The Bay Area of San Francisco. Not only home to the Golden Gate Bridge, the infamous Alcatraz island and taking in cities Oakland and San Jose but also the beacon of the US thrash movement that included Metallica. With its roots stemming as far back as 1979 - and it is not forgotten as to..
The Dame/IT – Old School House, Barnsley, 28 February 2020
I have a confession to make. I am not a prog rock fan. There, I have said it. Normally, such a statement would be a complete irrelevance - but there is a point and that is that good music crosses boundaries and bridges the gaps between like and dislike. Where others have failed, The Dame..
Samantha Fish – Islington Assembly Hall, 05/03/2020
A foot-stomping, hard-rocking piece of jugband blues, punctuated by Fish’s cigar-box rocking slide guitar, the coloured lights filtering through her bobbing, Monroe-inspired coiffure. Félix Rabin - photo by Robert Sutton Islington Assembly Hall found itself completely sold out for this gig by popular Kansas City blues babe Samantha Fish. Her opening act on this tour..
Wille and the Bandits (The Greystones, Sheffield, 27 Feb)
On a bitterly cold night in Sheffield, what better way to warm the heart and soul than by hearing some of the very best live sounds around - no exaggeration. The Backroom stage at the rear of The Greystones is proving to be a consistently fine venue in Sheffield, with a varied line-up of acts..
Photo: Sebastian Vickers
Delain – Birmingham 02 Institute, 6 February 2020
All gallery photos: Ian Jenkinson The 02 Institute feels like the perfect venue for a Delain show and their brand of symphonic and orchestral metal - the building originally opened in 1908 - the high ceiling and the ornate balcony creates an auspicious and intimate setting. And in this delightful venue, there's more than a..
Additional material from Caroline Battenburg
Sweet – Islington Assembly Hall, 18/12/2019
Andy Scott swaps his red Strat for a gold one which he plays with an (empty) baked bean can for some reason... When I was a kid in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, one of the upsides of catching some flu bug was getting to bunk off school, and another was special radio privileges...
IO EARTH / HEKZ – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, 15/12/19
...there is a trip back to the very first IO album for a tremendous rendition of the epic Creation, which is greeted like an old friend by the assembled throng When you go to a gig, you often tend to learn something new. Sometimes it’s about the bands, sometimes it’s about the venue, sometimes it..
Live Review – The Room & The Paradox Twin
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..