Gig Review: MAGNUM at the Holmfirth Picturedome 22nd April 2011

The early warm spell made it a pleasant journey to Holmfirth with some good friends. My brother volunteered to do the driving and it was a nice trip in the C4 Picasso (nice car… soon to be changed though). The venue is a cinema as well as a concert hall and so has a slightly sloping floor which is a great help to those of us that are vertically challenged. We have ventured there a few times in recent years and always had a good view, so it goes down as one of our more favoured venues.

On with the show:

Providing support was GWYN ASHTON, Aussie blues guitarist with Brit drummer, 'Killer' Kev Hickman. They did their best to get the crowd going, but never really had enough power in their performance to win over a dedicated Magnum crowd. Personally I liked the work of the drummer, Hickman, but I felt that Ashton’s guitar work was a little sloppy… He comes over better on his recordings (yes, I did a little research on these guys).

The main event:

For those that don’t already know, MAGNUM are: Bob Catley (Vocals) – Tony Clarkin (Guitar & Vocals) – Al Barrow (Bass & Vocals) – Harry James (Drums & Percussion) - Mark Stanway (Keyboards)

Tony Clarkin still writes some great songs and it’s hard to think that they won’t around forever. As my good friend Simon says, you have to go and see Magnum because you never know if they’ll be back again. I have followed the band since I first saw them at the Reading Festival back in 1983 (damn I feel old!). That was supposed to be their farewell gig, but nearly 30 years later, they’re still alive and kicking!

Tonight they did a show that was a mix of old and new. It’s nice to hear the new stuff, but most of the fans are now old enough to remember (and love) the classics, and this is just what we got. As usual they put on a magnificent show and, as ever, we left the venue very satisfied with what we saw. Classics like ‘On a Storyteller’s Night’, ‘Les Mort Dansant’, ‘All England’s Eyes, ‘Vigilante’, the show-stopping ‘How Far Jerusalem’ and the magnificent closer, ‘Kingdom of Madness’ all put in an appearance (amongst others). It was a most enjoyable show and as long as the guys still have the energy we will be going to their shows whenever we can.

Gig Review: HAWKWIND plus support: THE JOKERS at the Holmfirth Picturedome 4th December 2010

THE JOKERS

The Jokers are a tight rock outfit from Liverpool. They put on a good show, putting plenty of energy into their performance. Most of the songs they played were their own material from their album ‘The Big Rock & Roll Show’; I particularly liked the track ‘Hell to L.A.’. They also did a cover of the Beatles ‘Helter Skelter’ which went down very well. I really hope they make it, they put on a very good show and I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

My Score: 7.5/10

Official Site: http://thejokers.com/


HAWKWIND

I can’t say I was an enormous fan of Hawkwind, I have heard their music on and off over the years and even seen them a few times but I guess they never really struck a chord with me. That is until now. For the first time I saw Hawkwind and really enjoyed and understood what they’re all about. I couldn’t tell you what songs they played, but it all sounded pretty good to me! Of course, it’s not just about the music, a great pastiche of images projected onto the back of the stage played a great part in the show. Add to this the two beautiful female dancers that came onto the stage in different costumes for several tracks made for a very entertaining show. I will definitely try to see Hawkwind again! But next time I hope we don’t have to travel so far in the freezing weather.

My Score: 8/10

Official site: http://www.hawkwindmuseum.co.uk/tix2b.htm

Gig Review: MOTÖRHEAD at the Leeds O2 Academy 25th November 2010

MOTÖRHEAD:

Motörhead are: Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (lead vocals and bass guitar), Phil Campbell (guitar and backing vocals) & Mikkey Dee (drums and percussion)

We arrived about twnety minutes before Motörhead hit the stage and the place was pretty full. Lemmy announced “We are Motörhead… and we play Rock and Roll!” and they opened up with a couple of classics of which ‘Metropolis’ and ‘Over the Top’ were best received. Other classics like ‘Killed by Death’, one of my all-time favourite Motörhead tunes, ‘Stay Clean’, ‘I Got Mine’ and ‘Just cos You Got the Power’ were all well received. A smattering of new tracks also put in an appearance. Of course, at the end of the set we got the classic, ‘Ace of Spades’. The encore consisted of ‘Born to Raise Hell’, (I love that track!) and, of course, ‘Overkill’. Over all a really good show, I really enjoyed it. No t-shirt this year, at £25.00 they’re getting a bit too expensive these days.

My only complaint is that the venue, when full, is not very condusive to being able to see the stage, particularly if, like me, you’re only 5 feet 7 inches tall! We spent most of the night towards the back, either by the mixing desk or right at the back by the bar (not a bad place to be). It wasn’t a bad view from there, but I must admit the sound quality was terrible! I don’t know what was wrong, but Lemmy even apologised for it.

My score: 7/10

Official site: http://www.imotorhead.com/

Gig Review: MIKE PETERS at the The Gassienda (Keighley) 23rd September 2010

Mike Peters is most noted for being the lead singer of The Alarm, the 80’s anthemic rock band (that’s how I always saw them anyway). Here he’s just one man with an acoustic guitar, a harmonica and one heck of a lot of great tunes! Not to everyone’s taste, I’ll admit, but I for one enjoyed his perfromance very much.

I can’t claim to know all the songs he played by any stretch of the imagination, but there were several there that I did recall from a long time ago… in a galaxy far, far away… OK, too far, I dial it back a bit. Of course he played the two biggest hits I remember for the Alarm, ‘68 Guns’ and ‘Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke’, but it was the other songs that made it a memorable perfromance. Also, The Gassienda is quite an intimate venue, it only holds about 200, and I could see he was a little nervous when he came on stage. Things soon warmed up when he got the first couple of songs out and by the end for the night the room was rocking and I could see he was very much enjoying himself.

I will be definitely looking up some of his back catelog and putting them on the old mp3 player. Would I see him again? I think the answer would have to be a resounding YES. Although I don’t see him coming to Keighley too often… but I’d love to be proven wrong here.

My score: 8.5/10

Official site: http://www.thealarm.com/directaction/index.html

Gig Review: MOTÖRHEAD + THE DAMNED + GIRLSCHOOL at the Leeds O2 Academy 20th November 2009

GIRLSCHOOL:

Girlschool are: Kim McAuliffe (Vocals/Guitar), Jackie Chambers (Lead Guitar), Enid Williams (Bass/Vocals) & Denise Dufort (Drums).

Unfortunately we missed the first half of Girlschool’s set due to the lateness of our departure from base. I have heard some of their studio stuff and I must say I haven’t been all that impressed. Now having seen them live, I have changed my opinion. They really know how to get the crowd moving and play some pretty good tunes too! I even recognised some of the tracks, ‘Hit & Run’ I remember from way back, ‘Emergency’ from the 1981 ‘St. Valentine’s Day Massacre’ EP with Motörhead has always been a classic and they closed the show with ‘Race With the Devil’, a track I always liked, but hadn’t realised it was Girlschool who recorded it! A great show from the entire band, they put a lot of energy into their performance and it showed!

My score: 8/10

Official site: http://www.girlschool.co.uk/


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THE DAMNED:

The Damned are: Captain Sensible (Guitar/Vocals), Pinch (Drums), Cave Vanian (Vocals), Stu West (Bass) & Monty Oxymoron (Keyboards)

I haven’t seen The Damned live before, but, having been into Punk a long time ago I am pretty familiar with quite a lot of their early stuff. They opened with ‘New Rose’ a loud bawdy number that got the crowd moving. It was quite funny watching the people around me in the crowd, there were several bemused faces, but also quite a few singing along & I guess, like me, quietly reminiscing the late 70’s & early 80’s. There were several tracks I didn’t recognise, but I didn’t mind, they were OK, but not the classics I wanted to hear. The band then surprised me and played two tracks from my favourite Damned album, ‘The Black Album’. It was really great to hear ‘Curtain Call’ and ‘History of the World Part 1’, both of which are a bit avant-garde and a bit of a departure from the more raucous numbers. Towards the end of the set the better known tracks, ‘Neat Neat Neat’, ‘Eloise’, ‘Love Song’ and finally the classic ‘Smash it Up’ closed the show… Well, almost closed the show… Captain Sensible attempted a solo performance of ‘Happy Talk’ as they left the stage and had to be ‘assisted’ off by one of the road crew! Although I’m not sure they were for everyone at a Motörhead show, I quite enjoyed The Damned. Even after all these years both Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian still know how to put on a good show!

My score: 8/10

Official site: http://www.officialdamned.com/


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MOTÖRHEAD:

Motörhead are: Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (lead vocals and bass guitar), Phil Campbell (guitar and backing vocals) & Mikkey Dee (drums and percussion)

By the time Motörhead hit the stage the place was pretty full. Lemmy announced “We are Motörhead… and we play Rock and Roll!” and they opened up with a couple of classics of which ‘Over the Top’ was best received. With the usual appearance of ‘Metropolis’ I was nearly tempted to go in search of a T-shirt, but endured this dirge of a track, I don’t know why they always play it! I’m pretty glad I stayed because they soon redeemed themselves with ‘Killed by Death’, one of my all-time favourite Motörhead tunes! The set was littered with classics; the likes of ‘Stay Clean’, ‘I Got Mine’ and ‘Just cos You Got the Power’ were all well received. A smattering of new tracks also put in an appearance along with a cover of a Twisted Sister track whose title, I’m afraid, escapes me right now. Of course, at the end of the set we got the classics ‘Bomber’, ‘Ace of Spades’ and they ended with ‘Overkill’. Over all a really good show from the boys, I really enjoyed it. Towards the end I finally broke for the merchandise stand & got a T-shirt. I then watched the end of the show from the back, which gave me the advantage of being able to see, and I could also hear the music properly.

My only complaints are that the venue, when full, is not very condusive to being able to see the stage, particularly if, like me, you’re only 5 feet 7 inches tall! Secondly, don’t get me wrong, I like loud music, but when it’s so loud it is distorted to the extent that it doesn’t sound like music any more, then it’s not too enjoyable. It was only when I stood at the back towards the end that I could see most of the stage and I could actually hear the band. Over all, a pretty enjoyable show, slightly ruined by a venue that didn’t make it easy to see and an over-enthusiastic sound engineer.


My score: 7.5/10

Official site: http://www.imotorhead.com/