Category: Live Reviews

Hammersmith Apollo
17.07.09

After standing in a half-full Apollo watching J2K play unutterably boring UK Funky [if it goes away tomorrow, it will still have been around too long] and a random ska band complete with someone’s dad playing the bongos, The Game made his entrance, in the pitch black. The spotlight hit and the chants began that ran as a theme throughout the entire show – “Fuck Jay-Z”.

LA’s Game recently released a Jigga diss song “I’m So Wavy” and performed it as the first track of the show, garnering a surprising amount of cheers. Strange as it seemed, that was nothing compared to the entrance of 10 mean looking homeboys lining the stage – they weren’t hype men, in fact they didn’t really seem to be anything other than Jayceon’s mates, but that was soon forgotten when the rapper really got going.

Soon into the set he called for anyone wearing red to get on the stage, with his entourage providing a human barrier around him, but still the sight of a good 50 people on stage as he broke into crowd favourite “One Blood” was one to behold. The comedy value of seeing a clearly drunk, skinny white kid, throwing his West Coast signs much to the chagrin and then amusement of the, shall we say, liberally [un]clothed crew member next to him, goes beyonds words.

The entertainment continued when Game called Jay-Z fans to the stage and dissed them, albeit with good humour, for wearing skinny jeans – “Jigga don’t like them skinny jeans boy”, plaid and looking like Harry Potter before he got all the girls on stage for a bit of ego-boosting fun.

Regardless of all this though, what’s clear is that The Game has a lot more charisma than I assumed. He controlled the crowd from start to finish and breaking out songs like “Dope Boys”, “My Life”, “State Of Emergency”, “Love It Or Hate It” [whilst chanting G-UNOT] and “Let’s Ride” kept the audience happy from start to finish.

So, whilst I am a big Jay-Z fan and didn’t get involved in the baiting of the great man, I hold my hands up – The Game is a fucking good rapper and puts on a hell of a show.

Abjekt.

So, Crossfire headed over the sea a few days back to catch the Vans Warped Tour 15 year anniversary spectacular in Pomona, California.

Whilst we were there we caught a few bonus tidbits too and these kicked off almost as soon as we landed from London when we were reliably informed of a pre-party going on somewhere in downtown L.A. Dragging our tired arses out of the hotel, we managed to get to this gem of a warehouse party which included a characteristically brilliant set from one of our favourites – P.O.S. plus a DJ set from the one and only innerpartysystem, with whom we consumed far too much free alcohol. Add to that a pop-in from fellow UK-ians Gallows and we were having a ball! A great way to start the trip.

And so to the sunny plains of Pomona the following day where countless bands were acclimatising to the first heat of the mammoth tour which goes on all summer long. We’re a bit bummed to see that The Blackout and The Ataris have already played (the schedule rotates day-by-day) but console ourselves with what is yet in store. First off – Aiden who whip the kids into a frenzy with walls of death and their punky, gothed-up rock. P.O.S. for the second time in two days does not disappoint and the rapper has scores of audience members chanting along with their hands in the air. He’s a breath of fresh air amongst a line-up of punk-rock classics and newbies.

A Day To Remember are the band who pull the biggest crowd of all the acts we catch today. Their take on aggression versus pure melody is received with eagerness by a devoted group of followers gathered to see a band who’re set to become one of the most popular on this tour. Actually, they’re clearly already one of the most popular. As the day wears on, there’s time to catch a little Alexisonfire before heading to innerpartysystem’s set and Dallas Green’s voice demonstrates its velveteen magic as ever. Vocalist George is his energetic self and proves that he is more than able to handle the slightly new style that characterises latest album Old Crows / Young Cardinals. The band’s three-pronged vocal attack has been honed to near-perfection.

The second disappointment of the day comes when we roll up to innerpartysystem’s allotted stage only to find that they went on super early and are about to finish up. Bummer. Still, their unparalleled enthusiasm and sampling of Outkast impress the significant crowd amassed. It’s clear that this band will be building a serious fanbase in the U.S. over the course of this tour. Heading over to the main stage as NOFX are ending their set, the rumour we’d heard about earlier in the day rears its head as Alien Ant Farm take to the stage. We wanted to hear ‘Movies’; we got ‘Smooth Criminal’. Of course. Not exactly a fitting tribute to the life of Michael Jackson but a last minute effort that took people by surprised and wasn’t really appreciated by the majority.

The real surprise performance of the day for us comes from the Pomona Glasshouse stage which is the smallest of the event and which we hadn’t really taken a note of but in between bands on the Hurley stage, the strains of something familiar reach our ears and I’m thinking ‘I know that song’. Turns out A Cursive Memory are playing their poptastic offering ‘Everything’ and so we head over to check them out. Apart from that one brilliant song, it has to be said that they’re a bit twee with strings and acoustic guitar being hauled in for this event. However, a nice surprise nonetheless!

We round it all off with a blast from home as Gallows take to the bizarrely-positioned Hurley stage. True to form, frontman Frank Carter totally obliterates the barrier between band and audience, throwing himself into the crowd from the outset and orchestrating circle pit upon circle pit as the eager crowd join in and excitedly document the event with their cameras. Gallows are feeding off that same feeling of a small group of ‘the people in the know’ hanging on their every move that occurred in the U.K. a good couple of years ago now before their popularity soared over here. Now the U.S. is catching on and it’s every bit as exciting. For the band as well as everyone present to witness them. New material is received every bit as well as the classics and the band preach their punk pedigree with well-founded assuredness proving themselves as Warped 2009’s stroke-of-genius wildcard.

A few days later in Vegas, we find ourselves at what is apparently called a ‘Warped Tour pit-stop’ although we weren’t aware of this. Braving the oppressive heat, innerpartysystem rip it up to a crowd of attentive, sweating kids. Their set is pretty much all we can handle on this day, pasty English folks that we are and so we head off into the night to experience the Vegas oldtown and the Strip. We did Warped Tour once already after all…

Words by Sarah Maynard
Photos by Mike Hemsley

Engine Room, Brighton
08/07/2009

Man, it’s been years since I last saw Riverside, California’s Bellrays debut on these shores with a ballistic set at The Garage in London.

At the time, the Poptones label were trying to push them as ‘the next big thing’, in a similar fashion they had with The Hives. It didn’t happen, but thankfully band founders and mainstays (vocalist) Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum are in this for the long term, and have refused to lie down… continuing to record and tour the globe.

There’s a receptive enough crowd gathered in this dingy subterranean venue by the time the quartet take to the small stage, and slowly but surely turn up the heat… starting out with a mid-pace soul groove, before breaking out salvos of righteously charged rocking fury. Lisa K dominates the stage, banging on her tambourine, and bellowing into her microphone… testifying to the powers of rockNroll. In the wings, the band locks in and maintains the solid momentum of a well greased machine. I’m not sure how long this current line-up has been together, but the chemistry suggested they’ve racked up a few miles together. They sound hot, move about a lot, good points in my book. Nothing bugs me more than an overly static live band.

The band trawls thru their back catalogue, with much enthusiastic audience feedback to material that made it on to the “Meet The Bellrays” compilation, notably “Fire on The Moon”, “Hole in the World“, “Zero P.M” and the belting set shutdown “Blues for Godzilla“, but there’s less initial hoopla to newer songs (from the “Red White and Black”, “Have a Little Faith” and “Hard Sweet and Sticky” LP’s) which is a shame, cuz the likes of “One Big Party“, “Voodoo Train“, “Psychotic Hate Man” and “Detroit Breakdown” are stellar numbers. And I wonder what some of the audience are here to hear? Just the ‘old stuff’? I don’t get that mindset. I still go and see bands for what they are doing now, not to just wallow in past glories, and dusted off blasts from a time gone by. If I wanted that, I’d just stay home and play the records.

By set close they have the crowd eating out of their hands and return for a curfew busting two song encore. I noted a decent walk up to The Bellrays merch stall afterwards, so I’d like to think more people were tuning in to the band’s latter releases. It’s important, keeps a band like this movin’. This ain’t no staid retrospective.

So yeah, I really enjoyed this shot of The Bellrays, they easily rocked out with the best of ’em. Get aboard brothers and sisters…

Pete Craven

Shepherd’s Bush Empire
9th July 2009

It’s standard practice at gigs for bands to end their set with their best songs. That’s what stops people from going home early. How many times have you sat through an entire set, bored, but wanting to hear that one song that you really like which is, of course, played right at the end of the set – or worse still, as an encore.

This is not a problem that raises its head tonight. For a start, Social Distortion’s back catalogue is pretty consistent throughout their long history so there’s not too much danger of the set sagging and secondly you know you are at cool show when UK Subs legend Charlie Harper is in the front row! However, it’s doubtful anyone in this packed out hot and sweaty venue expected the band to hit the stage running and slam into a three song barrage of their early eighties punk rock classics ‘The Creeps’, ‘Another State Of Mind‘ and ‘Mummy’s Little Monster‘. It’s a start that instantly gets the whole venue moving and an explosive beginning to the set.

Thankfully, frontman Mike Ness and the band manage to successfully keep the pace and energy levels up for the whole duration of the gig. Not bad at all for a band in their advanced years. But these guys have lived the hard life and have a story to tell and this harsh fact bleeds out of every road worn track played tonight – from ‘Prison Bound‘ to ‘Ball N Chain‘, Social Distortion prove their worth as one of the original and legendary American rock n’roll bands who still have the passion and adrenalin in droves.

A new album is due later this year. By tonight’s standards it’s going to be a belter. Watch this space.

James Sherry
Photo by Jerome Loughran

Water Rats
Kings Cross, London
30/06/09

Imagine a love-in between Neil Young, My Morning Jacket and Kasabian; not a pleasant thought but the resulting offspring may well sound a lot like Alberta Cross.

Those familiar with their 2007 ep, The Heartbreaker and the Thief, may well be puzzled by the Kasabian reference, but certainly more than one of the new songs hint at their “new direction”.

On a ludicrously hot Tuesday evening we all packed into the back room at the Water Rats as the band took to the stage, the five piece concentrated mainly on the forthcoming new album, Broken Side of Time, with a sprinkling of old favourites for the faithful, gracefully easing in and out of each song with the help of frontman, Petter Ericson Stakee’s, beautiful, soulful, soaring vocals.

The stripped down feel of the older songs is now replaced with beefier wall of sound courtesy of second guitarist Sam Kearney adding extra weight and dimension to the songs, though fans of their debut ep’s more country feel may find their new sound not so appealing, it’s certainly a forward progression that I’m sure will be embraced by a wider audience.

Opening with Ramblin Home, a pure Alberta Cross gem, complete with sky rocket chorus, and closing with forthcoming new single ATX, the pace never drops until the encore when Stakke and bassist Terry Wolfers came back to finish with an acoustic version of the old fave Lucy Rider.

The new album is not scheduled for release until September this year, but if you can’t wait until then, go to, www.myspace.com/albertcross, I know I can’t!

Nelson Bibb

Hard Rock Calling
Hyde Park
28.06.09

For a 3 day long festival that calls itself ‘Hard Rock Calling’ the promoters seem to have got completely the wrong end of the stick. I can’t even remotely see what’s ‘Hard Rock’ about either, Starsailor or The Dave Mathews Band. Safe to see I avoided all the support acts like the fucking plague and opted for “cunt-free” day.

All of this nonsense was forgotten when The Boss wondered out on stage backed by the infamous E-Street Band. Opening with an inspired version of The Clash’s ‘London Calling‘, Bruce and the gang arte off to a flying start before diving head first into ‘Badlands‘ and then ‘She’s The One’.

The E-Street Band back a juggernaut set from Springsteen who tears through ‘Out In The Street‘ and ‘Bobby Jean‘ to name a few. Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem joins the party on stage to wail through the spirited ‘No Surrender‘ which was a highlight but for some inexplicable reason; ‘Thunder Road‘ and ‘The River‘ remain noticeably absent from tonight’s set list.

After the people rallying anthem ‘The Rising‘, Bruce then delivers a goose-bump inducing rendition of ‘Jungleland‘. Yet more proof (if you needed it) as to why they call him ‘The Boss’. Unfortunately he goes from glory to annoyance in one fail swoop following up with ‘American Land‘. Some jiggery-pockery shite that is more at home in a Pogues B-sides collection. None the less, we are sent home happy with the classics, ‘Glory Days‘ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’.

I’ve been lucky enough to see The Boss before but this time I felt way out of my depth. Tonight, at times, I did feel like I was the unwanted guest of an older generation, and that in the eyes of hardened Springsteen fans that I didn’t “get it”. That may be true but it just goes to show that regardless of age, the music of Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street band have enough quality and enough depth to transcend generations. Tonight proved that.

Written by Tom Lindsey
Photo thanks to Heather Mary Ryan

Watch a phone clip here:

Clisson, France
19th,20th,21st June 2009

Words and photos by Tom Lindsey

At the beginning of this year I couldn’t wait for the festival line ups to start rolling in. When they did I was beyond disappointed. Limp cunting Bizkit at (the ever depressing) Download? Linkin fucking Park at….what the fuck is a Sonisphere anyway? And the ‘Rock & Alternative’ day at Reading being monopolized by moody student favourites, Radiohead and Lost-give it a fucking rest-Prophets. Not even with the addition of Faith No More to the line up enough to entice me.

So, after being bitch slapped by every UK festival promoter I had to look further afield….just across the channel actually. HELLFEST was the only festival that I have seen this year with a credible line up. Absolute fucking quality head to fucking toe. So myself and a few good men packed sleeping bags, beer and whiskey and began out journey.

FRIDAY

It was only fitting to kick off the whole weekend by having some mid morning whiskey and taking the final walk to see a band I have idolized for years but never seen. Eyehategod. A band that seldom travels as far as Europe, venture to France for this year’s Hellfest. Mike IX Williams and company deliver some of the most down tuned, abrasive, heroin riddled jams I have ever heard. Carving out classics like ‘Jackass and the Will of God’ is just amazing to witness live. They are even joined by Phil Anselmo for a jam session. Eyehategod do not disappoint and go far beyond my expectations. This band really set the bar for the weekend.

It was then a sprint to the Terrorizer tent the much loved Soilent Green churn out some southern grind glory and again another sprint to the bar. We had just enough time to fuel up on Jager and march to the RockHard tent to see a band on the recommendation from my new friend Sergio. Taake are the epitome Norwegian black metal. Everybody was going ape-shit for these guys. Even in the harsh light of day they still manage shred through music blacker than their own corpse paint. Then fan favorites, Torche ruled the Terrorizer tent with a sound so damn loud it could have filled an arena. They were gob smackingly good.

Due to Bobby Libeling forgetting his false teeth, fighting an airline attendant and getting busted with a bag of crack in his sock, Pentagram failed to play. No matter. The back to back combo of seeing Voivod and W.A.S.P was absolutely killer and provided enough drunken fun for the next band….

Then with the sun setting, excitement in the air NOLA’s finest Down march on to the main stage one to a heroes reception. I have seen Down many a time before but never had I seen the band so damn energetic. It’s almost as if they were as excited to be there as we were. Phil Anselmo was commanding the stage like he did in his Pantera days. Down chug out huge riff laden anthems ‘Lifer’ ‘NOD’ and completely blow Hellfest away with the mighty set closer ‘Bury Me In Smoke’. Another triumphant Down performance. Unfortunately Anthrax were buried tonight. They turned in a solid performance, dished out the classics and even threw in a cover of Refused’s ‘New Noise’ but following an earth shattering performance by Down combined with the build up to Black Sabbath they seemed a bit lost even though new vocalist Dan Nelson was impressive.

Up next, in the now black of night, arise the mighty Black Sabbath (I’m not calling the Heaven & Hell….NO!)! Everybody was transfixed by Tony Iommi’s solos. Geezer Butler pounding home the rhythm section and the absolute gentleman that is Ronni James Dio’s voice defining amazing songs like ‘Time Machine’, ‘Die Young’ and ‘Mob Rules’. The sheer occasion of seeing these men on stage doing what they do best is an absolute privilege.

The anticipation for long awaited return of doom gods Saint Vitus was unparalleled. From the moment Dave Chandler staggered out on to stage with Wino in toe until the moment they left was simply astonishing. This is doom at its finest peppered with Chandler’s acid induced solos and Wino’s haunting howls and guttural wails. . ‘Saint Vitus’, ‘Living Backwards’ and ‘Mystic Lady’ are fuzzed out in trademark unpredictable Vitus way to a background of psychedelic imagery that hypnotizes the doom fanatics in attendance. Tonight Vitus close their set with the cornerstone of doom anthems, finishing on the amazing ‘Born Too Late’. It truly is the stuff of legends.

Motley Crue are not even worth writing about. Their gelatinous, flaccid, feeble performance styled on past glories and nostalgia is a slap in the face to people who had paid hard earned cash to come to this festival. Somebody do the right thing, take them behind the wood shed and put them down. However, this foul display couldn’t tarnish what an awesome first day this had been. A day that belonged to the mighty Saint Vitus.

SATURDAY

In a haze of yesterday’s booze, I managed to dig myself out of my sleeping bag and drag myself out to the arena. I’m glad I did as I managed to catch half a set from Earache favourites Gama Bomb. The lads must have been stoked because they pulled a huge crowd who were all going absolutely mental for the Dublin thrashers. In the blistering hot sunshine and after some nice French people dosed us up with co-codamol and Ricard we migrated along with everybody else to Outlaw Order. Another side project made up from member of Soilent Green and Eyehategod. It’s all the thrash fury of the former mixed with all the nihilistic venom of the latter culminating in a vicious wall of sound. Outlaw Order, again, lead by Mike IX, tear through visceral tracks ‘Double Barrel Solves Everything’ and ‘Mercy Shot’.

After a few hours spent at the bar with Outlaw Order after their set, it was then time for everybody and their bloody mother to huddle around Main Stage 2 to witness Clutch. Man, how fucking good are Clutch live? On CD they are awesome but the energy they have on a festival stage is immense. Jim Fallon’s voice was absolute quality. The dude has got a steel pair of lungs on him. Thanks to the kind people at Jack Daniels who plied us full of cocktails before hand, which only heightened the experience of seeing ‘The Mob goes Wild’ live. Wino from Saint Vitus also came on, guitar in hand, to help lay down some serious riffs to close the set. Clutch well and truly owned the Saturday at Hellfest.

The Misfits were always going to be fun. I know it’s not the same and never will be as good as they were with Danzig but it’s not going to happen….ever, so we just made do with what there was….and what we got was damn good. Not even being given time to breath by Jerry Only’s “ONE-TWO!!” before each song, The Misfits blitz their way from classic to classic. ‘Teenagers From Mars’, ‘Hatebreeders’, ‘We Are 138’ to name a few. Dez Cadina and Rob, on guitar and drums respectively, also have history in Black Flag so it’s a nice surprise to see them pull that one out of the bag. ‘Rise Above’ being played makes everybody who has a plus go fucking metal and we all did. As a little bonus, Dave Chandler from Saint Vitus took care of backing vocals much to his delight.

Sacred Reich were fucking awesome to finally see live. After fueling up all kinds of booze on the biggest party day of the whole festival, (now fat) Phil Rind and co were really enjoyable to see and completely ruled the RockHard stage. ‘Independent’ had me running around, spilling beer and falling on my face but it was far too much fun not to thrash about like a fucking lunatic! Before dragging some people from Terrorizer magazine back to my tent and telling them the worst joke ever then trying to translate it for the French in attendance.

SUNDAY

Having partied with these guys all weekend it was now time to see if all the booze had taken it’s toll. Orange Goblin storm the Terrorizer tent looking no worse for wear, launching straight into their blistering stoner metal groove. It’s hard to take your eyes off of front man Ben ‘Built like a brick shit house’ Ward who has the rabid crowd in the palm of his hand throughout the set. ‘Aquatic Fanatic’ and ‘Scorpionica’ both see an outing. Crowd pleaser ‘Some You Win, Some You Lose’ had the entire tent bellowing the chorus and raising their plastic beakers of warm beer to the sky.

With a massive drunken grin on my face after a great Orange Goblin set it was time to head over to the Rock Hard tent to catch midland, grind legends Napalm Death. Bodies were flying and demented metal heads were leaping from the support beams in the tent into the whirling mass of bodies below. Lee Dorian makes a special appearance on stage to grunt his way through a track from ‘Scum’. Napath Death finishes their set with the Dead Kennedy’s classic ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’. Unfortunately Napalm Death left me a little cold. There was too much talking about the ills of society and not enough singing about it. However, seeing Lee Dorian sing with them again was a nice touch.

Back to the main stage and Atlanta prog-metal-maestros Mastodon dive head first through a mixture of both ‘astonishing’ new and ‘classic’ old material. Watching Mastodon achieve the neigh-on-impossible riffs while hammered in the sun is a great way to spend the afternoon. The amount of excited people sporting ‘ST’ merchandise was something to be seen because when Suicidal Tendencies finally bounced on stage to ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ Hellfest exploded! Cyco Mike and co shred through the classics jams ‘Possessed To Skate’, ‘War Inside My Head’ before inviting everybody watching to rush the stage. One of the best stage invasions I have ever seen and if you were a part of it, my hat’s off to you.

A change in tone for the evening followed as we made our way back to the Terrorizer tent for a lethal dose of doom. Electric Wizard have been one bands that I have respected for years. Their occult influences and pure evil, doom mantras hypnotize all fanatics lucky enough to witness them. The Wizard churn out ‘Witchcult Today’, ‘Return Trip’ and a jaw dropping rendition of ‘We Hate You’. Personally, I think they were even better than they were at the Rise Above records show last year.

Then, at long last, a voice over the Main Stage PA tells all “False metal needs to vacate the area as Manowar will be on in less than two minutes” much to the delight of myself and the growing crowds of Vikings. It was a tough choice to watch these guys ahead of Brutal Truth but the chance to see Manowar doesn’t come everyday.

Strutting about the stage in front of “The biggest amps in the world” Manowar seem to think they are playing a show in Valhalla! They could be easily confused. The amount of Viking helmets, goblets and Scandinavian war flags that were scattered about the ‘Manowarriors’ was insane. The leather clad heroes thunder though ‘Warriors Of The World Unite’ and ‘Kings Of Metal’ before Joey Di’maio presents the festival organizers with a ‘Balls Of Steel’ award (and rightly so!).

You should have seen the massive grin that I had knowing that throughout all Joey Dimaio’s posturing about Manowar being louder than all, you could still hear Brutal Truth all way over in the Terrorizer tent. Manowar culminate their set with ‘The Crown And The Ring’ followed by setting the sky on fire with a mass of pyrotechnics. A nice visual display to all and a great send off to an amazing festival.

The journey back home the morning after was horrific but everybody was still buzzed at witnessing the best heavy metal festival Europe has to offer, Fact. Until next year, Hellfest…..IMMORTAL!!!

It was another messy festival but this year the Download Festival was full to the brim as 80,000 got down to one of the best line ups yet. Chuck Norris and Alex Gosman were there to witness the unfitness and bring you the lowdown.

FRIDAY

With the sun shining and the fat Goths letting their flab down, Hollywood Undead storm the main stage to officially open Download 2009. Sprinting into the sunlight and launching straight into recent radio hit ‘Undead’, the Californian rap-rockers set the tone nicely for the day ahead, something that The Blackout only fuel further. Slicing a medley of Limp Bizkit, Korn and Faith No More hits between their own material, the Welsh boys are onto a winner from the moment they appear. Enter Shikari drove their ‘Juggernaut’ into the festival as one of the special guests bands and thrilled a packed blue tent with tracks from their new album Take To The Skies. For the record, Rob you must keep your shorts on in future mate!

The sun is hot, the beers are cold, and the folks assembled in front of the Second Stage soon discover that Steadlur are an ideal accompaniment to both. Sure, the likes of ‘Bumpin’ are derivative as hell, but they sound great in this context, and the band’s closing cover of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Fight For Your Right To Party‘ is a smart, inclusive move. A Day To Remember whip up a storm with their combination of pop-punk and metalcore breakdowns, which paves the way for Parkway Drive to deliver a set containing little more than the latter. If there were an award for Biggest Spinkickers of the Weekend, the Australian’s would surely take it with ease. Reading-based quintet Sylosis have long been overdue for a slot at Download, so it’s pleasing to witness them take this opportunity and kick the living daylights out of it, with a furious metallic hardcore attack that forsakes sugary choruses in favour of thunderous riffing.

As ever there’s nothing remotely cheery about Staind‘s angsty nu-grunge warblings, though they do conjure a mass sing-along with the help of former super-hit ‘Outside’. Canada’s Billy Talent promptly get the pace back up to full-pelt with a rip-roaring set including a fantastic ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’, while Killswitch Engage provide metal licks and laughs in equal measure. The sight of guitarist Adam D tip-toeing around the stage clad in a fetching mask and cape ensemble is one truly worth savouring.

Canadian progressive thrash veterans Voivod draw a decent-sized crowd, but alas their spirited performance can’t overcome the truly abysmal sound, which renders most of their set a non-descript rumble. Thankfully, the sound improves for the Backyard Babies, although the band themselves are somewhat lacklustre in comparison to their usual selves. The abundance of new material (good, but unfamiliar) and perfunctory renditions of some ‘Total 13’-era classics are nevertheless welcomed by their devoted fellowing; less so by the merely curious.

The main stage crowd predictably swells to gigantic proportions for returning rap-metal behemoths Limp Bizkit, who today are making their first UK appearance for half a decade. Belting out the likes of ‘Break Stuff’, ‘My Generation’, ‘Nookie’ and an ever-popular ‘Rollin’ to name but a few, it’s difficult to look around without spotting dozens of people at least mouthing the words to each and every track. This is neither irony nor nostalgia, but rather proof that the Bizkit are indeed back. It’s a difficult spectacle to follow, but despite being down to just three original members Korn still sound nothing less than devastating. Blasting through just about every hit in their arsenal – including a pummeling ‘Freak On A Leash’ – it’s difficult to deny the fact that even after sixteen years the Bakersfield mob are more than capable of bringing the noise.

Back over on the second stage Motley Crue are doing exactly that, reeling out the likes of ‘Kick Start My Heart’ and ‘Wild Side’ within minutes of hitting the stage to a feverish response. But, perhaps predictably, the biggest cheer of the day is reserved for Faith No More. With the stage draped entirely in red curtains and Mike Patton dressed in a suit to match, barely a stone is left unturned after more than a decade of silence. Whether it’s the always familiar stomp of ‘Epic’ or the closing refrain of ‘We Care A Lot’, you’d be hard pressed to find a band better suited – quite literally – to close a quite magnificent first day.

SATURDAY

You can see the tide of Eastern European metal fans sprinting towards the front in order to catch Ripper Owens from a mile away. With his voice in typically fine form, the former Judas Priest man is as good a choice as any to blow away those early morning cobwebs. Five Finger Death Punch and Devildriver both take advantage of this with aplomb, blasting through sets that see circle pits, jumping fits and widespread handclaps accompanying them at every turn, but it’s nothing compared to the fury of hardcore titans Hatebreed. With people running full belt into the pit before they’ve even played a chord, Jamey Jasta and co are positively on fire in early afternoon conditions that make such statements all too apt. “Anyone who stands still is a fucking Coldplay fan!” roars Jasta, unwittingly providing the quote of the weekend.

However, few performances can match up to that of Down. Sounding absolutely thunderous, the New Orleans natives produce the type of groove-laden fury that makes the ground shake, with Phil Anselmo quickly ushering the entire crowd into the palm of his hand from the off. Across the way, industrial nu-metallers Static-X produce a dynamic display in front of one of the largest second stage crowds of the weekend. It’s in stark contrast to that of Surrey pop-punks You Me At Six and Northern Irish quartet The Answer, who despite turning in fine performances struggle to attract more than their own die-hard followers and a handful of stragglers taking the opportunity to give their legs a break. Ex-Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell suffers a similar lack of interest, something that isn’t helped by slicing cuts from his recently released and frankly lackluster solo album amongst Soundgarden classics such as ‘Black Hole Sun’.

Over on the Tuborg Stage, the entire tent is sporting massive grins as Lawnmower Deth rip through half an hour of thrash metal silliness. The beach balls, self-deprecating jokes and impromptu ukulele solo are all well and good, but underneath the comedy act are some excellent songs played by a true band of the people.

Here’s hoping for their return next year. Speaking of bands of the people, Thunder are greeted by a packed tent that sings along to every word of their set; a set made more poignant by the knowledge that it will be their last festival show before they split. It’d take a churlish man not to smile as vocalist Danny Bowes is almost drowned out by the crowd on ‘Love Walked In’.

Brighton upstarts Architects proceed to tear the masses a new one as Pendulum succeed in getting the masses pumped up in admirable fashion back on the main stage, but it’s when Prodigy emerge that the truest example of dance-rock hybrids can be seen and indeed heard. Revealing the likes of ‘Breathe’ and recent chart-bothering single ‘Omen’ inside barely a quarter of an hour, there’s barely a body within a square mile that can be found motionless.

All that’s left is for Slipknot to close off the day with possibly their finest live performance in years. Aided by a quite spectacular stage show that includes a rotating drum kit and enough pyrotechnics to satisfy a Pink Floyd fan, the Iowan hate machine romp through a two-hour set with an energy that defies their ten-year residence in the mainstream, and there can be no denying the magnificence of a set-closing Spit It Out – a song that sees more than 50,000 people crouch down in unison before leaping to their feet in sheer, undeniable glee.

It must be said at this point that Marilyn Manson followed Pendulum and died a death in front of a packed field. He didn’t seem to get into it at all and the crowd were expecting way more. The 1K in Kerrang! was a nothing more than a compliment on this performance. – Z Ed

SUNDAY

With absolutely no sign of the cloudy, rain-swept conditions that many had spoken of in recent days, the tent is beginning to fill nicely for Brighton hardcore merchants Brides shortly after 11am. Their music may lack any major dynamics, but with just enough melody injected into their racket they at least succeed in falling flat on their collective face.

Aussie grungers Violent Soho are a revelation soon after, sounding like the best bits of Nirvana brawling with fellow countrymen The Vines, while Turbowolf produce a frantic display complete with one of the finest moustache-toting front men of the weekend. Stone Gods do their best to open the main stage with a bang, churning out a decent if not spectacular set of crunchy riffs that at least gets fists pumping early on, but it’s during Black Stone Cherry that the bar begins to be raised; a quite massive ‘Rain Wizard’ providing the first proper sing-along of the day. When it comes to sing-along’s however, Journey were always going to take some beating today. Even without the legendary Steve Perry, ‘Any Way You Want It’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ remain bona fide, crowd-pleasing classics in the extreme.

Ever wondered how Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash would have sounded if they’d decided to play metal? Volbeat are probably as close as we’ll get to an answer, and their quiffs n’ tatts aesthetic is a welcome change of style. Vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulson’s amusing banter and a bizarre (but enjoyable) cover of ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ are an added bonus.

Dream Theater don’t quite live up to expectations today, proving that their usually glistening prog-metal is a course best served indoors, while bearded-rockers ZZ Top similarly fail to live up to the hype. The likes of ‘Legs’ and ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’ will never lose their place as essential party rock anthems, but it’s not enough to detract from the fact that, really, they sound pretty awful. (you obviously didn’t smoke a doobie for this one, marvellous set for the stoners! – Z-Ed) The same can’t be said of Papa Roach who have never looked nor sounded better than they do today, not to mention the brilliant British debut of comedy cock-rockers Steel Panther over on the third stage. With Jackass star Bam Margera introducing them to a rabid crowd that stretches far outside the confines of the tent they go down (ooh er) an absolute storm.

Whitesnake are arguably the biggest disappointment of the weekend. Their pedestrian blues-rock is decent enough for the first half hour, after which they descend into a clutch of painfully dull ballads and overly-long guitar solo duels. This is exactly the kind of overly-earnest slop that punk rock came to destroy, and with that in mind, we return to the Tuborg Stage for an excellent Therapy? set. Andy Cairns and co are their usual friendly selves; the clutch of new songs sound suitably discordant and claustrophobic, and even the more melodic classics like ‘Turn’ and ‘Teethgrinder’ still ooze a certain malice. Brilliant stuff.

However, it’s really Def Leppard that steal the show today. Balancing sterling rock anthems such as ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ alongside a genuinely moving tribute to drummer Rick Allen, few could likely imagine a better way to end yet another sterling weekend of rock at its finest and most enjoyable. Same time next year?

Cliffs Pavillions
Southend
21.06.09

Spending an afternoon walking along a beach with no sand, looking out to a sea with apparently no water doesn’t sound like the most thrilling of afternoons. However, after having passed a granny asleep in a car on the side of the road, discussed the use of beach huts and eaten a Wimpy [they have knives and forks!], Southend didn’t seem so bad.

Having seen Blur many times since the first time I caught them when I was 11, I knew that a great show was on the cards. The excitement bubbling away walking into the strange venue [was there a prom downstairs?] was huge despite the ridiculously bad support. Then the lights went down and the party really started.

Blur are a band that could easily have played an hour of tunes, thanked the crowd and left everyone happy. But that’s not how they are doing things now for this reformation tour. A two hour set followed, with hit after hit being played, everyone singing along, even to the ballads and not one song let the set down or created a lull.

From the opening golden oldie She’s So High right through to Think Tank’s Battery In Your Leg, all the hits were played. But the strength of the set came in the form of the album tracks that wouldn’t have been expected. The superb Trimm Trabb thrashed around into a wall of sound, Badhead‘s horns had everyone swaying and Advert made sure no-one was stationary, proving that though into their 40s, these Essex boys are the shining lights of their generation.

The smiles on the faces of the crowd were mirrored on stage and the genuine warmth and enjoyment felt by the band gave the set that extra little bit of fun. The greatest band ever? They just might be…

Abjekt.

Islington Academy
17.06.09

As if playing your first ever show in the UK wasn’t daunting enough, imagine being a hip hop artist supporting the Bouncing Souls, facing a room full of punks.

It didn’t bother Doomtree member and Rhymesayer signee P.O.S one bit though on Wednesday as he kindly asked anyone who wasn’t interested in opening their mind to rap to leave the room. “If you want to stick around, then awesome, let’s have some fun,” he proclaimed, and fun was exactly was what was had.

Backed up ably by the twinkle-fingered Plain Ole Bill, the Minneapolis rapper burst through tracks from his latest album, and my album of the year by light years, Never Better, hitting the crowd with a non-stop barrage of words. If he was worried that the crowd wouldn’t be into it, halfway through the second song he would have been calmed, as the room had filled out and a good half were batting their hands in the air to the beats.

Even the straight up hip hop tracks Savion Glover, which saw P.O.S hit the MPC and Plain Ole Bill delivered the cuts, and Stand Up, taken from his second album Audition, went down well. By the time he had finished, no-one was in any doubt that they’d just witnessed arguably the brightest light in independent hip hop and the rap world as a whole.

On this form, there is nothing that can stop P.O.S from battering down the door of every closed-minded music fan. The smile on his face spoke a thousand words. The smile on mine hasn’t left since.

Abjekt.