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Gig Review... The UK Rock Gig Review. Maybe you were there, maybe you missed the gig, or maybe you want to see what the bands are like before you go and see them here is your change to read all about it, or review a Rock Gig that you were at. If you have a review that you would like to post on this web page then send it to planetq2000@hotmail.com
	System of a Down Academy Birmingham, 20th March Like many others I was really looking forward to this gig, especially after the original dates were cancelled. This was to be the second date on that System did in Brum, so by the time we got to the Academy we had already hear rumours of how good System were the night before, but how bad the support band were and bad they were! The support band Dillinger Escape Plan entered the stage and kicked into their first ˜tune. I can honestly say that I have never heard anything like it! Everyone in the crowd look shocked as the band continued to charge through their set, with little care for the lack of support from the audience. The question on very bodies mind was why?! System are such a strong and popular band that they could have chosen anyone to play for them, and yet they chose Dillinger Escape Plan. The set continued in much the same fashion, the guitarist continued to head bang and look like he was about to head butt the floor at any moment, and the singer continued to whale. There were some moments of clarity, when you could almost make out a tune, but that soon slipped away. Eventually the band realised that they were not winning over the audience, and retaliated with the comment "you are all to stupid to appreciate this, go and listen to alien ant farm you dumb little f**ks!", enough said! The disappointed audience waited some time for System to come on stage. The venue had us packed in like sardines, and it was very hot and many people were getting impatient at the amount of time System were taking to get ready. It was very difficult to get a good view from anywhere in the building. The stage construction blocked of most of the views from the side, which wasnt helped by the kind security bloke who stood up on the stage at the side for the whole set, blocking the majority of the small gap there was. System finally appeared on the stage and kicked the night off with Prison Song. It was like the crowd suddenly woke up and the atmosphere improved immensely. Serj Tankian wowed the audience with his fantastic stage presence and they played a variety of songs, even the track from their hip hop rock crossover experiment which the band are rumoured to hate themselves! Guitarist and backing vocal singer, Daron Malakain, looked a bit worse for wear. There were many moments during the set that he would start rambling on about something or other, he complained about Serjs rapping and completely stopped the song! Shavo Odadjain added their meaty base sound and frequent growling to tracks and drummer John Dolmayan played a very good set. The band were obviously enjoying themselves, they messed about in many songs, but didnt manage to spoil them. Serj was really amused that us fans loved Needles so much, saying that I am singing about pulling a tapeworm out of an ass, and you guys love it! Other hits with the crowd were Bounce and predictably Chop Suey and their resent single Toxicity. The band played some material from their self titled first album, but I was disappointed that they didnt play Ddevil. They saved Sugar until one of their last songs and it was fantastic. The band started to play their last tune, which was just an instrumental which I didnt recognise, we thought that they would come back on to do an encore, but they didnt. It made the end of the evening a little flat as Sugar got everyone geared up for more. People who waited around for the band to surface after the Gig waited for about 2 hours, and then System were hurried onto their bus with no time to sign things for fans, which was a shame, especially as the fans had waited for them so long. Overall the Gig was good, but it left us hungry for much more System I guess we will just have to catch them at Ozzfest now. Suzie Wood, Solihull http://www.systemofadown.com/
Drowning Pool Wolverhampton 27th Feb. British based opening band, Die So Fluid, got the crowd off to a good start. The female fronted band draw similarities to My Ruin, they were nothing new, but they kept the crowd moshing and interested throughout their set. Drowning Pool Take the stage to a huge applause and open with ˜Pity" followed by ˜All over" me and ˜Reminded". The mosh pit really kicked off. Singer Dave Williams takes a break to ask if there are any wrestling fans in the audience, to a pleasing response which introduces ˜Sinner". They also played two new tracks, ˜Requiem" and ˜Broken". They are of a similar style to the songs on the album, and the crowd defiantly liked them. Dave Williams asks the crowd if they have ever heard of a band called Pantera! (both bands are good mates with each other, and often go drinking together as they are both Texas based) The set continues with the rest of their new album and closes with ˜Sermon", but the crowd are waiting for the bands signature track and as the lights go off and the band leave the stage the crowd start chanting let the bodies hit the floor The fans go mad for the WWF theme ˜Bodies" as their encore. The band performed the song spot on and sent the crowd mad. Overall the Gig was excellent, they should defiantly achieve a great response at this years Ozzfest! Gary, Solihull
	American head charge + Sikth Birmingham Academy 8th March After a short wait outside we were allowed into the academy to find that the gig was going to be upstairs in the small bar area. The stage area in there being tiny, leaving us wondering how all seven of A.H.C were going to fit onto it. Sikth took the stage and ripped into their set and musically they weren't bad, but the two front men sounded like a bad cross between Jonathan Davis of Korn and Serj from System of a Down. Sikth were not my cup of tea and I was glad when their set was over, but a lot of the younger generations attending did seem to like them and were happily moshing away to their unusual sound. Twenty minutes later and some stage readjustment American Head Charge took the stage with little room to move, but wasted no time battering the crowd with stand out tracks such as a violent reaction, self, americ#nt and never get caught. A.H.C got the pit lively early on in the gig and it stayed that way pretty much till the end, except when they sent everyone in the crowd into fits and seizures with an incredible bright strobe light situated behind the band. The light was so bright that not only could you not see the band, but you couldn't see anything else afterwards either. A.H.C played a nice tight set and without a duff note to be heard, covering pretty much all of the tracks off their American record debut The War of Art. Watch out for theses guys at ozzfest this year, They are gonna tear the place down!!! By Jonathan Gold Birmingham
SLIPKNOT Wed 20th Feb, NEC Birmingham. The long awaited night looked promising after Slipknot had postponed the Gig and changed the line up from last year but the show was definitely worth the wait. Although starting earlier than advertised causing us to miss the first few songs, the first up to kick start the night off, were American Head Charge (who are touring now). In many peoples opinion the line up was in the wrong order, but never the less American Head put on a good set. AHCs in your face style of chaotic-agro metal, meets mad max post nuclear gang, got the crowd warmed up nicely. High lights were Self, a violent reaction, never get caught. Keep an eye on these guys, as they will go far! Next up was In Flames. Invited by Slipknot to do the European tour, after meeting on a festival in Italy, In Flames share a lot of common influences as slipknot although the end results are radically different styles of music. In Flames take the stage to Austin Powers theme music and soon rip into their set. The old skool death metal band were a world way from the style of Head Charge and the crowd took a little while to warm to them. There set improved as it chugged along and everyone was soon back to moshing standard set by Head Charge. By this time the NEC had also begun to fill up and there was a growing atmosphere in anticipation for Slipknot. The night really began to kick of when One Minute Silence took to the stage. The Irish political rock band really stirred up the crowd, with quality tracks such as 1845, rise and shine and 16 stone pig. OMS missed out any material from their first album such as fan favourites like remain calm, in order to play some tracks off there soon to be released third album. Lead singer Brian Barry got the crowd nice and angry for Slipknot by starting the classic circle pit and generally adding to the build up of atmosphere. A good solid performance from OMS as always. There was a large gap after OMS left the stage in order for it to be prepared for SlipknotÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ A large banner with the Slipknot pentagram was hiding the work that was going on back stage. From the side we could see just how much effort went into the setting up of the stage. After a long wait and an extended version of the track 515 to build the atmosphere, Slipknot finally made their appearance and exploded into the track people = shit, with the stage blazing with fireworks and explosions in time to the music, and the crowd went CRAZY! Slipknot wasted no time and ripped into classic tracks like eeyore, purity and liberate before going back into newer songs like left behind and disaster piece. As always Slipknot put in 100%, the stage show being as, if not more crazy then their music. Half time and the band left the stage apart from Sid who stayed to entertain with a skilful display of mixing, although this was over shadowed by Joeys amazing drum solo that followed. Joey was strapped into his seat and performed a manic solo while being spun around on his hydraulic drum set up, the high light being where he was when the drum kit was vertical and high above the stage and rotating and not once did he miss a beat. The band then returned and picked up where they had left off; playing like it was the first date of the tour. Slipknot were on form and couldn't play a bad song, Heretic anthem and the next single off Iowa My plague were mixed with classics like surfacing, spit it out and eyeless. The crowd went completely mad however to wait and bleed, Corey challenging them to show how crazy they actually were. The crowd answered him and the result was one very trashed looking NEC Arena with very bare seats, after nearly every seat cover in the building had been ripped off! Overall a great gig and one that proves that Slipknot are definitely a band who isn't all hype. http://www.headcharge.com http://www.inflames.com http://www.oneminutesilence.com http://www.slipknot1.com
	Kittie 3/2/02 Wolverhampton Wulfrun hall supported by Shadows Fall We arrived at the Wulfrun around 7.30 ish and after a twenty minute wait the, backing music died down and Shadows Fall surprisingly had already taken to the stage. Shadows fall are all you would expect from their label century media, and the Massachusetts five piece wasted no time in bludgeoning the crowd with their mix of hardcore meets metal sound. The crowd enthusiastically began to surge forwards and soon a pit was under way, all be it a mainly mini mosher pit. Shadows fall set was overall a sound solid performance only wavering slightly in the middle where some of there slower tracks lost the edge to keep the crowd frenzied, and were unfortunately dogged by some poor sound levels on Brian Fairs lead vocals. The set ended with a incredibly fast Slayeresque number making me feel that theses guys are definitely ones to watch in the future, with talent like theirs they are sure to go far!! Having seen Kittie two years ago when they toured supporting Slipknot and being rightly impressed by their performance I was exited to be seeing them again. Although in those two years Kittie themselves have changed considerably with the departure of Fallon and the addition of her unlikely live show replacement Jeff Philips. Kitties sound has also changed from the nu metal kittie of Spit to the much darker growling sounds of Oracle. After half an hour waiting Kittie took the stage, and began their set with some classics from Spit although now sounding strangely slower to my surprise and a lot darker too. Moving through into newer songs off Oracle and even throwing in an pink Floyd cover , kittie maintained the crowds appetite for more and kept the pit moving steadily. New to the litter Jeff Philips played well taking on Fallons old role almost with ease also adding backing vocals, although he looked slightly out of place next to Morgan and Talena. Musically, Kitties abilities have grown and their overall sound has improved since I last saw them, although I was unimpressed with Morgans over use of her new found growling ( has she lost the ability to sing??) on tracks like suck, spit and even paper doll However stand out tracks included Pain, What I Always Wanted, and the amazing encore of brackish which was a reminder of how good Kittie can be when they make the effort. Have Kittie stayed true to their statement of "the band will stay their own course by remaining aloof from current musical trends and set new standards" Has Kittie "matured and evolved into an even more dynamic metal force that transcends all age and gender barriers"? But one things for sure, the Kittie of old is dead and in its place is a much nastier cat "hardened in the fires of Hell". Find out more about the band http://www.kittie.net/ Review by Andre Shergold, Solihull.
Raging Speedhorn, Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall, Wed 30 Jan. I wasnt originally going to this Gig, but thanks to a mate who couldnt go I go free tickets and a lift all the way to Wolverhampton (Cheers Paul!). We got there it was 8.30 and we had missed two of the supports (if you were there let me know what they were like!). The first band we saw was Clutch, a four-piece sludgecore set up. The band was pretty good, and improved through out their set. A collection of chuggy sounds and catchy riffs with good vocals from the front man. Clutch were spot on sound wise and entertaining to view. The front man couldnt keep still and sang in a dictator style, punching out his words as if he was almost Hitler! The rest of the band were a bit more refrained, but classic face pulling from the drummer After a long wait for Speedhorn to set up, they came on take and did not hold back with their first song. To be fair it was worth the wait. Speed Horn Plunged us straight into the moshpit of madness and only gave the crowd a rest with the odd chuggy track. They played a lot of tracks form their new album, but the old favourites such still brought the house down. There was a real mix of people there, from mini moshers to old skool rockers and the atmosphere was angry and energetic. They performed well, Frank Regan and John Loughlin didnt do as much bobbing n weaving with each other as they normally do but they still sounded just as crazy. Unfortunately we had to leave when Speed Horn were doing their finale (damn trains and buses!), but the place was still rocking when we left. A good Gig overall, the moshpit was a nasty one (what more would you expect from Speedhorn) and the band still havent lost their edge. Sniff Glue, Worship Satan. Raging Speed Horn. Visit their site http://www.ragingspeedhorn.co.uk Review by Suzie Wood, Birmingham.
	Your Review... Here Been to a gig? Want to shought about it?! Send Blue Dog an Email... blue_dog_rocks@hotmail.com and see your review on this site!
Your Review... Here Been to a gig? Want to shought about it?! Send Blue Dog an Email... blue_dog_rocks@hotmail.com and see your review on this site!