PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Rebellion, is a small bar/venue/nightclub on Whitworth Street Manchester, near to Deansgate Rail Station and Deansgate Locks and conveniently close to Manchester’s tallest building Beetham Tower, which houses The Hilton Hotel (should you wish to stay there for a rocking night out), although having spotted the picture of the accommodation they stayed in when they played Consett (see pic) I’m 100% certain that isn’t where Raz White would have arranged for Swedish Rockers Confess to stay when they came to play Rebellion on the penultimate night of their recent UK tour. Holly Bank Caravan Park is more likely!
Bulletproof Rose a four piece from Cumbria were the opening act and at 8ish the venue wasn’t too busy, despite that these guys played their music ‘Loud Hard and Fast’ from the opening bar, although the first song was Strung Out and Jacob had his hair flung out all over the place. At the end of the song he announced ‘Alright Manchester? We are Bulletproof Rose going to play some Rock n Roll for you!’ and then came In the Gutter which ended with Jacob guitar aloft. They played all the songs from their début EP and a new song Use it or Lose it with screaming riffs. Sign about making a deal with the devil, with it’s pounding beat was a bit Motorhead meets The Charlie Daniels Band think something like Killed By Death crossed with The Devil Went Down to Georgia ending with a very dirty ‘Ha Ha Ha’ laugh! Ending their set with Loud Hard Fast, the title track from the new EP which is due to be released today, and was given a five star review by PlanetMosh here. This one had a Status Quo vibe and includes an extended instrumental. A great opening act and a good set. If you like energetic riffs and raw heavy rock then get to a Bulletproof Rose show. I don’t have to wait long as they’re playing at NLC/Rockin’ For The Children next weekend and at HRH Ibiza too!
Set List:
Strung Out
In The Gutter
Gypsy
Bulletproof Rose
Use It or Lose It
Sign
My Girl
Bang Your Head
Loud Hard Fast
Band Members:
Jacob Siddle – Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals
Brian Robinson – Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals
Dane Riach – Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals
Dan Wallace – Drums
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BulletproofRose?fref=ts
The next band up were Knock Out Kaine from Lincoln, and another band who’s recent album ‘Rise of the Electric Jester’ got a five star review from PlanetMosh here. Dean announced ‘Welcome to the House of Sins and Knock Out Kaine opened with the title track from their first album. Dean in his customary shades was strumming on the microphone. Set The Night On Fire another catchy song from the first album followed. Ain’t Your Kind came next and with a Crazy Horses by The Osmonds style ‘Whoa’ Dean took his jacket off. A good mix of songs from both albums followed. Cascading with the melody, in the chorus,matching the hourly chimes of Lincoln Cathedral. Skin Star which Dean advised was about pornography reminded me of Aerosmith meets Junkyard, and I’m sure I heard the word junkyard which may have brought their song Hollywood to mind, but I also thought of Walk This Way (Run DMC/Aerosmith) and Sweet Motion. A little song about drugs, not a pro- drugs song also not anti-drugs but there may be a cautionary tale somewhere, was how Dean introduced Little Crystal and his glasses came off at some point so he could fix us with mad staring eyes! Then Knock Out Kaine came to their final song the bluesy Time with a great rhythm which had Danny drumming so fast some of the kit fell off the platform, so it was a good job it was time (or last orders) for Knock out Kaine. Another good set to get the crowd warmed up ready for Confess.
Set List:
House of Sins
Set The Night On Fire
Ain’t Your Kind
Cascading
Skin Star
Boxes
Flying Blind
Little Crystal
Time
Band Members:
Dean Foxx – Lead Vocals
Jimmy Bohemian – Guitar
Lee Byrne – Bass
Danny Krash – Drums
https://www.facebook.com/knockoutkaine?fref=ts
The headliners tonight were ‘Confess’ a hard rocking five piece from Stockholm, Sweden who I got to interview before the gig (see here). For this tour they had Richie standing in on bass as bass-player Lucky’s partner was expecting a baby any moment. I first came across Confess when I noticed a video for Bloodstained Highway on a friend’s facebook page and I took an immediate liking to them so I had high expectations for their set, which they opened with the aforementioned Bloodstained Highway which saw singer John covering the stage well from the outset. Get Me Down with the chorus line ‘Flying So High’ had me thinking of Hardcore Superstar’s Touch The Sky by fellow Swede’s Hardcore Superstar, the song’s themselves aren’t really that similar, but the bands have a similar sound and the same energy!
‘Good evening Manchester! How the fuck are you?’ asked John ‘Are you good? We’re Confess from Stockholm Sweden. We’re going to do a single, released last year called Scream‘ Now how could I not think of Hardcore Superstar again, I kept thinking come on shout ‘Scream for me (Manchester)’ which is Jocke Berg from Hardcore Superstar’s catchphrase! John, was covering the stage well, a great song with some screaming riffage and some powerful vocals including ‘you’ve gotta scream ‘Hey Hey Hey Hey’ and a shout of ‘Manchester make some fucking noise come on’ John was twirling his microphone expertly. A ballad came in the form of Got Lucky with a bit of a 30 Seconds to Mars flavour. New single Exit Light starts of a bit ballad-y then speeds up into something heavier.
Nearing the end John asked if we wanted some more, how about a cover song ‘Do you want to hear Tina Turner or….’ as Samael had already started playing ‘we can do a drum solo’ the drum solo lost and John asked ‘Do you know there’s a town Cockermouth? We’ll do some Cock Rock. What’s Love’ and we got What’s Love Got To With It done in a hard rocking Confess style, I don’t think John would have the legs for a Tina Turner style mini skirt and stilettos! (although ……). ‘Manchester thank you so much. We’re Confess from Stockholm, Sweden’ came mid song and What’s Love ended with a mighty scream, and there was a hefty round of applause and cheers from the audience.
John said they would do more but he needed to change his microphone, so Richie lost his, and the penultimate song was the hard rocking and energetic Relationshit with some powerful screaming riffs. Then we came to the last song which was a cover of Hardcore Superstar’s Liberation which had Confess heads banging and hair flying. Then liberation came for Confess with the end of the gig, a few bows to some well deserved applause and the chance for them to have a few beers with the audience before heading back to their caravan! John’s last words. Thank you Manchester.
If you got your tickets in advance it was £3, on the door charge was £5. This was the day Adam Ant chose to do a show at the Academy 2 on his White Sox tour which sold out, I know a few people who would have come to Confess but they were adamant they were seeing Adam Ant which meant the turn out wasn’t as good, as it would have been otherwise, but it was reasonable and everyone there seemed to enjoy all three bands. Thank you to Raz for bringing the band over from Sweden, they have already been booked to play at Rockmantic 4 at The Brickyard in Carlisle next February and I’d definitely recommend seeing Confess, and/or either of the support bands if you get chance.
Set List:
Bloodstained Highway
Get Me Down
Scream
Pay before I Go
Got Lucky
Setting Sails
Exit Light
What’s Love Got To Do With It (Tina Turner Cover)
Relationshit
Liberation (Hardcore Superstar Cover)
Band Members:
John Elliot-Vocals
Samael-Drums
Lucky-Bass (On this tour Richie was standing in for Lucky)
Denver-Guitar
Blomman- Guitar
