Kiss - Live at the O2 Arena

Back at the O2 again so soon after the 2 Maiden shows to see Yank giants of rock, Kiss. To say I am not a huge fan of Kiss would be an understatement as I don't own even one Kiss album and I'm not that familiar with many of their classic songs. I sort of know them in my brain if I hear them again but I can't really recall them without hearing barring about 4-5 of them. 

Anyway I still went to my second ever Kiss show as I had the day off still from the weekend and it's fun to see this larger than life band and have another party before reality kicks in the next day. I had a seat on the upper deck but to my surprise the O2 was very very far from sold out unlike Maiden who sold the place out twice in a row. I'd say the whole of the upper deck of the O2 was not even half full at show start time. The lower deck was almost full and the floor standing was pretty full so I'd guess the crowd at around 12-13,000 in a venue that holds 20,000. Maybe it was the fact that it came so close to two sell out Maiden shows and it was also a mid week date so the attendance was less than expected. 

A support band called The Dives were listed. It turns out it's Paul Stanley's son's band. Nepotism in full force and effect though I guess Maiden know all about that! I checked The Dives out on youtube. Not my cuppa so I entered the venue after they had finished and sat ready for the world's hottest band to lick me up if you pardon the expression. I actually moved from my allotted seat to a spot much closer to the stage on show start since there was so much space.

The crowd was excited and ready to party, make up was on, platforms were donned, guitars were strapped and the band was already firing on all cylinders as they started off with Deuce with Gene singing. Now Gene has a voice that's as rough and ready as they come but he surprised me with how good he sounded. He sounded rough but good if you catch my drift. The rest of the band were sounding good and the stage show was full of pyrotechnics and loud bangs etc as songs reached fever pitch.

We had about 30 seconds of silence for the Manchester concert victims as Paul made a heartfelt speech about the events that night. But the show was about partying and having fun and letting go of everyday troubles. Songs were made to be sung along with and danced to with a larger than life band on stage giving it the big one all night. Songs came and went and were lapped up. Gene spat blood, breathed fire, Paul flew into the crowd. Every old Kiss cliche was there in full effect make no mistake. You wanted the best and you got the best, that's Kiss. Fave songs of the night for me were Crazy Crazy Nights as usual, love that no matter what. God of Thunder was crazy with Gene being a maniac. War Machine was heavy and cool. Psycho Circus was very catchy with Paul singing from a plinth in the crowd which he flew to on a pulley from the stage. Last song of the main set was the awesome sing along Rock and Roll All Nite which everyone sang with of course.

Then we had the encore of two stone cold Kiss certs with I Was Made For Loving You and Detroit Rock City before the outro tape played God Gave Rock and Roll To You and it was all over. I would've actually liked to have heard that live as the last song of the night. Anyway Kiss are still a solid live band. However Paul's voice is more or less shot. He sounds very hoarse at times or plain weak. Maybe it was the last night of a long tour but his heyday is long gone it seems. All that screaming and singing takes its toll in the end. Still I don't think Kiss fans care too much, people just wanna have fun at a rock n' roll show and Kiss gives'em what they want and then some!

Don't know If I'll ever see Kiss again but if it's the last then it leaves a good memory of a band that's all about having fun and rocking out and not giving a fuck every night for two hours!

Rock and Roll

(Led Zeppelin song) - on tape

Deuce

Shout It Out Loud

(Moment of silence for… more )

Lick It Up

I Love It Loud

Firehouse

(Gene breathes fire)

Shock Me

(Tommy on lead Vocals)

Guitar Solo

Flaming Youth

Bass Solo

(Gene spits blood, flies into the air)

God of Thunder

Crazy Crazy Nights

War Machine

Say Yeah

Psycho Circus

(Paul flies into the crowd)

Black Diamond

(Paul returns to main stage)

Rock and Roll All Nite

Encore:

I Was Made for Lovin' You

Detroit Rock City

God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II - outro tape

Inglorious Live at the Islington Assembly Hall

I am a latecomer to the Inglorious camp. The first album failed to make any significant impact on my listening habits but then I heard a new song and then another and slowly slowly I started to fall for this classic English rock band fronted by the amazing vocalist Nathan James. When I saw that they would be playing IAH and launching their new album, the safely titled "II", I thought I better grab a ticket for this. Good job too as the gig was more or less sold out with what must be not far from 800 in attendance.

I had seen the support band listed as Mason Hill and Gypsy Heart and I actually checked both out on youtube beforehand to get a handle on their music. GH sounded a bit soft and countryish whilst MH sounded really, heavy groovy and cool.

Gypsy Heart it turns out only played as a duo as two other members of the band were absent. That left a young gal with a nice earthy voice and a guy on acoustic guitar. Pleasant and nice on the ear overall with heartfelt emotional songs but people were here for ROCK and GH didn't quite provide that this time but nice vocals anyway from the young lady.

Scots Mason Hill were up next and were a whole different kettle of fish. These guys know how to rock and then some. Big old grooving riffs and emotional classic vocals was the order of the day. Part modern and part old school but never dull at all. The singer held the tunes together wonderfully well whilst the two guitarists churned out classic bendy riffs and solos galore. This band really deserves to get much bigger and I think most of the Inglorious crowd were well chuffed with their performance. The singer may lack some of Nathan's charm and melodic swagger but they have so much power and attitude that it easily makes up for any shortcomings they may have vocally speaking. They dedicated one song to Chris Cornell and soon enough their short but excellent set came to a close and was received with a great response from a packed floor.

At 9.30 precisely the intro music started out over the PA and strangely enough it was the theme tune to Grandstand! UK sports fans will know that tune inside out haha. The band took to their positions and finally the larger than life big man with the huge voice Nathan James took his spot and started belting out opener Read All About It which is from the debut I believe. Not being a fan of the debut I didn't know these songs well or even at all but I was still blown away by the delivery and poise within the band.

Inglorious are one of those bands were the live vibe far super cedes the recorded output. They just seem to come "alive" so to speak. On CD they can tend to sound a bit weak or lacking in bite or energy but no such issue exists in the live arena. The two guitarists are ace in the holes as is the rhythm section who bolster the riffing with a solid heavy backing.

In the end it's all down to Mr James who has the crowd eating out of his hand from the first note till the last. To say the guy is a confident front man would be an understatement. The guy has a booming and commanding soulful voice though some of his dance moves are a bit "dad dancy" but I'll forgive him!

The voice is just too good for words. The guy oozes class and brings so much power and soul into his lyrics and with a fantastic set of new tunes you couldn't go wrong with this gig. More than half the new album was played including some of the more rocking tunes which I love like Hell Or High Water and the rollicking great High Class Woman which closed the main set. In between we had a rather poignant and glorious two song acoustic interlude including a beautifully heartfelt tribute to Chris Cornell with Black Hole Sun and then a great cover of Purple's Burn as well. Both were majestic and the crowd really loved them.

Inglorious is definitely a band going places that's for sure and Nathan says that their manager told them that if they sold out tonight they would be in a bigger venue still for their next date in London at the larger Electric Ballroom and of course the IAH gig was pretty rammed.

The encore started with the super catchy I Don't Need Your Loving which was actually sang back at Nathan by most people in the crowd as loud as ppossible. Nathan even ended up in the crowd for one song singing with everyone as he was serenaded by everyone close by. Like I said before Inglorious is a new and upcoming classic rock band to be reckoned with. I'll be at their show at the Ballroom in a heartbeat after this awesome album launch. Anyone who enjoys soulful vocals halfway between Coverdale/Hughes seriously needs to give Inglorious a listen and catch them live too as they fully come into their own in that environment. Inglorious? Simply glorious!


Read All About It
Breakaway
High Flying Gypsy
Black Magic
(Live Debut)
Making Me Pay
(Live Debut)
Change Is Coming
(Live Debut)
Hell or High Water
(Live Debut)
Warning
Inglorious
Black Hole Sun
(Soundgarden cover) (Acoustic, tribute to Chris Cornell)
Burn
(Deep Purple cover) (Acoustic)
Taking the Blame
Girl Got a Gun
Faraway
(Live Debut)
High Class Woman
(Live Debut)

Encore:
I Don't Need Your Loving
Holy Water
Until I Die

Smash Into Pieces Live

A very late decision was made to attend this gig which was originally billed as 2 bands but ended up being four. It turns out the other two bands were supposed to play another gig altogether at Islington Academy 2 but that one was merged with this one. Even with the merge the crowd did not reach 3 figures the whole night.

First band was one of the additional bands called Youngblood. They were sort of indie rock with a quirky female singer with odd dance moves. They were ok but not exactly my cuppa. Her vocals were rather fun and sweet though as was she.

Next band were called Royal Tusk from Canada as were Youngblood by the way. These guys started off with a nice heavy groovy song with decent melodic vocals. The rest of the set was pretty decent too. I didn't hear any amazing songs but the music was quite catchy and riffy. Not bad and better than Youngblood.

Next band were the original support to headliners Smash Into Pieces and went by the name of Blind Channel. It seems they had a fan club of a few guys at the front plus two little blond gals in Blind Channel shirts. To say these guys sucked would be an understatement. They played a mix of rap, chant, rock riffs, dance beats and Ibiza house or whatever it is. They were a bunch of Finnish kids all dressed in white as their gimmick. Like I said they had a small and vociferous fan club down the front but they are literally one of the worst bands I've ever seen on the hallowed Underworld stage.

I endured BC and waited for the Swedes modern rockers Smash Into Pieces. I like their new album and also the previous one hence giving them the time of day with my attendance. The stage was cut in half with a board which at the time was mysterious but it turns out it's one of those scoreboard type electronic displays. Bizarre! I suppose it reflects the band's very modern style which is almost like street modern rock as is their look. They may not rap but the band sounds and looks like it's from the street. The singer sways from side to side and looks like one of those white rapper types but damn the guy can sing.

The sound mix they used was also the weirdest I have ever heard in the Underworld. The guitars had no crunch and the mix was bass and vocal heavy with a lot of re-verb or echo on the mics. Strange and rather interesting sound! However they still had plenty of great songs and the singer sounded very cool singing the catchy melodic songs. The drummer also wears the Apocalypse DJ mask and prances around behind the scoreboard display. A unique thing to see indeed that a band uses so much modernity and things that are part of the dance and house scene if anything but brings them into the rock scene.

Quite an odd spectacle watching SiP indeed but I still enjoyed the catchy grooving melodic rock songs even though the band takes the boundaries of modern rock to the extreme edge of modernity. Interesting gig!

Napalm Death - Live @ the Electric Ballroom

A 4 band bill of aggressive extreme metal on a Friday night in good old Camden Town. And let me tell you the Electric Ballroon is rammed tonight with more than a 1000 punters. the place is literally heaving from my vantage point on the balcony. When I initially bought my ticket this was a 3 band bill with initial support being Iron Reagan a crossover band. They couldn't make it and were replaced by another crossover type band in power Trip and as it turns out Lock Up were also added to the bill meaning that Napalm bassist would be doing triple duty. Has a band member ever played for three different bands in one night? That must be nearly a first.

First up were super fast grind merchants Lock Up  and they play like men possessed. They manage to make Napalm look positively sedate at times! Skinsman Barker's hands are like a blur of motion. Feet the same though we obviously can't see but you can nut imagine. Shane's bass rumbles like a mountain. Right hand of both guitarist and bassist is moving like RSI is guaranteed in future life! Songs are mostly indistinguishable from one another almost. Still this does not matter a jot. They rule and crush and devastate the early birds and that's nearly most of the crowd anyway as the floor is already pretty full. A few nice groovy parts but subtlety is for when you play the album. The live setting is just about pure and absolute rage for 30 minutes!

Power Trip stood out a bit from the other 3 bands on the bill being more or less a straight up thrash band with a touch of crossover. I actually dismissed their album earlier this year but it looks like I have to give it another shot at glory. They had a great sound, some great head banging grooves allowing the music to breath a little more. Let's call them the "monsters of chug" for they were in love with pulling those kind of breakdowns mid song with synchronised head banging from all band members. They still had the hell for leather sections but the lead work was totally average and from the Slayer school. I enjoyed their set and so did the floor with lots of circle pits and mass neck wrecking for the chug sections. Good change of support for the colossal grind of Lock Up before and the insanity to follow.

Brujeria - well that was a mad fucking set! I have always more or less ignored this mysterious side project since their inception way back in the early 90s. Fuck knows who's in the band apart from Shane from Napalm of course. I've always seen them as a cult band of Mexican bandit crustcore of little musical value. Not that the massed floor gave a fuck. They still lapped it up. The band's music is made up of incoherent riffs, rumbling bass grooves and drum battery topped off with dual Spanish barks and yells probably telling me "Eh Amigo! Give me back my marijuana or I slice your throat eh hombre!" Their barks and yells are rhythmic and monotonous as fuck but somehow get everyone pumped up. I don't really see the appeal to be honest but people love it. First and last time I'll probably see these unless they support someone I like again. Crazy band overall, no musical value for me apart from the odd catchy vocal rap or riffy groove but I guess they make for a good time for some with their notorious bandit metal.

Finally at just gone 9pm the old warriors of "Napalm Death from Birmingham" as Barney always says, strode on and prepared to do what Napalm does best. In other words annihilate the massively packed Friday night Ballroom crowd. And I'm not saying packed lightly. The Ballroom is rammed with and the stage front was a heaving mass of bodies. It seems ND are at their biggest ever level of fandom and they're treated like long returning sons every time they play here.

The Napalm set list is mainly based around old school grind classics and newer incendiary cuts. The mid period which I favour so much is completely ignored more or less. Most songs sound the same when played at this colossal volume. Barney is always an interesting chap to look at whilst singing. He sounds and looks like one of those ADHD suffering kids in youtube who get their xbox taken away from them. Completely mental in other words! Flailing limbs, nodding head, inadvertent leg movements like someone is using a voodoo doll on him. Complete nutter! His growls are completely indecipherable live but with the massive riff and bass rumble it all fits like a glove. I've lost count of how many times I've seen ND now but the urge to see this juggernaut live never diminishes. What I get out of it musically is debatable but the spectacle is something else. The floor is a jam packed sea of limbs and hair while all the old cunts nod and fist pump at the back like loons. Napalm fucking Death - still grinding our bones into dust after all these years!

Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Evolved as One
It's a M.A.N.S. World!
The Wolf I Feed
Smash a Single Digit
Stunt Your Growth
On the Brink of Extinction
Stubborn Stains
Scum
The Kill
Deceiver
You Suffer
From Enslavement to Obliteration
The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code
Twist the Knife (Slowly)
Dear Slum Landlord...
I Abstain
How the Years Condemn
Suffer the Children
If the Truth Be Known
Nazi Punks Fuck Off
(Dead Kennedys cover)
Persona Non Grata
Smear Campaign

Sonata Arctica - Live at the Islington Academy

Would you believe I have managed to avoid seeing the Finnish masters of melodic metal in all my gig going days. Not that I haven't had chances but I've sort of fallen out of love with the band over the years. I loved their first two albums religiously and have liked many songs here and there since but they've never fully been able to capture the magic of those first two albums by my reckoning.

Any how not to see them live again would be churlish on my part and so I nabbed a ticket for this gig and the support bands Freedom Call and Twilight Force swayed me further still in to thinking this would be a cool night. Good job too as the gig ended up selling out completely. Must be close to 800 or so punters in the end. I managed to get fairly close to the stage on one side but unfortunately standing behind a tall guy didn't help things one iota when it came to capturing decent photos or videos.

Twilight Force were up first and I must admit I was looking forward to seeing these guys the most. Their album is super cheesy but I'm up for that kinda OTT power metal mayhem any day of the week. The band took to the stage in full medieval garb with the two guitarists even going with the Ninja style face cover and even Elvish fake horns! If you're gonna do cheese you might as well do it proper justice and Twilight Force do that and then some. Good job they've got the songs to back it up as well. They had a crystal clear mix as well but the bass was a little loud for my taste at the expense of the guitars and was making my rib cage rattle.

The vocal mix was one of the best I have ever heard at a gig. The lead singer's voice rang loud and clear and his highs were perfectly delivered. They only played 30 minutes including a new song but their album is only a little bit longer in any case so they basically played everything they've got. I was surprised how many of the audience seemed to know their songs and they got an amazing reception from the early packed crowd. The "Twilight Force!!" chants soon started up in between songs and with their final song the band left to huge cheers. These guys are going places in the world of power metal let me tell ya!

Next up were Freedom Call who are celebrating 666 weeks since the release of the Eternity album. I think you're clutching at straws a bit when you've come up with such a milestone but heck they're here to play and have fun so who am I to complain. They played most of the songs from that album but no new songs that I recall. Considering I reckon their latest album is their best ever that's a bit of a shame. Still they always get a good response do the FC lads and this time was no exception. They played with smiles and left to cheers though I'm thinking the crowd was definitely here for the main act Sonata Arctica.

Now I know Tony Kakko's mob are very popular indeed but I was a little surprised how popular they really are these days. They're not releasing their best material yet their fan base is huge and this gig was easily sold out and they could have probably sold out a venue twice as big is my bold guess. This is billed as Ecliptica over Europe tour or some such name, as basically it's a 15 year celebration of the release of their debut and still best album in my humble opinion. They would of course be playing the album in it's entirety over the course of a 90 minute set with a two song build up and a longer encore with newer songs.

The band had easily the best sound of the night with everything balanced perfectly and Tony's vocals wonderfully balanced right at the centre of the mix where they should be I must admit I wasn't expecting his live vocals to be that good but he really surpassed himself and sounded superb all night, never missing a note. Plenty of in between song banter as well and possibly too much sometimes lol. The whole of the Ecliptica album was played from start to finish and sounded perfect to be honest and pretty much exactly like the album. They got a huge response from the crowd with literally almost every one singing the lyrics back at Tony. There's almost some sort of adulation within the power metal community for this band and they are much loved it seems. I knew they were a well loved band but this was more than that with the amount of love being poured from the crowd to the band. I loved Blank File and My Land, Destruction Preventer later was great. Letter to Dana got the biggest sing along of the night as did my favourite song Replica.

The set ended with some newer songs and the great Don't Say a Word from a couple of albums back. The huge and tightly packed crowd loved every minute and left well happy. I am glad I've finally broken my Sonata-less gig count although I'd probably not go and see them again unless they were part of a really cool bill or something.


Can-Can Jaakolla
White Pearl, Black Oceans...
X Marks the Spot
Ecliptica
Blank File
My Land
8th Commandment
Replica
Kingdom for a Heart
FullMoon
Letter to Dana
UnOpened
Picturing the Past
Destruction Preventer
Encore:
Mary-Lou
The Wolves Die Young
Don't Say a Word
(with Vodka outro)