Gig Addiction – Page 15 – Life on the road

Skunk Anansie , Albert hall, Manchester, 4-2-16

My journey got off to a bad start when my first train was cancelled in Sheffield ! But transferred to another train (company) it worked out ok. Got to the venue early afternoon & said hello to the band as they arrived. Met a couple of cool guys from the Netherlands who had drove over for the UK dates. Queued for a couple of hours to ensure those front row positions. Didn’t know anything about the support act “Bones” & i wasn’t gonna find out anything tonight as they didn’t manage to get to the gig in time! Even though nothing was announced,to say they wouldn’t be there, i’d already worked it out as the drum skin uses on “Tear The Place Up” was onstage. So we knew the first song of the night already 😉

So, tonight is the first night of the tour. They can often be a time of many small errors during the show & tonight will be no exception. TTPU is a great song to start the show with. No messin, head on & full rockin. There’s no lettin up for the next songs “I Believed In You”, “That Sinking Feeling “, ” Because Of You”. skin was quick to stage dive early in the show..

Tonights show is a decent mix from various albums & obviously, the songs from Anarchytecture are being pushed a lot. Incidentally, i LOVE the album. It has different sounds/styles & i really think this is the album they shoulda made last time to “move forward”. Typically, skin came out into the crowd during “Weak”.

I have so much respect for her that she does this seemingly without fear.

Somewhere during the show skin totally forgot the lyrics to one song. I think if she’d not mentioned it later, she would have got away with it as well (no, actually, she DID get away with it lol). The main set is finished with the classic “Charlie Big Potato”. That’s my fave Skunk song.

To come back with an encore of “100 Ways To be A Good Girl” was just great. Yet another old classic.In fact, the whole encore was perfection (song wise) The show finished with “Little Baby Swastikka” along with the biggest balls up of the night! Anyone who’s seen this performed live before, will be aware of the lighting when skin comes down the front of the stage. I dunno if it was a new lighting guy or what,but, when skin said “Red light” firstly there was just WHITE lights! She then said ” that’s not a red light”. Which was hilarious 😉 The night ended with a few mates in the bar next to the venue. Overall, a great start to the tour. Damn, i had missed seeing Skunks live !

Graham Bonnett, The Suncastle, Skegness 3-2-16

Well, this was a fun little night out. Apparently, Mr Bonnet last played here 49 years ago! The turn out was quite ok tonight, but, i was surprised there were not more people there that i knew (from Boston). Such a rarity for an event like this to happen, it really should be supported to its full potential. It was a great varied set list with Graham playing songs from Rainbow, MSG, Alcatrazz etc. A quality night for sure. As it was special, i captured it on film 🙂

They have been filming a documentary on the tour & this is the part which included Skegness. Interestingly, they used my footage as well as their own at about 6 minutes in;-)

Black Stone Cherry, Shinedown, Halestorm, Highly Suspect, Capital FM arena, Nottingham 29-1-16

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Yet again, the arena has new sponsors. It’s now called “Motorpoint Arena”. Over the years it has been the arena, Capital Fm arena, Trent FM arena. It’s hard getting used to it being called Motorpoint arena as the Sheffield arena used to be Motorpoint arena! So there’s a little confusion for me when i see Motorpoint arena on tweets . I digress….My first stop in Nottingham was the Tourist Information place, to buy some tickets for Rock City gigs. Since the closing of the box office at Rock City (a very poor idea as it now costs so much more ordering through the post) they’ve started stocking a few tix here. Again, seems pretty stupid that RC /Alt-tickets don’t really advertise they do this… I managed to get in the arena only a few minutes after doors (no real queuing) &started off about 6 or 7 rows from the front in the centre. Then, bizarrely, i got a phone call from my doctors! Eventually i put it to the back of my mind & was set for the first act of the night, “Highly Suspect”. Whilst they went down reasonably with the crowd, myself, i just couldn’t get into them. It was just a bit “meh..” lol Next it’s the band i bought todays ticket for ; Halestorm.

Interesting they opened with “Sick Individual”. I’d never have expected that.

They’ve all got new hair cuts since the last time i saw them (well, except Josh i think 😉 ) & everyone still has that fire on stage. I cannot really say much about tonight except they were great as ever & of course i wanted them to play longer 🙂

Shinedown is a band i love. They have some fantastic songs. But nowadays i always have a problem with Bretts “preaching”. It’s obviously all very genuine, but, i just wish he wouldn’t go on yapping so much. Also, the last few shows i’ve seen, he does the same lines about saying hello to you neighbour next to you. Time to change that i think.

I’m still unsure how much of the show is live & how much is off tapes, but it’s quality. Don’t get me wrong, i LOVED their set.

Black Stone Cherry told the story of how they started in “The Basement” at Rock City & then they moved upstairs to the main room. Now, they’re in the arena. No mean feet. They’re such a quality act that their rise is totally understandable.

Lzzy joined them for “Peace Is Free “. Apparently, tonight there were also a couple of live debuts of songs. It was very nice to see at the end of their show, they jammed “Ace Of Spades “. So much love for Lemmy. They were a great way to finish a fantastic night out. Wish it could be like this always.

P.S. The only downside was afterwards it was pissing it down for the majority of my journey home…but it kept me awake 😉

Cancer Bats, Palm Reader, Lord Dying, Incite, Rescue rooms, Nottingham 21-1-16

A rollercoaster of an evening ! Delayed leaving, crazy traffic, forgetting to scan in at the car park, typically a “40minute” delay on food (which in fact was nothing like that), more “fun” in the pub (not! lol), a gig which started great, had one crap band & finished with a great set from Cancer Bats. Once home, the night was very close to finishing really bad as almost had a head on crash at a petrol station of all places ! Live n learn…

Well this was a strange old night ! It started pretty rubbish due to the friends i was picking up were not ready. Those 20 minutes made all the difference to how the evening would go. ( Nowadays, i’ve got the timing perfect for Nottingham, usually arrive about 5.10pm so miss the traffic & have time to grab food if wanted before the gig). Roads were busy, we hit the rush hour traffic in Nottingham & ended up over 30 minutes later parking up. So tonight was gonna be a bit of a rush….when it really shouldn’t have been.

As luck would have it, when i got into the venue it wasn’t over busy. So i *just* managed to get front row of the balcony. First band up were Incite, a well heavy band from Phoenix AZ, USA. Whilst there wasn’t a big crowd for them, the ones who were there were really getting into them. I really enjoyed their set. They even had Liam from Cancer Bats join them for one song 😉

Next up were “Lord Dying”. They were excellent. A bit more “instrumental” than Incite. Unfortunately, i didn’t get any video of them as their set seemed to be cut short (They said there were 2 more songs & after the first they said it was over 🙁 )

The (now) local band , Palm Reader were the weakest act of the night for me.

As ever, Cancer Bats kicked some serious ass. It was one hell of a show in a packed out venue with loads of moshing down there.

I always love Cancer Bats version of “Sabotage”

My night almost ended in tragedy once i got home ! I always go to the petrol station once home so i’m tanked up ready for next journey etc. Tonight i had the misfortune of almost having a little twat driving the WRONG WAY around a roundabout & almost hitting me head on. It was only due to my quick reactions & composure that it was avoided. Yes, it did really shake me up when i thought of what could have happened. I was later annoyed with myself as i didn’t go after the little kid in his silver Corsa, but it was too late. I did however inform police of the incident, so if they wanted to follow it up, it would be easy as there would be CCTV at both the petrol station & Tescos. I’ve done my part…

Motionless In White , New Years Day, Silent Screams, Rescue rooms, Nottingham 18-1-16

Half expected the queue to be busy & it sure was. Luckily, i managed to get a great spot on the balcony. The first band “Silent Screams” went down very well with the young audience 😉 They had a circle pit & even a “wall of death”. Whilst i wouldn’t buy their CD (or go see them headline), they were entertaining. I’m just not much of a fan of “shouty” vocals.

Next up it was New Years Day. Unfortunately, the sound wasn’t great (a problem that continued all night) the vocals needed to be higher in the mix. However, i think for a lot of people that didn’t even matter as they were either just smashing the hell out of each other, or just swooning over Ash 😉

Their set was short, maxing out at about 35minutes & doing around 7 songs. Second song in, “I’m No Good” Ash got the crowd jumping along straight away. Basically, she had everyone in the palm of her hand .

Motionless In White were entertaining but they had sound problems all night. Lost count of the amount of times someone went from the mixing desk to the stage! Ash also joined them for “Contemptress”

Three Days Grace, We Are The Ocean, O2 Forum, London, 15-1-16

Originally i was meant to be seeing “Motor Sister” in London this weekend (would have been the 4th or so gig as was gonna follow the tour) but the tour got cancelled. As luck would have it, a friend was having a birthday party on the Saturday so i decided to go down a day early as could see We Are The Ocean + Three Days Grace. As wasn’t gonna get to London till around 7.30pm, i knew i wouldn’t get a great place in the venue. Once there, i got a txt from Kristina saying they were in the pub next door. As the queue was going quick, i thought i’d go in the gig. Then i got a txt off Rob ” Come to the pub. We are upstairs”. Ah fuck it, a quick pint first i reckon 😉 Back in the ’80s, the “Bull & Gate” looked really run down etc, but now the place is looking great!

When we got into the Forum, WATO were already a few songs into their set. As always, they were delivering a solid show.

Having never seen 3DG before (lol, not that i’ll “see” much tonight) this was gonna be interesting for me. I enjoyed their set. Sometimes it came over as “a typical American act”…a little soulless & formalized…but it was a quality show.

However, we had more entertainment OFF the stage ! Near us at the bar, there was a couple who were arguing most of the night Was quite hilarious ! After the gig we had an unplanned drinking session back at Robs. Tried loads of different beers & ended the night sinking a bottle of Mojito. Finally, at 5am, we called it a night 😉

While She Sleeps, Halfsight, Elegies, The Leadmill, Sheffield 29-12-15

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With the news of Lemmys death still sinking in, i really wasn’t in the mood for going to this gig. But i had responsibilities as i was the driver. Whilst we were at the pub,pre gig, i wasn’t really taking anything in from the chats we were having. I was there, but i wasn’t there. Once at the Leadmill, i wasn’t impressed with either of the support acts. As for WSS, there was a lot of energy up there, but again i just couldn’t really get into it. Would have been great if they’d tried to do a Motorhead cover , but at least Loz mentioned good old Lemmy. Just a shame that half the kids didn’t seem to know who Ian Fraser Kilmister was though 😉 After their set was finished, the first song played over the PA was “Ace Of Spades”. There was no way i was leaving that venue till i’d heard the full song. R.I.P. Lemmy. This was a strange way to finish my gig going of 2015.

Him, Rock City, Nottingham, 27-12-15

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Him are one of those bands I’ve been into for many years. Once again, it was watching satellite tv from Germany that exposed them too me. Probably around 1999. I first got to see them live at rock city ,Nottingham 18th May 2002. They were playing in the downstairs “basement” room. ( Oh yeah, i remember when they cancelled a show at RC, in 2000 or 2001 & the person in the ticket office said “…oh don’t worry. They’ll be back soon as they’re always playing here !” ). I don’t really remember much about it, but, the one thing i do remember & have always had a problem with, was Villes attitude. One moment he’s all up/happy, the next he’s a moaning old git ! Dunno how much of this was due to the heavy drinking or what. I did miss out a couple of tours as i read about his problems…. I last saw Him at Rock city in 2013. My standout memory of that show was how LOUD it was. Not loud in a good way either; it just distorted & there was no definition to the sound. Honestly, it was rubbish. (One of my friends recently said to me “…there was plenty of times i didn’t even know which song they were playing, it was that bad sound…”). So this show, their only UK date in 2015, i really don’t know what to expect….

I got to RC 2 hours before doors & there was quite a queue already, almost as far back as the car park. I’d guess there were about 80 people in front (?). So that was that , no beer n burger tonight, it’s joining the queue in the hope i manage front row balcony. ( Cat & Reno went to the pub 😉 ) Luckily most people went straight down the front to the barrier. I managed front row balcony, but not my usual spot. I’ve never seen Rock City fill up so quickly as this show. It was quite amazing to see from my vantage point…

The support act, ” Empire ” were just ok. I thought the singer had a nice tone to his vocal,but, i didn’t really get into the band. I always struggle with new bands to me. So its to Spotify i need to go to give them a fair chance….
Once Him were on stage, straight away i could see Ville wasn’t having a good time with his IEM/monitors. Tyical. After a while he did warm to things & there were a few smiles. He even had a jacket & a bra thown up onstage to him. The sound was much better that last time i saw them, but, it could have been better for sure. I’ve got to say, i’ve never seen so many fights in the crowd than at this show.I just don’t get it. I think this will be the last time i go to see him.

Blabbermouth posted a link to my footage 🙂 http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/him-video-of-nottingham-concert/

Ghost, Dead Soul, Rock city, Nottingham, 14-12-15

Picked up Andy then we went to Grantham to pick up Cat & Reno. This was the first time i’d met Reno. Once in Nottingham we parked at Forest Park & ride as it only costs £2 return if you have an event ticket. Quick visit to FOPP & then it’s time for beer n burgers 😉 Go to join the queue,about an hour before doors open & who should be the last in queue but my mate Gary ! We’re both hoping the balcony will be open tonight 😉 There’s about 16 people in front of us, so we’re pretty sure of a decent place in the room. Disaster ! Balcony closed 🙁 So we end up in the other usual position 😉

The opening band ” Dead Soul” were interesting/different. Need to check them out properly on Spotify…

I’d previously only seen Ghost at festivals,so was looking forward to seeing them headline. I wasn’t disappointed ! After the (long) intro tape they go from “Spirit” straight into “From The Pinnacle To The Pit ” (Just like on the album) a great start.

Papa is a great front man. I was cracking up at some of the things he said. The show was presented very well. Everyone on stage plays their part great. I absolutely loved this night & really wanna go see them again…

P.S. I planned on going to see them in Manchester at the weekend (3 hours drive away. There’s not many bands i’d drive to Manchester for, but these are worth it) but unfortunately the show is sold out 🙁

Clutch , Bombus, Greenleaf, Brixton Academy, 12-12-15

Originally, i was meant to be seeing ” Hey Hello” today, in Sheffield. However, it got cancelled due to Ginger Wildhearts illness. Nowadays, i’m finding it harder & harder to just stay in at weekends, getting tired of my own company, so was on the look out for a “replacement gig “. There were a couple of options : 1. Ash/Amorettes Norwich, 2. Clutch Brixton, 3. New Model Army Rock City, 4. Def Leppard/Whitesnake/ Black Star Riders Nottingham (on 13th). As much as i love Ash & the Amorettes made it even better value, i decided on going to London for Clutch. I met up with Kristina for a late lunch “like the old days”. Rob arrived later & i gave him the Garbage CD i’d got from Japan for him. They then went to another pub, whilst i went to Brixton. I wasn’t expecting for it to be too busy early on (especially after seeing how quiet it was before the recent gig in Nottingham), but was truly shocked to find just one chap waiting around ! As Elliot said, almost made you wonder if people realised the venue had been changed from Shepherds Bush Empire to Brixton ! ( SBE has cancelled gigs till the end of the year as they found structural problems with the balcony !)After a while Jim arrived, closely followed by Carl & Lisa. Great seeing them again & i realised this would be the first time i join them on front row 😉 Typically, the hand scanner didn’t work on my ticket, so was slowed down a little getting in. No worries though as got the spot i wanted. The first band on were “Greenleaf” & were new to me. Lisa & Carl told me a bit about them as they’d seen them a few times on the tour 😉 In fact, they had even put them on guest list tonight :-). They were pretty decent live band. From Sweden & it was soon apparent their inspiration (like many bands from Sweden) stems from ’80s metal. I enjoyed them a lot. Next it was “Bombus”. Another bunch of metalheads from Sweden ! These are pretty heavy, especially as there are multiple “singers” amongst them 🙂 They get a great reaction from the crowd. Finally time for the mighty Clutch. The crowd had swelled a lot, as had the amount of drunks behind us ! ( “I’m sure that pint will end up down my back” ) They started with ” X Ray Visions / Firebirds” & it was soon obvious they were impressed with the turn out tonight ; ” It’s a shame about Shepherds Bush, but every cloud…”. They also thanked the Brixton crew, who should have had a night off tonight 😉

This was a truly great night from Clutch & what a way to finish their tour & their biggest venue in the UK so far.

I caught you in there Lisa & Carl 😉

Said quick goodbyes to my friends & was back on the tube to Cockfosters & the 2 hour drive home that followed. About half way home, i just felt hungry, so at about 2 am i was sat in McDonalds ! Later that day i was due to go out for lunch with my mum & i over slept! I was up & outa my place in about 10mins, so breakfast this morning was at the Chinese 🙂

P.S. The last couple of shows i’ve seen at Brixton, someone came along the front row, handed out a clapperboard type thing & took photos to go on Brixton academys website. I had “dressed up” especially & it didn’t happen this night. Anyways, here’s what i was wearing 😉