Swedish hardcore band Refused stole the show at Download festiival this weekend and announced that they will play UK gigs this August in London (12th) and Manchester (14th). Talking about the trip ahead, Refused say: “The Queen just had her Jubilee, Download’s happening this weekend and now we’re extremely happy to announce that we will be playing a couple of club shows in the UK in August. London and Manchester be ready. WE ARE NOT FUCKING DEAD.”
Tickets will be available next week.
Quicksand reformed for a show in NY last week and ripped it up by all accounts.
Check out Walter Schreifels and co playing a set of tracks at the Glass House in Pamona, California as part of the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary Shows. Let’s hope they come back to the UK and deliver some goodness here and big ups to Revelation, a record label who released so many amazing releases in their history.
A few pints in and we arrive at the brewery with Enter Shikari to find free booze on tap and some strange frogspawn type food on the ends of wooden spoons. I had to try one but looking back I have no idea what it was. It stayed in my stomach though, washed down with a mohito and a can of weak beer, lunch was done.
Welcome to the Kerrang! Awards 2012, one of our favourite piss up’s of the year. The lovely organisers decided to give us seats next to none other than Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne who sat with his wife Sharon and Kelly. Thankfully there was no dog shit to be seen under the table like in their house of madness. I did check.
As bands and hangers on guzzled champagne, Tenacious D’s Jack Black hit the stage to massive applause and picked up a Service to Rock award, various other awards were handed out to Mastodon, Machine Head, You Me At Six and others, an Aussie comedian laid into the Queen, Slash walked his walk and we threw sausages at emo kids.
We won the Award for stickering up the bogs and playing records badly at the after party. Now we have large hangovers. Thanks Kerrang! Hopefully next year we can can share frogspawn with Slayer. Enjoy the pics.
Ozzy and Sabbath celebrate being the kings of all metal!
Enter Shikari won best live band. Rou Reynolds won best skateboard hat of the night and Hero of the Year Award. Drummer Rob Rolfe won the award for the best piss into a bottle on the night.
Bring Me The Horizon took the Best Video Award, no pissing involved here.
Ever wondered why Kerrang! Icon Slash is so called?
Yep, of course we drank Tony Iommi’s beer. It was Carlsberg though so no wonder he left it.
The Best British Newcomer Award was well celebrated by While She Sleeps.
Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols welcomed us with open arms.
Hawk Eyes love a bit of sausage. Fact.
The man with the best riffs in the biz knows. Inspiration Award won hands down.
Pork cocktail anyone?
Find the full award list from the night here.
If you have never heard the legendary Monster Magnet album Spine of God, then you are in for a treat. Monster Magnet have scheduled a European tour for November this year to celebrate 20 years of the release of this mammoth album that is stuffed full of crunching stoner rock and acid drenched psychedelic delights. Put this in your dairy today.
Monday 12 Nov Norway, Bergen
Tuesday 13 Nov Norway, Hagesund
Wednesday 14 Nov Norway, Oslo
Friday 16 Nov Finland, Tampere
Saturday 17 Nov Norway, Helsinki
Monday 19 Nov Sweden, Linkoping
Tuesday 20 Nov Germany, Hamburg
Wednesday 21 Nov France, Paris
Friday 23 Nov UK, London
Saturday 24 Nov UK, Manchester
Monday 26 Nov Germany, Stuttgart
Tuesday 27 Nov Austria, Vienna
Thursday 29 Nov Switzerland, Pratteln
Friday 30 Nov Switzerland, Zurich
Saturday 01 Dez Germany, Erfurt
Monday 03 Dec Germany, Aschaffenburg
Tuesday 04 Dec Germany, Saarbrucken
Thursday 06 Dec Germany, Krefeld
Friday 07 Dec Belgium, Brussels
Saturday 08 Dec Holland, Einhoven
A brand new OFF! video has landed on the interweb overnight for the track “Cracked”.
Evidence will be heading to Europe this summer for shows which also includes a London date at the Jazz Cafe in Camden on July 2nd. The once rapper of Dilated People’s now on Rhymesayers entertainment dropped his album Cats and Dogs last year which had our thumbs up in here.
Read the review, watch the video for the track Liner Notes below featuring Aloe Blacc. Get those tickets quick.
EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
19 June // Mylos // Thessalonki, Greece
20 June // Gargarin // Athens, Greece
21 June // L’Orso Cattivo // Gambieri Settingiano (Cosenza), Italy
22 June // Bosco di Galu // Giugliano in Campania (Naples), Italy
23 June // Touch The Air Festival // Wohlen, Switzerland
25 June // Bizzerzoet // Amsterdam, Netherlands
26 June // La Maroquinerie // Paris, France
27 June // Bazaar // Brussels, Belgium
29 June //High5 Club // Duisburg, Germany
30 June // Peace and Love Festival //Borlange, Sweden
2 July // Jazz Cafe // London, UK
6 July // Roskilde Festival // Roskilde, Denmark
As ever, Groezrock festival in Belgium was a bit of a blur. A pretty brilliant blur of bands, drinks, drunks, friends, work, play and partly questionable weather. Crossfire headed out as it’s one of our favs and one of the most punk rock festivals out there. This is a rundown of our experience in the crowd this time around.
DAY ONE
YELLOWCARD ACOUSTIC (W)
We kick off our weekend of bands in a chilled manner with a mass singalong in the chandelier-adorned acoustic tent as Yellowcard have each and every one present in the bulging tent in the palm of their collective hand.
MISS MAY I (J)
Brilliant live band. Lots of head moshing to this which gave us a bit of a head ache but we reckon it was definitely worth it.
THE WONDER YEARS (W)
Stage diving is mandatory at the Etnies stage and bodies are flying throughout The Wonder Years’ set. In fact, they start propelling themselves through the air before the band even kick off their first song. An excellent performance brimming with energy and complete with mass stage invasion at its conclusion.
SET YOUR GOALS (W)
SYG pick up where TWY left off perfectly with more audience participation and an effervescent set of pop punk perfection.
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN (W)
We catch a fleeting moment of Dillinger and even this short audience with the band’s set provides opportunity to see them scaling the heights of speaker stacks and spewing forth excellent intricate heaviness in abundance.
GARRETT KLAHN (W)
A hidden gem on the line-up, the acoustic stage is woefully quiet for Garrett’s set of Texas Is The Reason classics and his own solo creations. However, it’s a magical interlude this evening with a spine-tingling stripped down version of Back And o The Left closing his beautiful performance.
GALLOWS (J)
By this point one too many Jagers had been consumed although we do remember a rad set, a rammed tent, a hell of a lot of crowd surfers and keen crazed Belgian stave-divers. The crowd were all rooting for Wade which was nice to see.
RANCID (J)
Two words: Fucking AMAZING
DAY TWO
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK (J)
Should have played a smaller capacity tent seen as it was half empty throughout the whole set. They lacked serious energy for such a band with lots of great songs and Pierre’s patronising chat in between songs wasn’t very inspirational.
ALKALINE TRIO (J)
We always find that despite how much we fucking love Alkaline Trio their sound live is pretty shocking. So we were glad to hear that they weren’t as bad as they normally are but it still wasn’t brilliant (Skiba if you are reading this – sort it out!) Their set was varied of old and new tracks which went down well however they didn’t play Armageddon so they lose 5 points.
THE BRONX
Undeniably one of the weekend’s highlights, The Bronx have become one of our ultimate festival bands, always bringing the party and the hits, with plenty of engaging banter from Matt in between. In fact, he proposes to the entire crowd present, becoming the ultimate crowd pleaser in the process.
WATO (J)
Sound was slightly dubious and by no means loud enough for such a great band. Despite the fact that their set was not advertised they drew a decent crowd. (They also played v well despite a mole telling us that they were absolutely shitfaced and the drunkest they have ever been for a gig.)
THRICE (J)
Thrice played a much anticipated set to a packed out tent of over-eager fans keen to see one of their last shows as part of their farewell tour. They did not disappoint and delivered a storming set including crowd pleasers Deadbolt and Stare at the Sun.
GORILLA BISCUITS (W)
More Etnies stage insanity at this point with a neverending barrage of stage divers and crowd surfing. The classic hardcore is certainly one of Groezrock’s big pulls for many of their regular punters and it’s great that the organizers bill such legendary bands in such an intimate tent so everyone can get involved. If they can squeeze into the tent, that is.
REFUSED (W)
What can we say? One of our most anticipated bands of the weekend and they did not disappoint. Huge sound. Riveting stage presence. Seminal songcraft. The energy at the main stage when New Noise kicked in is a feeling that will not soon be forgotten. Catch this band whilst you still can.
Brought to you by Jaimo (J) and Winegums (W).
Union Jack Skull artwork with permission from Ben Allen.
Can you smell the sausages BBQ’ing? See the pot bellied, tattooed British men giving it the large on the pavements? Can you hear the radios spurting out plastic pop music and hits of yesteryear through tinny speakers hanging from dirty windowsills? Bunting waving in the wind from every lamp post? Oh yes, it’s the celebration that the great British public love – the Queen’s Reign of 60 years, the Diamond Jubilee, the same national event that will be celebrated by millions across the United Kingdom this weekend ahead of the Olympics, and oh, what it is to be British!
The working public will be raising glasses of plonk in the streets to Her Majesty’s service, all of them granted with a day off to party and celebrate her fascinating milestone. The streets will be alive with tales of the good old days, before the internet ruined it all, when families sat down to eat together, when porn was found in the woods, when records were actually bought rather than stolen. The Royal one will be sat at the throne waving her hands at the minions below whilst people hit the streets, ensuring burglars capitalise on the fun due to the worst recession we have seen in years. Partly due to greedy debt her people acquired so they can be seen in the latest designer clothes to clone the looks of the Prince and Princess and the actors and musicians they aspire to.
Not everyone will be waving Union Jacks this weekend. There are many across the country who simply don’t give a monkeys about the Royal spongers and would have not forgotten the days of them sitting at the head of Pall Mall with their smug faces back in the 1970’s, not paying tax, swallowing champagne and having butlers do everything for them.
Whilst Britain remembers itself for a week for the first time in ages, we decided to roll out our top 3 songs that poke fun at the establishment. Yes, they are all golden oldies, as there are not actually that many artists out there these days with any bollocks or lyrical skills to change the perceptions of the general public. In the 70’s, times were tough but people had a voice compared to these days where Anarchy means signing a Facebook petition. For the best results, play these all three songs at 11.
3. The Exploited – Royalty
Politically brash Scottish punks, The Exploited were well-known for their criticisms of the Thatcher government so “Punks Not Dead” album track “Royalty” came as a natural progression of their anti-authoritarian ethos. Here, the Queen receives some serious slandering in the form of lyrics “dirty little bitch” and “fucking little cow”. Mowhawk filth.
2. Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
No anti-monarchy countdown would be complete without an appearance from Mr Rotten and his gang of filth and fury. The most celebrated anti-monarchical assault in history needs no explanation but to refresh those who don;t know, Virgin Records insisted it came out on the Jubilee in 1977 with the band celebrating the fact with a trip down the Thames on a boat. Their manager Malcolm McLaren was beaten up by the pigs with truncheons as they reached land and the band picked up more headlines than Diana conspiracy theories. ‘God Save The Queen’ went to number 2 in the charts, conspired against by the BBC and the Charts Company to keep it off the top spot. This is one of the best records of all time but sits at number 2 in this countdown once again to make way for…
1. Peter and The Test Tube Babies – The Queen Gives Good Blow Jobs
West Sussex’ moped-hating punks Peter and the Test Tube Babies shocked the scene with release of ‘The Loud Blaring Punk Rock Album’ back in 1984. Filled with derogatory lyrical filth across short but catchy punk tunes that gave a damn good pogo, they single-handedly take the most offensive Queen of England related dig from the mouth of singer Peter Bywaters with his take on Her Majesty’s love of giving fellatio. This album is one of the cheekiest British punk rock albums of all time, find it, be repulsed and sneer with them.
Thanks to artist Ben Allen who allowed us to use his amazing artwork. You can buy this limited edition art directly from here, find him on Facebook , Twitter, and via his blog.
Ben’s next solo exhibition DIRTY SEXY MONEY is his first London solo art show. An introduction to modern day pop art with a spinkling of skulls.
London June 28th – 30th 2012
TURNER | BARNES | GALLERY
32 Store Street
London
WC1E 7BS
Chelmsford July 5th July – 28th July 2012
TURNER | BARNES | GALLERY
Boyton Hall Farm
Chelmsford, Essex
CM1 4LN
New York punks Cerebral Ballzy return to the UK in July this year as part of their European tour. The tour dates that were announced last night are all listed below, look out for them in the UK from July calling at Southampton, Andover, Newport, Liverpool, London and Tunbridge Wells.
CB have played 2 Crossfire events over the last 2 years. If you have not seen our interview with this lot, click play.
ATP at Alexandra Palace,
London May 25th, 2012
Too many folks out there seem to associate ATP events with satchels and hairslides, when in fact they’ve often boasted more than a smattering of quality heavier acts. This year, they’ve even been kind enough to book a whole afternoon of such acts, with Yob, The Melvins and Wolves In The Throne Room impressing the early birds. The ace up their collective sleeve, however, is getting legendary doom-mongers Sleep to slow things down to funereal pace, before giving us a rude-reawakening with the almighty SLAYER!
In case you didn’t know, all is not well in the Slayer camp, with guitarist Jeff Hanneman still on a forced hiatus due to a bout of necrotizing fasciitis (that’s inspiration for their next album in the bag, then). But just as a tiger will attack if cornered, Slayer have decided that attack is the best form of defence against life’s adversities, and the opening brace of ‘World Painted Blood’ and ‘Psychopathy Red’ sound utterly fucking venomous.
The real reason why we’re all here, though, is because Tom Araya and his not-so-merry men have promised us a run-through of their classic ‘Reign In Blood’ in its entirety. Even in the cavernous confines of the Alexandra Palace, ‘Angel Of Death’ still sounds as crisp as on record, and twice as brutal, igniting a warzone of a pit. Even a restarted ‘Reborn’ can’t derail this thrash metal bullet train, and by the time that immortal title track arrives, we initially struggle to hear guitarist Kerry King over the voices of the crowd singing along to THAT riff.
As they bid us goodnight with a suitably brutal ‘War Ensemble’, you can’t help but wonder how many other bands sound this good, past their 30th anniversary and minus a key founding member. If ever Slayer regain their full strength….then Satan help us all.
Alex Gosman
Watch footage from the show from James Sherry’s man cam hands and note that this week he thought an RT meant the Radio Times!