Gigs 'n' Tours

[Will]

I went to see Svalbard on Friday because it turns out I really like their latest album. Good stuff, though I was sad not to get a couple of songs that were played at the warm-up show in Bristol.

Coming up is Creeper's spring tour where I continue to spend a lot of money I can't afford following them around. Hoping to get some of the more obscure songs and happy that venues are more intimate than they were in the Autumn (aside from that awesome night in Antwerp!).

Bruce has a solo tour that I've waited twenty years for and I'm doing two nights in May (Manc and Notts) and just found out there's a random Ice Nine kills gig in the middle of those two that I'm also doing.

What a time to be alive

 

[Projektion]

Since my last post in this thread, I've been to see:

- Trivium + Heaven Shall Burn - Barcelona 7th February 2023

- Electric Callboy - Barcelona 10th February 2023


- Avatar - Barcelona 24th March 2023

- Rammstein - Madrid 23rd June 2023

- Malevolence - Madrid 23rd June 2023

- Babymetal - Madrid 23rd June 2023

- In Flames + Kreator - Tokyo 1st February 2024

And Upcoming shows I've got are
- Meshuggah - Barcelona 25th March 2024
- Rammstein - Barcelona 11th June 2024

 

[Will]

Ended up doing both Creeper gigs in MK

This is Hannah. She is my friend now - and Crickets is one of my big favourite tracks


At least one more date to come on this tour. Hope they keep mixing up the set.

I also took a very large crowdsurfer to the face which was not my favourite.

 

[Will]

You are the clock on my VCR
Keeping me up at night, the tiny light won't fade...

The crowd were a bit naff in Lincoln compared to the insanity of MK, but duetting The Ballad of Spook and Mercy, in silly voices, with somebody quite special to me was nice.

 

[Dar]

Saw The Hives in Leeds on Wednesday! Such an amazing show, I am a broken man. I'm not a very expressive person normally, but I expressed myself by jumping around and smashing into other people jumping around.
They played a massive set compared to their usual outings, 20 songs and plenty of banter, including a few oldies that really got people amped up! When was the last time they played 'Try it again'?!


(An HPA-sanctioned photo. "Take out your phones, take a picture and post it on all your social medias. Now put your phones away.")
I did see him throw somebody's phone into the air after they shoved it in his face halfway through the second song. No sympathy, put it away and experience the show.

And my other half caught one of the drummer's broken sticks after getting a photo with him outside the spoons next to the venue!

And I got told to shut the f*** up by the singer after we all kept chanting "yorkshire".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1773302138753470723

There was a young lady next to us that screamed "I love you you're gorgeous" to the singer of the opening band. Then her mum spun round and, in a hushed tone, said "You are drunk, you need to calm down"

 

[roomraider]

Normally my gig season starts with Glasto in June but thanks to some weird work schedules this year I've got an early start.
Add to that I finally have a new phone that takes good gig photos (Sorry for the black and white artsy shots below) and not just pictures that are entirely blue.
I feel 2024 will be a good gig year for me.

heres a list and short review of 2024's gigs so far.

1 - Half Lives - Below The Dome
First gig of the year 2024 - Halflives a band that 2 weeks before the gig I hadn't even heard of at a venue I'd never been to before. And the first gig I've ever been to based on a Facebook advert.

An interesting mix of Paramore and Chvrches they were actually rather brilliant. A brilliant energetic lead singer with plenty of crowd interaction to boot. Add to that a ton of brilliant hooks and sing along tracks.
In short if you like either of the previously mentioned bands I would recommend.





2 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Royal Albert Hall
Been waiting for this one for years. As a massive Oasis fan I finally got to see one half of the brothers Gallagher (the better half) and my favourite venue in the world. And this was a Teenage Cancer Trust show so they arent even paid for it.

Cracking setlist split into two halves with a decent collection of his solo stuff followed by an eclectic set of Oasis classics and obscurities including The Masterplan, Talk Tonight (my favourite) and Going Nowhere.

Bloody loved it all.

Oh and seeing Blossoms for the first time as a support act wasn't half bad either.


3 - The Twang - Bush Hall
Went very niche for this one. An acoustic set by the underrated The Twang. Once again at a new venue for me and the first sit-down gig I've been to in years.
Bush Hall turned out to be a lovely little venue and the crowd certainly knew their stuff singing along for pretty much the whole set.

Barney Rubble is an underated Indie Trash 2000's hit.



4 - Feeder - Camden Roundhouse
A few days after The Twang came the peerless Feeder at the Roundhouse in Camden.
A band I've somehow not managed to see before despite wanting to since the 90s. So this was a big one for me.

They put on quite a show including a good sprinkling of the classics and some of the rockier new stuff. All in all it was well worth the wait.
I heard more people reference Gran Tourismo 3 in those 4 hours than i have heard in the rest of my life.



5 - The Coral - Union Chapel
An Acoustic performance by early 2000 stalwarts The Coral. (and my 2nd sit down gig of the year) Not your usual concert this, as it included an extended sit-down interview about the creation of their first album along with acoustic performances of many of those tracks.
And best of all it all unfolded in the stunning Union Chapel in Islington, probably 2nd only to the Albert Hall for the most beautiful venue in London.



5 - James Blunt - Royal Albert Hall
I guess this is me coming out as a James Blunt fan

and he was bloody brilliant so deal with it
Who knew that a gig by a man famous for depressing songs (undeservedly in my opinion) could be so absolutely joyous. Easily the best concert of the year so far.

One i thing i learnt during this gig was that James Blunt and Carrie Fisher (Princess leia) were best friends (and used to live together) and that the song Dark Thought was written about James finding out about her death. Adds a whole new layer to what was already a really sad track (Ok not helping the depressing song narative)

Anyway this was beautifully staged and in the best venue in the country, this was absolutely brilliant. - and I don't care what you think

---------------------------------------------------------------

And thats it for gigs so far.

In a few months I will be gracing the somerset fields with @Nicky Borrill but before then I have tickets for Thirty Seconds To Mars, Swim Deep, Liam Gallagher (Doing Definetly Maybe in Full), The Kopycat Killers and Oasis 96 (also a cover band).

Its been one hell of a year and sounds like it will continue.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Normally my gig season starts with Glasto in June but thanks to some weird work schedules this year I've got an early start.
Add to that I finally have a new phone that takes good gig photos (Sorry for the black and white artsy shots below) and not just pictures that are entirely blue.
I feel 2024 will be a good gig year for me.

heres a list and short review of 2024's gigs so far.

1 - Half Lives - Below The Dome
First gig of the year 2024 - Halflives a band that 2 weeks before the gig I hadn't even heard of at a venue I'd never been to before. And the first gig I've ever been to based on a Facebook advert.

An interesting mix of Paramore and Chvrches they were actually rather brilliant. A brilliant energetic lead singer with plenty of crowd interaction to boot. Add to that a ton of brilliant hooks and sing along tracks.
In short if you like either of the previously mentioned bands I would recommend.

View attachment 30846

View attachment 30847

2 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Royal Albert Hall
Been waiting for this one for years. As a massive Oasis fan I finally got to see one half of the brothers Gallagher (the better half) and my favourite venue in the world. And this was a Teenage Cancer Trust show so they arent even paid for it.

Cracking setlist split into two halves with a decent collection of his solo stuff followed by an eclectic set of Oasis classics and obscurities including The Masterplan, Talk Tonight (my favourite) and Going Nowhere.

Bloody loved it all.

Oh and seeing Blossoms for the first time as a support act wasn't half bad either.
View attachment 30849View attachment 30848

3 - The Twang - Bush Hall
Went very niche for this one. An acoustic set by the underrated The Twang. Once again at a new venue for me and the first sit-down gig I've been to in years.
Bush Hall turned out to be a lovely little venue and the crowd certainly knew their stuff singing along for pretty much the whole set.

Barney Rubble is an underated Indie Trash 2000's hit.

View attachment 30850View attachment 30851

4 - Feeder - Camden Roundhouse
A few days after The Twang came the peerless Feeder at the Roundhouse in Camden.
A band I've somehow not managed to see before despite wanting to since the 90s. So this was a big one for me.

They put on quite a show including a good sprinkling of the classics and some of the rockier new stuff. All in all it was well worth the wait.
I heard more people reference Gran Tourismo 3 in those 4 hours than i have heard in the rest of my life.

View attachment 30852View attachment 30853

5 - The Coral - Union Chapel
An Acoustic performance by early 2000 stalwarts The Coral. (and my 2nd sit down gig of the year) Not your usual concert this, as it included an extended sit-down interview about the creation of their first album along with acoustic performances of many of those tracks.
And best of all it all unfolded in the stunning Union Chapel in Islington, probably 2nd only to the Albert Hall for the most beautiful venue in London.

View attachment 30854View attachment 30855

5 - James Blunt - Royal Albert Hall
I guess this is me coming out as a James Blunt fan

and he was bloody brilliant so deal with it
Who knew that a gig by a man famous for depressing songs (undeservedly in my opinion) could be so absolutely joyous. Easily the best concert of the year so far.

One i thing i learnt during this gig was that James Blunt and Carrie Fisher (Princess leia) were best friends (and used to live together) and that the song Dark Thought was written about James finding out about her death. Adds a whole new layer to what was already a really sad track (Ok not helping the depressing song narative)

Anyway this was beautifully staged and in the best venue in the country, this was absolutely brilliant. - and I don't care what you think

View attachment 30856View attachment 30857

---------------------------------------------------------------

And thats it for gigs so far.

In a few months I will be gracing the somerset fields with @Nicky Borrill but before then I have tickets for Thirty Seconds To Mars, Swim Deep, Liam Gallagher (Doing Definetly Maybe in Full), The Kopycat Killers and Oasis 96 (also a cover band).

Its been one hell of a year and sounds like it will continue.

just 69 days to go until Glastonbury!!!

(68 for me this year, since we've gone all posh and are taking a massive, luxury, motorhome... They encourage us to arrive on the Tuesday.)

 

[Nicky Borrill]

In less than 24 hours I should be drinking a DDH DIPA at the greatest adult theme park in the UK (for 5 days only!)

Looking extra beautiful tonight... https://www.tievolu.co.uk/glasto/GlastoWebcamTool.html

See you on the fields @roomraider







Also did Download Festival with @Will last week… His first taste of festivals I think?

Can be summed up with this image.


But of course we had a great time Even if Creeper’s set was way too short!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

We arrived yesterday in the motorhome… Going to be a bit more comfortable in this, than we were in a tent, for previous years at the festival!!! A private toilet and shower!!!




If you’ve been to Glasto before you’ll know that gates don’t actually open until 9am this morning (Wednesday morning, in 3 hours as I type this.) But motorhomes are allowed, and in fact advised, to arrive on the Tuesday. So with the festival closed, everybody just gathers on the hill above the festival, near the camper van fields on Tuesday night, to soak in the atmosphere and marvel at what lies ahead. (And generally get pissed to be honest!)

What a sight though!!!





Thankfully the weather is looking great!!! I only generally sleep 4 or 5 hours, so as we were in bed for 1am last night, I was up for a beautiful sunrise.

What a contrast to Download festival this image is!!!



Anyway, see you on the other side… Just 3 hours to go until the UK’s greatest adult theme park (for 5 days a year) opens it’s gates!!!

 

[davidm]

Well I can't be doing with all that Glasto nonsense, but I have had a rather hectic June gig-wise.

Started off in Birmingham with the SMASHING PUMPKINS, who I've rather been a fan of since their early albums - first saw them on the Mellon Collie tour in 1996 and have caught them a few times since then but not for some years. Had found that it seemed to depend on what sort of mood Billy Corgan is in whether it was a good gig or not (saw them at Manchester Arena once when he was just not interested, terrible gig!)

Anyway Billy was in a good mood, and it was a good show. Plenty of olde stuff and a smattering of the newer stuff (he is still very prolific so lots of stuff to choose from)

Randomly they were supported by WEEZER (I think to get a bit more interest in the UK arena-shows as they aren't the support for the rest of the Europe tour) - anyway they were good too, and there did seem to be a fair few Weezer-fans in the crowd (but to be honest they were always a band I was aware of, but not particlularily interested in)

A few days later back in Manchester, this time in a stadium (ugh) - FOO FIGHTERS

(Annoyingly the Pumpkins/Weezer were playing the same night in Manchester, but I'd bought the FF ticket first, hence the Birmingham detour!)

Seen them before in a different stadium in Manchester and they are and were very good live.

The following week was Pink Floyd's drummer's band ; NICK MASON'S SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS in a nice smaller (and sit down) venue - saw them in the same place a couple of years earlier but had better seat this time!

Of all the bands this month, they seemed to be just doing it all for the fun of it - great to see all the old early Pink Floyd stuff played live. (Kudos to Gary Kemp (of Spandau Ballet of all bands) who was doing most of the hard work covering the tricky Floyd guitar bits).

A couple of days later, back to the stadium (ugh) again for GREEN DAY

Again had seen them before, but only the once but it was very good. And this bigger gig was good too. Excellent frontman is their Billie.

Finally, last night (so missing the dull football!) was PEARL JAM at the new arena in Manchester.

First saw them back in 1992 in a tiny venue in Manchester (not long after their first album came out) - the last time I saw them was in Hyde Park so was pretty happy with them playing the arena rather than a stadium (they are playing stadiums on other dates in this tour - e.g. Saturday in London). This was really good too, even though Eddie was clearly ill and suffering.

All in all a very good month of gigs - bit of a lull over the summer now though, will have to go ride some coasters instead

 

[Will]

As Nick says, he talked me into a day at Download a couple of weeks back - I've wanted to go since I was a teenager, but also wanted to be with a 'responsible adult'

Creeper were our main draw - this was my seventh time seeing in the space of as many months as they've been on a fairly manic tour schedule since Sanguivore came out. They didn't play for long enough - and mostly played their singles (both of which were to be expected, really) - but they filled the main stage as if it was what they'd been born to do and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by all. They probably wouldn't thank me for this comparison, but as natural sucessors to My Chemical Romance, I think they'll be playing higher up the bill before long - they probably also won't thank me for saying that keyboardist Hannah looked bloody good in that outfit. They're playing another festival in a couple of weeks and if the weather's still good, I'll make the trip even if it's only for their set. Their stagetime is longer, so hopefully the likes of Misery and ICtL will fit in.

Most the main stage bill didn't really interest me - we hung around elsewhere while Kerry King and Code Orange played (and the secret set turned out to be Parkway Drive, upon whom I'm lukewarm at best) - I was talked into watching Bowling for Soup and a certain amount of Sum4 (both good fun, bouyed by an atmosphere of unrestrained exuberance), before wandering off to watch Atreyu on a smaller stage.

I have a long and complicated relationship with Atreyu - their last particularly good album came out in 2007 and they recently parted company with their singer - though the stuff that's come since is without its moments. Their music has got me through some bad times, so I once again got a little emotional singing Right Side of the Bed and Ex's and Oh's - dark reminders of my not inconsiderable previous **** ups and the fact that we somehow survive to 'wear our scars like medals of hope' - performancewsise, they've actually possibly improved since Alex left, but sadly I didn't get to see the original lineup all that many times.

There was another bit of a break now - I've never been a big Slipknot fan, though catching the tail end of Corey Taylor who surprised everyone by playing Snuff, Before I Forget and Duality was another high point. Machine Head were next up - I was a MASSIVE fan of the Blackening in my early twenties, and whatever I think of the questionable direction they've taken in recent years (Rob's ego, paranoia and desire to be 'down with the kids' politically) they NEVER disapoint live, nor do they fail to get a crowd going. The setlist wasn't entirely to my liking, but bookending it with Imperium and Halo was enough of an opportunity to let young_Will out of his box for the first time in a while, remind me of just HOW good they really are when they're on form and... make my neck hurt. I'm not sure Nick was a fan, but he did at least learn those vital words 'LET FREEDOM RING WITH A SHOTGUN BLAST'

I don't listen to them much anymore - I have neighbours and I'm not as angry as I used to be, but as I say, this reminded me WHY I liked them so much,



You can tell we weren't exactly close to the action, but I was dead impressed with the sound and the view. I'll be buying a camping chair for the next festival, because I'm very ****ing lazy.

I'd worn Nick out by this point (that's the first time I can count that he's got tired before I have, although I HAD woken him obnoxiously early because I was very excited and thought I needed to beat queues) but as I still had some energy, I hung around to catch a bit of Avenged Sevenfold - not one of my big favourites, but a band who have some songs that I like a lot. They played a few of my favourites (only half of Nightmare, due to a random power outage) in another slightly odd setlist - and I figured that chorusing 'Tonight, we all die young' along with tens of thousands of others was a good end to the day.

Then I had to find the car in the mud and the dark I saw a lot of bitching and moaning about poor organisation online, but have to say I witnessed very little of it; possibly because I'm used to F1 tracks these days and only had them to base my expectations off. We were lucky with the weather, but the mud was just part of the experience and while it made walking between stages a bit of a burden, I like hiking along waterways and I've seen a hell of a lot worse.

...all told, I had one of my best days for a long time, even including most of those on my USA trip, even if I did moreorless have to drink my body weight in Red Bull to keep myself going, and can't ****ing wait to be back next year. Here is a picture of me looking very happy. I think I actually like music more than coasters - it's just that, as with coasters, I'm very selective.

 

[roomraider]

We arrived yesterday in the motorhome… Going to be a bit more comfortable in this, than we were in a tent, for previous years at the festival!!! A private toilet and shower!!!

View attachment 32316
View attachment 32317

If you’ve been to Glasto before you’ll know that gates don’t actually open until 9am this morning (Wednesday morning, in 3 hours as I type this.) But motorhomes are allowed, and in fact advised, to arrive on the Tuesday. So with the festival closed, everybody just gathers on the hill above the festival, near the camper van fields on Tuesday night, to soak in the atmosphere and marvel at what lies ahead. (And generally get pissed to be honest!)

What a sight though!!!

View attachment 32318
View attachment 32319
View attachment 32320

Thankfully the weather is looking great!!! I only generally sleep 4 or 5 hours, so as we were in bed for 1am last night, I was up for a beautiful sunrise.

What a contrast to Download festival this image is!!!

View attachment 32321

Anyway, see you on the other side… Just 3 hours to go until the UK’s greatest adult theme park (for 5 days a year) opens it’s gates!!!

Met mister @Nicky Borrill in the glasto fields yesterday. Proper gent.

 

[Howie]

Me and Mrs Howie went to see the Inspiral Carpets at the weekend. I don't know how many of you remember, or have even heard of, the Inspiral Carpets, but they were quite big in the 90's, along with the rest of the bands from the 'Madchester' scene - The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, The Happy Mondays, Oasis etc.... Love all that stuff, me.





Great gig. It was in The Devil's Arse, aka Peak Cavern, a massive cave in the Peak District. Yes - a gig... in a cave!
Amazing location, right in the heart of the picture-postcard village of Castleton, Derbyshire.













Got a pic with the lead singer, Stephen Holt:




Fab night. Even without a gig to go to, would still recommend visiting this little corner of the world. England at its finest, really beautiful.

I also hear it's not too far from @Nicky Borrill 's pub so you could swing in for a pint.