The first band of the day for me was Sweet Crisis, opening proceedings on the Blues stage. It’s only a quick visit before I had to head off to see another band, but what I heard sounded very good with a mix of classic and modern influences. Definitely a band …

For me, Saturday at Ramblin Man started with a quick trip to the VIP area to see Bad Touch doing an acoustic session for the VIP ticket holders. They’d got a big crowd and their short set sounded great. Over on the Prog stage, Israeli band Scardust were the first …

The 2019 edition of Ramblin Man kicked off on Friday afternoon with Australian rockers The Lazys. I’d seen them a couple of months ago in a small venue and been impressed, so was looking forward to seeing them again. On the big Ramblin Man main stage they seemed just as …

British rock’n’roll band Piston will release their debut self-titled album in September. Before that though they’ve got an appearance at Ramblin Man festival to look forward to. Judging by the strength of this album then I’ve got no hestitation in recommending that anyone going to Ramblin Man should make time …

Samantha Fish is back with a new album – Kill or be kind. it comes two years after a year in which she released not just one album but two – “Belle of the west” and “Chills & fever”. Those two albums were very different from each other with one …

Devon Allman’s father, Allman brothers legend Gregg Allman died in 2017, and later that year Devon Allman arranged a tribute concert to him at the Fillmore in San Francisco. That concert featured Devon’s new band – The Devon Allman project. Alongside him in the band was Duane Betts, son of …

KISS kicked off the UK leg of their farewell tour in Birmingham. For fans in the mood for some drinking before the gig there was good news (bad news for music lovers though). Instead of bringing a band along to open for them, KISS instead decided to bring an artist …

Sabaton are back with a new album. As always it’s about miltary history and they’ve chosen to write about the first World War for this album. It’s the war that was known as “The great war” and “The war to end all wars” and saw huge changes to the way …

Ahead of the release of the new Sabaton album – “The Great War”, I spoke to singer Joakim Brodén on his trip to London to talk about the album… You’ve got a new album coming out, “The Great War”, and as the name suggests it’s about the First World War. …

Tonight saw The Eagles in Birmingham. As they said when they took to the stage, there are no fireworks, just some guys with guitar playing. With no support act the band took to the stage at 8pm and promised two and a half hours of music. While they may not …

Tonight’s gig at the Resorts World arena (or NEC as most fans still call it) was one I’d been looking forward to for a while as it’s a superb bill. Headlining is Lynyrd Skynyrd on their farewell tour. The main support is Status Quo, and the opening act is Massive …

I saw Curse of Lono on tour supporting Samantha Fish and while they were very good I wasn’t quite won over, which may have been that they’re very different musically to what I’d expected from a support on that tour, but I always think it’s good to give a band …

Rantanplan released their latest album “Stay rudel stay rebel” at the beginning of the year and are now following it with a 6 track EP. Rantanplan are a German ska-punk band. Formed in Hamburg in 1995 they have ten albums to their name. As a ska-punk band you’ve got that …

German band JBO aren’t very well known outside Germany (or German speaking countries anyway). It’s not just the fact they sing in German – Rammstein have proved that isnt an obstacle for international success, it’s more the fact they’re a comedy band and so not understanding the lyrics takes a …

Swedish band H.E.A.T release their second live album on 26th July 2019. It’s their second live release but the previous one was only a live album (Live in London) so this is their first live DVD. As the name of the release tells you, this was recorded and filmed at …

Supersonic Blues Machine have released two studio albums and are now releasing their first live album. It was recorded during their show in Brugnera, Italy on 20th July 2018 and the band were unaware that it was being recorded, so what you hear here is just how they played every …

After Epica played Download festival this year (their first ever appearance there), I spoke to Mark Jansen about the band’s plans and also about his other band, MaYaN.  We talked about the upcoming reissue of “Design your universe”, possible Uk dates, a 20th anniversary show and more. You’ve played Download …

Life is a journey. “Railroads”, the second single from Tarja’s upcoming new album “In The Raw”, deals with this train of thought exactly. The heavy, yet melodic song draws inspiration from the book “Aleph” by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. In it, the writer travels on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and begins …

For over 15 years, ALTER BRIDGE has been a band known for blurring the line between hard rock and heavy metal. Building upon the sound that has won the band worldwide critical acclaim and a devoted global fan base, the band returns with their sixth studio album, Walk The Sky. …

Los Angeles musical activists, FEVER 333 have announced a UK tour for November. Full dates run as follows: Fri 1st Nov – BRISTOL SWX Sat 2nd Nov – BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute 2 Sun 3rd Nov – MANCHESTER Academy 2 Tue 5th Nov – GLASGOW SWG3 TV Studio Wed 6th Nov …