Category Archives: Concert Reviews

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Blood Ceremony: Live at O2 Institute, Birmingham (UK)

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After being somewhat spoiled with three support acts the previous night at Skid Row in Manchester, it’s a bump back down to a single support for this evening’s fare, with Canada’s Blood Ceremony touring in support of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats at Birmingham’s O2 Institute. The room is not quite sold out, though very busy, with the intimate feel of the venue lending itself to a really good atmosphere. After a far too early arrival, allowing unneeded extra time for snow, it was time for some doom and gloom in my ears to warm me from the cold. Continue reading →


Ensiferum – Septifcflesh Live at Brighton Music Hall

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Seven days into 2019 and I had my first of many shows for the year. The “Two Paths” Tour with Ensiferum, Septicflesh, and Arsis. When this tour got announced, I immediately got excited, as Arsis is always a good time and I just saw them a few months prior on the Bloodletting Tour back in October. Septicflesh has always been one of those bands that I love but never actively think about, but they are always a band that I could sit and listen to for hours. Ensiferum is just an all around good time. That being said, this tour is also a bit of a mixed bag of styles, Arsis is a band that used to regularly tour with the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Dying Fetus, and Misery Index. So seeing them on a tour bill with Greek Symphonic Death Metal (Septicflesh) and Finnish Folk Metal (Ensiferum), I knew this was going to be an interesting and worthwhile show… so let’s jump right into this bad Larry!Continue reading →


Skid Row – Backyard Babies – H.E.A.T. – Vega: Live at O2 Ritz, Manchester

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A four band bill on a cold Tuesday evening seems like the perfect antidote to the winter blues, so with Skid Row bringing the heat… sorry, bringing along H.E.A.T. alongside Vega and Backyard Babies on support on their latest tour, it seemed like the perfect evening. A quick trip across to Manchester later and it was time for the rather early doors. Continue reading →


Architects: Live at Wembley Arena, London

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And so, to Architects at Wembley Arena. You start off with one of those angel/devil on your shoulder conversations about how this could be a really great way to spend a Saturday night or, conversely, rather like Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon, you find yourself wondering whether you really are getting too old for this shit; a feeling that seems to continue as you take the tube northbound, past semi-frozen shoppers heading to warm homes and warm food, to the glorified cattle shed that is the SSE Arena, or Wembley Arena, as most of us still know (if not love) it.Continue reading →


Enter Shikari – Palaye Royale – Black Peaks: Live at O2 Academy, Leicester (UK)

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Putting together a good bill is a difficult task. Sometimes the stars can align, schedules are free and the world gets Trivium with Code Orange, Power Trip and Venom Prison. Other times you get Dizzee Rascal supporting Muse. Yes, that did actually happen. When a band as fluid with genre boundaries as Enter Shikari announces a tour, wild speculation breaks out about who will be joining them, or indeed, why a certain band is on the bill. Tonight is no exception as a varied line up graces the frequently gig-bereft Leicester City.Continue reading →


The Subhumans – Knock Off – You: Live at The 100 Club, London

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A first gig of the year after a couple of abortive attempts were blocked by train strikes and I finally get to take in The Subhumans in the annual Punk festival in The 100 Club – the scene of a number of good gigs I’ve enjoyed before. A long trip beckoned, but a hopefully worthwhile one nonetheless to finally see a band I’ve quite liked for a number of years now, complete with You and Knock Off in support duty.Continue reading →


Four Year Strong’s 11th Annual Christmas Show at the Worcester Palladium

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Ah, Christmas time. A time for friends, family, spiked eggnog and cider, and… moshing.

Yup, it’s that time of the year again. It’s time to break out your ugly Christmas sweaters and your pair of trusty Chuck Taylor’s. Because it’s time for Four Year Strong’s 11th Annual Christmas Show at the Worcester Palladium. Yes, the 11th one, I remember the first one back in 2009 with Bane, Therefore I Am, Smartbomb, and Beyond City Lights.Continue reading →


The Great Old Ones – Audn – Dodecahedron Live At Baroeg

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Before true winter besets us and the deep darks of midwinters eve are upon us, in early December I visited a darkness even stranger and deeper than the longest night of the year. In Rotterdam, there was a delectable lineup, granted us mostly by the formidable Season of Mist. So of to the cold harbor, I went to see the dark strangeness that this eve on black metals fringes had to offer.Continue reading →