News: Marmozets announce October UK tour

UK five-piece Marmozets, known for their awesome mathsy-grunge rock, have been suspiciously quiet.  Since the release of their debut album, The Weird And Wonderful, back in 2014, and the accompanying tour to celebrate the release, news of the Yorkshire band has dried up.

Thankfully, the silence has now been broken, as yesterday Marmozets announced a tour in which they’ll be touring the UK this October.  The band had already scheduled a short run of dates later this month, finished up with sets at Reading & Leeds Festivals, so these October dates will come as good news to any fans who missed out on the August tour.

The announcement of new tour dates begs the question: will we have a new Marmozets album to look forward to? I seriously hope so, because I’ve been craving new music from the band for a long time.  Plus, I really enjoyed seeing Marmozets perform at Leeds Festival back in 2015, so it would be awesome to see them again.  I might have to make the trip back to Bournemouth to catch them at The Old Fire Station.  If you’d like to catch the band in October, check out the list of dates here:

• 17/10 – Welly Club, Hull
• 18/10 – Empire, Middlesborough
• 19/10 – Saint Luke’s, Glasgow
• 21/10 – Brudenell Social Club (community room), Leeds
• 22/10 – Academy 3, Manchester
• 23/10 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
• 25/10 – The Garage, London
• 27/10 – Arts Centre, Norwich
• 28/10 – The Fleece, Bristol
• 29/10 – The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth
• 30/10 – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

If you want to catch the band on any of these dates, you can buy tickets from 9am on Friday.

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Are you hoping to see Marmozets in August or October?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

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 release music video for Headaches

Last month, Essex rock quintet Tigress released their new EP Like It Is via LAB Records – available on all good digital retailers.  I reported on the news back in March. Commenting on the release vocalist Katy Jackson explains:

“We really let our musicality run free on this EP, we stopped thinking about what people wanted to hear and just created music that we like. We are so excited for people to hear our new sound and we hope they like it as much as we do.”

To celebrate the release, the band have dropped a music video for the their latest single Headaches, which premiered last month with Daniel P Carter on BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show.  You can watch the video here:

Commenting on the music video, Jackson explained:

“We had a lot of fun shooting this music video – some of us even had to learn to ride a bike again! The concept of the music video is based on the global mental health crisis that so many people are going through. The video and track focuses on the feeling of isolation – we wanted to convey the message ofhow anxiety can make someone feel.”

The band are currently preparing for festival season where they will be appearing at Fort Fest amongst others. Further show and festival information can be found on the band’s website.

Tigress have previously seen coverage from Clash, Alternative Press, Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, Metro, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Scuzz TV,  as well as hundreds of regional stations and webzines.  I personally can’t get enough of female fronted rock bands, so I was always destined to enjoy Tigress, and I definitely recommend you get their latest EP in your life ASAP.

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What do you think of the latest Tigress single and music video?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Enter Shikari announce November UK/EU tour with Lower Than Atlantis and Astroid Boys

Fans of Enter Shikari woke up to some awesome news this morning: the St Albans four-piece announced a massive string of UK and EU tour dates to take place in November and December this year.  This will be their second arena tour, following their tour in February 2016, where I was lucky enough to see the band perform at the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – you can watch my video review of the gig here.

As well as this, yesterday Enter Shikari dropped a new track, Supercharge, featuring grime/rap artist Big Narstie and produced, in part, by frontman Rou Reynolds.  You can listen to the track here:

This tour is even more exciting because of the support acts. The alternative rock lads Lower Than Atlantis and up and coming Astroid Boys will be joining the band on the tour, and I think that’s an excellent combination of acts.  Enter Shikari are well known for blurring the boundaries between the genres of rock, rap, nu-metal and electronic/dubstep, so this combination of support bands is sure to get the crowd hyped and ready for the main event.

Pre-sale for the UK leg of the gig went on sale earlier this morning, with general sale starting on Friday.  Here are all of the dates – make sure you pick up tickets if Enter Shikari are hitting up a venue near you:

UK leg:

• 16/11 – Liverpool Arena
• 17/11 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
• 18/11 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
• 19/11 – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
• 21/11 – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
• 22/11 – Brighton Centre
• 24/11 – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
• 25/11 – Alexandra Palace, London

EU leg:

• 29/11 – Afas Live, Amsterdam, NL
• 1/12 – Den Atelier, Luxembourg, LU
• 2/12 – Elysee Montmartre, Paris, FR
• 3/12 – Cologne Palladium, DE
• 5/12 – Mehr Theatre, Hamburg, DE
• 6/12 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, DK
• 7/12 – Huxleys, Berlin, DE
• 8/12 – Proxima, Warsaw, PL
• 11/12 – Vienna Arena, AT
• 12/12 – Tonhalle, Munich, DE

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Are you hoping to see Enter Shikari on their November/December tour?  What do you think of their latest track?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: letlive. call it quits, PVRIS tease new album, and Fall Out Boy release controversial track

Hi altrocklifers! This week has been a pretty busy one in terms of alternative and rock music news, so today I thought I’d round everything important up into one handy package for your reading pleasure.

letlive. call it quits after fifteen years

I can’t tell you how sad I was when I read the letlive. Facebook post on Friday, explaining that there would be “no further activity for the foreseeable future”.  The band have been going since 2002, and released four full length records and one EP during that time.  I was lucky enough to see letlive. perform at Leeds Festival in 2014, but unfortunately at the time I had never listened to their music, so I couldn’t really appreciate their awesome performance.

I only really got into letlive. last year, with the release of their most recent album If I’m The Devil…, which I consider one of the best albums released in 2016.  I’ll forever be disappointed that I was unable to see the band perform tracks from If I’m The Devil… live, but the band haven’t explicitly said that the band are gone for good, so maybe, just maybe, they’ll be back some day?  Wishful thinking I know.

PVRIS release a video teasing the release of their next album

Recently PVRIS announced a short run of shows, which led fans to believe that a new album, follow-up to 2014’s White Noise, would be on its way soon.  On Friday the band dropped a teaser video via the Rise Records YouTube channel.  Is the title of the video, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, the name of their second full length record?  Maybe the first single to be released from the album?  Who knows.  The band are being very coy on social media and in interviews, so I’m looking forward to finding out.

Fall Out Boy release controversial new track

Fall Out Boy have never been a band that meets expectations, and they threw fan expectations out of the window on Thursday when they announced the release of their next album, MANIA.  The announcement, which included the release date of September 15th and discounted pre-order bundles, was accompanied by the album’s first single, Young And Menace.  The verses remind me a little of their most recent record, American Beauty/American Psycho, but the super EDM chorus is unlike anything Fall Out Boy have ever done before, so nobody really knows what the entire album will sound like.  Me? I haven’t decided if I like this latest track, I’m 100% on the fence.  However, my love of Fall Out Boy means I’ll be waiting impatiently for the next single.  Here’s the YouTube video for the track.

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What do you think of the new Fall Out Boy track? How do you feel about letlive. calling it quits?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Everywhere release first new track of 2017, Man Up

UK band Everywhere have announced their first 2017 release in the form of new single Man Up, currently available to stream on Soundcloud. It’s due to be available to purchase and available on Spotify on June 9th.

The track features a funky bassline underpinning its pop-rock sound, and includes a feature by Swedish singer/songwriter Rebecca Nohr.  You can also listen to the track on YouTube, here:

Looking past the catchy chorus, the lyrics discuss struggling with meeting the expectations set by traditional masculinity, and how to manage being with a dominant partner.

Everywhere have also said that they are working on an album, and although it’s early days “it should be out this fall”.

At the end of last year, Everywhere released their EP Fiction Act. The EP single Some Other Dude was featured on BBC Introducing in London and has received over a million streams on Spotify.  I gave Fiction Act a review when I focused in on the band during my New Music Spotlight: you can give that a read here.

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What did you think of Man Up?  Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

News: Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes announces December UK tour

Anyone who has been following Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes since their inception in 2015 will know that this band isn’t one to rest on its laurels.  The band wrapped up their latest UK tour on March 31st, which saw them hit up 12 venues across the United Kingdom.  Now a new tour has been announced only three days later via the band’s Facebook page, and anyone who missed out on their last sold out tour simply needs to attend this one.

This upcoming Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes tour will be shorter than its March predecessor, hitting up seven dates in England and Scotland, but this time the venues will have a bigger capacity.  I’m super excited to see the band begin to fill larger venues with their incredible atmosphere and excellent live performances.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am, and I’ll be setting my alarm clock to make sure I get my ticket for the Nottingham Rock City date.  The fact that I haven’t been able to see the band live yet is a major disappointment to me, so there’s no way I’ll be missing them play at one of my favourite venues.

Here’s a list of the tour dates – if there’s a date near you, or even if there isn’t, you definitely do not want to miss this tour.

• 1/12 – O2 Academy, Bristol
• 2/12 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
• 3/12 – O2 Ritz, Manchester
• 5/12 – O2 ABC, Glasgow
• 6/12 – Rock City, Nottingham
• 7/12 – UEA, Norwich
• 8/12 – O2 Academy, Brixton

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Did you see Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes on their March tour, or are you planning on seeing them in December?  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: 2000 Trees festival announces more line-up additions

Yesterday 2000 Trees festival announced thirteen new additions to their already jam-packed line-up.  The festival is due to take place from July 6-8 at Upcote Farm, near Cheltenham.

The festival line-up was already pretty strong, boasting punk duo Slaves as their main headliners accompanied by Nothing But Thieves.  Pulled Apart By Horses, Feed The Rhino, Strange Bones, Fizzy Blood and Petrol Girls are highlights amongst the rest of the line-up.

There are 11 new additions to the festival, including The Front Bottoms and The Wonder Years.  These pop punk giants are joined by Beach Slang, Black Peaks, Gnarwolves, Sløtface, De Staat, The Hyena Kill, Get Inuit, Acres, Peaness, MOSES and Wallflower.   You can see the full line-up here:

This is a pretty strong line-up, and it makes 2000 Trees Festival a really solid contender for bigger festivals such as Reading & Leeds for this year. If you’ve been tempted by the newest additions to the festival’s line-up, you can still buy Friday and Saturday day tickets, as well as tickets from Thursday to Saturday with camping, at the 2000 Trees website.

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Are you attending 2000 Trees this year?  Which bands are you looking forward to seeing the most? 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.