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Wednesday 25 November 2009

In exile

Great video of Thrice playing 5 songs off the new album 'Beggars'. These songs sound great live! Plus a hauntingly beautiful stripped down version of 'Ive got friends' by Manchester Orchestra

Alexisonfire have donated a rare, signed 'Old Crows/Young Cardinals' album artwork print for auction to help with the medical costs of Chi of the band Deftones. It can be found here http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/BenefitForChi/catalog_items/109101 it's already at $525 which is incredible! If only I had that kind of money!

Thursday 19 November 2009

Subway Funeral

6 gigs in 6 weeks. Number 6 was Thursday at the Academy 2 Birmingham. A band that have been going for 10+ years and with 5 full-lengths under their belt and only a few people show to see them, what's going on there? Currently on tour with Rise Against and Poison the Well this show is a day off for them and I for one am thankful they came to Birmingham! The first support act a 'Telegraphs' were let down by the poor sound and even poorer crowd with only about 20 people standing around. Poison the Well fare much better, it seems that a lot of the crowd have come just to see them and they a play a solid set, its brutal and it's loud and you can't help but move your feet. Having never listened to them before I really liked them and I even recognised one song 'For a bandaged iris' but yet again they were let down by the poor sound with the clean vocals completely lost to the guitars.

Then came Thursday, I for one was really disappointed at the poor showing for such an established band but it didn't seem to affect them with Geoff joking that people must have thought they were Metallica with the amount of people that showed up! Touring their current album Common Existence they opened with 'Resuscitation of a dead man' and then went on to play a varied set taking in all 5 albums, more of a greatest hits show! Highlights included 'Division Street', 'Signals over the air' and 'Jet black new year' with the crowd singing along to every word and Geoff mincing around on the stage acting as if he was playing to a full room. The only down point was once again the sound, being right down the front you could just make out the singing and he seemed louder when he wasn't using the mic! Sort it out!

Monday 16 November 2009

Signals over the air

Thursday tonight wooo! Going on my own though which sucks! Oh well!

Gig number 5 was Dance Gavin Dance (supporting A Skylit Drive) at the Academy 3. Dance Gavin Dance a band that evolves with every record and with songs you can't help but move you feet to came on to Tree Village off the latest album Happiness. Overall it was a great set but there seemed to be some sound issues with Will Swan (Guitarist) asking for more guitar and vocals in his monitor between every song they didn't seem to impressed but pressed on! Kurt Travis' vocals on record are flawless, less can be said live but after a few songs he seemed to get into the swing of things and after a major faux par greeting the crowd 'hello London' (cue booing from the audience!) they got into their own with Kurt jumping into the crowd to get everyone moving and superb rendition of 'Rock Solid' to end the set and leaving the crowd wanting more. Not much can be said for A Skylit Drive a fairly mediocre band with a lead singer with a ridiculously high voice, we left after about 2 songs as my brother had a headache. They did pull in a crowd though with gig a sell out.

Sunday 15 November 2009

Kings and Queens


Thirty Seconds To Mars - Kings + Queens - HD

30 Seconds to Mars | MySpace Video

Diamonds on a landmine

Continuing from the previous thread Billy Talent were up next. Another brilliant Canadian band! Supported by Canterbury and Cancer Bats. Cancer Bats did a great job of warming up the audience and are defiantly good at what they do but not really to my taste. Then came the main event, Billy Talent had pulled out all the stops for this show. Ben's voice was flawless and the new album sounds sooo good live! It was absolutely crushed at the front and I came out soaking wet but with a massive grin on my face! They were immense!


So onto gig number 4 and Biffy Clyro probably one of if not the best British Band at the moment! It was the release date for the new album Only Revolutions and they played an intimate show at the HMV in Birmingham unfortunately didn't go but I was there for their sold-out show at the Academy. Supported by Pulled Apart by Horse who didn't impress me and the spectacular Manchester Orchestra and band that needs to be seen live to experience the mightiness of their songs! They go from so still and quiet to rocking out in an heartbeat and their keyboard/percussionist Chris Freeman is a one man moshing machine. But it was Biffy's night tonight and a 24 song set did everything anyone could have asked for! A stripped down affair compared to their last tour which included a string section, the songs spoke for themselves a beautiful rendition of Mountains with Simon aided by the crowd and a spazztastic rendition of There's no such thing as a jaggy snake. Biffy Clyro one of the best live bands and I would have expected nothing less!

Friday 13 November 2009

We are the sound

So a month and a half without the Internet! And a month and a half in the new flat!

So what have I been up to, well I've been to 5 gigs in 5 weeks probably some kind of record! First we had Enter Shikari who shock the foundations of the new Birmingham Academy, absolutely killer gig! Up next was the Eastpak Antidote tour with Alexisonfire, Anti-Flag, Four Year Strong and The ghost of a thousand. This was quite possibly my most anticipated gig ever and my god it didn't disappoint. The Ghost of a Thousand (a band I could probably like if I took the time to listen to them) were good. Next up were Four Year Strong with their epic songs and killer breakdowns were amazing it was a shame about the poor quality sound but I wasn't complaining after singing into the mic! Then there was anti-flag, I'd made my way to the front for this and they were great, good quality punk rock plus the drummer moved his entire kit into the crowd and played a song in the pit! Epic. Then came the main event Alexisonfire blew it away, a band that play every set like it's the most important one of their life. The amount of energy they create together is immense! George was on fire, prowling the stage and Steele was all over the place like a mad man! Plus a surprise appearance by Cancer Bats singing Hail Destroyer it couldn't have got any better. Set-list: Heading for the Sun, Boiled Frogs, We Are the Sound, Drunks, lovers, sinners saints, No Transitory, Young Cardinals, Rough Hands, Born and Raised, This Could be Anywhere in the World, Accept Crime, Accidents and Happiness by the Kilowatt.