Christmas is upon us and Tickets There is imploring everyone to spread a little seasonal metal joy this year.
Never mind picking up crap in faceless stores for friends and loved ones – buy metal! Instead of spending more money than you’re happy to part with on some yoke you hope won’t be rejected outright, buy a Warpath t-shirt. Instead of fretting and running around shops trying to stay hydrated and alive in the queues – order the new Primordial album. Basically – buy metal, support your local scene this Christmas and spread metal joy.
Several local bands have stores and great stock for you to choose from. T-shirts, albums, everything a new metal fan could want. Works even better if you have mates into metal – spend a tenner on a savage gift and you’ve friends for life who can never say you didn’t get them something.
Here’s just a few of the web stores available If you want to add some, simply comment here or mail ticketsthere@hotmai.com. Don’t be afraid to spread the word – #shopLocal666
Dublin heavy metal fans will be delighted this morning as Fibber MaGees have announced they are delaying their planned change in format. The iconic pub was undergoing renovations to re-launch this Friday as The Grand Ole Fibbers, a country and western themed bar that was hoping to cash in on the near half a million customers making their way to the big smoke for Garth Brooks in Croke Park this month.
In a statement released this morning, Fibber MaGees announced their decision is ‘regrettable’, but they don’t want to risk alienating one customer base before ensuring there’s another to pick up the pieces…again.
This isn’t the first time Fibbers have dropped heavy metal in favour other musical flavours. In the past they’ve tried 90’s foam parties and laser discos, Alternative Malaysian symphonic movement stag parties, reggae and jungle beat mash up shot / wet t-shirt competitions and the Fibber MaGees Dusty Springfield Appreciation Centre and Grill. All have failed with Fibbers quickly returning to the one group that never truly abandoned them – metal heads. However, this change has been suggested as more exciting amongst regular patrons than previous attempts at change.
“Management have not been blind to the changes in the people drinking here on the weekends”, notes this mornings Facebook post. “There’s been more and more lads and ladies dressed in double denim that we realized they’re no longer interested in metal – they want country and we’re going to deliver.”
According to a statement on their Facebook page, Fibber’s will remain untouched until the Dublin Council make a final decision on the Garth Brooks shows. They’ve also re-hired former manager, David Lawlor, to head up the refurbishment and strategic customer re-focus. David has already commissioned a new promo video to show the pub’s new C&W atmosphere, wallpaper and, indeed, the wall to wall double denim.
Tower Records have confirmed this morning that they have completely sold out of Metallica stock after the band’s headlining performance at Glastonbury on Saturday night. Don’t panic though – fortunately a re-order was logged last week which should be filled tomorrow morning.
“We had to re-order all of our Metallica stock, as well as additional items we don’t normally carry”, confirmed James O’Brien, Tower manager. “Glastonbury supporters had been turning up all week to purchase Metallica stock and burn it outside in a large eco-friendly bonofire to protest the band’s inclusion as a Glasto headliner. Vegans, PETA, feminists, Apple product users, they all showed up to denounce the band. Once Metallica played though, they started buying the stuff to bring home – fucking eejits. Win win for us”.
Buying frenzy at Tower Records, Dublin yesterday
In an apparent breakdown of popular culture, it seems the hipster world is now divided as thousands of bearded, legging wearing big wheel bicycle envy sufferers have cast aside their Arcade Fire albums to proclaim they are and always have been metal devotees.
“I saw Anvil when it was released, I’ve always been so into metal” claims twitter user @transformersshouldalwayshavebeenacartoon from Suffolk. In a series of tweets the user proclaims that heavy metal is a forgotten art for those who choose to use large music to show their feelings. “The guitars represent pain and the vocals represent more pain. The drums are also pain but the bass is the light. Metal is so diverse – the black album is like OK Computer or Funeral. I always preferred their earlier stuff though”.
Other metal bands, including Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Sepultura are expected to benefit greatly from the hipsters immediate need to prove how metal they are and while older Metallica fans are responding quite negatively and sarcastically to the hipster world’s sudden interest in the group, Anthrax fans are embracing them with one twitter user – @iloveANTHRAXthismuch|____________________| claiming this is a “good day for metal”.
Glastonbury organizers have also confirmed this morning that next year’s event will include a dedicated heavy metal tent called ‘They only sing about cruelty, they don’t actually do it – so you can enjoy them Stage’ and have booked Cannibal Corpse, Emperor, Exhumed, Mayhem and Exodus to perform. Ed Sheeran has also announced plans to release the first singer / songwriter metal album. The world waits with baited breath….
Stillorgan local, Phil Kelly, has announced he will continue telling every rocker and metal head he meets how long his hair used to be for at least the next two decades – just in case they would ever be confused by the aging rockers current, deceptive short-haired image.
Despite a non-receding hairline and lacking any bald spots, Phil (aged 43) felt the need to cut his hair short at the end of his teenage years and join the masses in ‘growing up’. Now in his mid-forties, Phil wants to let people, who didn’t get the chop, know that he was and is one of them and fill them in on how much more metal he used to be.
“It’s good to see rockers still about”, announces Phil from his favourite podium bar stool in Bolands pub. “But these kids don’t realize what I used to get up to. I used to have long hair – longer than that fella there” (points to man at the bar and gestures to a point on his own arm where his hair is reported to have reached), “I had it that way for ages. We used to wear traditional Celtic belts as well and the jackets and go down to sea and fight the mods.”
Phil insists that not listening to metal music hasn’t damaged his love for the genre. “I’d still go into Brux at least a couple of times a year if I can. Depends what’s on, but if I’m there with visitors or that I’d always pop down to the bar and use the jax. Brings me back to the late eighties and early nineties when there was a real scene”.
When questioned about today’s metal scene, Phil grows dismissive and vague and only offers instances that it was “non-existent really” and “not as good as when I was young – just all noise now”.
Locals and younger fans who are interested in hearing tales of the metal / rock scene in Ireland between the years 1988 and 1991 can find Phil in Boland’s almost any Saturday afternoon ‘when the wife is out of town’.
The gloves are off, the bets are down and metal is coming to town. After several months, 10 heats, six second rounds and two semi finals – the battle is entering it’s final stages. Bloodstock M2TM Ireland is going to have a 2014 champion to send forth to the English lands, so they may lay waste to the world’s filth and be crowned legends for life. In short – it’s on!
Tomorrow night at Fibber MaGees, six of Ireland’s best and brightest underground bands will assault spectators, fans, friends and family in their hopes to play the Big B, alongside Megadeth, Down, Emperor and many more. Each of the bands has earned their right to go and now it falls on their followers and stage skills to push them through the final hurdle. We thought it might be fun to have a quick look at the six contenders and in absolutely no way show any bias Tickets There (*Cough PSYKOSIS) might have in the result.
AeSect: AeSect are, without a doubt, one of the best live bands in Ireland at the moment. They (some of them anyway) hail from close by my own homeland – the mighty…..mighty strange Longford and they have entertained me – none of you – many times with their solid, aggressive performances and heavier than sin tunes. You can’t flaw them, you can only love them. If you haven’t heard them you need to click THIS LINK now. Tis Friday after all, what else would you be doing other than learning about sexy sweet ass metal from Longford? (and Wicklow and Dublin).
Alpheidae: These guys, and I hate to say it, but these guys are not my cup of tea. They don’t seem to have anything to do with metal and instead come across like Coldplay meets Evanescence. I blame ten years of terrible pop indie and nu-metal for this latest attempt of the commercial skater world to water my beloved genre down. THEN AGAIN… they have a lot of fans, so I’m obviously in the minority which undermines my own opinion in the greater scheme of things and they’re very, very tight on stage. They’re not amateurs who can’t play – instead they’re extremely well rehearsed and have a lot going on. Time will tell on the staying power of this new form of metal but I’ll bet they gear up a lot more interest than I ever will. Look, I’ve already written more about them that I did AeSect! No doubt – a major contender for the top spot tomorrow.
Dead Label!: Another of the countries hottest bands and possibly one of the most interesting and successful of 2013. Can they repeat it in 2014? Hell yes they can! Anyone who saw their major live return with Gama Bomb a couple of months back couldn’t have been anything less than in awe of their new material. Heavy, crunchy… did I mention heavy? Sounding better than ever – well worth getting in for. Your life can only be poorer for missing them. Check out the video below- another band to get the taste buds going…metal taste buds for metal people (you can drop my Pulitzer in the post).
Killface: Now you’re talking. DUBLIN DEATH METAL at it’s best. Would you believe in all my years running this blog, I’ve only been lucky enough to catch these guys twice and both times they blew the roof of the place (the Pint has of course since reinstalled it’s roof, but mostly uninstalled it’s metal 😦 ). Killface are a cracking band with a lot of energy, good tunes and power to bring to the fold. I unfortunately don’t see them picking up the grand prize – but with Warpath’s success last year – at least we know death metal bands are major contenders for the title. I won’t mind eating my words on this one either way.
Psykosis: Ok, so why bother trying to lie? Pyskosis are Tickets There’s favourite metal band these days. They top an exceptionally long list and just bring it. They bring it so hard it’s difficult to believe they’re still underground. They have an album coming out this summer which makes me so excited I want to wet my pants and call my granny. Psykosis, Psykosis, Psykosis. They’ll play it loud and do us proud and I can guarantee my terrible writing is in no way reflective of how they play. Prove it you yell? well watch the video and check them our for yourselves. Soon you’ll be drowning in a sea of blood….sorry, what was the sea made from again? oh yeah…. BEER!
Theories Divide: A band I’ve heard, but never seen. I can’t speak for their live performances but I can tell their tracks are worth a spin. One of the those bands I’m still waiting to grab …so I’ve haven’t been grabbed yet and it’s no fault of theirs – all me. More listens will bring more love, it puts the lotion on it’s skin or else it gets the hose again.
So, there it is in a nutshell. Basically every band is brilliant and loved. They’re all competing and for the tiny, tiny, tiny price of €5 (€10 after 9pm) you could be there to witness each of on them at the top of their game. Doors open at 7,30 and Fibbers will have some tasty beverages waiting for you of course 🙂 Tickets There would like to wish ALL six bands the best of luck. May the mightiest metal monsters win!.
Exciting news for Dublin metal fans as our main supplier of non-Point Depot filling mania have some exciting news to announce. Unfortunately though, fans will have to wait days to find out what the news is as DME are only in a position to hint that they will announce an announcement over the coming week.
Inpatient fans flooded the DME Facebook page this morning and inundated head honcho, Fergal ‘H’ with names, hoping desperately to receive a confirmation. Using a sophisticated formula, assisted with lashings of logic, history, hope and pant wetting excitement – fans proposed names, tours, possibilities, theories, counter-theories, arguments and naked hostility in the hopes and forcing DME into a position where it no longer makes sense to keep things secret. Unfortunately the responses were giving away no clues, but that didn’t stop the guessing.
“It’s got to be Cannibal Corpse, Revocation and Aeon”, proclaims Stephen from Ballybrack. “They’re playing Europe in October, November and December and they’ve days off before the tour, after Helsinki, Gothenburg, Madrid, Lilli, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Nova Gorica and Uden. Plus six of those dates fall on a full moon which is 85.72% of the free days which corresponds to the number of full moons on free days on two of the past three times they’ve played here. It’s fucking obviously got to be them!”.
DME were not immediately available for comment on the matter, but Paul from Raheny offered a different opinion.
“Cannibal Corpse me bollocks”, he writes. “Everyone knows they never play shows in Ireland that close to Cambodia’s Coronation Day when the year is dividable by two. It’s more than likely the Evile show is just being pushed out another twenty four months and reduced down to €0.36 entrance”.
With days to wait, the comments section on DME’s wall is likely to get more and more vicious as impatience, hormonal angst and metal hostility fuse together in a possible rampage of internet troll-ism and terror. Facebook admins are advising patient followers to temporarily disable alerts for new messages until the full announcement has been revealed.
Over the past three weeks, a noticeable shortage of Irish bass players has emerged. Several bands have taken to Facebook, their websites and twitter feeds to literally beg for replacement players. Atominated, Stone Trigger and even our new favourites – Stereo Nasty are all in dire need for the 4-6 stringers, but bass players are keeping quiet and out of sight leading many to believe we are now experiencing a catastrophic bassist colony collapse in Ireland.
Taking to Tickets There, Rory – a self-confessed bass player from Clondalkin, admitted that the musicians have finally had enough of the reckless mocking they’ve had to endure ever since they put down those €100 beginner fender guitars and moved on to the “far more complicated” fender copy bass. Mocking remarks, such as “you’ll never get laid playing bass”, “bass players are just bad guitarists” and “I’m sleeping with your lead guitarist… and singer” have taken their toll according to Rory.
“We’ve simply had enough”, he adds. “Bass players provide the backbone to everything. Without us, where would the band be? ..and Justice For All – that’s where and look how shit that was”.
Mass hibernation, 24 hour long funky bedroom solo-performances and a sharp drop in bass sales is expected to widely impact live performances, album recordings and the record industry on a whole according to Rory, but singers, guitarists and even drummers are in disagreement.
“We hadn’t actually realized our bass player was missing”, admits Tommy from Stone Trigger. “We hit the studio and recorded all the solos, lyrics, drum beats and thought we were good to go. It was only when our producer mentioned bass that we copped on he’d left. We contacted the guy who used to play for us and it turned out he’d left six months beforehand. Fortunately the crowd never seemed to notice”.
Bass players from around the country are expected to make a final stand by marching down the Liffey to the O2 this Saturday. Over a dozen marchers and spectators are expected to attend with Gardi already scaling up a riot control / counter terrorism squad in case marchers get out of hand. “Mostly it’ll be a peaceful protest, but there could be an element that’ll get out of hand and maybe lurk and leer too much” adds Rory.
There are no traffic restrictions expected to be put in place for Saturday’s march.
For many years, members of the KISS army have cried out at the unjustified dismissing of KISS when the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame (self-titled) selects entrants for its ‘illustrious’ records. Yes, this group of nobodies who have contributed nothing to the world of rock ‘n’ roll (Actually,I should be a member) get to choose bands it deems worthy of taking a chunk of metal (or plastic or something) home and playing a song for their wage paying attendees.
Previous inductees have included Madonna, RUN-DMC, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, ABBA and many more prominent names in the world of rock. Unfortunately for KISS, they just didn’t have what it takes to beat out the aforementioned names to get inducted any sooner than 2014 – a full fifteen years after they first became eligible. Then again, why would they be any different than the less popular acts from rock history, such as Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple and Motorhead?
What’s most unfortunate for KISS is that while they’ve spent many years calling the HOF a joke, they actually agreed to the nomination when it came up and managed to destroy almost everything they stand for (stood for – Ed.) in the months leading up to their induction. The band that once spread a message of love and fun for four full decades have been reduced to bitter, nasty name callers and shameless behaviour. What should have been one united KISS telling the R’N’R HOF to go f*** themselves, as The Sex Pistols did in 2007 – respect; devolved into ridicule, pathetic controversy and petty sniping remarks – mostly from Paul Stanley, the beloved star child.
Paul, Gene – I love you guys. But f*** you and your bad mouthing of Ace and Peter. We all know they were there for the best of the best albums. Yes they are not the be-all and end-all of lead guitarists and drummers in your history and you have your differences, but they are the most prominent in your discography and nothing can change that. You can show them respect and resist resorting to childish, undignified name calling and bitching to the press. You are in your sixties, at least try to act mature.
To Tommy and Eric (and Vinnie, Mark and Bruce) you are all worth much more than this bullsh*t and not having your names on some stupid statue does not make the music you have written, recorded and performed any better, any worse or any less important to the people that love it. You are all part of KISS and it’s important not to let some bunch of over the hill nobodies try to dictate that. But tell Gene and Paul to cop on, they seem to have forgotten the whole point of the band.
The Hall of Fame does not get print on Tickets There anymore and I’m sorry I had to break the rule for this article. It will not happen again – not even when Def Leppard eventually come up for nomination….er, oh yeah – they’ve not been waiting for ten years now. Well thank God Randy fucking Newman is in there or we’d all be in shit. Oops, swears broke out.
Tickets There would like to wish all of our readers, commenters, followers and all the many amazing bands we love so much a very happy new year. 2013 was epically epic and 2014 is looking even stronger.
Before the first proper 2014 post (and yet another Tickets There reboot begins), I’d like to thank Psykosis, Warpath, Exzeltic, Overoth, Animator, Killface, Zombified, Dead Label, Gama Bomb, EHT Promotions, DME, Donnchadh from WMB Ireland, Dan and all the folks from Carnage, Slayer, Exodus, Death, Leonard Cohen, ASH, Black Sabbath, Def Leppard, KISS, Slash, Reckless Love, Crashdiet, Twisted Sister, Helloween, Napalm Death, Whitesnake, Danzig, Testament, Metallica, Jameson, Guinness, Jägermeister, Buckfast, Trooper Beer, Fibber MaGee’s, Gypsy Rose, McKenna’s Dun Laoghaire, everyone at HELLFEST, The Academy, all the cool folks in the Odyssey (except A-hole security and Stalin like measures of control) and my girlfriend (co-conspirator) Dee for an amazing year of gig going, good times and drunken shenanigans.
Well, old TT didn’t make their headlining slot at The Unleashed Fesatival this weekend (damn you Buckfast and wallet!), but we were able to catch Overoth’s Wacken Warm Up show in Fibbers back on July 26th and our desperate need for attention means we have to post something. Here’s a few very…..[honest]… unique pics from the night, plus a video and a snap taken of them live at Wacken (latter is not from TT). This was a great night out!
Joe Elliott, iconic frontman of Sheffield legends, Def Leppard, turns 54 today. For the past twenty one years, I have looked on Joe Elliott as the perfect example of how to be a rock star (except frequent exceptions for Monsieur Rose) should be.
Joe, you’ve been an inspiration to millions. You are a God on the arena stage and you front one of the greatest bands of all time. You’ve managed to avoid the pretentious rock star life of the 21st century and kept a band running for more than three decades without ever falling to the paparazzi invasion and vicious public spats. You’ve helped Leppard carry on through immense personal tragedy, loss and missed opportunities – but you’ve always come out swinging; bigger and badder than ever. You still drink and eat meat which alone (according to me and Alice Cooper) is top notch and you still make time to hang out with up and coming rock bands, helping them record their albums in your studio and just being a legend. You kicked a guys ass for pushing Ian Hunter (proper order!) and, on top of all that, you’ve earned your title as ‘the nicest guy in rock’ – Dave Grohl can never touch that. I’ve only had the pleasure of one very quick meeting with you but you were totally cool and one day I hope to buy you a pint.
Joe Elliott, I salute you and hope that younger generations will continue to see the magic you and the Leppard lads create. Have a wonderful birthday and please do not worry that I’m on route to your house… I’ve said too much :p
I had the privilege of attending three shows at The Academy over the past month (I say privilege because deadly bouncers, nice bar staff and great crowds always make it a pleasure to visit) and that always leads to one thing for Tickets There – wistful smoke breaks that generally devolve into drunken lectures as the night lingers on. Why? Well it’s all technically because of a garage across the street… yup.
Picture of Mick Jagger on stage at the Adelphi in 1965
Across from the Academy is the large beige façade of Arnotts car park. A looming, dull wall with a rectangle cut out on the ground level. Not noticeable, not notable and not something younger generations of gig goers would bother passing much heed of. But for those born after the 80’s (I’m not referring to myself there I’m afraid) or to those not from Dublin, there’s something a little more special about that car park than you might realize. Before Arnotts moved in, that garage used to be the Adelphi Cinema, the original iconic live music venue in Dublin.
A ticket stub from The Beatles 1963 Dublin show
Now I’m not going to head into some rant about the amazing acts that played there, the travesty that it was pulled down and so on; I’ll leave that to The Guardian. But many, many influential artists played very high profile shows at the height of their careers in the Adelphi. Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones are just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to this famous car park. The Beatles played their only show ever in The Republic at the Adelphi. Bob Dylan brought his infamous 1966 world tour to the theatre. It was the portal for the introduction of live rock ‘n’ roll to strict, Christian Ireland.
Back Cover of the Bob Dylan, ‘Live At The Adelphi’ Bootleg
Fortunately, for those of you who wouldn’t be arsed paying money to see it as a museum (because really, staring at an empty stage is fun and all), the outside of the building is still very recognizable when compared to its 1960’s self (pretty decent of Arnotts to keep it recognizable in fairness). So if you’re at the Academy, pop out and have a look. It’s not important, it’s not very relevant any more really – but it’s kind of cool. Standing outside a purpose built live venue, you can see the roots of live pop/rock music in Dublin and see how far things have come… well, The Academy is nothing like a car park, but you get the picture. For those of you that didn’t I’ve included some.
The Adelphi (1939 – 1995)
Notable Shows at The Adelphi Theatre
Then and Now: Gardaí hold the crowd back at the top of Middle Abbey St. (The Beatles, 1963)
NOV 7th 1963 – The Beatles (All manner of destruction and chaos followed the Beatles when they arrived on Abbey St. to play their one and only show on Republic soil. Cars were overturned and set alight, arrests were made, chaos reigned supreme! – and I thought this was a harmless Catholic country. That’s the Devil’s music for you. Wouldn’t catch Beatles’ fans carrying on like that these days. Check out the video below of the Beatles in Ireland for their only ever Republic show.).
JAN 7th 1965 – The Rolling Stones (2 Shows)
SEP 3rd 1965 – The Rolling Stones (2 Shows – The Stone’s last performances in Ireland before their 1982 headline slot at SLANE. The shows were featured in Charlie Is My Darling, a film focused on the Stones second two day tour of Ireland in 1965).
Bob Dylan onstage @ The Adelphi, 1966
MAY 5th 1966 – Bob Dylan (Bootlegs can be obtained. Apparently the crowd became rowdy during the electric part of the set – however it’s been noted that recordings that ‘prove’ this actually came from Dylan’s show in Belfast the following night.)
May 17th 1966 – Johnny Cash
May 2nd 1967 – The Beach Boys (2 Shows – The Beach Boys first show at the Dublin Adelphi was a disaster, Carl Wilson was still half way across the Atlantic.So there was only 25% of The Beach Boys for their first performance in the Ireland. This was only made worse when Bruce Johnston attempted to fill out their programme by attempting to sing ‘God Only Knows’, ( Carl Wilson’s song ) and didn’t know the words .. ! The evening performance was slightly better. Carl Wilson had been rushed through Irish customs, got to the Adelphi, picked up a guitar and shot onto the stage for half of their performance. Now they were something more like 50% of The Beach Boys … ! – READ SOURCE HERE)
May 28th 1969 – Fleetwood Mac
Other artists who played the Adelphi over the years include Igor Stravinsky, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Marlene Dietrich, Louis Armstrong, Diana Ross, Helen Shapiro, Roy Orbison, Ella Fitzgerald, Cliff Richard, Dusty Springfield, The Dubliners, Tom Jones, The Ronettes and more.
It’s the weekend! There’s a frickin’ heat wave! Top it all off? – RECKLESS LOVE have a new album coming out. Let’s sit back this evening and enjoy some of their pop rock – made for summer anthems and bask in the anticipation of hearing new material from them later this year. The Tickets There Twins are on board!
It’s one of those nights again. The great purveyors of all things metal (and oddly enough – Big Country) in Dublin have an announcement coming and the ritual of ‘can you guess what it is yet?’ has started. I always love these waits because you’re pretty much 100% guaranteed you won’t be disappointed. Although you almost always won’t get what you guess, at least you know it won’t be One Direction.
MCD, Aiken, POD and others all do similar things, albeit a little less often, and it’s never the same. When they say ‘Big rock announcement coming tomorrow!’; you can almost lay money out that it’s The Kings of Leon or The Red Hot Chilli Peppers (with Bon Jovi quickly moving up that list’. When a massive festival is being announced it’s going to contain the exact same ‘adult contemporary’ snooze fest or musically devoid dance / pop (Electric Picnic & Oxegen 2013). I’m not slagging off those companies (MCD – 2 of the best Slayer gigs I’ve ever seen and almost every arena gig I’ve ever been to, Aiken – you give me The Boss almost annually and POD – Just for Crawdaddy alone where Jape, Reckless Love, Wired Desire and many more have been some of the best shows I’ve ever been to); but large companies like them have to supply to the masses and despite the leather jackets and studs back on Grafton street – metal is not ‘so hot right now’.
So thank you D.M.E. I don’t care if tomorrow’s announcement is not Motorhead, Cannibal Corpse or Amon Amarth. Just so long as it’s notKings of Leon or The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Tickets There would like to send out our overdue congrats to Vivian Campbell for being a total legend. Good on you Viv, don’t give it an inch over your life. I will be making my way to Hellfest provided an issue of my own is sorted in time and I look forward to seeing you guys play my thirteenth Def Leppard show.
Clash of the titans? Not sure I’d go that far, but Meat Loaf’s Dublin and Belfast shows are only a few weeks ago and I have questions for ye.
I’m currently listening to my Essential Meat Loaf Spotify playlist and ‘It Just Won’t Quit’, ‘Objects In The Rear View Mirror’, ‘Rock N’ Roll Dreams Come True’ and ‘Everything Louder’ all just played in a row and I can’t help but second guess the common agreement that Bat Out of Hell I is the classic. I believe II has just as much to offer – what do you think?
…and the first person to try and insult Meat Loaf gets a slap!
It seems there’s a bit of excitement building over Meat Loaf’s semi-official confirmation that he’s coming to Belfast and Dublin later this year, as part of his ‘Last At Bat’ farewell tour. While we all wait for either MCD or Aiken to confirm the shows, let’s see what accessories gig goers will need in order to pay homage to the Loaf one last time.
1: A Jim Steinman – Very popular in the late seventies, remained strong in the early eighties and made a shockingly good come back in the early nineties. Every true Meat Loaf fan will want one for the shows in May or you’ll feel left out. Just try and remain friends at the end of the night.
2: A leather jacket – Classic in every sense. Not only does it make a wonderful rugged accessory for any gig goer, large or small. It’ll also keep the fires of hell at bay as you soar through them towards heaven on your Harley chopper (with yer moth giving ye grief from the back.)
3: A Cher – If you want to have a good duet to ‘Dead Ringer For Love’, make sure you bring your own Cher. Every time someone assumes there’ll be some spare Cher’s knocking about a M.L. gig, they end up being seriously disappointed. Remember though, a Cher is for life, not just for Meat Loaf.
4: (box of) Red handkerchief(s) – Doubtful you’ll manage to hold onto just one for the night. Do an Elvis and make your Cher or Jim Steinman carry spares for you so you can pass them out to fellow Loaf enthusiasts while walking around the venue. May get you a free drink…. or a box to the head. Either way – story sorted.
5: Indian / Harley Davidson Chopper – The ultimate in Meat Loaf styling and accessorising. There might be some bother getting it past security but the sounds of 14,000 engines revving up during ‘Bat Out of Hell’ will make it all worthwhile.
6: Frilly Tuxedo shirt – Although the Loaf keeps his own fashion up to date, there’s no reason his fans should change. A frilly tux shirt is just the job for this gig and nothing else would look right under the leathers, sat on chopper with Cher and Jim Steinman at your side.
Finally, 7: Willpower. You need to be in a position where you can honestly say ‘I will not do that’ no matter what – especially if it’s something you’d normally do anything for. With all this you’ll be ripe and primed for the Meat Loaf experience to end all experiences. Oh, and the reason there’s only seven is because B.O.Of H. only has seven tracks – ya see, smart. ….no fun in that now that it’s written.
The legendary singer hits European shores in two months. TT would advise paying your respects one last time,
The final post for today and number 800 for ticketsthere.com. We’re going to kick back with sweets, movies and our Axl Rose inspired Halloween Tree :). For the last time today, happy Halloween everyone!
If you’re looking for a damn good Halloween movie this year – look no further! The Cabin In The Woods is the best choice you could possibly make tonight and is quickly moving up on the greatest horror movies of all time list. Seriously, make sure you watch this as soon as you can! (and follow it with the last week’s South Park!
We’re severely disappointed we won’t have our annual Halloween pumpkin this year. I was hoping to bring you Iron Maiden’s Eddie, but alas – there’s some crop shortage so no go this year. Fear not though, TT has been hard at work carving out some ghoulish instruments to mark the occasion. Goodbye pumpkins, hello Balsa wood and reduced capacity at the Lego city gaol.
The Gallows (1): What torture collection would be complete with out an old creepy 18th century gallows? This Lego man will meet a fitting end for his crimes. This was the first model I ever made from balsa wood and it’s a lot of fun – try it out.
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The Guillotine: After a gallows, what else can be used to…. bring things to a gruesome end? Put Halloween and Alice Cooper in the same sentence and you have your answer – a nasty guillotine. This was the most fun to build and the one I nearly cut myself on the most. There’s a little bit left to do, but for now I’m happy. This nonsense about first to do, cut myself..etc, is all for formatting.
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The Gallows (2): When one just isn’t enough, you need a larger gallows. Still under construction, but it’ll be completed tonight. Lego men – prepare to meet a grim finish. All that’s missing in the current version is the stairs and three blocks to stand on. The platform also supports the guillotine.
Christmas is upon us and Tickets There is imploring everyone to spread a little seasonal metal joy this year.
'Ticket's There' - Irish and International Music Blog 