Tag Archives: live review

There are few people in the music business to whom the term “living legend” can, and should, be deservedly applied.  As far as the the Irish rock scene is concerned, there is one gentleman to whom that descriptive does not even begin to do justice – and that is Mr …

There are occasions when you go to a gig genuinely not knowing what to expect.  Having witnessed the lunacy that is an Evil Scarecrow show for the first and only time at Bloodstock last summer, your PM team had a rough idea of the madness that was about to descend …

For the band and fans alike, Y&T‘s annual end of year UK tours have become something akin to a pilgrimage.  Despite being more than four decades into their career – and not having released any new material in a little more than five of those years – Dave Meniketti and …

The combination of it being a Monday night – and the coldest and stormiest one of the year so far – and the fact that half of Belfast’s metallians had decamped south of the border for the first of the Megahuff/Lamb Of God co-headline arena shows did not initially bode …

Whenever you hear that Pat McManus is playing, it is safe to say that an instantaneous excitement forms in the air.  It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing, that come hell or high water you will be in attendance for ‘The Professor’ for an education and a night worth remembering.  Pat McManus is widely …

In contrast to the previous morning, the third and final day of Rockingham dawns crisp and bright, as the PM team join several hundred fellow fans in heading for the hallowed confines of Rock City for another eight bands over 11 hours. The beautiful afternoon outside is complemented by the …

The second morning of the inaugural Rockingham fest dawns overcast and mizzly, but that doesn’t darken or dampen the spirits of the early risers making their way from all directions for the slightly earlier start to Saturday’s proceedings (well, we have gone from six to seven acts performing over the …

First there was Firefest.  An annual celebration of classic melodic rock which, despite being hugely popular and attracting some of the top names in the genre – many of them catalyzed to reform by the event – as well as fans from all over the globe, sadly came to an …

In these straitened economic times – marked from the music business’ perspective by increasing numbers of venues closing down and promoters going bankrupt – success stories are few and far between and thus should be acclaimed, celebrated and heralded at every opportunity.  Which is exactly what today’s proceedings were all …

Sometimes you just can’t beat a night of good old-fashioned heavy fucking metal.  No airs.  No graces.  No genres.  Just heavy fucking metal.  And that’s exactly what we got tonight, as the titanic (sic) triple Swedish attack of Wolf, Enforcer and Dynamite rolled into Belfast on this early Autumn afternoon. …

It’s a chilly Friday night, so where would you rather be than in a darkened basement?  And, that’s exactly where Team PM finds themselves, together with the rest of the assembled Belfast press corps:  making our long overdue first foray into the refurbished Bar Sub, the smallest of the three …

It’s not often that a night out turns into a chance to review the bands you are going out to see, but with a plethora of gigs happening in nearby Belfast, PlanetMosh just didn’t have enough hands at the pump to cover an evening of rock and rollery in my …

It’s just gone seven o’clock on a cold and damp October eve- the second night in a run of six gigs in five nights for your PM Belfast team, and we have been joined by a healthy turnout of our fellow metallians for the debut appearance here of Wisconsin psyche-doom goddess …

There are not infrequent debates on various social media channels (not least on my own Facebook page last week) about whose responsibility it is to actually promote a gig and attract fans to it.  It is an argument which I have absolutely no intention to rehearse once again on here …

School night gigs in Belfast can be awkward buggers to predict, especially in terms of their attendance levels.  However, Paradise Lost, paying their first visit to the city in six years, manage to pull a reasonably healthy number of punters – if not quite enough to ease the promoter’s financial …

Northern Ireland is currently gripped in the greatest financial scandal in its chequered history.  It is a scandal which already has practically crippled the economy south of the border, and brought down at least one government there.  It has politicians running for cover, and has resulted in the current well-publicized …

Seven hundred and thirty one.  That is exactly how many days it had been since Gojira last appeared in Belfast – when they completely wiped the stage with Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine at the annual Belsonic festival – and this much-anticipated return, one of two …

Have you ever gone to gig where one band started the headline set and another finished it?  Well, that’s what happened – more or less – this past Saturday evening, when Million Dollar Reload played their last ever gig (coincidentally at one of their favourite venues), and midset transmogrified into …

Formed in the mid-Ulster area in late 2011, upstarts Donum Dei have spent the intervening period ripping up stages across Northern Ireland and establishing themselves as perhaps the singularly most impressive young thrash act in this part of the world, going from copycat Metallica wannabes faster than some of their …

With most true-blooded Belfast metal fans away across the schuk for Bloodstock, there was a somewhat understandably disappointing turn out for this rare live invasion by Armagh pagans Waylander. Openers Whitby Bay seem something of an anomaly, it must be admitted.  Drummer/vocalist Patrick Moran looks like he would be more …