sing the words to “I Hate You”. It’s a great sight & sound , just a shame about how it came about.


So, all in all, my first experience of seeing Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes was a good one. Will certainly go see them again 🙂

The Darkness, Rock City, Nottingham, 2-12-17

 

The previous night i should have been seeing Royal Republic at Koko in London. I decided to skip it as was already getting a bit tired after the few shows i’d seen in a row. Gave my Royals ticket to my mate Rob.This way i could relax a bit more before the next gig.
As my sister had been admitted to hospital,i was initially unsure if i should go to this gig or not. In the end, i decided to go in the hope that it would take my mind off how my sister was & cheer me up a bit. Got to Nottingham a bit later than usual, but still had time to check in my hotel, go out for food & then relax a bit back at hotel.
I won’t bother going into depth about this gig, but can surely say it was “just what the doctor ordered” ! The venue was rammed & everyone seemed to be having a great time. Ok, there a couple of sound issues here n there, but nothing enough to ruin the show.

There were some real funny moments from Justin (as always). 

They played a lot of the old classic Darkness songs & it was a really long set.(Probably getting on for 20 songs). It still puts a smile on my face when they play “Christmas Time (Don’t let the Bells End)”…we even got fake snow showering down into the crowd.  It was cool when they jammed snippets of “Immigrant Song”,”Sweet child Of Mine” (with the crowd doing i fine job of singing) & “Thunderstruck”. The show finished with “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”. Yup, a great night out !