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Must See Shows: October 2012

AUGUST BURNS RED
w/Devil Wears Prada
18 – NOTTINGHAM Rock City, 19 – GLASGOW Garage, 20 – WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall, 21 – MANCHESTER Ritz, 22 – BRISTOL Academy, 23 – LONDON Electric Ballroom

For metalcore fans, this is quite clearly a phenomenal tour, not just for October, but for the whole year. Expect plenty of breakdowns, brutal mosh pits and many a sub-drop. Listen to ‘Meddler’ by August Burns Red and you’ll know exactly what we mean.

EVERY TIME I DIE
w/Stray From The Path, Last Witness
24 – SOUTHAMPTON Brook, 25 – BRISTOL Fleece, 26 – PLYMOUTH White Rabbit, 27 – BRIGHTON Haunt, 28 – CARDIFF Solus, 29 – LONDON Electric Ballroom, 30 – WOLVERHAMPTON Slade Rooms, 31 – MANCHESTER Academy II

Band after band said that Every Time I Die nailed it nightly on the US Warped Tour, and now over on our shores we are expecting exactly the same amount of carnage. With ETID being joined by Stray From The Path (who you might have caught with Architects earlier this year) and homegrown talent Last Witness this is a very healthy looking line up.

GALLOWS
w/Feed The Rhino
03 – BRIGHTON Haunt, 04 – EXETER Cavern, 05 – BRISTOL The Fleece, 06 – MANCHESTER Club Academy, 08 – NEWCASTLE Academy 2, 09 – GLASGOW King Tut’s, 11 – NOTTINGHAM – Rock City Basement, 12 – SHEFFIELD Corporation, 13 – STOKE Sugarmill, 14 – WREXHAM Central Station, 15 – LEEDS Cockpit, 16 – PETERBOROUGH Club Revolution, 17 – BIRMINGHAM Academy 2, 19 – LONDON Underworld

Their latest release received critical acclaim across the board, and now with intense front man Wade Macneil at the helm and Feed The Rhino as support, this isn’t just a must see show but a ‘you’d-be-really-fucking-stupid-not-to-go’ kind of show.

HILDAMAY
w/Landscapes
17 – DERBY Victoria Inn, 18 – GLASGOW Ivory Blacks, 19 – MANCHESTER Star & Garter, 20 – LIVERPOOL Format, 22 – LONDON Upstairs at the Garage, 23 – SOUTHAMPTON Cellar,24 – PLYMOUTH White Rabbit, 26 – PETERBOROUGH Met Lounge

We’ve noted Hildamay as ones to watch for some time now, and with a full UK tour to support their forthcoming album, hopefully this will be their time to shine. With Landscapes also on the bill this will be an awesome showcasing event for British talent as hardcore doesn’t get much more emotional and bleak than the way Landscapes go about it.

NEVER SAY DIE 2012 TOUR!
w/ We Came As Romans, BlessTheFall, Stick To Your Guns, For The Fallen Dreams, Obey The Brave, At The Skylines, The Browning, At Dawn We Rage
15 – UK Birmingham, O2 Academy 2, 17 – UK Manchester, Club Academy, 18 – UK London, The Electric Ballroom

Never Say Die Tours are always great but this year it features two of our favorite artists, Stick To Your Guns and Obey The Brave. Stick To Your Guns put on a hard hitting yet optimistic live show and Obey The Brave are sure to slay with their brutally heavy riffs.

PROXIES
11 – BUCKS Uni SU

If you are a regular reader of Crossfire you’ll know that we rate Proxies very highly indeed. Catch them at their live show to find out what all the fuss is about.

OF MICE & MEN
w/ Memphis May Fire, Secrets
08 – NORWICH Waterfront, 10 – LONDON Electric Ballroom, 11 – GLASGOW Garage, 12 – MANCHESTER Moho Live, 13 – BIRMINGHAM Asylum, 14 – LEEDS Cockpit

Of Mice & Men are the buzz band of metalcore right now. Not only due to their ridiculously strong re-release of ‘The Flood’ which featured 4 astounding bonus tracks, but due to the fact that Austin Carlile and his band mates seem to fully engage with their fans.

STRAIGHT LINES
01 – BIRMINGHAM Rainbow, 02 – NORWICH Waterfront, 04 – KINGSTON New Slang, 05 – BRIGHTON Hydrant, 06 – SOUTHAMPTON Joiners, 07 – EXETER Cavern, 10 – BRISTOL Thekla, 11 – OXFORD Jericho, 12 – MILTON KEYNES Craufurd Arms, 13 – READING Face Bar, 15 – LONDON Barfly, 16 – CARDIFF CF10

After releasing their second (and awesome) album, ‘Freaks Like Us’ earlier this year, check out Straight Lines as they embark on an expansive UK tour.

THE DANGEROUS SUMMER
01 – EXETER Pheonix, 02 – SOUTHAMPTON Mo’Club, 03 – BRISTOL Trinity, 04 – NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms, 05 – GLASGOW Garage, 07 – MANCHESTER Club Academy, 08 – NORWICH Arts Centre, 09 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy 2, 10 – LEEDS Cockpit, 11 – LONDON Electric Ballroom, 12 – KINGSTON Fighting Cocks

After releasing one of the albums of 2011 in ‘War Paint’, The Dangerous Summer have become firm favorites at Crossfire HQ. This October they are hitting the road with another of our loves, Don Broco.

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
15 – LONDON O2 Brixton Academy, 17 – LONDON O2 Brixton Academy, 18 – MANCHESTER O2 Apollo, 19 – GLASGOW O2 Academy, 20 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy

It appears everyone has a place for The Gaslight Anthem in their hearts, and rightly so. After a releasing another timeless album ‘Handwritten’ and performing a euphoric set at Reading & Leeds, The Gaslight Anthem are ready to take full control of the UK.

TRIVIUM
w/ As I Lay Dying
15 – MANCHESTER Ritz, 16 – GLASGOW O2 ABC, 17 – BIRMINGHAM HMV Institute, 19 – BRISTOL O2 Academy, 20 – NORWICH UEA, 21 – LONDON Shepherds Bush Empire

A titan of modern metal, Trivium, joined by one of the godfathers of metalcore, As I Lay Dying, in arguably intimately sized venues… this is going to be amazing.

Categories
Album Reviews Buzz Chart Music Reviews

Don Broco

DON BROCO
Priorities

[Search & Destroy Records]


Everyone loves a bit of catchy pop-punk from time to time, and Don Broco have offered some of the tastiest tracks of that variety to come from 2012 so far. The album opens up with title track ‘Priorities’, a great punchy start with lyrics that everyone can relate too… You know that friend that always ditches you as soon as they have a new partner? Well ‘Priorities’ is a tongue-in –cheek, patronizing outlook on those kinds of people.

In fact, Rob Damiani’s lyrics are a very matter of fact interpretation of trivial trials and tribulations that go on in every day life. Despite being so straight forward, the words aren’t just brushed away; they are easy to connect with making Don Broco’s album more engaging as a whole. However, there are also flashes of maturity with ‘Back In The Day’ commenting on the London riots. With similar intonation to Lower Than Atlantis’s Mike Duce (but with less of the arrogance and greater charm) Rob’s vocals add depth to ‘Priorities’.

Tracks such as ‘In My World’ are upbeat and uplifting, the guitar work could be compared to early Kids In Glass Houses whereas songs like ‘Actors’ sway more towards the punk side of pop and reflect bands like Transit, Title Fight and The Story So Far.

Full credit should be given to Don Broco for producing a truly pleasing album. With forthcoming festival appearances (including Reading & Leeds) and a UK tour with The Dangerous Summer, expect Don Broco to hit the big time right away.

WORDS: EMMA WALLACE

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Features

Groezrock Festival preview feature

groezrock2012The time is nearing when a significant contingent of English punk fans will de-camp to Meerhout in Belgium for Europe’s premier punk festival GROEZROCK.

Scheduled for the end of April, the event will see the cream of the crop descend on a field in the sleepy village of Meerhout once more. A mixture of old-school punk stalwarts (including Rancid), re-united greats (including Refused) and up-and-coming buzz bands (including The Menzingers) will play on a number of stage over two days.

Having become regular attendees of the festival, Winegums is excited to get over there again this year. Here is the Crossfire rundown of some top picks at the festival. It’s pretty hard to narrow them down, mind.

28th APRIL

Yellowcard

Currently working on a new album, Yellowcard make a welcome return to Europe for select performances this Spring, Groezrock being one of them. Bouncy, violin-embellished pop-punk to get everyone singing along.

Lifetime

Reformed hardcore legends will be bringing the old-skool to Groezrock this year. Expect stage diving and lots of it.

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Consistently legendary in their festival performances, let’s hope this particular set is lacking in human shit.

Set Your Goals

Best served with sunshine, Set Your Goals’ unique dual-vocalled brand of pop-punk will hopefully bring out the good weather in Belgium this time around.

None More Black

Continuing Groezrock’s theme of booking cult acts on their inimitable bill, None More Black will be showcasing frontman Jason Shevchuk’s unique gruff vocals leading punk rock fun for festival-goers across the event.

The Wonder Years

Literary references and wry autobiographical anecdotes abound in your average Wonder Years set but you can count on their delivery being anything but average. The most fun of fun pop-punk bands. Without the dumb lyrics.

Gallows

Now on the road with new vocalist Wade McNeil, formerly of Alexisonfire fame, Gallows will serve up their usual vigorous 1-2 punch of rock and roll hardcore, no doubt.

I Am The Avalanche

Following the release of last year’s astonishingly brilliant ‘Avalanche United’, I Am The Avalanche continue their campaign to play in Europe as much as humanly possible with their Groezrock slot. Get ready for fists in the air and rousing singalongs.

The Menzingers

Having just released their critically lauded album ‘On The Impossible Past’, The Menzingers have a lot to live up to. We’re convinced their live set at Groezrock will be the perfect festival event.

29th APRIL

Refused

What can we say? One of the comebacks of the year, this is surely the most highly anticipated set of the festival. When those first notes of New Noise ring out, all hell is going to break loose.

Thrice

Sadly this will be their last turn on European soil as the band announced their decision to call it quits at the end of last year. Make sure you don’t miss out on seeing one of the best bands to emerge in the last decade.

Gorilla Biscuits

More classic hardcore on the bill here, these guys are sure to be a popular draw of the festival! “Let’s Start Today” please.

Hot Water Music

With an amazing new album on the way, HWM will undoubtedly be premiering new material but you can be sure they’ll be bringing out the classics too. Maybe even that Bouncing Souls cover that they pulled out at Reading fest last year?

The Bronx

The Bronx never ever disappoint. 100 % always a must see band for optimal smiles and party potential.

The Dangerous Summer

For something rather more mellow, head to The Dangerous Summer’s set. You’ll find expertly crafted melodies oozing with heartfelt sentiment.

groezrockfestival2012