Gaslight Anthem Review

Gaslight Anthem, an American rock band from New Jersey, are one of my favorite bands.

This band has released three albums. "Sink or Swim," my favorite "The 59 Sound" and their most recent "American Slang." They have also just announced that they have began recording songs for their fourth album which they hope to release later this year. I personally feel "The 59 Sound" is the bands most successful album to date, due to their ability to combine rock n'roll with definte elements of hardcore, pop-punk and classic soul.

If you are a fan of artists such as Frank Turner, Bruce Springsteen and Brian Fallon, than Gaslight Anthem are a band you should check out!

I saw this band last year at the 02 Academy in Birmingham, UK. The two support acts Shark and Twin Atlantic, were nothing special and did little to warm up the crowd. Despite this, when Gaslight Anthem finally came onto the stage, the crowd instantly warmed up and sang along to all their songs. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised to see the wide mix of people that turned up to see them live.

The set which Gaslight Anthem performed was very good. They opened their gig with American Slang and progressed with the songs Great Expectations, The 59'  Sound, Boxer and Stay Lucky. I must add they gave an exceptional performance of Queen of Lower Chelsea and Blue Jeans & White T-shirts.

My personal highlight was watching the lead singer, Brian Fallon on stage. He looks completely in his element and sings with so much confidence and passion that the entire crowd is left captivated. 

The gig was very good and I would certainly suggest people to go and see them live.

Tour dates:
26th July. Hudson River Park - NYC
28th July. Hudson River Park - NYC
31st July. Upstate Concert Hall - NYC
8th September. The Paramount - Huntington, NY

For information regarding tickets or the rest of their tour check out:  http://www.songkick.com/artists/550811-gaslight-anthem/calendar?page=1

Kings of Leon Review

LOVE LOVE LOVE this band!

Kings of Leon are a four man American rock band from Tennessee. Although they first formed together in 1999 it was not until 2008 that they got their first big break. Their big break came from the two BRIT awards they won from the success of their platinum selling album "Only By Night." This album includes their three number one singles, Sex Is On Fire, Use Somebody, and Notion.

To date, this band has released five albums; "Youth & Young Manhood," "Aha Shake Heartbeat," "Because of the Times," "Only by the Night," and the most recent (back in 2010) "Come Around Sundown." Although this group have been on hiatus for the last couple of years, they are doing a series of gigs over the next upcoming months, and are also due to release a sixth album "Mechanical Bull," sometime this year.

I have seen Kings of Leon twice, once in Manchester and once in Hyde Park, London.  For me seeing them play in Manchester on their sold out UK tour two years ago was the most memorable experience. I was originally put off by the price of the ticket and the size of the venue (absolutely massive!) when I was buying the tickets. Shockingly, although I was quite far back from the stage, and the arena was filled with hundreds of fans, the atmosphere was not only electrifying but intimate as well.

I have to admit I have never a seen a crowd of such magnitude become so wild and excited during a gig before. The reception that the band received when they first stepped out onto the stage was so great that it was five minutes until the band could even begin singing.

Considering the gig was only an hour and a half the crowd was certainly spoiled by the number of great songs they got to hear. When I saw them in Manchester their set list was flavorless and included Crawl, Taper Jean Girl, Molly's Chamber, Red Morning Light, Fans, California Waiting, Milk, Closer, Four Kicks, Charmer, My Party, Sex is on Fire, The Bucket, On Call, Cold Desert, and Use Somebody.

What made their performance even more memorable for me was the amount of effort and passion they put into each of their songs.The band seemed in both shock and gratitude by the response the crowd gave them. When it came to the encore, Kings Of Leon ended their show with four more songs including Knocked Up and Manhattan. I was generally gutted when the gig came to an end because the time seemed to fly by.

The quality of the music and talent shown by Kings of Leon was so high that the lack of on stage props and extras did not matter. I would certainly say this is a gig not to be missed.

If you wish to read my review of their live peformance at Hyde Park, check out: http://musicgigsnfestivals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/kings-of-leon-hyde-park-review.html

Tour dates: 
12th June. The 02 Arena - London
13th June. The O2 Arena - London
24th June. Manchester Arena - Manchester
25th June. Manchester Arena - Manchester
9th July. LG Arena - Birmingham
10th July. LG Arena - Birmingham
14th August. Boucher Playing Fields - Belfast
15th August. Bellahouston Park - Glasgow
17th August - V Festival

For more information about their European dates and to buy tickets check out: http://www.songkick.com/artists/2847-kings-of-leon/calendar?page=1

You Me at Six

Like We the Kings, Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy? You're going to like these then.

You Me at Six, made up of Josh Franceschi, Max Helyer, Chris Miller, Matt Barnes and Dan Flint, is a British rock band from Surrey. These boys have proved to be incredibly popular, with their debut album "Take Off Your Colours" entering the UK album chart at no.33.

Starting as they mean to go on, You Me at Six followed their debut album with a second album "Hold Me Down." This album, which includes the tracks "Take Your Breathe Away," "Underdog," and "Hard to Swallow," reached no.5 in the charts - proving to be more of hit with their ever expanding fan base.

In addition to the two albums already mentioned, You Me at Six have released two more - "Stay with Me," and "Sinners Never Sleep."

Known for their passion and energy on stage, these guys have received some rave reviews for their live shows. This is definitely one of those gigs that you need to be prepared for mosh pits, screaming and a hell of a lot of sweat!! If your interested buy tickets quick - it is not uncommon for their shows to be complete sell outs.

Tour Dates:
April 24th. Best Buy Theater - NYC

For further information regarding their (N.American) tour dates and tickets check out: http://www.youmeatsix.co.uk/index.php/live-dates/

Django Django

Four Londoners for you to check out.

Django Django are a British Rock band consisting of David Maclean, Vincent Neff, Jimmy Dixon and Tommy Grace. These four first got together back in 2009 when they met at Edinburgh College of Art.

In January of this year (2012) Django Django released their self titled debut album. Although it only reached number 33 on the UK Album charts, the band were nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize. Songs that feature on this album include; my personal favourite "Default," "Waveforms" and "Storm."

I am a huge fan of this band, I urge you to check them out.

Tour Dates:
21st Dec. O2 Shepherds Bush Empire - London
7th Feb. O2 Academy Newcastle - Newcastle Upon Tyne
8th Feb. Manchester Academy - Manchester
9th Feb. O2 Academy - Leeds
11th Feb. O2 Academy - Glasgow
12th Feb. Rock City - Nottingham
13th Feb. 02 Academy - Liverpool
15th Feb. UEA - Norwich
16th Feb. O2 Academy - Birmingham
17th Feb. Cardiff University SU - Cardiff
19th Feb. O2 Academy - Bristol
20th Feb. O2 Academy - Bournemouth
21st Feb. Brighton Dome - Brighton
23rd Feb. O2 Academy Brixton - London
25th May. Victoria Park - London

For information regarding tickets and/ or tour dates check out: http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/120686/Django_Django.html

Biffy Clyro

One word to describe this scottish rock band: Phenomenal.

Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from East Ayrshire. To date they have released five albums: Blackened Sky, The Vertigo of Bliss, Infinity Land, Puzzle, and Only Revolutions.

Their "Only Revolutions" album (my fav) did particularly well, reaching number 3 in the UK charts and earning them a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. This album includes the hit singles "Many of Horror," "Mountains," and "That Golden Rule."

This band have recently announced they will be releasing their highly anticipated sixth album "Opposites" very soon. The first single to be released from their upcoming album is "Black Chandelier," which was played for the first time on Zane Lowes radio 1 show on 19th November. If you have yet to hear it, check it out: Black Chandelier

If you have not heard of this band, than shame on you. These boys are true performers and always put on a great show. Despite their success, Biffy Clyro always seem genuinely shocked by the fan base they have built over the years - it is because of this that I urge you to buy tickets asap, as their gigs frequently sell out.

Great talent shared with great personalities - Biffy Clyro always promise a fantastic night of live music. Buy tickets. I will be!

Tour dates:
20th March. Metro Radio Arena - Newcastle
21st March. LG Arena - Birmingham
22nd March. Motorpoint - Cardiff
23rd March. Motorpoint Arena - Sheffield
25th March. Manchester Arena - Manchester
26th March. BIC - Bournemouth
31st March. AECC - Aberdeen
1st April. SECC - Glasgow
3rd April. The O2 - London

For more information regarding tickets and tour dates check out: http://www.biffyclyro.com/2013arenatour

Smoke & Jackal

So I am going to apologise in advance for this one, but for this post I will be deviating from the norm..

For each post mentioned on this blog I try to write about an artist/ band that is either currently, or about to, embark on a tour of some sort. Although this band has no upcoming gigs on the pipeline I cannot let them go unmentioned, they are just too good!

Smoke & Jackal is a rock band from Tennessee, that first got together in June of this year (2012). Made up of Mona singer and guitarist Nick Brown, and Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill, this is a duo you MUST check out.

In a press statement released by the duo, they announced "coming together just worked." And worked it has. On October 16th Smoke and Jackal released their debut EP "EP1" which includes the tracks "Fall Around" and "No TELL." To hear all tracks from their EP check out: EP1.

Evanescence

If rock is your calling than this is a band for you.

Evanescence is an American rock band from Arkansas. Having released three albums "Fallen," "The Open Door," and self titled "Evanescence," lead singer and pianist Amy Lee, along with the four other members of the band, have achieved great success since hitting the scene in 1995. Starting as far back as 2003, Evanescence have won a number of awards including Best International Newcomer (2003) at the Kerrang! Awards, Best Hard Rock Performance (2004) at the Grammy Awards, and Best Vocalist (2012) at the Revolver Golden Gods Award.

Dubbed as a Gothic band, Evanescence have been compared to many bands such as Linkin Park and The Pretty Reckless.

As expected, being around for so long has made Evanescene one seriously experienced band. Having toured all over the world and headlined at a number of great festivals, you can be left assured that you will be in for one great night of live music.

So if dark, intense rock is your thing than this is for you.

Tour dates:
5th Nov. Capital FM Arena Nottingham - Nottingham, UK
6th Nov. Manchester Arena - Manchester, UK
8th Nov. NIA - Birmingham, UK
9th Nov. Wembley Arena - London, UK

For tour dates and tickets check out: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Evanescence-tickets/artist/857529

Kasabian

This is a great band.

Kasabian are an english rock band from Leicester. To date they have released four albums "Kasabian," "Empire" "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" and the recent "Velociraptor!"

Although Kasabian's recently released album Velociraptor! failed to make the Billboard Top 200 charts in the US it has proven to be very successful in the UK. This band has huge support all over the UK and have over the years won a number of awards including a Brit Award, a Mojo Award and several NME and Q awards.

This band oozes coolness and attitude, and you certainly wont be forgetting their live performance in a hurry.   Kasabian are reported to have "mastered the live circuit"and no one can disagree when seeing these five rockers onstage. Their confidence, energy and complete control over the crowd combine to deliver one exceptional live performance.

For their NYE gig Serge and Tom made everyone in the crowd get on their knees when it came to performing their number 1 hit single "Fire." When the song reached the chorus "I'm on fire!" the effect was on of utter frenzy - every single person jumped up and went abolsuterly wild - singing, dancing and generally just having an absolute blast.

Tour dates:
22nd March. Terminal 5 - NYC

For information regarding their other tour dates (US, Europe &  Australia) check out http://www.songkick.com

The Strokes Music Gig

I love The Strokes! Although I have yet to see them live, they are definitely top on my list.

The Strokes are an American rock band who formed in 1988 in  New York City. This band have achieved many great things and were even labeled "the most prominent rock bands to emerge in the 21st Century."

The Strokes released their debut album "Is This It," back in 2001 and have just recently released their fourth album "Angles."

Bands similar to The Strokes include Albert Hammond JR, Arctic Monkeys, and Vampire Weekend. Some of The Strokes most popular tracks include "Last Nite," "Reptilia," and "Is This It."

Although I have not personally seen The Strokes live, they have received many great reviews. I will add however that theirs gigs are not for the feint hearted. Expect mosh pits, sweat, and a lot of die hard rock fans. But hey this only adds to the atmosphere so don't be deterred.

Tour dates
14th - 15th May. BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend - Carlisle, UK
8th - 10th July. T in the Park 2011 - Kinross, UK
26th - 28th Aug. Leeds  Festival 2011 - Leeds,  UK
26th - 28th Aug. Reading Festival 2011 - Reading, UK

For more information about their European and US tour dates check out: The Strokes