Tag Archives: rage against the machine

UKID live at Hobgoblin, Staines

. Hardcore, hob staines, Hobgoblin, hobgoblin staines, live music, Live Music Review, live music staines, live music surrey, Live Review, neil mach, neil_mach, rock, spelthorne, staines . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UKID - I like the name (could be “you kid” or the rotten U.K. ID cards ) is a rock band with a Rap Metal attitude and an impressive musical pedigree. Former ‘Durban Poison’ man KJ (bass) created  the band along  with MC Beanie (Ben-Jah Jon.) And, once the grimy drum n’ bass met the blistering metal in the forges from hell, the UKID sound was cast into iron. It’s like Rage Against the Machine crossed with Oceansize.

UKID bring us songs like “Dole” which is a shattered plate of sounds; A skillet of skanky beats whipped to a frenzy by metallic and thrashingly hypnotic guitars, thrown together with squeaks and beeps from the keyboards (Ben-Jah goes to the keys periodically.) The vocals are insistent and reliable – more calm than furious, the rhythms are always focussed and assured. The bass play is big and gruesome and brought to you in gigantic proportions by the hairy thumbster KJ.

Other songs have the kind of sound quality and size reminiscent of tunes from bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and even as far back as The Clash. Yet there is also plenty of drum ‘n’ bass, combined with hip hop, to get you back to todays date. The searing and screaming lead guitar from redheaded razzle-dazzler Glenn add frantic and fiery elements to the whole UKID package, making the band seem more progressive, and somehow more metallic,  than other bands in the same genre.

But it is fair to say that, at the Staines Hob gig, the music tendered by this immortal Glastonbury gang tended to veer from tantalizingly terrific and heart-racingly superb at times – right down to buzzy low-threshold monobloc tedium.  Which is a shame, because the nurtured talent was clearly available – just not in a consistent formula.  Naturally enough, the keen and krazy krowd at the Staines Hob lapped it all up (good and bad) and were dancing in the aisles and crazy to hear the tunes. But some of the numbers failed to hit their mark, often in quite a dramatic way. The main voice of Ben-jah was not nearly strong enough to be heard above the multiple layers of sound underneath. And the backing vocals from Glenn were often too loud – and, more often than not – quite alarmingly off-key.

But nonetheless, songs like “War = Money”  with it’s innovative and impressive flowergarden of experimentation and smoky acid vibes was like encountering Eminem whilst visiting a dream-like “Octopus’s Garden”  and finding out that he is actually in a political frame-of-mind. Freaky, fancy and fine. This song is like a saline drip of conscientiousness.

The best tune of the night was the techno industrial-strength dance number (second to last song of the set) that was a spaced-out labyrinthine journey into the spiralling and pulsating sub-conscious.  With melting guitar licks from Glenn, huge chunks of keys from Ben-Jah, hypnotic drums from Joey and deeply reverberating bass-play from KJ. I hoped that this tune would never stop!

Merging heavy rock with dance-sounds is not new, but UKID are so skilled and so fresh that the sounds actually do seem refreshingly vital.  Watch this band rise.

© Neil_Mach
March 2011

Link:

http://www.myspace.com/ukid
http://www.ukid.moonfruit.com

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Gentlemen Of Distorted Sound – Staines Hobgoblin

. gig guide, gigs, Hobgoblin, live music, Live Music Review, Live Review, middlesex, music, neil mach, Riverside, rock, spelthorne, staines, West London . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


To be seen as totally kick ass in the world of rock and roll you need more than just talent, ability, grit, determination and guile – you also need swagger and style (look at Iggy Pop to prove this) …. and the Gentlemen Of Distorted Sound have these attributes in abundance.

The rumours surrounding this band buzzed around the Hobgoblin, Staines like a bluebottle in a kebab shop even before the lads entered the joint.  The whispers included gems like:

·  A couple of years back the band rehearsed 108 separate times before a single performance just  to ‘get their sound’  perfect for the show
·  There is a shadowy Eastern European oligarch ‘bank-rolling’ the band to the tune of a cool million
·  The band had to audition seventy drummers until they managed to get the ‘faultless’ percussive sound
·  The singer is known as ‘Pappy’ by a remote tribe in a Pacific archipelago – who worship him as a deity

Well, whatever the truth of these rumours and the hype, the band came out in flesh and bones, to play some classic rock for the guys and girls of Staines on Sunday . But they played it with a big mouth and one almighty swagger for the smallish yet enthusiastic crowd at The Hob.

The band sashayed through a series of grinding blues melodies, rockin’ riffs and the kind of mammoth gypsy licks that might turn a young girls head and may even steal her fragile heart.

The lead vocalist Gareth Nugent looks like a cross between the Shamen’s
Ebeneezer Goode and Jerry Garcia.  He came on dressed in a black fur coat, top hat, scarf of black silk and twirling a cane.  Quietly, almost gently, he speaks to the crowd. But his voice comes alive when it is roared and trembled into the microphone. That voice cuffs you round the ears like Mum would do if you didn’t pay attention. That singing voice has an aristocratic kinda growl to it, and yet it is subordinate to, and harmonious with,  the melodies. Quite extraordinary.

The snake-hipped chancer on the lead guitar shimmied across the stage like a dirty weasel on the search for a discharge pipe.  Mako (guitars) is arrogance on a stick. He plays sleazy zip-gun guitar with long lazy fingers sliding slinkily across those slutty frets. He makes the notes trill, swoop and dive around the backbone of each song like a hungry vulture – prodding,  chugging and grunting in the process.

Bass guitar is provided by Lawrence who has that stockbroker look about him. Well washed and cared for.  He looks like he hasn’t changed out of his smart Sunday best after seeing his Nan for tea.  And the band’s percussive needs are reliably supplied by Richard.

But you soon realise that the G.O.D.S. are ostensibly a two-man twin-ego affair. The stage demons and the black magic are evoked by those two voodoo spell-masters on vocals and guitars. For the slower song “Where are they now?” (The Gods in Your Head) Gareth strapped on an acoustic guitar to prod some raw chords and to add backbone and bite to this Zeppelin sounding number – probably their finest song of the evening- and it appears to be something of a ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for them.

After this tune, it was clear that the excited crowd at The Hob were smitten. The band also played “I’ve got a Beautiful Face for Evil” with its moody vibes, rumbling bass and spidery, muscular and lascivious guitar sound.

After the concluding number (La Grange) the crowd were left wondering if they had just witnessed a myth of a band playing the real deal or witnessed the real deal of a band playing like a myth. But one thing is for certain-  Gentlemen Of Distorted Sound can pack more entertainment and attitude into one of their sets than Linford Christie can  pack  luncheon  meat  into his well-worn lycra.

Crucial, life-affirming arrogant classic rock. Trippier than a six-pack of miaow-miaow – and this stuff gets you higher than the cow who jumped over the moon. These guys are assured  to put a Fizz in your drink.

© Neil_Mach
March 2010

Link:

http://www.myspace.com/gentlemenofdistortedsound

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Comment:

Are you kidding me, i dont know how much you were paid to write this, but, the two posers up front just made people laugh, they were more camp than a row of pink tents, and as for the “‘faultless’ percussive sound, the poor fella was out of his depths, sometimes slipping out of time, and the look of grimace on his face when he mistimed a crash was painfull.g
Good try lads, keep up the practice.

doodyhead_uk@hotmail.com

Imperial Leisure at The Boiler Room

. gig guide, Guildford, live dates, live music, Live Review, ska, sunbury, Two Tone .

It’s hard to take your eyes off of Denis Smith, the singer and Imperial Leisure frontman, as he flails around the stage like an out-of-control gyro-copter with his Sideshow Bob hair twisting in the spotlight. This band is just about the most exciting
thing to hit the leafy Guildford streets in weeks – nay months!   Imperial Leisure are wrecking our home and things ain’t gonna be the same no more!

The band is justly famous for their energetic live performances.  I even heard rumors that they play the ‘big uns’ with two bass guitars, three horns, two MCs and a cast of ten other musicians. When I recently saw ‘em playing live in Camden there was a squad of eleven up there on stage. But here in Surrey (The Boiler Room) we have the stripped down lite version of this excessive party band – just six gang members -  but wow they could brighten your day without even trying.  It was like setting a swarm of hot hornets free in a  candy shop. Enough energy, buzz and electricity in the air to keep your hands high and your tippy toes moving with a uniquely gnawing anticipation.

Imperial Leisure recreate all those best loved vintage sounds with their style, attitude and finesse but their music is also casually shaken up with large shots of hardcore rap and rock  to create a subtle beast whose flavours and aromas may be largely poppy 2-tone sounds like Madness, but almost always laced with the sour punch of something new wave – like Rage Against the Machine. Some of their more recent works sounds like the band is making (an unwelcome) foray into indie post-punk sound too – but the greater proportion of their output is still as two-tone ska as ever.

This skalextric sextet pumped out some of their old-time sounds like ‘The Art of Saying Nothing’ with unifying offbeat tempos and those skacore attributes or the crowd favourite ‘The Beast’ with its ridiculous intro and juicy walking bass lines. AJ on guitar is white-lightning fast and devilishly clever, Scott on drums is rapid-city and that bone has  treble-the-grunt  of any other I have  heard,  and adds grind and churn to each Imperial Leisure tune.

Itchy feet skedaddled and slam dunked around that wickedly small stage as the crowd scoobied to the beat in unison … Den implored the happy sweating crowd to hop, bound and jump.  And move they did. Because this music is designed to lift you up and keep your tinkle toes twinkling in the air. Superb songs like ‘The Landlord’s Daughter’ and ‘Man On The Street’ were decorated with notes of yearning might-  blast-notes from the achingly gurnish bug-eyed maestro on trombone and layers of velvety smooth chords were pumped and sifted through by Stu on keyboards.

The gig was as fast and as furious as a ferret on the run from Susan Boyles underwear draw … and was over all too quickly for the crowd who moaned and wailed as we sailed to the end.  Highlights were ‘Alperton’ and ‘The Landlord’s Daughter’ with those smooth interludes showered with invigorating bucketfuls of skantastic sounds.

Six pints of juice and pure energy, a curious cure for apathy. Man, you gotta have some of this!

© Neil_Mach
March 2010

Link:

http://www.myspace.com/imperialleisure

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Arcane Roots

. gigs, live dates, live music, Live Review, middlesex, music, Riverside, rock, spelthorne, staines, West London . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

arcane-roots-post

Hobgoblin – Staines – 1st March

Arcane Roots are like a rock and roller-coaster… gnashing, clawing and crashing their way through unconventional time signatures and frequent changes of tempo like an out of control Thorpe Park thrill ride might cut through a throng of ne’er-do-well pink-faced chavs playing chicken on the rails. Their combined energy, the electricity that this band produces,  could easily replace a dozen off-shore wind farms.

The sheer exhilaration and power of their stage presence reminded me of Muse.  However, although the AR songs may sometimes be sweet, and the themes melodramatic, the overall nu prog effect is actually more similar to Coheed and Cambria than Muse. The agony and the ecstasy is often ‘emo’ (in a good way) and the foundations of each track are defined as solid slabs of rock.

The song ‘Rouen’ starts with gently gathered stringwork beneath a thin lace of sweetly latticed vocals posing the question ‘what are you waiting for?’ This is followed by a change of pace and some raspy distortion fueled arrangements and it is here that we witness the truly exceptional talent of Andrew Groves. Andrew is the AR frontman, singer and lead guitar supremo. Andy looks and sounds like a 1964–66 Ray Davies. He plays furious rhythm and lead guitar, often simultaneously, upon his trusty Gibson. He plays this with a surprising and terrible intensity that reminded me of a ferret in a flask fighting for freedom. ‘Rouen’ sounds ‘Kooks-ish’ with its lovely tapestry of gently chiming soulful images and high-toned voices. This tale of nostalgia and despair is a bittersweet experience for any listener. The sense of loss is magnified by the wailing, repeating chorus. The grief is spread out like a blanket might be across a corpse, the final stage of a magnificent hymn to sadness.

The song ‘Nylon’ is another tune that reminds me of The Kooks (although Andrew’s voice is not as exceptional as Luke Pritchard’s.) But there is more substance and depth of feeling in the Arcane material than within the Kooks prep-pop style- there are rusty razor-blades on their kitchen tables and the streets are littered with broken glass in the Arcane world.  Daryl Atkins on the drums adds backing vocals to the emotive harmonies of each number and plays astounding firecracker percussion on a stripped-down kit. Whilst Adam Burton, on bass, does a sterling job- but you can’t help thinking that he is always struggling just to ‘keep up’ with Andrew Groves- who zips ahead of his bandmates without so much as looking back.

‘An easy smile’ is far more ‘SOAD’ than the other AR sounds (I kept getting reminders of Serj throughout the gig) with driving chords and changes of tempo and pace. The pauses are important to the Arcane Roots…just as in good choreography, the audience is called to witness and appreciate these frequent stops and starts. Each pause is like a blinding flash of sunlight from a broken mirror. The sounds seem to be swirled around the room like silken scarves, and the sudden bolts of energy seem to whizz harmlessly away- far above your head. This evokes a feeling of disharmony and disjointedness that, perhaps, prevails in our daily lives.

Even if the room smelt faintly of old leather boots and denim, the crowd at The Hob were in fact quite young and well-groomed (on the whole). They were also unnaturally restrained. To be fair most of the punters were there for ‘the other band’ who were hosting a single release party straight afterwards- so the plaintive soul-searching of the Arcane Roots songbook was, perhaps, a little too ‘full-on’ for most of this fun-loving hip crowd. But the standout performer of the night, for me anyway, was the ferociously attacking guitarist Andrew Groves who possesses the rare emotional power of a cathedral on fire. He employs guitar techniques that are normally reserved for ‘right on’ jazz musicians – or at least prog-rock stars- techniques like glissandos & stomps on the effects pedals are all part of his glistening repertoire. I particularly enjoyed the new song, ‘To The Hold You Had’. (Andy gave me this title – so don’t blame me if it is wrong!) This song had a simple structure and an enjoyable riff but also revealed a satisfying complexity.

So the band ripped down the flag of indifference and crushed it with their teeth. Rock is a jungle and this group are the predators. Watch the blood spill and the fur fly. But don’t look away!

© Neil_Mach

March 2009

5 Things – This Week in Staines

. Berkshire, blues, gig guide, gigs, hampton, live dates, live music, metal, middlesex, music, punk, Riverside, rock, shepperton, spelthorne, staines, Surrey, whats on, Windsor .

1.

Small Outfit, Big Sound Ideas at Staines

2 Sick Monkeys at Staines

29th JAN 2009  8:00P at HOB STAINES £3 2 SICK MONKEYS

 2 Sick Monkeys formed in December 2000, as a live two piece bass and drums, primarily to support Darrin Mooney (Primal Scream) at a drum event in Swindon.
They have now played over 400 gigs (270 in the last 3 years) including 4 European tours.

They describe themselves as tight, melodic and percussively in your face.
Basically……small outfit, BIG SOUND!!

2 Sick Monkeys are with:

Page Not Found

Page Not Found are a punk rock group form Slough Berkshire UK.

Formally known as Ollie Impossible, Page Not Found play their own style of Fast paced skate punk. After the change the band along with new bassman have wasted no time and headed straight into the studio to record some material.

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/2sickmonkeys

www.myspace.com/pagenotfoundrock

2.

High Quality Funk & Groove – Ascot

Mimosa at Jagz Ascot

Jan 30th 2009 8:45P at Jagz Ascot MIMOSA £5

Whisk together smooth soul, funky grooves and a hint of rock, fold in a combination of catchy brass riffs, fat bass, creative guitar as well as watertight drums and percussion. Heat for 2 hours with probably the best vocal talent in the south and you have the unique sound of Mimosa.

Some people have said – “it’s a bit like being attacked by a shark wearing a woolly jumper” “best served hot with Mango Chutney a cold beer!” “You’ll drive through an
amber light to see them!” “Just like the Brand New Heavies, only not as famous!” The band have spent the last year putting together a high quality varied mix of songs to give a great show, keeping people grooving well into the night. Gigging since April 06, this band will definitely impress and leave you wanting more. Time to find out what you have been missing……

Links:

ww.myspace.com/mimosaband


3.

Stripped Down Classic Rock – Shepperton

Firewater at Shepperton


Jan 30 2009      9:00P Kings Head-Shepperton FIREWATER


The ED HUDSON project “Firewater” was formed in 2000 and has been regularly gigging around London and the South East since then. The early blues
material gave way to more classic rock songs as time went on and the duo format lends itself to a stripped down approach to the songs, showcasing the considerable talents of singer Ed Hudson and lead guitarist Tim Scopes.

If you like blues and classic rock (and don’t like being deafened in the process of hearing it!) go and see ‘em -you will not be dissappointed….

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/firewaterduo

4.

80′s & 90′s  Hits – Live Band – Live in Windsor

!Daft!

Fri 30 Jan Old Ticket Hall, Windsor £3 !Daft!

!daft! are a party rock cover band comprising 5 professional standard musicians who perform high energy and dynamic gigs across the Home Counties and West London to consistently excellent responses. Our sets and gigs are designed
to be fun, enthusiastic and crammed with recognisable anthemic tracks from artists including Queen, Guns N’ Roses, The Killers, The Fratellis, Green Day, Elvis, Bon Jovi, Madness, Kaiser Chiefs, Oasis, Michael Jackson… even ABBA and Take That, plus many more legendary groups.

Random quote: “It’s like going to see all your favourite rock bands in one night!!”

Links:

http://www.daftonline.co.uk




5.

Aerosmith to ZZ Top Covers – in Hampton

Prezence

Jan 31 2009      9:00P  The Cardinal Wolsey Hampton Court PREZENCE

Prezence are fast becoming a STAINES and area fafourite covers band… playing a huge mixture of classic rock from way-way back to much more modern material from the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Metallica, Foo Fighters etc. A thoroughly enjoyable evening is guaranteed…. also coming to venues in Staines, Hampton, Walton-on-Thames soon (keep checking our ADPONTES music pages for updated GIG GUIDE)

Link:

myspace.com/prezencerock

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fiN.

. gigs, Riverside, rock, spelthorne, staines, Surrey, West London . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

fiN - Hob Staines Dec 2008

You Took My Heart…

When I (once) went English windsurfing (February in Lincolnshire) it was a truly miserable, miserable experience. It was cold and wet and achingly painful. But Heathrow crash test pilots fiN have built up a unique song book based upon their shared experiences of exactly this kind of shivery English hobby. You see, although windsurfing on a gravel pit under the runway somewhere near Bedfont is some way removed from surfing the high rollers out in the Big Sur ( and hopefully I don’t need to explain why) it does give the English singer/songwriter a bit of an edge over his Californian cousins because he has (dare I say it )a tad more grit and gravitas to sing-a-song about. Whereas all that a golden surfer dude can sing about is surf ‘being up’ and the so-called ‘good vibrations’… the English surfer dude has discontentment, disappointment and disenchantment to contend with.

In Goode Olde England it is less ‘Catch a wave’….more ‘catch a cold’!

The fiN song-book is thus replete with the kind of discordant harmonic treasures born from a day of muted pleasures out on
the Bedfont Lakes. Their sounds contain a heartfelt diet of melodic instrumentation and a fullness and roundness of experimental rhythm, jarred in all the right places by periodic gusts of sheer power – broken up by sudden unexplained lulls. In fact, their music is, at  times, like that most treasured of all things – an almost perfect English summer’s day – in that it is menacingly fragile and always on the verge of predictable heartaching tragedy.

So being influenced by wind surf rock is no band thing. And early influences, like ‘Rage against the Machine’ also tend to spice up things a little and enliven the mostly melodic brand of fiN rock providing a welcome abrasive and discordant edge to what would otherwise be an amiable, almost Californian, sound. Soaring chords and lush guitarwork provide the melodic backdrop ( a la ‘Biffy Clyro’) to the themes and anthems. Make no mistake, this is big music for a  new beat generation.

These are sounds for a stadium-sized soundstage and for larger-than-life living. If you are Salesian or a Strode you will instantly find gratification in these fiN sized toons. If you think, for example,  that ‘life is wasted on the living’  and you think that ‘fake smiles are for the giving’ and not for the taking… you will genuinely love this stuff.

When I saw fiN at in Staines on 14th December and they rocked the place (Hob). An important live show for an important local band… see them soon at a venue near you before they go global.

http://www.myspace.com/finuk

© Neil_Mach
Dec 2008
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5 Things – This Week in Staines

. gigs, Kingston, middlesex, music, Riverside, rock, staines, Surrey, twickenham, West London . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1.

Purge and Bloodloss at Staines

Purge at Staines

Oct 31 2008      8:00P The Hobgoblin (Halloween Fancy Dress!)

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SHOW

Purge is a furious mix of distortion-fueled guitar accompanied by seat-tearing bass and knockout percussion is shot at with a colt 45 of gravelly chants and rhyme delivering glory. Crushing heavy rock. Never a better solution

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/purgeuk

BLOODLOSS

2.

Get some Latin Voice – Georgia Mancio

georgia mancio at Ascot


Nov 2 2008      1:00P Jagz Ascot,  Georgia Mancio

Georgia Mancio is a London-based jazz singer and has been working professionally since 2000 – fortunate enough to have collaborated with many inspiring musicians including the amazing experience of performing at the London Jazz Festival as part of an acapella choir led by Bobby McFerrin. She recorded her first album, PEACEFUL PLACE, in 2003 and have just released TRAPEZE, a mix of jazz standards and songs from Chile, Italy, Cuba and Brazil. Both albums are on indie label, Roomspin Records and distributed in the U.K. by Proper. The accompanying 23 date tour for Trapeze began with a support slot at Ronnie Scott’s opposite Cedar Walton and included: The Pizza Express Jazz Club, Wakefield, Ipswich, Swanage Jazz Festival, The Hawth, the 606, Harri’s and The Fleece

Sunday, 2nd November
Show will start at 1pm to 3.30pm
Ticket cost: £6.00
Special entrance and roast lunch £12

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/georgiamancio


3.

Twickenham Locals- Marner Brown

Marner Brown - Filthys Twickenham at Westfield Opening

Oct 29 2008      9:00P Filthys     Twickenham Marner Brown

Formed in 2004, Marner Brown are the next phase of Twickenham’s Rock and Roll Legacy. Fiachra Kerrigan (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Aaron A Grimes (Lead Guitar), Jacob Hollebon (Bass Guitar), John Wildgoose (Keyboards, Backing Vocals) and James Irving (Drums) are making music exciting, energetic and raw again. Over the past three years they have played with and supported some great acts. In 2006 alone they were on a UK tour with The Feeling, supported Whitesnake (Hammersmith Apollo, May) and The Towers of London (ULU and 100 Club) as well as headlining the T4 Popworld Promotes Tour (Madame JoJos). 2007 has been fantastic for the guys. They supported Babyshambles in January, have a nationwide tour planned for Autumn 07 and won VIRGIN XTREME Best Indie Band at the INDY awards in May out of 40,000 live acts.

It is apparent almost immediately that these guys are destined for greatness. They are an extremely tight outfit, both musically and visually. With such influences as: Led Zeppelin; The Rolling Stones; Jimi Hendrix; The Faces; Supergrass; The Stone Roses and Kula Shaker, Marner Brown have a lot to live up to. However, with these five collaborating to produce the Marner sound, they’re more than capable. John Wildgoose is an accomplished keyboard player whose pitch perfect ear makes him an invaluable member of the group and his harmonies add a strong flavour to the bands sound. Jacob Hollebon and James Irving (22-20′s), provide a tight and energetic rhythm section. Both accomplished musicians in their own right, they are the backbone of the group. To describe Aaron A Grimes as simply a guitarist would be doing him a great injustice, he is one of the brightest young stars emerging from the UK music scene. Both he and Fiachra are all round musicians. With a voice likened to Rod Stewart and an amazing talent for song writing, Fiachra Kerrigan is a future superstar fronting one of the future great rock and roll bands!

Also see them at the WESTFIELD opening:

Oct 30 2008     7:00P Westfield Centre – Showcase Stage     Shepherds Bush

Oct 31 2008     7:15P Westfield Centre – Showcase Stage     Shepherds Bush

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/marnerbrownband

4.

Hardcore Rock at Shepherds Bush

Without Thought at Shepherds Bush Empire

Oct 31 2008      8:00P shepherds bush empire w/ The Wonder Stuff

Without Thought

An intense blend of galloping rhythms, intelligent melodies and vocals that flow from touching harmonies to savage screams epitomise Guildford-based five piece Without Thought.

The quintet’s technical ability combines with heartfelt lyrics to create an edgy, aggressive sound – mixing the brutal intensity of hardcore acts like Give Up The Ghost with Jimmy Eat World-style melodies and quiet sections comparable to
Explosions in The Sky.

After four years of regular touring, the band have built up an army of loyal fans and continue to attract admirers with every show. Taking to the the stage with acts including Sikth, Hurt Process, Days In December, Hondo Maclean, Million Dead,
Enter Shikari and Exit Ten the band are becoming a regular fixture on line-ups across the south east.Heralded as one of the best new rock bands to come out of the UK, the quintet’s admirers already include Matt Pinfield of MTV/Sony USA and Bruce Dickinson who championed their debut single Grey Matter on his 6 Music show.

Without Thought are now set to release their debut album Get Down and Give Me Infinity. Bursting with punishing melodies, beautiful breakdowns and truly innovative songwriting, the record will soon be at the top of every rock fan’s wishlist.

Also catch them at:

Nov 20 2008      7:30P the boileroom w/ In Case Of Fire     Guildford

Dec 20 2008     8:00P the boileroom ***xmas show***      Guildford

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/withoutthought



5.

Amazing Emotional Based Rock

Mann Friday at Kingston Peel

Oct 30 2008      7:30P The Peel, Kingston     Mann Friday

A London based band that has emerged as a force revered for producing an emotionally charged, melodic and captivating sound. Mann Friday music has also been noted for its provoking lyrical technique.

Extremely ambitious, Mann Friday have gained a loyal fan base from the London gig-circuit and have also released a riveting current independent album, ‘Blue Sky Science’. The Mann Friday appreciation is a beast that continues to grow worldwide and things are all a-go!

Having ‘Gone Fishing’ in the Summer of 2007, the Menn are currently working on their follow up album to ‘Blue Sky Science’ called ‘Sunburn And Wonder’, so get those taste buds ready.Their live performances, predominantly rock and emotive lyrics also lead to an award winning featured appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They have gone on to headline various famous London venues such as The Borderline, Bull & Gate, Halfmoon Putney (sold out five times in a row so far), Camden Barfly (broken record), the Clapham Grand & the Marquee Club.

The band was also invited to perform the topically controversial rock-show at the prestigious Riverside Studios in Hammersmith for a prime ten-day summer run.

Their ability to produce sounds ranging from big melodic rock to acoustic sets, plus being able to pen tunes gently mixed with African rhythms right through to smooth Electronica has also caught the eye of the media. A sample of their delicately crafted electronic track ‘Counting Down’ was used on Sky News’ Year in Review.

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/mannfriday

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