Little later than we’ve liked. If Ash have the decency to be on time, you think we’d manage it. Fortunately it’s given us a few extra days to absorb the latest release in the A-Z series and this is always a good think when your love for the music increases.
Physical World is a real easy going, poppy punkish kind of track, like Ash’s earlier material. There’s the obligatory catchy chorus, the heavy guitar driven killer riff / solo and less lyrics than Baldrick’s ‘Magnum octopus’. In short, the track sends a message about returning to basics of society rather than living in the on-line world (say, spending your spare time blogging rather than living – Ed). It’s got everything you need, it’s full of beams and it’s damn right tasty. Definitely a high point of A-Z Part II.
That’s right folks, Tickets There’s moment to shine has finally arrived. The grand, wonderful and glorious band that is Guns N Roses have formally announced dates for both Belfast & Dublin this August / September.
The legendary hard rock group will hit Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on August 31st before bringing the awesome Chinese Democracy World Tour to Dublin’s O2 Arena on September 1st. Tickets go on Sale next Friday, June 11th @ 09:00.
Tickets from €65.70 and £49 will go on sale Friday 11 June at 9.00am.
Check out todays Evening Hearld and Irish Indo for GN’R Adds like the one below,
Also, here’s the set-list from Russia (June 8th). I saw a few people searching for songs the band are likely to play and this is pretty reflective of the tour set-list so far. (Chinese Democracy songs are in Italics)
01. Chinese Democracy
02. Welcome to the Jungle
03. It’s So Easy
04. Mr. Brownstone
05. Sorry
06. Richard Fortus Guitar Solo: James Bond Theme
07. Live and Let Die
08. This I Love
09. Rocket Queen
10. Dizzy Reed Piano Solo
11. Street of Dreams
12. You Could Be Mine
13. DJ Ashba Guitar Solo
14. Sweet Child O’ Mine
15. Another Brick in the Wall Part II
16. Axl Rose Piano Solo
17. November Rain
18. Bumblefoot Guitar Solo: Pink Panther Theme
19. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
20. Nightrain
Every now and again, we find a band unknown to us that are so good we’re ashamed to call ourselves music writers. How in the hell can a team of journalists, doing our best 24 hours a day, every day of the week to scout and promote Irish talent not find acts like the The Riptide Movement in its first week? Never mind though, we’ve got them now.
Formed in 2006 in Dublin, this ‘four piece blues’ outfit are a breath of fresh air for any fans of classic rock. Nothing about their sound reeks of ‘forced efforts’ and they magically combine styles from The Doors, The Stones, Creedence Clear Water Revival plus others without intruding on anyone’s trademarks. In short, they’ve taken a classic sound and made it their own.
As usual we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.
Just on Alive Inside at the moment and like it’s predecessors in the player, it rocks like a motherfucker. Imagine Jim Morrison sobered up and singing for a funky Creedence and you’ve got this one. Guitars, drums, changes, pace, vocals – everything is just spot on dirty blues rock. Like Jaded Sun but with more of an edge and easily on par with Swanee River, except we haven’t heard a Take Me Away…yet.
Going back to the bands most recent single, Hard To Explain, we see a totally different sound altogether. On other tracks you get the sweaty, wind in hair, booze on shirt blues, but Hard To Explain relies on a more radio friendly styled indie based guitar with bumpkin styled melodies. Quite catchy and not so much a departure from their harder sound that you’d hold it against them. Repeated listens bring new love.
Cry Cry Baby really sees the classic rock kick in. Coming from the bands 2008 debut, What About The Tip Jars(An album we’ll be picking up immediately after this reviews done and dusted), Driven by that classic Hammond Organ sound, the song is nothing but a clean cut slice of Americana rock n roll.
Bringing Down The House adds a funky swagger into the sound again and delivers yet another classic rock anthem. Not going into the nitties for this band, it’s all just so good. Real kick back, have a beer and chillax music. The title track from their debut, What About The Tip Jars is the same. Another kick ass slice of well delivered, well constructed rock n roll.
This is one of those reviews when we’re not interested in writing about the music (or writing ‘rock n roll 1,000 time). It’s designed for listening and that’s just what we’re going to do. Highly recommend! If you’re going to do one thing today, we advise going to their MySpace right now and giving them a few spins for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
Still continuing with our revival, it’s time to pull out the classic TT MySpace Review series and dust off the clichés. We have a band, they ain’t half bad and we’re gonna write about them.
Normally we don’t go near acts with just demos posted to their MySpace but we decided that due to their talent, the quality of the demos and a complete lack of other options, we’d press ahead and give up and coming Dubliners, The Fallen Drakes the MySpace Review treatment.
As usual, we’ve never seen them live and they don’t have anything out.
Sex Sell’s is the song that really sold us. It’s kind of like mischievous funk. Buckling bass lines, slicked back drumming and nifty, catchy guitar riff. Not a bad way for any band to start.
By Law comes up next and any fans of Wilt are going to love this one. Very solid, basic guitars, Brian’s pounced Irish vocals and big, sounding chorus. Lyrics are about staking some girl and getting revenge on her for a restraining order. Hmm, autobiographical? We hope so, will make better reading than the un-fantastic exploits of Pete Doherty.
The Story With Girls is last and it follows a pretty similar formula to the previous two. Chorus is probably the best of the lot and it’s enjoyable. We’ll leave it there as these are just demo’s so let’s save it till the final versions come out. Overall – promising for a new band, let’s hope they keep it up!
Check out The Fallen Drakes MySpace by Clicking Here.
If you’re going to start a band in Ireland there are several bench marks of comparison. Do you aim for the hard rock hero status of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy? Or go a traditional direction and aspire to bands like The Dubliners and Planxty. Maybe, since this a recession and we’re all broke and the dreams of five star hotels, a house on the Vico Road and a stage set bigger than your national stadium appeal leaving the U2 option open. There are many choices depending on the style you want but one fundamental stone needs to be put in place first, the fine art of writing a good song.
Ireland is crammed with bands, so many that unless you’re working full time in the industry you’d be hard pushed to know them all and even then it would be a struggle. Unfortunately, a lot of our national bands expire before they ever truly get going and this is down to one simple reason, style over substance. Too many bands focus on the cult status elements of their heroes and forget that behind every Joy Division there’s a Love Will Tear Us Apart Again. Bands need to re-learn the simple art of writing songs that appeal to the masses or they have almost no chance of surviving long. To learn this art, there’s no better instructors than the legendary brothers, Steve and Joe Wall.
In their time, The Stunning were the biggest act in the country and to this day they’re remembered more fondly than almost any other rock band we’ve ever produced. In cities, tows and villages all across the country you’re always guaranteed to find Brewing Up A Storm playing somewhere every night. Unfortunately The Stunning eventually split under the pressure of international acclaim eluding them but their music has lived on a lot longer than anyone could have anticipated and each time they reform for a few shows, they pack the venues out.
Since the demise of The Stunning, Steve and Joe have been working on another musical project together, The Wall’s and hit another high point with 2002’s To The Bright And Shinning Sun. Working more as an experimentation model than The Stunning used to, The Wall’s have released two massively acclaimed albums in their 12 years together and this year looks set to see their third finally hit Irish and international shelves.
In the build up to the release, the band have put up some previews of the new material and we can happily inform you that Carrying the Fire continues the lads long tradition of writing poppy, simplistic and catchy as hell tunes. The whole track flows so nicely and it’s instantly catchy. Nothing to flaw here and an easy contender for this summer’s feel good hit.
The B-Side, Phantom Power is equally enticing. Described by the band as the song The Walls, MGMT and Flaming Lips would come up with if they were stuck in a room together. Another feel good, upbeat hit put across in The Wall’s defining stripped back coolness. It’s gentle, it’s non-invasive and it’ll stick in your head like superglue.
We’re not going overboard on the descriptions because there’s a full album to come but judging by these two tracks, the lads have something very special up their sleeves and Tickets There for three cannot wait to hear it. Young bands of the country, time to sit up and take notice. This is how it’s done.
Carrying the Fire will be available to download from thewalls.ie from 1st June.
Both tracks will be available to download from i-Tunes and most other digital store in late June. Click Here to hear both tracks on the bands official Facebook Page.
Makeup on, leather jacket and studded gloves check, hair up, pints down, KISS has arrived in London and so has Tickets There. Wembley Arena may not be the most impressive building on the planet but when several thousand KISS fans descend, it (like all venues that host the legendary American thunder Gods) turns into the Taj Mahal.
Less than a week after their spectacular show in Dublin’s O2 Arena, KISS are in London to play the first of two nights in North London’s premier hard rock venue and there was no way in hell Tickets There was missing it. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the support band Taking Dawn, who we managed to miss for the second time in a row. No worries though, the band everyone’s here to see are in the building and everything’s set to make this one hell of a memorable night.
Having seen KISS twice before and going though the ritual marathon Alive I-IV session in the days building up the shows, we thought we were prepared to finally get a grasp on the band and see them as four individuals in makeup playing a rock show like any other. Wrong as usual but happy to admit it. The minute you hear the ‘You Wanted the Best’ Intro, everything goes out the window. KISS’s arrival on stage feels like the second coming as Gene, Paul and Tommy appear on a lifter high above the Eric’s drum kit belting out Modern Day Delilah like they would any of their classics. Knowing some of the crowd may be uneasy with a newer number, Paul instantly calms all woes with a blistering assault on Cold Gin and no-one is left in any doubt about the power this band still commands after almost four decades in the business.
From there, the night becomes a blur of musicianship, showmanship and all out glitz, glory with the best stage show on the planet. Classics such as Deuce, Firehouse, Crazy Nights, 100,000 Years, Calling Doctor Love, Shock Me and Let Me Go Rock N Roll build the main set. On its own, a fine collection of KISS’s back catalog but topped with the additional live fire breathing, rocket firing guitars, stage risers and a bazooka, they instantly become everyone’s wet dreams.
If they left it there, fans would walk home happy. KISS doesn’t want you to be happy, they want to send you home to blinded by their power and, they do just that. All the stops are pulled out for the closing songs. Gene’s classic blood spitting, stage flying bass solo leads into a booming version of I Love It Loud from the top of the lightening rig, Paul and Tommy’s guitars set the stage ablaze with the definitive Love Gun, that see’s the entire arena mass together in their love for these iconic characters, The incredible Black Diamond and Destroyer classic, Detroit Rock City and its massive cluster of explosions and fire close the main set, setting KISS up as 2010’s conquering heroes. But they ain’t finished yet!
As if it all wasn’t enough, KISS turn up the heat and everything else with a five song encore that includes sing along favorites, Lick It Up, Shout It Out Loud, I Was made for Loving You (sang by Paul from his revolving stage in the middle of the crowd), God Gave You Rock N Roll II and the monumental, career defining Rock And Roll All Night. House lights on, a never ending mass of confetti filling the arena’s enormous space and America’s greatest rock n roll band performing one of the greatest rock songs of all time to a packed house of adoring fans! Is there any way to beat that for a closing moment? Not a chance!
Time for catch up season on Tickets There. We’ve been meaning to get back to several of the MySpace Review subjects for some time with A Futurist Theatre at the top of the list. Thankfully we haven’t been disappointed by lack of progress as the lads have been working hard on a few new studio cuts to keep fans happy until they get an album in the works.
Kicking things of is the spacious rocky thumper, Devil Have Mercy, which builds and builds into a stomping classic rock / indie styled thumper. Vocals go from passive to hard assed and rather than take the quiet verse, loud chorus model, the band have opted for a solid structure of constant building with one big blow out release. Nice!
The Mountains Move is next and opens with a nice down toned hammer piano before the rest of the band kicks in with a very sublimed sound compared with Devil Have Mercy. It’s a long one, filled with changes, melodies and grandness.
Finishing things off is the haunting Karenina, that sounds like Muse moving into the realm of despair. The song jumps between chilling, echoing guitar picking, ghostly harmonies and revved up drumming to ferocious (a word we love) guitar bursts, that become driven by a sizzling yet simplistic lead that spears the whole thing to a close when the vocals come tearing back in as the song erupts chaotically.
Sign of things to come? We frickin’ hope so. Check out their Soundcloud byClicking Here.
Bit late with this one. Originally we were going to stick these lads in for a MySpace Review but after a few spins of their record thanks to Harmless Noise), we felt that wouldn’t do them justice and a full Album review is in order.
Made up of various members from Crayonsmith, Cap Pas Cap and Guilty Optics, Jogging were formed less than two years ago but shows with Bats and other high profile underground bands have brought them alot of attention, especially from up and coming indie label, The Richter Collective. The RC been responsible for releasing some of the most original albums Irelands produced in the last few years,including outputs from The Redneck Manifesto, Adebisi Shank, I’ll Eat Your Face and The Vinny Club. With the a real working band label in toe, Jogging have now been able to release their debut album, Minutes and before getting into the details, we can happily say there’s much worse things you could spend €5 on.
Any fans of The Future Kings of Spain, Bats and And So I Watch You From Afar will love this band. They combine hardcore singling styles, monumentally heavy bass and guitar arrangements and slick, indie rock structures to deliver truly enjoyable and refreshing sound. Opening with the belting Threadbare the album delivers an array of different styled tracks including the At The Drive-In styled Not Simple and album selling ShakeupShakedown, the heavy, brooding Fostered Foes and the ferocious Cleft Chin, Good Heart.
There’s little to disappoint and plenty to keep you coming back. It’s been spinning on our speakers daily for the last two weeks and it’s still growing. To show they care they’ve posted the full album on their official site for streaming so why not pop over, have a few spins and enjoy yourselves.
Click Here to hear the full album in full and download.
Guns have just finished in Norway. No account of how the show went but reliable TT’s found the set-list. Seems shorter than previous shows on the tour.
1. Chinese Democracy
2. Welcome To The Jungle
3. It’s So Easy
4. Mr. Brownstone
5. Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney cover) 6. Sorry
7. This I Love
8. Rocket Queen 9. Street Of Dreams
10. You Could Be Mine
11. Sweet Child O’ Mine
12. November Rain
13. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
14. Nightrain
Encore: 15. Madagascar
16. Better
17. Paradise City
** Original Article **
Once again, a Guns N’ Roses tour is about to begin and few outside their die-hard fan-base are aware. Currently The Most dangerous band in the world are set to play a shocking 9 gigs over the next three months. How they plan to meet this grueling, intensive schedule boggles both the mind and physics. The logistics of trying to get from Denmark to the UK in 1.5 months is beyond human possibility. Learn our limitations Axl, damn it! We’re only people for fecks sake.
Sarcasm aside, Tickets There stands by Axl and the guys and we’re confident there’s more dates on the cards for us Europeans. Norway, Russia, Sweden and Finland are odd choices but maybe Axl’s sick of the rest of Europe’s bitching….and he’d be right to! Anywho, if more dates come out, we’ll announce em but for now, this is the full list of Euro 2010 shows.
May 31 – Bergen, Norway
June 2 – Oslo, Norway
June 5 – Helsinki, Finland
June 6 – St. Petersburg, Russia
June 8 – Moscow, Russia
June 12 – Norje, Sweden
June 14 – Aalborg, Denmark
August 27 – Reading, UK
August 29 – Leeds, UK
Tickets There would like to wish the Guns the best of luck for tonights show, hope everything goes well!!
The Memorial went off without a hitch and the Westboro Bastard Church didn’t manage to spoil anything, coming across ridiculous as usual. Ronnie’s memory was preserved and the metal community has once again proven it’s tolerance and peaceful nature in the face of twisted provokers.
Click Here to read the full account of the memorial on Blabbermouth
—————————————————————————————————– Ronnie James Dio’s Memorial Service is taking place today I Los Angeles. Out of respect for, Tickets There is displaying a special remembrance banner for the rest of the day.
Rest In Peace Dio.
There will be a public memorial service for Ronnie James Dio on Sunday, May 30 at 2:00 p.m. at The Hall Of Liberty located at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068. This will be a celebration of the life and music of Ronnie James Dio and is open to all of his friends and fans from around the world.
Getting closer to the end of the series and the success machine that is Ash’sA-Z rolls on. Their latest track, Binary is a little slice of dance/pop heaven. Lighter than TT’s preferred Ash sound, the song still retains the perfect pop sensibilities, catchy changes and flat our perfectionism we love about the group.
Any fans of Return of White Rabbit and Space Shot are sure to love this wee one. We miss the guitars but change is always good and let’s face it, Ash always handle change well.
Check out the track @ Ash-Official.com. See ye all in two weeks!
According to NME.com, one of Americas forefront groups of hate are planning on picketing and consequently disrupting the Public Memorial for the legendary Ronnie James Dio on Sunday, May 30 in Los Angeles.
The good, bible abiding folks from Westboro Baptist Church have taken it upon themselves to claim Dio is currently in Hell and they need to preach the good name of Jesus to mourners attending the memorial. Did we say good folk? Maybe everyone should check out their websites, Godhatesfags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com and oddly enough, GodHatesIRELAND.com and see what good folks they actually are.
These sadistic, warped, bigoted, mindless American cults are well known and lampooned far and wide by the rest of the world but the members of Westboro Baptist Church seem to be in a league of their own. They’ve taken medieval views of the world and gone to town with what can only be described as campaigns of pure, misguided hatred. Maybe the phrases Love Thy Neighbor and Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged never registered with them, who knows? Or maybe this is what happens when you do drink the Kool Aid.
Anyone attending the memorial should make their greatest, non-violent and example setting efforts to ‘persuade’ these protesters it’s in their best interest to get as far away from LA as possible and never ever attempt and denounce or attack the great Ronnie James Dio at his own Memorial service. Show these ‘religious’ hate groups how civilized the metal community can be, even when it’s being attacked by sick, vile hate mongers with no other purpose than to introduce more pain and anger into the world.
In case anyone has reservations about this groups intention, be sure to check out some of their previous protests against US soldiers killed in action and victims of violent attacks.
Tickets There sympathies remain with Ronnie’s wife, Wendy Dio and we hope these fanatics don’t have any impact on next weeks memorial. Read Wendy’s comments about the protest by Clicking Here (Blabbermouth).
Join The Facebook Campaign to Stop these Hate Mongers from protesting at Dio’s Memmorial and hopefully get them banned from protesting at a funeral or sad occasion ever again!CLICK HERE.
Less than a week since the great man passed, Tickets There finally has time to settle down and listen to some of the man’s best work with his solo project, DIO.
Dio may have gone on to cause chaos in the afterlife but his music’s still with us.
Seems there’s a new festival down ion Tickets There’s neck of the woods. With the Sligo Live festival turning a tad stale, we must look to new blood to liven things up…no pun intended. Temple House seem to be the guys to do it and today’s Line Up Announcement is sure to send a few thrills through the music scene.
The Undertones, The Stunning & The Walls (Apparently….awesome), Peter Hook, New Young Pony Club, 202s, Exit Calm, Ronan O Snodaigh, Donal Dineen, Davide Swarup and John Conneely, Arveene &Misk (Live), Barry Redsetta, Clampdown DJs, Motion control, The Whiteliars and Maser….whoever most of them are.
Now, many names on the line-up are totally unknown to us and normally a Sligo festival for €59 would be pushing it…but three days, camping included and the incredible Steve Wall performing with both The Stunning and The Walls! Well, that’s hard to refuse. On top of that you get the legendary Undertones and a DJ set from Peter Hook!! Our advice, use this festival to finally visit Sligo, something most people always put off doing.
Tickets are priced €59 for adults and there’s going to be heaps of markets and arts stuff going on so should be great craic and yes, even Tickets There will leave the confines of cozy Laoghaire to visit our homeland….especially if Steve ‘The Legend’ Wall is going.
Visit their Official Website for full detials about the line-up, extra events, tickets, camping..etc, etc.
You may have been wondering why, after all the fuss, the posts, the reminders and constant exclamations of excitment about KISS’s first Irish show we never followed through with the actual review. Well it;s simple, we went to see KISS in London.
Now that all the fire works and fuss is over, we’ve finally gotten round to putting pen to paper but instead of wasting the review here, we’ve given it to the good folks at Golden Plec. Check it Out!
Lights, Pyro’s, moving stage sets, explosions, blood spitting, fire breathing, flying rock stars, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and thirty seven years of classics from Americas greatest rock n roll band. KISS have finally arrived in Dublin to play their very first Irish show and give the emerald Isle branch of the KISS army a night they’ll never forget.
Describing the excitement and anticipation before a KISS show is almost as difficult as describing the magic of the performance itself. Most Irish KISS fans have only ever seen the band in pictures and on film, but those mediums only catch a glimpse of the power, the energy and show stopping, jaw dropping charisma and mesmerizing presence the band hold on stage. In reality, KISS holds a power over their fans almost unlike any other. Fictionally, they present themselves as larger than life superheroes, capable of catapulting you into another dimension of pleasure and rock n roll and in reality, they do just that.
This is a song we very much regret not reviewing a couple of weeks ago when it first appeared. Alas, here it is now and if you haven’t already heard it on the other 150,000 Irish blogs praising it, then listen now. Ladies and gentlemen, Ham Sandwich’s latest release, The Naturist. Fantastic 🙂
Wow, we’re very, very behind with the Ash reviews. KISS really messed things up for a few weeks and the very sad passing of Ronnie James Dio didn’t exactly help motivate the Tickets There minds. Now we’re determined to get back in full swing and what better way to make our return, but by writing our 42,000 Ash review.
Rather than going the complex or over the top route, Ash have settled on the fairly straight forward pop approach. Insects flows well, the chorus is catchy and the word Insects constantly being repeated will conjure up some images.
Not a song you could write a million words about and not the best thing the band’s ever come out with but a decent effort all the same. Towards the end things really drive home and the guitars are stand out. Some serious finger tabbing or something going on there.
Not bad lads, keep it up.
Check out Ash-Official.com to hear it. Hurry, new track coming on the 24th
Tickets There good old pals in Lluther have released a video for a new track entitled, Enough. Well worth checking out especially for those of you who attended their Button Factory show a couple of months ago….and also for anyone who didn’t 😉 Enjoy!
Very sad that this is our first post of the week. Legendary Rainbow / Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell) singer, Ronnie James Dio, has passed away. After rumors about the singers death were proven to be false just this morning, it’s now been confirmed the Holy Diver singer has passed on.
Little later than we’ve liked. If Ash have the decency to be on time, you think we’d manage it. Fortunately it’s given us a few extra days to absorb the latest release in the A-Z series and this is always a good think when your love for the music increases.
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