229, London. 16 November 2019 Photos: Simon Green It’s always interesting to step outside of what you believe to be your wide circle of musical knowledge as you quickly realise that your circle is just a tiny circle in a universe of many other circles of almost infinite possibilities. It’s also a good thing to..
Live Review – Monster Truck
The Parish, Huddersfield 22 November 2019 Photos: Ian Jenkinson When we have the sad situation that music venues up and down the land are closing their doors, it is encouraging to see that The Parish in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield is going from strength to strength. A good old fashioned rock pub –..
STEVE HILLAGE / GONG – Liverpool O2 Academy, 23 Nov 2019
Everyone with an interest knows the Steve Hillage story by now. After a few years following his departure from Gong when he effectively had the mantle of ‘aging hippie saviour’ thrust upon him, he abruptly walked away from a style of music which he was quietly revolutionising, and disappeared into the world of trance music..
HAWKWIND / BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA – Manchester Albert Hall, Nov 15 2019
Born To Go unfolds sinuously, visiting areas of deep space all too infrequently explored by latter day Hawkwind PHOTOS: Chris Walkden Amazingly, this current UK jaunt marks the 50th anniversary of Hawkwind as a band, which in itself is quite extraordinary. Of course, Dave Brock is the only original member left, and has been for..
Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons (Nottingham Rescue Rooms, 4 November 2019)
All photos by IAN JENKINSON Saying the word “debut” in the same sentence as “Phil Campbell” still sounds strange. After all, the man has been in the business for more than four decades and spent 31 of those in Britain’s finest rock ‘n’ roll band Motörhead which broke up following the sad death of founder/frontman/icon..
STEVE HACKETT – LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, Nov 11, 2019
It might seem like hyperbole, but the inescapable fact is that Steve Hackett’s live shows just keep getting better and better Over the last few years, Steve Hackett seems to have hit upon the perfect recipe for the format of his live shows: his extended ‘Genesis Revisited’ tours delighted fans, but after a while many..
HRH PROG VIII – London/Sheffield 26 Oct 2019
PHOTOGRAPHS: SHEFFIELD: Chris Walkden, LONDON: Graeme Stroud The eighth installment of the ongoing HRH Prog festival came in an intriguing format: the same identical weekend line-up simultaneously in two cities, London and Sheffield, but with the days reversed, so that the Saturday line-up in London played on Sunday in Sheffield, and vice versa. That's a..
Danny Bryant – Real Time Live, Chesterfield, 10/10/2019
Danny Bryant has been a stalwart on the European blues scene for over 15 years, having carved a name for himself the old-fashioned way – he’s now played over 2000 shows around the world and now has a sizeable and loyal fan base. He’s been hailed as a “National Blues Treasure” by Planet Rock and..
Collateral/Little Red Kings – Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend, 04/10/19
Another storming gig went down at the Red Lion on my home patch tonight, starting with excellent Norwich rockers Little Red Kings, who are neither Kings nor red as far as I could see, and mostly not all that little either. First highlight of the night was their melodic pop rocker These Days, with its..
Inglorious – Rock City, Nottingham, 3 Feb 2019
This is my other review from earlier in the year that got "lost" in the sad demise of the Classic Rock Society. But seeing as Inglorious are just about to start out on a new Autumn tour, billed as "the places they didn't get to visit last time", I thought it helpful to give a..