CHILDREN OF BODOM/Moonsorrow/Kiuas – LONDON ASTORIA 8TH MARCH 2008

I could have paid my seventy-five pounds (yes really) and gone to see Neil Young at the Hammersmith Odeon tonight, but instead I opted for the Spinefarm Records evening at the Astoria (Better value at sixteen quid).

As you will recall from my Helsinki adventure, there is something nice and odd about Finnish people, and the three bands who entertained us tonight each wore their idiosyncrasies on their sleeves. It was certainly the only death metal evening I have attended where every band had a keyboard player.

I saw Bodom here two years ago, and it was great to see that this evening’s show was a complete sell-out.

Kiuas
Kiuas started the evening at the criminally early time of 6:30, and gave us thirty minutes of folk metal with a melodic death slant. They were let down somewhat by the exceptionally poor sound, which sadly did not improve significantly all evening, but still managed to give us energetic versions of some of the songs from their ‘The New Dark Age’ CD.

7/10

Moonsorrow

Tulen tytär/Kylän päässä/Pimeä/Raunioilla/Ukkosenjumalan Poika/Sankaritarina/ Pakanajuhla

These guys followed swiftly on at 7:15, and their forty-five minutes was in some ways the highlight of the evening. Singing solely in Finnish, twin leads Ville and Henry Sorvali impressed the crowd with their guttural invocations of something unspeakable from the dark forests. Ville’s chest was smeared with blood, presumably from the deer he slaughtered just before the show (or something).

9/10

Children of Bodom ~ 8:20 – 9:45

Sixpounder/In Your Face/Living Dead Beat/Follow The Reaper/Children of Decadence/Everytime I Die/Needled 24/7/Hate Me!/Chokehold/Angel's Don't Kill/Blooddrunk/Tie My Rope/Mask of Sanity/Deadnight Warrior/Downfall

8:20 and on came Children of Bodom to a magnificent reception. The sound remained shoddy even for their set, and they did display a bit of rust having not played since the autumn, but it was a good show – not least because they reached deep into their catalogue and dug out such rarely played classics as ‘Children of Decadence’ and ‘Mask of Sanity’. This was my fourth Bodom show – not as good as the Earthshaker festival set, but great fun anyway.
They featured a couple of numbers from the new CD ‘Blooddrunk’, and I’m relieved to report that it seems to be a good deal more aggressive than the rather disappointing ‘Are You Dead Yet’.

This could be the record to break them – they are certainly spending a good deal of time in the US for the next few months, as well as a high-on-the-bill Download appearance. I would love these guys to go mega arena, they deserve it.

9/10

By Roy Evans

Knew this would be a good un' - especially since I had never before witnessed Joan Jett and her Blackhearts. Don't think she's been over here in quite a few years so there ain't any wonder that she receives such a rapturous response.

Her voice is as raspy and venomous as ever and she's still as foxy chick like you remember her. Great band backin' as well - they've been there a while though and who can tell if they are original members or not. I'm sure that power was lost in the guitar at some point, which saw her getting everyone clapping with her to kill the time.

Sorry to say that I didn't catch all the set BUT highlights in the set included included a cover of The Sweet's 'AC/DC' - 'she's got another woman as well as me' Joan screams and of course her 2 hit singles this side of the pond 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' & 'I hate myself for lovin' you' - which guaranteed a sing-a-long from the Sheffield crowd.

8/10

1st time at Hallam FM Arena it was too for the mighty Motorhead - as they usually do a headline gig at the City Hall about this time of year. The sound was as obliteratingly raw as ever - just the way us 'head fans like it, but I feel that the echo in the the large arena, diluted the vibe and aggression of the brutal songs of their selection.

For us fans who have witnessed Lemmy and crew several times, this was more or less a cut down version of the set we saw on the last Tour - but of course we didn't mind that at all with highlights including 'I got mine' from 1983's 'Another Perfect Day'; 'Killed By Death' with it's sound effects on Lems voice towards the end on the chorus.

9.5/10

By Glenn Milligan

9/10

By Dave Attrill

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

They’ve got more than their fair share of space on Metalliville’s pages as it is but with a new name, we might get away with mentioning them a few further times. For those not in the know, it’s Deadline with a new name, sound and singer, the latter being accounted for by none other than Dale Radcliffe, one of Sheffield’s most prolific underground rock vocalists.

The Fury have come to being by similar principle themselves. Formally known as Induce, a line-up change and alteration of musical output caused another such mutation but their current Led Zep alike grooves sound quite welcomed.

Another band already an established live favourite, Silverjet warm the gathered fifty-odd up with thirty five minutes of their infectious Quireboys-meets-Stones produce which includes impressive newies ‘By The Way’ and ‘Broken’ amongst established faves from their two CDs (and another one is due in June). Sadly personal fave ‘Deuce’ is not on the list tonight, neither is ‘Ode To Spike’ to the surprise of their other close followers so those also attending the following day’s gig in Rotherham will hopefully pray for one or two alterations to the set list.

And so the Rotherham boys themselves hit the boards after a swift fifteen minutes instrument swap-over and let rip with a near-identical set to that I saw about a month earlier at the Moorfoot Tavern. The one difference apart from the order of the songs is the addition of new number ‘The Me I Was’, settling in neatly alongside other certified gems ‘Pretty In Blood’, ‘Dream Of Me’ and ‘Exit Wound’ which are all available on their debut 3-track EP (see CD reviews section).

The crowd seems to have swelled by about 50 percent for these guys (come on, Silverjet aren’t that bad) obviously still expecting Andy Lindsay to shred with the same level of panache that pinned songs like ‘Love’s A Battle’ and ‘Just one Night’ into our minds over the years - the bloke deserves much bigger profile. The lads end the hour-long run with their other already firm favourite, an incendiary cover of Warrant’s ‘Mr Rainmaker’ which I often thought one of the most overlooked hair rock tunes of all time even though everyone in this room appears to be lip-synching. Their new material has still alienated one or two as I have noticed some of Deadline’s loyal followers absent but Crimes of Passion have at least come up with plenty of worthy replacements.

Hopefully they’ll find a few labels out there too, with interest, because this stuff has as much potential as ‘Mind the Step’ did if not more.

9/10

By Dave Attrill

Three years without an appearance by Bob Catley in his solo guise seems an eternity these days. Of course, as I reminded us all on the ‘Spirit of Man’ review, it’s been largely down to recent work in the Magnum department but then again, that has probably helped these last three years pass like rockets. Last time ol’ Bobby boy graced the boards of Snig Hill, he brought no less than the incredible Danny Vaughn with him, who for many blew him offstage without trying.

This time out, Brit AOR faves Lost weekend have the honours. The Halifax outfit have shared one or two bills with Catley at past Gods festivals but the arrangement is made the more appropriate by vocalist Paul Uttley being honoured with songwriting duties regarding ‘S.O.M.’ - Paul Hodson now concentrating on work with scene counterparts Ten. Owning only one album by the Lost boys, I still enjoy the three quarters of the set concentrated on the remainder of their Lizzy-meets-UFO influenced catalogue, including a couple of newies before finishing with a hat-trick from ‘New Religion’, which has me singing along, and I notice some of the others at the front know them well enough to do likewise too. A change of line-up has said goodbye to keyboardsman Irvine Parratt and without anyone else to attend to the ivories this time, they have recruited a second guitarist, giving the still excellent Dave Thompson’s solos some rhythmical support.

Time for Birmingham’s no1 son to set stage. Coming on with the intro from ‘S.O.M’, Bob apes fellow midlander Ozzy Osbourne by asking the punters to make some noise before kicking off with the first tune which instead turns out to be ‘Moment Of Truth’ but there no lessening the loud reaction of the 200 gathered believers, few of which, apart from me, are below 35. Noting by the amount of lip-synching , how many people have already got or heard the new disc, it must be disappointing for some that he will only play three tunes from it tonight, the other two being the belting ‘Blinded By A Lie’ and the catchy title cut.

Considering though that first album faves ‘Dreams’ and ‘Scream’ have a collective playing time of over quarter of an hour Bob has got his priorities right this evening, the chief benefit of which being that we are back up to three Magnum songs on the set this time. The night’s biggest surprise is, apart from playing ‘Sleepwalking’, the stunning acoustic rendition of ‘Days Of No Trust’. Frankly, the noise the awe-stricken audience makes in return stops short of drowning out the tune completely. Or is this because this is the only tune on which poor ol’ Vince o’Regan’s guitar work (on what turns out to be Kip Winger’s old 12-string) is actually audible?

If you remember the 2003 show, the PA did not behave too wonderfully and I was hoping that things would be improved on his return but to everyone’s horror, things go even further in the same direction, only his solos being possible to make out above the bass line and I am not the only one spitting teeth about this as Catley’s mum Ollie tells me later. A regulation romp through Clarkin cornerstone ‘Lonely Night’ preceeds the only tune from ‘When Empires Burn’ played to night (WHAT?), the lovely Ten-meets-Dare flavoured ballad ‘My America’ which is a very moving piece itself, lyrically centred on the Irish potato crisis, and then it’s time, save fro the obligatory encore of live staple ‘The Pain’ to call it an evening for another night of melodic rock magic from one of the most talented men on the planet.

Given how often he tours, Bob will doubtless be in his sixties when he next returns – even though there is another Magnum offering on the way ahead of that – but given that Lemmy and most of Deep Purple are still at it at that sinister age what harm’s it going to do Bob Catley in joining in?

10/10 (for music)

By Dave Attrill

FACT. For this tour Bob was joined by Oliver Wakeman, (son of Yes legend Rick) replacing Paul Hodson on keyboards.

Children of Bodom – The Astoria, London, UK, Thursday 27th January, 2006

Set time: 8:45 - 10:15
Set list: Living Dead Beat; Sixpounder; Hate Me; Silent Night Bodom Night; In Your Face; Angels Don’t Kill; Drum Solo; Bodom After Midnight; Bodom Beach Terror; Follow The Reaper; Needled 24/7; Guitar/Piano Duet; We’re Not Gonna Fall; Punch Me I Bleed; Hate Crew Death Roll; Are You Dead Yet?; Chokehold; Everytime I Die; Downfall

It was a freezing cold day in London when Children of Bodom brought their jaunty melodic death metal back to the capital for the first time in a while. Support bands One Man Army and Ektomorf did their best to inject some warmth into the proceedings and fared reasonably well. The crush in the stalls was downright disturbing & I was left with the view that the Astoria had been over-sold, as I’ve never seen so many people in there.
The venue needed to close by 10:20 for a club function and Bodom’s set began at a quarter to nine. The stage set-up was impressive, the centre-piece was a fifties car that served as a light rig and platform for Alexi Laho’s many leaps in the air.

The band played an excellent set featuring songs from four of their five albums (Only ’Something Wild’ was ignored). Most impressive were ‘Silent Night Bodom Night’ and six songs from ‘Hate Crew Death Row’, their best CD in my opinion.

The sound at times left a little to be desired, as the guitars were sometimes drowned by the bass. There was also sometimes an air of mid-tour auto-pilot mode & to be fair it was the 28th show of the tour, it can’t be easy keeping the effort level on ten night after night I guess.

So overall a great show, not as good as at Earthshaker in the Summer, but roll on this year’s Bodom festival shows.

By Roy Evans

8/10

By Dave Attrill

Y' know, most of the small-minded younger of today's trend-glued planet rock population would tell you they'd rather jump in a bath of their own shit than watching a 55-year old man crooning away in front of them. Well, this particular middle-aged male person can croon away forever, in my presence. Why? Because he's Bob Catley, that's why.

Way into the tour kicked off at The Gods fest ten days earlier, I've rarely seen the same act twice in a shorter space of time and tonight, I'm expecting little difference between this and the Penningtons one. Practically identical, it is, as Bob roars into action with 'Children Of The Circle' the first of five picked from the phenomenal 'When Empires Burn' CD just released at this time. Knowing the new songs helps and I'm ready, this time to sing along with 'This Is The Day', '..Empires..', 'My America' and most importantly 'I'll Be Your Fool', and I'm quite impressed at already seeing a good few other moving lips in the crowd, too.

The word 'sing-a-long' goes for everyone come the turn of classic Catley numbers 'Dreams', 'Scream', 'The Pain' and again the only two Magnum numbers of the set, 'Lonely Night' and 'Start Talking Love' send the party swinging as far as in full will allow. As at Bradford, Danny appears alongside Bob for 'Lonely' with acoustic contributions not penned at the time of the original, but I'm sure Tony Clarkin won't mind, and keyboardist and new Catley songwriter, Paul Hodson earns himself his own ovation from the assembled followers at the end of the night.

Again, top rung rock from one of Britain's best (ever), and without the minor sound gremlins that tried to pick at the systems, the previous week in Bradford, makes for an even better night out in Mr Catley's company once more.

9.5

By Dave Attrill

There are some things that strictly speaking never suffer with age and amongst such are the genius guitar gymnastics conceived by the late Mr James Marshall Hendrix esq. Even with the man no longer around to play them, someone has to remind the criminally under-informed of who inspires the zillions of electric guitar owners walking the world to this day. And could the songs be in better hands than those of three highly trained gentlemen called Chris Rick and Fred or as collectively and more commonly known, CRF? - I think not. 'Purple Haze', 'Voodoo Chile' and 'Fire' are amongst the several that frontman Rick seems able to just pull off note perfect like he was handed his first guitar when he was in a cot. 33 years of practice have evidently paid off in that case because anybody walking into a pub nowadays during his performance would think Jimi's ghost haunts it day and night.

Accompanied by French drum virtuoso Fred, who's allocated his solo spot by now as standard in a CRF gig (during the Led Zeppelin classic 'Moby Dick') and Strongheart Bassist Chris Mc Mahon, the trio also perform the Clapton chestnut 'Cocaine' and Cream's 'Sunshine Of Your Love, AC/DC fave 'Live Wire' and old Deep Purple nuggets 'Black Night' and 'Smoke On The you-know-what' hard justice. Chris's party piece of bass and keys together on selected songs testifies the professional market that he, and the other two lads all really belong in.

My good Metalliville mate, Glenn Milligan fronts the closing two numbers of the second set - Poison's 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' (and does a decent stab at it too) and the AC/DC's 'Whole Lotta Rosie' sounding like a deadringer for W. Axl Rose. Encoring with an over the top 'Wild Thing' that comes complete with finger-tapping and guitar thrashing from Rick (as well as a drenching from well known local character 'Drew').

It shows though that the pristine emulation of the great works of such icons as Messrs Hendrix, Blackmore, Clapton and Young is but a job in its own right and should be left to people like Rick, Fred and Chris who understand and appreciate the beauty of it, and in the process, enable us to share it with them. Another good night's work, lads. Be sure to check their next visit to the Classic Rock Bar on May 3rd, 2003.

Ecstatic Stuff and quite a finish to a perfect night of Partyville at this prestigious venue - The Classic Rock Bar that was started by Rockers for Rockers.

9/10

By Dave Attrill

A warm-up gig for their appearance at Maxims, Wigan the following day to get the band in the spirit of things - they were due to play Manchester previously but I was informed by 2 friends of the band from California and Toronto that it had been cancelled due to flooding or something of that nature.

Not a brilliant attendance at Bradford though - a handful of about 50 fans !!! But their reception was warm never the less for a band who'll been around for at least 12 years. The concert itself was exceptional both musically and vocally as well as very pleasing to the eye - hence the awesome phonies. On-stage for over an hour of Crown of Thorns covered a selection of songs mainly of the hard-edged melodic rock genre taken from the various stages of their career ranging from the debut to the the newly released 'Karma' that went down real well like such as the track 'Believer'.

The 'Thorns seemed to enjoy themselves throughout and on one occasion Jean Beauvoir asked the audience 'What we are called'?' - 'Crown of Thorns' they immediately cried which saw the quartet burst into the song of the same name - a class introduction if ever I saw one. They surprised us by playing a mouth-watering cover of The Beatles 'Don't Let Me Down' that encompassed some terrific vocal harmonies that went down triumphantly.

Not too long after they had hit the last note, the whole band came out to meet the audience, sign autographs and have the odd picture taken - well quite a few actually.

This was a night well worth looking forward to - next time you ought to attend at least one of their gigs because you completely missed out. It's about time that Crown of Thorns got noticed more as they offer nothing more than sheer excellence.

8/10

By Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS

Cannibal Corpse - Bradford Rio 22/11/01

(see 'K' section - billed with Krisiun and Kreator)

(see 'E' section - support to Entombed)

BOB CATLEY + TEN - HERRINGTHORPE LEISURE CENTRE, ROTHERHAM, SATURDAY MAY 18th, 2001

Like their recent shows at the Godz and Sheffield Corporation respectively had never happened really, these two giants of the UK melodic rock scene have joined forces to trek their homeland. I grab a word or two with Gary Hughes round the back, a short while before they are due on, but this is truncated by the band's final sound check which requires Gary's participation, naturally. I make my way into the by now amazingly crowded lower gym where I saw the Primed mini-fest featuring Tikaboo Peak, etc, three months earlier and already I appear to have lost my possible place at the very front.

The Mancunian sextet get things off to a rollicking start, again with 'Feel The Force' followed by 'The Robe' and 'Bright On The Blade'. Thankfully, all six members are clearly visible this time, as I had a struggle (even on tiptoe), at the Gods to be able to see little Vinny Burns over at the far side. This time, the stage is about ten feet wider than the Wigan venue's so our Vin can enjoy it at the front with the best of them. Two more selections from 'Spellbound' ensue, sadly neither including 'Red', before the crowd's pleas for some material from the 10/10 rated 'Babylon' CD finally prove fruitful - the tunes in issue being 'The Stranger' and a couple of songs later, 'Silent Rain' where Gary dons his six string too. They disappear for three minutes to return clad in hideous Hawaiian shirts but their barnstorming rake through 'Name Of The Rose' soon takes our minds off everything, save of course for the music which is very unhideous, but you have to merit a band sometimes for their sense of humour in the dressing department. They are British after all. Hughes actually adds to the laughs with 'Bob Catley's support act for tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, Ten and The Beach Boys'. We wait to see if the band will stick around for 'Don't Cry' but yet again, it's not on the set list tonight - neither is 'Wildest Dreams' which is traditionally coupled with 'Name….' Live as they are on the album. So that's them gone then. And so's a point for that, I'm afraid. 9/10 (Dave)

And to the man of the night, Mr. Catley is he, and with another batch of barnstorming tunes out, in the form of latest stunner 'Middle Earth', since last December, the gauntlet is thrown down to Gary and the lads. Interestingly enough the two acts are sharing keyboards man for this European tour¸ as Paul Hodson is also on temporary loan to Ten, following the departure of the legendary Don Airey, a recent - and rather popular - hired hand now with some of his old muckers in new Brit supergroup Company Of Snakes. The rest of Bob's band is as was those five months earlier, with Hodson, Al Barrow (Ex Hard Rain) on bass, bandana-clad guitarist Vince o'Regan and the guy called Craig at the stool.

The lights drop, just as I re-emerge from the latrine prompting me to make a mad squeeze for the front again only to be forced back by some rather angry-looking fellow spectators. I bump into a mate from up the road (in Dore) just as the fist note of the set is struck, so hence, no time for chitchat there. The stage lights up and there our host for tonight is. Thankfully, Bob Catley kindly sports the top hat he wore at the end of his Christmas gigs, so seeing whereabouts he is on the stage is thankfully zero on the difficulty scale tonight. 'Return of The Mountain King' one of the true highlights of the incredible new album is as wise as choices for set openers go, even if he'd be doing good to choose a wiser make of amp in future. Frankly, he might as well have sung without a mike for those first three songs - because the sound quality through his equipment during the early stages of his set is little short of an insult to his phenomenal vocal talent. 'City Walls' is subsequent and this song should echo from them in years to come. 'All In Vain' goes back an album to 99's 'Legends' which itself was also a concept album, dealing with famous figures through history and as to how some of them no longer walk the earth. 'Dreams' and 'Scream', the opening pair of magnificent epic speeders from the 'Tower' CD ensue but then we have to return to the Middle of the Earth again, to enjoy 'Stormcrow and Pilgrim'.

Then, bang on time, Bob pops the inevitable question. 'I see plenty of Magnum T-shirts in the crowd tonight. You wanna hear some Magnum songs, yeah?' Enough said, Bobby boy. 'Vigilante'. 'Start Talking Love'. 'Lonely Night'. 'On a Storyteller's Night'. The same block of four played last time but hey, we like 'em. Obviously still no sign of 'Days of no Trust' on a set list yet though, is there. Never mind, the Midlands midget is savouring every one second of it, as is I and I dare say the few hundred and ninety-nine around me aren't too unhappy either. Another old fave from Catley's lone ventures 'Fear Of The Dark' closes the set but we don't want him to go yet, do we kids? A few minutes of foot stamping, hand clapping and chants of 'More' is all it takes to win this guy's reappearance.

The reward for such loyalty is 'The Fellowship', the exquisite closer from 'Middle Earth', which was already heard live at the previous UK tour. Time though for one more song. Yep a Magnum one. I brace slightly though I have a rough idea of which one to expect. Bob speaks 'This one is called…. DAYS OF NO TRUST!' Did I just hear that right, Bob!??!!!! Yes I certainly did. One of Magnum's greatest ever moments kicks in for the first time in the presence of yours truly, let alone in a Bob Catley solo show. Yep, a sing a long is predictable so a brief section of the chorus is quietened down on the instruments to be loudened up by his public instead. Then, all too soon, that's it. Over. But to hear the song that started it all off for me, all those ten years ago…. I feel that lump forming inside my throat pretty fast.

10/10

By Dave Attrill

Following Jizzy Pearl was gonna be a tough act to follow (and I got the impression from the audience that they burned out after Love/Hate or had simply come to see those guys alone). Unlike Jizzy's bunch, Gilby's trio didn't get the same mad reception (he's very much a new name over here - hopefully promotion through Spitfire/Eagle-Rock Records can change that) not to mention the bass player even mystified all by shouting 'Hello London'. This is Nottingham - London was last night !! said Gilby who saved his ass by explaining that he never knew where he was.

No set list was used at all from what I could see and Gilby appeared to be working and building his way through the gig depending on the atmosphere and overall reception of the crowd. When an old Slash's Snakebit ditty was announced, that Gilby actually said was his favourite, the venue vibe got warmer, enabling the band to try out new material like the rocking 'Under the Gun' and the moody melodic honesty of 'Crocodile Tears' about a not-so-loved ex-girlfriend (from new album release, 'Swag'). The term 'Crocodile Tears' was featured in The Who's hit single 'Substitute' and talking of that legendary Cockney quartet, a superb rendition of 'Won't get fooled again' was played minus keyboards - that pre-programmed riff was all done by Mr. Clarke on the guitar - awesome - like Paul Stanley from Kiss used to do in the early 80's.

Kicking out an extended 'Tijuana Jail' (from the 'Hangover' album) appeared to go down well as did the Bob Dylan come G'n'R classic 'Knockin' on heaven's door' - "I can't sing many of those songs, but this one I can" exclaimed Gilby - it proved to a momentous crowd singalong spot - you simply can't go wrong with that one.

Encoring with The Rolling Stones late 60's no. 'Dead Flowers' that incorporated 'Used to Love Her' ensued that many went home or should I say to 'The Rig' happy - it wasn't a really long set but it was pretty good all the same- next time hopefully there will be more original material and less covers.

7/10

By Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS

CRF - Tuxedo Blue, Sharrow Lane, Sheffield, Saturday March 2nd 2002

You after a more interesting Saturday afternoon than watching bl**dy football? If so, make your way up to this jolly little boozer in Sheffield and you will be rewarded by one of the city's leading hard rock covers acts, as I was an this particular Sat PM.

Big Life and Toastplant Project have already proven themselves worthy of the pub circuit's premier league but CRF are quite an act to gasp at. It's not every day you see some local lot pull off eight note-for-note Hendrix covers in rapid succession and maintain a straight face, but this acclaimed Yorkshire trio have obviously putting in some hours practice. Thankfully though, there's no use of teeth as plectrums this time round by guitarist Rick Wilson, in memory of the ill-advised stunt sometime performed by the deceased guitar legend.

By the way we do get other band's stuff too, plus the odd guest vocalist, with regular Tuxedo performer Ian Whitehead and Metalliville's own Glenn Milligan both putting on impressive performances behind the mike. The most noticeable presence here this afternoon was that of CRF's French drummer Fred, who also works with the Toastplant lads. Can he play drums or what?! That solo spot that they let him have was as truly deserved as the patrons' approval it gained. He also plays for a third band at the moment, I gather, and with a man of his talents beyond any kit, he's a chap most bands will be queuing up for soon.

9/10

By Dave Attrill