GIGGING IN 2009 - APRIL

APRIL

5th - PEOPLE IN PLANES/Virgin Marys/Prego - Roadhouse, Manchester
11th - AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR/Connecting Flight/Minion TV/The Whip Hand/We Came Out Like Tigers- Barfly, Liverpool
16th - ..TRAIL OF DEAD/So-So Glows/Middle Class Rut - Academy 3, Manchester
23rd - GRAMMATICS/Spokes/Bikini Black Special/Chaotix – Mad Ferrit, Preston
24th & 25th HAMMERFEST - Pontins, Prestatyn
24th - OPETH/13th Sign/Architects/Firebrand Superrock/Hammerfall/Imicus/Kiuas/Paradise Lost/Power Quest/Tesseract/The Defiled
25th - SEPULTURA/Alestorm/Dream Evil/Exit Ten/Hollow Earth Theory/Sacred Mother Tongue/Skindred/Sylosis/Tyr/Voodoo 6
30th - ALESTORM/TYR/Skull Branded Pirates - Rio's, Leeds

Having enjoyed PEOPLE IN PLANES a few days earlier when they supported Funeral For A Friend, I took the opportunity to catch them doing a headline slot- a really talented band with some really great songs to match. The big bonus of the evening came in the shape of VIRGIN MARYS - no airs, no graces- no trying to suit a particular genre, they just plain, flat out rocked.
With their their new album stuck on heavy rotation on my hi-fi, I finally got the chance to catch Irish 'almost instrumentalists' ASIWYFA doing a headline show in nearby Liverpool. They sound so good on disc, surely they can't be as good live can they?....I was right... they are better!! Watching these four lads charge around the stage ripping out monster riffs and bending time signatures to the point of breaking is just mind blowing-something tells me I'll be seeing A LOT more of these guys.
A band I'd always meant to check out was AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD but had never got around to it until recently as their new album fought with ASIWYFA for playing time. Late decision to check them out live left me impressed, though had I been more familiar with their material I'm sure I'd have enjoyed the 'wall of noise' even more. Support band MIDDLE CLASS RUT were very impressive- just two guys making the noise of about eight!
I really enjoyed seeing GRAMMATICS set at Bonefest last year, so the chance to see them and another local favourite band of mine SPOKES at the fantastic Mad Ferret venue in Preston was too much to pass up. Both bands put in fine performances- Spokes auditioned some new songs which sounded good while Grammatics have that air of a band for whom fame and fortune could be just around the corner
With the outdoor festival season just around the corner, we hit Pontin's holiday camp in Prestatyn (North Wales) for the inaugural 2 - day HAMMERFEST - with bands playing until the early hours on each day, this was going to be a marathon! Day one got off to a fine start with accomplished performances on the unsigned stage from IMICUS, TESSERACT and especially THE DEFILED. HAMMERFALL kicked off the main stage in fine style before ARCHITECTS blew the roof off the place. PARADISE LOST's doom laden music didn't seem to work quite so well, and headliners OPETH suffered a similar fate as swathes of the crowd headed away to the second stage - though the choice of material might have been to blame for that- good, but probably the least effective gig I've ever seen them play. POWER QUEST were fun to watch for half an hour-trouble was, they played for twice that! They are a decent band but there is 'something' that stops me really liking them. By now I was ready to head off to my *luxury chalet for a good night's kip, but wanted to watch KIUAS so sucked it up- glad I did because they put on probably the set off the day that seemed to re-awaken those still standing.
Day2 dawned dull but soon brightened up to be an unseasonably warm affair- the outdoor Jager stage drawing good crowds for acoustic sets from both Skindred and Exit Ten with additional entertainment from one young chap who's projectile vomiting after drinking a truly lethal combination drew huge cheers from everyone who saw it!!
Back inside, HOLLOW EARTH THEORY put in a good shift in mid afternoon as did TYR, though we had to cut out mid set to catch the full main stage set from EXIT TEN- these five young lads from Reading looked so at ease on the massive stage and despite the fact that the popular Tyr and then ALESTORM were on the second stage at the same time, they still drew a decent crowd. A quick dash over to catch the second half of Alestorm was needed and worthwhile - A huge crowd were packed into the second arena (Which was now beginning to stink of ripe feet!) and the place was rocking with all manner of piratey equipment being waved in the air.
Back over on the main stage Benji got the entire crowd bouncing throughout SKINDRED's hour long set- is there a better front-man out there today? I seriously doubt it! Never was much of a SEPULTURA fan but decided to give them a listen- sorry, but I still don't get them. Sounded like the same song played over and over..and over again to me. It was getting late by now but the wonderful SYLOSIS woke me up before the uber-cheese metal of DREAM EVIL finished me off (Cheese which I happen to like a great deal, BTW!) - closing with 'The Book Of Heavy Metal' was just genius - I slept like a log in our *luxury chalet once more before heading home the following morning having had a whale of a time and looking forward to the summer festival season even more.
Having missed part of their sets at Hammerfest, it was good fortune that both TYR and ALESTORM were touring together. Rio's in Leeds is fast becoming my favourite medium sized venue- as ever both bands had great sound and both played great sets. Special mention must go to openers SKULL BRANDED PIRATES- not only were they way better than when they supported Alestorm, they had the crowd in hysterics during 'Salty Jim- The Lobster King' when someone dressed in a pink jumpsuit complete with claws and matching motorcycle helmet with antennae on ran onto the stage and 'attacked' the guitarist... truly one of those 'Spinal Tap' moments!!