Friends' sites:
Friends' sites:
| Imperial Age Festival | |
Imperial Age
|
The Dome |
Alterium
|
5th September 2024 |
Ghosts Of Atlantis
|
|
Battle Born
|
|
|
Pythia
|
|
|
Crusade Of Bards
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Apocalyptica
|
The Royal Albert Hall |
|
The Raven Age
|
30th September 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
Battle Beast
|
Electric Brixton |
Serenity
|
28th September 2024 |
Brymir
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Fury
|
The Flapper, Birmingham |
|
Eradikator
|
20th September 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
| Unity Festival | |
|
Dakesis
|
RMBL, Birmingham |
|
Passive Fix
|
24th August 2024 |
Broken Jaw
|
|
|
The Mighty Wraith
|
|
|
Vanitas
|
|
|
Bang Bang Firecracker
|
|
|
Amethyst
|
|
|
Last Agony
|
|
|
Beneath The Noose
|
|
|
Stegosaurus Sex Party
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Bloodstock Open Air | |
|
Mörderstein
|
Catton Hall |
|
Satyricon
|
11th August 2024 |
|
Amon Amarth
|
|
|
Loyds Trip
|
|
|
Infected Rain
|
|
|
Crowgod
|
|
|
Carcass
|
|
|
Semprah
|
|
|
Xentrix
|
|
|
Yersin
|
|
|
Sathamel
|
|
|
Flogging Molly
|
|
|
Crucible
|
|
|
Sadus
|
|
|
Goblinsmoker
|
|
|
Dead Flesh
|
|
|
The Night Flight Orchestra
|
|
|
Kensei
|
|
|
Ankor
|
|
|
The Gallowgate Murders
|
|
|
Seidrblot
|
|
|
Divided By Design
|
|
|
Septicflesh
|
|
|
Warpstormer
|
|
|
Grove Street
|
|
|
Akkadian
|
|
|
Beast In Black
|
|
|
Root Zero
|
|
|
Osiah
|
|
|
Soen
|
|
|
Atom Smasher
|
|
|
Moon Reaper
|
|
|
Froglord
|
|
|
Cultura Tres
|
|
|
Awake By Design
|
|
|
Space Pistol
|
|
Raised By Owls
|
|
|
Straight For The Sun
|
|
|
Black Lake
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Bloodstock Open Air | |
|
Audiorage
|
Catton Hall |
|
Korpiklaani
|
10th August 2024 |
|
Architects
|
|
|
Lurcher
|
|
|
Sylosis
|
|
|
Chub
|
|
Malevolence
|
|
|
IL
|
|
|
Combichrist
|
|
|
Rupcha Farms
|
|
|
Black Hole Divers
|
|
|
Whitechapel
|
|
|
Lost To Light
|
|
|
Asomvel
|
|
|
Flamebearer
|
|
|
Them Bloody Kids
|
|
|
Deicide
|
|
|
Slaughterhead
|
|
|
Red Rum
|
|
|
Parting With Origin
|
|
|
Caleb H. Drummer
|
|
|
Hellbearer
|
|
|
Unleash The Archers
|
|
|
Public Execution
|
|
|
Mimi Barks
|
|
|
Praetorian
|
|
|
Forbidden
|
|
|
Convey
|
|
|
Ludovico Technique
|
|
|
Crypta
|
|
|
Judgement
|
|
|
Enemies Everywhere
|
|
|
Stone Soup
|
|
|
Ignea
|
|
|
Unpeople
|
|
|
Biomechanimal
|
|
|
Deitus
|
|
|
Running With Knives
|
|
|
Cauldron
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Bloodstock Open Air | |
|
Robbed Zombie
|
Catton Hall |
|
Igorr
|
9th August 2024 |
|
Opeth
|
|
|
MAB
|
|
|
The Vintage Caravan
|
|
|
Born Zero
|
|
|
Clutch
|
|
|
Absolence
|
|
|
Eternal Champion
|
|
|
King Kraken
|
|
|
Nihilanth
|
|
|
Hatebreed
|
|
|
Final Coil
|
|
|
Darkest Era
|
|
|
Crowley
|
|
|
Hammer
|
|
|
Enslaved
|
|
|
Kraken Waker
|
|
|
Wolf
|
|
|
Lethal Evil
|
|
|
Bridget
|
|
|
Sleep in Motion
|
|
|
Rotting Christ
|
|
|
Lost Brethren
|
|
|
Haliphron
|
|
|
Rogue Limb
|
|
|
Grand Magus
|
|
|
Tim Whyte and the Deadbeats
|
|
|
Exist Immortal
|
|
|
Green Lung
|
|
|
Smother
|
|
|
Death Collector
|
|
|
Reverent Son
|
|
|
Nervosa
|
|
|
Burner
|
|
|
By Virtue Fall
|
|
|
Desert Storm
|
|
|
Haxen
|
|
|
Disposable
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Bloodstock Open Air | |
|
Evergrey
|
Catton Hall |
|
Mötley Crüde
|
8th August 2024 |
|
Hellripper
|
|
|
South Of Salem
|
|
|
Tailgunner
|
|
|
Acid Age
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Wacken Open Air | |
|
Mister Misery
|
Wacken |
|
Uli Jon Roth
|
3rd August 2024 |
|
Beasto Blanco
|
|
|
Svartsot
|
|
|
Dragonforce
|
|
|
Paddy And The Rats
|
|
|
Oomph!
|
|
|
Vanaheim
|
|
|
Wolf
|
|
|
As Everything Unfolds
|
|
|
Black Sabbitch
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Wacken Open Air | |
|
Watain
|
Wacken |
|
Unto Others
|
2nd August 2024 |
|
Avantasia
|
|
|
Korn
|
|
|
Unleash The Archers
|
|
|
Mikkey Dee & Friends
|
|
|
Blind Guardian
|
|
|
Primal Fear
|
|
|
Baroness
|
|
|
Gene Simmons Band
|
|
|
Feuerschwantz
|
|
|
Beast In Black
|
|
|
Alcatrazz
|
|
|
Skiltron
|
|
|
Sonata Arctica
|
|
|
Massive Wagons
|
|
|
Blaas Of Glory
|
|
|
Cherie Currie
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Wacken Open Air | |
|
Scorpions
|
Wacken |
|
Accept
|
1st August 2024 |
|
KK's Priest
|
|
|
Blackbriar
|
|
|
Axel Rudi Pell
|
|
|
Rage
|
|
|
Armored Saint
|
|
|
Tri State Corner
|
|
|
Dio Disciples
|
|
|
Aquilla
|
|
|
Corbian
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| Wacken Open Air | |
|
Suzi Quatro
|
Wacken |
|
Walkways
|
31st July 2024 |
|
Van Canto
|
|
|
Flogging Molly
|
|
|
Tina Guo
|
|
|
Hitten
|
|
|
Girlschool
|
|
|
Metaklapa
|
|
|
Crystal Viper
|
|
Review to follow. | |
| M2TM London | |
|
King Kraken
|
Downstairs At The Dome |
|
Them Bloody Kids
|
8th June 2024 |
|
Nymphic
|
|
|
Roet
|
|
|
Mensvreters
|
|
|
Worship The Sacrifice
|
|
|
Scatter The Tribe
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Bruce Dickinson
|
The Forum |
|
Black Smoke Trigger
|
24th May 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
|
Sirenia
|
Downstairs At The Dome |
|
Temperance
|
10th May 2024 |
|
Symphonity
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Blind Guardian
|
The Forum |
|
The Night Eternal
|
14th April 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
|
Firewind
|
The Underworld |
|
Fury
|
30th March 2024 |
Remarkably, this was the first time Fury had played at The Underworld. A very different set list from them tonight. Only one track from the latest album "Born to sin" and instead a selection of older tracks from previous albums. Which suits me. As much as I love the last album and believe it to be their strongest release yet, it was good to hear some of the older songs again. As you'd expect from Fury, the performance was once again excellent. Another year, another Firewind singer. This time it's Herbie Langhans, who I'd only really previously encountered as one of the guest singers in Avantasia. I'll admit to being somewhat disappointed by this change, as Henning Basse was easily my favourite Firewind singer to date, and I'd hoped they might have stuck with him, but it wasn't to be. In truth, Langhans was actually pretty good. Perhaps not quite as strong vocally as Basse, but he handled the material well. Unsurprisingly, Gus G's guitar work was fantastic. The main set was good, but they'd saved the best until last, and closing the show with the trio of "Maniac", "Ode to Leonidas" and "Falling to pieces" was a noticable step up from the songs they'd played before that point. | |
|
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
|
The O2 Arena |
|
Howard Jones
|
24th March 2024 |
It might be 40 years after the fact, but it turns out that I could remember more Howard Jones songs than I expected, with only a single song from the setlist being unfamiliar. Overall, it was quite a decent performance. Howard's voice is still strong and he does justice to the material. Of his own songs, my highlights were "New song" and "What is love". But when the band took to the stage, I spied what appeared to be the familiar look of Nick Beggs on bass and sure enough it was indeed him. Which led to another highlight, a cover of Kajagoogoo's "Too shy". OMD are inexplicably popular. In the '80s they had a modest amount of success with several UK top 10 singles and a smattering of gold and platinum albums. But you probably can't name more than a couple. Compare that with one of my favourite bands, Ultravox, who also had a similar amount of top 10 singles and a selection of gold and platinum albums. Yet here we are many decades later and Ultravox's reunion shows were moderately successful, playing to a few thousand people at venues like Hammersmith Odeon and The Roundhouse. But OMD are playing at the UK's second biggest indoor venue, the O2 Arena. I don't really understand it, but I do like the band so I bought a ticket for this show. In truth, there was a decent amount of nostalgia, but it wasn't the best show in the world. The good songs were good. I particularly enjoyed "Maid of Orleans", "Enola Gay" and "Electricity". But the rest of the set was full of filler that just didn't really do much for me. | |
|
Judas Priest
|
Wembley Arena |
|
Saxon
|
21st March 2024 |
|
Uriah Heep
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Leaves' Eyes
|
Downstairs At The Dome |
|
Northtale
|
16th March 2024 |
|
Metalite
|
|
|
Catalyst Crime
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Quiet Riot
|
Islington Academy |
|
Tigertailz
|
10th March 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
| International Women Slay | |
|
Dakesis
|
Devil's Dog Digbeth |
|
Moon Reaper
|
8th March 2024 |
|
Rites To Ruin
|
|
|
Vanitas
|
|
|
Resting Bitch Face
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Tiffany
|
The 100 Club |
|
Jemma Johnson
|
3rd March 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
|
Luke Appleton Power Trio
|
The Cart & Horses |
|
Crowley
|
22nd February 2024 |
Review to follow. | |
| Heavy Metal Assault | |
|
Girlschool
|
The Dome |
|
Alcatrazz
|
17th February 2024 |
|
Raven
|
|
|
Airforce
|
|
Review to follow. | |
|
Serenity
|
The Dome |
|
Temperance
|
11th February 2024 |
|
Tulip
|
|
|
Terra Atlantica
|
|
I wasn't even aware that there was due to be a fourth band on the bill until I arrived at the venue. Terra Atlantica turned out to be a decent enough melodic metal band. I've since seen them described as power metal, but they don't really fall into that camp for me. They were musically proficient, but in need of a bit more bite and aggressiveness. They were just a bit too bland. In some ways they reminded me of Visions Of Atlantis in that respect (a band with whom they also share a pirate themed visual aesthetic). In constrast, I had known about Tulip playing beforehand - but only just, finding out a handful of days before the show. They're formerly a Christian band, but seem to have toned down (or possibly abandoned altogether) that side of things. Musically, they're melodic metal with perhaps a slight alternative metal leaning. Former opera singer Ashleigh Semkiw unsurprisingly handles the lead vocals well. The performance was OK, but I think they were let down a little by the songwriting. Also notable was the lack of a live bass player, with those parts being on backing tape. I've liked Temperance since I first saw them many years ago with the original lineup. In 2013, the band saw a wholesale lineup change with only Marco and Liuk remaining. Ten years later, Marco decided to do the same again, and this was the first time I'd seen them with the new lineup. Let's start with the vocals. Kirstin Starkey is the best vocalist they've had to date, handling both the rock vocals and the operatic vocals with ease, and was great paired with Michele's male vocals. The only real downside for me was the setlist, with nothing at all being played from the first three albums. Marco is a busy guy. Not only is he focussed on Temperance and his many side projects, he's now also joined Serenity as well. With Chris busy with Beyond The Black and unable to make this tour, Marco was taking over the lead guitar duties. Georg's voice was as strong as ever and the band were once again a strong live act, and once again included a short acoustic section to show that they were performing the songs live. One of those songs was "Broken dreams" from Marco and Georg's side project "Fallen sanctuary". Highlights for me were "Ritter, tod und teufel", "Velatum", "Legacy of tudors" and a set closing "Lionheart". Once again, "Coldness kills" was a strange omission. It's been many years since I last saw them playing it live. | |