UPDATED: Guns N Roses: Europe 2010 Has Arrived!!

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


** UPDATED -04/ 06 / 2010 **

GUNS N’ ROSES have announced two Irish shows. The legendary hard rock band will bring their Chinese Democracy World Tour to Belfast and Dublin, August 31st and September 1st respectively. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 11th

This is the moment Tickets There has been waiting for, for about 18 years!!!! Read more by Clicking Here

** UPDATED -21/ 04 / 2010 **

The legends @ GnrDaily.com have confirmed Guns N Roses European Tour plans for 2010.

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 13 – Aalborg, Denmark
June 15 – Berlin, Germany
June 16 – Arnhem, Netherlands
June 18 – Vienna, Austria
June 20 – Zagreb, Croatia
June 21 – Belgrade, Serbia
June 23 – Prague, Czech Republic
June 26 – Dessel, Belgium
June 28 – Zurich, Switzerland
June 29 – Milan, Italy

August 27 – Reading, UK
August 29 – Leeds, UK

UPDATED – 29th Mar. 2010

They’re coming to the UK. Guns N Roses have officially been announced as headliners of this years Reading and Leeds Festivals!!! Click Here for more information.

UPDATED – 25th Mar. 2010

Seems many sources are tipping Guns N Roses for the Reading and Leeds Festivals this year. No confirmed details as of yet but that’s the rumor. Surely if they play the UK in August there’ll be an Irish date for good measure 🙂

Read More @ GNRDaily.com

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UPDATED – 2nd Mar. 2010

Word on the street is, Guns N’ Roses will play Zagreb’s Arena sports hall in Croatia on June 20th

Read More @ The Croatian Times

and GNR Daily

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UPDATED – 19th Feb. 2010

It has now been confirmed that Guns N’ Roses will be playing the Sweden Rock Festival on the 12th of June.

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UPDATED – 18th Feb. 2010

It has just been announced that Guns N’ Roses will be playing Helsinki on June 5th. Tickets go on sale Feb 24th and they’re €89 (Show includes <strong)The Prodigy, Skunk Anansie & Danko Jones)

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Guns N’ Roses first European date of 2010 has been confirmed. It has just been announced that the group will play this year’s Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, which takes place between the 9 – 12 June.

Other acts set to appear included Slayer, W.A.S.P., Gary Moore, Danzig and many more.

Guns N Roses have just completed a thirteen date Canadian leg of their Chinese Democracy World Tour and received an unprecedented amount of praise for the shows. The tour originally started Asia, with the Guns playing four dates across Taipei, Seoul plus two shows in Japan.

With a South American leg set to begin in March, it now seems very likely that Europe will get to enjoy the mighty GN’R long before North America, a country that has allowed a minority of hard core fans to become overly outspoken in their criticisms of lead singer, Axl Rose and the bands activities for the last number of years.

Read more (well, not really) @ Blabbermouth

Until we hear more,

TT out!

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MySpace Review – Low Sea

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


After two or three weeks of almost exclusively reviewing thrash/heavy metal and hard rock, it’s time for a change. There’s a few styles out there that TT are big fans off, yet we’ve written nothing about them. One of those styles is dark, down trodden dance alt rock. I’m sure there’s a much cooler name for it but that’s pour description. So, to remedy this, a certain Galway band by the name of Low Sea have been brought to our attention and really, you don’t get much bleaker and atmospheric than this. Forget trying to write New Order versions of Abba, these guys are in it for real. As accessory sounds go, they’re pretty good.

As usual, we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.

Never Yours is dark, haunting and strangely unavoidable. After a two listens you’ll be compelled to keep listening. If you’ve ever seen Requiem for a Dream you’ll know what we’re talking about. It’s horribly shocking, bleak and more depressing than Holyhead yet, you have to watch it occasionally because underneath there’s something very good about the film. Never Yours may be dark but it’s got a good solid repetitive beat that’s worked for bands like Joy Division, Kraftwork, My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground. Although, to say Low Sea can be compared to any of these acts is a stretch. They write desolate trance rock and they ain’t too bad at it. Not to be listened to if you’re trying to start the weekend buzz or smoking but definitely worth checking out.

Skipping the Velvet Underground cover (as TT doesn’t review covers), we pop on I Know and it opens up a slightly more diverse style. The vocals are delivered in an echoey, haunting style that sits well on top of the noise censored backdrop of music. They basically taken a slow R&B/Soul/alt rock style and layered it with electronica. Again, if you’re in the right mood it’s quite enchanting. If you’re not, wait till you are and then listen.

The Crash is much more a ground beating dance headf**k. Taking the simple beats of Never Yours but upping the intensity with pounding bass drum beats that explode out unexpectedly. Lyrically, the song isn’t grabbing Tickets There. We aren’t that depressed and we don’t wish we were dead but some people like depressing lyrics so, there’s something for everyone. Seriously though, quite a deadly wee number. For TT, the love of dance music comes from the percussion and there’s plenty to like on this one. The vocals and bass combo’s towards the end just sell it. But I think they stole the looped keyboard music from The Who’s Baba O’Riley intro, never a bad thing to sound like the Who though.

Overall, we like it. It’s dark, it’s chilling and it’s convincing. The guys play an awkward, often mediocre and simplified sound but they do it well. The recordings are tight and the changes in the sound keep’s things pretty interesting. You can bank that TT will be finding gout more about this mysterious two-some, Billy and Bobby D.  

Check out their MySpace by Clicking Here

Their debut album, Las Olas  is available now in a super-cool, PiL styled metal box and can be purchased from the bands MySpace page.

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Oliver Cole ‘We Albatri’ Album Launch Announced

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , on February 18, 2010 by Tickets There


Oliver Cole has announced that his debut solo album, We Albatri, will be officially launched in the Sugar Club, Dublin on March 27th.

Posting on his personal FaceBook Page, Ollie also confirmed the launch will be followed by a nationwide tour. Last week, Ollie announced the albums official released date is March 26th.

Track-list and cover art haven’t been released yet but Tickets There will off course follow up as soon as we have more details.

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Tickets There Likes: Whitesnake – Good to be Bad

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2010 by Tickets There


In 2008, Tickets There had the most horrible test of endurance we’d ever faced. Because of our combined love for Def Leppard and KISS, we put ourselves in a position that involved watching eighties hair metal love gods, Whitesnake, five times within the space of two weeks. Does it get any worse?

The first encounter came in Holland. Whitesnake took the stage and we moved within range to get a peak of what was to come over the next few days. Honestly, wasn’t that bad. Is This Love and Here I Go Again put a smile on our faces and hell, some of the unfamiliar songs were even catchy. Alright, could have been worse but four more times?

A week later TT was in Birmingham and so were the Snake. The Holland experience was a festival so there were escapes available but this was an indoor show, so there was no avoiding them. They came on stage, all white shirts, leather, big hair, full of energy and, well, kind of rocked the place. We recognized alot of the set from Holland and tracks like Still of Night, Bad Boys and Ain’t No Love were beginning to drill their way into TT’s mind.

After two more shows in Manchester and Sheffield we were hooked and by the time the last gig in Newcastle came round, we were firm fans. Whitesnake had not only pacified us, they’d turned us into fully fledged devotees and we’ve loved them ever since. When last year’s Def Leppard Dublin show was announced, we nearly wet ourselves with excitement, but when we realized Whitesnake were playing aswell, there was no nearly about it.

Good to be Bad had just been released a few months before the 2008 tour and the band didn’t shy away from playing almost half of it in their shows. Why would they,  it’s a bloody classic! Live highlights such as Best years, Can You Hear The Wind Blow, Good to be Bad and Lay Down Your Love sound as strong on record as they did when Mr. Coverdale, and co were  in the same room blasting them out. Hard, blues arena rock at its best. Best Years was the show opener for most of the gigs so hearing it again is a welcoming dose of nostalgia and happy memories for TT. Can You Hear the Wind Blow’s unmistakable opening riff and Still of the Night-esqu chorus will grab you by the balls but fear not, Whitesnake wouldn’t want to castrate you….. before the albums finished at least.

Lay Down Your Love is one of the best live songs you’ll hear in an arena. The bands classic Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City will have to make room for this little slice of power rock. The bluesy guitars, the riffs, the infectious, unforgiving chorus will all thrust themselves upon you with force.

As for the tracks they didn’t put in the set list, there’s no shortage of material to love. Call On Me (Not that one) and Got What You Need are swaggering, balls out rock classics. All For Love is a guitar driven anthem and it’s just laced with Whitesnake’s classic pop perfection. All I Want All I Need is a hark back to the Is This Love Sound while Summer Rain and Till the End of Time are soft, melodic acoustic numbers. Till The End of Time in particular is a stand out.  Last but not least, A Fool In Love is bluegrass hard arena rock. Built on a tasty blues riff, this one should be played at every show the band do in the future. Coverdale’s voice and Doug Aldrich’s guitars are just so captivating, you’re willing to believe anything they want to sell ya and you won’t be disappointed.

Maybe Leppard owned the world of arena rock in 2008 but honestly, Good to be Bad is the real winner. Leppard’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge was a massive improvement after the Lepp’s let poppy, no joy song writing destroy several of their previous albums but GTBB just skyrocketed Whitesnake back into the hearts of their fans and, as Tickets There can attest to, brought them in some new ones aswell. If you haven’t heard it, we can only say you won’t be disappointed if you pop over to ITunes now and grab it.

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MySpace Review – Forbidden Son

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , on February 16, 2010 by Tickets There


The metal \m/ buzz continues and Cork has become our favorite county for new Irish rock and Metal. In the last few weeks, we’ve found bands like Stone Throwing Youths, Sirocco, Cellar Door, Fingersmith and Beastmen and they’re all pretty full on, original and solid. Today we’re looking at a band that were recommended to us by our good old Twitter pal, http://www.duanedoogan.com/. They’re called Forbidden Son and after a few days on and off listening, we’re happy to say they’re pretty kick ass.

As usual, we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.

Sweetest Symphony kicks off the play list with a good, bruising, overdriven riff and some nice pounding on the drums. The song mixes slow, heavy riffage with speed metal guitar leads and the occasional melodic moment. The vocals are the only thing that sound out of place but after a few goes they grow on you. Tickets There is old fashioned and we like our metal bands to growl (as we’ve mentioned far too many times before) but the style here isn’t too bad, they just need to be louder. Fortunately, rather than focusing on the vocals volume, this mix allows you to hear the true power of the music and that is certainly not a bad thing here.

Second track, Arise is jaw dropping. Starting of slow, the song develops into an eight minute attack of guitars, drums and noise. There ‘s no vocals and no formulated structure. The lead guitars spiral off into their own worlds, spewing out monster metal solo’s at every given opportunity. The intensity of the song only grows as you get deeper in and suddenly eight minutes fly by in seconds. Half way through, the track goes into death metal overdrive and loses all its former before galloping back in the form of a Thin Lizzy styled assault. We generally go into far too much detail about each track we review but words (your words TT, other writers could manage it – Ed) just can’t describe how engrossing this song is. Just as you get used to one part, they flip it about and throw something unexpected your way. There’s folk, thrash metal, death metal, melodies, floating feedback jammin’, dueling guitars and wall to wall double bass drums. The bass isn’t standing out but we think that’s our headphones (made in Cambodia in 1992 Don’t ya know).

Reflect the night’s next up and the band return to the onslaught thrash style TT loves. If we write the word riff one more time this month we’ll be shot but God damn it, you can’t not fall in line with each pounding riff this band deliver. There’s lyrics on this track again but this time they’re stronger and sound much better in the background. Rather than trying to blank them out, they add well to the unbreakable wall of guitars that dominate this song from end to end. Just as you think the band are about to return to drawn out melodic moments, they belt you in the head with the best solo of the bunch. Nice!

Symphony In the Sky begins with the softest and possibly weakest opening of the four tracks. There’s little sign of the guitars, no almighty riffage or pounding….until about a min in when the faint sounds of the double bass and riffs reappear, but not to the extent we’re looking for. The retrained tone continues until about half way through when the music starts to pick up. The solo is pretty full on and the drums play classic military styled metal. Overall though, too wishy washy for TT’s tastes. The vocals hamper the song again rather than aid it and the music is more like trance metal rather than thrash. Synth’s do not help this at all.

Well, despite leaving on a not so high note, it’s a firm thumbs up from Tickets There. They’re playing and ability to write hard hittin’ metal is solid and the guitars, agh the guitars just own everything they touch. Go check out the bands MySpace by Clicking Here and enjoy!

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Rage Against The Machine: Irish Tour Date Announced

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 15, 2010 by Tickets There

Fresh on the heels of their very first U.K. Number 1, Rage Against The Machine have announced They’ll play Dublin’s O2 Arena on June 8th, one day after KISS destroy the place.

Date: 8th June 2010
Venue: O2 Arena, Dublin
Cost: €65.60 – €70.70
Info: Tickets will be on sale this Friday (the 19th) from ticketmaster.ie. Limited to 8 per person. Normal fees apply.

Ticket Detials can be viewed @ This Location and Promo notes can be read @ This Location.

Last week, RATM announced details of a free gig in London’s Finsbury Park on June 6th to celebrate the band beating this years X-Factor finalist (name shall not be mentioned) to the coveted U.K. Christmas Number 1 slot, ending X-Factor’s monopoly on the position. The bands classic, Killing In The Name Of, grabbed the top place after a facebook campaign was started in the UK specifically designed to beat the X-Factor finalist. KITNO reached number 2 in Ireland.

UPDATE – 10:48 (15th Feb)

Tickets will cost you a pretty steep €67.50. If KISS can manage to play the same venue with a much bigger stage show for €49.5, I’d love to know why Rage have to add an additional €20 for their gig. Seems the anti-capitalist group are making Irish fans pay for their English fans free gig.

Check MCD Promotions for more.

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Reborn – Blood & Hell (EP Review)

Posted in EP Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , on February 15, 2010 by Tickets There


Tickets There has been on a total metal buzz recently. We’re not sure what kick started it again but tt could be the fact that Megadeth are coming to Ireland again this year, or the fact that Judas Priest are just too damn good you don’t even want to listen to anything else Or maybe it’s just this simple, heavy metal kicks ass. What ever the reasons, Metal rules and Tickets There is finally discovering the Ireland has a lot of bands that do it well.

One band that does it particularly well is Mayo’s own, Reborn. We only heard these guys for the first time today but man we’re hooked. Their EP, Blood & Hell is pretty much a non-stop, thrashing, heaving monster of a record that delivers riffage up the ass. Opening song Patriot has the gust of a thrash metal classic. The band tightly explode into a frenzied, chaotic, yet structured mesh of riffs, solo’s and some extra crunchy bass for good measure. Play this song once or twice and you’ll be thrashing along within no time.

See the End continues the breakneck thrash speed with some suspended moments that only highlight the bands tightness when then push things into overdrive. Aside from the adrenaline fueled shredding, there’s some incredible soling and changes scattered throughout the track ensuring you don’t confuse this with the watered down verse, chorus, verse, chorus metal songs that are currently favored. The only improvement would be more growls from the singer. Musically the song is perfect and isn’t dragged out but the vocals need more of a sneering, aggressive tone.

Calm of the Storm kicks off with the best opening yet. Things are slowed back before twin lead guitars add some Lizzy-esqe nostalgia to their thrash foundations. The vocals here really need a push but as you can hear on Patriot, the singers still young but he’s getting there. The lead melodies in this song are perfect and remind you of Iron Maidens style. Then there’s the solo and as thrash solo’s go in this country, this is one of the best we’ve heard in awhile! Ah metal, don’t we love it.

The EP closes with Forever Known and it’s possibly the heaviest of the lot. The singers voice shows more signs of cutting loose as the band blister through some tasty riffs, delivered with more talent than you hear in a lot of younger bands. It’s no secret, we love the guitars in this band and given a few years of touring, we expect to hear a lot more from Reborn in the future.

Check out their MySpace now to hear the Blood & Hell EP in full by Clicking Here.

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The Murder Clues – Things That By Myself I Just Can’t Find (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , , on February 15, 2010 by Tickets There


Tickets There is experiencing some nostalgia today.  It may only be two and a half years since we first got drunk, watched Eyebrowy and decided to set up myspace.com/ticketsthere for a goof, but it seems like a hell of a lot longer. One of our earliest memories of the MySpace was befriending a young talented band from North Dublin called Bravado. We’d see the lads compete in the Murphy’s Live 2008 competition against another local Dublin act, Superjimenez. Tickets There was only at the show to see the special guest headliners, The Future Kings of Spain but as soon as the barley legal youngsters took the stage, we were taken aback. They were incredibly young but they played Superjimenez of the stage. We couldn’t believe how good they were, especially since their competitors were a well seasoned band that were still pale in comparison to these school children.

In the end, Branado went on to win that round and the following round but got knocked out in the final by…well, who remembers? Two years on, we decided to revisit the lads and see how they’re getting on and it turns out, there’s been some changes. Firstly, they’ve changed their name to The Murder Clues and they sound a little older but that same upbeat sound is still there. They officially released their first single back in September and we’ve had it on repeat now for about thirty minutes and we’re liking it.

Things That By Myself I Can’t Find is filled with guitar leads, catchy choruses and excellent musicianship. It’s not the cleanest recording in the world but the dirtiness suits the style as the band blare out four minutes of guitar driven indie rock. The lead singer’s (Brian) voice gets stronger and more distinctive with every year that passes and if you’ve seen the man live, you’ll know he casts an imposing front man stance on stage. He controls the crowd well and delivers the songs with as much force as he can muster. The word shy has never been uttered near this guy. As for the band, these guys are tight. There’s no let up or staleness in the track despite its length and style and you could easily see this number topping the charts if it was released by a more established act.

Basically, these guys are on the right track to make a real name for themselves on the music scene. They’re younger than most of the bands out there but they’ve already notched up an impressive amount of experience and it won’t be long before they unleash their full potential.

Check back for a review of the bands new single, Ladies & Headbangers as soon as Tickets There picks up a copy and don’t forget to check out their MySpace to hear Things That By Myself I Can’t Find by Clicking Here!

Annnddd, the single will be launched this Thursday at Andrews Lane Theatre.

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Gig Guide Is Back!!

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 14, 2010 by Tickets There

That’s right folks, the old Tickets There Gig Wall’s have returned (many month after I promised they would).

Every month we’ll e updating out new Gig Guide Page with the best shows we can find in Dublin. Currently we have Feb, March and April 2010 in there but e sure to check for regular updates to all these months and to see future months added on.

We find gigs by trawling though MySpaces, Facebooks, Venue websites, radio websites and other blogs, music sites..etc, etc and it takes time to gather all the details. If you know any good bands playing that you think we’d like, please drop us a message at ticketsthere@hotmail.com and we’ll consider it for inclusion.

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Ash – Command (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , , , on February 14, 2010 by Tickets There

Happy Valentines all. Tickets There was passing no heed of the day until Ash made it extra special by generously releasing single J from the A – Z Series a day Early.

After the highs of Space Shot, Ichiban, Pripyat and Neon, we were half thinking single J would be a disappointment. I mean seriously, how long can any band keep releasing one brilliant single after another for? Well, we can’t answer the last question but fortunately for Ash fans, it still doesn’t look like there’s any stopping them.

Command, the eleventh release of the series, is awesome. No dance beats, no grand piano melodies and no holding back. This is possibly the closest thing to their old sound they’ve released in years. The guitars are loud, heavy and unstoppable. The bass thunders through the track with an incredible crunchiness and Tim’s voice is back to its hard edged style. The chorus, as always, is as catchy as they come and the boys just cut loose on some good old fashioned alt/pop rock.

It may not have the mass appeal of Space Shot but fans will love this one. It’s heavy, fast and hard as nails. It’s very different from any of the other songs in the series and goes back to basics and the lads certainly haven’t lost their talent for writing a rockin’ number when they choose. Tickets There loves this band and every two weeks they’re reminding everyone why we love them so much.

Last week, the band announced they were in the studio recording the second half of the singles for release and the first set (A – M) will be released on CD this April.

See Ash-Official.com for more news and to hear Command (plus all the other tracks released so far)

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Review: The Aftermath – Live @ The Academy (12th Feb, 2010)

Posted in Gig Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , on February 14, 2010 by Tickets There

Tickets There has never been good at arriving on time for anything. We’re so bad at it, people have actually stopped talking to us on different occasions because we’re so damn unreliable at turning up for nights out, days out and anything that involves being somewhere at a certain time. Despite heading straight into town after work to ensure a good two/three hours to get from Tara Station to the Academy, we still only manage to arrive at the venue just as The Aftermath were taking the stage at nine thirty. As TT standards go, that’s not bad.

From the start, The Aftermath are on fire. Johnny, Mick and the boys deliver their hits at rapid speed to ensure they squeeze in as much material as possible before the ten thirty curfew kills the joy. Opening with the classic Are You Not Wanting Me Yet, the lads play a set comprised of material from their highly acclaimed debut, Friendlier Up Here, aswell as tracks from their second album, which the guys are currently recording.

Considering it’s been a couple of years since the album first came out and almost a year since the band last played Dublin, there’s a pretty strong crowd in the Academy tonight and Wish My Love Would Die, Hollywood Remake and Northern Lingerie all help remind people what it is we love so much about this band. After opening with some of their hits, the band lash out some of the newer songs which go over extremely well before blasting into one of their biggest singles, All I Want Is For You To Be Happy which evokes it’s traditional sing along before One Is Fun ends the main half of the set.

Without going through the motions of leaving the stage, the band use every minute they have to play as much material as possible. They kick off their encore with the stomping, heaving weekend anthem, Six Days to Saturday before inviting a friend onstage to perform The Clash’s classic, I Fought The Law (and do a ridiculously good job of it). Before calling it a night, the band finishes things of with a storming rendition of Song of a Graveyard.

It may have been short but the band played a stunning set, thrilling all in attendance. After a very quiet 2009, Tickets There has officially ended it’s gig drought and what better way to do it than see one of Ireland’s most entertaining live acts at the top of their game. Judging by the new material, the lads have a great second album in store for us and hopefully it’s release will see the band get the attention they deserve from Irish people.

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MySpace Review – Swanee River

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , , , on February 12, 2010 by Tickets There

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Friday! Anyone love the fact that this day just never gets’s old? Tickets There always associates Friday with hard rock because it just seems like the perfect day to enjoy the sounds of hard, electric riffs, dirty swaggering vocals and intensity. Like the anticipation for the night to come or something, hard rock just defines the possibilities awaiting you, if you choose to dive in head first.

To celebrate the greatest day of the week, Tickets There has decided to finally review a band we found (with the help of the Soni Festival line-up announcement) a few days ago, The Swanee River. Formed in 2004, the guys are based in Derry and ever since hitting the scene they seem to have picked up a considerable amount of positive press form publications such as Hotpress & Classic Rock (easily the greatest music magazine on the market – except for the fact they’ve gone all ultra-sleek and a tad over photo-shopped and bland) and once again Tickets There is shocked we haven’t heard of them before, really need to start reading about newer bands rather than just focusing on Def Leppard. Anyways, we’re here now and after a hesitant start, it didn’t take long for first song, Take Me Away to, well – take us away (see what we did there?)

As usual, we haven’t seen the band live or heard their record.

After the full frontal rock attack Million$Reload carried out on our ear drums, the opening of Take Me Away didn’t exactly smack us in the face. We’ll happily admit that we were in a total hard rock buzz but fortunately we stuck through and carried on listening, Only forty three seconds later we were hit with one of the best hard rock choruses out there. The verse is stripped back, filled with bass melodies and guitars thrown into the background but once that chorus jumps in, its full speed ahead as the band pile drive ‘s through your speakers. Half way through, the structure changes and the song becomes a much bigger monster than you could have imagined. Rather the repeat the chorus ten times which would have been acceptable, the band break off into swooping gusts of classic rock riffs, guitars solo’s and vocal harmonies. This one goes on the play list.  

Made In The Shade is more of a typical classic rock album track. It’s upbeat and much more relaxed, mellowed out in comparison to Take Me Away. Although the extreme and ‘change’ elements aren’t there, the song remains really enjoyable and easy to listen to. There’s a lovely chill-axed vide to the band’s sound that would keep any rock fan happy.

Third song, Cold opens with a nice crisp blues riff. Overall it’s pretty similar to Made In The Shade except the style is more bluesy, jammy. Not bad at all but hasn’t managed to keep our attention on anywhere near the same level as Take Me Away. Fear not though, we have several more to go.

Travelin’ Man Superband is a heartfelt sing along, blues rock ballad. As ballads go it’s fine but very formulaic. To pull these tracks off properly, Hard rock bands have to add something extra and special to make them stand out. Swanee River have some nice backing vocals, the music flows well and, like all good ballads, you could see some good looking girl sitting at a piano in a dark, fashionable bar on stage with nothing but a piano, pull it off well. The chorus grows on you throughout the track and they don’t drag the harmonies out to the point of exhaustion.

Oh, we missed one, forth song Baby Better Lady sees the lads getting g back to what they do best, balls to the mother f**kin’wall rock! Now, we may have been less enthusiastic about some of the bands material but that’s really only because we want lots of Baby Better Ladies rather than seventies arena rock. Baby Better Lady is a heart racing, foot stomping heavy anthem. The guitars jump straight back to the front where they belong, the chorus is fist raising catchy fun and once again the band thrown in some nice changes half way though. The solo is one of the best we’ve heard in a good while and the singers vocals just jump from extreme to another. One second they’re cool, Paul Rodgers style and next minute Axl Rose is sticking a mike stand up your ass. Brilliant track!

Don’t Follow Me is second last and it’s an acoustic blues country number. This is actually a song we spent most of Wednesday listening to due to a mixture of trying to remember what it reminded us of and because it’s just a nice, cool song. Stevie Horner’s vocals are just incredible, not just here but on all the tracks. The different styles, notes and speeds he’s able to reform at are a credit and the band’s music perfectly suits his voice. Real easy going song to chill out to.

Richter Scale brings us to the end of our play list and to finish things off, the band perform a melody of Gilbert O’Sullivan hits with pan pipes….do they fu*k. Richter Scale is a toe tappin’, shot drinking slice of Louisiana bourbon, heavy pounding rock n roll. It’s actually a sweet mix of styles like those heard on Baby Better Lady and Made in the Shade. Heavy, fast rock n roll with all the jam, funk and ‘coolness’ of the seventies sound the band play so well.

Listening to these guys will make you happy. If you’re already happy, they’ll make you pumped, make you walk straight out of work, go find a bar, flip off the bar man, stick on a CD, up the volume and rock out for the day. Now ya can’t ask for any more than that on a Friday can ya?

Check out their MySpace now by Clicking Here!

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New Humanzi Album: Due out February 26th!!

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on February 11, 2010 by Tickets There


Once again Hotpress out does us, but this time we don’t mind. Tickets There favorites Humanzi are finally set to digitally release their long delayed, long overdue but highly anticipated second album, Kingdom of Ghosts on February 26th.

After spending the last two years recording the album in East Berlin, it looks like we’re finally going to see the return of one of Ireland’s most promising acts. The first single from the album, Bass Balls was released on 7” last August and plans to release the album on a physical format are hopefully in the works.

You can bet your life Tickets There will have more information soon.

**UPDATED – 12 – Feb – 2010**

In a blog posted on the bands MySpace, the band has confirmed that the album will be released worldwide on the 26th through ITunes and, that a CD formatt will be released in Ireland for a limited run. We’ll get more as soon as we can.

Check out Bass Balls, Straight Lines and another new tune on their MySpace.

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MySpace Review – The Black Strands

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2010 by Tickets There


Last week things were pretty bleak on the review front. With no requests from bands and nothing showing up on the radars, we were saved at the last minute with Million Dollar Reload. Since then the floodgates have opened and we have a list again.

Formed in early 2009, The Black Strands (formally Rotovibe….but not anymore thank god) are a group we’ve been listening to and loving for a few days. After less than a year together, the band have amassed a tidy collection of psychedelic / Alterative rock tracks that resemble a sound you’d imagine Shaun Ryder, The Stone Roses, Oasis and The Velvet Underground would come out with. Although there are elements of all these bands styles, the Black Strands have harnessed them perfectly so they come together to make a very pleasant, unique array of sounds.

As usual, we’ve never seen the band live or heard their album.

Demo’s! Demo’s and samples are generally things we avoid but after one listen to the first track, Here it Comes (All Around You), we were hooked. The vocals are straight out of the Madchester post punk / alt rock scene. The music is like The Stone Roses playing rough doom indie with trimmings of drug inducted splendors coming at you from all angles. It’s dirty, raw and dark. We like it!

Shine Your Light has more of an upbeat tone about it. This is helped by the vocals changing on going down a more Verve/ Richard Ashcroft direct. The added charm of Indian styled instruments worked for The Beatles and always helps this kind of sound become a little more mystical and transcendent. Wholes things topped off by a nice feedback filled ending. Another one we like. The future’s bright, the futures Black!

Before the Light Fades throws another darker sounding style in our path. Musically it’s a mix of both the songs we’ve heard before with a faster pace. Rather than suspended changes and restrained energy, Before the Light Fades is a stomper. It’s fiery and dark with a bleak with a constantly building chorus. Great song but now it’s time for one of the best openings we’ve heard this year. Opening with a snippet of audio from The Wicker Man,   Come Alive (Leave This City) is an upbeat, indie styled track that could, with a little bit of rework, become an anthem. The chorus is infectious; the guitars are on hand to deliver some of those killer driving alt rock riffs and there’s some very basic but perfect indie drumming to round it off. This one’s more along the lines of Joy Division covering Oasis. We love variation and we love this band. Also, the organ adds a nice touch.

Sweet Salvation’s up next and it’s another full on rock icon styled anthem. Very Door’s / velvet underground influenced in its composer but alt rock in its style. It’s a serious song that doesn’t drag on too long and just gets stronger and stronger with each listen. Next song, Last Stand on the other hand is full on country rock. Hank Williams III meets Desperado. No more than Sweet Jane, I’m not sure how these guys came to write songs like this so well. Normally this perfection is held by the American and English musicians that created it based on the life around them. The Black Strands must be immersed in these scenes to be able to pull these tracks off so well. There’s no shortage of new instruments coming into the fray, no shortage of styles and, well – nothing they can’t do it seems.

Demons Gold brings is to the second last track of their extensive playlist. It may only be eight songs but after six you’ll already feel that you’ve listened to a wealth of bands and it just keeps going. Demons Gold is one we haven’t quite placed our finger on yet. It’s similar to structure and style to Shine Your Light Fades and the closest thing to a Stone Roses track they have on MySpace, perhaps the title is even a nod to the Roses, Fools Gold. The riff towards the end harks back to the Manic Street Preachers late-nineties success days. Not a bad song, but not on par with the others. Then again, it’s a demo, not a final cut.

Final song Become closes one of the best MySpace Playlists you’ll find. It’s atmospheric, heavy and filled with more guitars than the other seven combined. Nice, very nice!

 We’ve been very fortunate to find alot of great bands recently and these guys are right up in the top three. If you like any of the bands mentioned then you’re sure to love The Black Strands. Check out their MySpace by Clicking Here!

In the meantime, Tickets There is heading back for more. Until next time, TT out.

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The Aftermath Live @ Academy 2 Tomorrow Night!

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , on February 11, 2010 by Tickets There

Mullingar, Longfords and Leeds leading legendary pop rock outfit, The Aftermath are coming to Dublin tomorrow night.

For a measly €12 on the door of The Academy 2, you can experience some of the finest sing along guitar pop classics that this country’s produced since The Stunning. Their 2008 debut album, Friendlier Up Here was chock full of irresistibility catchy, fun anthems and with the lads currently recording their second record, you might get a chance to get a sneak peak at their new material.

Honestly, The Aftermath are a fantastic group and as Friday nights in town go, you’re not going to beat these guys for sher full on entertainment and excellent musicianship. With songs like Are You Not Wanting Me Yet, One if Fun, Hollywood Remake, All I Want Is For You To Be Happy, Northern Lingerie and Joyful Mystery there’ll be no shortage of enjoyment.

Date: 12th February 2010 (Tomorrow!)
Venue: The Academy 2
Tickets: €12

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MySpace Review – The Cold 100

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , , on February 11, 2010 by Tickets There


What is it with brand new, never heard of before bands filling their MySpace players with samples? It gets a tad annoying when ever you find a band that sound pretty decent and the song cuts off just before it gets going. Obviously in their heads they think ‘people will hear this, have to hear more and we’ll be millionaires’. Unfortunately, this may not always have the desired approach. We can’t count (they know – Ed) how many bands we’ve found with samples instead of full songs that we’ve just dismissed from the review series despite their songs showing real quality. We always think to ourselves that we’ll check them out properly when we have the chance but unfortunately, we don’t most of the time.

In the essence of real reviewing and reporting, we’ve decided to fire ahead with one such band that do show real potential to be a major force on the scene, The Cold 100. Three songs, first two are samples but the third is full and well, enchanting.

As usual we’ve never seen the band live or heard their record (and I think we forgot to write that on the Million$Reload article so this covers them aswell)

Formed in 2007 by Simon Delaney and rhythm guitarist Mark Walsh, The Cold 100 play flat out blues rock, simple as. They fuse classic sixties / seventies rock with classic American blues. First song Red Headed Woman sums it all up. Choopy riffs littered with unique lead offshoots. A pronounced funked up bass and some smooth, classic rock styled blues drumming. Si’s vocals suit the style perfectly and they really come to fruition during the chorus and then…..then, the preview ends. Well, it may be just over a minute but it’s more than enough to keep you listening.

Just Want Your Love is similar in many ways to Red Headed Woman. The vocals are less stand out but the bass just blasts off into its own world of belting funk. The psychedelic styled guitar intro is something you’ll want to hear more and more off and hopefully the complete version of the song unveils a little more of their guitarist talent.

Finally we come to the only complete song on the play list. Start Again is a ballad. The opening is similar to several other songs you’ll have heard in your life but to hell with it, they do it well. It’s in this song the singers vocals stand out the most. What ever way they’ve done the mix it’s dropped the singer’s voice in the background a lot but then again, this was true for a lot of blues rock bands and it just works. The chorus is catchy, there’s still blues melodies scattered about the whole song. Overall it’s a pretty relaxed wee rock number that just works exceptionally well.

End result we’re very pleased we didn’t let the samples throw us off The Cold 100. Their stripped back, easy going blues style is extremely pleasing on the ears and any band with this much talent that isn’t trying to write Killers rip offs is fine in our books.

Well worth checking out so visit their MySpace by Clicking Here!

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IRISH NOISE! – Lluther: In the Dollhouse / King of Nothing (Single Reviews)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, Single Review with tags , , , , , , , on February 10, 2010 by Tickets There


Three years since the release of their debut album, Lluther are back! After a long quiet period, the band are ready to reemerge with a hard hittin’, heavy rock second album, Rise of the Reptile King. Today the band release the second single from the album, King of Nothing. Their first single, In The Dollhouse came out last month and much to Tickets There’s dismay We only heard about it today from our old rivals (who we’re beating in the hits war by the way. Push it guys – Ed) Hotpress. After fierce negotiations, some sackings and knee delivered apologies, Tickets There has decided to review both songs and save face,

In The Dollhouse is a terrific, building piece of rock music. Imagine Monster Magnet, Marilyn Manson and Scott Weiland writing a song and you’ll get close. There are so many different styles as the song moves from sustained melodies and echoing vocals to hard edged guitars and explosive changes. Each listen brings new love for the song and as first singles go, this is a pretty good sign of things to come.

King of Nothing is a totally different monster altogether. It’s like hard rock meets funk as synth/guitar riffs build the bridges while vocals intertwine throughout leaving the drums do their best to let you know what direction the foot stomping, C.A.F. (Catchy as F**k) chorus is going in. The guitars are nastier, the vocals are clearer, the production, playing, writing everything is just brilliant. While In The Dollhouse may take one or two listens to really warm up to, King of Nothing will drill straight into your playlist and stay there until you nuke the damn thing out.

Although there’s only a sample of the next two singles, Rise of the Reptile King and Femme Fatale up, they both sound like they’d rock the bollocks of a mammoth so expect a follow up review as soon as we have the album and/or when the songs come out.

Jez, after the amazing stuff we heard from Million$Reload, Tickets There didn’t think anyone else could come close but by God there’s some savage stuff going on in the  Lluther camp. This will be an album well worth picking up and loving.

Catch them when they play Dublin’s, The Button Factory on March 27th

Check out these songs and more at the bands MySpace by Clicking Here.

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MySpace Review – Million Dollar Reload

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2010 by Tickets There


Finally, Tickets There has found the band we’ve been looking for. After 76 MySpace Reviews, multiply that by 10 for the number of bands we’ve actually checked out as review candidates and the countless others we’ve come across in our seven or eight years as fans of Irish music. Million$Reload, in our opinion, are possibly the best Irish hard rock band that’s emerged from the emerald isle since Thin Lizzy. That might be actually be pushing it but right now, Tickets There is hard pushed to think of any other band that comes this close to perfecting one of the most exciting, hard edged sounds in modern music.

Hailing from Co. Tyrone, Million Dollar Reload formed in 2005 and released their debut album, Anthems of a Degeneration in 2007. The record seems to have received massive amounts of praise from major music publishers and critics from all across the U.K. and Ireland. They’ve toured with the likes of Alice Cooper and Gilby Clarke and some of the members were apparently involved with legendary Guns N Roses tribute band, Gunz N Rozes. This may help explain the bands incredible talent at writing four (and hopefully alot more) of the best hard rock anthems we’ve heard in many a year. Even Scottish hard rock act Wired Desire would have trouble competing with the sher perfection displayed by M$D.

Kicking things off is Livin’ In The City. What can you say? Blistering, assaulting, catchy, savage, cutting, riffage fueled monster? All the terms we’ve used before fail in the task of describing how kick ass this song is. It swaggers like Stephen Tyler in the seventies and hits harder than Lemmy would in a brawl. The song is just so full on and full of guitars and gritty street rock vocals. All this considered, it’s possibly the weakest song on the playlist. It begins!

Goodnight NewYork is everything Livin’ In The City was and more. The guitars are like something handpicked from an AC/DC anthem. The riffs are unrelenting in their power and the changes, hooks, choruses, bridges everything are just fantastic. The vocals on the chorus just pull the song up so many notches you’d swear you were in the Himalayas…the Himalayas of rock! (Jesus, seriously TT? ‘The Himalayas of rock’! Pity your writing doesn’t match the bands – Ed)

When we first ran through the tracks, third song – The Last Icon sounded a little dodgy. There’s always some element of reeking cheese with bands that try to write this sort of a song, but fear not as the band pull it off with exceptional style. The Last icon is a tribute to fallen rock legends such as Bon Scott (AC/DC), Elvis Presley (The King – Bitches!) and John Lennon (Hippie).  The intro is compiled from recordings of news reports from the days of Presley and Lennon’s deaths and the song starts off far more melodic and stripped back than the previous numbers. Before you think ‘here comes another Nickelback’, the band spice things up and some added riffage and attitude turn the song from Swiss Approved Product to thoroughly enjoyable, respectable slice of hard rock balladry.

Last but certainly not least, is the hard stomping, heart beating, fist belting anthem, show closer, curtain stopped, encore bound Fire Your Guns. Gritty, dirty, nasty vocals delivered with incredible force. Singer Phil possibly has the best hard rock voice of any band Ireland’s ever produced but the talent doesn’t stop there. Bam and Andy’s guitars give the song that razor slicing edge all good hard rock bands need. Their solo’s, riffs, melodies agh, everything is just amazing. The drums are just constantly smashing the hell out of everything and a pumped up bass completes Tickets There’s current favorite Irish hard rock group’s lineup. Fire Your Guns is just so incredibly full on and as catchy as Hell’s express train. Highway to hell? More like Armageddon marching hordes on the Autobahn to hell’s centre.  

Final opinion? Well, they’re alright. I mean, if you want to hear some of the best hard rock songs that have ever come out of Ireland, possibility the world, then I guess you could check them out. Every second their album isn’t in our hands we become more and more depressed. The more we realize we haven’t seen this band in their five years together we become depressed. This is a band worth checking out, loving, praising, financing, following and hyping up. Hell, these guys are so good they’re worth you heading out and building your own venue just so you can see book them.

Go check them out right now and don’t let them slip by your life for another second. CLICK HERE FOR PARADISE CITY!

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Guns N’ Roses: More South American Tour Dates Announced

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , , on February 9, 2010 by Tickets There


Fresh on the heels of an extremely successful Canadian and Asian tour, legendary rock icons and Tickets There favorites Guns N’ Roses have announced a slew of tour dates in South America.

After weeks of unconfirmed rumors circulating around the net, the news is now…almost official and the current set of definite dates can be viewed below.

Rumors of a summer/Autumn US Tour have now gone into overdrive as the band steadily proves to the world that they are back with a vengeance.

Mar. 07 – Brasília, Brazil – Ginásio Nilson Nelson
Mar. 10 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil – Ginásio Jornalista Felipe Drumond (Mineirinho)
Mar. 13 – São Paulo, Brazil – Palestra Itália Stadium
Mar. 14 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Praça da Apoteose
Mar. 16 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Ginásio Gigantinho
Mar. 18 – Montevideo, Uruguay – Estadio Centenario
Mar. 20 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Estadio River Plate
Mar. 22 – Santiago, Chile – Club Hipico de Santiago
Mar. 25 – Lima, Peru – La Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental
Mar. 30 – Bogotá, Colombia – Simón Bolívar Park
Apr. 01 – Quito, Ecuador – Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa

Photo © HankDPhoto (GnrDaily.com)

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DeFt Leppard: Do You Wanna Get Rocked?

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , , on February 9, 2010 by Tickets There

Europe’s Leading Def Leppard tribute band, Deft Leppard are coming to Dublin!

On February 19th, they’ll rock the hell out of Eden Quay’s, The Pint – when they cover hits from Leppard iconic catalogue including Pour Some Sugar on me, Rocket, Action, Photograph, Love Bites, RUN RIOT, Too Late For Love and many, many more.

The band also play Belfast’s Empire on Feb 20th.

From personal experience, Tickets There can guarantee you a brilliant night. These guys really have the Leppard style and sound nailed down and since the Real Lepp’s are taking 2010 off, this is the closest you’ll get to the real McCoy any time soon.

Pop over to the bands office website for more: Deft Leppard.com

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