Billy Talent - Live at Brixton Academy (Live Review: Dan)

Last night I saw Billy Talent for the 4th time, and this was the first time it was one of their headline shows.
After a few mess ups on my part regarding the train tickets we eventually arrived at Brixton Academy as the doors were opened. We got in and headed down towards the front, past the mental rail in the middle of the dreadful sloped floor. Pretty soon Canterbury took to the stage. Matt and I have seen this band before, playing somewhere with All Forgotten. I had forgotten how young they all are, I'd probably say they are all around 17 or 18 years old. I think for them to be playing infront of a crowd at Brixton is fantastic at their age, and I felt a little bit jealous. Canterbury actuall put on a really decent show. They weren't brilliant performers but they played their songs well. In any case, it was a nice start to the show.

We were then greeted by the most awful human being on earth. He was probably about 16, but he was pretty big. A lot taller than I am, and pretty chunky too. He was wearing an iron maiden jacket with no sleeves, on top of a black tank top. He already looked like a loser, but it wasn't before Cancer Bats came on stage that he sealed his position as worst person ever.
Speaking of Cancer Bats, they're pretty awful people too. The guitarist looked like a Viking, and the singer was just awful. He had a horrible speaking voice and an even worse "singing" voice. He also had a shit haircut. It's essentially just a mohawk...but not glued. His presence reminded me of Bert McCracken of the Used, in that he was very greasy and slimy.
In terms of their music, I hated it. But I reckon they were probably quite good. I bet their fans loved it, and their wanker of a frontman actually looked like he did his job quite well. The worst person ever, mentioned earlier, liked them though. In support of this he kept raising his fist in the air. That's when it hit us; the stench. Everytime he raised his arm he unleashed the worst B.O smell ever. I think I almost collapsed at one point. I also decided to watch him for a while when he ran like an excited child (which I suppose he sort of was) into a mosh pit. He was throwing his weight around and just bouncing off people. At a point, someone fell down. He looked really angry when people were helping the guy up, and his face said 'why are you helping him? the aim is to kill him'. But anyway, Cancer Bats got through their set and we moved away from him.

After a fairly drawn out moment while we waited for the main event, Billy Talent emerged from backstage. They eased into The Dead Can't Testify from the new album. I thought this was a poor choice for an opening song, simply because it's pretty new and it isn't a single, so there weren't a huge number of fans familiar with it. Then they went straight into Devil in a Midnight Mass, which should have been their opener. The crowd were loving it, and at this point the show really began. Their set is full of brilliant songs, and I forget every time I think about them just how many good songs they have. It was a set full of energy and frontman Ben loves the crowd. Highlight of the show is new single Devil on My Shoulder, which was one of the best live songs I've ever seen. After they end the show on popular single Red Flag, everyone slowly emerges from the venue, with a big grin.
Eventually we made it home. Then my car broke.
A solid 4/5 evening.

Enter Shikari Live at Heaven (Live Review: Dan)

I wasn't happy about this gig for a number of reasons.
a) I had to wake up at 5am to get into Oxford street for the 8am release of free wristbands.
b) Being a free gig, it meant that the crowd was full of losers.
c) Because we had to collect wristbands in the morning, it meant that I had to go into London twice. This cost me around £40. I'd prefer to have just paid £20 for the ticket...
d) The venue of choice was Heaven - notorious London gay bar. Not only was I uncomfortable being in their with the gay bar staff, I had to walk around Stevenage town during the day with a wristband on which was telling everyone that that is where I was going to be spending my evening. This was made worse by the fact that HMVs (the sponsor of the show) little slogan is 'Get closer to'. So I had a wristband on that said "Get closer to enter shikari at heaven". What had I gotten myself into?

So, on the train on the way back into London I was preparing for the worst night ever. When we got there I was even more fearful, as the crowd was rubbish. There were loads of people there in flat caps and backpacks and all sorts. Loads of people in the crowd cheered everytime a sound-tech guy came onstage, which you know is the sign of a 'well, I like that sorry you werent a winner song' kind of person.

The crowd were chanting "and still we will be here, standing like statues" and I got annoyed. A few of us went to get a drink, and then Ben insisted on asking where the toilets were.

We headed back into the stage area just before 7, when the band were due to start. Another thing I should add is, this show was a 'album release show and signing'. So none of us knew how many sogs this show would consist of. Some of us were considering the possibility that it could be just one or two songs, or it could be a full length set, or maybe they'd play the entire album through.

When the sound of Common Dreads began (familiar from the closing sounds of Take to the Skies) began playing, I became a little bit hopeful that they'd be playing the entire album through. This sounded like it would be great, as it would be the first chance to hear new songs like Gap in the Fence or Zzzonked.
The band walked onstage, and said hello. Rou announced "Here tonight I clock a thousand heads. Here to unite, through commom dreads.". Solidairty's synthetic intro then began, and Rory took a leap into the crowd and the chaos began to unfold.

The crowd were actually really energetic for the show, and they weren't as bad as I thought I knew they were going to be.
Having said that, there were some real wankers in the crowd, just running about throwing their fists around. I learned this the hard way, taking a fist to the face. I now have what looks like a carpet burn on my forehead. It's ok though, fans. I sorted him out.

After Solidarity, they played Step Up which is track three on the album. I was really pleased at this point, as it seemed that they were indeed going to play me their entire new album. Either way, this was the first chance I'd had to see them since I heard Common Dreads, so hearing these new songs was really nice as I knew the words this time.

Next, if my memory serves me rightly, however, they played Hectic. Though a great song, it's track number 14 so all hope was lost for the full album. Not too much of a problem though.

They then finished off their set which was, in fairness, composed of all new songs. Which was a really good thing, because it was refreshing to get away from Return to Energiser.

They did promise to play one old song though, so the crowd climbed up on each others shoulders and crawled over people to get to the mic and choose the song. My posse were all praying for Mothership, as they have appeared to have removed it from their live shows, much to every human being's disappointment. And, much to everyone's enjoyment, that was the song that was chosen. This was a great song, and it was nice to hear it again. Hopefully it taught Enter Shikari a lesson, and they'll start playing it again. I guess we'll find out at Reading.

Overall it was a very decent show, though relatively short at just over 45 minutes. I also noticed that I may have broken my personal sweat record, previously held by Pendulum at KoKo. This would normally be a good thing. But hot, sweaty boys in a gay bar made me want to get the fuck out of there all the more. So we did. Then we went home.

I'd give it a 5, but I felt really uncomfortable all night. 4.

Download Festival 2009 (Live Review: Dan)

This is going to be a long one. You've been warned. Sorry if it's not a good read, then you will have truly wasted your time. I'll throw some pictures in there to keep it colourful. Download Festival 2009 was a bit of an impulse purchase. I had an exam on the 12th so it was all a bit of a rush getting there aswell. After several mishaps including losing my phone in my bag for about an hour and then forgetting the tickets we finally got in, having missed the opening band of the day, Hollywood Undead (who got a 5/5 review from me when I saw them at Slam Dunk).
Then we had to deal with some incompetent security guards and try and get inside the arena. By the time we made it to the main stage, The Blackout were playing their final 4 songs.
This was the 8th time I've been present for a blackout set. I can safely say that I'm done with them now. They played some songs from the new album and Sean Smith tried his ridiculous "I want everyone to kneel down" stunt. It didn't really work, and he looked stupid. He also appears to have completed the transition into a raging homosexual, and he pranced around the stage in his tank top, black skinny jeans and black/pink trainers. Aswell as his pink microphone. Hopefully by the time I get to the end of this review I'll have a picture. In fairness to them, I still liked the old songs, just the way they performed them, embarassing themselves in the process, wasn't as good as it used to be. After The Blackout departed the stage we went and got a Hog Roast. It was marvellous. It cost £6, but that was ok. The Hog Roast stall also became the meeting point of the weekend. An overall success for Hog Roast. (This was before Muller Rice, but we'll get to that later).

We then went and caught the end of Staind. They seemed OK, but I'd never really listened to them before and so I didn't know what I was listening to. They were certainly better than The Blackout today, and the crowd appeared to enjoy them. My attention wasn't entirely focused on them anyway, as I was munching happily on my Hog Roast.
Next to grace the stage was Billy Talent. I was greatly looking forward to them, and this was to be the second time I saw them. They opened with This is How it Goes, track one on their debut album. It was very good, and I actually realised that they are very talented people. They played a good variety of songs from their albums I and II, aswell as a few from their upcoming release - III. I was really pleased with Billy Talent, but I was saddened by the fact they weren't particularly high up on the line up so they had a fairly short set. The set was really good I thought, and I couldn't think of how it could have been a whole lot better...But I did feel a bit let down from my expectations. I suppose I wanted a full length set, maybe in a more enclosed venue. Still, they were a nice way to get the day going properly. Next up was Killswitch Engage. I'm not personally a fan, but I know and like a few songs. So I was hoping for a good show, but didnt get my hopes up. The band all came on stage in their finest 'metal' outifts. Except for two members in particular. First was Adam Jonathan Dutkiewicz, guitarist. He was dressed in some sort of wrestling mask and a cape. He looked like a seven year old. Turns out he also acts like a seven year old, as he pranced around the stage making jokes about vaginas.
The other unusually dressed member was the singer, Howard Jones (pictured above). He was wearing a shirt and jeans, and looked a bit smart for the occasion. He sort of reminded me of my dad. But, image aside, the music ensued. For the first three songs of the set, to the fault of the sound guys who decided against doing a mic check, we couldn't hear Howard Jones. The crowd were shouting to have the mic turned up (or on) and eventually it was done. After this mess, the set was actually quite good. They played some really good songs, and it went down quite well with the crowd. Most of the audience interaction was done through Adam though, which was disappointing as he kept tying to be funny. I may purchase Killswitch Engage's album, which I think comes out in July. So I suppose they were successful.

Next up was the band that I bought my ticket for; Limp Bizkit. It was to be their first show in what must have been about 5 or 6 years. After a long pause, the band finally emerged, and the crowd went mental. Wes Borland was dressed in a bizarre black, white and red costume and Fred Durst had his trademark red cap on. Everyone one stage was wearing black. They opened with Space Odyssey and then went into Break Stuff, both of which went down a treat with everyone. They played a variety of their hits, and they had so much energy through the entire set. The crowd loved it, and gave such a great response to the band. Limp Bizkit provided me with some great entertainment and we decided to call it a day once they left.
We then got in the car and drove to McDonalds. We sat in McDonalds for about 2 hours. It was great fun. We discussed a variety of things. Not much of the things said were related in any way to Download Festival. Then we went home and got some sleep.

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At 8.45am I'd been lying in bed for a little while. I then looked a the time and realised we were meant to be leaving at 9. So I woke Matt up and we rushed over to Ben's. We got in the car, then set off for Download, round 2.
We decided that we were going to stay the night in the car, but on the way we passed a hotel so we gave them a ring. There's more of a story to that actually, which involved rock paper scissors and missing Five Finger Death Punch. It also includes us not being able to get a room at a hotel. It also includes a man asking us if we had any spare trainers.

We got to Download in time to see DevilDriver, who had quite a reputation from the last time they played. When they finally emerged onto stage I didn't see why, all I heard was a disgusting sound coming from some 'metal' old men. So we left.
We saw the band Hardcore Superstar leaving the second stage, where we decided to place ourselves for a while. We sat down against a rail while In Case of Fire set up their instruments. We had listened to their album on the journey to Donnington, so I was sort of looking forward to them.
After the sound of what the Irish jig to, the band emerged and I was already feeling a bit disappointed (because of the irish jig music). Then they started playing. The first thing that caught my attention was the singer/guitarist Steven Robinson. When he sings a long note, his tongue hangs out of his mouth. It makes him look a little bit retarded. After I snapped out of being immersed in his strange facial antics I glanced my eyes over to the other side of the stage, towards the bassist. The bassist, who can only be 17 or 18 years old, decided that he wanted to keep his mouth open and bounce around. Also like a retard. I never got a chance to look at the drummer. I can only imagine that he, too, has escaped from the lunatic asylum.
Musically, they are an OK band. The guitarist is actually very skilled, but I found myself very bored. They didn't do much on stage, and as a three-piece band the massive second stage felt empty. They didn't interact with the crowd at all, and I think they were just a bit nervous. I would also imagine they were a bit disappointed with the turn out. I'd say there were three rows of people in front of the stage watching them. If you can try and imagine that, it's pretty empty.

Staying at the second stage, it quickly filled up for the next act - Fightstar. 6 years now since Busted, I think the world is finally ready to accept them. The crowd were getting impatient for fightstar, and soon a huge bottle fight ensued. I'm sure you can find something similar on youtube if you want to get an idea of what it was like. The chaos finally stopped when Fightstar came on stage. They opened with Colours Bleed To Red - a song from their new album Be Human. I found this unusual, as it is neither track one, nor a single. And the record hasn't really been out long enough to be a fan favourite. Just looking over last fm quickly, it doesn't make the top 15 on the most played tracks in the last 6 months. So I found this unusual. It was very good though, so I guess that makes it OK. They then played a variety of songs from the album Grand Unification (their debut) and their latest Be Human. They also played from their first ever release, EP 'They liked you better when you were dead'. I thought that they must not like their sophomore album 'One Day Son...' as they weren't playing anything from it. I found this unusual also, as they had some fairly successful singles from it. However, for their short set maybe it was a good choice, as every song went down brilliantly with their crowd, and Charlie Simpson had everyone on their feet. Then for the final song they played Death Car, which was from their second album. I felt relieved.
Overall, the setlist was great and I don't think they could have asked for a better crowd reaction. Possibly a highlight of the festival for me. When I deciding scores for all the bands, in my mind I was going to give Fightstar a 4. But upon reflecting on the set, I think it's going to be a 5.

After Fightstar has finished and the hundreds of fans flooded out we headed out and met Matt at Hog Roast. I then bought a pizza and a Tango. Ben disappeared for a while talking to Vodafone so Matt and I made camp on the grass. We sat about and enjoyed the summer weather and got sunburnt. Whilst enjoying some pizza and listening to Down in the background (who I really enjoyed) we sat and watched our fellow festival-goers. There were a few people that had an effect in this interval; first was the high-five-fella as I shall refer to him as. Or maybe HFF, for short. As we were minding our own business a man dressed in a navy blue jacket approached me and asked for a double low. I provided. He then asked Matt for a single high. He got that too. He then made a joke about how his hands were sore from the power of our high fives. We laughed and he staggered off in search of more fives from a variety of heights. We watched him for a while, and he was just walking around the campsite getting high fives from everyone. We could even see him making the same joke he used on us (which wasn't funny then, but was actually quite funny now). When he encountered a sleeping person he was in a spot of trouble as they were unable to give him a high five. So he just high fived them on the head.
Then our attention turned to two people playing catch with a rugby ball. One of them, known by me as Samoa, seemed to start off pretty useless, but got significantly better upon the arival of new members. The other fixed member, known first as Curly Shithead, then Curly Colin, was dreadful. He had the worst throw, and couldn't catch. Everything about him was messy. His catch ability and his appearance. Eventually they were joined by a fairly long-term member 'Medicine Man' who was on his break from the Download Pharmacy. He was actually very good (as good as one can be at playing catch) and made a mockery of CC. He had clearly been practicing for moments like this. Eventually MM had to get back to work, and CC and Samoa were left to their own devices. Not long after, Ben returned and we set off towards the mainstage. Down had finished by this point.
Ben then made the outrageous suggestion that the ever tempting Muller Rice truck would be giving out its product for free. So we went ove there to prove him wrong. But he was right, so we got a free Muller Rice. Mine was strawberry flavoured, and was the best thing I'd eaten all weekend.

DragonForce emerged on stage, and blew us away with their face-melting metal. I am a liar.
DragonForce were embarrassingly bad. They were making me cringe for the entirety of their set. All they sing about is dragons, ninjas and mythological beasts. Also, everytime they were going to play a new song (which in fairness wasn't very often, as all of their songs are about 30 minutes long) the singer sung the title in his strange, high pitched voice.
"This song is called Battle of the Ninjaaaaaaaaaaaas" he wailed. I, personally, could have guessed.
The guitarists of DragonForce were all showing off the fact that they can play guitar, and doing all sorts of 'crazy' things. Just look at the above picture.
Matt made a very valid point that everything about DragonForce is just too high pitched. From the vocals to the guitar-work, everything makes a high-pitched sound that just can't be enjoyed.
The only good part of their set was when some nurses came on stage to give something to the guitarists (probably something that was really 'metal'. I can't say I was paying attention). Then a man ran up behind them with a sign saying "Tits Out". And they obliged. Then the band finished their only popular song (Through The Fire And The Flames, courtesy of Guitar Hero) and departed the stage. We went and got some more Muller Rice.

Next up was the mighty DnB legends Pendulum. I saw them at the iTunes Festival 2008 and they became my favourite live band from that show (they have since been replaced by Alexisonfire at the Borderline. Who have also been replaced. But we'll get there). I then caught a tiny bit of their set at Reading 2008, but left due to how overcrowded it was.
Today I was ready to be blown away again, but the time of day worried me. The sun was at a point where it was roasting my neck and making the sky very bright. Pendulum burst onto stage with a very high-tec light system and their high-tec instruments. The lights seemed a bit wasted though, as it just wasn't dark enough for the right effect. The bass made the ground shake and I was really excited when they started playing Showdown. The crowd started jumping and everyone was really into it. Everyone was having fun and you could see that the band were too.
After the first song, Ben Mount (front man, MC) was bleeding from his ear. Either he hadn't noticed, or he didn't care. Either of these two reasons made me appreciate him a little bit more. The fact that he will be on stage, entertaining thousands of people with blood running down his face made me appreciate his passion for what he does.
The set was great, it was full of energy and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. My only complaint was that the setting didn't seem right. In a big, dark venue it would have been near perfect. The trampled on grass and blazing sun, combined with Pendulum and their lights just didn't give me the same satisfaction I felt when I left KoKo on that July night last year.
We went and got another Muller Rice.

Next up was Marilyn Manson. I've always been a bit scared of Marilyn Manson. His image disgusts me. His music disgusts me even more. However, I was prepared to face my fear and see him perform.
I've been reading a lot about him lately. I sort of thought that maybe he's just a bit misunderstood. Maybe we shouldn't blame him for all these bad things.
Yes we fucking should.
He staggered on stage, a complete mess, and performed the most awful song I've ever heard in my life. Then he walked to the back of the stage, had his make up adjusted and came back on. Then repeated the process. Stumbling around, rolling on the floor and making noises that can't have really been his songs into the microphone. It was embarrassing. No one there was enjoying it. You could see the looks of disappointment and disgust on all the faces in the crowd. No one was happy about what was going on. Between each song he had to get someone to put a new hat on his head, or a coat on for him, or wipe the sweat from his face. He was being treated like royalty, yet all I could see was an overweight, old goth.
It was a really sorry affair, and I was astounded that this was the best he could do. He had gotten a very good spot at this year's festival, and in my opinion he wasted it. He was clearly really drunk, or on a lot of drugs. It was a shame really. But he was such an awful person. He never once spoke to the crowd, apart from when he wanted to know whether or not he should wear a coat. He never introduced himself. The time he spent between songs probably clocked up to about 15 minutes, which could have given his loving fans and additional 3 or 4 songs. Perhaps I should be grateful for the silence, as each song he performed was dreadful.
Now I know why people blame him for things, and I think he deserves it.
On what was his last song (whether it was meant to be his last song or not we will never know) he took a bottle to the head and swiftly left the stage for good. I have no doubt in saying that what he had just given me was the most dreadful and embarassing performance I've ever seen. This was made a hundred times worse because he played such an important role in this year's line up. I feel genuinely sorry for everyone involved in the booking and organisation of Download Festival, as Marilyn Manson effectively just stole their money.

The final band of our weekend, Slipknot, were preparing to come on. I was both excited and terrified, becuase of things I've read and just because of the reputation they have as one of the most brutal live bands there are. After a long wait, they finally came onstage. I didn't know the first few songs, but I was absolutely blown away by what I was hearing. It was incredible, and I felt ashamed of myself for not knowing it. They powered through a fantastically brutal set. Each of the nine members working together to put on more than just a live performance of their songs. When Shawn Crahan's drum stage was elevated and rotated and he threw huge metal barrels down to hit Mick Thompson, all the while Sid Wilson is hanging from this platform, thrashing around. I've never felt so entertained in my life. Meanwhile, I'm hearing Corey Taylor screaming to tens of thousands of people, whilst Joey Jordison performs some sensational drumming.
In December 2008 I was preparing to purchase a ticket for their tour, where they would be playing in the Hammersmith Appollo. Then when the ticket price was revealed at £40, I was horrified and decided against it. After witnessing them at the enomous donnington park, I can safely say that this was probably one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.
The amount of energy they all have is remarkable, and they really put everything into what they do.
It's been 10 years since their debut album was released, and they are only now headlining download. When I was listening to the music, I simply couldn't understand how it took them so long to get this spot. They are without doubt one of the most unique and talented bands in the world right now, and all of their old songs sounded so good. I'm almost glad that they pulled out of Reading 2008, as seeing them and then watching Tenacious D would be almost criminal.

Slipknot were definitely the best band I've ever seen, and I can't wait until the chance I get to see them again (which is apparently "a lot sooner than [i] think").

It took us a while to get out of the park, and eventually we were back on the road headed home. We listened to three brilliant albums on the way home (Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane, Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light, Placebo - Battle For The Sun), and I had a fantastic weekend.
I hope this wasn't too boring. It took me fucking hours to write.

EDIT: Just realised I forgot to do any scores.

The Blackout: 2/5
Staind: 3/5
Billy Talent: 4/5
Killswitch Engage: 3/5
Limp Bizkit: 5/5
DevilDriver: 1/5
In Case Of Fire: 2/5
Fightstar: 5/5
DragonForce: 1/5
Pendulum: 4/5
Marilyn Manson: 0/5
Slipknot: 5/5

Hog Roast: 5/5
Muller Rice: 5/5
Pizza place: 1/5

Download Festival 2009: Has to be 5 really as I saw some of the best bands of all time. Despite the fact there were some pretty bad acts, I had a brilliant weekend.


Dan.

Alexisonfire - Live at London Borderline (Live Review: Dan)

Last night I finally got to see Alexisonfire (though I'd seen them at Reading in 2008, I wanted to see a headline show). It was at the London Borderline, where I had been once before to see InMe this year. The venue was just as hot inside as I remembered it, but it was bearable for the night. We didn't go in until just before 9, when the band were due to start.

A few minutes after I got in the lights dimmed and the band walked onstage, where they kicked into the opening track of their second album 'Watch Out!'. This was unusual I thought. Usually a band opens with the first track of their latest album. In Alexisonfire's case I was expecting the first track from their 2007 album Crisis or maybe the opening track from their upcoming release. Still, I had no complaints as Accidents is one of my favourite songs.

The band played a healthy mix of old and new songs, which was very pleasing. I was worried that they would be showcasing their new songs and I would have to sit through a setlist where I knew only about 20% of the songs. Infact, they only played 3. 2 of which are on their myspace so I had heard them already.

The brilliant thing about Alexisonfire was the amount of energy they seemed to have. They really seemed to be putting everything into the show, and the crowd were the same. People were throwing themselves up onto the stage, where George Pettit (frontman) would grab them by the waist, flip them upside down and launch them into the crowd.

At recent events, I've been thinking to myself about why all of a sudden I've been standing at the sidelines from all of the action in the crowd, and so tonight, after a few drinks I was really up for getting involved.

Alexisonfire put a great show on, and they were especially good in the way that they also entertain the crowds, rather than standing still and just churning out songs. I think that we all have a lot to look forward to at their double set at Reading this year. Their new album 'Old Crows / Young Cardinals' is also out soon, and I think that it should be the album that takes the very first New Release Monday slot on the 22nd of June. Even though it comes out the 23rd...

5/5

Slam Dunk 2009 (Live Review: Dan)

Well, this would be my first album swap review in some time now. Today I am writing a review of my day out in Leeds on Sunday May 24. I hope you enjoy it.

We got to the Leeds University at around 3 o clock I suppose. It was very busy, and there seemed to be loads of different queues - none of which had any obvious purpose. So rather than joining one we sat on a wall and watched a ticket tout. I think we made a friend there.

After some time, people started to flood into the Student Union, so we hopped onto the end of a queue and got into the building. This is where the trouble really started.

Being from Knebworth, I am very unfamiliar with the layout of the Leeds University Student Union. Which I think is fair enough. Apparently the organisers don't find this acceptable, and once you arrive in the building your instructions are simply 'go'. So we had to literally hunt to find the stages - and there were six of them. By the time we had found the stage we were looking for, the second band of the day was just about to start. I was outraged. All the place needed were a few signs, or just some arrows would have done.

However, we had just arrived at the 'Fishing for Eskimo' stage. This was where I planned to be all day, so I didn't have to worry about hunting for other stages.
All Forgotten kicked off my first Slam Dunk experience, and it had been some time since I'd seen them. They played a pretty decent set, and it was quite refreshing in a way as I had been starting to forget how much I enjoyed them live. The crowd seemed pretty poor to me though, and I don't think All Forgotten had many fans present. This means that for all these 'hardcore' kids they have to swing their fists around until they've knocked out half the audience everytime the music changes or Johnathon Thorpe (Singer of All Forgotten) starts screaming. Once All Forgotten departed the stage, we headed towards the bar and took a seat. A wise move as The Urgency were up next.

We sat on our comfortable little sofa whilst The Urgency played out their set. I found myself very bored by the music, and I didn't like what I was hearing at all. Looking back though, I wish I had stayed down by the stage - I'm curious now as to how the crowd took to the music, and also wanted to know what they looked like. Perhaps it would be unfair to score The Urgency, as part of a live score has to be the experience. After they were done, though, we went back down to see Hollywood Undead.

I've only heard little bits of Hollywood Undead. I also find their popularity with this sort of scene unusual. After a bit of preparation, the stage was filled with smoke and then lit up in a red light. Six masked men then appeared on the stage (well, five, as one was already there). I liked their masks - it gave them an element of mystery, and it was exciting. These pretty scary masked men were putting on an incredible live show for me, and I didn't even want to know what they looked like - A problem I have always had with Slipknot.
The band had fantastic interaction with the crowd, and they really knew how to get everyone moving. All of a sudden, though, after I'd been having some fun in the crowd, I looked up in horror to see that they had all removed their masks. Now I look at six pretty normal looking men on the stage. I've got no problem with normal men...but I had lost a lot of the initial respect I had for the mysterious group.
Soon, member Charlie Scene found himself plunging into the crowd where he stayed for quite some time. His presence on stage didn't seem missed, and the band managed fine to play their songs and keep the crowd full of energy. When they departed the stage, I felt like the rest of the day could only go downhill. I enjoyed their set so much, I even bought their album on the way home.

We Are The Ocean sort of proved that to me. I used to be a very big fan of WATO, but after a while I got really bored of their music. I was hoping that today I would find that enjoyment I've been missing from them. They opened their set with a song I hadn't heard, I presumed it to be track one from their forthcoming album. They've gotten heavier since last time I heard them, and this new song sounded like the band were taking a step in a new direction, away from the post hardcore scene they usually find themselves at the centre of. A few old songs and I found myself bored of them again. I don't know why it is, perhaps it's the fact that I have been listening to different music lately, but I can't listen to We Are The Ocean anymore.
In fairness to them, I liked some of their new songs, so maybe their upcoming album will be something worth investing in. Unlikely, though, as I was forced to walk out of their set and head upstairs to find the merch room. On the way, we found a few more stages. Conveniently.

After a little break from the action, we headed back down to the Fishing for Eskimo stage to watch Silverstein. This was my second experience of Silverstein, only this time I knew a few more songs.
Silverstein played an immense set, there aren't many words I can use to describe it. Though I didn't know their newest or oldest songs, I did know their middle two albums which was good enough for me. Silverstein had a lot of fans in the room, and I had a great time watching what were certainly the band of the day.

After Silverstein it was that time of day; Headliner sets. There were six headliners of Slam Dunk festival, one for each stage. Obviously. This was a problem really, as I didn't want to settle with just one. So reluctantly I headed over to the Glamour Kills stage to see youmeatsix. We waited for a while, and eventually the room was packed full of kids and the band had a very impressive intro and kicked off their set with Jealous Minds Think Alike. 'Handy' I thought, as this is the only youmeatsix song I like. After this I dashed back to the Fishing For Eskimo stage to see the second half of The Blackout's set. I always love seeing The Blackout, there's something about the way they play that makes me keep coming back for more. However, I got there a little too early, and I was made to do the worst thing I've ever had to do. And this was the second time they've made me do this.
"I want everyone in the room to kneel down" announced Sean Smith. I shook my head in disappointment and got down onto my knees. The problem I have with this is that because every 10-year-old in the room hangs on Sean Smith's every word, if I didn't get onto my knees I would probably be kicked out of the venue. So, the whole room is on their knees, except for dictator Smith and his band of unimportant musicians. After a little bit of singing, Sean shouts "Get the fuck up!" which is our cue to, well, get the fuck up.
After this the set did improve, and I found that same love for the band that I usually have. Sean Smith also announced that they would be playing the Festival Republic stage at this year's Reading and Leeds festival. They ended their set on an old favourite of mine, 'I'm a Riot? You're a fucking Riot!' so I left a happy person. On the walk over to the Vans stage, though, I realised that I am starting to tire of the band. I purchased their new album on the way home though, so maybe I'll start to enjoy them some more.

I walked into the Vans stage to catch Anti Flag's set. This was my third time seeing Anti-Flag, and it's never been intentional. By that I mean that I have never gone to a gig to see Anti-Flag, they just happen to be around. Their music was good, the crowd loved them, another impressive show was going on from Anti-Flag. However, between songs they don't shut up about politics and God, and I couldn't handle it.
"Those Demons are in your heart, and by jeebers are we gonna get them out" Chris #2, Anti-Flag's bass player, told me as I walked out on him.
I headed back to the Glamour Kills stage, feeling pretty lost. I got back to see youmeatsix halfway through a song. I can't remember what it was, but I remember what came next. Josh Franceschi announced that they would be doing a cover of the incredible 'Killing in the name' by Rage Against The Machine. First off, this was a massive lie.
"Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" Josh says repeatedly through the breakdown of their song. He then stops and finishes his song. All he did there was have a crowd of 14 year olds ruin one of my favourite songs. It wasn't even a cover...

The band then went on to finish their set, and by the time it was over I felt disgusted. I don't like youmeatsix, I've seen them live before aswell and didn't like them then either. All this did was cement this.
The retarded Slam Dunk organisers then decided to shut the main doors and eject everyone out of the building via some narrow corridors. This was chaos, as all of the youmeatsix fans apparently had to get out of the building before each other, so were trying to push people to speed up the queue. What they were actually doing was slowing it down, as little gilrs fell over, grabbing their friends and forcing them to stop and help them because they had lost their mini mouse purse (or whatever the kids are into these days). After a good half an hour, I finally got out of the Leeds University.

Overall, I had a good day out. I saw a load of very decent sets from very decent bands, and the only real downside was the venue. Which was a shame, because all it needed was a bit of organisation.
To summarize, here are some scores:

All Forgotten: 4/5
The Urgency: n/a
Hollywood Undead: 5/5
We Are The Ocean: 2/5
Silverstein: 5/5
The Blackout: 4/5
Anti-Flag: 3/5
Youmeatsix: 1/5
Slam Dunk Festival 2009: 4/5

InMe - Live at London Borderline (Live Review: Dan)

This was my second experience of InMe live, last time I saw them they were supporting Pendulum as part of the iTunes Festival last summer. That was, for a long time, the best gig I'd ever been to.

I'll talk about the support act as breifly as possible. We Are The Damned are a portugese screamo band and they are fronted by a woman. That's enough reason for me to hate them. The noises she was making truly were the most horrible things I have ever heard. It was half an hour where I wish ear blinking was possible. The actual music wasn't too bad though. It wasn't good...But it was enough to try and distract my attention from the horrible woman screaming at me.

Anyway, not too long later, InMe came onto stage after we listened to a very dramatic, orchestral piece of music. It was good, I actually quite enjoyed it. Then they kicked into 7 Weeks from the album White Butterfly - one of the only songs i really really liked on the album. The crowd was full of energy and everyone on the floor was having a great time already.

InMe played a fairly decent mix from all of their back-catalogue and they also previewed a nice amount from their new album Herald Moth.

The London Borderline was a really nice building. It didn't really work as a music venue though. For starters, it was undoubtedly the hottest room I've ever been in before. Asif the moshing wasn't enough to get me sweating, the room alone made it so much worse. Also, I remember feeling really low down in there. I think the stage may have been quite raised, which is unusual for a small venue.

The new material they played I quite liked. Especially a song called 'Single of the Week'.

"What's that shit on the radio? It sounds like they made it so they could make it"

The song itself sounded very 'poppy' and commercial and I think this was very clever and ironic. I was impressed. I also dislike it when bands play new songs live because I don't know them. But this was good, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Overall their performance was absolutely perfect, the guitarwork from Dave and their new member (I would like to say he is called Simon, but I could be lying) was perfect and the vocals were also spot on. Only thing that bugged me (and Elliott) was that every single song was dedicated to someone. For instance:

"This song is dedicated to our merchandise manager"
"This song is dedicated to my friend"
"This song is dedicated to my sister's boyfriend's uncle's mother"
That sort of thing. Every song.

But anyway, I had a fantastic night and can't wait for the new album. I can also strike one more London venue off of my list. And I was contemplating not going...

5/5

Give It A Name: Incoming (Live Review: Dan)

This is the second year running that I have attended Give It A Name. This year however, the festival has moved to a substantially smaller venue (Earls Court to Brixton Academy) and has a lower standard in bands. This wasn't too much of a problem for me though, as the top two acts on the bill are my two favourite live bands.
Going to this year's event was a very spontaneous decision - I purchased a ticket for Matt and myself on the morning of the festival. So we headed up to Brixton Academy to enjoy an evening of music. This was not what we received. The first band, In This Moment, were an unusual metal band. All of the members looked how you would expect from your average, small-time metal band; One big man with dreadlocks and all the others with their black tank tops or jackets. Until the singer walked onstage. She was dressed in a hideous yellow dress and looked like she had walked straight off of the set of Alice in Wonderland. Still, she had certainly caught my attention. Then she started making a noise. Possibly the most disgusting noise I've ever heard live before, her screamed vocals sounded like more a shriek or a wail and I was starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Still, eventually it was all over and I could finally relax again. I'm not convinced anyone in the building enjoyed them.

Next up was Lights, and having done some research I am now aware that Valerie Poxleitner is the only member and the other people onstage were just touring members. I can now forgive her for saying "This is my last song". So, moving on. As a vocalist she was quite talented, and ticked all the right boxes for what she was trying to achieve. Well, most of them. The music was quite pleasant too. But what she failed to do was excite. Matt and I were sat upstairs to watch Lights, and I don't regret this. She was very calming though, I could probably listen to her music all day. It just wasn't what I had gone out for. I'd gone out for some exciting, jumpy music but Lights couldn't provide me with that. Still, I'll certainly be giving her album(s) a listen. So well done Valerie.

Then we had Emery to look forward to. And I sort of was. Having listened to one song of theirs when this year's lineup was announced I had placed them in the same group as Post-Hardcore acts such as Chiodos (A personal favourite). They didn't really fail to disappoint in this aspect - they were a post-hardcore band. Thing is, they just sounded like they were trying to copy all the rest. This is why I'm starting to tire of the genre - there's precious little diversity in the genre. All the bands want to sound like each other, which is fair enough because it works well enough and has a fairly sizeable fanbase. It's just a scene that I'm not really as into as I once was. And whilst the music was listenable (there was nothing I wasn't enjoying) I found something to hate on the stage: The man standing at the very front in the above image, known (apparently) as Robot Ross. Robot Ross was just about the worst member of any band I've ever seen. He was dressed in a pink/purple waistcoat and Matt and I had both noticed that after two full songs he hadn't actually played any instrument, or sung. Instead, he insisted on prancing around the stage trying to fuck every instrument. He literally crept across the stage, he moved lightly and tiptoed all over the place. He was an absolute monstrosity on the eye. Still, he did know how to get the crowd going. Albeit a crowd of fourteen year old girls. About a third of the way through their set Emery did some sort of swap. The vocalist at the time swapped roles with the Bass player of the time and Robot Ross started to do something. The new vocalist was a real improvement, however I was disappointed that they announced that the material played in this formation was "old". Robot Ross did a bit of screaming and it worked quite well with the music and the second half of their set was actually quite decent. Especially the last song, which was brilliant. Matt told me that Robot Ross did a somersault into the crowd. I didn't see this, but would have expected it really.

The King Blues. I've never listened to them, but I've read positive things about them and Kerrang always tell people to listen to them. Still, where has that ever gotten anyone? Just look at that picture of them. You knew this little review section was going to be bad already, right? Right.
Whilst the stage was being set up for them we had noticed 4 different miniature instruments being placed on the stage; Drums, Microphone stand, Guitar and...Something that I have now forgotten. We became quite excited about the prospect of a dwarf in the band.
No such luck. Instead, we were treated to six absolutely awful musicians. The singer was some cockney speaking prick who made this strange noise that somewhere between rapping and singing and seemed quite opinionated. The singer said "On 3 I want you all to shout 'Fuck the BNP'!" He didn't give us a reason though... He did this a lot. He told us all that "the government are bastards/wankers/cunts" but never once said why. And above all of this, their music was shit. They played ridiculous Early Learning Centre instruments and were generally a terrible band. Nothing was to be gained from this half an hour.

So. The Academy Is....Ben told me that they were good. Ben lied. The Academy Is... were the gayest band I've ever seen and heard. The singer limped around the stage asif all he was really doing was looking for a massive cock. He failed to notice that all of the men around him could provide with this. Their music was a perfect representation of the image and I was stood right in the middle of an enormous gay outing. I'm not being homophobic in any way, it just wasn't something I wanted to experience that night. It was to my horror, then, when I found myself in the middle of a mosh pit. A mosh pit, of all things, seemed like the least necessary thing possible at this moment in my life. To swiftly conclude: I hated this band.

The Blackout. It was now when my night really started. Time after time after time, The Blackout have never ceased to impress me. They are full of energy and their music is catchy and aggressive when it needs to be. They are a cool group of people and can accept that everyone loves Sean Smith (the gay one with white hair) probably more than they do the band. They have a new album out in May so we were treated to a nice number of new tracks, and I think they all sounded really good. The crowd was also sensational for this band, and proved to be essential in turning my night around. I also noticed that all of the fourteen year olds had disappeared and I managed to share the set with the kind of people who I would have wanted to. They played most of the best songs from their debut album 'We Are The Dynamite!' and even a bit from the EP - Theblackout!theblackout!theblackout!. Which is good. Perhaps one day I'll put some of their stuff in the swap so we can all relish in their fantastic ability. Otherwise we shall wait until May 25 and New Release Sunday can have a bit of The Blackout treatment. It's a damn good treatment. I would advise absolutely anyone to go and see them on their tour in May.

The moment everyone had been waiting for (and what a long wait it was): Enter Shikari. They came onto the stage with their new intro, which is very good, and the crowd was full of energy. I've seen Enter Shikari a fair few times now, and I'm still not really bored yet. I'd still not pass up an opportunity to go and see them. Besides, I hadn't seen them in a venue anywhere near the size of Brixton Academy. It probably wasn't as good as the small, intimate venues such as Camden Underworld though, which I feel they are more suited to. Which is a bit rubbish for them, as 'Enter Shikari: Live at Wembley' is something that should never happen.
This was also the first time they have ever played their new single 'Juggernauts' live. I've been having mixed feelings about this song. It's an entirely different sound for the band, and one that I'm not sure I like. However, it was great fun live and it helped me to decide that I, in fact, do like it.
Their performance wasn't without their usual mistakes (which I'm starting to believe they must be doing on purpose). This time Roughton messed up his synthesiser and deleted the set list off of it. I'm not complaining about this though, and neither are they. Everyone laughs about it, and the set goes on naturally. They pause regularly to chat about the G20 protests and Cheerios and it's all part of the fun. Everyone has a great time, and everyone goes home drenched in their own sweat - the sign of a good night out.

Some summarizing numbers:
In This Moment: 0/5
Lights: 3/5
Emery: 2.5/5
The King Blues: 0/5
The Academy Is...: 1/5
The Blackout: 5/5
Enter Shikari: 5/5
Give It A Name: Incoming 2009: 3/5

Hope you enjoyed the long read.
Dan.

Bullet For My Valentine: Live (Review: Dan)

Today (or perhaps yesterday) was a bad day. I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall with Ben at somewhere around 7.15pm. This was where it all began. The Royal Albert Hall is without doubt the worst building I have ever been to. It is unorganized, and quite large. It has 12 different entrances scattered around the circumference, only 2 of which were applicable for Ben and I. Finding a door that we were allowed through was one of the most challenging parts of the evening. Next of all, we were very determined to find the Sonisphere 'Stickets' that had been hidden in the venue. We missed the entire set of the first act 'In Case of Fire' to do this. We were so damn close too. We were standing within 50m of it for so long, but we were determined that it was outside the building. Anyway, long story short, we missed a band for nothing. This, however, was probably a good thing.

We entered the arena (which was even harder to find than the fucking entrance) to go and see Fightstar. It was here that we made the very unusual discovery that were many young boys, who can be no older than 11. It was genuinely a very young crowd tonight, and anyone who wasn't young was a massive prick (can't think of a better word).
Anyway, Fightstar. Or as they were clearly known to most people in the audience 'Charlie from Busted's band'. There were so many people just throwing stuff at them, despite a very impressive performance from the band. I was feeling quite disgusted with the reception they recieved to be honest.
I now feel that I should talk about the man of the evening; The big man in the tank top. He was the worst human being I've met at a gig. He was very tall and had an incredibly filthy white vest on. He would strut around a circle pit and wink at girls as he did so. He also felt like he was some sort of circle pit dictator, as he waved his hand in a circular motion for most of the evening. Ben and I were genuinely wishing death upon him for most of the evening.
This reminds me, I feel that I need to talk about my passionate hatred for Circle Pits. I've never liked them, and never understood them. It makes me cringe everytime one is formed, and lots of long-haired, sweaty males skip in a large circle, whilst in the middle a man in a dirty vest dictates, and dodges two small girls holding hands and spinning around in circles. This is not my idea of a good time.
Bullet for my Valentine were next up though, and I was hoping that any chance of having a good evening would be restored. The drums of Scream, Aim, Fire kicked in and the 7 year old crowd screamed like 6 year olds. It was a good song, it usually is, but as expected from people half your size, there was little fun to be had in the crowd. I am happy to say that it was the very worst experience of my Live Music Life. Well, I'm not happy to say it, but I have to.
I feel that at this point I should mention that the arena floor was only half filled, and was far too spacious for any enjoyment, despite the people I was sharing it with. There were a lot of empty seats too.
Bullet for my Valentine gave a fairly solid performace, as usual, but there were one or two times were they made little mistakes - I noticed Matt Tuck's voice dying out a bit on several occasions, and I recall some missed notes on guitar. Other than this though they were very good, and they are VERY lucky that I love their music, or I would probably have walked out.
The only thing that made my night a tiny bit better was seeing The big man in the tank top sitting on a chair with some sort of medic crying like a bitch.

I'm going to have to give two scores for this event:
The Live Experience: 1/5
Bullet for My Valentine: 4/5