Concerts I've seen

Metaprism are a band that just seem to get better and better. There was no messing around here, just straight into the swing of things, firing on all cylinders right from the very first notes of the set opener, "Reload". This was arguably the best I've seen them. It's just a shame that they didn't get a longer set. Highlights for me were "Nebula" and "Lost in the dark". Also notable was the inclusion of a new track, "Unleash the fire", which bodes very well for the next album.

Dakesis are one of my favourite bands at the moment, on the back of a superb second album and a string of fantastic live performances. Tonight started very will, with "The new dawn" and "The great insurrection" delivering on every level. It did drop off towards the end of the set, though. I think that's the first time in the many times I've seen them that I've seen Gemma hit a bum note, and the last few songs just didn't seem as strong as they have been at their other shows. Dakesis on an off night are still better than the majority of other bands out there, but this was not them at their best.

So on to Triaxis. What can I say about this band that I haven't already said? For nearly a decade they've been my favourite band, and I've travelled all over the place to see them. But it's all coming to an end. This was their final headline show before they call it a day. I've been to see their Christmas show at Fuel for each of the last few years, and there's no way I was going to miss this one, not only because of the significance of it, but also because of the promised appearances. So it was that we were treated to performances from not only the current band, but former members Owen Crawford, CJ Wilson, Giles Wilson and Krissie Kirby. An extra long setlist meant there was time for plenty of material (even if they still missed out a couple that I'd like to have seen). Everyone was on form, throughout the whole show, despite some dire warnings beforehand from former members grumbling about being rusty. If so, it really didn't show. Tonight's highlights were many; "End of time", "Lies", "Stand your ground" and the three covers, namely Queen's "The show must go on" featuring both Krissie and Angel and Iron Maiden's "Wasted years" and "The trooper" which also featured Gemma and Amie from Dakesis and Theresa from Metaprism. If you have to go, then going out on a high like this is the best you can hope to achieve.

Aaron Buchanan is a name I'd heard before, but this was the first time I'd seen him. It turns out that he used to be in Heaven's Basement, although he didn't join the band until after I last saw them. He's a reasonable charismatic frontman with a decent voice. The band play no frills blues based hard rock. Of note here was that Paul White was on drums. I haven't seen him performing live for the best part of a decade, and I'd forgotten how entertaining he was to watch. The band were let down by the mix somewhat and the guitars were hard to hear, but there was enough there that I'll pay attention to them in the future.

Royal Republic were a bit of an accident. I discovered them some years ago when I was walking between stages at Download. They were playing on the acoustic stage that was en route, and I stopped to see what they were like. As it turned out, they were a pretty compelling live experience (even in acoustic form), and I stayed for the rest of their set. I checked out a few songs after the festival, but hadn't really followed them much other than that. But I saw they were playing in London and went along. I'm glad I did. They're a far more mainstream band than I'd usually see, perhaps describable as garage rock meets rock 'n' roll. The sound quality was much, much better than it had been for the support act, and the band were very tight and very professional. Highlights for me were "Tommy-gun", "Weekend-man", a cover of Iron Maiden's "Fear of the dark" and "Full steam spacemachine". Something a bit different, but a band I'd happily see again.

Hanowar were a man down for this show, so Dom had to learn the guitar parts that he doesn't usually play. Not a bad Hanowar performance, and the crowd were getting into the swing of things with the supplied swords, but not one of their better ones either.

The Reaper were a young band playing hard rock. They were a bit lighter and more mainstream than the rest of the bands on tonight's bill, but acquitted themselves admirably nonetheless. The songs were good and the playing and the vocals were OK. The band are a bit green, and the frontman was clearly not accustomed to being in front of an audience. But given time, there's every chance they'll grow into something much more than they are now, and they potentially have a bright future ahead of them.

I'd seen Stormbringer in London years ago where they'd impressed. They hadn't quite kept up with that first impression when they played Bloodstock and tonight was more of the same, albeit with a new vocalist now. They're a decent metal band, but on tonight's evidence, not an outstanding one. They kept the energy level high and put on a good show, but for me there was just something missing.

So on to Unleash The Archers. Last night, they'd been hampered by a small stage and poor sound. Tonight was much better on both fronts. The sound still wasn't perfect, but it was head and shoulders above the sound for the London show. The set started off a little slowly, but had picked up by the time they played "Cleanse the bloodlines" and it only got better from there on in, and the last three songs of the set ("Time stands still", "General of the dark army" and "Tonight we ride") were frankly godlike. This is metal at its best. Great strongwriting, strong musicians and Brittney's voice is unbelievable, both in terms of the notes she hits and the duration for which she holds them. Another strong contender for gig of the year.

I'd never heard of Auger before tonight's show, but I found myself really enjoying their set. The band consists of a guitarist and a keyboard player, both of whom contribute to the vocals. They play what I guess could be described as industrial metal mixed with darkwave over electronica. Whatever you choose to call the genre, it worked really well. If I had a slight criticism, it would be that they were trying too hard with the vocals. They might be better off just singing, rather than going for the low pitched vocals, which work much but not all of the time, and felt a bit forced.

I'd never heard of The Black Evil Blood either, but they were nowhere near as entertaining as the openers. They started out playing bluesy doom metal, which was a bit out of place for this lineup, but not terrible. But as the set progressed, they introduced more and more wierd elements to the sound, such as interspersing female black metal vocals, and for me it just didn't work. They describe themselved as death 'n' roll, but I'm not sure that's really accurate. They weren't helped by having a very sloppy guitarist and bass player, something that remained true when they swapped instruments mid-set.

So on to Gothminister then. I'd discovered them many years earlier at one of the Gotham festivals, but they'd dropped off my radar and I was unaware that the band even still existed. When I saw this show organised, I knew I had to get a ticket to see if they were as good as I'd remembered. That answer is that yes, they were. I can't recall exactly what they sounded like back in the day, but these days they're solidly in the industrial metal camp, and it works well. They sound a bit like a mix of Rammstein and Die Apokalytischen Reiter. Highlights would be the opener, "Ich will alles" as well as "Utopia" and "Dusk Till Dawn". Definitely a band I'll go and see again when they're next in these parts.

I didn't even know My Own Ghost were going to be playing until I turned up at the venue. They hadn't been listed on any of the promotional material I'd seen for this show. I'd vaguely heard the name before, but knew nothing about the band. They turned out to be a quite respectable female fronted metal band. The genre is hard to pin down, but they mostly avoid the operatic side of things, opting instead for a sound that's sometimes gothic metal, sometimes with pop/electronic influences, but mostly just straight ahead no nonsense melodic metal. Julie has a good voice, and the whole thing works well. They're a band I'll look out for in the future.

Herman Frank was once Accept's second guitarist, and that background clearly shows here, with a set of well crafted traditional metal. Herman can still shred and there were some good guitar leads on display here. The only real downside was the poor mix, which let him down quite badly. Fortunately, that was rectified by the time headliners Serious Black hit the stage. I only have their debut album and while it's good, it was power metal by the numbers and didn't really set the world on fire. On the evidence shown here, the newer material is much more ambitious and is a definite step up. Urban Breed's vocals were on form again here. The band were deserved headliners on the night and put on a strong showing, along with a very long set. It's not often you see bands nearing the 2 hour mark. All in all, an enjoyable night of metal with good performances from all three bands.

Rock Goddess were also-rans in the '80s and it's easy enough to see why here. There was nothing wrong with them. Indeed, they were all quite competent musicians, playing well. But somehow there was just something missing. The songs weren't particularly memorable, and while I enjoyed the performance, there was nothing to make it stand out compared to any number of others.

Lita Ford had last played in the UK in the '80s. I hadn't seen her then, and I'd been waiting nearly 30 years to see her performing live. Was it worth the wait? Yes, it was. She's aged incredibly well compared to her contemporaries, and can still hit the notes and play the guitar (despite breaking a couple of strings in the process). Highlights for me were "Larger than life", "Hungry", "Can't catch me" and the obligatory "Close my eyes forever" (with guitarist Patrick Kennison singing Ozzy's parts).