Clowns / Pizzatramp – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff – 19.07.23

Clowns / Pizzatramp – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff – 19.07.23

Downstairs in Clwb Ifor on a school night – What could go wrong? Well as it goes pretty much nothing which is a miracle considering Pizzatramp are opening up the show after the third band on the bill has pulled out, anyway. With a new Bass player in situ, the dynamic hardcore trio set about the simple task of warming up tonight’s audience for Melbourne’s finest Clowns.

Jimmy sets about playing live with the same humourous, not taking the job a whole lot seriously but then proceeding to kick seven shades of shit out of his guitar with the vigor of an angry Mike Tyson who’s just been told he’s soft as shite and a big fat crybaby. Anyway, ‘CCTV’ followed by one of the set’s big guns which begs the question have they gone in too hard too early and shot their wad by playing ‘Millions Of Dead Goths’. I’m assuming most of the people in tonight have seen the band before and whilst they have only traveled from up the road they get away with insulting the city, the audience, and the general people of Cardiff the audience is lapping it up and laughing along with the between song banter unlike, it would seem, some recent audiences around England.

‘White Dog Shit’, ‘Rag And Bone’, and ‘I Hope You Fucking Die’ all go down a storm and it’s fair to say Jimmy is in good company politically speaking in Clwb Ifor so Tory bashing is a home run. there is even time for a new song as yet untitled but suitably brutal in attack, content, and delivery. Pizzatramp doesn’t really do disappointing performances from the big stages of Rebellion To Slugfest to warm-ups for Clowns Pizzatramp nail it once again. from the blink and you miss em the intro is longer than the songs of ‘Metallica Are Shit’, ‘The M4 Is Shit’, ‘Long Songs Are Shit’ into ‘My Back Is Fucking Fucked’ it’s already panning out to be a top nights punk rock courtesy of a sober Pizzatramp who put a huge full stop on their set by thrashing out ‘There’s Been a Murder’. Again, as I’ve said another excellent set from a top band. Now bring on the Clowns from down under.

Do something that means something is the mantra and this Australian fashion guru most certainly live by their words. With a new album about to drop in a month or two it was time to reacquaint myself with Melbourne’s finest noise bringers and tonight they set up in front of a sold-out room and open with a track or intro off the new record ‘Endless’ before spending the next hour trading shapes and kicking the living shit out of their instruments and covering every inch of the compact Clwb.

Stevie is on the prowl and from the off is hitting the screams of epic throat bleeding proportions as the likes of ‘Freezing In The Sun’, ‘Scared To Die’, and ‘Formalydahyde’ are despatched with aplomb. With only a few new tunes on offer, it’s left to ‘Nature/ Nurture’, and ‘Lucid Again’ to provide the bulk of the set which is fine seeing as they are a pair of pretty awesome albums anyway. ‘Soul For Sale’ was fantastic and raised the temperature in the room north by a few degrees. It is difficult trying to take it all in as Stevie moves into the audience and Hanny J gives it plenty of attitude inches behind throwing her Bass around whilst the twin guitar attack gives it some welly bookending the performance with some superb riffs and licks.

About the new record, they did manage to play ‘Bisexual Awakening’ which is slotted right in the set and hopefully, once the album is released they will be back again and bringing more of the songs to entertain us. Quite simply Clowns don’t do bad shows and perform with all their heart and soul leaving nothing on stage other than a pool of steaming sweat. ‘Not Coping’ is epic and is one reason why these Clowns are a force to be reckoned with playing crossover punk as well and in many respects better than anybody else. The energy they put out is staggering and most importantly they have the catalogue to back it up from ‘I’m Not Alright’ through ‘Bad Blood to ‘Endless’ Clowns delivered another stunning set to make another superb night out in the company of two most excellent bands. Part On!

Author: Dom Daley

Headcat get Vinyl & CD rerelease

Headcat get Vinyl & CD rerelease

BMG ANNOUNCE HEADCAT VINYL AND CD RELEASES

‘WALK THE WALK…TALK THE TALK/LIVE IN BERLIN/DREAMCATCHER’ ALL AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 15TH VIA BMG

Pre-order HERE:

HeadCat is an American rockabilly supergroup formed by vocalist/bassist Lemmy (of Motörhead), drummer Slim Jim Phantom (of The Stray Cats) and guitarist Danny B. Harvey (of Lonesome Spurs and The Rockats).

This coming September 15th sees the welcome reissue of the bands 2011 album ‘Walk The Walk…Talk The Talk’ on CD and vinyl, alongside the first CD release of the live ‘Dreamcatcher’ album (first released on vinyl in 2022 for RSD), and the debut release on double-vinyl, CD and digital of the previously unheard ‘Live In Berlin’ album, recorded at Huxley’s in Berlin, Germany on 18th October 2011.

The band was formed after recording the Elvis Presley tribute album by Swing Cats ‘A Special Tribute to Elvis’ in July 1999 to which the future bandmates all contributed. After recordings were finished they stayed at the studio and Lemmy picked up an acoustic guitar and started playing some of his old favourite songs by Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and Eddie Cochran. The rest of the guys knew them all and joined in. The name of the band was created by combining the names Motörhead, The Stray Cats, and 13 Cats, which resulted in HeadCat.

In 2006, the band released their first studio album ‘Fool’s Paradise’. It included cover songs from artists such as Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker, Lloyd Price, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. On the recordings, Lemmy played acoustic guitar. In later years, Lemmy began to use his signature Rickenbacker bass in live performances.

‘Walk The Walk… Talk the Talk’, the bands second album, was first released in 2011 and features covers from the likes of Chuck Berry, The Eagles and The Beatles as well as band originals, ‘AmericanBeat’ and ‘The Eagle Flies on Friday’. It also comes on a new colour way – Half/Half Black/White. The CD features extended sleevenotes based on interviews with Danny B. Harvey and Slim Jim Phantom.

‘Live In Berlin’ is a previously unreleased live concert which was recorded at the Huxley’s in Berlin, Germany on 18th October 2011. It was produced by the band and mastered by guitarist Danny B Harvey. The double LP comes on red vinyl while the CD features extended sleevenotes based on interviews with Danny B. Harvey and Slim Jim Phantom.

‘Dreamcatcher’ was recorded at the Dreamcatcher theatre at the Viejas Casino in Alpine CA on 1st Feb 2008. It was produced by the band and mastered by guitarist Danny B Harvey. The new CD features extended sleevenotes based on interviews with Danny B. Harvey and Slim Jim Phantom.

HeadCat redefined rock ‘n’ roll in their own way as they took all of the elements that made this groundbreaking genre so exciting to generations of rockers and gave it their own eclectic twist.

Pre-order the releases HERE:

Danny McCormack and Guy Shankland – ‘I Danny McCormack – Once A Wildheart Always a Wildheart’ (B&B Press)

Danny McCormack and Guy Shankland – ‘I Danny McCormack – Once A Wildheart Always a Wildheart’ (B&B Press)

It’s exactly 154 pages into ‘I Danny McCormack’ that you receive the suckerpunch (ouch) message that every young aspiring musician should take on board. This being… “drugs are always given a glamorous rock ‘n’ roll edge in the press, but there is no fairy dust and no pot of gold. Crack and heroin only lead to death, misery, and debt.”

So speaks the man behind the title of this book, and when you’ve lived the life he has, and he’s warning you about what will happen when you make just a few wrong decisions in life, then you best sit up and take note, because this book really is one of the most harrowing accounts of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle you are ever likely to read.

You also have to take your hat off to his co-author Guy Shankland from Vive Le Rock (and many other sites/magazines) too, because he’s the one who painstakingly assembled this paperback (initially offering up digital chapters as part of a Patreon campaign set up to help Danny) over a period of some two years, during which time his interviewee would often disappear for extended periods, and given his subject matter’s already acknowledged lifestyle, Guy himself must surely have wondered if the 184 page tome would ever get finished, never mind published.

If you are a fan of The Wildhearts, or in fact any of Danny’s other bands, you really must read this book, as it’s his account of his life, viewed without the aid of any rose-tinted spectacles. It deals with the ups and MANY downs and doesn’t really skirt around the issues that he faced (initially as someone just out of their teens) joining one of the UK’s most promising bands of the 1990s. Not least his long undiagnosed mental health condition, something he is now thankfully taking medication for.

As it’s Danny’s view there’s some things in the book that hardcore Wildhearts fans may not want, or like, to hear especially when the introduction to his life story is made by way of him recounting the time his femoral artery burst not long after The Main Grains had filmed their first video. Oh, and there’s the not so insignificant matter that he would have died were it not for the swift action of his partner Von (who quite rightly gets her very own special dedication at the front of the book).

Personally, I fell out of love with The Wildhearts a few years back, not because I felt they suddenly made poor music, but largely because I grew to dislike the way certain band members conducted themselves in the age of social media. It’s one of Danny’s bugbears too, and he touches on it whilst describing what it was like to once again be a part of a band slowly falling apart during the time of the ‘21st Century Love Songs’ album and subsequent tour. A chapter that whilst reassuring to me to discover that I was not alone in feeling the way I did, also made me feel oh so sad for the sorry state of a band I once considered truly untouchable.

Then again when you’ve grown up with heroes like Pete Way and Sid Vicious plastered all over your bedroom wall like I did, perhaps it’s the cold hard facts of a book like ‘I Danny McCormack’ that you really need to hear, and most of all, come to terms with and understand.

I should perhaps also add that it’s not all doom and gloom, there are some genuinely uplifting and laugh out loud moments within the pathos of ‘I Danny McCormack’, and as such I couldn’t help but, in my head, draw some parallels with Danny’s story to that of one Winston Ingram (of BBC’s Still Game fame). Both being someone who is always laughing and joking whatever life throws at them, who is loved by family and friends even though they can be a pain in arse to be around, and of course they are their own worst enemy when it comes to the excesses that life has to offer them.

Anyway, back in the real world, Danny and Guy will be discussing the book at this year’s Rebellion Festival where they headline the Literary stage on Friday 4th August. Danny promising that it will be a truly warts ‘n’ all session with things he dared not put in the book being up for debate.

If like me you can’t make this year’s Rebellion Festival though you can always order a copy of ‘I Danny McCormack’ (now into its third print run) directly from Guy via this eBay link.  It’s not an easy read that’s for sure, but once you’ve picked ‘I Danny McCormack’ up, you’ll not want to stop reading it, it really is Danny’s true anthem to his life. It’s powerful and absorbing stuff!

Author: Johnny Hayward

Les Lullies – ‘Mauvaise Foi’ (Slovenly Records)

Les Lullies – ‘Mauvaise Foi’ (Slovenly Records)

Salut mes copains! Summer is here with a vengeance, at least in south west France. So, here come Les Lullies to inject some punk n roll goodness into your life. Warning; this is almost entirely sung in French. While their previous releases were mainly in English, don’t let this put you off. It isn’t necessary to understand the lyrics, even if they occasionally take on more serious subjects this time round. What matters is the tunes, and kicking off with the title track, =‘Bad Faith’, this should satisfy any fans of The Boys. It actually comes on like a punkier Téléphone (take my word for it), with a hint of the mighty Giuda.

‘Pas De Regrets’ is even more melodic, touching on The Flamin’ Groovies, certainly a more mature sound, but not straying too far from their blueprint. ‘Ce Que Je Veux’ (What I Want) and ‘Soirée Standard’ will sound great in your car, with your cheap shades on, addictive stuff. ‘Ville Musée’ has the jangle sound covered, like Hoodoo Gurus, plus a nice, wandering bass line.

‘Zero Ambition’ speeds things up again nicely, you should be pogoing around your gaff by now. They’ve thrown in all the punk n roll cliches, but it works. ‘Dernier Soir’ is like a lost classic from 1978, in a very good way, and there’s a cute cover of ‘When You Walk In The Room’ In English. Overall, the sound is very much the pop punk of The Boys/Duncan Reid, Continental Lovers and The Vibrators, while closing number ‘Animal’ could almost be Mud. These are, obviously, very good things. So, if that floats your boat, get over any language hang ups and invest in another great, independent band. C’est parti, mon kiki!

Buy Here

Author: Martin Chamarette

The Radio Makers – ‘Lucky Stars Got My Radio’ (Self Release)

The Radio Makers – ‘Lucky Stars Got My Radio’ (Self Release)

Hailing from the eclectic city of Bristol The Radio Makers deliver their debut album ‘Lucky Stars’ with its alluring mix of Glam Rock and guitar pop it opens with the retro stomp of ‘Edible Hearts’ that storms in like they’ve been on a steady diet of Early Japan, Roxy Music and some post punk. Its got a great production courtesy of Steve Evansson who’s work includes Siouxsie without her banshees, Goldfrapp and the Proclaimers none the less. As an introduction I like the bass wandering around the song whilst the confident vocal sound like a youthful Brian Ferry, impressive.

‘Echoes’ has a warbling synth not a million miles from Blondie and other 80s new wave. It has a chart-bothering melody and hook that will catch you and reel you in. ‘Jo Jo’ sounds like it’s born of a heavy diet of Steve Strange and post-Berlin Bowie which isn’t a bad place to set yourself. However much they use synths and punchy basslines there is always the chiming distorted guitar to anchor these songs.

One of the standout tracks is ‘Girl Who Looks Like You’ with its menacing verse building to a punchier chorus whilst the guitars swirl around the vocal melody. The lead single is the glam stomping ‘I’m A Poseur’ (of course it is) with its heavy on-the-floor tom stomp and quirky synth its a decent ear worm no doubt about it.

The albums title track is also a very decent slice of guitar driven pop music where they leave enough light and shade and the song sound big enough to be a hit if we were in the heyday of singles otherwise known as the early 80s.

‘I’m A Tribute (To Me)’ rocks out towards the albums close and wipes some snot across its face along with the smudged guyliner with its glam stomp in full effect. To close the album they have an outragiously epic ballad in the shape of ‘Talk About You’ although totally unoriginal its an epic cliche to end such an album on a tear jerker which isn’t a bad thing and the reason its such a cliche is because it works if the band deliver the goods and to be fair The Radio Makers have just about pulled it off.

In summery this is a very decent offering with some really good songs that grab your attention and are really well arranged. Mixing up several genres that have clearly influenced the writers with a bold vision of guitar driven indie pop.

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley

Voivod – ‘Morgoth Tales’ (Century Media Records)

Voivod – ‘Morgoth Tales’ (Century Media Records)

To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Canadian thrash/prog metallers Voivod have revisited and re-recorded earlier material from 1984 – 2003 and thrown it into a 2023 flavoured pot and called it Morgoth Tales. There is one brand new song, the album’s title track. The band have chosen some of their more obscure material to go back to and given the songs a new lease of life. I’m not really into bands re-recording/mixing old material, the reason we liked it in the first place is because of how it sounded back then. Voivod however, have done a great job here. Crystal clear production values and superb performances reminding us just how influential a band Voivod are.

The track listing is as follows:

Condemned To the Gallows (2023 Version) [Originally on Metal Massacre V Compilation, 1984]

Thrashing Rage (2023 Version) [Originally on “Rrröööaaarrr”, 1986]

Killing Technology (2023 Version) [Originally on “Killing Technology”, 1987]

Macrosolutions To Megaproblems (2023 Version) [Originally on“Dimension Hatröss”, 1988]

Pre-Ignition (2023 Version) [Originally on “Nothingface”, 1989]

Nuage Fractal (2023 Version) [Originally on “Angel Rat”, 1991]

Fix My Heart (2023 Version) [Originally on “The Outer Limits”, 1993]

Rise (2023 Version, feat. Eric Forrest) [Originally on “Phobos”, 1997]

Rebel Robot (2023 Version, feat. Jason Newsted) [Originally on “Voivod”, 2003]

Morgöth Tales [New Song]

It’s nice to hear ex band members Eric Forrest (E – Force) and Jason Newsted (Jasonic) on the tracks Rise and Rebel Robot respectively. This really is a quality album; the bands diversity is highlighted beautifully. Voivod can sound like Celtic Frost one minute and like Rush the next. The musicianship is other worldly at times, they really are masters of their craft.

Here’s what drummer Michel “Away” Langevin commented about Morgöth Tales: “’Morgöth Tales’ covers 40 years of space exploration. It was exciting for us to revisit a more obscure part of the Voïvod catalogue, from thrash-punk to prog-metal to…? The title track is a new song, which we started writing in the tour bus and hotels during the Opeth European tour in November/December 2022. It has the vibe of the experimental music we are doing nowadays, with a new twist, I think. We also had the great thrill of getting E-Force and Jasonic involved on this album. I hope you’ll dig it, Chewy, Rocky, Snake and I certainly had a blast recording it. All aboard and ready for take-off!“ Morgoth Tales is released via Century Media Records on July 21st on the following formats: Limited CD Jewel case in O-Card and Digital Album formats will also come with a cover version of the Public Image Ltd. track “Home” as bonus.

Buy Here

Author: Kenny Kendrick

Bad News – Every Mistake Imaginable, The Frilly Pink Years 1987 – 1988 (Cherry Red Records)

Bad News – Every Mistake Imaginable, The Frilly Pink Years 1987 – 1988 (Cherry Red Records)

There are many people who still think that the 1984 rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap was the originator of spoof hard rock bands. These people are wrong. In 1983, the Comic Strip Presents team unleashed the self-professed ‘Four Horsemen of the Rock Apocalypse’ Bad News onto an unsuspecting world.

The short film ‘Bad News Tour’ followed vocalist and lead guitarist and lead everything Vim Fuego/Alan Metcalfe (Adrian Edmonson) and his band of fuck ups, bass player Colin Grigson (Rik Mayall), rhythm guitarist and top sausage muncher Den Dennis (Nigel Planer), and (crap) drummer Spider Webb (Peter Richardson) for a day in the life of a spoof metal band.  We witnessed just how useless they were, and a cult ‘band’ was formed. The fly on the wall style of the rockumentary was brilliantly done, culminating with the band’s gig in Grantham where they entertained the audience of the journalist Sally Friedman (Jennifer Saunders), a schoolgirl they had picked up on the way (Dawn French) … they would never get away with that now… a man and his dog, and a few other bewildered looking punters.

They soon became ingrained in every metal fans psyche! The band made their live debut at the 1986 Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington. This was filmed for the follow up TV show More Bad News which aired on Channel 4 in 1988. In-between this, the band holed themselves up in a studio with none other than Brian May of Queen to record their debut self-titled album.

I played the album nonstop as a fourteen-year-old and loved every bit of it. From the extremely heavy metal intro to the songs themselves. Warriors of Ghengis Khan is an out and out metal classic, Masturbike has some of the best lyrics ever written… ‘See the cat on the mat, see the cat it has shat’...pure poetry. The title track is as catchy as anything you’ve ever heard. Even their version of Bohemian Rhapsody is brilliant. Badly played…obviously but still brilliant with Vim professing at the end of the song that they would ‘Blow Queen off the fucking stage’. Drink ‘Til I Die gives us an insight into the band’s liver abuse, ‘Give me another drink a Mr bartender… if you don’t, I’ll stick your dick in a blender’.

The highlights of the album are by far the hilarious arguments and constant fucking about that fills the gaps between songs. Apparently, Brian May just left the mics on in the studio and the guys would improvise on the spot. The album is a source of quotes for my friends and I to this day.

It’s great news (not Bad News) that those lovely people at Cherry Red records are re-releasing the album on a remastered CD with their second album ‘Bootleg’ on a bonus disc. The self-titled debut had songs and arguing, Bootleg is just mostly arguing.

If you’ve never heard Bad News before, now is your chance to revel in heavy metal folklore. Bow down to the Four Horsemen of the Rock Apocalypse. There will be plenty of ‘Burning, Looting, Raping and a Shooting’.

Buy Here

Author: Kenny Kendrick

Diced ‘Demo?’ (Self-Released)

Diced ‘Demo?’ (Self-Released)

When it comes to hardcore, my tastes skew to the NYHC of the 80’s and early 90’s as well as the likes of Black Flag from California. Over the past year, I have run across some hardcore bands that have really grabbed me, like the brilliant GEL, and made me dig deeper into the genre to see who else will grab me. Diced immediately clicked with me with bursts of rage and sneaky hooks across these 14 action packed minutes. Formed as a side band for some of the members in Tulsa, Oklahoma, they have struck gold, and we can debate if this is a demo or a ‘proper’ release. Either way, Diced has firmly planted themselves on my radar.

Starting with a track called ‘Intro’ does give an initial indication that this could be a rough sounding recording, but that is not the case at all. A spoken word sample gives way to a quickly building minute long track that immediately makes an impression. The mix is awesome and allows the instruments to clearly shine. Taylor’s vocals are filled with emotion and sit perfectly in the mix to give the track a live feel. The marching rhythm providing a seamless segway into second track ‘What Will You Do?’ where Brian’s guitar slices through the soul.  The album was apparently recorded as a 4 piece with a second guitarist joining after the recording was finished. This song serves up everything I could want in a hardcore song with the guitar providing part of the hook and is complimented with the rhythm section of Ryan (bass) and Nick (drums) providing another. The band tops this off with some vocal hooks as well, which come down to Taylor screaming them perfectly. The breakdown at the end finishes this perfect monster of a song. ‘Cut Your Teeth’ blasts through the speakers next and has a subtle switch over the back 40 seconds or so of the song that take it to another level.

‘Blank Stare’ essentially starts us on the flipside of the release and is another of my favorite songs here. The band give the song time to build and do not rush blindly into bludgeoning the listener. With three of the songs around three minutes in length, this allows them to build some dynamics within the song and separate them from many of their peers where a 14-minute runtime would equate to a full-length album. They manage it in five songs and an intro. ‘Drowning” is another of the longer tracks with a scream near the beginning recalling Sami from GEL. The lead guitar work here provides a lot of power to the song as it balances moshing, a full speed assault, and then a return to a moshfest portion to end the song. Final song ‘Disconnection’ allows Nick to get a spotlight on his drum work at the beginning of the song, and he adds some great pieces throughout the song as well which give it additional teeth. Taylor’s vocals remain harsh throughout the album with no super melodic choruses or hooks to be found. Her vocals work perfectly within the music and serve notice that ticking her off would not be in your best interest.

Many years ago (the 90’s), there was a band from Oklahoma called For Love Not Lisa who released an album I have always enjoyed called ‘Merge’ which borrowed from many genres including hardcore, and I cannot name too many other Oklahoma bands off the top of my head who fall into the hardcore genre. Diced have come together and delivered a memorable debut release that you likely could have already played through instead of reading what I have wrote here. Check this one out on Bandcamp and then help spread the word to get Diced on tour and playing near all of us in the future.

‘Demo?’ is available now.

Buy Here

Author: Gerald Stansbury                      

The Cult/The Mission – Scarborough Open Air Theatre – 6th July 2023

<strong>The Cult/The Mission – Scarborough Open Air Theatre – 6<sup>th</sup> July 2023</strong>

From their underground post punk/goth rock early years, to the classic rock inspired late 80’s stadium filling years, onto the poorly received 90’s albums, the disbanding, reforming and recent slew of albums and touring, The Cult’s  journey has been a rocky one for Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, but they are still here releasing quality music and touring The Cult back catalogue to their hearts content. While The Cult peaked commercially in 1989, they remain a big draw on both sides of the pond. Last year they completed a co-headline tour with Alice Cooper in the UK and across North America with BRMC.

Riding on the release of last year’s moody and ethereal ‘Under The Midnight Sun’ the Cult play a trio of outdoor theatre shows bringing their old touring buddies The Mission on board, culminating in a night by the seaside at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.

The Mission have done the success/hiatus/resurgence thing as much as any other 80’s band, and with original members Craig Adams and Simon Hinkler back in the line up with frontman Wayne Hussey, they remain a solid live draw who gain critical acclaim wherever they go.

Tonight’s support set on a big stage is a stark contrast to my last encounter with this band. A sold out, epic 2 set marathon at a 300-capacity club at The Crescent Working Man’s Club in York last summer. It was probably the hottest gig I have ever been to. Tonight, as I stand watching the band crank out ‘Tower Of Strength’ to a backdrop of looming grey Yorkshire skies, I am thinking it was a bad decision to not bring a jacket!

The band are suitably attired in black. Led by a fully suited and booted Wayne Hussey, a bone white 12 string dangling at his hips, shades ever present, his dulcet tones filling the early evening air. Two fans are already atop shoulders making shapes at the singer, as he leads his band through a set of sublime goth rock hits. Yet, if you are oblivious to the band’s discography it probably seems a bit lost in the cold air of this theatre to be honest. While there is no denying the power of the likes of ‘Severina’, ‘Beyond The Pale’ and ‘Garden Of Delight’, the ethereal beauty of ‘Butterfly On A Wheel’ seems to lose something in the vast expanse of this open-air theatre. Even the obligatory confetti throw during ‘Wastelands’ seems a tad lackluster in daylight hours. Maybe Goth rock really does work better when the sun goes down.

That said, a killer cover of the Stooges ‘1969’ and the closer ‘Deliverance’ sound as powerful as I could have hoped, but overall The Mission were nowhere near as epic as the band I saw this time last year in a hot and sweaty club.

The skies are darkening, the rain has held off and the air is filled with the scent of dry ice and incense as The Cult take to the stage to great cheers. Grungy opener ‘Rise’ from 2001 album ‘Beyond Good And Evil’ is a welcome surprise. Dressed like a gothic-tinged eastern Shamen, Ian Astbury looks fitter than his years would suggest, and his voice is still as powerful as it ever was. To his left Billy Duffy, his hair and beard grown out, looks every inch the LA biker he has become, and with his Les Paul dangling from his knees and that killer tone, well… how could The Cult fail to excite tonight?

As they are promoting a new record, I wasn’t sure what sort of set we were to get, but with only 2 off the new record covered (‘Vendetta X’ & ‘Mirror’), a deep dive into ‘Electric’ and pretty much skipping anything post 1989 it was a dream set as far as I was concerned. The band were certainly on it tonight. ‘Sun King’ and ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ are played early and sound great. An extended and jammed out version of ‘The Witch’ sounds sublime and is a welcome highlight for me, but as ‘Electric’ remains not just my favourite Cult album but one of my favourite albums of all time, it is those songs that excite me the most tonight.

It has been said that Ian Astbury is a wild card frontman, like Bobby Gillespie or even Van Morrison, you never know what mood he’s going to be in or how he will react. He teases and goads the crowd throughout, calling the defiant chants of ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire!” unoriginal, criticizing the Stella Artois drinking antics and generally being a moody sod, but he’s animated, pulls all the rock star poses and his voice is on it all night.

‘King Contrary Man’, ‘Aphrodisiac Jacket’ and ‘Lil Devil’ sound amazing. C’mon, those riffs left my jaw on the floor when I first heard them as an excited teen and tonight takes me right back to those same feelings. Astbury, Duffy and the band deliver a full force rock machine and those songs sound sublime.

The crowd go mental for the obligatory one-two-three set closer of ‘Spiritwalker’, ‘Rain’ and ‘She Sells Sanctuary’. How could you not lose your shit to that sonic assault on the senses?

There’s an encore to be had, but what the hell haven’t they played? An Electric double dose of ‘Peace Dog’ and ‘Love Removal Machine’ gives the drunk and excited down the front one last chance to brave the mosh pit before the band disappear into the night and we head to the car park to beat the rush for the A64 home.

The Cult sealed their place in rock history many moons ago with a string of hits to match any of their contemporaries. Tonight, Astbury and Duffy led their band through a killer set of classics that energised the night sky across Yorkshire. With a recently released strong album and a killer band behind them, The Cult sound as vital and fresh in 2023 as they did back in 1989.

The Cult were truly on fire tonight, they’ll be back before the year is out, miss them and you’re missing out.

Author: Ben Hughes

The Arrogants – ‘Brainwash’ (Dirty Water Records)

The Arrogants – ‘Brainwash’ (Dirty Water Records)

The Arrogants deliver the sounds of ´60s Mod, Garage Rock, Psychedelic, Blues, and R&B. 

“Brainwash” is their 2nd full-length album, after extensively touring England, Spain, Germany, France…not to mention major gigs in Paris at the Bus Palladium (invited by Patrick Eudeline Rock & Folk, Best), at the Main Square Festival Arras, and many venues such as the Cavern Club in Liverpool, the Beat Bespoke Festival in London, and the Bassy Club in Berlin The Arrogants have emersed themselves in the sounds they play and deliver an authentic sound. 

With a change of line-up around the leader singer-guitarist Thomas Babczynski, The band have pretty impressive endorsements from the likes of Pete Townsend so they’re heading in the right direction. The album opens with a dreamy effect laden guitar before the rhythm section enter the frey with a groovy vibe being the MO of ‘Show Me How’ with th ebass walking all over the track its time to light up and drop out baby. It’s easy to see how Townsend is on board and why he personally invited them to play with The Who in Paris later this month. I’m sure the Parisians will dig this big time. From the gang vocals on ‘No Plan’.

The plan is a simple one, head back to the sixties and get digging all the groovers and shakers and start writing with those influences in mind. The record is groove-heavy and has everything from the wandering bass lines to the shimmering guitars and big phat grooving rhythms. The fact they have tracks entitled ‘Stoned Blues’ and ‘I’m Tripping’ tells you what you need to know about their influnences.

I do like the rapid paced ‘Look At Your Baby’ that sounds like it was written in a heartbeat and recorded on the move. great energy and thunderous bassline. Retro Rock is alive and well and these cats are tapping their cuban heels whilst kicking out th ejams motherfuckers and doing it really well. You certainly get value for money with fourteen tunes on offer. ‘So Blue’ is a snotty rumble that’ll get your floorboards bouncing.

‘Frankie Says’ is a sting in the tail where the band shake their shit before signing off with the gentle ‘She Smiles’. Job one – top recordwith a lot of music crammed onto one album and several shades of groovy to suit every taste. Check it out!

Buy Here

Author: Dom Daley