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Download Festival

Donington Park

11-13 June

After a first sell out for Download in 2009, it seemed unlikely that the UK’s biggest rock festival would match the excitement in 2010. Then came the headliners; AC/DC, probably the biggest rock band on the planet, Rage Against The Machine, a band riding the crest of that Christmas number one and Aerosmith, wielding as many hits as you could care to imagine. If that’s not grabbing your attention, check for a pulse.

Friday this year sees a smaller line-up than previous years, but with super-group Them Crooked Vultures and Wolfmother playing on the main stage under ‘DC, it’s scarcely worse quality. Other stages on the opening day include Job For A Cowboy, Coheed and Cambria and UK’s very own Bullet For My Valentine.

Saturday brings the heavy this year, with a stellar main line up seeing thrash legends Megadeth play alongside Deftones, Lamb Of God, Five Finger Deth Punch with Rage Against The Machine headlining. Lower stages bring the perfect alternative with 30 Seconds To Mars, Him and Volbeat potential highlights.

Celebrating 30 years since the first iconic Monsters of Rock festival (essentially the precursor to Download), this year sees a continuation of last year’s ‘Classic Rock Sunday’ main stage. Bands such as Mötorhead, Billy Idol, Slash, Ratt and Saxon, the latter of which appeared at MoR all those 30 years ago, take up this spot under Aerosmith. Also appearing on other stages are Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor’s other band Stone Sour, Airbourne, glam mockers Steel Panther and Zebrahead.

With another 50 or so more bands to announce before the festival rolls around and a stunning set of bands already in place, this year’s Download Festival promises to rival any other in the UK this Summer. If Leeds/Reading isn’t your thing, Download is the place for you.

Recommended gig: Karma To Burn W/Year Long Disaster

Who: Karma To Burn W/Year Long Disaster
Date: 21/04/10
Where: Manchester Academy 3


After a wasp strewn performance at last summer's Download Festival and a fantastic run of support shows for Monster Magnet in December, stoner rock legends Karma To Burn finally give the UK a run of headline shows. Some of their first since reforming in early 2009. Supporting their upcoming album Appalachian Incantation, expect a heavy, gritty, instrumental band with fantastic technical abilities and a relentless, methodical approach to playing. Their lack of vocals only serving to keep the band focused on thunderous riffery. Joining them on tour are hard rock up-and-comers Year Long Disaster, making it a busy double shift for Rich Mullins, the bassist for both bands. A no nonsense rock gig. Should be perfect.

For fans of: Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Monster Magnet

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/karmatoburn
http://www.myspace.com/yearlongdisaster

Airbourne - No Guts. No Glory.

Airbourne

No Guts. No Glory.

Roadrunner Records

5/5

To say that Airbourne’s 2008 debut Runnin’ Wild sounds like an AC/DC album is a fairly huge understatement. Same screeching guitars, similar growling vocals and same pure balls to the wall, pure rock and roll philosophy. Hell, if their guitarist donned a school uniform, there’d be little difference. But blasting out No Guts. No Glory. it’s hard to see how this is a bad thing.

What you get here is the usual formula of chant laden anthems about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, with a few songs about booze thrown in for good measure. The perfect encapsulation of this is ‘It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over’, the fastest, catchiest song on the album without a shadow of a doubt. Other favourites here include ‘Blonde, Bad And Beautiful’, ‘Raise The Flag’ and ‘Get Busy Livin.’’ Whilst you’ll win no prizes for guessing what either of them are about (aside from scattered double entendre’s, what you see is what you get), you’ll be screaming their chorus out loud before it’s even hit.

Though the album is going to do nothing to shake off the sound-alike comparisons, Airbourne have achieved something spectacular here; they’ve released the best AC/DC album since 1981.

Bigelf W/Priestess

Bigelf W/ Priestess

Manchester Academy 3

23/02/2010

****

Thomas Geddes

Going into a Bigelf gig as a newcomer, you’d be forgiven for expecting a rather serious, needlessly self indulgent kind of performance. After all, that’s prog. Quite a far cry from the reality of a genuinely impressive, crowd engaging slab of bi-organed lunacy.

Support band Priestess kicked off the night with a thunderous, fifty minute set packed with a surprising absence of filler. Hitting fan favourites early on and bringing the newer material in later; a wise move, seeing the crowd more involved from the off. The biggest highlight here was seeing their second album songs translate much better with the energy of a live show than they did initially on CD.

Bigelf were next onstage, fronted by top hatted, Damon Fox. Powering straight into the doomed sound which engulfs their set with ‘Evils of Rock and Roll’, it’s instantly clear that playing two organs at once, whilst also singing isn’t a gimmick, but a genuine spectacle. Fox commands the stage, from the three foot square he’s confined to. Having a seemingly endless repertoire of banter and amusing anecdotes to reel off between songs, he ensures there’s not a lull in the entire gig. There are certainly nods toward Black Sabbath, Rush and most noticeably, Pink Floyd, as Fox is quick to point out. “This song seems to have a line we accidentally stole from Pink Floyd... and YouTube won’t let me forget about it.” Fantastic, fun set to say the least.

With Priestess and Bigelf tipped for big things in the coming years, it would certainly be a shame to see the latter lose the intimacy which made this set all the more enjoyable. All the same, both bands deserve all the accolades and, if there’s any justice, should enjoy playing bigger venues the next time round.

Fear Factory W/Sylosis & October File

Fear Factory w/Sylosis and October File

Academy 2

16/02/2010

4 and 1/2

The majority of metalheads have been chomping at the bit for three long years to see Fear Factory’s industrial themed metal assault spring back into action. February 16^th 2010 was when it finally hit the UK again. Boy, was it worth the wait.

Fear Factory’s return has been long overdue (especially when you consider legal issues pushed this back another six months), meaning the support acts faced a difficult task in winning over an expecting crowd. Pleasingly, October File played a short rousing heavy set which provided as good an introduction as you could ask for to the night’s two main attractions. Succeeding them on the stage were perhaps the highlights of the gig, Sylosis. A young, technical thrash band who have seen a huge ground swell in the past year, Sylosis continue to show the crowds why they’re set to be one of the next big names in metal. Heavy, loud and confident, expect big things, if not huge.

With that kind of introduction, Fear Factory coasted into top gear. Not that they needed such an introduction. Playing a set of classics, spread out with much awaited new material from the upcoming Mechanize, they filled the room with an industrial groove metal sound that it’s difficult for any band to mimic, never mind equal. Dino Cazeres continues to be master of the riff, dropping hook after hook without flaw and also must be the only guy in metal to receive an affectionate crowd chant of “You fat bastard.” This takes nothing away from the rest of the band, who were also exceptional.

Pretty much the perfect comeback for the prodigal sons of industrial metal, helped out, in no small part by an on form Sylosis. Both bands have albums due. Based on tonight, avoid them at your peril!

The Stranglers
Decades Apart
4/5
EMI

When The Stranglers titled their latest compilation, an almost complete chronological retrospective of their discography, Decades Apart, it’s probable they didn’t realise just how accurate they were.

Not one’s for sticking to the sub-genre’s they’re assigned, this double disc takes you from punk to new wave, stopping off at hard rock on the way. The first disc includes the majority of the classics. Particular highlights being ‘Peaches’, ‘No More Heroes’, ‘Waltzinblack’ and ‘Golden Brown’, but they were always destined to be. Hidden gems are a-plenty. Recommended are ‘Something Better Change’, which is one of the better songs you’re likely to hear with synthesizers and ‘Strange Little Girl’, a particularly haunting number. The problem is though, these are all first disc songs. Whilst the second disc isn’t bad, the only brilliant song is ‘All Day and All of the Night’, a Kinks cover, so it’s destined to be the least played of both discs. Still, remember that once in a while, it is worth that play.

Whilst this is certainly an essential purchase on the strength of the earlier material, it isn’t going to fool anybody into thinking the Guildford rockers are still at their recording peak.

Tommy T - The Prester John Sessions

Tommy T

The Prester John Sessions

Easy Star Records

2/5

“Music inspired by Ethiopia” isn’t a buzz phrase you hear all too often, so you’d be forgiven for not knowing what to expect from Tommy T’s first solo album. Even more so if you’ve heard the madcap, lunacy of his usual day job, gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello. One thing that is for sure however is that you weren’t expecting a mixture of jazz, reggae and funk.

Largely an instrumental affair, The Prester John Sessions is surely set to be one of the most chilled out albums set for release in 2010. That isn’t to say there aren’t any hooks in there at all. The relaxing riffs of ‘Brothers’ and ‘The Eighth Wonder’ are fairly memorable, but are only asked to take command of an album with little else leaping out at you. The introduction of Gigi, a woman with an undeniably beautiful voice, on two songs does mix up the album a little, it still isn’t enough to make the album a must listen.

Whilst it’s unquestionable that the album is one born out of love for the Addis Ababa born bassists homeland, it doesn’t grab you with even an ounce of the passion of any of his other projects.