Reviews

UK Country Music Duo The Shires hold a free secret gig for fans showcasing new music

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UK Country Music duo The Shires held a secret launch party at Embankment One in London on Thursday July 14th.

The purpose of the event was to showcase new songs that will feature on The Shires second album MY UNIVERSE which is to be released October 7th.

Fans had to enter a contest to gain access to this event which held only a couple of hundred people. At 6pm doors opened and fans were lead up some stairs then down again to a standing area in front of a stage. The balcony was held for press and media outlets as well as family and friends including co writers to some of The Shires songs Nina Nesbitt and Twinnie Lee Moore and new country duo Darline. There were very many familiar faces amongst the fans, some of whom had been strong supporters of The Shires since the very beginning of their career back in 2014 when their first single Nashville Grey Skies was released. 

Bob Harris-Radio 2 DJ and Country Music fan who hosts a Country Radio hour every Thursday at 7pm – introduced the duo before they took to the stage. Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes who make up The Shires, then came on stage after their band played the intro to Nashville Grey Skies. The audience cheering and applauding their arrival set a great atmosphere. The fans sang along to every word with The Shires as they looked into the crowd smiling and waving to those they recognised. 

Addressing the crowd and briefly talking about their career journey so far, The Shires introduced new song I’m not even drunk right now which was a fun up- beat track and I can see becoming a crowd pleaser at future shows. Beats To Your Rhythm was the next new song which was more of a repetitive song but a good fast paced song with a much more rocky sound than Shires fans are used to. Title track to new album My Universe seemed more of an anthem track with uplifting lyrics and a nice melody. As well as adding a more rocky sound to their material, The Shires have stayed true to their stylings, especially with their talent to always produce stunning ballads, so fans were left very emotional and entranced during the beautiful heart wrenching Daddy’s Little Girl, a song written by Crissie about her late Father.

Glad to have been able to get through the song wthout crying, Crissie thanked the audience as Ben took to the keyboard ready for next new song Naked followed by title song from the last album Brave, which is a fan favourite for many reasons as the lyrics mean so much to many people. Members from Crissie's Gospel choir joined them on stage for the song A Thousand Hallelujahs. Of course, there were not a thousand hallejuhas in the song as Ben too jokes. The gospel choir were flawless and gave the song that oomph to deliver a more powerful sound.

The set ended with Friday Night, another song from the debut album Brave. A typical sing a long song, everyone was singing every word as well as raising their glasses in the air as the lyrics chant put your glasses in the air.

The Shires said their goodbyes as they left the stage. After much crowd chanting, they returned to the stage with new song Desperate which Crissie tells us almost did not make the album but she insisted upon it being included. 

After the show The Shires held a meet and greet for the fans which was in a photo booth and there were various props people could use to wear for fun. Unfortunately, due to time, I could not stay for this but I heard that it was great fun and that The Shires were very chatty and grateful to each and every fan.

Going by the songs that I have heard tonight, I can say with confidence that I think the new album My Universe is going to be spectacular. I am very much looking forward to it and have already pre ordered my copy.

The Shires new album My Universe will be released October 7th and they have also announced a Tour for the end of November and December. Please see the press release below for pre order details and pre sale ticket info:

 

BAND TO PLAY SHOWS ACROSS THE UK IN NOV/DEC NEW ALBUM ‘MY UNIVERSE’ RELEASED 7TH OCT – EXCLUSIVE TOUR PRE-SALE ACCESS WITH ALBUM PRE-ORDERS FOLLOWS SECRET ONE EMBANKMENT SHOW LAST NIGHT WHERE THE SHIRES WOWED FANS AND PREVIEWED NEW TRACKS

“Spearheading a British country boom” – Daily Mail “Voices entwine and musical magic ensues”- The Independent on Sunday

Fresh from a triumphant headline set on Glastonbury’s Acoustic Stage, UK country duo The Shires have just announced they will be touring the UK later this year. The tour will see the critically acclaimed pair play tracks from their forthcoming album, alongside fan favourites from their gold selling debut ‘Brave’ to gig goers up and down the country finishing at London’s prestigious O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Ben Earle stated: “It’s something magical to be on stage and sharing your songs and seeing the fans’ reaction. We’re particularly excited to share our new tracks with the fans on this tour.”

Last night, Crissie and Ben gave fans a chance to hear some of their new tracks when they played a secret album launch show at London’s One Embankment. Previewing songs from their forthcoming second album ‘My Universe’, which will be released on 7th October, The Shires showcased how recording in Music City: Nashville has further honed their songwriting craft for making clever and catchy Country-Pop that continues to push the genre into the UK mainstream. Last year, they were one of only a handful of British acts to see their debut release certified Gold alongside Jess Glynne, James Bay and Years & Years. The first UK country act ever to have a top 10 album in their home country, The Shires have been at the forefront of the British Country music movement which has seen a sea change in the opinion of the British public, who have embraced the genre and UK bands making music inspired by US country artists.

Eager fans can secure their tickets for the tour when they pre-order a special edition of the new album at HMV before midnight on Monday 18th July. The HMV exclusive edition of ‘My Universe’ includes exclusive artwork and two bonus tracks. Those who order the album before midnight Monday 18th July will receive a unique code to give them access to the tour ticket pre-sale from 9am Thursday 21st July before general on-sale at 9am Friday July 22nd.

pre order here http://www.hmv.com/music/the-shires-announce-new-album-my-universe-and-massive-uk-tour

On recording the new album in Nashville, The Shires said, ,“It was great to go back to Nashville. This time we had a different approach as we knew it better and we practically lived there. We have friends there now and for some reason when you write and record there you just feel more inspired. It definitely comes through in the new music.”

The band are already making Country the soundtrack to the summer performing at a series of high profile music festivals and events including Platform and Lakes Festivals this weekend and Bracknell, Lytham, Castle Roc, Cottingham and supporting Sir Tom Jones at Bedford Park still to come. This follows their headline debut at Glastonbury Festival last month and Cornbury Festival last weekend.

The live dates will follow an intense period of song writing for the Shires, who have been working on their new album in Music City: Nashville. Ben and Crissie co-wrote some tracks with top country music writers including Kip Moore and recorded their album at Sound Stage Studios, one of the most prestigious recording studios in Nashville, which has cut records for other country superstars such as Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum. They also graced the stage at the famous Grand Ole Opry and can add their name to Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Garth Brooks and a veritable who’s who of Country music who have played at the famous Nashville landmark venue.

Here’s where fans can catch The Shires on their UK tour later this year:

NEW TOUR DATES O2 Academy, Oxford – Friday 18th November, 2016 Anvil, Basingstoke – Sunday 20th November, 2016 O2 Guildhall, Southampton – Monday 21st November, 2016 Royal and Derngate, Northampton – Wednesday 23rd November, 2016 St. David’s Hall, Cardiff – Thursday 24th November, 2016 Corn Exchange, Bedford – Friday 25th November, 2016 Corn Exchange, Cambridge – Sunday 27th November, 2016 Colston Hall, Bristol – Monday 28th November, 2016 Dome, Brighton – Tuesday 29th November, 2016 Venue Cymru, Llandudno – Friday 2nd December, 2016 O2 Institute, Birmingham – Saturday 3rd December, 2016 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester – Sunday 4th December, 2016 The Sage, Gateshead – Monday 5th December, 2016 O2 ABC, Glasgow – Wednesday 7th December, 2016 Barbican, York – Thursday 8th December, 2016 O2 Academy, Liverpool – Friday 9th December, 2016 O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – Sunday 11th December, 2016

The band will also be performing at the following festivals this summer:

Platform Festival – Saturday 16th July, 2016 @ 1:00 pm. City: York, Venue: The Old Station, Pocklington Lakes Festival – Saturday 16th July, 2016 @ 6:00 pm. City: Skegness. Venue: Sycamore Lakes Park Bracknell Festival – Saturday 30th July, 2016 @ 12:00 pm. City: Bracknell. Venue: South Hill Park Grounds Lytham Festival – Tuesday 2nd August, 2016 @ 6:00 pm. City: Lytham. Venue: Lytham Green Supporting Tom Jones – Sunday 7th August, 2016 @ 5:00 pm. City: Bedford. Venue: Bedford Park Falmouth Week – Wednesday 10th August, 2016 @ 7:30 pm. City: Falmouth. Venue: Falmouth Events Square – JUST ADDED Castle Roc Music Festival – Saturday 20th August, 2016 @ 12:00 pm. City: Chepstow. Venue: Chepstow Castle Cottingham Music Festival – Sunday 28th August, 2016 @ 7:30 pm. City: Cottingham. Venue: Civic Hall

Will Young at Henley Festival 2016 and why Henley is a ‘go-to’ festival!

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Henley Festival is a rather sophisticated 'black tie' event held over five nights on the river bank at Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire – notably most famous for its annual regatta. Henley Festival has been running for years with this year being its 34th year. The festival, limited to approx 5,000 tickets, offers live music, comedy, art and fashion as well as many marquees with fine dining, which have to be pre booked, as well as other food and drink outlets spread around the festival.

Henley Festival is more than just a festival, it is an excuse for a pleasant evening out with family and friends where you can dress up as extravagantly as you wish – you will only be looked upon admiringly – it is most certainly the place to be and is so spectacularly different from any other festival that, instead of wellies, you see designer shoes, instead of rowdy beer drinkers, people in deep conversation holding glasses of champagne or Pimms and the only smoking I saw were of cigars as ladies walked around the festival in old theatric Interval style over the shoulder holders selling them.
 
This year, the line up was one constantly talked about, especially with regard to Wednesday headliner Sir Elton John. Sir Elton’s night sold out in minutes, with the other nights featuring Elvis Costello, Bryn Terfel and the WNO Orchestra, Dame Shirley Bassey and Will Young following closely behind. Speaking to some of the guests, they informed me that the night Sir Elton played, the festival was over subscribed by approximately 2,000 extra ticket holders, making it impossible for guests to move freely and becoming quite a health and safety concern. This, I was told, took away the true essence of Henley Festival's charm and left many loyal attendees disappointed, angry and perplexed as to how this could be allowed to happen.
 
On Sunday night, the night I attended, was Will Young’s night and was, thankfully, quite a different story. Arriving promptly at 6pm, I took the short walk from the car park to the main entrance dressed up for the night as it is not everyday you get to attend a Black Tie event. The entrance had a beautiful pop up doorway, in blue with silver sparkly writing and with entrance staff dressed up just as smart as the guests.
 
As soon as I arrived I was drawn towards all the guests as they shone out as visually artistic shown by the range of outfits worn, the different styles, colours, hats, bags and even down to the shoes they were wearing. People really went out of their way to look the part and look the part they did. I loved the street performers who were dressed in their variety of spectacular costumes. There were performers dressed as Angels with large wings moving around on rollers, two men dressed as tall – small headed men with their actual heads being lower down making you wonder how they could see. Over the course of the other nights there were Gorilla costumes, tree costumes and various artists with painted faces and silver hair.

Oh and the toilets…the toilets were AMAZING…so clean and not your typical festival toilet, that is a reason alone to go to Henley Festival, ha!

Despite this being a relatively small festival, you couldn't get bored as there was something for everyone.  Mini art galleries were dotted along the walkway to the main lawn area, overlooking the river. There were many boats moored in the middle of the Thames eagerly waiting to hear a night time of music from their decks.
 
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Bar had prime position at the far end providing a fairly similar look to the original bar in London, and was a round pop – up venue which had impressive décor both outside and in.
 
In the centre of the main lawn area were six large boards raising awareness for the charity The Children’s Society who the festival were working in partnership with.  The boards all carried a statement from Young carers telling of their aspirations in life whereas their reality was far different. Very moving to read, it tugged at your heart strings to discover that so many children become young carers for their siblings or parents from such a young age. The charity is a very important part of Henley Festival. The Children’s Society is a national charity that runs local services, helping children and young people when they are at their most vulnerable, and have nowhere left to turn. They also campaign for changes to laws affecting children and young people, to stop the mistakes of the past being repeated in the future. Their supporters around the country fund their services and join their campaigns to show children and young people they are on their side. More information on the charity can be found here : http://www.henley-festival.co.uk/support-henley-festival/henley-festival-trust/The-Childrens-Society
 
And here: http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk
 
With various stages scattered around the festival, I started at Ronnie Scott's as The Ronnie Scott's Story began. The Jazz Band took centre stage and played a beautiful set of Jazz music which was both relaxing and mesmerising. I did not stay for the duration as I wanted to take a look at the other stages before Will Young commenced. Just outside the main entrance stood The Pizza Express Live stage, with 90’s pop Jazz band Shakatak. I was not aware of this band prior to this event but they certainly pulled a crowd and really knew how to put on a show. With the female lead singer being a Jazz powerhouse and a band really comfortable with knowing how to fully play their instruments and playing a very impressive set, they certainly knew how to entertain a crowd.
 
I quickly moved on to The Comedy Stage, expecting to see comedy. I was pleasantly surprised to catch the end of Shlomo. Shlomo is a British beatboxing artist, technologist, composer and teacher. I only caught his last two tracks which left me gutted that I hadn't watched the entire performance. His audience absolutely loved him and, being a young beatboxer, I was surprised by the amount of older people really getting into his set. Multi-talented, I would love to see this artist on a bigger stage one day. He had great original material and had so much energy running all over the stage singing, beatboxing and mixing. I did miss out on buying a cd he was selling afterwards as he had a long line of fans and I had to get to my seat for Will Young but Shlomo, I want one, so I hope there is somewhere I can purchase one?

Now to the main event of the evening. Will Young, who was closing the evening and the entire festival. Will was performing on The Floating Stage which is so named because the stage was built mostly on the actual river with the audience on the river bank. The seated areas were either on the lawn in front of the stage or the grandstand, the grandstand being the most expensive ticket. I obviously knew who Will Young was as I had watched Pop Idol together with most people my age and his song Leave Right Now was one of the most played songs the year it was released.  But I had never really sat down and paid full attention to his other music. So…prior to this night, I binged listened to Will Young without barely coming up for air so that I knew what to expect. Well..Will had a lot more songs I knew than I had realised and his new album 85% Proof was very impressive. I could not find a bad song on there, no fillers at all, so this made me especially excited for his show.

From the minute his band arrived on stage the crowd were cheering. Running to the microphone, he started with the song Joy. The audience sang along whilst large beach balls were floating on the stage. Love Revolution, one of my favourites, was the next song and most people stood up during this, which was hardly surprising with it being such an upbeat song. Will addressed the audience telling them how happy he was to be back at Henley Festival, his home town, and how his father lives on the other side of the river. Will has such a great, fun personality with a typical British sense of humour, so had the audience howling throughout, myself included. Stories about his dad walking around the festival with him debating whether some lady was wearing knickers or not and later texting Will at midnight to say “ You know, I don’t think she was wearing knickers.” Hilariously, Will’s mother had been banned for life from Henley Regatta for purposefully jumping in a puddle to ruin a lady's white dress back in her youth. With many other funny stories, Will entertained the crowd the entire evening and even sang Happy Birthday to a fan in the front row.
 
Will’s vocals are just as perfect as they sound on his studio recordings. His tone is so unique and beautiful that he was a joy to listen to. He made use of his stage with little dance moves and he waved to the audience throughout – giving a shout out too to ticket holders who were stood at the side of the lawn area. Will’s band and backing singers were also amazing, giving us a flawless performance in a perfect summer evening setting. It was lovely to see people on their boats dancing and there were crowds of people over the other side of the river too. At one point in the evening, Will asked everyone to get their phones out to shine them and making them sway them in the air, side to side, up and down and all around. Even the people on the boats and other side of the river had their phones shining which I doubt he knew and it was truly spectacular to witness.

The set list was a lovely mix of his big hits as well as album tracks. We were treated with probably, most peoples' favourite songs and, as the night went on, people got merrier and more confident to get up and dance. Everyone sang along to songs such as Light My Fire, Leave Right Now and Jealousy with Will often holding the microphone to the crowd to hear them sing. We were also treated with a rendition of Evergreen which was Will’s winning song on Pop Idol and was not originally on the set list. The encore saw Will returning to stage on a mobility scooter with a fixed keyboard doing a cover version of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance.
 
I simply could not fault Will's performance and am so glad that I went. As someone who was neither a fan, or not a fan prior to this show, I can most certainly say that I am now a Will Young fan and would definitely go to see him perform live again. I even overheard a guest saying that she had attended all five nights of the festival and that Will Young was the best performer by far.
 
His show was certainly not average, I don’t think you could ever call that average!

The night closed with a spectacular show of Fireworks over the river followed by a performance from comedian The Boy With Tape On His Face on The Comedy Stage who I sadly had to miss due to travel commitments but I hear he is fantastic.
 
Set List
 
Joy
Love Revolution
Runaway
Light My Fire
(The Doors cover)
Thank You
Changes
Who Am I
You and I
Grace
Switch It On
Leave Right Now
 
Encore:
 
Let's Dance
(David Bowie cover)
Your Game
Jealousy
All Time Love
Evergreen

Cream @ Amnesia Ibiza 2016

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Its Thursday night and the Summer Festival Guide crew is in the sunny White Isle otherwise more commonly known as Ibiza!

We immediately notice this morning that our hotel is much more busier than it was earlier this week which makes me think that Ibiza is going to be busy tonight. With so many amazing clubs here, there is one club and event that we would definitely not miss. Tonight internationally renowned Amnesia hosts global super clubbing brand Cream, this happens every Thursday during the summer months and brings together some of the biggest artists on the planet.

This year you will find the likes of Paul Van Dyk, Markus Schultz, Above & Beyond, Armin Van Buuren, Fatboy Slim, Steve Aoki, Knife Party, Laidback Luke, Pete Tong and many more gracing the decks at this award winning club which has been around since 1976!

This evening's lineup reads like something out of a music festival with Armin Van Buuren, Fatboy Slim, Aly & Fila, John O'Callaghan, Amine Edge & Dance and more providing the beats that the crowd are here to dance to.

Driving to Amnesia just as the doors are about to open (around midnight) we get a tingling sensation knowing that we are about to experience something we never have before. The bright lighting from the sign and floodlights immediately signal we are in on the right course and jumping out of the car and into the queue there is already music blaring out of the doors. You can just feel the energy from everyone around you as you start to walk into the main room with Ruben De Ronde already getting the crowd well warmed up with some banging trance.

We walk across to the Terrace, Anton Powers has a crowd grooving to some house beats. The VIP section is located on the floor above both dance floors with immense views of the crowd on the main and terrace dance floors. With our bearings all sorted we get settled into the main room with Australian artist Marlo given the job of setting up for trance master and A State of Trance (ASOT) head honcho Armin Van Buuren. Marlo's set is incredibly energetic and by the time 2.30am rolls around the main room is packed to the rim! Armin wastes no time getting into the groove as he kicks into top gear bringing his notorious trance sound to the hot and sweaty crowd. With CO2 cannons, incredible visuals and lasers in the mix, Anmesia really does live up to its name and reputation as one of the worlds best clubs.

Having already danced my feet off for over 2 hours in the main room, I head to the Terrace to catch the infamous Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim. As with the main room, the terrace is also packed right to the back bar but there is still plenty of room to have an enjoyable dance. As the lights go down, the vocals of Praise You kick in with a huge applause and cheers from the crowd. The room glows yellow and Fatboy Slim pops up behind the decks. Immediately we are hit with the synths of Eat Sleep Rave Repeat and you can feel that Fatboy Slim is teasing the crowd, as soon as the bass kicks in, the CO2 cannons erupt and bodies are jumping all around the dance floor. I get a feeling this is going to be quite the workout if this is anything to go by.

Fatboy Slim's two hour set is fun and enjoyable, one of the best I have heard for a long time, full of tunes from his enormous back catalog including Renegade Master, Star 69, Praise You, Rockafella Skank and more.

As I head out the doors in the early hours with a huge smile on my face, I am massively happy that I came to Amnesia to witness the Cream experience. For anyone heading to the sunny shores of Ibiza, Amnesia and especially Cream is a night you should book into your schedule. Warning, bring your best dancing shoes because its guaranteed you will not move off that dance floor from the moment you enter those doors!

Cream comes to Amnesia every Thursday until the 15th September 2016.

Carl Cox @ Space Ibiza..The last hurrah

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Have you heard about a club called Space in Ibiza and bloke by the name of Carl Cox? Well if not then you must be living in a bubble because these two things go hand in hand and are synonymous with club goers all around the world. Having come into its current form in 1989, Space has grown a reputation for one of the best clubs on the planet. With its uber famous outdoor terrace blearing out tunes with planes flying overhead during the fantastic nights put on, it's a shame that this will be the final year we get to enjoy this unique setting.

Space will be shutting it's doors for good come the end of the 2016 summer season and hence we have come to Ibiza to witness personally one of my favourite artists Carl Cox complete his legacy at his Music is Revolution night which takes place every Tuesday.

Walking up to Space you can't miss the blue neon lighted signs for Cox's night. Called the Music is Revolution: The Final Chapter, Carl is sending Space out in style by bringing together some of the biggest electronic music artists in the world like Masters at Work, Sasha, John Digweed, Fatboy Slim and many more! You really do have to wonder how they can replace an icon like Space and a night that has been growing from strength to strength for 15 years, I am not sure they can.

Lucky enough we are here on the 5th July and treated to a pretty special lineup with Adam Bayer B2B Ida Endburg and Nic Fanciulli B2B Carl Cox in the Discoteca area whilst Andy C and more perform on the terrace.

Kicking off the start of the night, Adam and Ida quickly shift into the gears and before you know it the room is rammed with bodies warming up before the main event. Adam and Ida work great together going back to back, treating the crowd with driving baselines and spine tingling breakdowns complete with CO2 cannons and a mind blowing light and lazer display. Their 3 hour set concludes with the room at pretty much full capacity, it's hot and sweaty, but what else would you expect from a night where you have thousands of people dancing away for hours on end.

The crowd ruptures into cheers and claps as Carl and Nic take their positions. With a intro video kicking off their set, Carl Cox's famous deep banging bass line style kicks in and the crowd goes absolutely insane. With the CO2 Cannons and lights and lazers doing their thing, you can tell we are in for a good few solid hours of dancing and plenty of fist pumping hands in the air opportunities. The one thing that I love about Carl Cox is the energy he brings to every set. Having seen him for the first time circa 2001 out in New Zealand, his persona behind the decks is what makes him an extraordinary artist and performer. You can tell Carl loves what he does and the passion shows through his bouncing around and interacting with the crowd in every set he does. Team this up with another talented performer in Nic Fanciulli, and you got an amazing group of people performing for this crowd behind the decks.

The set is exactly what I expect from these guys, driving baselines, sick drops and breakdowns and the type of music to keep you grooving all night into the early hours. Combined with an extrodinary visual setup hovering above the decks, an up for it crowd, and the fact that we are in the legendary Space Ibiza venue, it makes for quite an emotional experience that many have yet and will ever get to experience in this lifetime.

It was an absolute pleasure to witness Carl Cox playing at Space in his "Final Chapter" and if you have yet to see him here then I highly suggest you book your flights to Ibiza and tickets to Space for one of the upcoming Music is Revolution nights which take place every Tuesday.

Download 2016 – FULL REVIEW!

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You can’t deny it, something out there really has it in for Download Festival. It’s the same story every year – burnt for the first two days camping and then incessantly soaked for the rest, it’s like… metal is the music of the devil… or something…

Campers have been steadily pouring in since Wednesday, setting up epic tent-collectives with all manner of décor (bra-bunting is a particular favourite of mine) and it’s set to be a belter of a weekend, even though we’re probably all going home with trench foot and hypothermia. The Village, the hub of the camping area, is home to weird and wonderful acts such as The Wall of Death, The Inflatable Church, The Circus of Horrors, Zorbing and the fire-wielding Area 51. Oh and hilariously British pursuits like Bogan Bingo, a quiz and five-a-side football, if that’s more your speed. Head over there at night for after-hours bands, DJ’s and even catch a movie in the Cinema or laugh your arse off in The Side Splitter comedy tent.

It’s clear Download’s commitment to becoming a bit more of a well-rounded festival is working, the out of hours entertainment, things to do and see and the much improved food options mean a nicer festival experience for all, without taking the emphasis off the music at all. With the now extensive shopping and food outlets you’d better have cash on you this weekend, as despite last years’ ‘breakthrough’ technology claiming to take all the hassle out of on-site payments (which of course did not go to plan) Download have well and truly ditched the idea of RFID tags and have gone over to… er… all normal methods that you can do in the real world.

 

FRIDAY

Friday sees a dry start and Alien Ant Farm are failing to get anyone interested in anything other than Smooth Criminal, and Babymetal (half an hour late) draw a massive crowd for their J-Pop inspired metal, which is frankly just about the oddest thing ever. They’ve stuck to their goth-loli look and eardrum piercingly high vocals for Gimme Chocolate but actually the new album tracks seem a bit more developed and musically interesting rather than gimmicky. We do wish Herman Lee could have popped up for Road of Resistance, but the two girls down the front who have made a massive effort to dress like the band seem to be loving it, alongside some very big bearded men who appear to know ALL the words.

On the Encore stage, Christian rock band Skillet are killinit (see what I did there?) but the Lemmy/Motorhead tribute video on the main stage is in all honestly a bit lame. We all know Lemmy partied hard, but is it really necessary for people to recount exactly what variety of drug he offered them? Only Brian May appears to talk about him in a painfully honest way, saying “I miss him very badly”. Apart from a stage naming and a tshirt on the merch stand, it’s weirdly unspoken for the most part… maybe it’s all a bit soon for most of the bands.

Grabbing possibly the most English food available for lunch (Duck fat roast potatoes with gravy, followed by apple crumble…) we hit up the absolutely packed Maverick stage for Geordie rockers The Wildhearts who have everyone jumping to I Wanna Go Where The People Go. Over on the main stage we’re treated to a dose of Jonathon Davis’ chicken dance (hold mic, flap arms) as Korn blast out the likes of Coming Undone and Freak On A Leash. The rain is absolutely hammering down now and it kinda fits the grungy nu-metal feel, the arena is full of swamp-people whipping their hair everywhere. Amidst the seriousness of purpose that Korn portray, it’s hard not to giggle at the Lebowski-esque rug that has been laid down to stop Davis stacking it in front of everyone.

Finally it’s on to the main event, and the bedraggled but excited masses have gathered for the ever sinister yet playful German powerhouse that is Rammstein. Running through scores of hits like Sonne, Du Hast, Ich Will and Feuer frei there’s nothing missing from this incredible set. The expected but always insane pyrotechnics just keep coming, with fire breathing face-cages, firework body suits and a giant pair of angel wings, there’s just nothing these guys won’t do for a show.

Check out our full Rammstein review HERE

SATURDAY

Entering the arena today it’s obvious some effort has been made in the way of soaking up the sludge, using a ton of hay and woodchips, there’s a much boggier/safer quality to the underfoot feel, but it probably won’t last.

Over in The Kennels area, a queue is already forming for new addition WWE NXT stage, live wrestling shows hosted by Triple H, whilst self-proclaimed Swedish circus freaks Avatar are bringing some life to the main stage. Wearing what I can only describe as resplendent outfits inspired by the Vatican Guard and yelling “Bang your heads English men!” they put on a rowdy first set of the day, and gain a few more followers with their tight riffs and synchronized hairwhipping.

Beartooth’s punky tones soar across the arena to a decent sized crowd for In Between and Black Peaks are totally smashing the Maverick stage. Turbowolf take the baton next yelling “For the next half an hour, this is our home” before tumbling headlong into the likes of Rabbit’s Foot and Solid Gold.

Danko Jones starts out with classic Play The Blues which actually gets kind of a cold reception from the crowd, but soon he’s telling us “…everybody at Download gets to call me… delicious” and saying “I am a whore for that sound you make with your hands” everything starts to get lively. A fan in the front row passes up a flag requesting Sex Change Shake but Danko goes on to play Cadillac instead citing “…it’s the same three chord structure anyway… so this is like, Shake Change Sex”. There is something ridiculously fun about Danko Jones, in an overwhelmingly cheesy way. They are so uncool they’re cool. They’re the Fonz of rock.

Lawmower Deth however, are exactly the kind of godawful rubbish we should (and do) love, this time with an added Brucey Bonus of being joined by… and I can’t believe I’m writing this… Kim Wilde for Kids in America. It could not be more bonkers and everyone LOVED it.

Rival Sons bluesy cali rock has the arena up and dancing with their beers, soaring vocals and a stellar set – we loved closer Keep On Swinging. On the Encore stage Juliette and the Licks hit hard with Hot Kiss and Credence Clearwater Revival cover Proud Mary, J-Lew is just as enigmatic on stage as on screen. Megadeth are joined on stage by Nikki Sixx for Anarchy in the UK before Nikki steps out with his own band Sixx: AM for a completely different sound. It’s a strong set and a hell of a lot of people have come out to watch. Despite the sea of hair and black tshirts this weekend, it’s clear the pop-punk kids have been hiding in plain sight as the hoarde heads towards the Maverick stage for rowdy Welsh band Neck Deep, but they aren’t even going to win Taffy of the day with Skindred tearing it up over on the Encore stage. Despite the now constant rain, Skindred have drawn a huge crowd for their completely-weird-but-totally-works reggae-metal and the whole crowd is getting down and dirty for Doom Riff and Pressure. With an unsolicited play of Bieber’s ‘Sorry’ mixed into Trouble, they’ve singlehandedly outlined exactly which people we should push in the mud later, but not to worry as there’s an epic and extremely wet swirling of tshirts for Warning. We love a bit of a Newport Helicopter we do.

The rain is now unashamedly heavy and regardless of the plastic ponchos, raincoats and really fucking annoying golf umbrellas, pretty much everyone is soaked through. The crowd is built right up the main stage hill and the anticipation is palpable. Fan or not, there’s no denying that seeing Black Sabbath on their last ever tour (no really, it will be the last this time… right?) is pretty special and important. Though it’s clear throughout the set that Ozzy’s voice isn’t the best (was it ever?) the songs are heavy and hit the nerve of nostalgia so hard. Snowblind, War Pigs, Iron Man and Paranoid are obvious highlights, but no less great because of it. With the downpour drastically thinning the crowd, the views are spectacular and it’s the kind of closing show you hope for – full of hits, none of the new stuff. They will be missed.

Check out our full Black Sabbath review HERE

SUNDAY

With the early morning news that GHOST have cancelled their set today and nightmarish state of the main arena (seriously, it’s the kind of goop bodies arise from in the Walking Dead) today’s bands have to compete with the drowned-rat temperament of all those who’ve camped. Luckily there’s crepes for breakfast, a champagne tent and… hold up, what? I’m down with crumble but there’s no place for Moët in Metal. Come on.

Looking about as country as you can get, Whiskey Myers ease us in gently with Early Morning Shakes on the Encore stage before Amon Amarth give us growly Viking battle tunes from their dragon longship style stage set-up and giant fire canons. It’s even more awesome than it sounds, honestly. Whiplash back to bluesy rock with an inexplicably American sound for Glasgow vocalist Phil Campbell and The Temperance Movement. It’s an unrelentingly great set with a few tracks from the new album but finishing up with Ain’t No Telling from their first, we’re glad to see them back at Download.

On the Maverick stage, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes are, well, doing what they do. There’s a huge mosh pit and lots of people seem to be enjoying themselves, but lots of other people seem to be screwing their noses up and walking away. So we head on over to the main stage for the eponymous Halestorm who have grabbed a massive crowd and are belting out Amen, I Am The Fire and I Miss The Misery. There’s no doubting Lzzy Hale’s vocal prowess but there’s something very Nickelback about them, massively produced and clean, it’s hard to put your finger on it.

Shinedown have that crowd-participation approach that we Brits love to hate, like panto – they want us to jump, so at first we do it sarcastically… then again to reinforce the joke… before you know it everyone is pogoing like a complete tosspot to a band they don’t even really like. Either we’re a very very susceptible nation, or Shinedown are actually doing a good job. I’ve no idea at this point. Delain on the Encore stage have drawn all the raven haired goth girls for a good old headbang but there’s a bit of power missing behind it all. On the Maverick stage Electric Wizard are heavy in a way that makes your stomach drop but it's Gojira who really make our skin crawl, in the best kind of way.

Disturbed are actually forcing joy out of otherwise non-fans today with the likes of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence – a stalwart of their tour repertoire. In an epic hit-to-hit continuous play we get; U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For with Lzzy Hale, The Who’s Baba O’Riley with Blaze Bayley and RATM’s Killing In The Name with Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin. Where else are you gonna see that kind of mash up? Let’s be honest though, we’re all waiting for Down With The Sickness, and Disturbed give it to us with a cry of “I think it’s apparent the entire United Kingdom has been infected with sickness…”

Nightwish are plagued from the off with the heaviest downpour of the weekend but that’s never done anything to quiet this truly epic band before. Lords of the symphonic circuit, Nightwish have been the subject of more drama than any other band, public shamings and bootings aside – they seem to have bounced back each time. In Floor Jansen they’ve found a vocalist capable of traversing Tarja Turunen’s operatic realm and the rock sound they’ve been moving steadily towards over the last few albums, and she hits the stage dressed like a Valkyrie, which I guess, is the point really. With giant bursts of fire from stage canons, Nightwish (and the now extraordinarily drenched fans) power through some of the strongest numbers of the entire weekend. Nemo’s the one everyone has been waiting for, and though it will never quite be the same without Tarja, it packs a punch and remains a fan favourite. It seems Download loves Nightwish, no matter who’s fronting. Especially that dude vogue-ing the shit out of it at the back.

Headlining the Maverick stage Saxon get more than they bargained for – the tent is bursting at its seams with the soggy and groggy, warming themselves up for Maiden with the Yorkshire boys. 747 (Strangers in the Night) is melodic-shreddingly amazing, And The Bands Played On is the perfect description of what Saxon seem to intend to do… forever… and Wheels of Steel has every single person singing along. Biff’s voice and determination is as strong as ever.

As is typical of Sunday headliners at Download, there is very little crossover of other stages, and Iron Maiden also joining us a little later than intended means the arena is absolutely COVERED in bodies. Thankfully the rain has stopped just in time for the screens to switch over to Eddie TV and Bruce Dickinson to emerge from centre stage for If Eternity Should Fail. Through a Book Of Souls heavy set we are well and truly smacked with the fact that Bruce’s throat cancer surgery has done nothing to dull his vocals or his enthusiasm, he races the stage with the same wild abandon he has always had. In the wake of Black Sabbath’s ending, it’s sort of comforting to know that Maiden have no plans to quit any time soon. Hell, they just got a new plane.

Old favorites The Trooper, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Fear Of The Dark are every bit as heart-stoppingly brilliant as we’ve come to expect, the stage sets and animatronics just can’t be rivaled. With an epic encore of The Number Of The Beast, Blood Brothers and Wasted Years, Maiden came, saw, conquered. With a long speech regarding this weekend’s tragic events in Orlando, an incredible set and more energy than any one of us can muster after three days in a field – Bruce may as well have done an actual mic drop.

Read our full Iron Maiden review HERE

So what to make of Download 2016? As always controversy over headliners is rife for this sort of festival. With a genre so diverse, with arguably warring factions – there’s always going to be something you love, and something you hate. That’s kind of the point right? If you loved the whole lineup everything would clash. If you hated the whole lineup, you wouldn’t buy a ticket. This year, Download seemed to have secured bands from a whole heap of genres without one heavily dominating the others and let’s be honest – seeing Rammstein, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden on the same bill is really pretty incredible when you think about it. But who the hell is going to top this? Roll on DL2017’s announcements and the ensuing forum arguments we will inevitably be part of…

All photographs © A. Hyams, please do not use without permission.

Isle of Wight Festival 2016 Review

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Bags ready tent purchased and we were ready to hit the road for an epic weekend of random antics, filled with laughter, good friends and live music, a line-up so large, that no one could contain their excitement.

Thursday evening has arrived tents up and its time to see what the Isle of Wight Festival 2016 has to offer. The 'Big Top' stage opens up with performances from 'The dolls', 'Maxi Jazz and the E-Type Boys' and 'The Cast',  who were getting the audience ready for the headliners of the evening 'Status Quo'. 

'Status Quo' hit the stage at 9:30 to perform to the festival goers, filling out the 'Big Top', and leaving fans to listen from the sidelines, filling the area around the Big top, creating some members of the audience to suggest they should have opened up on the main stage as the sound was distorted by the carnival in the background. 'Status Quo' performed songs such as ‘Down, Down’, ‘Caroline’, 'In the army now’ and 'Rocking all over the world’ Starting the festive antics with a powerful and electric performance, the audience roared in excitement  which created a great atmosphere that thrived over the weekend at Isle of Wight Festival 2016; lining the stomach for the acts that will be hitting the stage in the days to come.

Friday was the first official opening of the main stage with performances from bands such as 'Reverend and the makers', 'Busted' and 'Everything Everything'. Just many of a great line up.

  

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis share a joke as Busted perform on the main stage on Friday 'Busted' took us back the noughties performing hits such as ‘what I go to school for’, 'Air hostess’, 'Crashed the wedding’, and ending the performance with ‘Year 3000’. This was a nostalgic performance, creating a great atmosphere through the field as people interacted with the band and danced like no one was watching.

They were followed by 'Jess Glynne' a British female artist, Who took the crowd on a powerful journey opening up with ‘don’t be so hard on yourself’, and performing hits from her latest album such as ‘Hold my hand’, 'Real love' and ‘Take me home’ her vocals were flawless and her performance created a stamp on how the evening would continue. 

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

For me the performers of the night were ‘Stereophonics', the crowd were waiting in anticipation as the welsh boys were getting ready to come on and perform to thousands of fans across the isle of wight, the weather was holding out and the sky was drawing in and they arrived, the crowd went wild and the anticipation was over, 'Kelly Jones' has such stage presence that captured and got the crowd to their feet, performing songs such as ‘Handbags and Gladrags’, 'Have a nice day’, 'local boy in a photograph’ and ‘A thousand trees’ hit after hit just blaring from the stage, getting better and better and each song bringing the audience to life. They ended with 'Dakota' getting the crowd to join in and get crazy for one last hit of the night before introducing their co-headliners 'Faithless'. 

'Faithless' closed the night with and electric performance, performing hit such as ‘God is a DJ', ‘insomnia’ and ‘Fatty Boo’ just closing the night in the right way, Lights, good music and dancing all you needed was the glow sticks and you were set, this got the crowd ready for the rest of the weekend, for the acts to follow.

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

Saturday brought many artists to ‘The Big Top’ and ‘The Main Stage’ the festival was picking up and the bands were getting ready to perform for the many crowds surrounding them today. 

The ‘Big Top’ seen many artists such as the ‘Simon Townsend’, ‘The Damned’ and ‘Pendulum’ perform throughout the day, Two artists stood out for me the most ‘Bang Bang Romeo’ and ‘Adam Ant’.  'Bang Bang Romeo’ performed at the Isle of wight 2015 on the 'Jack Rocks Stage', they were invited back and given a space on the 'Big Top'stage for 2016, they gave a dynamic and creative performance, the Vocals were powerful and edgy, which created the atmosphere of their music and got the audience supporting the Yorkshire based band, performing songs such as ‘Chemical’, ‘Johannesburg’ and their new release ‘Invitation’.

The legendary ‘Adam Ant’ gave an eccentric performance, performing songs such as ‘Kings or the wild frontier’, ‘Dog eat Dog’, ‘Stand and Deliver’  and ‘Goody two shoes’. He bought the eighties to the festival, giving the crowd quirky and stand alone performance.  To Help bring awareness Spandau Ballets 'Gary Kemp' and The Corrs 'Andrea Corr',  performed 'Starman’ in a touching tribute to the late 'David Bowie’ for Stand up for cancer who are raising awareness and supporting those who have been affected by cancer. At 3:45 there was a short video celebrating 'David Bowie's’ Life and capturing hundreds of fans, bringing awareness for the course, by wearing 'David Bowie’ masks and posing for a picture on the MainStage.

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

The MainStage gave the crowd artists from ‘The Kills’,‘Turin Brakes’, ‘Alabama 3’ and ‘Polly Money’ warming up the audience for the headliners of the evening ‘The Who”.  Before 'The Who’ we had some amazing acts perform ‘Iggy Pop’ hit the stage his character larger than life and his movements creating an interesting view as he performed hits such as 'Wild Thing’, ‘Sweet 16’ and ‘Passenger’ the audience joined through the performance creating an atmosphere that leads on to the next performer to grace us with his presenc 'Richard Ashcroft’ performed songs from his album ‘Urban Hymns’ performing songs such as ‘Out of my body’, ‘Breaking the night with colour’ and two new ones ‘Hold on’ and ‘This is how it feels’ whilst performing classic such as ‘The drugs don’t work' and ending with the classic ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ the audience went crazy for this and it was an amazing way to introduce ‘The Who’.

'The Who’ headlined the isle of wight on Saturday night performing to a verity of individuals, people who have been following them since the sixties and the younger generation who has been influenced by their music from their parents of even their grandparents. ‘Peter Townsend’ and 'Roger Daltery’ performed for over 2 hours, performing hits such as ‘My generation’, ‘Behind blue eyes’, ‘The Kids are alright’ and ‘Pinball Wizard’. They opened up the show with “who are you’ getting the crowd worked up and ready for the night ahead.  After 5 decades of being together they still can put together a great live performance, even though at times there were moments of strain In ‘Roger Daltery’s’ voice but this overcame by the commitment to the performance, by showing that he still could hit those high notes in the song 'love reign O'er me’, put those moments of strain behind the crowd the ended a night with a high. 

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

Sunday was the Day to celebrate the Queens 90th Birthday but not only celebrate one 'Queen', but to celebrate legend we know as ‘Queen’ the one and only 'Freddie Mercury’. With 'Queen with Adam Lambert' Headlining the final show of the weekend. The show everyone has been waiting for. 

Photo courtesy of Isle of Wight Festival

On the Sunday 'The big Top’ welcomed artists such as ‘The Novatones’, ‘The Carnaby's’, ‘Reef' and ‘The Second Sons’.  The Big Top was closed by the Welsh band known as  ‘Feeder' after 'Queen' had closed the MainStage, ‘Feeder' performed songs such as ‘Buck Rogers’, ‘Just the way I am feeling’ and ‘Just a day’ bringing the audience that was  already buzzing to their feet, dancing and bouncing around the tent intertwining and celebrating the end of an amazing festival. Their performance was electrifying, loud and on point. A fab close to a fantastic day.  The Main Stage was warming up and bring the sunshine out, acts such as ‘Twin Atlantic’, ‘Half Moon Run’  and ‘The Cribs’ performed alongside Former ‘Genesis' 'Mike Rutherford’ 

With the band ‘Mike and the Mechanics’ performing some of the classics from ‘Genesis’ ‘I can’t dance’ and 'Land of confusion’ bringing the sun out with every song, the crowd building up and joining the band on a sunny but yet cloudy day. This was a great way to start the Sunday line up for me. 'Ocean Colour Scene’ set of the evening with ‘Hundred Mile  High City’ bringing the audience to their feet, one hit after another ‘The RiverboatSong’, ‘The day we caught the train’ and ‘You’ve got it bad’ this got people pumping and ready, even with the rain this did not stop the crowd  from jumping up and down and enjoying themselves at the Isle of wight festival. 

Now that we were warmed up, rained on and waiting in anticipation…. 'Queen' was about to come on, the music starts and the crowd roars, the field was packed to the edges, from everyone finding their perfect spot, so they could enjoy the celebrate the life and legend of 'Freddie Mercury'captured through the Vocals of 'Adam Lambert'. This is the closest we will ever get to seeing Queen as a whole, 'Brian May', 'Roger Taylor' and the flamboyant singer 'Mr Lambert'.  'Lambert' from the start made it known that he was not there to replace 'Freddie Mercury' as no-one could, but to bring the songs that were once created and performed by a legend to life, and to honour and celebrate his life. With Rock Legends 'May' and 'Taylor'.  'Lambert' captivated the audience with his outgoing and eccentric performance, starting the night off with ‘One Vision’ and from their belting out hit after hit such as, ‘Fat Bottom Girls’, ‘Another One bites the dust’, ‘I want to break free’ ‘Don’t stop me now’ and ‘Somebody to Love’.  Whilst Performing ‘Lambert’ dedicated a song to the Victims of the Orlando shooting and anyone affected by acts of terrorism, he performed a beautiful and heart warming version of ‘Who wants to live forever’.  'Brian May’ Performs ‘Love of my life’ asking the audience to join in, dedicating this song to the late 'Freddie Mercury', at the end of the performance a video Clip of ‘Freddie Mercury’ finishing the song to the audience is introduced. This is closest that we would come to witnessing the Legend Perform. This was used in one more song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ using ‘Lambert’ and Clips of ‘Mercury’ to perform parts of the song to the crowd. This was done just right, not overdone but capturing the man that helped to build such great Anthems.  The crowd joined in for every song and captured every moment together ‘Radio Ga Ga’ was a highlight of my evening everyone in the audience clapping and creating that moment When they sing “Radio Ga Ga ( Two Claps) Radio Go Go" and the audience clap in the middle , that for me was epic and immense, it is something I have always wanted to be involved in and now I can tick this moment of my bucket list.   They Finished the show with such power and energy that we were still buzzing even when they were no longer on, They performed ‘We Will Rock you’ and ‘We are the Champions’ Everyone joined in sang their hearts out and enjoyed the show-stopping, breathtaking band of the weekend, they truly finished with a Bang. 

A Show turning event for the Isle of Wight festival 2016!

Iron Maiden – Download 2016 Review

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Well, the arena is awash with the kind of sludge you dream up monsters emerging from and everyone we pass is in varying states of ‘fuck-it’ at this point. Little has been done to calm the quagmire overnight it seems and as the rain poured steadily throughout the day (and then horrifically during Nightwish’s set) there are actual rivers becoming moats between the stages. If you were the guy throwing yourself down the hill with wild abandon after the first falling-over incident, because why the hell not – you sir, I salute you.

However, it is with sheer luck that we stand here tonight waiting for Iron Maiden and only a tiny speckle of rain is upon us… obviously the weather-gods knew that we’d need to ditch our umbrellas to properly rock out for this. As the sky begins to darken and the thousands upon thousands of bodies cram the main stage area, a Mayan temple backdrop and stage set are unveiled which look rather like a section of The Crystal Maze. Bruce materializes from the centre stage gangway for If Eternity Should Fail and below him Nikko takes to his drum nook to begin the show. Seriously – a drum nook. It sounds like something I should have at home.

Yelling “England, how the fuck are you?” was probably only going to incite sarcasm at this juncture, as the soggy crowd snark back “fucking wet”, but Bruce has probably spent his afternoon in a cushy hotel following his flight over on Ed Force One. With visuals of the plane being hurled out of jungle vines by Eddie and a raft of fire cannons going off, it’s clear Maiden are going to put on the kind of show we were hoping for and as the notes ring out for Children of the Damned it’s pretty much a given that Bruce has lost none of the power or range after his surgery for throat cancer.

Dubbing it ‘Downpour festival’ Bruce seems to be keen on interacting with the crowd more this tour, quipping “I usually have a go at people texting in the pit… and I look down and it's our fucking manager! What a cunt! He has a hotline to the weather… we said please stop the rain for Maiden”. Though we are British and used to a rain-lashing at Download, it is pretty nice to not watch through the crackle of a crap poncho.

Next up is Tears of a Clown – a song written about and dedicated to the late Robin Williams, a song Bruce says the band “never thought they’d play live”, followed by The Red and The Black. I mean, I know it’s a stop on The Book of Souls tour, but they really are going heavy on the new album songs. It seems a shame that anyone new to Maiden here won’t get to fully experience the complete rush of hearing 85 thousand people singing along to every single word of every single song. The new tracks just haven’t sunk in yet.

Not to worry too much though, as The Trooper – with Bruce in his red jacket racing around the stage with his flag, is absolutely brilliant as always, leading into heavy Powerslave. Hallowed Be Thy Name is shouted into the night by everyone in the arena and Fear Of the Dark is accompanied by the traditional ‘ooohs’ and what once were lighters held aloft is now a sea of phone screens.

Some joking about monkeys, a very unstable Eddie (on stilts) and many “Scream for me Donington”’s aside, it’s been a non-stop show, and as a flipping GIANT Eddie head emerges from the back of the stage to stare his red eyes out into the crowd, we know that we still have twenty minutes and an epic encore to go.

Joining the band on stage for Number Of The Beast is… well, the beast. Sporting a sometimes crooked set of horns and a countenance reminiscent of battle-worn teachers during ofsted, the giant bust oversees a rampage of fire from the stage and sound tent. There’s something cathartic about screaming “666” into the sky with thousands of other people, maybe it’s the teenage rebel inside.

Bruce tells us “We’ve done this six times… frankly it’s got to stop.” to a rousing ‘boooo’ from everyone in the arena, but a promise of a giant stadium show next year for 80 thousand people (it’s definitely Wembley then…) raises a roar of appreciation. Going on to talk about the fresh news of the awful mass shooting in Orlando this weekend as “Senseless and stupid” Bruce assures us that “Maiden is one big musical family…. I don’t care what gender, what colour, what creed, what religion…” which gets the biggest applause of the night from this crowd many of whom are on the margins of society in everyday life themselves. Bruce also speaks of the Bataclan attack and urges everyone to not be like that and retaliate but to spread “music and love” instead, saying “…my friends, we are all Blood Brothers” bringing them around to one of Maiden’s grandest showpiece songs. The magnitude of the meaning is not lost on anyone, after the horrific reports we have seen on the internet today.

With a starry night backdrop and a circle of stars around Eddie’s head (which could be mistaken for an EU reference if we were looking for one…) Maiden finish up with Wasted Years which also seems especially poignant. “It’s more of a heavy metal waltz this one” jokes Bruce, but it does seem odd to end on such a sombre note, without fanfare or fireworks, just a quick “We will be back next year” and the standard Monty Python Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, to usher us from the arena. Traipsing through the sticky mess of swamp and chair-graveyards towards the exits, we are leaving with a sense of elation that always comes with Maiden shows – you know you’ve just seen something extraordinary, and that is worth all the mud you could have thrown at us.

All photographs © A. Hyams, please do not use without permission.

Black Sabbath – Download 2016 Review

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Well what can you say about the finality of one of the most prolific bands in history’s last ever show at their spiritual home of Donington Park? The band have played here time and time again, Monsters of Rock, Ozzfest, Download – Donington in all it’s incarnations. Black Sabbath are sewn into the fabric here and the arena is awash with black shirts in all shapes and sizes, from a tour history spanning decades and generations. Families making sure their kids get to experience this once in their lifetime, the younger crowd who may not be die-hard Sabbath lovers but are here nevertheless, and those original fans with a tear for the end of an era. Everyone feels the gravity of tonight’s performance, and that’s a pretty big weight to put on any band’s shoulders.

As the sky darkens ominously and the purple Black Sabbath logo lights up the big screens, there is a hush of anticipation for the Birmingham band, one city over from where they were formed – this always feels like a homecoming. With visuals depicting the birth of Satan from an Aliens-esque egg the band alight the stage to an almighty roar and thousands upon thousands of hands thrust into the air in horns.

Starting off with namesake Black Sabbath (we really enjoy it when artists sing about themselves… well, maybe not Craig David…) it’s clear that Ozzy’s voice is ahem, off. The difference between this show and their last Donington stint is pretty noticeable and there’s a lot of chatter in the crowd to that effect. It also seems like they’ve purposefully slowed down their already trademark slow heavy metal, to accommodate Ozzy’s vocals, but hey, we’ve been listening to upbeat bands all day… that must be it… right?

Yelling his standard “I can’t fuckin’ hear you” there’s a little nostalgic twinge as someone nearby retorts an unheard “That’s cause you’re fuckin’ deaf”, I think I’ve heard that every single time I’ve seen Ozzy live and this will be the last time. Fairies Wear Boots is a fan favourite and everyone is singing along but the wind and rain have notched up and the 4 speaker stacks in the middle of the arena just aren’t good enough to travel it up the hill. Every year the same argument – it’s fine for the earlier bands when the crowd is split, but for the headliners it leaves at least half the arena with shockingly poor audio.

Into The Void and Snowblind are fantastic, with Iommi shredding the hell out of his guitar in his nonplussed style, and despite the constant rain (maybe there was a market for changing the name to Rainblind…), the swishing of ponchos and smack of wet hair on cheeks says that everyone is having a headbangingly excellent time. Sabbath anthem War Pigs however is absolutely epic, due to the thousands strong crowd singing every bit of it at the maximum capacity of their lungs.

We get a traditional gratuitous drum solo and then everything we wanted to hear; N.I.B, Hand of Doom, the heart-stoppingly good Iron Man (complete with flaming pyrotechnics on the stage and sound tent) and Children Of The Grave.

With an encore of Sabbath’s biggest hit Paranoid, and a tear-jerking ‘The End’ plastered on the big screens, it’s time to say goodbye to arguably the most important band in heavy metal, the forefathers of everything you see here. Though it might not have been the best we’ve ever seen Black Sabbath, there is an overwhelming sense of importance, that we were there, the very last time the godfathers of heavy metal played the most iconic location in heavy metal. It almost makes you want to get a commemorative tattoo. Or, you could go snatch up a ticket for their final UK tour dates EVER. Whimper. Sniff. Sabbath – we will miss you, always.

Photo Credit (Ozzy): Ben Gibson

Photo Credit (Stage): Jen O'Neill

All photos courtesy of Download Festival

Rammstein – Download 2016 Review

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Despite a day of heavy downpours over a now very boggy Donington Park (yes yes, we’ve heard the monikers… Drownload… Downpour Festival…), thousands of expectant faces are turned towards the main stage for tonight’s headliner – German heavy metal powerhouse, Rammstein. There’s nothing quite like a side of S&M or pyrotechnics alongside learning how to count to vier whilst headbanging, and Rammstein promise a whole lot more than just their stage show.

As a cinematic countdown begins, video screens send a message “Enjoy the show, please do not be preoccupied with recording it” and instantly Go-Pro’s are thrust into the air on ridiculous, view-ruining monopods. I mean come on, what the hell are you actually going to do with that footage man?

Regardless of the moronathon, Rammstein smash their way onstage as only they can – with giant showoff billowing clouds of pink smoke, which when combined with the ongoing drizzle turns quickly into a spatter of blood on anyone wearing lighter than black outfits. First up new song Ramm 4 sees giant firework laden platforms lowering guitarists Kruspe and Landers onto the stage and the always enigmatic frontman Till Lindemann emerges in a childcatcher-esque outfit and his patent white painted face.

The stage look for Rammstein has always been industrial but this time steps over into the cyborg realm with giant stage-high light bars which respond to the band’s instruments. Reise, Reise is absolutely gut churningly heavy, and Till sports a very fetching duffel coat over his flash-bang adorned waistcoat which explodes, quite obviously right in his face. How this band have not sustained more serious pyrotechnic related injuries I’ll never know.

The electronic intro bleeps for Feuer Frei raise an enormouse guttural roar from the crowd, and there is no shortage of actual fire alongside the music, their signature flamethrowing face cages are everything Batman’s Bane wishes he was. Keyboardist/freak on a leash Lorenz is hastily shoved into a box after being dragged around the floor, emerging later in an extremely spangly sequined suit to walk off his horrors on a treadmill whilst Till wields a giant flaming arc that sort of looks like a crossbow. You really couldn’t make it up. A crackly speaker on the right side of the stage threatens to dull Mein Hertz Brennt but as Till’s heart (flare) lights up, every single person in the arena is singing their lungs raw. Following up with Links 2, 3, 4 this is shaping up to be a stellar performance from Rammstein.

Guitar flamethrowers, fireballs erupting from the sound tent in the middle of the crowd and zip-wire fireworks streaking back and forth – every time you think you’ve seen it all, Rammstein amp it up a little more. Ich Will has everyone yelling back the required replies ‘Wir hören dich’ and so on, Du Hast is heavier than a heavy thing and Depeche Mode cover Stripped just couldn’t sound more seedy than in a German accent.

For the Encore, we are treated to the completely epic Sonne followed by an acoustic Ohne Dich but it’s Till’s ascension into angel-dom that is the real icing on this weird and wonderful cake. Giant metal wings loaded with white sparking fireworks lift Till into the air above the stage floor for Engel and it is motherlovin’ glorious. Leaving us with a brief “Thank you. Danke schoen, you’re amazing” the stage erupts in a backdrop of massive rocket fireworks and the arena is engulfed in smoke. There’s nothing more to say except that Rammstein are arguably one of the best metal acts of our time and here’s hoping they don’t leave it too long before returning with even more incredible shows.

Found Festival 2016 Review

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Staying south for its second year, Found brings the daytime party alive with a spectacular line up. Arriving early has its benefits, stumbling across some up and coming talent is always a bonus.

Walking through the site I headed towards what can only be described as a secret garden, enclosed by trees was Feelings, a glitter ball decorated van. Playing disco and soulful house to an intimate audience was Daniel Wang, interacting with his crowd for most part of his set and ending with Sunshine After The Rain by Salsoul Orchestra, appropriately timed as the sun began to shine through the trees and lifted the spirit of the revellers.

As I moved across the site the crowds began to flood in, whilst the sounds of deep house waved through Brockwell Park. Theo Parish took to the renowned Secret Sundaze tent playing an array of nu disco with a mellowed out undertone. Whilst the main stage pulled in a decent crowd as Dyed Soundorom electrified the crowd with garage infused deep house shortly followed by British duo Paranoid London and their sleazy mix of up tempo acid house.

Dipping in and out of both the Find Me In The Dark and Friends Of Found, both tents were skewered for the techno fans, with the likes of Zenker Brothers, Yume Records, Flux Showcase, Kassem Mosse and Legowelt closing to a good turnout, however the atmosphere lacked soul in both these tents.

Heading back through the trees and consistently good throughout the day my favourite glitter ball van. Mood II Swing played soulful house including a live PA towards the end of the set, which got everyone in the mood for their finale seminal remix with Ultra Nate's Free, the track that launched them into popularity.

As the day progressed revellers made their way to main stage for the two favourites of the night Derrick May and his sound of balearic prepped the crowd for headlining act Keri Chandler who opened his set with Rain as the heavens opened on Brockwell Park.  Whilst over in the Secret Sundaze tent Secretsundaze played homage to Prince with I Want To Be Your Lover. Overall the sound could have been improved across all tents however the lack of volume didn't deter fans from making the most of it. Found packed in 40 DJ's and with all festivals, clashing set times that will have you moving across a manageable but rainy Brockwell Park.

 

Photo Credit: Marc Sethi