10 great bands to see live in winter 2017

If you’ve been following alternative music news as closely as I have, you’ll know that there are some awesome bands set to play UK tours towards the end of this year.  Today I thought I’d run through some of these upcoming live dates, whether I’m planning on attending one of the gigs or just wish I could.

New Found Glory – September/October 2017, dates here

Pop punk legends New Found Glory, who are celebrating the band’s 20th year, will be visiting our shores in September/October of this year.  Their latest record was released in April, so it will be exciting for fans to hear some of those newer tracks live alongside older classics.

Metallica – October 2017, dates here

Metal giants Metallica will be returning to UK shores this October, but alas, the general sale for all of their dates have already sold out.  Bad luck to everyone who missed out!

Enter Shikari – November 2017, dates here

I already covered the news of Enter Shikari’s upcoming UK tour last month, but I had to include them in this round-up because their line-up is absolutely fantastic.  Lower Than Atlantis put on a great show, and Astroid Boys are an innovative up-and-coming band, so I’m certain this tour will be one to remember.  I’ve already seen Enter Shikari live four times, and their performances are always incredible, so I’d love to make it five in November at the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena.

Royal Blood – November 2017, dates here

Royal Blood will be performing their first ever headline arena dates this year, and I can’t wait to see them fill the huge venues with their awesome sound.  The band recently announced At The Drive In and Black Honey as their support acts, so I’m certain these dates will not disappoint.

Alice Cooper – November 2017, dates here

Rock ‘n’ roll giant Alice Cooper will be bringing his incredible live performances and stage shows back to the UK in November of this year.  If you attend one of his gigs, it’s certain to be a night you won’t forget in a hurry.

PVRIS, November 2017, dates here

PVRIS are set to release their upcoming second album, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell in August, and a few months later they’ll be celebrating its release with a short run of UK dates.

Good Charlotte – November/December 2017, dates here

Good Charlotte’s latest album, Youth Authority, got a decent write-up here on altrocklife, so it would be awesome to see the band perform some of their new tracks live.  Plus, let’s be real, this band are pop punk legends, and it would be a nostalgia-filled trip to the past to see Good Charlotte perform live.

The Kooks – November/December 2017, dates here

Pop rock legends The Kooks are doing a Best Of tour at the end of this year, and it would be awesome to see them live.  Most people I know grew up listening to The Kooks, so I’m sure it would be fantastic to see them perform their greatest hits.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – December 2017, dates here

Everyone who’s seen The Rattlesnakes live know that this group put on an incredible show, and I’m extremely lucky to have already bought my ticket to see them in Nottingham on December 6th.  It’ll be my first time seeing The Rattlesnakes, and long term readers of altrocklife will know how long I’ve been waiting to see this band.  If you’ve got the opportunity to see them live, you’ll regret it if you don’t take it.

Marilyn Manson – December 2017, dates here

Marilyn Manson is one of the most infamous musicians on the scene, with a solid fanbase built over the past 20+ years.  You’d have to be pretty lucky to catch him during this short string of UK dates.

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Have you got tickets for any of these tours?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Tigress announce new EP and UK tour dates

Essex-based pop rock band Tigress have announced the release of their second EP, Like It Is.  The five track EP is set to be released through LAB Records on 12th May, and it includes the band’s latest single, Power Lines.  You can watch the music video for the track here:

Tigress have previously seen coverage from Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Scuzz TV, Kerrang! TV, Kerrang! Radio as well as hundreds of regional stations and webzines.

With the EP made up of awesome pop rock infused with strings and high energy choruses, Tigress will be revealing more new music over the next few weeks.  Their next single, Give Me A Chance, is due to be released along with a music video tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Tigress will be touring the UK with Counterfeit in April, before joining Counterfeit on their mainland Europe tour. The band will headline the VocalZone stage at Teddy Rocks Festival on the 28th April, and have also been added to the Camden Rocks and Work Hard Play Hard Festival line-ups.  Here is the list of dates and festivals where you can catch Tigress live this year:

(* = supporting Counterfeit)

• 18/4 – Key Club, Leeds *
• 19/4 – Academy 3, Manchester *
• 20/4 – O2 Academy 2, Newcastle *
• 21/4 – Stereo, Glasgow *
• 22/4 – Rock City Basement, Nottingham *
• 23/4 – O2 Academy 3, Birmingham *
• 25/4 – Fleece, Bristol *
• 26/4 – The Underworld, London *
• 28/4 – Teddy Rocks Festival, Blandford Forum
• 29/4 – The Haunt, Brighton *
• 4/6 – Camden Rocks Festival, London
• 23/7 – Work Hard Play Hard Festival, Kent

Tickets are on sale for all shows and details can be found at the band’s website.

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What do you think of Tigress’s latest single?  Are you seeing the band on tour next month?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes announces UK tour support, sells out all dates

Today Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes made a pretty big announcement about their upcoming UK and Ireland tour: with two weeks to go until the tour commences, every single date has sold out!  This is no massive surprise to fans of the band, as FC&TR have had a knack for selling out gigs and shows ever since their formation back in 2015.  However to sell out an entire tour is no mean feat, especially considering their last UK tour was only in November of last year, as well as a smattering of small shows to celebrate Modern Ruin‘s release in January.

Plus, yesterday the band announced the support for the upcoming 12-date tour.  First up is the awesome Yonaka, a female fronted alternative rock band with an awesome punk vibe, who’ll be joining FC&TR throughout the entire tour.

Second is Strange Bones, who have an incredible grungy punk sound, and to me sound like the love child of FC&TR and my favourite Brit punks, Slaves.  They’ll be playing every date except for those in Ireland: sorry, Belfast and Dublin!

To make up for the loss of Strange Bones, Fangclub will be playing the Irish dates, and the garage rock trio are sure to get the audience hyped up.

This is a really strong selection of support acts, and kudos to Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes for bringing lesser known bands along on their tour.  Unfortunately I am unable to attend any of the dates on this tour, so know that I am eternally envious of everyone who’ll be seeing FC&TR live this month.  The combination of their explosive live performances, plus awesome support acts and packed out venues, is sure to lead to one hell of a tour.

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Are you seeing Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes live this month?  What tracks are you looking forward to hearing live? Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

Review: Avenged Sevenfold, Nottingham Motorpoint Arena

Last night I had the great honour of seeing Avenged Sevenfold live for the second time, at the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena. Last time I saw them, they were performing in the O2 in London during their Hail To The King tour, so it was great to witness how the band’s performance and stage set-up has evolved over the past few years.  However, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Here’s my photo-dump of the few, poor quality pictures I took on my phone.

Disturbed

Disturbed

Disturbed

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold

First up on the line-up were the Swedish metal band, In Flames.  Unfortunately I was unable to watch these guys perform, as we encountered a traffic accident during our drive to Nottingham which put us behind schedule.  I was pretty gutted to miss them, because I reviewed their latest album Battles in November and I really enjoyed it.  If anyone was at the gig last night and you saw In Flames, comment below and let me know what their performance was like!

Next were Disturbed, a cornerstone of American metal music over the past couple of decades.  I had no idea what to expect from this four-piece band, as I only really knew arguably their biggest hit, Down With The Sickness. However, I was absolutely blown away by singer David Draiman’s fantastic voice.  His range and performance was incredible, and was totally not what I was expecting from him.  Overall the bands’s performance was excellent, and their 45-ish minute setlist was full of high octane riff-heavy tracks which got the crowd jumping and circle pits forming.  One moment of calm amongst the storm was the band’s beautiful cover of Simon And Garfunkel’s The Sound Of Silence, accompanied by a live strings section.  If you’ve never heard their cover before, you can check out the music video below:

Finally, Avenged Sevenfold took to the stage, suitably enough opening their set with The Stage.  Bassist Johnny Christ was ill during this performance, which put a dampener on things slightly, but he still performed well and I certainly didn’t notice any issues with his bass playing.

The band played tracks from across their impressive discography, including a few tracks from Waking The Fallen and Sounding The Seventh Trumpet.  I can understand that Avenged Sevenfold must find it difficult to put together setlists, considering that the band has fans of their different eras of music, but I was glad that they managed to play a good number of their older songs to keep long term fans happy.  I was a little disappointed that they only played Bat Country from City Of Evil, but when you’ve got a two hour setlist to fill and seven albums of songs to choose from, something’s gotta give!

My highlights of the night included the performance of two of my favourite songs from The Stage: Sunny Disposition and God Damn.  I also really enjoyed hearing the band perform Planets followed by Acid Rain from Hail To The King: the two tracks naturally go together, and it was a great opportunity to get the flashlights out and belt along to the epic choruses.  And of course, the encore included the incredible A Little Piece Of Heaven, which singer M Shadows dedicated to The Rev’s “fucked up lyrics”, which was a wonderful nostalgic touch.

However, I think I can guess the highlight of the night from Daniel, the man M Shadows pulled up on stage to sing Johnny Christ’s backing vocals for Nightmare in his place.  He looked like he was having the time of his life singing along, and I think everyone else in the arena wished they were on stage in his place.

Overall, the band’s performance was polished and well executed, the same as it was when I saw them live in 2013.  It’s plain to see how well M Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates and Johnny Christ play together, and they’ve been a band for long enough to work together like a well oiled machine.  New Drummer Brooks Wackerman fits into the band really well, and I really enjoyed his performance of both new and old Avenged Sevenfold tracks.

If you’re planning to see Avenged Sevenfold during the rest of their The Stage tour, you’re in for a real treat. Have you already seen them live this year?  What did you think of the show? Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Reading & Leeds Festivals make first line-up announcement

Last night, Reading and Leeds Festivals announced the first few acts confirmed for next year’s line-up, including one of the three headliners: the mighty Muse.  The festivals will be held over the August bank holiday weekend next year, from the 25th to the 27th.

Alongside Muse, some of the other heavier acts announced include Architects, Against The Current, While She Sleeps and At The Drive In, plus who could ignore the pop/electronic giants Bastille.

Overall I’m fairly impressed with this announcement, but it’s quite difficult to guess how good the festivals’ line-up is going to be overall judging from these eleven acts.  The announcement spans a number of genres, so as someone who would only be interested in seeing heavier bands, I can’t judge how much I’d enjoy next year’s festival.

Compared to the last Download Festival line-up announcement, I’m definitely much more enthusiastic about the Donington Park festival.  Download have announced all three headliners, and it must be said knowing all of the headliners makes a festival a much more exciting prospect.

Hopefully we’ll be hearing more from Reading & Leeds soon, but until then this latest news is enough to tide us over.

What do you think about the announcement? Let me know your thoughts on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: First half of 2017 ram-packed with fantastic UK tours

For those of you, like myself, who enjoy attending concerts, the first half of 2017 is set to be an amazing few months of live music.  These acts are absolutely fantastic, so if you manage to get tickets for a few of these tours your bank balance could end up being in serious trouble. Today I decided to round up some of the best tours coming up next year.

January 2017 – Avenged Sevenfold, dates here

This tour is the only tour on my list which I already have tickets for, and I am extremely excited to be able to see Avenged Sevenfold for the second time.  I’ll be attending the Nottingham date, and although I was already looking forward to the date, my excitement pretty much quadrupled after reviewing the band’s latest album, The Stage.

January 2017 – The Pretty Reckless, dates here

After reviewing the band’s latest record Who You Selling For, my love for The Pretty Reckless has seriously increased.  I’m hoping to be able to attend their Nottingham date on January 19th, because it promises to be a fantastic night.

February 2017 – Deaf Havana, dates here

I’ve seen these guys perform twice and I thoroughly enjoyed myself both times, so I’d love to make it a hat trick.  Again, I’d probably have to make the journey to London to catch these guys live, but it would be worth it!

February 2017 – Kings Of Leon, dates here

I’m really excited at the prospect of seeing Kings Of Leon live, considering how long I’ve been a fan of theirs.  Even if you weren’t a massive fan of their last two albums, their great live performances would make attending one of their shows worth it.

March 2017 – Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, dates here

Not wanting to rest on their laurels for too long, even though The Rattlesnakes have only just finished up a string of UK tour dates, the band announced this week that they’ll be touring yet again next March.  I’m gutted that they haven’t announced a Nottingham date, but I’m willing to make the trek to London to see these guys perform live.

March/April 2017 – Mallory Knox, dates here

I’ve been a big fan of Mallory Knox since their first mainstream success, and I really enjoyed seeing them perform live at Leeds Festival in 2014.  Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to see them live again since, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to attend either the Cambridge, or one of the London dates.  Plus, Lonely The Brave is one of their support acts, and I’d love to see them perform live again too.

March/April 2017 – Pulled Apart By Horses, dates here

Even though I’m a fan of this band, I have yet to see Pulled Apart By Horses live, so it would be great to see them next year.

April 2017 – You Me At Six, dates here

I really enjoyed You Me At Six’s latest single, Night People, so I’d really like to see them perform it live next year.  Plus, I’ve been a fan of the band for a long time, so it would be great to hear them perform some older songs alongside the new on tour.

Are you attending any of these tours?  Are there any other awesome tours planned for 2017 that I missed off this list? Let me know your thoughts on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

Review: Of Mice & Men, Nottingham Rock City

Last night I went along to Nottingham and saw one of my favourite bands, Of Mice & Men, performing live for the fourth time.  I hadn’t planned on attending, however a last minute change to my work and my sister’s sixth form schedule meant we could take the trip to see the performance.  I didn’t manage to get any photos from the gig, but here’s a snap from the band’s Instagram account which will give you a taste of the atmosphere.

A photo posted by Of Mice & Men (@omandm) on Oct 4, 2016 at 12:13am PDT

We arrived to the venue a little late, so unfortunately we only heard opening act Hands Like Houses perform three songs of their set.  From what I heard, I really enjoyed their performance: the vocalist’s voice was strong throughout, and the instrumentals sounded pretty tight.  These guys were definitely a solid choice of opening act.  Here’s the video for one of the songs they played:

Following Hands Like Houses was Crown The Empire, whose performance I also really enjoyed.  There were a couple of issues with microphone levels throughout this set, however: during the first couple of songs the vocalist’s voice was drowned out by the instruments, and towards the end his microphone was too loud and the guitars were overpowered.  Even noticing this issue, I still thought Crown The Empire put on a great show, and they really helped to amp up the atmosphere in preparation for Of Mice & Men to take to the stage.  Here’s the music video to one of the songs I most enjoyed hearing them play:

Then it was time for the main act to take to the stage.  Of Mice & Men opened with Pain, one of my favourites from their new record Cold World, and it was a fantastic, high energy start to the gig.  They mainly played songs from the new record, which is understandable as it was only released a couple of weeks ago, as well as a fair few from Restoring Force.  I was extremely pleased when I realised that they were also playing The Calm, The Storm, The Flood and The Depths in succession, which definitely went down well with more long term fans of the band.  Their encore was topped off with Second & Sebring, was was probably my highlight of the whole night.

Overall the performance by Of Mice & Men was brilliant, as per usual, with no noticeable technical issues or dodgy microphone levels.  In the past I’ve consistently noted that Aaron Pauley’s vocals live were fairly weak and quiet, however even though he complained of waking up with a cold yesterday morning, I think his vocal performance was the best I’ve heard.  Maybe he was pushing his voice harder than usual to make up for his illness?  The only issue I found with the band’s performance was Austin Carlile’s clean vocals during Away: I thought his voice was quite nasal, and reckon he’d be better off sticking to harsh vocals from now on.

It was definitely worth seeing Of Mice & Men for the fourth time, as to me their performances are getting better and better every time.  If you’re able to attend any of the remaining UK tour dates this month, I’d highly recommend it.

Were you at the gig last night?  What did you think of the performance?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: ALLUSONDRUGS announce co-headline tour with Brawlers

In February of this year I saw ALLUSONDRUGS support Enter Shikari on tour at the Portsmouth Pyramids – I wasn’t too impressed by their live performance, as you can read here, but when I got home I listened to some of their music and I was pleasantly surprised.  ALLUSONDRUGS are a really exciting new British band, and it makes me happy to see them co-headlining with another exciting new British band, Brawlers.

I reviewed Brawlers’ debut album Romantic Errors Of Our Youth a while back through Scene Better Days, and I really, really enjoyed it.  I haven’t had the opportunity to see them live yet, which makes me sad because their tour doesn’t come very close to me.  The closest date is in Plymouth, which unfortunately is a bit of a trek!

Take a look at the tour dates below to see if this not-to-be-missed tour is heading your way this October.

• 4/10 – Norwich Owl Sanctuary
• 5/10 – Leicester Scholar Bar
• 6/10 – Hull Fruit
• 8/10 – High Wycombe Bucks SU
• 9/10 – Plymouth The Junction
• 10/10 – Middlesborough Twisterella Fest (just ALLUSONDRUGS)
  – Swansea The Scene (just Brawlers)
• 12/10 – Birmingham Rainbow Courtyard
• 13/10 – Chester Live Rooms
• 14/10 – Sheffield Bungalows & Bears

Commenting on the news, ALLUSONDRUGS said: “We’re looking forward to having a load of stuff on the go after a summer leisurely rolling around the festivals. It’s going to be so good to be out around the country with fellow Yorkshire boys Brawlers too!”

Are you planning on seeing ALLUSONDRUGS and Brawlers live this October? Have you seen them live before, and what did you think of their performance?  Let me know on Facebook or Twitter.

Currently listening to: True Friends – Bring Me The Horizon

News: The Lion and The Wolf joins PJ Bond on tour

Last November, over on Scene Better Days, I reviewed the first full length album by The Lion And The Wolf, Symptoms.  I really enjoyed that album, and ever since I’ve been waiting to hear more from the artist, real name Thomas George.

I was therefore very pleased to hear that Isle of Wight based The Lion And The Wolf is hitting the road in the UK and EU this summer, in support of American singer/songwriter PJ Bond.

Now, I know that The Lion And The Wolf is less heavy than the bands I usually talk about here on altrocklife, but every so often it’s nice to kick back and relax with some chilled acoustic music.

Speaking of the tour, George said: “I am thrilled to be heading out on a two week tour of our fair isle with the excellent PJ Bond.  These will be my last UK shows for quite a while as I begin the final stages of recording my second record.”

To make the most of The Lion And The Wolf’s last live shows for a while, check out the rest of the dates on the tour below:

• 3/7 – Blissfields Festival, Winchester
• 4/7 – House Show, Southampton
• 5/7 – The Sanctuary, Basingstoke
• 6/7 – JT Soar, Nottingham
• 7/7 – Brew Dog, Leeds
• 9/7 – Gwdihw, Cardiff
• 10/7 – 2,000 Trees Festival
• 11/7 – 1 in 12 Club, Bradford
• 12/7 – Banshee Labrynth, Edinburgh
• 13/7 – Nerd Hutch, Newcastle
• 14/7 – Star and Garter, Manchester
• 15/7 – 80 Days Bier Haus, Hull
• 16/7 – The Guilded Quill, Lincoln
• 17/7 – The Quadrant, Brighton
• 19/7 – Veg Bar, London

What do you think of The Lion And The Wolf and PJ Bond?  Let me know on Facebook or Twitter.

Currently listening to: Cardinals – The Wonder Years

So far in 2015: the year of musicians injuring themselves on stage

The music world hasn’t been having the best of luck so far in 2015, has it?  In February I wrote about the sheer number of musicians leaving bands, which really shook up the alternative music community.  Now, however, there’s a slightly more worrying trend: more and more musicians are injuring themselves on stage.  This isn’t just limited to rock, punk or alternative musicians, so let’s take a look back at some of the more memorable musician injuries of 2015 so far.

It all started with Madonna in February, who suffered whiplash on stage at the BRIT Awards.  The costume of her backing dancers caught on her cape which she was unable to untie, leading to her being pulled over backwards by her neck.  Ouch.

In April, at the legendary Coachella Festival, Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine jumped off stage a little too energetically, breaking her foot in the process.  She hopes that she’ll be recovered in time to perform at Glastonbury later this month.

In May, U2’s The Edge fell off stage while performing in Vancouver.  In this video shared by The Telegraph, it appears he simply mis-judged his step and walked right off stage.  It’s good to know that even big-shot musicians can make mistakes and be clumsy, right?

And now for the icing on the cake.  Last Friday, during a concert in Sweden, Foo Fighers frontman Dave Grohl fell off stage two songs into the set, resulting in a broken leg.  Ever a trooper, after being rushed off to hospital Grohl returned and the band were able to complete the set.

Following the injury Foo Fighters cancelled two further dates of their Sonic Highways Tour, however it is currently unknown whether they will cancel their Wembley Arena dates on the 19th and 20th of June, or their set at Glastonbury.  Now, I’m well aware I’m biased as I have a ticket to see the band perform on the 19th, but I really hope the concert isn’t cancelled!  Whatever happens, though, Grohl’s health comes first, and I’ll respect whatever decision the band makes.

That was the run-down of the most noticeable injured musicians so far in 2015.  Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue!

Do you have tickets to see Foo Fighters on the rest of their tour, or any of the other injured musicians mentioned in this post?  Let me know on Facebook or Twitter.

Currently listening to: Killpop – Slipknot