Alex has been busy helping rock-n-roller punks, THE DROWNS (USA) with their upcoming tour of Europe and the UK. He’s helped sort some nights on the close-knit UK DIY punk scene so they can play most nights of the tour. They are a fantastic band and well worth catching. Alex will join them on stage in Bradford as he’s a proper Yorkshireman these days 🙂 Tickets
They play a free-entry gig at the same pub in Peterborough Wonk Unit played this year, for those cheeky chaps the Scary Clown Presents. Facebook event here.
Vive Le Rock is proud to be teaming up with legendary Los Angeles record label Cleopatra Records for their 30th Anniversary celebrations at London’s O2 Islington Academy on Wednesday October 26th for what promises to be an unforgettable night of punk and dub rock!
Gathering together three trailblazing Cleopatra artists to shake Islington’s foundations, the 30th anniversary night will be headlined by Public Image Ltd legend Jah Wobble who will perform his reimagining of the second PIL album ‘Metal Box Rebuilt In Dub’ for the very first time.
Those Rebellion festival and ‘Homicide’ favourites 999 will play a special anniversary set to mark the occasion while the kings of the Roxy club and 1976 punk, Eater will make a super rare appearance to open proceedings!
The ringmaster and compere for the nights shenanigans will be none other than the Anti-Nowhere League’s larger-than-life frontman, the one and only Animal. There will be an exclusive aftershow party until late for VIP ticket holders who will also receive a goodie bag of Cleopatra and Vive Le Rock swag and the whole night will be soundtracked by Vive Le Rock DJs!
Cleopatra founder Brian Perera says: “Thirty years has felt like just a few years because time has just flown by while we’ve been having fun working with all of these amazing artists! We’re looking forward to our big anniversary celebration in London where we have so many fun surprises planned for you. We could not have lasted without you!”
TRAMPOLENE will release their fourth album Rules Of Love & War on 17th March 2023. Rules of Love & War features 12 new TRAMPOLENE original songs and was produced by Mike Moore (Baxter Dury/Liam Gallagher), Richard Jackson (Super Furry Animals) & Jason Stafford (Albion Rooms)
Says singer and lead Tramp Jack Jones: “I can’t believe we’ve managed to stay together long enough to make 4 albums. That’s the miracle. Having been friends since school. That’s what means the most to me now. We wanted the album to have a psychedelic, cinematic feel to it with grandiose layers, brass, strings and distorted guitars. I’m delighted with how it’s turned out. We got the title from ‘Down & Out In Paris & London’ (George Orwell). It’s felt like we’ve been living in an Orwellian world recently.”
The first single to be taken from TRAMPOLENE’s new album, inspired by a CNN report on climate change, is Thinking Again, which is available now from all reputable digital music providers.
The video for Thinking Again was written and directed by film maker Ricky Allen, Rules of Love & War will be available on CD, cassette, digital download and 12” black or red vinyl, as well as exclusive formats and signed items. Preorder the album here
Fresh from opening and selling out the new Swansea Arena, TRAMPOLENE have announced a headline tour of the UK for April ‘23. Tickets for the Rules Of Love & War Tour are available to preorder now and go on general sale on Monday 17th October @ 10am from Here & Here
The full dates are:APRIL 7th Friday Glasgow – The Attic
8th Saturday Newcastle – The Cluny 2
11th Tuesday Nottingham – Bodega
12th Wednesday Manchester – Yes
13th Thursday Leeds – Brudenell Social club
14th Friday Bristol -Rough Trade
15th Saturday Swansea – Bunkhouse
20th Thursday London – 100 Club
TRAMPOLENE will also be playing six headline shows for Independent venue week in January and February 2023. Tickets are available now.
The explosive new project from the warped musical mind of rock’n’roll evangelist Jim Jones kicks up several gears!
Following their rapturously received shows across the UK and Europe, Jim Jones All Stars have announced details of their debut single and live dates including a special Halloween hometown gig.
‘It’s Your Voodoo Working’ – originally recorded by Charles Sheffield – is released on 7th October via Ako-Lite Records and will be available via all major download and streaming services. Recorded earlier this year at Memphis Magnetic Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, this thick slice of greasy R’n’B is fuelled by grinding rhythms, rude horns and augmented by guest vocalist Nicki Hill.
Says Jim Jones: “Exciting times! This will be first blood for both Jim Jones All Stars and Ako-Lite Records – and ‘It’s Your Voodoo Working’ is the perfect addition to any Halloween playlist.”
To celebrate the release of ‘It’s Your Voodoo Working’, Jim Jones All Stars will play a special Halloween show at the Walthamstow Trades Hall in London on Saturday, 29th October. This is the band’s first indoor London headline show since February. With a license extension and after party until 1am, Jim Jones All Stars will be joined by variety of special guests. The full line up will be announced soon.
Speaking of the gig, Jim Jones says: “It feels great to be back on home turf. The last London show sold out well in advance, so this time we’ve got a bigger venue. It’s a Saturday night and with buses and tubes running well after closing, this is going to be one hell of a Halloween!
“This is the one you’ve been waiting for!”
Jim Jones All Stars also play The Golden Lion in Bristol on 14th October.
Always great to be back at the Manchester Ritz. No matter the sponsor attached to the venue you know always in for a special night in splendid surroundings.
The Gulps A riotous performance landing somewhere between the Rapture and the Icarus Line or perhaps a domesticated Mooney Suzuki. Either way it’s very fitting on night celebrating the year 2001. There is a bit of a flat start but once the sound engineer warms up their guitars we start hearing all the raw power they can muster. Definitely living up to all the praise these guys are receiving. I enjoyed it and so will you! Ash The songs being played tonight soundtrack my formative teenage years. More often than not when I look back on my happier memories of watching a band on a main stage of a festival, it’s a warm summer’s day and Ash are playing with Charlotte in their number with the most enviable greatest hits set and absolutely killing it!
We are here tonight celebrating the album by the once quartet that made an indelible mark on the early 21st century and stabbed through the heart of the unstoppable beast that was Nu Metal. With a blade of sugary, sunshine, indie rock and distorted pop goodness. Long before the Strokes and the White Stripes, Ash brought guitar rock back to the teenagers bedroom. No turntables were in sight and it never sounded so good!
The evening is kicked off with the inevitable double stomp to the face of ‘walking barefoot’, it may be mid September but I can smell the freshly cut grass and all that good shit that comes with a nostalgic summer memory. I’m not always a fan of the “classic album revisited” setlists but tonight it doesn’t feel wooden. It feels honest and earnest. From then on we blaze through the classics. ‘shining light’, ‘burn baby burn’, sadly ‘candy’ becomes the inevitable casualty where those in attendance need a piss/fag/drink or all of the above. Tbf every track from the album is a memorable number and gets a great showing tonight.
When face to face with a classic album with so many memorable singles it’s easy to overlook the album tracks. No issues in that department tonight, the long converted throng of the crowd is eating up track after track. Honorable mentions to ‘someday’ and ‘Nicole’.
As if all 13 tracks of Free All Angels were not enough, here in Manchester we are treated to a most enviable encore. The classics are well represented, obviously to get all the hits in and the whole studio you would need a Springsteen length set and of course it is a school night. ‘numbskull’, ‘a life less ordinary’, ‘kung fu’ and ‘orpheus’ to name a few. Personally, I would have liked to have got a few B-sides from the era in (‘gabriel’ etc) but you can’t win them all. The night is finished off nicely with the always welcome ‘girl from Mars’ and gets the love from the crowd it so deserves. It’s been a cracking night to launch the vinyl reissue (don’t forget 1977 is also available!) and it’s always great to have Charlotte back with the lads even if only for a couple of gigs. Another great evening to go alongside all my other classic Ash memories. Nostalgia and satisfaction guaranteed.
This was a strange week all round, uncertainty if the show would go ahead as a result of events in Scotland and my regular chauffeur pulling out. The gig was given the go ahead and I decided to take my 23 year old son ( thus ensuring I wouldn’t be the youngest in the audience). I have been accused of “child abuse” for making him listen to Angelwitch albums on the school run, now I was going to subject this pop punk loving drummer to prog epics over twenty minutes long.
I could see him enjoying the second half even if he didn’t know this Genesis album the vocals would keep him interested but the first hour of mostly instrumental Hackett highlights would be a tougher sell. My saving grace was as a musician he could marvel at the band and boy what a band. Ace of Wands opened the show then it got dark with the Devil’s Cathedral with Nad Sylvan singing the tale of the rogue understudy, Everyday sounded more Genesis style then A Tower Struck Down with its ominous doom brought us back down to earth. Camino Royal was a highlight then the musical section from Shadow Of The Hierophant brought the first half to a close. A thumbs up from my Green Day boy so things are looking up for the second half.
A half-hour interval for us older gentlemen with dodgy prostates was welcome then the main event begins. Like many mid fifty-year-olds my introduction to Genesis came via Marillion and I know it has been said a million times the clues are there. As an avid listener of Tommy Vance, his end-of-year list regularly featured Suppers Ready in the top three but it took me a few years of Grendel before I was ready to tackle it.
New backdrop lots of dry ice and Nad like an overlooking angel resplendent in a long black coat and red eyes( a simple but effective trick of two penlights with red bulbs ) heralded Watcher Of The Skies, swiftly followed by the I’ve always thought underrated Time Table which was one of the many highlights.
Get Em Out By Friday as always was masterful but Can Utility and the Coastliners I’ve always not taken to and tonight was no exception. Steve was left alone with an acoustic for the sublimely beautiful Horizons then it was time for the behemoth that is Suppers Ready. It was everything it should be overblown, pretentious, and a lot of fun I must admit I had something in my eye at the end of it.
Set list FM is my go-to cheat and the opening night of the tour in my fellow Welsh City of Swansea had Firth of Fifth and The Knife as encores, we got the former which with its sweeping keys and Steve’s magnificent arpeggios (check me out with technical terms ) was my favourite part of the evening but unfortunately instead of the stabbing staccato (and again) of The Knife we got a trio of Myopia/slogans/Los Endos very good but I had Jack Knife envy.
A fantastic night not every day you convert a twenty-three-year-old pop-punk drummer into a prog fiend now he will want Tales From Topographic Oceans but that may be a step to far even for me.
The long-awaited Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners debut album is finally here, 3 years after The Wildhearts main man formed the country-tinged project with guitarist Neil Ivison and bassist Nick Lyndon of Stone Mountain Sinners. Picking up drummer Shane Dixon along the way, the band retreated to Mwnci studios in the heart of West Wales with Dave Draper at the helm and recorded an album that finally sees the light of day, 2 years after it was mixed.
With a release on Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records label, the home of RPM faves such as Jesse Malin, Ryan Hamilton and Prima Donna, we expect very good things from Ginger and his boys.
This self-titled, debut long player is a 10-track affair that takes a trip down a dusty, country road, taking in a choice cover or two along the way. Opening track and first single ‘Wasted Times’ is a perfect introduction to the good time, southern rock n’ roll that The Sinners deliver. There are catchy melodies aplenty, lush harmonies for miles and a killer chorus that refuses to leave your brain. It instantly sounds like an old time classic. You wanted the boys to start big? Well, they delivered!
It seems trading his Les Paul for a Telecaster and sharing lead vocals was exactly the therapy Ginger needed after the headfuck that The Wildhearts has been for him the past few years. There’s a sense of camaraderie here, and the immediate reaction I get from this album is how remarkably upbeat, positive and fun it is. I mean, 3 songs into this album there is a tune called ‘Footprints In The Sand’ that is so uplifting it gave me goosebumps by the first chorus. I presumed it was a cover, but it’s not. With Neil taking lead vocals over dampened chords, it sounds like a classic Springsteen track, or a John Cougar Mellencamp tune, but it’s not. With a rousing, building chorus over ringing chords, you will swear you know it already. It’s the sort of anthemic, Americana I adore, and I think you will too.
‘Work In Progress’ has more southern boogie than a Georgia Satellites album, but with that certain Ginger trademark song structure. And just when you think you have the song sussed, in comes some crazy-ass female vocals that take us into Black Oak Arkansas territory. But who is the mysterious Ruby Starr impersonator? We need to know.
With no press blurb or details I have no idea who writes what regarding the original tunes, but Wildheart and Ivison wear their influences on their sleeves and covers-wise they give us a couple of classic album tracks you may or may not be aware of. The band tackle the aforementioned Georgia Satellites ‘Six Years Gone’. The faithful reworking is perfectly executed and they make it their own. But with Neil taking lead vocals again, Status Quo’s ‘Dirty Water’ is turned into the euphoric, country rock classic you never knew you needed in your life.
Elsewhere, the beautiful, acoustic balladry of ‘Breakout’ is up there with some of the frontman’s finest reflective moments. The likes of ‘If You Find Yourself In London Town’ and ‘Geordie In Wonderland’ come to mind. Full of lush harmonies and a sense of longing and regret that could well bring a tear to your eye by the end.
They finish the album with a tongue-in-cheek comedy tune that nods its head to The Wurzels. There’s a ‘live in the studio’ feel that sees all the albums’ singers take a verse. With a great gang vocal sing-a-long, and a fade out to raucous clapping and cheering, it seems the perfect way for The Sinners to bow out.
With a good deal of country twang, a whole heap of glorious melody and an overall sense of fun, Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners have delivered a debut album that is a much-needed ray of sunshine in these strange and dark times. Guaranteed to leave a smile on your face and a sense of contentment within, this album is proof that music is the greatest mood changer out there.
With the follow-up album already recorded and the band touring in October, it seems the future of the UK Americana/roots music scene is firmly in their hands.
Iconic British Bands Plot First Ever Co-Headlining Tour For November;Coast-to-coast tour includes stops in Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Boston, New York City, Toronto + more
Two of the UK’s most enduring and influential bands have announced a joint headline tour of North America for November. Suede (known as ‘The London Suede’ In North America) and Manic Street Preachers both rose to prominence in the early 90s on the back of indisputably brilliant debut albums – 1992’s Generation Terrorists and 1993’s Suede – and electrifying live shows. Over the course of the next several years they would grow from punk rock youthquakers to arena-filing rock stars, earning their positions as national treasures in the pantheon of British music. Their first ever co-headlining tour kicks off in Vancouver, Canada on November 3rd.
Beloved by music fans on both sides of the Atlantic, Suede took a hiatus to work on other projects between 2002 and 2013, returning with the acclaimed Bloodsports album, while Manic Street Preachers continued to record together, releasing a string of hit albums, but rarely visiting the USA and Canada. Recognized as two of the most iconic bands of their generation this double headline tour is a rare and unmissable treat for music fans.
Suede and the Manics will be performing songs from their full catalogue, giving North American audiences a unique chance to experience fiercely loved classics from the last 30 years. Suede release their ninth album, Autofiction, on September 16th on BMG. They last performed in the US at Coachella in 2011. Manic Street Preachers released their fourteenth studio album, the UK #1 The Ultra Vivid Lament, last year. They last toured North America in April 2015.
Band presales: Wednesday, September 14 at 10AM local – Thursday, September 15 at 10PM local
General onsale: Friday September 16 at 10AM local
Suede’s Brett Anderson says, “I can’t think of a band I’d rather share a stage with than the Manic Street Preachers. They have long been an inspiration to us, and I know there are thousands of Suede fans who feel the same. It’s nearly 30 years since we last played together and I think these shows are going to be something really special.”
Manic Street Preachers added, “We first toured with Suede in 1994 when we played with them all across Europe. Back then, it always felt like both our bands shared a certain kind of kinship, both aesthetically and historically. It still feels that way now, nearly three decades later.”
“This joint tour feels like a fantastic opportunity for both our sets of fans to share an amazing live experience. And to do this in the USA and Canada in 2022 makes it even more special as our tours there are so rare these days. We truly can’t wait.”
Tour Dates
NOV 3: VANCOUVER, Canada @ PNE FORUM (Suede close) NOV 5: SEATTLE, WA @ NEPTUNE THEATRE (Manic Street Preachers close) NOV 7: SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ THE WARFIELD (Suede close) NOV 9: ANAHEIM, CA @ HOUSE OF BLUES (Manic Street Preachers close) NOV 10: LOS ANGELES, CA @ THE PALLADIUM (Suede close) NOV 13: AUSTIN, TX @ ACL LIVE AT THE MOODY THEATER (Manic Street Preachers close) NOV 16: CHICAGO, IL @ AUDITORIUM THEATER (Suede close) NOV 18: SILVER SPRING, MD @ THE FILLMORE (Manic Street Preachers close) NOV 19: PHILADELPHIA, PA @ THE MET (Suede close) NOV 21: BROOKLYN, NY @ KINGS THEATRE (Manic Street Preachers close) NOV 22: BOSTON, MA @ THE ORPHEUM (Suede close) NOV 24: TORONTO, Canada @ MASSEY HALL (Manic Street Preachers close)
Diamond Head are of seminal importance to heavy metal music, and their debut album Lightning To The Nations is a key influence on the genre. “We wrote instinctively,” explains co-founding member and riff lord Brian Tatler “we had an undeniably unique sound. Four young lads, each with an element that, when combined, produced an alloy that was our own heavy metal sound.”
Lightning To The Nations (The White Album) [Remastered 2021] is the ultimate version of this ultimate album, which is set for release via Silver Lining Music on 30th September 2022. The release will feature not only the original album from ¼ inch master tapes which Lars Ulrich helped Brian Tatler retrieve back in 1990, but also alternative mixes of classic cuts “Lightning To The Nations”, “The Prince”, “Sucking My Love”, “Am I Evil?” and “Sweet And Innocent” never publicly released (or heard) before. There is also brand-new cover artwork based on an idea Brian Tatler had, to show a character referred to as ‘The Lightning God’.
“In 1990 as a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the NWOBHM, Lars Ulrich and Geoff Barton compiled the double album ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal ‘79 Revisited’ which came out on Phonogram Records. It was Lars who made it his business to track down wherever possible the original master tapes because all he had were the old, often scratched singles,” recalls Brian. “He told me that he would often call up members of the bands they wanted to feature on the album and the confused guy on the other end of the phone would assume it was wind-up. ‘Who? Lars Ulrich? From Metallica? Fuck off!’ When Lars called me, I explained that the original ¼ inch masters for ‘Lightning To The Nations’ hadn’t been seen since they were sent by our old manager to a guy called Horgi at Woolfe Records years back. Apparently Horgi didn’t return the tapes, so Lars dispatched someone from Metallica’s German label to pay the guy a visit… The tapes were duly returned and after Phonogram had finished with them, Lars made sure they came home to me. I still have them stored safely.”
The original tapes were first quite literally baked (a process which allows degraded tape to be returned to playable quality), then restored and digitized before Diamond Head frontman Rasmus ‘Ras’ BomAndersen remastered the tracks, ending up with a pristine edition of the original recordings and the recently discovered alternative mixes. Pure treasure for all fans of both Diamond Head and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the restored masters are supplemented by a set of bonus tracks originally recorded in 1980s. Rounding-out this ultimate edition are a set of deep and detailed notes on both the era and each song by Brian Tatler.
“I don’t really know what inspired ‘Lightning to the Nations’, says Tatler in his notes. “I can’t think of any other song by any other band that sounds like it and that’s a hell of a claim. Sean got the title from a painting he had seen in an art book somewhere and thought it would make a good title for a song. Once we had the song and it became track one, side one, it seemed like a good album title too. It’s still in the live set after forty-years.”
Later this year, Diamond Head will embark on a string of shows when they will be joining Saxon as special guests for the European and UK dates on their Seize The Day world tour.
EUROPE: 2 October – FRANCE – Paris, Trianon 3 October – NETHERLANDS – Tilburg, 013 4 October – GERMANY – Hannover, Capitol 6 October – GERMANY – Berlin, Admiralspalast 7 October – GERMANY – Munich, Muffathalle 8 October – GERMANY – Offenbach, Capitol 10 October – ITALY – Milan, Alcatraz 11 October – SWITZERLAND – Pratteln Z7 12 October – BELGIUM – Antwerp, Trix 13 October – NETHERLANDS – Haarlem, Patronaat 15 October – DENMARK – Aarhus, Train 17 October – SWEDEN – Gothenburg, Pustervik 18 October – NORWAY – Oslo, Rockefeller 19 October – DENMARK – Copenhagen, Amager Bio 21 October – NETHERLANDS – Zwolle, Hedon 22 October – FRANCE – Metz, La Bam 23 October – SWITZERLAND – Lausanne, Les Docks
UK: 11 November – Ipswich, Regent Theatre 12 November – Southampton O2 Guildhall 13 November – Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion 14 November – Cardiff, St. David’s Hall 15 November – Bath, Forum 16 November – Cambridge, Corn Exchange 18 November – Newcastle, O2 City Hall 19 November – Blackburn, King George’s Hall 20 November – Aberdeen, Music Hall 21 November – Glasgow, Barrowland 22 November – Hull, City Hall 23 November – York, Barbican 25 November – Leicester, De Montfort Hall 26 November – London, Roundhouse For EU tickets visit: https://www.saxon747.com/tour For UK tickets visit: https://myticket.co.uk/artists/saxon
After the gig drought of the last couple of years, it’s important to take every opportunity to get out there and support your favourite artists. Here in the southwest of France, it’s no different. There haven’t been many gigs of late, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that UK Subs legend Alvin Gibbs was playing at a bar just a few miles from chez Moi. Yes, it’s Thursday evening, yes, I’m working tomorrow, but let’s go!
I’ve stopped off at Pub Gabariers before, on an afternoon ride, so I knew it was a nice spot, next to the canal. Hearing that he was due to be joined on guitar by Steve Crittall (Black Bombers, ex-Godfathers, all-round nice chap) was the icing on the cake.
It’s a relaxed atmosphere at the pub/bistro, with just enough room inside for the band and a small audience, but Alvin is on home turf, having moved near Bordeaux some years ago. So, we get a variety of classics from the Subs, Iggy Pop/The Stooges, Alice Cooper, as well as some tunes from Alvin’s fine solo album, ‘Your Disobedient Servant’.
While the vocals could be a little louder, the bass is unsurprisingly upfront, and Steve’s guitar is suitably savage during the likes of ‘Down On The Street’ and ‘I Got A Right’, hitting just the right tone on ‘1969’. It was particularly good to hear ‘Ghost Train’ and ‘Clumsy Fingers’, and the Jonesy riff of ‘Tuff Baby’, with the surprise inclusion of ‘Children Of The Revolution’ and ‘Brand New Cadillac’. Something for everyone, including the handful of ragged Subs t-shirts; ‘Tomorrow’s Girl’ and ‘Warhead’ to end, complete with audience participation.
An unexpected treat on a Thursday evening. I hope to see the Subs again, probably in the UK, their recent album ‘Reverse Engineering’ is excellent, and tonight showed that Alvin’s songs merit a second solo album…
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