“West of Flushing, South of Frisco” is the debut album from newcomers Supersonic Blues Machine, and it’s one hell of a debut – a stunningly good album featuring plenty of special guests.  Supersonic Blues Machine are Bassist/producer Fabrizio Grossi, Guitarist/singer Lance Lopez and Drummer Kenny Aronoff.  The three members have …

Tonight’s gig had a very early start – 6pm doors with the first band on stage at 6.15pm.  Sadly being a weeknight then this inevitably meant most people didn’t arrive in time to see the first band.  Opening act Imperial Age therefore played to a tiny number of people which …

In 2013, Runrig celebrated their 40th anniversary, but now they’re bringing things to an end.  “The Story” will be the band’s 14th and final studio album, and there will also be a UK tour. Runrig have always had a distinctive sound with their music really having a strong Celtic folk …

British Blues guitarist Danny Bryant is back with a new album, less than 18 months after the release of “Temperature rising”, his last album.  In between these releases he’s been busy touring – he certainly works hard.  On this album he’s got two special guests – Bernie Marsden, and Walter …

Dutch Melodic metal band La Ventura released their second album (White Crow) 2 years ago, and if you haven’t heard it then it’s definitely worth a listen if you like melodic metal with great female vocals.  For the last few months they’ve been fairly quiet as they’ve been working on …

I spoke to Gorka Elso, keyboard player with Diabulus in Musica just before their London show supporting Leaves Eyes.  Hear what he had to say about work on their next album and more..  

I spoke to Liv Kristine from Leaves Eyes just before the band played London to talk about their latest album, the tour, and the Liv Kristine solo shows (the only UK date being London on 20th December).  

Tonight was my third time seeing Nightwish on this tour, and having seen how good they are at the moment I was really looking forward to seeing this, the last date on their European tour, and the first time they’ve brought their full show over to the UK.  It’s probably …

Leslie West is back with a new album, Soundcheck.  It’s his sixteenth solo album and for this one as well as his own songs he’s chosen to do some cover versions – “Eleanor Rigby” (The Beatles), “People get ready” (Curtis Mayfield), “You are my sunshine”, “Stand by me” (Ben E …

First tonight is British band Hell.  I’ve seen them live several times and they always put on a fantastic show. Since the band was resurrected a few years ago when Andy Sneap teamed up with them, they’ve released two great albums and tonight’s set includes songs from both of those …

Tonight was a gig I’d been looking forward to for some time – Deep Purple’s only UK date.   As the band that many years ago started my love of rock and metal music I’ve been a fan ever since, and while they aren’t the same live as they were years …

First up were Archer – a metal band from Santa Cruz, California.  This three piece had plenty of enthusiasm but to be brutally honest I found them dull and mediocre with nothing at all to make them stand out from the sort of bands you can see playing gigs in …

I arrived at the venue for tonight’s show to find a huge queue despite the doors having opened some time ago.  The reason soon became apparent – coming not long after the tragic events in Paris, security had been stepped up for tonight’s show with everyone being thoroughly frisked and …

The opening act of the night was local band Enkelination.  They haven’t been playing many gigs this year as they are currently focussing on working on their second album, but tonight is a rare show for them, and judging by the number of EnkElination T-shirts being worn by people in …

As gig lineups go this was always going to be a hard one to beat.  Megadeth, Lamb of God, Children of Bodom and Sylosis, so it’s no surprise that there was a good turnout tonight.  The night kicked off with Sylosis.  They only get a short set tonight, but they …

The night kicked off with Divine Ascension, an Australian band here on their first trip to the UK. Sadly as is often the case with opening acts at midweek gigs, the venue was only half full for their set, but the fans who were there were definitely the lucky ones …

Flying Colors is the band founded by former Dream Theatre drummer Mike Portnoy and Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse. Alongside them are Neal Morse (Spocks beard, Transatlantic), Dave LaRue (dixie Dregs), and Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev). So you’ve got a mix of musicians with backgrounds in classic hard rock, prog …

Michael Schneker hits the UK later this month to tour supporting Judas Priest.  He’ll be back with his band in January doing a headline tour (see below for tour dates).  A new single has just been released from the current album (Spirit on a mission) – check out the video …

I spoke to Kim from Girlschool recently to talk about the band’s new album, Guilty as sin, and their tour with Motorhead and Saxon.    

I spoke to Thundermother on their recent press visit to London to discuss the band and their new album.