Soulful psychedelic rockers Sweet Jane have a bunch of Irish shows coming up. Kicking off this week, the group will play six dates around the country, including shows in Sligo, Dublin, Belfast, Mullingar and Cork. Full list of dates can be found below – Go on the Jane!
Oct. 27th – The Garavogue, Sligo.
Oct. 28th – Twisted Pepper, Dublin.
Nov. 1st – John Dalys. Mullingar.
Nov. 4th – Crane Lane, Cork.
Nov 24th – Twisted Pepper, Dublin.
Dec. 13th – Auntie Annues, Belfast.
DUBLIN SHOW: X- Mötley Crüe/Union/Scream singer, John Corabi is coming to the Pint on November 15th to promote his forthcoming album, John Corabi Unplugged. He’ll be performing his new material along with hits from other bands he’s worked with over the years. Whether or not the show itself is acoustic – we’re not sure. Dublin locals, ‘Stone Trigger’ are playing and their set is acoustic – but the others seem to be electric. Tell you what, we’ll mail Johan and ask. UPDATED: The entire show (all three in fact) are Acoustic.
Also performing on the night will be Colorblind and the previously mentioned Stone Trigger.Tickets on sale now from ticketsmaster.ie and all usual outlets priced just €13.50.
Galway & Belfast Shows: John is also heading to Galway and Belfast on Nov. 16th and 17th respectively. The Belfast tickets are £14.50 on sale now from ticketmaster.ie. Supporting on the night will be Colorblind and Matty James. This show will be acoustic. Galway tickets are €13.50 with Colorblind and one other act supporting. Venues listed below.
Nov. 15th – The Pint (DUBLIN, IRE)
Nov. 16th – Monroe’s (Galway, IRE)
Nov. 17th – Auntie Annie’s (BELFAST, N.I.)
Two songs in and things are still on the up and up. With the surprising awesomeness of their debut single, ‘One That You Hated’, it seems ADLER are not destined to be a one hit wonder. Their new song, ‘Good To Be Bad’ is heavier, crunchier and still retains that pounding sing along swagger that caught our attention last time. This time they’ve brought in the distinctive John 5 (Marilyn Manson / Rob Zombie) to add a little electro-horror flavour into the guitars.
Although Steven Adler is one of the infamous founding members of Guns N’ Roses, listeners may not be confronted with the sound they’re expecting. Rather than re-hash the classic LA hair metal style that 25 years ago made Guns the most famous band in the world, ADLER have chosen a more contemporary sound and just carry over the style of song (yup, that means solos, catchy chorus and a sprinkle of sleaze – no NU-METAL).
Their album, Back From The Dead, hits shelves next month. Pre-Orders are available now through the bands official website – Adlerrocks@Blogspot. You can download ‘Good To Be Bad’ NOW from iTunes.
Tickets There is extremely sorry for not mentioning Saturday’s Cheap Freaks show on the blog. We had a mail and simply misread the date and assumed it was weeks away. I am a big fan of Cheap Freaks and Sweet Jane so apologies to both of you and also to the other bands playing on the day – The #1s, September Girls, Nibiru, Death In The Sickroom and The Dead Beat.
Hope the show went well!
Decided to make this yesterday for the craic. It’s Lady Justice (Doris) from Metallica’s Damaged Justice 88/89 tour. …and Justice For All remains Tickets There’s all time favourite Metallica album.
A big congratulations to KISS for landing at Number 3 on the Billboard 100 with their new album, Monster. This is a great achievement as the band have sold 60,000 copies of the record in the US. Here in Ireland, Tickets There has bought two copies (insert smiley face). There’s also some other results in with the band ranking high in Scandinavia and across Europe. Full details below.
| Country | Position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 7 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 68 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 36 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 17 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 8 |
| German Albums Chart | 6 |
| Irish Album Charts | 81 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 2 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 11 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 8 |
| UK Albums Chart | 21 |
| US Album Chart | 3 |
The semi-final rounds of the Molten Battle of the Bands take place this week in Dublin and Belfast. The winners of each stage will go forward for the grand final in London to compete for the grand prize which includes,
So let’s see who we have lined up for the prize,
DUBLIN SEMI FINAL (1) – The Pint, Thursday Oct. 18th
Psykosis
Awaken Dominion
Zhora
No Mans Land
BELFAST SEMI FINAL (2) – Voodoo, Thursday Oct. 18th
The Obscene Machine
Gargantuan
Red Six
Zombified
Admission is priced at £5 for Belfast and €5 for Dublin. Who does Tickets There want to win? Hmmm…. let’s think about that 🙂
Tuesdays suck, listen to Testament, Exodus, and Judas Priestinstead!
*yes, I will always include Painkiller because it’s so damn awesome!
The Gypsy Rose needs a bit of good cheer after a very tough week last week for both staff and customers. The sad passing of LJ Aherne won’t soon be forgotten, but if Mr Long John was around he’d be the first person to get everyone in good spirits. The task will now fall to the special Temple Street Hospital fundraiser being run by a few of the regulars on the bank holiday Sunday.
KISS have announced five Scandinavian dates for June, 2013 bringing hope that they’ll soon announce a full European tour in support of their new album, Monster. The dates are taking place in Sweden, Finaland, Norway and Denmark and go on sale Oct. 22nd except for the Swedish dates that are on sale now!
JUNE 1 – FRIENDS ARENA STADIUM – STOCKHOLM – ON SALE NOW
JUNE 3 – HARTWELL ARENA – HELSINKI, FINLAND – ON SALE OCT 22 nd
JUNE 6 – SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL – SOLVESBORG – ON SALE NOW
JUNE 8 – VIKING FEST – VIKING STADION – STAVANGER, NORWAY ON SALE OCT 22
JUNE 11 – FORUM – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – ON SALE OCT 22
Well this isn’t exactly unexpected, but The Rolling Stones have announced four 2012 dates in the US and UK to celebrate fifty years in the business. Rumour has it these will be followed by a large tour next year including a possible headlining spot at the world-famous Glastonbury festival, an honour the Stones have yet to enjoy.
For now, fans will have to make do as nearly 80,000 of ye will get to see the legends in action this year. This is the first Stones tour since the end of the Bigger Bang tour in 2007. The official announcement was made by video via MUZU.tv.
ENGLAND
November 25th – London, England, O2 Arena (Cap. 20,000)
November 29th – London, England, O2 Arena (Cap. 20,000)
AMERICA
December 13th – Newark New Jersey, Prudential Centre (Cap. 19,500)
December 15th – Newark New Jersey, Prudential Centre (Cap. 19,500)
Tickets There would like to send our congratulations to the Sligo Rovers Airtricity League Champion squad of 2012. The first league win for Sligo in 35 years and one they very much deserved. They came third in 2010, second in 2011 and now they’ve made it to the top!
The league was clinched in a nail biting match on Saturday against St. Patrick’s Athletic at the Showgrounds in front of almost 5,700 spectators. Two goals courtesy of Raff Cretaro in the first half put Sligo on the home stretch with victory close at hand. However a second half comeback from St. pats left the score 2-2 with 30 minutes still to play. A few close shots from St. Pats nearly put Sligo back on the long stretch to clinch victory but a last minute penalty allowed Mark Quigley to sink one in the net and Sligo to pull back on defence for the last four minutes of extra time. Deal done – the League belongs to SRFC – Sligo Rovers!
The 2012 Airtricty League Champion Squad – Gary Rogers; Jeff Henderson, Gavin Peers, Jason McGuinness, Ross Gaynor; Lee Lynch, Danny Ventre, Joseph Ndo; Pascal Millien, Mark Quigley, Raffaele Cretaro, David Cawley (SUB). (Danny North & Alan Keane injured) and the man who brought it home, Mr. Manager – Ian Baraclough!
I would consider myself a fan of Aerosmith, but they’re constant bitching over the past couple of years; not to mention American Idols and complete lack of real activity have become a little tiresome. Now they’re trying to pull the finger out of their asses and get back to business and how do they go about that? By trying to undermine KISS.
In a typical Steven Tyler rant he spouts some shite about how KISS are a comic band, dismissed their back catalogue (“They’ve got a couple of hits, but they’re more, they’re comic book“) and even had the balls to suggest Joe Perry’s ‘licks’ were more credible than KISS’ (“A KISS lick and a Joe Perry lick — two different worlds“).
Mr. Tyler, I’m not saying that the time has come for you to kick that imfamous drug habbit of yours, but they are clearly affecting your judgement and perception of reality. While yourself and Mr. Perry purchased ladders that could reach the deepest creveses of your arse holes, KISS have been banging on, touring like crazy, entertaining fans and releasing awesome music. How’s that covers album fairing out for ye? I’d consider myself a half fan now but try to send your nasty over the hill vibes anywhere near the nicest rock band in the world and y’all can just go f**k yourselves. Maybe try and appeal to people with credible new music, rather than pointless insults … (basically, instead of doing what you do, try and act more like KISS :))
Tickets There out. (Check out the new KISS single, ‘Hell or Hallelujah‘
Oh Yeah! KISS performed on Good Morning America this morning and they sounded wicked! Check out this awesome video of them playing new single ‘Hell or Hallelujah‘ and their classic ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll All Night’. Tickets There is tentatively waiting an announcement for a 2013 European tour!
The Rolling Stones have officially kicked off the build up to GRRR! A greatest hits set coming out next mont to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. Included on the set are two new tracks, ‘Doom and Gloom’ and ‘One More Shot’. Doom and Gloom received its first ever airing this morning on BBC and you know what, it ain’t half bad. In fact, ain’t half bad at all at all (stand in awe of my majestical grasp of the English language).
Tickets There, with out crabby old man view on things, was very much expecting a serious flop of a song. A lot of bands have let us down a lot of times with these compilation + 1/2 new bonus tracks but not the Stones. Doom & Gloom would have sat perfectly on any of their classic albums but the message couldn’t be more appropriate. Now, all we need are the bands who’ll write the next part – where everyone cheers up and parties again!
Not a review really, but make sure you check it out – and no one is reading this except you so I’ll be able to tell 🙂
This is one you can be guaranteed Tickets There will harass y’all about. Steven Adler’s (X-Guns N’ Roses / Adler’s Appetite) new band ADLER have unveiled the art-work for their debut album, ‘Back From The Dead’ and have made it available for pre-order through their Official Website. Tickets There is very happy to confirm we were the 17th sale this morning!
Pre-Orders of the album come with a special ‘unconfirmed bonus’ from the band with some lucky fans even being thrown into a draw of sorts to receive a phone call from the band – pretty sweet in fairness. For those of you who want to support retailers, the album will be officially released November 26th.
If you still need convincing of ADLER’s potential, then have a listen to their debut single ‘One That You Hated’ below. The band make their (3 times aha ha) live debut this month on the 2nd annual KISS KRUISE.
Not being a massive Voivod fan (no disliking them, just haven’t sat down with them near enough), Tickets There was originally going to skip reviewing this gig. It’s not that we don’t like Voivod, but we didn’t feel we possess near enough knowledge of the band’s catalogue to write a review acceptable to their fans… then again, who actually reads this blog anymore anyways? So let’s do it.
First of all – what has happened to the Village? 2 years ago when Exodus landed it was the same cavernous curse it had always been. Since the opening night when Paddy Casey and TURN opened it to a select bunch of Dublin’s elite (and fans who managed to grab a pass via TURN’s tour manager – ala me) the Village has been a curse to see gigs in. Awkward, poorly designed and the slowest bar service in the entire world – period. Tonight however, Tickets There was greatly surprised to see their new strip club / seedy den of sin make over and it’s an incredible improvement. The big manky columns are still there, blocking the view as always; everything else however is 10 times better. No more eyes glaring when you nip off for a slash (2 toilet guys now though. Think it cost me a total of E4 just to take a couple of leaks), an indoor (kind of) smoking area – no more back alley and ten flights of stairs to get through and wall to wall neon lights. Have to say – loving it. Enough of that though, not like Voivod built the damn place.
Up first are hard-core metallers Doom. The name was familiar but after some poor 3rd party digging, they were supposed to be hardcore punk – not interested. Apparently that 3rd party slipped up as the Doom on the night were full on Death Metal (or whatever sub-genre that sounds like Death Metal their fans want to call it). Up in the smoking area, heavy guitars, gruelling vocals and double bass pounding filled the air. After about 30 minutes Tickets There woke up enough to saunter down and catch the last few tracks and they are impressive as hell. The sound, the light show – everything is powerful and the regret now is not catching more of them.
With a pretty full crowd in the Village, an incredible support band to live up to and the temptations of an indoor smoking area, the task now falls to Voivod to keep bums in seats (figuratively) and hands in the air (well, on pints any who). Kicking off with the epic ‘VOIVOD‘, the band sound on top form, same unfortunately can’t be said for their sound which comes across very low down in comparison to Doom’s set. This rattles on for a couple of tracks (‘Ripping Headaches’ and ‘The Prow’) before suddenly a surge kicks in and this show finally gets underway – properzz. The quality of the bands set is pretty astonishing, even to a bystander fan. Tracks like ‘Forgotten In Space’, ‘Target Earth’ and ‘Nothing Face’ electrify the venue with Snake sounding incredible behind the mike. Semi-new guitarist Daniel Mongrain manages the daunting task of winning the crowd over as he still fits the role of ‘new guy’ since replacing the spot left open by deceased founding member Denis “Piggy” D’Amour. “VOIVOD” chants from the front fill the venue between every song with Snake expressing his delight at the size of the crowd and warm response the band are getting. As he rightly points out, ‘Sometimes you just don’t know’.
After what seems like a very short set, the band are gone but it’s not long before they return to play a hit packed encore before calling it a night on their Pink Floyd cover, ‘Astronomy Domine’. A great night and like I said, a band that can entertain anyone – even passers by and in fairness, that’s the real challenge. Entertaining fans is like shooting fish in a barrel anyway.
Now that things have calmed down, Tickets There would like to further explore the Arthur’s Day controversy the erupted within certain circles of the Irish music scene last month when Walls / Stunning front man, Steve Wall, attacked the day for promoting English artists ahead of Irish talent, given that the spirit of day is a celebration of Ireland’s most famous export – Guinness.
Steve is quoted in the Irish Times as describing this year’s Arthur’s Day celebrations as a “cynical act in pulling the wool over Paddy’s eyes”. A great number of people have supported Steve’s comments while many others (including The Minutes & Thomas Walsh of Pugwash) don’t see what all the fuss is about. From a bog standard point of view, it should be simple, an Irish festival for Irish bands – but that’s just not the way it is unfortunately. This article is not directed at Steve Wall, but rather the points he raised that a lot of other people / musicians agree with.
Diageo PLC, owners of the Guinness Brand and many others, are a British company that decided to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Guinness Brewing Company in 2009 with an international tribute to Arthur Guinness, the man who started it all. They landed in Ireland on September 24th and spearheaded a massive celebration using international music acts with a massive Proud to be Irish / Guinness drinker theme running through it. Great success, made a bit of dosh for Diageo– everyone happy. However, when it returned a year later people got the message that this was not a once off thing. Obviously the chance to generate a guaranteed annual increase in revenue was a little too lucrative for Diageo to just ignore. Fair enough, this is a recession after all and more revenue equals more money for the country and St. Jame’s Gate employees getting to stay in the job. All good, no?
So the money-making side isn’t what’s annoying Steve and supporters of his comments. It all comes down to the entertainment being used to promote this supposed Irish / Guinness festival. While Diageo promoted that fact that over 500 Irish bands were taking part in this year’s Arthur’s Day celebrations, none of those names were headline artists. Indeed, no Irish act of any sort was chosen to be a headliner at a festival that used Ireland and Irish-ness as its foundation and platform worldwide. Very unfortunate and a little disrespectful to a country long renowned for its powerful traditional music and its massive contribution to the world of internaltional music over the years….not to mention all the pints of the black stuff us good auld Irish have purchased over the years. While Arthur’s Day could have been a chance to allow home-grown talent like Le Galaxie, Jape, Ham Sandwich, Cast of Cheers, (Shudder) Fight Like Apes..etc, etc to shine on an international setting, on a day when the whole world wanted to embrace Ireland and it’s culture. A very fair point, but Tickets There can’t unanimously agree we’re afraid and it’s for one simple reason. Arthur’s Day is a celebration for a man who endorsed the idea of British rule over Ireland and proclaimed himself an Irish Unionist. Therefore, isn’t it more fitting we get British acts in to represent Arthur’s Day rather than Irish ones?
To be fair, that’s not our real reason. Unlike St. Patrick’s day (incidentally, another plastic paddy festival for a man who was 1, ENGLISH and 2, brought Christianity to Ireland – something a lot of people these days would rather hadn’t happened), Arthur’s Day is an event invented by and run by a company, not a country. Sure pubs chip in and do their part, but they aren’t answerable to Ireland or its people. It’s all for a drink and the man that invented it and it just so happens they came from Ireland. We are fortunate a company has taken a lead at drumming up some good cheer and extra business for our streets, pubs and restaurants during these bleak recession hunkered days, rather than do nothing at all like most of our national companies. None of the Irish bands mentioned in any of this are tearing up the international charts so why would they be booked as major headliners just because of where they’re from? That folks is bias, discrimination and wouldn’t be tolerated in any other form.
We must all be getting sick of Irish people attacking anything and everything in sight. Why don’t we all just attack Oxegen and Electric Picnic for not exclusively booking Irish talent as their key headliners? Or fine MCD and Aiken for not ensuring that 50% of their events are Irish based? If Irish bands want to make it in this life they’ll have to do what every other band has to do, appeal to people, sell albums and make it. They’re not being discriminated against, they’re not be cast away or anything else. This is not 1960’s London, we are no longer below the dogs. We are a respectable country with a proud musical heritage and should be able to make our way in the 21st century without Bono or hand-outs. If people higher up in the Irish entertainment world have a problem, why don’t they arrange their own festival to celebrate our music? If our bands are as big a draw as they say then certain people will make a fortune and the bands will get a larger platform.
The Irish need to stop blaming their problems on everyone else and take some responsibility for themselves. How can we ever hope to restore our pride and dignity if we keep running back to internationals, pulling on their trousers asking for more? Ireland needs to re-carve its own identity and make other countries look to us with awe and excitement, rather than berate, guilt and sulk our foot through the door.
Incidentally, Steve Wall is a man I have a lot of respect for. He’s one of the greatest song writers Ireland has ever produced and founder / driver of two bands Tickets There (and myself, Robert O’ Connor) greatly admire and enjoy. This is not an attack on him, but a criticism of any Irish band that sits around waiting for ill-gotten hand-outs. It’s tough out there but that is life as a musician (and everyone else for that matter). Stop sitting around waiting for others to open doors and do it yourselves with your music. If Ireland doesn’t suit, re-locate or get a new job. If things are made too easy, everyone will be in a band and the whole scene will water down even further. Steve fairs better than most and works exceptionally hard to keep his bands going, but it’s time Ireland stopped blaming all of its problems on the English and got up and did something about it for ourselves. Let’s just leave Arthur’s Day for what it is, celebrating the black stuff!
The kings of the night time world are back with screaming glory ‘n’ a vengeance! MONSTER is the twentieth studio album by iconic rockers KISS and it looks like 19 previous records, countless live shows and 39 years in the business haven’t slowed down the guys one bit. Monster is one of the biggest releases in the band’s history and it comes hot on the tails of their 2009 record, Sonic Boom (at that time, their first album in ten years) which saw the band achieve the highest US chart success of their entire career. Now the task falls on Monster to satisfy the mighty KISS army, continue their never ending – steamrolling success, fuel the ship on their second and sold out KISS KRUISE and most importantly of all, add a few more hits to the indestructible KISS KATALOGUE (yes, everything KISS related must, when possible, begin with a K).
Monster delivers everything the band promised and more. No ballads, no outside song writers and a welcome return to the band’s classic seventies sound. Harder guitars, re-introduction of groove and balls to the wall rock ‘n’ roll. Opening track ‘Hell Or Hallelujah’ screams back to the days of Love Gun and Rock N Roll Over. Shredding guitars left right and centre, a pounding riff and Paul ‘Starchild’ Stanley standing firm at the forefront delivering the best song KISS have written in years. Fortunately, it’s not alone. ‘Take Me Down Below’, ‘Last Chance’ and ‘Freak’ are all stand out tracks, vocally endorsed by Mr. Stanley, each one making a case to outshine the others.
As with Sonic Boom, Gene’s tracks take a few more listens to really get to grips with. The demon seems to be on a quest for a pounding, thunder some anthem that correctly represents his larger than life character with all the dark coattails and demonic tendencies attributed to such a legend– with the obligatory sing along catchiness we all want from KISS of course. After three days of listening, we can happily agree ‘Back To The Stoneage’, ‘The Devil Is Me’ and ‘Wall of Sound’ achieve everything you’d want from a classic Gene track. However his work with Paul on ‘Take Me Down Below’ stands out as one of the true Monster gems.
Not forgetting Tommy Thayer or Eric Singer, both deliver the goods across the board on Monster. Once again they both get a shot at the spotlight handling vocals on ‘Outta This World’ and ‘All For the Love of Rock ‘N’ Roll’ respectively. Two feel good, sing along KISS tracks that fill their space nicely (of course, this writer is tipping his hat to Outta This World more so).
Well, Monster is everything you’d thought it would be. A solid KISS album with its fair share of tunes you’d happily invite into future live sets. The whole band put in a great performance and it’s a true credit to them, especially after so many years in the business. 37 years ago they preached about rocking and rolling every day and every night and unlike most of their contemporaries, they’re still doing it to the letter. Rock on KISS!
LJ – King of Gypsy Rose
Yesterday saw one of the most esteemed gentlemen of Dublin’s rock community pass on and I could not let it go without a special mention to the great man himself.
LJ, it was always a pleasure talking with you, getting your advice, nipping out for sneaky smokes and always having the craic whenever you were around. You’ve left a hole that will be very hard to fill and Tickets There hopes you’re kicking back with Philo and enjoying a few well-earned beers.
Just for you sir, take care and RIP.
'Ticket's There' - Irish and International Music Blog 