Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tonights gig is like the rest of The Levellers current tour, sold out well in advance. The Levellers have a reputation as a superb live band, so I’m looking forwards to seeing them for the first time tonight. Knowing that the support on this leg of the tour is The Wonderstuff is a real bonus for me having long been a fan of theirs.

Tonights gig starts early by gig standards due to the venue having a club night on afterwards. Despite the early hour the venue is packed out before The Wonderstuff take to the stage. Kicking off with ”Red Berry joy town” from their 1988 debut album, ”The eight legged groove machine”, the band get off to a great start and quickly show why they are an excellent choice to support The Levellers...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tonights support comes from Scottish act The Pictish Trail (aka singer Johnny Lynch). Its hard to describe the sort of music Pictish Trail performs – much of it is probably best descibed as folk, played on an acoustic guitar, but Pictish Trial also includes electronic synth music with a drum machine. Banter between songs keeps the crowd entertained and he received a good amount of applause at the end of the set.

When KT Tunstall comes on stage, the first thing that strikes you is how small she is – she is not only short but is extremely thin, and when she picks up a large guitar she seems even smaller (a fact she jokes about with the audience).
As soon as KT Tunstall starts to play and sing though, her size is quickly forgotten and people focus on the music.
KT’s music is an engaging fo...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

I was told before attending last night’s concert that it’s going to be crazy and awesome. So I thought I am in for a nice treat. But I could, by no means, expect the epic show that I witnessed. Each time I recall fragments of it I wear a big smile on my face. I will start by telling you about the end of the concert: all I saw was people wearing the biggest concert smiles ever and saying ’Wow’. I heard so many ’Wow’s on the way to the subway that I know those amazing good mood vibes were transmitted to everyone in the audience.

Before reading the rest of the review, I recommend you watch the ending video of the show, Bend it like Bender, when the crowd was invited on stage and the ’Bend it like Bender’ song turned out to be the apogee of a fantastic evening: www.youtube...

Posted in Interviews

The Levellers are probably one of the most successful British Indie acts of all time with a career stretching back 20 years. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut album, ”Levelling the land”, and the band are currently touring with a celebration of the album.

Bass player Jeremy Cunningham took time out before their sold out show in Nottingham on 12th March 2011 for an interview for festivalphoto.

Q: Tonight’s show is part of your ”Levelling the land” tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album being released. When you made the album 20 years ago, did you ever imagine the band would still be going strong 20 years later.

A: Not really no, but then we didn’t think we wouldn’t be either, we just didn’t think about it in those terms at all, we just tho...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Mustasch är nu ute på turné med senaste plattan och 10-års jubilerande med The New Sound Of The True Best. En platta som presenterar Mustaschs tidigare låtar från deras tioåriga karriär, hur de låter idag. Utöver nyinspelningarna finns det en ny låt – Angel´s Share. En låt som visar att Mustasch fortfarande kör på i samma anda och skapar bra låtar som från senaste kritiker-rosande självbetitlade MUSTASCH.

På Mustaschs första turné för 10 år sedan gjorde de ett stopp på Tivoli i Helsingborg. Trots en spelning på KB i Malmö bara två dagar innan ville de inte missa att spela på Tivoli på deras 10-års jubileum (sedan första släppta album) där de spelade för sina första skånska fans. Givetvis svarade Helsingborgs-fansen med ett slutsålt Tivoli...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

East German gothic rock/metal outfit KATANGA has been around since 1998, but this is only their second offering, excluded some EP´s and split discs. But they have been awarded some swell reviews for their previous album “Darkchild”. But with so long between releases it is quintessential that they excel with every album…do they?

The disco intro of “Marquis de Sade” is no coincidence. German lyrics emphases the few words that the intro contains, and the whiplashes and groaning speak for themselves. German depressive rock puts its mark on “Mörder der Erinnerung”, or most of the album actually. In spite of the overall sound they are only four according to the info; Mario and Doreen share vocal duties, Michael handles guitars and Wilko, bass...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

SIX REASONS TO KILL are amongst the forerunners of metal/hardcore, and are a big name in the underground scene. They started out with a lot of death metal in their sound, but have since developed into a hybrid of modern and extreme death, hardcore, added atmosphere and touches of electronica. They have gigged a lot with hot bands, will they become a household name themselves after this disc?

Lars Tekolf follows the trend of screams and growl, the guitars are truly riffing away in the hands of Marco Andree and Loc Tran. The rhythm section of bassist Matthias Machenheimer and drummer Florian Durr complete the sound. Various vocals and added synthesizer patterns are their own input. Lars´s voice is both high-pitched and husky when he screams...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Electric Boys är tillbaka och den här gången för att stanna. Efter avbrottet 1994, återförenades de 2009 och nu har äntligen deras sedan länge väntade album – And Them Boys Done Swang på väg ut i butikerna nästa månad. Det är torsdag och en härlig mängd glada rockers har tagit sig till KB. Det som slog mig strax innan Electric Boys var att det var en mogen, vuxnare publik ikväll. Något som säger att de gamla fansen har letat sig tillbaka efter alla dessa år. De yngre i publiken skulle strax få bevittna något alldeles underbart.

Klockan slår åtta och introt dras igång och publiken som trodde att de skulle spela mycket senare skyndar sig att inta sig en bra position...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

Thrash success LEGION OF THE DAMNED has been at it since 2004, not 1990 as could be expected. They rose from the ashes of OCCULT, another fine band, to focus on horror themes and explosive thrash. This is their fifth album, and the success of their past four plus this new one recently got them booked on the bill of Sweden Rock Festival 2011. Sounds more than intriguing…

Repeated passages of spoken words in a chanting tone open the proceedings in “… This Is the Age of…”. Night of the Sabbath” has a lot of bite, the scorching vocals courtesy of Maurice Swinkels and lack of double bass drums add to the retro effect. It echoes of quite a lot of old thrash giants. “War Is in My Blood” follows suit, and all you have to do is bang your head...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Spinefarm/Universal

Värmländska SPARZANZA sägs vara hårdare, mörkare och kraftfullare nu än på de föregående tre studioskivorna (2003-09). De har fått en bra start då singeln ”Temple of the Red-Eyed Pigs” spelas flitigt på diverse radiostationer. De har höjts och utlovat stordåd hela tiden, kommer det stora genombrottet nu?

Radiofavoriten ”Temple of the Red-Eyed Pigs” avslöjar att SPARZANZA behållit sina melodier, kanske rentav finslipat dem ytterligare. Men också tuffat till skränen och gitarrljudet. Hur som helst är det en bra öppning. Konceptet med tyngd och närmast poppig melodi upprepas, fast något mjukare, direkt i efterföljande ”Alone with a Loaded Gun”. Samma stil, men inte lika övertygande som singeln. Låtarna är mellan 2.44 och 3...