According to seating plans posted on TicketMaster tonight, Metallica's gig at Belfast's Odyssey Arena will be an 'in the round' affair. Tickets are priced at £49 - £55 and on sale at 9am on Thursday.
Monday 30 November 2009
Metallica Belfast bound
Finally, the mighty Metallica have confirmed their first Belfast appearance in almost two decades.
They play the Odyssey on 11 May, Metal Hammer confirmed this morning.
So far, this is their only UK date announced for 2010, so tickets will be in absolutely HUGE demand when they go on sale this coming Thursday (3 December).
Sunday 29 November 2009
Belfast IS Paradise City
Paradise City is Belfast's new classic rock club, and it is launching at the end of January, all things being equal.
The club is the brainchild of legendary DJ Monk, who is stepping out of the darkness of retirement and back into the limelight after a 15 year sabbatical, and his PR sidekick Phil Allely, who convinced the hooded one to flex his fingers on the decks once more.
The club's policy will be classic and old school, with the emphasis on the period between the late 60s and the early 90s, although Monk has promised to play some modern stuff as well (but only if he can bothered, he says).
A permanent venue has yet to be confirmed, and more details will be announced in due course, through the club's blog, www.paradisecitybelfast.blogspot.com, through Northern Ireland's only heavy metal PR company, Pied Piper, at www.myspace.com/piedpiperbelfast and through the club's Facebook page, where Monk's set lists will be published a few days before each show and where requests can be posted.
Meanwhile, the club already is venturing into the live arena, with the aptly named 'Paradise City - Live' at the Oh Yeah centre in the Cathedral Quarter on Friday 26 February. The first rock gig to be staged as part of the annual Guinness Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, it will be headlined by Trucker Diablo, supported by Black Freeway and Circadian. It will be a 14+ show, with strictly no alcohol and tickets will be a mere £3.
Monk is keeping quiet on whether or not he will make a guest appearance, but watch this space for updates.
Monk is keeping quiet on whether or not he will make a guest appearance, but watch this space for updates.
Sunday 22 November 2009
Calling all demons
The latest triumvirate of bands to rock the Limelight once again reflected the very healthy depth and diversity of the music scene hear in our wee country.
Newry five piece Ozzmium opened proceedings in fine style, with an efficient and appreciated set which displayed some fine Pantera-inspired shredding. The band obviously have an eye for marketing as well, using bookmarks as flyers for their deuubt EP, 'Chaos Is Fair'.
"We are By All Means and we're gonna play some hardcore" just about summed up what came next, as that's exactly what we got - a tight, enjoyable set of retro-HC a la Suicidal Tendencies. Highlight, however, was the bass player wandering to the bar, not once but twice, mid-set - first to down a Jager and second time to hand a mate a tenner to get a round in for the band (which they proceeded to down on stage, of course). Nice one.
Cursed Sun obviously are a band with a following, as the Limelight was almost full by the time they hit the stage. Well, they didn't exactly hit it, as there set looked cursed from the start, as the sound engineer left the band standing on the brightly lit stage for what seemed like an eternity, then had to use his mobile to see the lighting desk and finally had to go up and fix the smoke machine!
When things finally got under way, CS at first struck me as a band who can't make up their minds as to what genre they fit into - death metal mixed with hardcore vocals and traditional metal guitar work: maybe they just re-invented one of their own, but, what the fuck, the mix worked.
'Into The Eyes Of Choas' was the first big song of the set, it's doom intro quickly moving into classic Exodus-inspired speed territory. This is metal played the way it is supposed to be played - fast, loud, proud, from the heart to the heart and taking no muthafucking prisoners.
All too soon the boys had come to the end of their set, closing with the epic 'Demoncaller' from their new EP, 'As Seen Through The Eyes Of The Dead', the release of which this gigged marked - and I for one will be back for more.
Once again, well done James and keep 'er lit.
Newry five piece Ozzmium opened proceedings in fine style, with an efficient and appreciated set which displayed some fine Pantera-inspired shredding. The band obviously have an eye for marketing as well, using bookmarks as flyers for their deuubt EP, 'Chaos Is Fair'.
"We are By All Means and we're gonna play some hardcore" just about summed up what came next, as that's exactly what we got - a tight, enjoyable set of retro-HC a la Suicidal Tendencies. Highlight, however, was the bass player wandering to the bar, not once but twice, mid-set - first to down a Jager and second time to hand a mate a tenner to get a round in for the band (which they proceeded to down on stage, of course). Nice one.
Cursed Sun obviously are a band with a following, as the Limelight was almost full by the time they hit the stage. Well, they didn't exactly hit it, as there set looked cursed from the start, as the sound engineer left the band standing on the brightly lit stage for what seemed like an eternity, then had to use his mobile to see the lighting desk and finally had to go up and fix the smoke machine!
When things finally got under way, CS at first struck me as a band who can't make up their minds as to what genre they fit into - death metal mixed with hardcore vocals and traditional metal guitar work: maybe they just re-invented one of their own, but, what the fuck, the mix worked.
'Into The Eyes Of Choas' was the first big song of the set, it's doom intro quickly moving into classic Exodus-inspired speed territory. This is metal played the way it is supposed to be played - fast, loud, proud, from the heart to the heart and taking no muthafucking prisoners.
All too soon the boys had come to the end of their set, closing with the epic 'Demoncaller' from their new EP, 'As Seen Through The Eyes Of The Dead', the release of which this gigged marked - and I for one will be back for more.
Once again, well done James and keep 'er lit.
Thursday 19 November 2009
Songwriters Festival goes all Metal!
Trucker Diablo have been confirmed as the headliners for the first ever rock gig to be staged as part of the annual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival at the end of February. The gig will most likely be at the Oh Yeah Music Centre down in the Cathedral Quarter and will be on the Friday night (that's the 26th). Two other acts have to be confirmed and full details will be announced soon. It's a brave move for the festival organisers, as they never have featured bands before, just singer-songwriters, never mind rock bands!
Sunday 15 November 2009
Hope in a desert of despair
After near on a quarter of a century in the putrid worlds that are the media and music businesses, I am often driven to distraction and despair – the latter feeling most often directed at the former industry and its overall apathy toward what is good about the other.
Take The Distortion Project as a prime example. Almost single-handedly James and his small team have been flying the flag for the local metal scene, through their weekly gigs at first Katy Dalys and now the more substantial Limelight, and the occasional bigger name act, such as Amon Amarth and soon Marduk and Bolt Thrower. Yet nary a word in the local, so-called music press to recognise his tireless effort, pain and reward. In my own small way, through this blog, I am always happy to help redress the balance.
By the time I made it to the Limelight yestereve, 99 Miles Of Bad Road already had hit the stage, and impressed with their straight ahead, no nonsense, “let’s just have a good time” feelgood metal. I can say exactly the same about Niyah Sky, a group who I had been wanting to catch up with for some time and who commanded the stage with their own tight, evisceral brand of party rock.
Sandwiched between these two fine acts were the mighty Kesus, about whom I will be brutally honest and say I had not heard of until I saw their name on the flyers. Describing their sound as ‘desert metal’ , the quartet delivered a sandstorm of a set. Frontman Fanjo must be one of the tallest in the business, and he is possessed of a big voice to match, while guitarist T delivered some tempestuous riffs backed by the powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Harbo and drummer MJ.
Unfortunately, due to another appointment, I had to leave shortly after Speedking hit the stage, but in the couple of songs I heard the Monaghan riffmasters impressed me with their brand of traditional hard rock, and I will make a point of trying to catch up with them the next time they play this dirty ol’ town.
Amid despair there is always hope, and as long as James and The Distortion Project keep delivering quality gigs like this, hope in the local metal scene will spring eternal. Now, what’s the News Letter’s address till I go knock their so-called music writer’s bollocks in?
Take The Distortion Project as a prime example. Almost single-handedly James and his small team have been flying the flag for the local metal scene, through their weekly gigs at first Katy Dalys and now the more substantial Limelight, and the occasional bigger name act, such as Amon Amarth and soon Marduk and Bolt Thrower. Yet nary a word in the local, so-called music press to recognise his tireless effort, pain and reward. In my own small way, through this blog, I am always happy to help redress the balance.
By the time I made it to the Limelight yestereve, 99 Miles Of Bad Road already had hit the stage, and impressed with their straight ahead, no nonsense, “let’s just have a good time” feelgood metal. I can say exactly the same about Niyah Sky, a group who I had been wanting to catch up with for some time and who commanded the stage with their own tight, evisceral brand of party rock.
Sandwiched between these two fine acts were the mighty Kesus, about whom I will be brutally honest and say I had not heard of until I saw their name on the flyers. Describing their sound as ‘desert metal’ , the quartet delivered a sandstorm of a set. Frontman Fanjo must be one of the tallest in the business, and he is possessed of a big voice to match, while guitarist T delivered some tempestuous riffs backed by the powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Harbo and drummer MJ.
Unfortunately, due to another appointment, I had to leave shortly after Speedking hit the stage, but in the couple of songs I heard the Monaghan riffmasters impressed me with their brand of traditional hard rock, and I will make a point of trying to catch up with them the next time they play this dirty ol’ town.
Amid despair there is always hope, and as long as James and The Distortion Project keep delivering quality gigs like this, hope in the local metal scene will spring eternal. Now, what’s the News Letter’s address till I go knock their so-called music writer’s bollocks in?
Friday 13 November 2009
The Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission (of which Pied Piper was a founder member) has folded, following a split in the board. Full details at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8358073.stm.
Thursday 12 November 2009
Ricky goes truckin'
Congratulations to Trucker Diablo on securing a guest slot on their forthcoming debut album, '18 Wheels Of Fury', by none other than Ricky Warwick. The guys currently are in pre-production for said opus, and have posted some live demos on their MySpace site, which are sounding fucking awesome! All things being equal, the album is due early in 2010. Looking forward to it.
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