Yes it’s July again and that means three days and no nights of vinyl, vinyl, vinyl …and cd’s, games, dvd’s and collectables. This weekend the three day summer CD & Record Fair is coming to Filmbase in Temple Bar and will feature some of the best independent sellers from across Ireland and the UK. Admission is just E2 in and all styles of music are catered for. Enjoy!
For those that have been living in a cave for the past few months, JUDAS PRIEST have a new album hitting our shelves tomorrow and to celebrate, the Priest are hosting exclusive listening parties around the UK and Ireland and Dublin’s turn is tonight! At 10:00pm, The Rock Bar At Bruxelles will play the first official public airing of it and there’ll be prizes, free merch and HMV are even coming down to sell the first physical copies of the record. Get excited, you have my permission.
Redeemer of Souls is the Priest’s first album since 2008’s Nostradamus and the first not feature founding guitarist, K.K. Downing. Fear not though, the Priest seem to have only gotten stronger over the past few years. The album is absolutely mind blowingly brilliant. It’ll compete with Sabbath’s 13 for classic metal release of the decade and put Priest back on top of everyone’s agenda. Anyway, here’s the official blurb. More details can be found on the official Facebook Event Page.
plus…
PRIZES FOR ‘BEST DRESSED MEMBER OF PRIEST ON THE NIGHT’
FREE JUDAS PRIEST SHIRTS, POSTERS AND MORE!
EXCLUSIVE PLAYLIST CHOSEN BY THE BAND
SPECIAL GUEST DJ’S
Death metal fans – are you ready? DME Promotions promised a brutal announcement today and they’ve really outdone themselves. On top of the stellar line-up they’ve already put in place for the end of the year (including Morbid Angel, At The Gates, Destruction, Behemoth, Kreator and many more), they’ve now gone and announced the excellent DYING FETUS are coming…and they’re not alone.
Dying Fetus will headline Dublin’s Voodoo Lounge on November 20th and supporting them will be (drum roll) GOATWHORE, MALEVOLENCE and FALLUJAH. All on one stage in one night. This is going to be an absolutely epic show!
Tickets go on sale this Monday, July 14th at 10:00am priced €25. This is expected to be a quick seller so don’t hang round. More details can be found at the official Facebook event page.
Mastodon fans – your time has come. The American’s will be coming over to Dublin’s fair city, where the metal heads are so pretty and you’ll first set your eyes on a sweet…still reading?
Mastodon will be touring their new record, Once More ‘Round the Sun and they’ll be here on November 19th and they’re playing THE ACADEMY. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday July 11th at 09;00am from all usual ticketmaster outlets priced €30 .
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.
Nothing like waking up on a Monday morning to discover our pioneering metal promoter have landed not one, not two – but three new shows for us to look forward to.
Over the weekend, DME announced headlining shows for Protest The Hero, Alestorm and German thrash metal legends – Destruction. All three shows are taking place between October and November and will all take place in The Voodoo Lounge, Dublin. One other detail they have in common is their on sale date. Tickets for each show go on sale this Wednesday, July 9th from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets. Details for each show including prices and support can be found below and in the Tickets There Gigz Guide.
| OCT 2014/11th | Destruction | Voodoo Lounge | €24 | Support from: Shrapnel | Lost Society | Evil Invaders. DME FB Event Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCT 2014/15th | Alestorm | Voodoo Lounge | €21.50 | Support from: Lagerstein | Redrum | Rainbowdragoneyes. DME FB Event Page |
| NOV 2014/28th | Protest The Hero | Voodoo Lounge | €23.50 | Support from: The Faceless | The Contortionist. DME FB Event Page |
The site of countless drunken shenanigans, encounters, shots, bottles, buckie and lunacy – Club Carnage turns three today and they’re celebrating in style.
Carnage Fest is a two day event that’ll celebrate the club’s third successful year in operation and the fact that it has become the premier club night for metal fans in the capital. For three year’s they’ve promoted local bands, DJ’s, performers and provided a regular, low price, high craic night for metal fans to meet each other. Despite low turnouts from time to time, cancelations on the bill and general lack of funds these days – Carnage has remained constant and always given punters a good solid night for their buck.
Tonight’s show will be headlined by the mighty Dichotomy with Vile Regression, Dead Aeon and Visions of Apophis providing support on the upstairs stage. Meanwhile industrial fans can head to the cellar for full on DJ sessions and general urban terror dealings. Tomorrow’s show will take place upstairs and will feature sets from Motorheaders, S.F.U., Grande Royale, Devolted.
Venue is Fibber MaGees (or Fibbers if you’re inclined) and admission will be €6 each night. Usual drink promos and deals will apply. More details are available on the links below.
Happy Birthday guys and congratulations on reach three years!
Axial Symmetry live @ Fibbers
Right, normally I wouldn’t be reviewing after shows because they involve a lot of drinking, spending quality time in smoking areas with people covered in sweat, booze and lord knows what else – plus the usual general merriment and chaos. When you add the fact that this is a SLAYER after show – you can multiply all of the above by a hundred. Fortunately Tickets There is semi-sensible in our old age and we manage to hold things together quite well and show up when Axial Symmetry take the stage.
Matt O’ Brien of Axial Symmetry
Axial Symmetry are a new one for us, but you can instantly see they’re out to impress. Singer Gavin Doyle commands the stage in a manner that demonstrates an obvious nod to some well know road trained heroes. He works the crowd well, hides his own excitement at the number of people in attendance and gets on the with the business of rocking out. In fact., he’s so good it takes about two or three songs for people to start realizing there’s no-one behind the drum kit for tonight’s show. Yes – Axial Symmetry don’t currently have a drummer in place apparently, but they succeed in performing a great show (despite the bass player’s headphones things – lose them pal, you’re not in Linkin Park). They’re young, they’re not quite there yet – but they’re definitely going in the right direction. We’ll be keeping an eye out for them on future bills.
The mighty SNOWBLIND!
With the venue nicely warmed up and pints flowing – it’s time for the almighty mothers of funk, groove, stoner, heavy – all of the above and more METAL – Snowblind. If you’ve seen Snowblind, you’ve probably thought to yourself, “man – these guys are fucking insane! Why isn’t everyone in the world here to see them?”. Well Tickets There thinks the exact same thing every time we see them on stage. Despite having a bigger crowd than the last time we caught them at Carnage, they still play to a half empty room. This doesn’t phase the lads though as they plough through a savage set of covers and originals. This is a band with extremely talented people, great songs and they have a shed loads of craic on stage. Go see them, go see them now!
By the end, memories of Slayer had almost become just that as Snowblind and Axial Symmetry nudged in and stole some of the thunder. Thanks to EHT for having us!
To all those going to see Anthrax tonight, have a mental one. Here’s a video for ye (see, despite my own opinion of Anthrax – I’ll still help ye out ;))
If you’re an Irish metal fan, you can be forgiven for thinking SLAYER are the only metal band in the entire world these days. After all, the group has performed here six times in the last year and there’s still tonight’s sold out Academy show to go. While other major metal bands appear to have shrugged off Ireland on their outings over the past few years – SLAYER have been coming back again and again to assault the holy hell out of us and up mid-week drink sales by 12.7% for the entire year. That’s impressive when you consider we live in Ireland.
Tonight’s crowd know the deal. People hang back around Fibbers, Gypsy Rose and the bars around Abbey Street. There’s no rush – no support so nothing to do but relax and avoid the possible elevator pong music that was forced upon us last year. By ten to nine however – the bars have deserted, the Academy is rammed and the familiar opening hiss of ‘Hell Awaits’ from Decade.. comes sneering over the PA.
No sooner or Slayer on that it seems they’re half way into their set. ‘The Antichrist’, ‘Necrophiliac’ and ‘Mandatory Suicide’ just explode out at furious (my favourite Slayer word) speed and power. Tom gleams at the audience, nodding his approval and waits for the roars to calm down before thanking us for showing up and kicking off ‘War Ensemble’ followed by ‘Disciple‘, ‘Post-mortem’ and ‘Hate Worldwide’.
The set is incredible – almost like it’s been handpicked by fans and Slayer sound as fast, filthy and furious as ever before. ‘At Dawn They Sleep’, ‘Die By the Sword’ and ‘Spirit in Black’ pave the way for new tune, ‘Implode‘, to fight it’s corner for a regular space on Slayer’s set. As the end starts to creep nearer, Slayer start whipping out fan favourites and Tom leaves the choruses to the crowd as we begin to drown out the PA. ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ and ‘Dead Skin Mask’ follow before the band finish their main set with ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Black Magic’.
As with last year, the giant Hanneman banner drops and Slayer return to finish the night with ‘South of Heaven’ and ‘Angel of Death’. Slayer may have lost Jeff, the legend behind many of their most loved songs. They may also have fallen out with Dave – their founding member, drumming legend! But Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph fill those spots nicely tonight, as with last year and Tom and Kerry are still bad ass motherfuckers. Slayer are proving with every show that nothing can stop them and hopefully we’ll hear some more music from the current line-up in the near future. Failing that, we’ll probably see them again next year in the Academy – hopefully!
So not news, but today is SLAYER day and what sort of blog would we be if we didn’t post some videos to get everyone heading to the Academy tonight in the mood?
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….
Hellfest 2014 may be over, but the ninth instalment of Europe’s fastest growing heavy metal festival won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Over the course of the weekend, more than 150,000 fans descended on the small town of Clisson in France to witness what can only be described as the greatest line-up any festival has ever managed to gather in a single year. From headliners to openers – every orifice of the metal world resonated with excitementand and there was no shortage of crowds for any band throughout the weekend.
On top of the incredible line-up, Hellfest organizers really enhanced the festival grounds for this year’s event. The market moved from the arena to the metal corner and developed into an actual miniature town in the form of Hellcity – with paved streets, actual footpaths, street lights and a massive number of new stalls and space. As well as that, greater seating areas were added allowing those of us with ‘walking difficulties’ more chances to relax when needed. The arena itself also got upgraded with a massive Ferris wheel added, paved paths, far more variety for food and more bars than you could shake a stick at. All in all an incredible set-up for just four days of festivities and a good sign of how quickly Hellfest is growing.
It wasn’t all glamorous however as Irish fans struggled in the extreme sun, dust and high temperatures to keep cool in black t-shirts, battlevests and corpse paint. But we survived and now it’s time to look back at just some of the highlights on and off the stage from Hellfest 2014.
Compact site means little walking between stages,
Hellfest 2014 Begins
DAY 01 – FRIDAY: There had been rumours that the scorching sun experienced on Thursday was due to continue for the entire weekend. On Friday morning festival goers found out that not only was the sun still here, it was actually hotter. Baking heat scorches the festival site with little opportunity to hide. Tents turn into saunas while main stages become roasting pits with thousands of black-clad metal maniacs enduring the punishing conditions to catch glimpses of the earlier bands.. and endure it they do.
Friday boasts one of the most popular line-ups of the whole weekend with Rob Zombie, Sepultura, Slayer, Death, Electric Wizard and Iron Maiden all on the bill. Powerman 5000 kick things in off epic style with a child chorus sing along that gets the crowd in a jolly mood before they crash in with their punishing electro-metal style. Irish rockers Therapy? provide a sharp contrast with catchy upbeat tunes that get the crowd hopping. All the major singles are included for a pretty decent set (except ‘Diane’).
Rob Zombie @ Hellfest 2014
Rob Zombie is one of the major draws for the day and he doesn’t disappoint. Although he plays without his full stage show, Rob and co. deliver an incredibly strong set packed with classics such as ‘Dracula’, ‘Superbeast’, ‘House of 1,000 Corpses’ and ‘Living Dead Girl’ before also throwing in some White Zombie classics and a cover of Diamond Head’s ‘Am I Evil’. He finishes up with White Zombie’s ‘Thunder Kiss ’65’ and blows the crowd away. An epic start and only a few bands in!
Iron Maiden @ Hellfest 2014 – Terrible blurry photo taken by myself. Sorry……
Sepultura keep things going as the heat starts to die off with a solid set of classics, but the real excitement was reserved for the legendary Iron Maiden who’s stage set-up captivates some fans’ attentions during the Brazilian’s set. By nine o’clock, the entire crowd has gathered in the arena for one of metal’s most beloved bands and they punish the hell out of us. Brining their ‘Made In England’ tour to France, Maiden deliver two solid hours of incredibleness. Wall to wall classic songs, a mouth watering stage show and their sound is just jaw dropping, Maiden may be getting older, but they can deliver a live show above almost all others.
‘Moonchild’, ‘Can I Play With Maddness’, ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’, ‘The Trooper’, ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Seventh Son..’ – it’s like a dream watching them. I should be clever and wordy here – but I can’t. Maiden are everything I’d ever hoped for and it only took twenty years, four shows and France to get it. Job done – happy in life now. Leaving the stage after an encore filled with ‘Aces High’, ‘The Evil That Men Do’ and ‘Sanctuary‘ – it’s almost hard to believe there was more to come.
Slayer @ Hellfest 2014
Maiden, Therapy?, Death Angel, Powerman 5000, Rob Zombie and Sepultura. Not too shabby for one day – but add the next act onto that and you have heaven….or hell.
SLAYER are not a band to fuck around with and when they hit Mainstage 2 for their late night slot the crowd is there on time. Opening with ‘Hell Awaits’, Slayer perform a compact, but juicy set that both fulfils and delights attendees and leaves us gasping for more. ‘Antichrist’, ‘Mandatory Suicide’, ‘War Ensemble’, ‘Disciple’ – on and on they come and each one delivered with bone crushing force. Even their new tune, ‘Implode‘ sounds as strong as their older material. An excellent end to the day and time to relax with Sabaton and look forward to two more days.
Hellcity at night – just part of Hellfest’s Metal Corner
The Temple Stage after Gorgoroth
DAY 02 – SATURDAY: More heat, more music, more diversity. After a fairly solid lashing of proper heavy metal on Friday, Saturday is a mix of intensely heavy music and older classic rock. Well, any day you see Carcass, Deep Purple, Tsjuder and Aerosmith in the one place is always going to be a little strange. Add a previous night of drinking, no sleep and hotter than hell temperatures – you’ve got yourself the perfect cocktail of highly diverse chaos and incredible music.
Skid Row, Buckcherry and the excellent Lez Zeppelin are all fantastic bands to kick off the day – each one draws massive crowds (a shocking factor for me given the temptatures, but then again non-Irish people seem to cope quite well). Extreme followed with a lovely relaxing set of classics that filled the whole arena and set a nice, calming mood for the day. Gorguts and Tsjuder really changed the vibes with the latter crushing the Temple stage with fierce, violent black metal. God I missed Hellfest these last twelve months.
Entrance to The Kingdom of Museadet
Over at the Valley stage, Clutch are delivering their brand of stoner funk metal with a packed crowd and savage sound. Clutch wouldn’t be my own cup of tea, but there’s no denying they have an incredible live sound and know how to handle their crowd. With Neil Fallon’s announcement that the band are heading back to the studio to record a new album soon, fans go insane and lap up a little taste of their new material before they finish with ‘Electric Worry’, ‘One Eye Dollar’ and ‘The Wolf Man Kindly Requests..’.
Over at MS1, Soulfy brace the heat to crush Sepultura’s performance from the previous day. Max Cavalera’s outfit may not be the most exciting metal band in history, but they’re solid and a couple of Sepultura covers help keep the momentum going. A quick visit to Brutal Truth ups the ante as they crush the altar but for this writer, the time had finally come to see one of heavy metal’s founding stones – the legendary Deep Purple.
Having never seen Deep Purple before, it was hard to know what to expect. They’re getting on in age terms but judging by their show they still have it. Seeing this kind of musicianship concentrated in one space is scarce and the obvious enjoyment from the band and the older crowd brings a sense of order and relaxation to Hellfest as the light starts to fade and night takes over the site. ‘Into The Fire’, ‘Strange Kind of Woman’, ‘Lazy’ and ‘Space Trukin’ are all delivered with restrained perfection. Of course the major cheers came for their biggest hit, ‘Smoke on the Water’ which woke the crowd up and left a great energy for the remainder of their set. As they finish, this writer bites his lower lip for missing Monster Magnet in the Valley, but Purple did not disappoint.
Aerosmith lighting up MS1 – My headliner pic curse continues.
Then it was time for Saturday’s major draw – the mighty Aerosmith and their jaw dropping balls out two hour hard rock spectacle. Starting with a massive video introduction, the famous smith logo shot to the screen before Stephen Tyler grabs the crowds attention with a whistle as the band kick into ‘Back Into The Saddle’. They sound great, they look great and they blow Hellfest wide open with hit after hit after hit. There’s no holding back as they reach back and pull out all the stops from their career. ‘Eat The Rich’ (personal favourite), ‘Love in an Elevator’, ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Livin’ on the Edge’ all fall out like it’s nothing and you could be forgiven for thinking their entire set is one long encore – designed to beat fans into submission. The set finishes with further dazzling displays of the bands tightness and incredibly strong back catalogue of singles before Stephen returns to the stage solo to play ‘Dream On’ in the middle of the crowd before the final track – ‘Sweet Emotion’ brings the show to a triumphant end. Incredible, absolutely incredible and there’s still more to go.
Carcass @ Hellfest 2014
In between the feel good rock ‘n’ roll of Aerosmith, a helping of Gorgoroth is needed. Only knowing them by reputation as an incredible live band means they have the task of convincing a potential new fan on an Aerosmith buzz to like them… and they do. They have a packed crowd and play a brilliant few tunes. It means missing a few Smith classics, but worth every minute. With both shows over, it’s time to devote myself to Carcass who own the Temple stage and force a lot of fans to wake up and ignore the fact that we were now going almost 36 hours without sleep. “Are you awake? Are you drunk? I’m fucking drunk” announces Jeff Walker to the crowd before offering us the chance to see Avenge Sevenfold instead. Err, no thanks man – grand here. Carcass play one of the most intense sets of the festival and ensured there will be no sleeping tonight either – back to the camp site for more Carcass and beers!
The arena at night – filled with light and fire
The entertainment in VIP was not dissapointing
DAY 03 – SUNDAY: The final day comes and with it some rain in the early, early morning for those who …forgot to sleep. When the sun returns temperatures soar, meaning it’s time to put serious faces on and get in early because Crowbar except nothing but your uninterrupted attention.
Kirk Windstein has made headlines recently after kicking a fan in the face for attempting to stage dive at one of their shows. Whether you agree with bands allowing stage diving or not, it’s hard to hold it against the man as they plough through twenty five years of sludge metal. Ten albums later and Crowbar are savagely strong – even in this blazing sun. ‘Planets Collide’ is of course reserved for last but what a way to spend an hour on a sunny Sunday morning.
Fire displays at night. Well what did you expect? Taking pictures of hot people is weird with a phone and I don’t condone it
Before going too much into the bands on Sunday, it has to be acknowledged at this point that Hellfest has to be home to some of earth’s most beautiful people. Add baking heat and those people get up close and personal with naked and that is a difficult thing to deal with when your girlfriend is hundreds of miles away. The heat, the tiredness, the lack of ….sustenance – the stakes rise.
Powerwolf have to be enjoyed from the comfort and shade of Museadet’s Kingdom. They sound great, but the shade won this round. Things manage to get back on track for the amazing Annihilator who up the temperature with their set – annihilating (pun intended) the crowds with a bruising set in the fiery heats of hell…fest. Having never seen them before – Annihilator quickly become one of the festival’s major highlights.
Behemoth @ Hellfest 2014
Next up is another band I’ll be familiarizing myself with more and more over the coming months before their headline show in Dublin this December. Poland’s Behemoth are certainly full-f**king-on! With a show that rivals any band of the whole festival, they make mince meat of the crowd that gathers for their main stage 2 performance. Fire, full costumes and more fire hold up the theatrics end of an amazing hour of black metal. Thus far Behemoth have conquered all other black metal performances of the weekend and it’s comforting to know they’re just warming up the stage for Emperor who’ll be out in an hour.
After Behemoth’s performance, Soundgarden take the main stage and I don’t know whether it’s the fact that they’re not black metal or that the Misfits are on in the Warzone – but they seem very flat and dull. Chris Cornell’s voice is still incredibly strong but the music just seems extremely uninteresting and lifeless. Rather than hang around, it must instead be time to see a little punk this weekend.
Jerry Only and Dez Cadena with The Misfits @ Hellfest 2014
The Misfits are now a Tickets There regular at Hellfest. Last year we were treated to a special Misfits set from DANZIG featuring Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and this year Jerry Only’s version of the band pops up. Amusing, fun and sing along brilliance. A massive array of songs all culminating in the classic ‘Die, Die, Die My Darling’. Absolutely epic performance and far more than you might expect.
Unfortunately Hellfest offered so much I should take the time to list the bands that couldn’t be seen without missing full sets from any bands this weekend. Apologies to Death DTA, Enslaved, Electric Wizard, Phil Anselmo, Nile, Monster Magnet, Dark Angel, Soilwork, Flogging Molly and Paradise Lost – I would have loved to see you but choices must be made and it’s important to stick by those choices.
As the night draws to a close, it’s time to settle in with the reason a lot of this year’s hard-core fans came to Hellfest 2014 – the much revered EMPEROR.
Emperor @ Hellfest 2014
Emperor are at Hellfest celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their debut album, In the Nightside Eclipse and they’re playing it in full. Kicking off with ‘Into the Infinity of Thoughts’, the band play every song meticulously – right through to ‘Inno a Satana‘ with Ihsahn stopping to speak with the crowd between each song. A little cooling down from fire hoses doesn’t hurt the mood either – thank God!
For a band that hasn’t worked together much over the past few years – they appear unstoppable tonight. Also their stage show provides a subtle backdrop to the intensely dark and frightening sound. No corpse paint or satanic / pagan props needed – job done. They finish up with the classics ‘Ancient Queen’ and ‘Wrath of Tyrant’ and scare the living sh*t out of the older fans gathered for Black Sabbath’s headlining performance on the neighbouring stage next.
Black Sabbath – I can hardly believe they’re written down as the next band on the list. This weekend has produced some of the greatest live experiences from some of heavy metal’s greatest names and BLACK F**KING SABBATH are coming on now. It’s 11pm – way past their bed time these days but as the opening notes of ‘War Pigs’ ring out it’s very obvious that Sabbath mean business.
Black Sabbath @ Hellfest 2014 – wouldn’t be a headliner without a terrible photo
Sabbath play a short set but ram it with classics and stand out tracks from last year’s 13 album. ‘Into The Void’, ‘Snowblind’, ‘Age of Reason’, ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘N.I.B’. all bombard their way through the nigh time air as they rival Maiden for the sher mass of people in attendance to see them. Ozzy interacts with the crowd, joking and getting us off our “arses” for ‘Fairies Wear Boots’, ‘Rat Salad’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘God Is Dead?‘ before Heavy Metal’s godfathers finish their main set with ‘Children of the Grave’. They’re only off the stage a minute before Ozzy’s voice booms over the PA, encouraging fans to chant for more. Ozzy, we don’t need your help. We want lots more!
The size of the crowd gathered as far back as the main entrance to catch a glimpse of Sabbath
Sabbath return and tease the crowd with the intro of ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ before launching into ‘Paranoid‘. Both would have been acceptable – but what a finish and what a band. Sabbath are a live force to be reckoned with.
Taking a break during Sabbath was never a goal I wanted to accomplish in life, but there was no missing 1349 a second time. Legging it to The Temple, the Norwegian black metal heavyweights could be found with an incredibly sizeable crowd (given who was playing two stages over).
1349 @ Hellfest 2014
After so many great black metal performances over the weekend, it’s hard to pick a winner – but 1349 are high up there and they manage all this after midnight on the fourth day of Hellfest (well, third with gigs) while Sabbath are playing a little down the way. Excellent show from an increasingly promising band. They’re also studio bound soon so expect to hear more over the coming months.
Sabbath and 1349 lead the way for the night’s final acts – Opeth and Tubonegro both manage to pack their stages despite the hour and the exhaustion felt by all. For this writer, Turbonegro have to be mostly enjoyed on the slow walk back to the campsite – much to my regret as they sounded incredible.
Another Hellfest comes to an end. An incredible weekend of music, fun, theatrics, surprises, beautiful people (excluding yours truly – I was sweaty), sun, food, drinking, partying, laughs and some of the greatest heavy metal names known to man. Hellfest assaulted the senses and left little of us to bring home. It’ll take some doing to recover but all eyes are already on 2015 and Hellfest’s tenth anniversary. Could they make it bigger? All will be revealed in time. Till then – thank you to all the staff, crew, bands and crowd for the craic. Yis were all fecking mighty!
TIME FOR TROLLY WARS!
It’s just one after another this morning! Now up , Polish heavyweights – BEHEMOTH,They destroyed me at Hellfest three nights ago and I should be recovered just in time to see them this December when they play The Academy!
The guys are coming on December 11th and before you go thinking December couldn’t get any more epic, wait till you see the support. Would Decapitated and Grand Magnus help the mood? I thought so. You can also add Winterfylleth and you’ve got yourself a gig.
It all happens at The Academy on December 11th and tickets are on sale now priced €32.50 inc bkg fee from all usual outlets. Bring it! You can follow all the latest updates on the DME Event Page.
Legendary American metallers Morbid Angel are coming to Dublin this December!
DME have announced that the band are set to headline the Academy on December 7th for the twentieth anniversary of their classic album, Covenant. Oh – and they’ll be playing it IN FULL!!! There’ll also be a heap of classics thrown in so you’re pretty much talking about the best Morbid Angel show you could ever ask for.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow, June 26th from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets priced 27.50 inc bkg fee.
Look out for the latest updates on DME’s Official Event Page.
Well it appears the singer of my favourite band is bringing his epic Mott The Hoople tribute band to Ireland this year. The Down ‘N’ Outz are coming to the Academy in support of their new album, The Further Adventures of.. and it’s going to be f***ing epic. If you want a night of classic glam rock tunes performed by their biggest fans, then look no further.
Wed 17th Dec 2014 BELFAST LIMELIGHT
Thurs 18th Dec 2014 DUBLIN ACADEMY (IRELAND)
On sale Friday at 9am | €25 inclusive of booking fee | MCD promoted.
I’ll be there anyways 🙂 Thanks to Hellfest the album review has been delayed but you can expect it over the coming days.
Yes! We haven’t been forgotten by the mighty PRIEST! To celebrate the release of their new album, Redeemer of Souls, the metal gods have announced a listening party in Bruxelles bar on Friday, July 11th. No word on how you apply or anything so it may just be a turn up and hope for a spot job. More on that when and if we have it. otherwise – see ye there for a pint (time unknown).
Monday 7th July – Manchester – Sound Control
Tuesday 8th Jul…y – Birmingham – Scruffy Murphy’s
Wednesday 9th July – Plymouth – White Rabbit
Thursday 10th July – Glasgow – Ivory Blacks
Friday 11th July – Dublin – Bruxelles
Saturday 12th July – Liverpool – Krazyhouse
Sunday 13th July – London – Intrepid Fox
‘Redeemer Of Souls’ is available for pre-order now: http://smarturl.it/JPredeemerofsouls See More
Looking for a chance to win two tickets to see Radkey perform tomorrow night at the Academy? Well look no further! Thanks to MCD, we’re sending one lucky winner with a friend to the show and all you have to do is answer this insanely difficult question. Please note that no hints can be found in the press release below – especially not in the very first line of it…those words in red are not a hint.
Please send your answer and your name and telephone number to ticketsthere@Hotmail.com by 11:00 am tomorrow morning for your chance to win.
Press Release
Radkey are a band of brothers from St Joseph, Missouri. The Radke siblings Dee (20, guitar, vocals), Isaiah (18, bass) and Solomon (16, drums) make explosive, thrilling alt-rock anthems.
Things are taking off for the three-piece. In the past few months alone, there have been electrifying performances on Later… With Jools Holland and Berlin’s JOIZ TV, a sold-out tour of the UK with fellow noise-mongers Drenge and packed shows in Germany and Holland, whilst Radio 1 tastemaker Zane Lowe has also been a vociferous supporter of the group. Radkey are a band exhilaratingly on the edge of a big breakthrough.
The three brothers’ upbringing in St. Joseph was soundtracked by their dad Matt Radke’s record collection. It was only a matter of time before they were bitten by the bug. For oldest brother Dee, it was Nirvana who made him want to pick up a guitar. Middle brother Isaiah remembers being mesmerised by the Foo Fighters’ track Monkey Wrench, “the first song I ever knew the words to.” For youngest sibling Solomon, the record that stood out was Weezer’s Blue album. It’s no surprise that each of those bands match snarling riffs with indelible pop melodies, a way of making music that Isaiah says has “burrowed its way into our brains.” The same characteristics define every Radkey song: sometimes hooks are buried in a blitzkrieg of distortion; at others, riffs are put on a leash so the melody can lead the way.
Dad Matt became their manager and soon they had booked their first gig, supporting veteran ska-punks Fishbone. Their ages ranged from 13-17 at the time, but the promoter hadn’t asked. He simply enquired as to whether they had enough material to play for 30 minutes. They lied and said they did. “We had to go away and write a bunch of songs,” says Isaiah. “There was a pretty good turnout and having our first show being supporting Fishbone helped us get other gigs.” “It was insane,” says Dee. “We played in front of 100 people and we were super nervous, but we got to hang out with them afterwards and see them argue.” Radkey have no designated peacemaker in the group: Dee claims that they have never argued about music.
From out of that triumphant first show, they perfected their live performance with more dates and kept writing new songs. By mid-2013, their intensive course in being a rock band was gaining momentum. They played their first UK show at the intimidating Download festival.
Each of their releases so far have out-swaggered its predecessor. The summer’s Cat & Mouse EP was an attention-grabbing introduction: the malevolent stomp and jittery riffs of its title track, the crackling surge of Out Here In My Head and rolling bubblegum growl of Pretty Things were the sound of the vitality of youth in all its raw power. Closing song N.I.G.G.A. (Not Okay), meanwhile, tackled the band’s shock at the casual racism in their high school and showed that it wasn’t just the music that was head-on. The Devil Fruit EP, released in October, honed and widened their sound.
Their next release is another aggressive charge forward. Feed My Brain is their most accomplished song yet, a swooping rock singalong that swings from a stripped-down, understated verse into a juddering, hooky chorus. “It’s the best song we’ve written,” says Isaiah. “Our evolution as songwriters has been on record and you can tell the difference. The more we write, the better the songs are getting.” For Solomon, Feed My Brain is a marker in the sand not just for the band’s career but for his whole life. “It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had, listening back to that when we finished recording it.”
They are three ambitious young men who want the next show and the next song to be better than the last. They’re in it together: there are no tyrannical egos in Radkey. “We’re not the type of band that has one guy leave and you’re fucked,” says Isaiah. “If any of us leave, we’re equally screwed.” Next, they’ll turn their sights towards their debut album. “It will have lots of loud guitars and be rocking,” adds Dee. “We wanna make it rock and make it catchy, something we can be proud of,” says Isaiah. Of course it will rock. Of course it will be catchy. These are the things that come naturally to Radkey.
EP “Devil Fruit” is out now
Very special guests on the night comes from local rock band, New Valley Wolves are Jonny Lucey and Baz Joyce. Just guitar and drums but played with the gusto of 27 charging Spanish bulls. Think bone shakin’ rock ‘n’ roll the way it’s meant to be played: Hard, Fast and Hard.
RADKEY,
With New Valley Wolves
ACADEMY 2, 26TH JUNE
For more see: www. radkey.net | http://www.mcd.ie | Ticketmaster.ie
http://www.facebook.com/newvalleywolves
Well it’s that time of year again. I’m off to France for Hellfest 2014. If you’re going and you see my orange skull battle vest – I’ll happily except pints in exchange for hugs.
Until next week!
Rob
While Tickets There selfishly confined themselves to tasks associated with ‘WTPTB’ (‘work that pays the bills’ – I’m not explaining that again. it defeats the point) – the mighty KILLFACE went and won the Wacken Metal Battle in Dublin last week!
Tickets There would like to congratulate the lads and wish them the very best when they play one the most revered metal festivals in the world later this year. Good luck in the world final!
'Ticket's There' - Irish and International Music Blog 