The inane ramblings of a thirty something!

Friday morning, it’s 9am and the car is full of petrol, beer and food. The SatNav is fully charged and Chimp Spanner is blasting out of the stereo… the road trip to Hammerfest II had begun! The journey flew by and before I knew it I was checking in at Pontins, Prestatyn and heading to my home for the weekend. Now it wasn’t exactly Buckingham Palace but it was far better than a tent could ever be; and besides, it had a fridge to keep the beer cold!

With food and beer successfully loaded into the fridge, obviously whilst sampling one of the tasty beverages just to make sure it was worthy of such an occasion, it was time to go and find the pub! The Queen Victoria was found with ease and the Welsh beer was sampled, well, Murphy’s Irish Stout which is about as Welsh as Haggis but delicious all the same! The Queen Vic, conveniently enough, also turned out to be the venue of Stage 3!

Echovirus kicked off the day’s proceedings with a ferocious set of melodic death metal, a touch of the nerves to begin with but were soon shook off and forgotten. Man must Die were either insanely terrible or I didn’t see them as I have absolutely no recollection of them whatsoever… and I wasn’t drunk, not at that point anyway! Onto Sondura, now if it was 1997 I probably would have loved this band but its 2010 and, despite being very good at what they do, they are 10 years too late. On further research they cite Nickelback as an influence… enough said! It was also at this time that I was fortunate enough to meet up with many of the good people from the twitterverse, wonderful people, one and all! Which brings me nicely, in no specific way whatsoever, to the next band up – No Made Sense.  Reading’s Dark Progressive Metallers blew the previous bands clear out the water, an awesome display had the entire crowd mesmerised throughout their tight, explosive set.  A definite highlight of the weekend, 2010 could well be their year!

A brief refrain for food and a couple of home beers before the evening’s entertainment began! Xerath were up first on Stage 2, I’d had the pleasure of meeting the Xerath guys earlier and they were a thoroughly good bunch of chaps! Their music was pretty good too, self styled “Orchestral Groove Metal” with more than a hint of Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad thrown in the mix along with Dimmu Borgir atmospherics. Savage Messiah followed, now if I had to use one word to describe them it would be ‘Megadeth’, fast paced thrash metal. They were extremely good at it too; I draw the comparison with Megadeth as a compliment as these guys can seriously thrash out a song!  Another highlight was to come next from Reading’s Malefice, the brutal grooves and crushing riffs set Malefice apart from their peers in the British Metal scene. Their set was no less impressive, the crowd chanting their name throughout, forming circle pits and generally unleashing hell in the pit. This didn’t go unnoticed by the band with plenty of praise heading down from the stage as well as up to it.

A short saunter over to Stage 1, via the bar of course, to catch the remainder of Swedish gothic doom metallers Katatonia. It’s not music that you can dance to but they still manage to put on a great show and the nodding heads of the crowd seemed to agree! DevilDriver rock up next, I saw them twice last year at Download and Rock City and was blown away by both shows so I was expecting more fireworks at Hammerfest. I wasn’t disappointed, Dez is a master at working the crowd and it wasn’t long before the first circle pit was demanded! They ripped through the classics and even threw in a couple of unexpected tracks at the end of the set!  Five Finger Death Punch headlined Friday with a set as ferocious as Ivan Moody’s stares… Their rise has been nothing short of spectacular, in two short years they have gone from support act to headlining one of Europe’s major festivals! They rattled through tracks of both albums before Ivan won a bet against Dez from DevilDriver…  Dez bet $100 Ivan couldn’t get the crowd to go crazier than they did for DD, a 1000 strong ‘Wall of Death’ put paid to that bet!  Napalm Death rounded off the line-up on Stage 1 for Friday with their original brand of grindcore metal! Then it was back to the chalet for a few more cheeky beers…

Saturday arrived with the inevitable fuzzy head but Berocca and a bite to eat soon sorted that out!  First order of the day was Rise to Remain; I got their EP from Metal Hammer the previous month and liked what I heard so I wanted to hear their live performance! They were good, damn good. Not the finished article yet but they definitely have the ability to become a great band!  Fury UK followed with a set full of melodic metal with a touch of prog mixed in too, they were well received by the crowd and definitely looked as though they were having fun! A trip to the pub then ensued for a hair of the dog… returning to Stage 2 for the phenomenal set by LA’s White Wizzard putting the metal back into metal! With shredding guitars, thunderous beats and the screaming demon vocals, it’s old school metal at its best and surprisingly refreshing! I was then transported back to the late 90’s, Panic Cell a band that have been on the verge of being huge for more than a decade but just don’t seem to be able to break through that final barrier… A solid set and a couple of bottles of Jager for the crowd went down well!

On the way to the shop we bumped in Darth Vader and a bunch of Stormtroopers, who’d have thought Darth Vader was from Yorkshire… Back at the chalet for a delicious round of sausage sandwiches, a few more cold ones and a spot of rugby before heading back to Stage 1 for the mighty Skindred. The highlight of the weekend for sure, Skindred were immense. Benji working the crowd as only he can, what a front man! It must have been an incredibly sight, the entire crowd bouncing through the whole performance. They were joined by members of Forever Never and Panic Cell for the finale ‘Nobody’.  Iced Earth followed, I tried, I really tried to like them but I just don’t them. I know this may leave me in the minority but I just had to get that out…

Now comes a real highlight, Suicidal Tendencies, a band I have listened to for years and I never thought I would get to see them live… A stunning performance, the energy was brutal, Mike Muir was on fine form. What a way to end an amazing weekend of music! I didn’t hang around for Sabaton, i left the arena in a daze with a huge smile on my face!

What I loved most about my weekend at Hammerfest was the atmosphere, there was no pretence, bands and fans alike walked the floors all having a great time. The only scene there was if you walked to the beach and looked out over the sea…

A great, great weekend I will never forget!

Captive Audience, the latest release from Glasgow Prog Metal outfit Secondskin, on Union Black records, is nothing short of stunning.

The tone is set immediately with the haunting intro ‘If you knew…’, which almost hypnotizes you before the raw brutality of ‘Pawned Life’ bursts through the haze reawakening the senses… but almost as quickly as they arrive the powerful guitars are gone, replaced by atmospheric melodies and vocal harmonies. There is an underlying menace to the melodies building into a crescendo, displaying Ian McCall’s vocal strengths. The staccato, atmospheric melodies continue through ‘Fashion Victim’, the title track ‘Captive Audience’ and ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ but still with the shadow of menace lurking just beneath the surface, revealing itself through the crushing choruses.

The mood changes with ‘Triggered Happy’, the melodies are still prevalent but they have a Curesque downbeat feel to them and the vocals take on a more melancholy persona. The climax is reminiscent of ‘90’s shoegaze pioneers Slowdive with the layered guitar harmonies, haunting vocals to which Secondskin bring an added heaviness.

The melancholic feel continues with ‘Is this how far we’ve come?’, the atmospheric melodies continue to seduce, luring you into tranquillity before the heavy guitars and edgy vocals of ‘Meanderthal’ bring you crashing back to reality. The jagged heaviness is short lived as the melodies and vocal harmonies return in ‘Among the mute majority’ and ‘Capable of anything’.

The album’s ending is as strong and captivating as the beginning, ‘HPID’ with its soaring vocals and complex guitar harmonies lead perfectly in the the outro ‘…what the river carries’ expanding on the haunting, hypnotic intro ‘If you knew…’.

Obvious comparisons have been drawn with Prog/Metal stalwarts Porcupine Tree but Secondskin stand up to these well and have the ability to carve their own mark on the genre.

Captive Audience is definitely one of the albums to buy in 2010!

8.5/10

Secondskin – MySpace page

Totimoshi opened the show with their brand of angst alternative rock with a sound akin to early Nirvana and the Melvins.  We were given a tiny hint of the visuals to come as Totimoshi was emblazoned across a huge led video screen along with imagery of a Mayan temple. Whilst they were warmly received by the crowd, they were what they were… the warm-up for the spectacle that was to come.

The lights dimmed and we were flying through space…

The opening notes of Oblivion sent the crowd into raptures as Mastodon introduced themselves to the masses at Rock City, Nottingham. The giant video screen behind the band changed from the stars flying through space to imagery taken from and inspired by the Crack the Skye album.  Straight into Divinations without a word or a break, Mastodon are all business and this business is good, very good!

Mastodon continued the blitzkrieg of songs from the Crack the Skye album, Quintessence, The Czar, Ghost of Karelia, Crack The Skye, The Last Baron with the visuals continuing throughout displaying black and white Rasputinesque monks, flames, bears, skulls, snakes, maniacal laughter, and old Beelzebub himself making a brief appearance, all intertwined with the colourful imagery from Crack the Skye. Not a word was spoken as they played through the whole album but then words weren’t needed, no introductions necessary, this is Mastodon!

A mini break ensued as the keyboards were moved the side but the band soon returned and there was no let up in the intensity… They launched into Circle Of Cyquatch, quickly followed by Aqua Dementia, Mother Puncher and Where Strides The Behemoth.  The visuals now changing to the relevant album covers to which the songs come from; Leviathan, Blood Mountain, Remission. Iron Tusk and the massive March of the Fire Ants rounded out the amazing set bring to a close one the most sensually intense gigs I’ve ever seen.

I have seen hundreds of shows over the years but the intensity from the band was immense and the bombardment of the senses both aurally and visually made this one of the best shows I have ever seen, if not the best! A bold statement, I know… If you get chance to see Mastodon live, do it, you will not be disappointed…

I returned to Anfield yesterday for the first time in 17 years, yes I am a ‘woolly back’! I remember my last trip vividly, catching the train to derby, meeting up with the Derby branch of the Liverpool supporters club and then climbing into the minibus… a beaten up, old, blue Transit circa 1983 with more ice inside than out, good times!  That day we lost 2-1 to Aston Villa, my previous trip a couple of years earlier was also a defeat… 1-0 to Coventry! No wonder it has taken me 17 years to gather up the strength and courage to return again. Would it be a hat-trick of defeats or would I break my duck? Bolton Wanderers were the opponents today, revitalised under new boss Owen Coyle, it could have been a potential banana skin!

This time the journey was a little more comfortable, to begin with there was bacon sandwiches courtesy of my brother, and I was driving in my nice and warm car! It was as cold as last time as far as I could remember but thankfully all of the ice was on the outside of the vehicle this time…  The journey began! I probably made a mistake choosing the M1, the road works from junction 25 onwards are insane… 50mph with average speed cameras, it felt so slow that it seemed we were going backwards. It wasn’t made any easier by the rubberneckers gawking at a car in flames on the southbound carriageway! Traffic and roadworks now a speck in the rear-view mirror we made it to the pickup point where two others joined our band of merry soles on our crusade to Anfield!

Just over an hour later we arrived in Liverpool and parked in a spot used several times before by others on our crusade in previous years. A 15 minute walk later we were looking at the famous Anfield stadium… we turned left and walked straight in The Sandon and ordered a round of drinks.  Then followed an hour or so of footy related banter before we left the pub and to head to the ground, via the bookies to place a cheeky bet!  The allure of the smell of greasy delights was too great and dirty cheeseburgers and hotdogs were enjoyed by all on the walk to the turnstiles.

In the ground we found our seats and met with our friend, who was sending his usual message to the clubs American owners Messers Hicks (who was attending) and Gillett, briefly assisted in these shots by my brother and my good self:

The game began… it wasn’t a particularly good first half but we were creating chances and didn’t really look like conceding despite a couple of Bolton chances, and a penalty shout. Liverpool’s dominance showed through as Dirk Kuyt managed to scramble home Liverpool’s first after good work from Insua down the left and Aquilani’s nod back from the touchline.  Liverpool’s second half performance was much improved and creating several chances that went close. The pressure finally showed when Insua’s driven shot was deflected off Bolton’s Kevin Davies’ boot to make it 2-0 to Liverpool. One of our merry band had placed a bet earlier that Kuyt would score the first and Liverpool would win 2-0 so he was in the uncomfortable position of no wanting Liverpool to score again… Thankfully, the referee blew his whistle and the game ended 2-0 to Liverpool!

A leisurely saunter back to the car ensued with only a minor detour to a chip shop for some sustenance for the journey home. Back at the car we jumped in only to see the ominous yellow sticker on the windscreen… yes, a parking ticket! This parking haven that had served many crusaders over the years had finally succumbed to the regime…

Well, a measly parking ticket wasn’t going to dampen what had been a great, great day. A day that i had finally broken my duck and see Liverpool win at Anfield live!

I came to terms with my, shall we say, folically challengedness years ago, that was until last Thursday’s show at Rock City in Nottingham. Not since the first days of bald realisation did I wish for the return of my long flowing mane of hair from my youth! The show in question was the Infecting Nations Tour bringing a night full of neck snappingly awesome Thrash Metal from Evile, Warbringer and The Fading.

Never having heard of The Fading before the show, I was interested to hear what they had to offer. The boys from Israel duly delivered… stage presence, fast heavy riffs, and above all, a serious dose of metal! A band definitely worth catching live if you get the chance!

Warbringer took to the stage next, brash, in your face, good old American Thrash Metal… Lead singer, John Kevill was full of his usual sneers and hand gestures along with the hair brigade of axemen, John Laux and Adam Carroll and the beatmaster general Nic Ritter. A special mention here to Elad Manor of The Fading who has been filling in on bass for Warbringer’s Andy Laux since the beginning of the tour! Highlights from the set were “Living in a Whirlwind”, “Severed Reality” and “Total War”.

It’s now time for the headliners, Evile! Before they began, frontman, Matt Drake took a few moments to remind the crowd of the band’s loss with the sad passing of Evile’s bass player Mike Alexander last year but also to introduce the new man in the fold, Joel Graham. The moment of reflection over, the music begins… “Infected Nation” the stunning opener from their latest album, Infected nations. The show continued with a mixture of songs from both Evile albums “First Blood”, “Killer From The Deep”, “New Demolition”, “Nosphoros”, “We Who Are About To Die”, “Thrasher”, “Time No More”, “Schizophrenia”, “Bathe In Blood”. The set ended with the immense anthem “Enter The Grave”, the crowd, in between head bangs, singing along with the chorus!

The smile rarely left the face of Joel Graham during set, seemingly loving his new role in Evile as were the rest of the band! Ol and Matt Drake were both frequently smiling to the crowd with Matt thanking the fans for turning out and sharing the wish to return to the main stage again. Despite the turbulent times the band had faced they seemed to be back where they are happiest, on stage playing live shows for crowds of head banging metalheads!

My first show of 2010 and what a cracker! The volume was turned to 11 and the hair was flying, i even forgot that I wasn’t supposed to be drinking in January… If the rest of the shows this year are half as good as this then it’s going to be a great, great year!

I have been compiling this list for what seems like forever… 2009 was the year I re-found my love of music, for the past few years I had all but forgotten what music really meant to me! It is in no small part thanks to my sister that my flame has been rekindled!  I was lucky enough to have been bought a ticket to Download 2009 as a gift and from that moment I haven’t looked back…

So, there I am, with a new found enthusiasm for music, in the year that has seen so much amazing new music it is no wonder that it has taken me this long to narrow down the list to a Top 10. In a year that has seen me buy over 50 albums and see almost 100 live bands I have finally arrived on my Top 10 Albums of 2009:

1) Hatebreed – Hatebreed
I love this band, there is no confusion… You get what you get and you fucking like it! East Coast Hardcore at its very, very best! From the very moment “Become the Fuse” starts, through to when “Pollution of the Soul” ends, you are on your feet, high kicking and throwing fists whether you want to or not. Hatebreed have come of age with this record! This is not just a genre defining record but a record that defines a decade…

2) Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
Having grown up listening to alternative music in the late 80’s/ early 90’s I couldn’t ignore bands such as Faith No More, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and, of course, Alice in Chains. “Dirt” and “Jar of Flies” were two of the best albums of the 90’s but I never got to see AIC live, due to Layne Staley’s death I never thought I would… until this year that is! “Black Gives Way to Blue” was released and the tour followed. The album is as strong as those before without lessening Staley’s legacy, Willaim DuVall has delivered a freshness, revitalising wave that is so in tune with Jerry Cantrell’s song writing that it almost feels as though Stayley is still with the band…

3) Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage
One of the bands that I had listened to years ago that have slapped me in the face this year and woken me up… Their Download performance blew me away as did their show at the O2 Academy, Birmingham later this year. This album is not stop metal, “Starting Over” is a stand-out track as is “The Forgotten” and “Reckoning” but the track of the album is “Take Me Away”, hardcore metal to melodic and back again! That is unless you have the deluxe version of the album and have the live track “Holy Diver”… One of the best metal covers ever…

4) Megadeth – Endgame
Another band from my youth, loved them but lost them… But hearing “Dialectic Chaos” made my groin tense up and start to vibrate… Tell me that’s not the best start to a metal album ever!!! It doesn’t stop their either, “This Day We Fight” and “44 Minutes” are just as ferocious! “1320′” is just insanely Speed Metal it could have been lifted from ‘Peace Sells…’  or ‘Rust in Peace’ . The album then takes a darker turn with “Bodies”, “Endgame”  and the monumental “Head Crusher”.  Dave Mustaine may have his critics but he sure knows how to write a metal album… If the rumours of the ‘Big Four’ hitting the UK shores are true then get your ass there..

5) Evile – Infected Nations
Pioneers of the UK Thrash revival, “Enter the Grave” was a phenomenal album but “Infected Nations” leaves that in it’s wake… With tracks like “Nosphoros”, “Now Demolition” and the immense title track “Infected Nation” and the Metallicaesque “Plague to End All Plagues” puts Evile right amongst the best current Thrash Metal bands around! Rest in Peace Mike Alexander, a true metalhead whose life was cruelly cut short this year at the tender age of 32!

6) Billy Talent – Billy Talent III
Not everyone’s cup of tea but I love this band! One of the few that I have stuck with over the wilderness years… Seeing them at Download 2009 was a highlight but their show at Rock City, Nottingham with “Cancer Bats” was a stand-out show of the year! Every song on the album gets you moving and singing along with the chorus! “Devil on my Shoulder”, “Saint Veronika”, “Tears into Wine”, “Diamond on a Landmine” and “Definition of Destiny” are stand-out tracks. A band I seriously hope I get to see live again in 2010!

7) Slayer – World Painted Blood
What can you say about Slayer that hasn’t already been said a thousand times… Legends of Thrash, creators of some of the all-time best metal tunes! “World painted Blood” is no different.  From the title track “World Painted Blood” through “Unit 731″ you get pushed against the wall by the throat, by the time the disturbing “Snuff” grabs you by the balls you realise that Slayer have lost none of their edge and, in fact, by “Americon” and “Playing With Dolls” are more menacing than ever before…

8 ) Sylosis – Conclusion of an Age
Sylosis, part of the British Melodic Death Metal scene. Hailing from Reading, Sylosis have cemented their place in the UK metal scene. “Conclusion of an Age”, their debut full-length release,  builds on the previously released “Casting Shadows” and “The Supreme Oppressor” EP’s.

9) Fornost Arnor – Escaping The Abyss
The opening song “I Am Misery” is an onslaught of melodic black metal heavily influenced by the pioneers of the genre, “Opeth”. The album continues in the same vein with  “A Trance of Madness” and “If The Trees Could Only Speak…”. The fourth track “Her Face in the Water” is a slower paced, haunting, acoustic track complete with vocal harmonies and soaring lead breaks that gives a modicum of respite from the ferocious opening tracks. “Gravity Defied” returns to the trademark ferocity and the growl of Greg Chivers. “Strength of the Heart” – This track perfectly displays Fornost Arnor’s writing qualities, a melodic progressive sound with the menacing black metal shadow ready to burst in at any moment!  “Falling Into the Arms of Sorrow” – A short, sharp burst of melodia that eases you gently into the vicious beginning of “The Tragedy of Delusion”.  Another great progressive track ranging from the raucous to the melodic and back again with more vocal harmonies to be found sitting hand in hand with the brutal growls.

10) Alexisonfire – Old Crows/Young Cardinals
Another band that I have listened to for the last few years.  Despite what Nickelback have done for music in Canada there are shoots of green coming from the desolation.  Billy Talent I have already mentioned but Alexisonfire are another band that have fought the right to be heard and they deliver their message well!  The fourth full-length release from the Ontario, Post-Hardcore outfit is full of signature tunes, such as “Old Crows”, “Sons of Privilege”, “Born and Raised”, “Midnight Regulations”, “Accept Crime” and “No Rest”.

There are so many albums that I could have and wanted to include in my Top 10 but couldn’t so here are a few that missed out by the skin o’ my teeth:

DevilDriver – Pray For Villians
Behemoth – Evangelion
Converge – Axe to Fall
Five Finger Death Punch – War Is The Answer
Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic
Mastadon – Crack The Skye
Dirge Within – Force Fed Lies
Malefice – Dawn of Reprisal
Lamb of God – Wrath

Here’s hoping 2010 is as good as 2009!

Trawling through the endless tweets in my twitter feed I came across a reply to a post I had posted about my inability in nail down my Top 10 Albums of 2009. @DJBeerman suggested I take a listen to a new band that were about to release their debut album the following week. This band was Fornost Arnor, a quartet from Southeast England. So, I headed over to their MySpace page to hear them for myself.

The opening song on the player “I Am Misery” is an onslaught of melodic black metal heavily influenced by the pioneers of the genre, “Opeth”.  Fornost Arnor display great technical prowess and an ability to create progressive songs alongside the best!  I continued through the remaining three songs and was equally impressed by both the playing and writing abilities of the band.  So impressed, in fact, that I ordered their CD from Witch King Records the same day!

Two days later the CD arrived and I couldn’t get it on the stereo quickly enough!  The album opens with the familiar “I Am Misery”, “A Trance of Madness” and “If The Trees Could Only Speak…” that I had heard from their MySpace page. The fourth track “Her Face in the Water” is a slower paced, haunting, acoustic track complete with vocal harmonies and soaring lead breaks that gives a modicum of respite from the ferocious opening tracks. “Gravity Defied” returns to the trademark ferocity and the growl of Greg Chivers. “Strength of the Heart” – This track perfectly displays Fornost Arnor’s writing qualities, a melodic progressive sound with the menacing black metal shadow ready to burst in at any moment!  “Falling Into the Arms of Sorrow” – A short, sharp burst of melodia that eases you gently into the vicious beginning of “The Tragedy of Delusion”.  Another great progressive track ranging from the raucous to the melodic and back again with more vocal harmonies to be found sitting hand in hand with the brutal growls.

The production on this album is excellent, as a debut outing I can find little wrong with it. If this is the first taste of what Fornost Arnor are capable of then, in my opinion, they will go a long way!

8/10

It must be the year for regressing to an angry teenager… So far this year I have seen many bands from my more carefree years; Faith No More, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Staind and Massive Attack but last night was the crowning glory! After the death of Layne Staley and, thereafter, the band’s indefinite hiatus I never thought I would see Alice in Chains live.

So, imagine my delight as I read that Alice in Chains had recruited and new singer and were recording a new album and with that possibly touring! Then that day came, I saw they were touring, no Nottingham date but Birmingham would do! With one thing and another, the ticket was never purchased. I thought I had missed my chance but it was a blessing in disguise as no sooner had I given up hope of seeing one of the seminal bands of my youth, they announced a few extra dates – Rock City was among them! I wasted no time this time and bought tickets there and then…

Two months later it was time for the show… I was so excited, I couldn’t wait! Even the woeful support couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm. After 35 minutes of me trying my hardest not to chew my own ears off the stage was cleared, the anticipation was growing as was the crowd. The show had long been sold out and Rock City was packed to the rafters as the lights finally dimmed and Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Sean Kinney and William DuVall entered the stage.

They began with a medley of old classics including “Again”, “Them Bones” and “Damn That River” with the crowd singing so loudly they could be heard over the PA system! The shivers ran down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as they began to play, it was nostalgic and emotional to say the least hearing those songs again but this time live in front of me… Songs from the latest album followed with DuVall joining Cantrell on guitar, “Your Decision”, “Check My Brain” and “A Looking in View” interspersed with “No Excuses”.

The show then took an acoustic feel, complete with stools and cigarettes! “Down In A Hole!”, “Heaven Beside You”, “Got Me Wrong” and “Black Gives Way To Blue” which Cantrell tribute to Staley. With the acoustic guitars put away the set continued with more old favourites and new songs mixed together, “God Am”, “Acid Bubble”, “Angry Chair” and “Man in a Box” with “Lesson Learned” rounding off the main set. Alice in Chains returned for the encore with “Would?” and the epic “Rooster” again the crowd were louder than the PA and Cantrell to out an earpiece to listen to the crowd with a huge grin on his face…

William DuVall had huge shoes to fill but he successfully picked up the mantle left from Staley’s death. DuVall’s presence, voice and guitar playing made him seem as though he had been in the band from the beginning without diminishing the legacy of Layne Staley.

It was a show that had taken 15 years for me to get to and I loved every minute of it. It will stay with me for a long time and is right up there with the best shows I have ever seen, if not the best!

After a harrowing journey, which included the death of a SatNav, a torrential down pour, a few flakes of snow and a co-driver that self-proclaims to be utterly rubbish at navigating, we arrived at the O2 Academy in Birmingham for the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour…  Unfortunately, we had already missed Maylene and the Sons of Disaster and, to my utter dismay, all but one song by Every Time I Die! To rub salt into an already painful and festering wound, I was charged £7.40 for 2 pints of shit beer…

So, after loudly proclaiming never to return to the second city again I found my vantage point and began the wait for In Flames. I’ve got a couple of CD’s by In Flames and have enjoyed them but they have never really grabbed my attention to be a regular visitor to my playlist.  However, I was eager to see and hear what they brought to the stage. I wasn’t disappointed, from the moment the lights were dimmed and the intro music began to the final song it was a brutal wave of metal delivered by 5 guys that live for this, heart and soul given on every shredding riff and pounding drum beat! I will be giving those CD’s another spin just to see if I missed something… If you get a chance to catch them live, do it!

The stage was cleared revealing the huge screens at the back for the Killswitch Engage set. The anticipation was building, the pit was filling and finally the lights dimmed… Killswitch entered the stage, all suitably attired in the same faux white dinner jacket t-shirts, to the Benny Hill theme tune! Adam D. was also wearing his, now traditional, cape but not the Mexican wrestler’s mask I saw him wearing at Download. These guys don’t mess around (well actually that’s not true… if you’ve seen them live you’ll understand!) they opened with “My Curse”. Cue the pit going crazy and the kids flying into the air, surfing! There was no let up in the songs or the energy and passion from the Killswitch boys… During “A Bid Farewell” the crowd were singing so loud that Howard Jones seemed to be taken aback and let them serenade him a couple of times, he seemed genuinely humbled by the moment.  The onslaught continued through “The Arms of Sorrow”, “Reckoning”, “Take Me Away” amongst others.  A highlight of the Download set was a then new track called “Starting Over”, I liked it then, it owned on the new record and it blew me away last night! The four, front of stage, band members were all constantly moving around the stage and hopping onto the podiums placed at either side, playing and interacting with the crowd!  “Rose of Sharyn” and “The Forgotten” followed before the crowd went berserk as the intro to “My Last Serenade”, a personal favourite of my after hearing it for the first time in my friend’s car on the way to band practice back in 2002! “The End of Heartache” rounded off the ferociously stunning set!  Killswitch came back on to perform the Dio classic “Holy Diver” for the encore, what a way to end the show!

I’d like to take this moment to wish Ronnie James Dio a quick and speedy recovery after recently being diagnosed with stomach cancer. I’m sure we all look forward to seeing him onstage again in the future!

After being at Welford Road 8 days ago to witness the Leicester Tigers out maul, out play and beat a strong South Africa side 22-17 I was looking forward to England doing the same against Argentina yesterday…  How wrong could I be?  Even taking into account the fact that there was an entire starting XV on the injury table I was expecting more! There was no passion, very little skill, no invention and at all costs kick the ball first. However, two players did stand out or a mention; Dylan Hartley and Lewis Moody.  Both of them showed pride for the shirt (even if it was purple!).  Argentina played well but they made a lot of mistakes, a good side would has capitalised on those mistakes and put points on the board. I don’t even want to think about what will happen next week when we take on the All Blacks, why can I see a cricket score coming…

So it seemed like Groundhog Day but that wasn’t the only time in the last week I have felt it! Last Saturday I was at the “Theatre of Crisps” to watch Leicester City take on West Bromwich Albion, now I am a Leicester lad but I support Liverpool, however, I do have a soft spot for my hometown club. To my dismay I learned that I was to be sitting in the West Brom end… I should have expected this as it was part of stag weekend where the stag was a Baggies fan!  I saw a close game with West Brom deservedly taking the points 2-1.  It could have gone either way but the Baggies had that little bit extra in the middle of the park.  This brings me onto yesterdays debacle in Doha, England taking on Brazil in a meaningless (money grabbing) friendly, again the team had been ravaged by injuries but the players that came in just weren’t up to or ready for international football. Brazil only won the game 1-0 but they hardly got out of second gear. There was none of the passion I had seen from Leicester the week before, they were 2-0 with 10 minutes to go and fought like troopers to get back in the game and got the goal they deserved. England had nothing, they could still be playing now and still not have scored, and it doesn’t bode well for the World Cup next year if this is the strength of our back-up players.

Perhaps it was just the occasions, or the locations, or the timing of the games but I expect more from my national teams!