Event Reviews

Tonight’s show had an early start – 7.30pm.  With most gigs the support band would be on stage then or maybe even later, but Joe Bonamassa plays with no support and with an early start.  It’s something that catches out the unwary, but tonight the seats are all full before …

On this day over 2000 years ago, the man credited with being the Son of God was in Jerusalem in the build-up to the events which are generally associated with Easter. But before the four day weekend arrives, there’s the small matter of Heat Four of Metal 2 the Masses: three …

The rollercoaster ride that has been Metal 2 The Masses Ireland 2017 reached the semi-final stages last weekend and PlanetMosh was strapped into the carriage once again to see which bands could hold on tight enough to secure a place in that one last foray on the way to Bloodstock. …

Sadly a late finish at work meant I missed the opening act The Connor Selby Band, but arrived in time to catch JFK. I do think they made a bad choice of name for the band – when people see a band they enjoy they’ll typically look them up on …

If you ask someone to describe a typical Blues artist, the chances are they’ll describe them as an old man, and there are plenty of Blues stars around who fit that description, but the Blues isn’t a dying genre and has a wide age-range of talented musicians, and when you …

To celebrate the release of their new album Dragonforce have decided to do a special album release show (6 weeks before the release date), and rather than playing the size of venue they usually play, the show is at the Black Heart in Camden, a small venue that only holds …

For tonight’s gig I’d travelled all the way to Hamburg. Why? Well sadly some bands never seem to tour the uk and Crystal Viper are one of them, a band I’d never had the chance to see live, so a tour with them and Bloodbound seemed with the trip. The …

Last year the Neal Morse band released the album “The similitude of a dream” which was based loosely on the Canterbury tales.  Now on their current tour, they’re playing the album in full.  As it’s a double album, there is no support act and the band are playing two sets …

Summer appears to have come early in the UK, which probably explains why Download Festival ends up being a complete washout as the country uses up its sun quota for the year before Easter. In any event, it’s a glorious day in the capital, one perfect for finding a beer …

Being an Edinburgh resident and finding out last year there was to be a heavy metal festival weekend in my home city I couldn’t help but think it was some kind of a wind up.  It was to start on 1st April and this is Edinburgh after all; the city of the world-renowned arts festival …

Inside the Voodoo Lounge there is a very strong sense of high expectation tonight as evidenced by the early arrival of a large number of heavy metal enthusiasts. This is promising to be a rather special evening, spent in the presence of Ross “The Boss” Friedman, former guitarist of power …

A couple of years ago Thunder did a few acoustic gigs around the UK in support of the Wonder Days album, no more than a half hour set followed by a meet and greet. I was lucky enough to be at the Glasgow event and was blown away by the …

On arriving at the Olympia Theatre to see Blackberry Smoke on Saturday night we were offered the chance to sit in one of the boxes, something I’ve never done before, so I jumped at the chance.  Sitting there feeling like either Statler or Waldorf, but definitely some kind of grumpy …

With the clocks going forward an hour for British Summertime, it seemed strange to be heading into Manchester on a bright and sunny, Sunday afternoon rather than a dark miserable one, to see Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds at The Star and Garter. Which, luckily, is still trading in it’s …

Saturday evening at Fibber Magee’s in Dublin saw the culmination of the heats for Metal 2 The Masses Ireland 2017. The seventh event in nine weeks brought together the final four acts looking for a place in the Semi Finals. On paper I assumed it was going to be a close affair …

This was one of the first gigs at the newly refurbished Borderline, and it’s been dramatically updated although there are still a few bits to sort out (like signs to the toilets), but the toilets are now much bigger than the broom cupboard that sufficed before, the bar has moved …

Tonight is the album launch for The Charm The Fury’s new album, The sick, dumb and happy.  The venue is the Sugar Factory just opposite Melkweg in the band’s home city of Amsterdam, and a queue of fans had formed well before doors opened.  By the time the show got …

On a night that I am to write about the Armored Saint’s first ever performance in Dublin it certainly doesn’t help my impartiality to quite literally bump into all of the band a small distance outside the venue. For them to then ask advice on where to grab something to …

It’s a shame more gigs don’t pass through the Colston Hall in Bristol. At present the city’s biggest indoor venue, its large main room and excellent acoustics make it far superior to the O2 Academy down the road, yet the glutton of comedians and other performance art events that come …

Hot on the heels of the Irish rugby team obliterating English dreams at the Aviva stadium, we shuffled down to Fibber Magees to see the next quartet of bands going head to head at Metal 2 the Masses Ireland. Would one of the outfits begin an unbeaten streak tonight on …