Rock City – Page 4 – Gig Addiction

Reckless Love, The Treatment, Rock city , Nottingham, 18-11-16

It’s always cool when it’s possible to do “2-nighters” at places & this was the first of them (The second being Airbourne). I had hoped i wouldn’t be “alone” over the next days, but it didn’t quite work out for Tess as her sister was over. As is always the case, book early & the hotels etc are cheaper. I stayed at the Premier Inn Nottingham West, which is at the end of the tram line. A great little thing is if you’re going to an event in Nottingham, the tram ticket is only £2 return ! (Just have to show your gig ticket if there are inspectors checking) It worked well for me.
As luck would have it, an old neighbour from 30+ years ago(?) was also doing these gigs, so a nice chance to catch up.
I managed to get the early entry to Rock City & the chap had sorted out a bar stool for me. What surprised me was it wasn’t in the balcony, but under the stairs. Not that it bothered me as it’s still a great view from there. The surprise, especially after Reckless Loves last gig at RC, was they hadn’t sold enough tickets to open the balcony! It’s kinda cool to be in RC & the place is empty

The opening act tonight were ” The Treatment “. I great bunch of lads who have a positive attitude & always put on a high energy show. I’ve seen them live a few times over the years. Their manager is Laurie Mansworth who used to me in the band ” Airrace” (If you’re older you may also remember the ’80s NWOBHM band ” More ” ). It’s cool to see him side stage really getting into the band :

As is always the case, the band get a great reaction from the crowd at Rock city.

Reckless Love are a band that are made for Rock City ! Of the 7 times they’ve played there, i’ve seen 5 of them (Started playing in the Basement & got too big for there). I do find it a little strange that it’s not a bigger audience tonight, especially as it’s one of only two shows in the UK (But saying that, the last couple of times they didn’t open the balcony)
The show starts with ” The Boys Are Back In Town” being played over the PA. It’s then straight into “Animal Attraction”. Oli briefly soaks up the affection from the crowd before they go into ” So Happy I Could Die “…with a huge scream from him at the start :

Next up it’s “Monster”. After that, Oli mentions Pepe & him being a Pretty Boy. Yup, we’re about to get the live debut of ” Pretty Boy Swagger ” 🙂 It was pretty decent.
Then we get the double hitter of ” Beautiful Bomb” & “Badass”. There’s some good audience interaction/clapping during “Badass”.

The rest of the night it’s all about having a good time. The band seem as into it as the audience are. They encore with “We Are The Weekend” & the last song of the night is the classic ” Hot “. A great night out for sure.
Afterwards we go to the The Gooseberry Bush pub where myself & Tim (the old neighbour) have a good catch up & he tells me his woes about recently splitting with his wife.
We eventually say our goodbyes & i take the tram back to my hotel, whilst Tim tries to figure out how to get to his hotel out Stapleford way !

Saxon, Fastway, Girlschool, Rock city , Nottingham ,9-11-16

Andy drove us there in my car (i’m not allowed to drive now) so gave it a nice run again. Parked up at Park n Ride. Cheap tram ticket as going to an event (Only £2.00 return). Went to the usual place for food & then to the venue. Was nice to briefly chat with Hana (front of queue as ever & had done the V.I.P. M&G). Hadn’t seen her in ages. Then went had a chat with my mate Gary (Pleased to hear all went well mate 😉 ) Soon enough, we were first people in venue. They didn’t have any bar stools upstairs so had to wait a while for those to arrive. Still managed my usual spot 🙂

First band tonight was Girlschool. I’ve been seeing them live since 1982, with my first gig at Leicester De Montfort hall. In the mid ’80s i traveled to a bunch of places around the UK to see them. Tonight, it’s going to be a short set, 30 minutes or so. Personally, i’d sooner see them switch positions with Fastway & get a longer set. I guess it’s down to “politics”. Whatever, they played a great little set. They kicked off with “Demolition Boys” , from the debut album “Demolition”. Then went into the title track of their second album ” Hit & Run ”

It was quite funny when Kim asked if anyone remembered “Rockstage”. That was a tv show where they broadcast gigs from the Theatre Royal,Nottingham in the early ’80s. Girlschool were featured on the same show as Motorhead which was broadcast in 1981. The general consensus was “…you really are far too young to remember it aren’t ya !? “.
Kim dedicated the song ” Take It Like A Man ” to Fast Eddie as this was the last night that Fastway would be on this tour. Next they played ” Future Flash”. That’s always been one of my all time fave songs of theirs. Enid then gets to sing the oldie ” Watch Your Step “. The show finishes with ” Emergency ” (what else could it be ? 😉

Next up it’s Fastway. Whilst there’s no denying there’s some legendary musicians in the group, it was a band i could never get into back in the day. Tonight i also thought Fast Eddies guitar was too loud. “What?” you’re saying? It can never be loud enough ;-). Or maybe it was more a point of Tobys vocals seemed a wee bit too low in the mix? Either way, i’m sorry to say that everything just seemed to merge into one.

Finally it’s Saxon. What a band & what a career they’ve had all these years ! The one constant during those times (even if there were a few weaker albums) is you know you’re gonna get a great live show ! They always play nice long sets & often change the set lists along the way. ( A good example being, i heard it was very cold in Sheffield & the audience requested ” Frozen Rainbow “…the band played it 🙂 )
I’m not going to list all the songs they played, but you can be sure they covered stuff from all through their career. Interesting choice of intro tape ; ” It’s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock n roll)”. I’ll always associate that with Twisted Sister from back in the day 😉 When intro finished, they brutally hit us with ” Battering Ram ” followed by a nice fast one ” Heavy Metal Thunder “.

Stand out tracks for me tonight were ” See The Light Shining “(change to set list) ,”Strong Arm Of The Law ” & ” Princess Of the Night “.

They played something like 21 (?) songs tonight. Such great value. As a footnote, it’s great to see that Saxon are (yet again) on the rise. Many dates have either sold out or been very close to selling out. Good on ya guys 🙂 Denim & Leather brought us all together…

Nottingham ROCKS!!!!

Posted by Saxon (Official) on Thursday, 10 November 2016

EDIT 11-1-18 : With the news of Fast Eddie Clarke passing away, i thought it suitably apt to upload this song

Band Of Skulls, + Bones, rock city, Nottingham 25-10-16

I really like ” Bones ” & had never seen ” Band Of Skulls ” before, so thought i’d give it a go. I got totally lucky with my hotel as it only cost me £10 (Yes, a tenner !) Just look at this place for the amazing value i got :

Took a late train to Nottingham as couldn’t check in till 3pm. Chilled in my room using the free wifi. Found out a friend, Diletta, was also here for the gig. She’s a massive fan of Bones 😉 Unfortunately they hadn’t sold enough tickets to open the balcony. So myself & another couple went to my 2nd favourite position, under the stairs ( It’s raised here)
Place was slow to fill up, but eventually there were not many spaces on the main floor.
I’d imagine Bones were new to most of the crowd. I’d previously seen them open for Skunk Anansie & also PVRIS, so knew what to expect. To start off there wasn’t much “movement” amongst the audience, but, they were gradually turned onto the band as their set progressed. I made a few videos 😉

Their short set ( 30mins? ) went by very quickly & they finished with the one two of ” Girls Can’t Play Guitar ” (preceded by telling the crowd about the infamous guy in Camden who said the immortal line “Girls Can’t Play Guitar”) then final song ” Pretty Waste “.

Band Of Skulls i really don’t know much about. First thing i noticed tonight was how their back drop of 3 ecclesiastical looking windows reminded me of a similar thing ” The Mission ” did back in the ’80s ! Move the outside ones closer to the centre & there you have it . By now the main floor was considerably more busy.
They kick off with ” In Love By Default ” & then it seems to be the same setlist most places on this tour with “Light Of The Morning” , ” Himalayan” & ” Bodies” following.

Sometime pretty early on, i was filming a song & got a tap on my shoulder. It was Diletta coming up to see me. She didn’t realise this was the “disabled area” & the chap behind me who i’d been chatting to kinda of tried to make her move. Once he realised we knew each other, he was fine. ( Afterwards when we talked about that brief moment, Diletta said ” It was like he was your personal security !”. Funny & good point 😉 )

Before “Patterns” , Russell mentions how they love playing in Nottingham 😉 This song really starts to get the crowd going during the singback section. They then jump forward to present day with the song “So Good” from the most recent album ” By Default “. Very smooth how they merged from one song to the next.

I knew something interesting would be coming as Matt, the drummer, was given a guitar. So had to film this track. Turned out to be an old song which had been used a few years back on a tv show (A little digging & i found a bunch of their songs were used on tv shows & movie soundtracks over the years). There were some great little vocal harmonies going on between Russell & Emma

The rest of the night it was more high energy songs & i’ve got to say, i really enjoyed the night. The couple near me left early. I assume to beat the swathes of people leaving at once ( She needed a stick, so wise choice i reckon) They finished with ” Asleep At the Wheel ”

Afterwards, briefly had a chap with Diletta & then i went back to my hotel. Oh yeah, before hotel i went in multi storey next door & scanned an app where each time you park there, after 6 scans i think, you get free parking session. Whatcha mean….my car wasn’t there ?
The following morning, before checking out of my fantastic hotel, there was one last piece to be completed here : ” The Grab & Go ” breakfast ! At no extra charge, they have pastries, muffins, croisants, coffee, juice etc. Would love to stay here again….at the right price 😉

Virginmarys (Missed Feeder) , Rock City, Nottingham, 14-10-16

What can i say except my day started pretty shitty when i awoke to a couple of Whatsapp messages. My mate Rob was meant to be driving today but illness put a stop to that. Then there were msgs from a close friend who seemed in a bad place (to say the least). What to do ? After a few attempts to contact,with no replies, i decided : Priorities. I couldn’t help the friend so i had to look into if it was possible to go Nottingham or not. With it being so last minute, i couldn’t find any hotel which i thought was reasonably priced. (There’s no way i’d use a scummy B&B as it’s too easy to pick up bugs etc…especially with my immune system being rubbish nowadays). I was all set to write it off when Rachel suggested i go see Virginmarys & come back home. I thought the last train would be earlier than it was. Realising it was an early start for the gig (Kick out 10pm so they can have the club night), it was possible to go ! So off i went ! Another train ticket purchased, Nottingham here i come 🙂

When i got to the venue, i explained to security that i’d been chatting to someone about getting a bar stool (as sometimes i get tired nowadays) & they agreed to let me in a little early, “Just ask at the bar for a stool”. On the way in, i saw Alixe still setting up merch so quickly grabbed the new yellow t-shirt ! Yay ! Finally i got a VMs T-shirt 😉

Once upstairs, got the bar stool & set up in my usual position centre of balcony. Jobs a good un !
The place didn’t fill up that quickly & i’m sure many people missed the usual killer set from the headliners…erm i mean Virginmarys 😉 They kicked off with ” I Wanna Take You Home “. Always a good one to get you in the mood. Next up it’s ” Halo In Her Silhouette “. The band are on fire,unlike what can be said of the audience. Seems pretty tepid down there & not a single person on the front row seems to be getting into it. Their loss.

Next up it’s an old classic (well, it IS !) “Dead Mans Shoes “. Just flys by.
Ally asks the crowd if anyone has seen the band before…maybe opening for Skunk Anansie here ? Pretty much silence from the crowd except for one lonesome voice. He in turn dedicates next song to her…

It’s quite fun to see Gareth playing invisible drums sat behind Ally 😉
We then get an oldie but goodie ” Running For My Life “. I just love hearing this stuff. I actually find it a little annoying that the guys are really working their assess off up there & the crowd just seems a bit lame 🙁 We’re then brought up to the latest album “Divides” & the plough through ” Into Dust “. Another 3 or so songs & we’re at the finishing line with ” Just A Ride “. It’s just great & i get the added bonus of a shout out from Ally at the end 🙂 Nice one mate!

Sometime during the show Ally mentioned there will be more *headline*shows later in the year. Whoo Hoo ! Also mentioned the “food donations” from his recent solo show & probably doing it again later in the year. I don’t want to misquote, but, i’m also pretty sure he said something about they’ll play anywhere “So if you could put us up for the night, that would be cool “. ** Don’t take that as gospel ! ** I had hoped to try verify some of the quotes after the gig, but i ran out of time to be sure of catching my train home.
I did have a good old chat with Alixe though. Very pleased to hear these dates were not a “buy on” as often happens nowadays. Proud they’re doing things their own way as always 🙂 Must confess, it did seem strange to be leaving Rock City so early, but everything ran smooth & most important thing was i got to see the VMs 🙂

31-10-16 EDIT : Ally has just confirmed about wanting to do gigs for food donations https://www.facebook.com/TheVirginmarysOfficial/videos/1436101046417369/

Garbage, The Pearl Harts , Rock City, Nottingham, 14-6-16

Wolf Alice, rock city, Nottingham 23-3-16

I was really looking forward to seeing WA at my fave venue, Rock City. I had high expectations. Traffic was really busy tonight so i didn’t park at the park n ride, trying to save a few extra minutes.I arrived about 5pm & there were about 15 kids in front of me. Pretty obvious where they’d be heading for.Whilst waiting, a camera crew set up across the road & filmed us all. Once inside,as expected, everyone dashed to the barrier & yours truly went to the balcony. First person up there so got my usual perfect spot. The kids loved “Bloody Knees”. They got a circle pit going 2nd song in. Once again, they did their job of warming up everyone.

When i saw “Swim Deep” in Leeds, i was quite impressed with their “quirkiness”, so was looking forward to rock city. They got a fantastic reaction, almost like a “heroes return”. There was one song, where a very large percentage of the audience seemed to be singing along. I think the great thing about this band is you just cannot pigeon hole them. They have so much stuff mixed in their sound.

WA hit the stage the same way as they seem to be doing everywhere on this tour : intro/Loves whore/ germ. It’s a full on great opening. The crowd just loves them & i’m pretty sure WA love the crowd 🙂

My concerns, erm no, my questions i had about the performance in Leeds (with relation to band/crowd interaction) were answered : Yes, they are more about just getting on with the show! However, if anything, i’d say there was more interaction at RC. “Bros” is a killer song as always. Hell, the whole night is great. Just a shame it’s all over so quickly. Something like 17 songs in just over an hour!

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Funny moment was during “Turn To Dust” when Ellie messed up. But she took it with a smile. Everyones only human. Oh, i never did find out what the filming of the gig was for. I saw 3 pro cameras in the gig, so it must be something worthwhile…but what ??

Reckless Love, Santa Cruz, rock city, Nottingham 12-3-16

I’d been looking forward to this gig for some time,yet,when the day arrived, i just couldn’t get motivated for it. Lots of crap going around my head & generally confused about situations. Eventually, i decided on the old adage of ” It’ll get better once there” so i zipped off to Nottingham. Upon arrival there were about 10+ peeps in the queue, so i decided to wait for next hour & half +. Had a nice laugh/chat with a Czech girl from Leeds who had followed a few shows (Hi Barbara). Took a while for queue to grow, but eventually it got as far as the car park. Once inside, again i was disappointed as they didn’t open the balcony. Oh well, back to position number 2 under the stairs 😉
After a while my mate Steve rolled in…with the 2pint of beer..Had a little chat & then they wandered off into the crowd.
The first band, “Santa Cruz”, i’d seen before. They’re quite a “trashy” band. Went down well with the crowd.

As always, Reckless Love delivered. They’re such a fun live band & the quality of songs has always been consistent. Of course, to many of us, Rock City is paradise, so Reckless Love came back to paradise 😉

And then they set the night on fire…

After the gig, i met up with Ady & we had a natter about some stuff that had gone down & also considered the possibility of Download festival. Still nothing definite yet.

Machine Head, Rock City, Nottingham 3-3-16

If you like Machine Head, you NEED to see them at Rock City. Their shows there are always amazing. The one previous to tonights, December 2014, was electric. They just have a connection with the Rock City crowd. It’s always crazy. Btw, their first headline show in the UK/Europe was Nottingham Rock City back in the day 😉 Tonight they have moved the doors till 6pm. Fortunately, my boss let me have extra time off, so my day worked out perfectly : Parked at Forest park n ride, cost £2 for parking & tram into town. Went to multistory car park next to RC, scanned the app towards free parking voucher 😉 Yes, i know, it’s wrong but the last time i went, because of B.S. surrounding the day, i forgot to scan the app. So this makes it even . Saw there was only about 10 peeps queuing at RC, so decide i have time for a curry ! Bloody lovely it was as well. Nice n relaxed in my 2nd fave place in Nottingham. Go join the queue & see my mate Jason is there. He’s doing the M&G. We have a good old natter 😉 Then later Jase points out something behind me it’s Richard (who again i first met at a MH gig) we have a chat & he tells me he’s going to see MH up in Glasgow ! Cool. Once inside, we have an hour & half waiting for MH to hit the stage. After the intro of Ozzy Osbournes ” Diary Of a Madman”, it’s straight into “Clenching the fists of dissent”. The audience is kicking off already ! Great circle pit !

Tonights “Evening with Machine Head” certainly covers all bases of their career. During the course of about 21 (?) songs, we get all the classics such as “Locust”, ” Ten Ton Hammer”, ” The Blood, The Sweat, The BEERS” 😉

Apparently, when they had the idea of ” A night with…”, loads of people told them it was a mistake. Well, they proved them wrong, with sold out gigs & a fantastic connection with their audience. Also good to see the security having to work a little, due to all the crowd surfers 😉 Roll on Machine Heads next return to Rock City. It certainly seems to be their home from home nowadays 🙂

( Updated 13-7-16 with addition of 2 cam mix video clip )

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 🙁