Live Reviews

It is never a bad thing to end a year of great music watching an arena show featuring two of your favourite bands, so I was more than a little chuffed to be able to catch Alter Bridge and Shinedown on the penultimate night of their UK tour. Originally, Sevendust …

A celebration of Easter? In December? This can only mean one thing, The Darkness are back on the road, and they are not following the rules. Playing an album in its entirety from start to finish is usually reserved for legacy albums, very rarely a brand new album. But The …

With new album ‘Burning Bright’ deservedly earning Laura Cox rave reviews from all corners, the French singer/songwriter/guitarist packed her mightily impressive band into a transit van for a trip across the Channel. Before a brief run of live UK performances concluded at The Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool, it was …

With the Christmas party season in full swing, what better way to enjoy the festivities than kicking off your heels and having a bop with The Sweet? Leave any grumbles or cynicism at the door, this was a night to forget about what ails ya (or the impending G*****l E******n), …

Somehow, in all the time I have been shooting and reviewing gigs, I have managed to miss The Tramshed in Cardiff as a venue. That was put right when I travelled up from the SW to see a cracking four band bill stretching from the young and new, to the …

After a whistle-stop tour of smaller, more intimate gigs performed either side of an appearance at Download Festival during the Summer, Canadian noise merchants Sumo Cyco made good on their promise to “come back soon” by doing exactly that. Word of mouth on this band is incredible: you catch Sumo …

With some trepidation we opened the doors on Sunday, but there were no worries. The M5 was flowing sweetly and we were on track for an on time start. Opening what was, in my opinion before and certainly most people’s afterwards, the strongest of the three days were Western Sand …

A comfortable night in our caravan and then a good cooked breakfast (the quality, variety and price of both food and beer was definitely a plus at Tencreek) to set up for the second day (and being completely honest, possibly the weaker of the three days in terms of headliners …

Not that many bands make it over the Tamar into Cornwall. The “Rockin by the River” lineups are slowly changing that and there is a growing scene based in St Austell at the Band Club. Cornwall Rocks, a three day festival featuring some of the leading lights in the New …

I remember back in 1990 when I first saw Sacred Reich live on their “The American Way” tour. It was one of the craziest gigs I’d ever been to. Fans were climbing the speakers and throwing themselves off, the pit was almost a no-go area, it was quite an intimidating …