SOS FESTIVAL RADCLIFFE CIVIC HALL
FRIDAY 9th - SATURDAY 10th JULY 2010
I wasn't sure what to expect from my first visit to the SOS Fest at Radcliffe which is a Town just to the West of Manchester.
The Event is staged by Mark and his team at Rocksector Records and not surprisingly the majority of their labels Bands were on the Bill alongside some names that were new to me and a few who we've had the pleasure of seeing before.
So after a trip down the M62 we dropped our bags at the nearby Travelodge and made our way to the Civic Centre which turned out to be an excellent venue for the event. By the time the event started there was a healthy crowd in considering it was early Evening on a Friday and everyone there was Ready To Rock ....
Festival openers were HELL TO PAY , a Manchester based 4 Piece recent winners of Rock Radios Battle of the Bands who Impressed the Hell out of just about everyone present. Their Metal Edged Rock was the perfect way to Kick off The 2nd SOS Fest. Well worth checking out if you get the chance, great songs coupled with Impressive Musicianship, a band going places.
Smooth changeovers from the SOS Crew meant things galloped along nicely, great sets from EXIT STATE & THE JOKERS led us to one of Fridays highlights, a brilliant set from Brighton Rockers THE CRAVE. I saw these guys last year but what I saw on stage at Radcliffe could have been a totally different Band, these guys are now reaping the benefits of their endevours, tight as the proverbial Ducks and with a stage prescence and strength of Material that lifts them Head and Shoulders over most other rising Bands in their Genre of Rock & Metal. Tracks like Cooking In The Kitchen and Truth Hurts become Rock Anthems on stage and in Ryan Burnett the band posess a Frontman of real promise.
CITIZEN CHARLIE played a really enjoyable set of driving Rockers and slower paced songs full of passion made special by Frontwoman Charlie who has an excellent Voice and Stage prescence. Songs like Until the Day and Rock 'n' Roll Poser were great played live, I wanna see more of these guys ... The same goes for 4 BITTEN a 4 Piece from Greece who have an absolute Star in Vocalist Fofi Rousoss. Equally adept at the Balls to the Wall Rockers as she is with accoustic Ballads and ably supported by George, Akis and Angelo G who make up the rest of the Band, recent support dates with MSG are testament to this Bands talents. One of the best sets of the entire weekend, listen to tracks like Tell Me & Rock 'n' Roll Dream and you'll see and hear exactly what I mean.
Hailing from the Rock 'n' Roll outpost of Cumbria FALLING RED are like a Freight Train coming at ya ... With tons of Rock 'n' Roll attitude they're so in your face you can smell their bare chested libido, close your eyes and you could be in a club on Sunset Strip in LA circa 1985 listening to any of that crop of soon to be Mega Bands. Are Falling Red destined for that kind of success ??? If supreme self confidence mixed with the ability to kick out tracks like Shake the Faith are anything to go by .... You better belive it man.
Friday Headliners BLACK SPIDERS were the perfect band to bring the day to a close, Imagine a sound somewhere between Ac/Dc and Black Sabbath with a sprinkling of QOTSA and The Black Crowes on the top and you might be somewhere near what the Spiders sound like ... Constant touring and Past Festival appearances have resulted in a Band that are perfectly at home in any Rock 'n' Roll environment. Have they got songs ????? Oh yes .. St. Peter is a track that any band would kill to have written and Stay Down Rocks like a Mutha .... Friday was awesome .. Bring on Saturday !!!!!
So onto Saturday, an eager punter a little the worse for Boddingtons told me the previous evening that I must see AFTERDOWN who were opening the METAL Day, Manchesters answer to Metallica !!! was the guys opinion. Alot to live up to, they were quite simply exceptional. Another amazing start to the days proceedings. Old School Metal tinged with elements of Bay Area Thrash. Brothers In Arms with it's deferance to our Armed Forces people was remeniscent of early Slayer, an expectant gathering of Metalheads lapped up tracks like Girl got Class and Salvation, 30 mins flew by.
Interviews meant I missed Fanatasist and Spires but reports suggested that they played well and kicked ass. I did manage to see however the most Visually Stimulating of all the weekends Bands, Leed's SKULL BRANDED PIRATES. Land Locked as they are living in Leeds the Pirates nonetheless approach their work with equal amounts of humour and aplomb, led by pistol wielding "The Captain" they delivered a set that was technically very good and just about perfectly diverse for a Saturday afternoon of Festivalness. I liked them.
Two Bands with Female Vocalists, but two very different approaches in style. COLLIBUS who hail from Manchester are a Progressive Metal Band who have an exceptionally powerful singer in Gemma Fox. With the ability to craft top rate Metal songs with thought provoking lyrics, listen to tracks like Thoughts in Vain & Innsurection and make your own minds up. EXTREME OD who are a Stoke on Trent based Metalcore Band who have a very Pretty very softly spoken Vocalist by the name of Katie Cairns. That is until she takes to the stage and picks up a Microphone. She's then transformed into a spitting .. grunting .. snarling .. menacing Banshee of a woman who's hellbent on grabbing you by the Meat and Two Veg and not letting go until you GET IT !!!! I GOT IT !!!! Boy did I get it. Only a member of Extreme OD for a couple of months, you get the feeling that she may well be the final piece of the Jigsaw
THE MORE I SEE are a Thrash Band from Peterborough who were put together by guitarist Gizz Butt who was formerly a member of The Prodigy. They have a Vocalist with an Impressive range in Peter Ellis who also works the stage well, it's difficult to compere their stuff to any of their contemparies which in itself is a very good thing, keeping UK Thrash alive along with a plethora of other excellent young bands THE MORE I SEE are definately worth keeping an eye on.
You tend to get some strange Bands from Norway don't ya ???? MOTH CIRCUS are one that fall really easily into this category. 4 Nutters, Glenn, Alien Ken, Johnny and drummer Tommy (a deadringer for a young Tommy Lee in more ways than one) played a blinding set of Metal Edged Rock 'n' Roll. The Bassist wears a Clown Mask offstage and the Guitarist wears Pyjamas and socks onstage ... "Beacuse they're comfy" Are you getting the picture yet ???? What I can say is that they were one of my Fave Bands of the weekend and a lot of fun to hang out with. God Bless ya Boys.
In Esscence the festival started properly about 30 secs into a stunning set from Lincoln's NIGHTVISION I've had the pleasure of seeing these 4 guys before on a couple of occasions but what I and the rest of the SOS crowd experienced on Saturday night 10th July for around 35 mins was as good as Heavy Metal gets. They were Imperious from start to finish, songs like Nightmare, Love aint Cheap and new track Post Tour Blues blew everyone away, the crowd picked up on the bands vibe straight away and the party started ... Dave .. Dean .. Daryl and Bolda threw every Metal pose known to man and we lapped it up like Star struck little Girlies at a JLS Concert !!!!! Lift off for NIGHTVISION is very very close.
Gotta say that I was in the Press room and missed nearly all of The BABYLON FIRE set. To pass comment on the basis of only hearing a couple of songs would be unfair but I gotta say that the vibe from the guys I was with was positive, I hope to catch their full set at another time and another place.
There are a certain few UK Metal Bands that you just could never get tired of seeing. FURY UK are one such Band. Their progression over the last 12 months has been phenomanol. On Stage they come into their own, the Rhythm section of Luke Appleton on Bass and Martin McNee on Drums drives the bands sound forward and in Guitarist/Vocalist Chris Appleton they have a guy who surely must be one the finest Metal guitar players in the country. Their setlist draws heavily from 2nd album VR, A great album but played live the songs take on a whole new dimension, tracks such as Death by Lightning .. Brotherhood .. VR & Call to Arms are already classics of the Genre. Rumours abounded of a little aprehension within the Band as they hadn't played together in a while but if there was it didn't show. A new album "A Way of Life is set to be released soon. Can't wait.
And finally the man entrusted with the task of rounding off procedings BLAZE BAILEY hit the stage and had the crowd eating out of his hands. Joined by Chris and Luke from Fury UK who were deputising for the Columbian Bermudez Brothers the band romped through tracks from Blazes last two Albums "The Man Who Would Not Die" and "Promise and Terror" plus two Maiden tracks from the Blaze era "Man On The Edge" and "The Clansman" His showmanship and the raport he has with an audience are a real breath of fresh air and when he claims to be "Just like one of you ... A normal guy living his life and loving Heavy Metal" you don't doubt his sincerety for a minute. I spoke to him earlier in the day and his vision of taking the Bands music to as many venues worldwide as is humanly possible means that he may well be playing at a venue near you soon ..... If you only get the chance to see one more Heavy Metal Band in your lifetime, make sure it's BLAZE BAILEY.
So that was it for SOS Fest 2010. The planning now starts for the 2011 version. I've already booked my spot down the front .... Bring it on !!!!!!
SONISPHERE 2010 KNEBWORTH PARK
RISE TO REMAIN
I first saw Rise To Remain back in early 2008 supporting Biomechanical. The raw talent was evident from the moment they took the stage. That talent combined with sheer hard work, on the road & in the studio, has seen them hone their stagecraft & pure musical skill to a degree that will take them to a level way beyond that which they have already achieved.
Having missed them on the Trivium tour, I had them down as a must-see act at Knebworth, so I made my way to the Bohemia Stage to take my place at the barrier. There was an air of eager anticipation amongst their growing army of fans and it was pleasing to see a full house.
They stormed through their set with a professionalism that belies their youth. It was a combination of brutality & melody – the influence of Killswitch Engage was clearly evident, but Rise To Remain are no clones. They do things their way & they do it very well. If you want to see a powerhouse rhythm section & shredding second to none, then go see these guys.
There have been accusations of nepotism regarding Austin. Well, these people should shut up & grow up. I’ve seen no evidence of ‘do you know whoI am’? On the contrary, the fact that, until recently, there was no mention of Austin’s surname on the band’s site confirms that they are making great strides in the world of metal through their own endeavours & that alone.
The circle-pit that formed behind me was also something to behold. The whole crowd seemed to have disappeared, then – BOOM – it was mayhem: metal mayhem of the first degree. As a frontman, Austin certainly knows how to work the crowd, but then again he has learned from the best in the business.
Pat Lundy provided the comedy moment of the weekend. Having given everything on stage he proceeded to throw up as he left the drum riser. Not wanting to leave his stomach entrails for someone else to sort, he cleaned up with his towel. Seeing people battle for the ‘towel of puke’ once it had been launched into the dispersing crowd was both bizarre & highly amusing.
In short, this was a top set from a top band. Like it or not, they are going places. For those of you that don’t like it – go watch JLS. For anyone else I would highly recommend seeing Rise To Remain at the earliest opportunity.
REVIEWED BY ADI LODGE
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Sonisphere 2010
Audrey Horne
Frode Kilvik, my Viking warrior friend from the Norwegian metal band, KRAKOW (check ’em out) had suggested we meet up to see some friends of his from Bergen.
On hearing the name ‘AUDREY HORNE’ all literary references were lost on me. All I could think of was my dear old mum & a Yorkshire rock legend, ‘Mad Arf of Elmsall’.
The timing wasn’t ideal either. It meant I would only catch the last few minutes of SLAYER, unless I left mid set.
AUDREY HORNE were described to me as an old school sleazy rock’n’roll band. They had recently supported HEAVENS BASEMENT and are currently on the road with MOTLEY CRUE – didn’t really sound like it was gonna be my thing.
To be honest there are plenty of similar bands out there.
So what made AUDREY HORNE stand out from the crowd?
They are clearly all more than competent as individual musicians. Decent vocals, not outstanding, but certainly better than many – so what was it?
In short – I don’t know!! But somehow they just did.
Quality songs, bags of personality, but not over the top in sleaziness – the music definitely comes first.
I would certainly recommend giving these guys a listen.
There are some bands that are worth travelling to the ends of the earth to see. They don’t quite fit that category, but if they play somewhere nearby make sure you get along…. and make sure you get your arse right down to the front to get the most out of it.
So! Did I leave early to see SLAYER? Did I balls!