Tickets There HY GIY?: The Aftermath – Friendlier Up Here

Posted in Album Review, Hy-Giy, Music with tags , , , , , on August 17, 2009 by Tickets There

FriendlierUpherecover

I May have been a bit harsh on this new series, maybe it’ll work and here to help me road test its second outing is The Aftermath and their debut album Friendlier Up Here.  This is one of those albums I’m very surprised Tickets There hasn’t found a way to review before but first, a little bit of background.

Hailing from the fine towns of Longford, Leeds and Mullingar, The Aftermath have been working overtime for the last few years gigging every single chance they get in order to make a name for themselves. Their live performance is always fantastic and the Johnny Cronin is every bit a classic rock front man. Thankfully the band don’t sulk and stare down when on stage and they also don’t hide behind a pile of hats, masks, gimmick’s or any of the other shite most Irish bands try. It’s just them and the music and that’s all you need folks. Friendlier Up Here was released last year and has received a massive load of critical success. Unfortunately The Aftermath are one of those Irish bands that RTE scouts haven’t picked up yet (may your heads be struck from your shoulders) and this is one of the reasons the band haven’t achieved the commercial success they truly deserve.

Opening with the infectiously catchy Are You Not Wanting Me Yet?, the band explode into a semi-psychedelic/Beatles driven kind of sound that comes nicely packaged as a heavy, upbeat array of sounds. Really, really, really catchy. I Wish My Love Would Die is a strange choice for a second song after such a full on opener…but it works, works so well in fact that the massive difference in sounds highlights each other qualities and the bands ability to diversify their talent rather than play on one strength. Northern Lingerie is pure pop-rock at its finest. Another dance floor filling, slightly psychedelic riff’s played by a rock guitarist (of you catch my drift. Imagine Oasis playing The Velvet Underground). Nice, slow and once again, extremely catchy. All I Want For You Is To be Happy is one of the bands lead singles and a firm fan favorite. It’s a little slower than their other dancy songs and it’s just a lovely piece of music, probably because it’s clean cut and believable. There’s no bitches or bling bling. There’s also no decaying rats are antichrist mentions but it’s also not The Script.

Another single One is Fun is probably the bands best live track. Really upbeat, really melodic and full of crackin’ beats and changes. (Yes I’m rushing through this because my MP3 is about to die and I want to listen to each track while I’m writing about it). Overlooking Paris is the bands strongest love song. The style and tones are completely different to everything else on the album and the added accordion and string backing makes it all the more special. Haunting would be the best way to describe the atmosphere for this one. Up and Down with the Aftermath is a nice, short instrumental  that leads into another heavy number, Need. Really fast guitars and drums and a great hark back to the days of Brit-pop.  There’s a Darkness is another one of the albums strongest tracks and by this time you start to wonder how the hell this album hasn’t made it to number one? Hollywood Remake, Joyful Mystery, Tickets There’s personal favorite Six Days to Saturday and Song of a Graveyard follow  and expand the albums incredible stock pile of tracks.

If you haven’t bought it already, go and get it now.

Leave a comment »

Tickets There: HY-GIY (Have You Got It Yet) Future Kings of Spain – Nervousystem

Posted in Album Review, Hy-Giy, Music with tags , , , on August 17, 2009 by Tickets There

future-kings-of-spain-nervousystem

Hmmm, not sure about the title for this series. I like the fact the initials spell Hy Giy (Hi Guy for all you slow folk) but I just don’t know. Wouldn’t mind if someone came on and said it sucks, then I could go back to the drawing board and dream it all up again.

Anyways, this series is similar to the Tickets There Likes one except it will focus solely on a handful of Irish albums we consider to be the best in the new millennium. First up is The Future Kings of Spain’s second output, Nervousystem. Now, personally I consider the Future Kings of Spain Irelands best act on the go at the moment. Closely followed by Jape, Humanzi, The Aftermath and Concerto for Constantine. I know I’ve made no secret of this but hey, if you want diversity and underground bla, bla, ego, go check out Una Rocks or Niallier9, plenty of pretention and nonsense over there to keep you occupied for the rest of your life. Anyways, enough bitching about other music blogs. They get a lot more hits and mentions than Tickets There so they must be doing something right.

So back to the Kings. Well, their debut came out in 2003 and it was great. Then they had record label issues which was shit. Then they nearly broke up which was even more shit. Finally they managed to pull things together, work out their issues and release their second album in 2007. Was it worth the four year wait? You’re damn right it was and I encourage any of you who bought album two years ago to take it of your shelf and give it another listen because it’s not a record that should be forgotten.

Kicking things of is Guess Again. Not a bad song, good riff but Tickets There got a little sick of this track a long time ago.  One More Mistake is next and it’s easily the closest thing to a grunge classic any Irish band I’ve heard has ever managed (except Ash’s A Life Less Ordinary which is, I’ll happily admit, a better tune). Vocals and guitars are nice and dirty during the verse and the constant bridges, breaks and extras all combine nicely in the ear drum shattering chorus. Joey Wilson has a savage voice that’s both believable and reckless.  I don’t like the very start of This Is the End but the song has a great overall feeling, nice anthem kind of tune. Lost and Found is a real smooth, atmospheric number with some lovely melodies, harmonies and changes. There’s a real air of restraint during the first part and you’re just waiting for the song to explode into its full form. Syndicate is has much the same feeling as Lost and Found except it’s on a much grander scale. Without a doubt the Kings flagship masterpiece. Simple, complex, light, heavy…everything really and a great video to accompany it. At nearly eight minutes in length, it’s astonishing the band manage to keep the song as interesting and evolving as it is.  Each verse and bridge brings something new into the fold and every chorus whips them all together to deliver the classic FKOS hard hitting style in as much force and energy as anything else out there.

Kick in the Teeth is another good, simple track. Slow, heavy and beating is the best thing I can say about it…in a good way. Another classic pops up next in the form of You Dream in Solid Gold. The Kings talent for writing this kind of track is unparalleled in this country and it’s a style that really can be attributed to them. Nineteen Eighty One brings more guitars and pounding drums back into the fold as melodic lead’s hover in the background behind one of the albums best chorus lines and a good heavy riff. Chemical Burn is one of the actual ‘album tracks’ on Nervousystem. Very simple and catchy but nothing too classic here except a great chorus. This Song is one of the slowest the band have ever done and sounds a little like something the Foo Fighters could come up with. In saying that, The Foo Fighters didn’t and the FKOS did so it’s there’s. Very moody and grungy and a nice penultimate number before I Disappear comes raging in to show Nervousystem isn’t one bit short of great tracks.

Overall a great album (that’s why I’m writing about it). If you want to hear a great Irish band playing great music, you could do a hell of a lot worse than the FKOS. Readi ng over this piece, I’m not entirely happy with it so I’m not sure how many more I’ll do. Thankfully, Tickets There isn’t one to waste over 800 words so this one’s going up anyways.

All the best, Tickets There

Leave a comment »

MYSPACE REVIEW – CLASS OF 1984

Posted in Music, MySpace Review with tags , , , , , on August 15, 2009 by Tickets There

090815_classof1984

Finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for, Class of 1984 have added some tracks to their MySpace. I remember hearing a few before and they weren’t bad, weren’t bad at all so without the usual never ending string of bullshit, you know the ‘oh god it’s so late’ or ‘Tickets There is happy today’. Who cares if Tickets There is happy, who cares if he’s jacking off, just shut the fuck up about the grammar and spelling mistakes, the tired old style of writing and your loathing for all things Fight Like Apes and get the fuck on with it. Ehm…well excuse me, but my die-hard fans (mum) happen to like all that so back off!!

Haven’t heard EP or seen. You know the drill.

Yes! Lights Out is first and a nice heavy guitar riff gets things going. Vocals are fairly high pitched (not Muse or Cheech and Chong high, but good). Things are a little slow when nothing really changes after a minute and 30 seconds but then the drums kick in a little more to liven things up. This sounds like a nice album opener but wont look as promising unless (oh, badly out of tune sounding solo burst, yikes) if they cant follow with something alot better. All eyes fall on second track Honey to pick the initial enthusiasm back up. Well it’s better, not too fast but the mildish heavy. Think of the Strokes meets the Stooges and it’s nothing like that. Ah honestly it’s not that exciting but I know they have better in tem. The chorus is fairly catchy and the riff is a good beating type of one. Still though, interest isn’t being held.

Now, third track X It Out sounds like a piece of music on a mission of Leon proportions. A good riff with alot more character than any of the others out together. Good catchy chorus that sounds like an eighties classic covered by a punk band. Nit bad, certainly top of the list so far. Forth and final track Big Time is alot more composed. There’s more melody and the singer vocals stand out much better here tan any where else. Good stompy kind of beat to it, nice. This is one of those tracks I actually sat back and listened to and it’s damn fine, very very good. Long but holds it’s strength all the way through which is more than you can say for most of the acts out there.

Overall not bad. The last two songs are te strongest te band have posted but I remember hearing much better ones before. Ah well, just means I may have to go out and buy an album. That’ll make a nice change.

Check Out their MySpace HERE

Leave a comment »

The Stars are Underground – Complete Film

Posted in Music with tags , , , , on August 15, 2009 by Tickets There

l_ec3d0db1bd0f3fbf3443543d96b85710

Thirteen years ago, Dublin director Daragh McCarthy made a low budget, 24 minute film about the underground music scene in the capital at that time. The film shows some terrific acts that have sadly disappeared but it remains a testament to the hard work, time and effort these bands, and others like them put in.

Enjoy,

Check out the films official MySpace page for more details on where you can find a DVD copy of the film – http://www.myspace.com/thestarsareunderground

l_4637646db10c4341d67a4b5ca91ade4e

Leave a comment »

Future Kings of Spain – One More Mistake

Posted in Music with tags , , , , on August 15, 2009 by Tickets There

Well Dublin’s finest have another video out. The Future Kings of Spain have released a great ‘live’ styled video for the grunge fuelled One More Mistake, that brings the band back to basics after their foray into the film world with Syndicate. Great track and nice video, check it out.

and while you;re at it, check out Syndicate. It;s a savage track and a fucking brilliant video,

Both songs come from 2007’s Nervousystem

1 Comment »

FRIDAY!!!

Posted in General Tickets There Blog with tags , on August 14, 2009 by Tickets There

Tickets There is very, very happy Friday has finally come. Expect a few new MySpace Review’s this weekend. Have a good evening all.

l_ccf17d7cc3a1e2708562ab004d43af4d

Leave a comment »

R.I.P. Les Paul (1915 – 2009)

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music with tags , , , , , , on August 13, 2009 by Tickets There

les_Paul

The legend behind the iconic Gibson Les Paul has just passed away and Tickets There wanted to commemorate his passing by showing a handful of our favourite guitarists that have used his guitar. I never knew a whole pile about Mr. Paul but I’ve loved his guitar since I fist saw a picture of Slash from a live show many, many years ago. In fact, I think the reason I started playing guitar in the first place was so one day I’d be worthy of purchasing and owing a Studio Classic model (that day hasn’t come yet but I did buy a lovely Epiphone LP).

Anyway, R.I.P. Les, you gave rock N roll one of it’s finest assets.

Leave a comment »

Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – Adrenalize

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , on August 9, 2009 by Tickets There

1d04f72aaf3aa9a0a3787d2f41f41b32

What? You were expecting the third Def Leppard Likes to be about Hysteria? Sorry, one more to cover first. Adrenalize gets a very special place in my heart as it’s the very first album I ever owned. This is the mother of all my music tastes and the big bang that caused the chain of events that have shaped the way I live my life ever since. Although the album isn’t generally regarded by fans as one of the bands best, it is. Think I’m a little biased saying that? Well I quite obviously am but I also truly believe it.

I was being driven back to boarding school by my mum one day in March 1992, just after my eighth birthday. It was a dark, wintery Sunday night and out of no where my mum produced this cassette and asked me what I thought of it. She put it on the stereo and we listened to it the whole way up to Dublin. The cassette was (quite obviously) Adrenalize and I loved every bit of it. Let’s Get Rocked what so full of attitude and so cool how could you not love it at eight years old. Leppard were also an interesting choice for first band. They had a drummer with one arm and that seemed very normal for some reason. At the time I imagined that metal bands were so hard most of them probably had missing limbs and it didn’t bother them (eight people, don’t judge). They had a legendary guitarist that had just died the year before and a back catalogue so juicy it was unrealistic. Over the next three months, my mum bought copies of Hysteria and Pyromania and every week we’d listen to Leppard solidly for the three and a half hour drive to Dublin and home on Fridays. I also managed to get a walk man and a copy of all three albums to keep a school where I quickly became the coolest kid in class for about a month because I had a tiny little leather jacket (which I still have) and listened to rock bands.

After three months of almost solid Leppard devotion (Meatloaf had managed to slip in aswell, not to mention the awesome Guns N Roses), I was brought to the Point Depot to see my very first rock concert. Def Leppard’s 7-Day-Weekend tour came to the Ireland and it saw the band play completely in the round. You can read more about that here – Click Here

Anyways, Adrenalize. If you didn’t like it or haven’t heard it, I suggest sitting down and listening to the mighty Personal Property (that guitar solo ugh!!), Stand Up, Tear It Down, Heaven is or I Wanna Touch You and experience pop rock at it’s very finest. Hard n loud guitars, monster riffs and anthems enough to win a war.

Then there’s White Lightening, the bands tribute to the late Steamin’ Steve Clark. Steve died in January 1991 and his death marked a major shift in Leppards sound and song writing. Adrenalize is the last Leppard record of it’s kind and White Lightening is a great tribute to the man who made their early albums so special.

I stick Adrenalize on now knowing it’s not as great as I praise it to be, but listening to those songs brings back memories of the early days of discovering music and discovering a new band you can still love as much as ever seventeen years later is a very special thing for everyone.

What’s yours?

Leave a comment »

Tickets There Likes: Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion I

Posted in Album Review, Music, Ranting, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , on August 8, 2009 by Tickets There

GnR--UseYourIllusion1

There is one band in the world that has always come close to beating Def Leppard to the top spot in my all time favorites.  A band that I consider to be the greatest hard rock band of all time. I first discovered Guns N Roses in 1992, just a couple of months after Def Leppard when an older brother of one of my friends leant me the Use Your Illusion 1I& II albums in boarding school. Knowing that I was a Leppard and Meatloaf fan, I think he wanted someone else to share the mighty Guns with since everyone else had never heard of any rock bands. I remember trying Use Your Illusion I first because I preferred the cover and was instantly blown away by the sher force of the Axl’s voice and the guitars. I’d never heard anything like this and all of a sudden Leppard didn’t hold the holier than though pedestal I’d placed them on. Shortly after I managed to get copies of the alums from a traveller outside Mullingar at a wee market at some roadside restaurant like the covert and Guns were firmly brought into my life.

Aside from Adrenalize, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an album so much in my life. Use Your Illusion I oozes sleazy Rock N Roll and as I got older, I understood more and more of the ands lyrics an hidden connotations. It was like an album that grew more and more mature with age and that’s the prime reason it never got left on the shelf when new bands came into my life. Despite being as big of a fan as I was, I’d never even heard about Appetite for Destruction or Lies and wouldn’t discover them for another  eight or nine years. Even when Appetite did come along, it’s never managed to replace Illusion 1 as my favorites; even now I can listen to that album and enjoy it as much as I ever did.

Before getting into the songs (and honestly, I don’t write these to try and review the greatest songs in my life. If you don’t know them there isn’t much point in you reading these), I should say that to appreciate the Guns, you really need to look at their career rather than just their music. Think of them like The Sex Pistols and you will understand Rock N Roll like the Pistols make you understand the true meaning of punk. Rock n Roll is meant to be an attitude more than the music. It’s that attitude that defines real rock n roll rebellion. It’s not anarchy, it’s lazy. It’s about doing what ever you like and not letting anyone tell you otherwise. Yeah it sounds cliché but that’s what it’s all about and if there is one man in rock who lives up to every single word of that, it’s W. Axl Rose.

Axl has never and will never do what record companies, fans, and mates, family or the press expect, pressure or beg him to do. Yes I’m sure there are all these underground guys who do the same but I’m sorry, Axl is the one with the millions under his belt and he still does what he likes and makes it work at his level. He didn’t give up after the Illusion and release one watered down alum after another for the following twenty years. He also didn’t go out of his way to keep the classic line-up happy and he continued Guns N Roses in his own way with the whole world laughing at him. Even the rock press and diehard fans failed to see the brilliance behind his methods and still today the fans that claimed to stand behind him still bitch log and beg for tours, special edition albums and music videos all the while their forgetting that none of these things will make the bands latest album Chinese Democracy any better. Axl is a musician who’s quite happy to let the music speak for its’ self. If anyone else did it and said that’s what they were doing, the world would cherish them and praise their musical integrity but unfortunately for Axl, they lampoon him.

Well I hope you will read this and look on Axl more favorably. He is not a front man interested in keeping old fans happy by travelling the world selling a decaying shell of a once great line-up, who’s former members have gone on to destroy their legacy’s and tarnished their images as the rocks leading hell raisers (except Izzy). He’s doing what he wants, how he wants to do it and any fan of rock n roll out there who criticizes, laughs or attacks him for this hasn’t got  fucking clue what rock n roll is all about. You’d be better of buying your Motorhead t-shirts in Top Shop and singing along with Summer of 69 when it’s one and leave it at that because Rock has enough posers already.

Anyways, Use Your Illusion I eh, great album. What else can I say?

2 Comments »

Tickets There Likes: KISS – KISS

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2009 by Tickets There

Kiss_first_album_cover

“Turn it up, this is my attitude, take it or leave it”

OK, this is the third time I’ve tried writing this introduction. The first 1,000 word draft will now go towards a politics in music blog I’ll try and publish this weekend. The second was 500 words that took the quote above and harped on and on about the underlining simplicity in Rock n Roll and the destruction caused by ego’s and money. Those words have now been deleted and it’s time to talk about the hottest band in the world, KISS.

I first discovered them while watching a wee film called Detroit Rock City in 1999. I had heard of the seven foot icons from magazines and seen pictures but didn’t actually know what they sounded like until I’d seen the movie. Ninety minutes later I was on the phone to the Record Room in Sligo asking them to order in KISS and Destroyer. When I picked up the albums I could hardly contain myself. Fortunately I had taped DRC and spent a week watching it over and over again, thanking god for opening my eyes to one of the greatest bands I’d heard in years. Everything about KISS became appealing. They weren’t pushing politics, they weren’t preaching about charities and they weren’t Radiohead. They dressed up in black costumes, make-up and blew their stages to pieces during live shows. On top of that they played bad ass, catchy as hell rock n roll, sold almost everything in the world as a KISS product and had a bass player who is so full of himself and honest about his views on the world, you’d be foolish not to admire him.

So how should one go about starting their love for the America’s greatest rock n roll band? By buying their debut album off course.

KISS is without a shadow of a doubt one of the bands strongest albums. Opening with the dirty styled Strutter, the band display their talent for catchy hooks, duel guitar leads and riffs, high piercing vocals and lyrics that only grow as the album progresses. Nothin’ to Lose and Firehouse are great little numbers that carry their own little iconic place in KISS’s history and live in Firehouse’s case.  The mighty Cold Gin is one of the bands masterpieces. Pure rock n roll that personifies the bands characters and gives them their true sound. Let me know chirps things up abit while the anathematic Kissin’ Time might act as a deterrent for those of you who don’t already love KISS..so skip that one. Fortunately the best is still to come.

The incredible Deuce brings to a high very few bands can keep going but 100,00 Years and the enormous Black Diamond manage to keep them on a high to close the album with a balanced mix of heavy guitars, perfectly suited solo’s, theatrics in the lyrics and more control over song writing and melody than most bands can only wet-dream about.

KISS are more than a band, they’re a life-style. Get into them quick is my advice and ‘baby get ready, because they’ll be KISSin’ you’ next year!

1 Comment »

Want a new record this weekend? HUMANZI – BASSBALLS

Posted in News with tags , , , on August 7, 2009 by Tickets There

humazx20x07x09xrev

Looking to buy a new record this weekend like me? Why not pick up a copy of the very deserving Humanzi’s new Bass Balls. A savage track from their forthcoming second album. Check it out at their MySpace, slap yourself if you don’t like it and listen to it again and you’ll come around.

Then go buy it!!

Leave a comment »

The Prodigy – Dublin Bound

Posted in News with tags , , , on August 7, 2009 by Tickets There

prodigy

December 18th, the ultimate hard core party band are bringing the mother fuc*ing noise back to Dublin!. That’s right, The Prodigy are returning to our nation’s capital for the first time since 2006…I think.

It’s going to be mental in the O2(Point!) that night so expect a wide range of biker guys, rave heads, scumbags and indie fans all banging into each other. I’ve got the POISON!!!!

Tickets – €49.50.

On Sale – 14th August (according to Ticket Master – http://www.ticketmaster.ie/latest_news?tm_link=tm_homeA_news1)

Leave a comment »

Tickets There – The Dream Amphitheatre Idea

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music on August 7, 2009 by Tickets There

6a00e398a75eb8000500e398f9081e0004-500pi

With all this hoopla about ticket prices, service and postage charges..etc, wouldn’t it be cool if one of Irelands leading promoters (there’s only two..well threeish) gave something back. I just had a cool idea about setting up an amphitheatre that would allow fans to see gigs for free. All you’d have to do is find a large open space with a long slope (like Punchestown) and build your main arena area (or outline it). Then you build a separate section at the band that would allow fans to see the gig for free.  

Say you allocate a few thousand tickets for the back section and use it as an overflow area and distribute the tickets the day before the festival from selected outlets in nearest big city to avoid touts getting hold of them. This way the promoters get to keep the same attendance figures and still manage to accommodate a few more thousand people who would spend money on booze, food and travel. To avoid people opting for this option instead of actually buying tickets, you could have a rule that it’s only opened if the concert sells out. You could also place a massive screen in the free section meaning fans could still see the band close up despite being miles back from the stage.

You wouldn’t even have to use it for shows that are have 80,000 arriving. You could do it for smaller bands that might only sell 5,000 and have the show in the likes of Phoenix park and then dish out another few thousand free tickets through contests and various other promotional activities. That way the band would also get a lot of exposure outside their existing fan base.

Personally I think that would be kind of cool but I’m sure a load of logistical, administrative and financial reasons could be found to shoot it down. God forbid M*D or any of the other promoters out there would find away to give something back to the fans that shell out a minimum of 60 quid for all their shows. Ah well.

(and before you say it, f**k of with your ‘you’re paying for the band’s performance, not the promoters service argument. That’s greed talking. The promoters are a business and if there was more completion that offered these kind of perks and treats for people, the established companies would disappear.

Leave a comment »

Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – High ‘N’ Dry

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , on July 30, 2009 by Tickets There

Def_Leppard_-_High_'n'_Dry

Hopefully you’ve gone out and bought Pyromania, if not…..like I said, you’re a sap. Or, maybe it’s because you haven’t read the review so go do it now https://ticketsthere.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/tickets-there-likes-def-leppard-pyromania 

Good, now you’re back. So The Mighty Leppard exploded in the states with that album, made them the biggest band in the world…etc. Now it’s time to find out what they were like before all the mega stardom. Well, to start with they always had the harmonies and relied upon catchy vocal hooks to sell their songs to the general public, but before Pyromania, they used a lot more guitars to back everything up. High N Dry was the bands second album and an unbelievable leap forward from their first. While On Through The Night has some fearsome tracks on it, it’s nothing compared to HND.

Any listener will be convinced of this when they hear the opening notes of Let It Go, the albums first track. The song has a killer duel guitar riff and tonnes of sporadic/bluesy solo’s that would put any musician in their h’penny place. Not because they’re extremely difficult, but because they are so perfectly placed its mind bending. Enough shite, it’s just a savage track. This is followed by the shredding, although slower at first, Another Hit and Run which is as foot stomping, head banging friendly and face melting as anything else out there…..except Heavy Metal :p. Unfortunately I refuse to discuss the albums title track because I used it as my alarm for over a year and now I cant stand to listen to it, but I should mention it was on the infamous PRMC’s Filthy Fifteen list in 1985. This was a list made up by that Tipper Gore bitch and her cronies of the fifteen songs they found most offensive in the world. HND gets a mention due to ‘excessive drinking references in the lyrics.

Things turn around completely with Leppard’s first proper ballad, Bringin’ on the Heartbreak. The video may be as cheesy as KISS in the eighties but it’s fun people, relax. Not everything can be the White album. Steve Clarks legendary Switch 625 follows and shows Leppard’s raw, danger afloat guitars with some fierce drumming to boot. That riff is just incredible and well worth seeing live if you can. You Got Me Runnin’ is more of a filler song, but on this album that means it kicks ass. It’s just pure, down to earth rock n rollll!!! Love it! Classic stomping song with a good dose of Joe’s swagger. Same thing again for Lady Strange. These are songs you grow to love after the hits. On through the Night is faster, more full on balls while second last song Mirror, Mirror has one of the bands definitive chorus’s. No, No, No, finishes things off and without the excessive repeats of the word No at the end it’s just great 😀

Well that’s it in a very hastily written nut shell. Now, what album to do next? This Tickets There Likes series wont last forever so I’ll be choosy but you can damn well bet Guns N Roses – Use Your Illusion I, Weezer – The Blue Album, Metallica – …and Justice For All and the big one of them all, Def Leppard’s Hysteria will all feature over the coming weeks.

Leave a comment »

I LOVE IT LOUD – KISS

Posted in General Tickets There Blog on July 29, 2009 by Tickets There

tt_kissed_j2

Because Tickets There thinks you’re worth it, here’s a clip of KISS playing I LOVE IT LOUD!

Leave a comment »

Tickets There Likes: The Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , on July 28, 2009 by Tickets There

Never_Mind_the_Bollocks

Tickets There has had a deep rooted fascination with God’s filthiest hooligans. Ever since I first saw the wax work of Johnny Rotten in London’s Rock Circus in the early nineties, I’ve been fascinated. His appearance was so shocking and so different to anything I was used to and the fact that his name was Johnny Rotten only added to my enthusiasm to find out more. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait long as the Rock Circus had another exhibition that featured infamous video’s (I think) and this included Sid Vicious’ video for My Way that shows him shooting several audience members. To yours truly, this was a real event and I was captivated. First you have this sneering, red haired maniac called Johnny Rotten and next you have a murdering psycho Sid Vicious. I was officially hooked…..and then it was back to Ireland where there was no such thing as the Sex Pistols.

I don’t remember when I got the album. I do recall it was several years later but I can’t actually remember the first time I heard it. In fact, I find it very hard to remember a time in my life without it. Never Mind the Bollocks is the ultimate outburst of anger and sarcasm for young people. The music is basic pop with none of the frills the likes of Pink Floyd indulge in, with lyrics so scornful British monarchs and politicians must have thanked god they weren’t handed picked for any tracks…except the Queen of course.

There basically isn’t one song on this album that couldn’t be considered a classic. The opening track Holidays In The Sun is an upbeat pop number with an attacking message on holiday goers taking advantage of other countries problems and misfortunes. In contrast, the angry, hate fueled Bodies rips in straight afterwards with vulgar lyrics and a commonly interoperated message of Pro-Life, which Lydon now denies. Knowing Johnny Rotten, this song is hardly likely to be a simple story. No Feelings is another full on attack of guitars n drums about …well, what’s the point in me describing these things? I think everybody knows exactly what this album is all about. Anyone reading this is more than fully aware what the Sex Pistols stood for and what they accomplished. If you don’t, there are some great things in store for you..Unless you’re one of those soulless weirdo’s I’ve mentioned before.

I think kids would do well to have this album drilled into them. The fight seems to have left their hearts all together and they’ve become to bogged down in the rap/hip-hop/Paris Hilton nonsense. It just seems to be destroying their creativity, their originality and their minds. I’m sure many would disagree with this next statement, but Tickets There firmly believes that Never Mind the Bollocks was a peak that has barley been reached since of youthful aggression, intelligence and makes more of a statement that any other punk album ever released…even more so than the Clash!

What amd I talking about? I don’t know, kind of rushed this one so ShutD-Up!

Leave a comment »

Tickets There Likes: Def Leppard – Pyromania

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2009 by Tickets There

Def_Leppard_-_Pyromania

If there is one band on God’s green earth that has meant more to Tickets there, and the man behind Tickets There (no, not the guys in Eyebrowy, me ya knob!), it has to be Def Leppard. Despite Guns N Roses, Marilyn Manson, Elvis Presley, Turn, Metallica and many, many, many others over the years coming close, Leppard are and always have been the clear frontrunners of my personal favorite artists. They are the band that thought me the key core values of good music, Talent, Entertainment and Performance. Leppard may have become the arse end of most music related jokes in the nineties but they are finally clawing their way back to their former heights and slowly rebuilding their credibility around the world. For those of us who stood by them after their career nosedived after Adrenalize, this is like the second coming because if there is one band in the world who deserves to have an album in everyone’s collection, it’s Leppard, and if you’re going to start anywhere, it might as well be Pyromania.

In 1983, Leppard could barley fill a town hall in England as headliner, but in the US, people were flocking to their support shows to catch a glimpse of England’s hottest new act. After successful introductions with their debut On through The Night and it’s follow up, High N Dry, the band finally had a ready and willing fan base to unleash their full potential onto. Pyromania became one of the biggest selling albums of the eighties and the only thing that stopped it reaching number one was the biggest selling album of all time, Thriller. The combination of Leppard and renowned AC/DC producer Mutt Lange producing the album together paid off in bucket loads as the band became mega stars in the States almost overnight. The mix of catchy, riff driven anthems and Joe’s raw yet piercing voice painted a new coat on the aging rock machine and gave the whole genre a new lease of life.

Opening with the first of many anthems Pyromania has to offer, Rock Rock Till You Drop, the album is immediately given an upbeat, captivating feel as the band deliver what are essentially pop songs with much, much more of an edge……. and a lot more guitars. The massively successful Photograph follows and up’s the bands’ sound several notches which seems to be the trend of Pyromania, make each song bigger, better and more enthralling than the last one. Stagefright gives the band one of its most iconic opening live songs before the haunting Too Late For Love offers a new kind of Love songs with more attitude than Bon Jovi could ever offer.

Die Hard The Hunter brings the rock swagger back to the album before the mighty Foolin’ stampedes across everything and gives the album one of its greatest building, atmospheric compositions. Where the hell can you go from there? Well, they have an answer. It’s called Rock of Ages. One of the Rock N Metal’s greatest assets and one that even non-Leppard fans will admit to loving. Does it draw the line between cheese and music? No it certainly does not because most people these days think anything Tom Yorke, Frank Black or Chris Martin didn’t write isn’t music. Unfortunately for you lot, while you are watching the blandest, most self-indulgent, over hyped musical farces on the planet crying and preaching at you, us folk who appreciate the fun, the attitude and the full on rock n roll spirit of ‘real bands’ will be having a blast and won’t be reminded about starving kids in Africa or today’s popular disease.

Back from my rant, Comin’ Under Fire and Action Not Words bring the album near it’s close with another few bursts of catchy riffs that constantly change and include small guitar spirals and heavy bass that constantly compete with each other for melodies, harmonies and cutting edge vocals and solos. The fearsome Billy’s Got a Gun gives the album one of its most unappreciated moments and unfortunately, ends the Pyromania.

More than any album I can think off, Tickets There Suggests you go and buy this one immediately and if you don’t like it well, you’re really thick and it’s more than likely you don’t have a soul. If you do, come back and see my review of High N Dry (Which I’ll do when I’m damn well ready). Don’t jump straight into Hysteria, it’s too soon 😉

1 Comment »

Tickets There Likes: Judas Priest – British Steel

Posted in Album Review, Music, Tickets There Likes: with tags , , , , , , on July 27, 2009 by Tickets There

Judas_Priest_British_Steel

If there’s one album that’s had my attention more than any other in the last six months, it’s the mighty British Steel. I think I bought it about six years ago, put it on a shelf and never bothered to actually listen to it. Other things just kept getting in the way. It wasn’t until I saw them live in February that I realized just how good they are. So, after the gig I went straight home, found the album and stuck it on. Five months later and I’m still listening to it almost every day (well….that’s a big almost). The ferocious power and energy in their lyrics, vocals and playing is mind crushing and becomes more and more piercing with time.

The fearsome Rapid Fire opens proceedings with lyrics cast from the bowls of metal and slow, yet thundering guitars to whip it along. Rob’s powerful voice bleeds through the headphones as the guitars and drums push a slow, steady riff along like crippling waves in the back ground. Solo bursts or frequent and you kind of feel like a geek because you aren’t out eating iron rods and anvils for a living. The grandness and slowly building Metal Gods is next and this notches the album into second gear. The band once again display a steady, repetitive riffs that introduces slight changes as the song gathers momentum before crashing down and grabbing you by the neck for the slow, grueling chorus. Metal Gods is a true metal classic and the opening riff of Breaking the Law almost pales in comparison. Not that any sign of weakness lasts long here. The incredible force of Grinder brings, in my opinion, British Steel to its peak of perfection. It’s intensely driven raw power is so dominating and raw, it’s hard not to jump on your desk and not thrash your head rapidly during its verse. It’s a song begging to be played on every Harley Davidson spiraling towards hell and one that would scare the devil himself out of reprimanding you for doing so.

United changes the direction of the album entirely. Rob’s vocals become more relaxed and the riffs drop much of their punishing characteristics. United is quite simply an upbeat sing along that adds a new sound to the album. You Don’t Have to be Old to be Wise and Living After Midnight are more like rock classics rather than the metal anthems at the start of the album. They’re fast, loud and just F**king brilliant. Second last song, The Rage opens with a slow bass and drum intro before the guitars slide in with Rob’s voice back in full teeth cutting metal glory. The final Steeler finishes the album in much the same style it started in. Fast riffs that plunge into bellowing storm bringers. Shredding solo’s and bursts of booming drums and delayed guitars plough together before reforming to add a sense of darkness and danger behind Rob’s mighty instrument (no pun intended).

On the re-release, the album comes with a bonus track of Grinder Live and it is quite simply one of the best live metal recordings ever. If you haven’t got this album yet, go and buy it now and get some metal up yer ass!!

Leave a comment »

The Stunning – Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin (July 23rd – Live Review)

Posted in Gig Review, Music with tags , , , , , on July 27, 2009 by Tickets There

Stunning

Every few years, the mighty Stunning emerge from the bowels of County Clare, Galway and Dublin to assault the Irish people with their infectiously catchy, effortlessly cool and charismatic back catalogue of Hits that still need a good milking. Their career was sadly cut short in the mid-nineties but only after the band became one of the biggest indigenous groups this country has ever seen. While they didn’t look to astonish you with grand ballads like U2 or pound your face in like Thin Lizzy, instead they merged the country and music style the existed in every single dance hall in the country with a fender driven dose of rock N roll swagger and a wit and talent for story telling that only the Irish (and Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and a handful of other’s) can master.

Tonight’s show at Leopardstown racecourse is a far cry from the normally jam packed audiences the Stunning normally command. They’re playing as part of the Bulmers Live Event that’s taking place all summer. At first sight of the stage and music area, things look a little more bleak than dodgy. As the races end and swarms of people march towards the exit, the Stunning arrive on and kick things off with Got to Get Away while people continue walking past the stage on their way home, with very few stopping to see the show. Large empty spaces with more children than adults are very evident around the front and the only thing missing to make this show a joke is a clown and face painting. Not that any of this bothers Steve, Joe, Jim, Derek or Cormac and the band carry on with hits such as Town for Sale and Everything that Rises.

After a few songs the crowd suddenly starts to swell thanks to a mixture of people arriving late and the racing crowd finally being able to get the pint they were waiting for. The blues driven Tightrope Walker ushers in the night time as the stage lights lift off to reveal that there are now several hundred people gathered to show give the Stunning the audience they need to kick things into overdrive. Head’s, December Sky, Mr. Ginger, Half Past Two see’s the crowd singing every word along with Steve before fan favorite Romeo’s on Fire sends the die-hards and interested observers into bliss.

Since the Stunning split, Steve and Joe Wall have been working hard on their new band The Walls and tonight the band decided to give one of their most popular songs an airing. With a teaser intro of Brewing Up a Storm, Steve and Joe play a stripped back rendition of To The Bright and Shining Sun with Jim on light percussion. The band re-join the brothers on stage for a cover of MGMT’s Kids, which many in attendance swear if better than the original, before closing the night off with a boisterous performance of Brewing Up a Storm, citing mass sing alongs’ as far back as the eye can see.
While it may not have been U2 on a stage the size of Croke Park or KISS with more pyrotechnics than..well, a normal KISS concert, it was everything music is meant to be, entertainment. Steve and Joe’s charisma mixed with the bands polished and perfected performance is just so enjoyable to watch live it’s hard to put into words. Unfortunately Steve announced towards the end of the show that this will be the Stunnings  final gig for a couple of years so if you haven’t experienced them yet, you’ll have to wait.

At the end of the show, the band stayed at the side of the stage to sign autographs and take pictures. Was Tickets There too cool to line up?? Not at hope, we were first in line 😉

stun

Top Pic taken by Rob O’Donovan – http://www.bulmerslive.ie/bulmerslive_music_events_dublin.html

Picture Two is my poor attempt 😀

Leave a comment »

Bruce Springsteen: Live at the R.D.S. 12/07/2009

Posted in Gig Review, Music with tags , , , , , , on July 27, 2009 by Tickets There

GetAttachment

What can you write about the Boss that many other, much better writers haven’t written before? Very little, that’s what. Those who’ve seen his legendary live shows know exactly what it’s like to stand in his crowd and see one man control almost every element, both natural and spiritual around him. More than most performers, he manages to bring an incredible amount of love into his shows and makes the experience special and unique for everyone in the audience rather than going through the motions every night. As if this wasn’t enough, he’s backed by the incredibly talented, fun and inspiring E Street Band who must have inherited the title of Hardest Working Band in Show Business at this stage. As if keeping up with Bruce’s constant set-list changes, crazy sliding and crowd pleasing antics isn’t enough, the band manage it with such ease that their musical expertise and experience stands out twenty miles. So with The Boss, The Big Man, A Soprano and the rest of the band in toe, how did they hold out at their second show in Dublin’s R.D.S.

Opening with the energetic No Surrender from the bands Born To Run Album, Bruce and co bursts onto the stage and into the crowds awaiting hearts. Bruce’s command of the arena is astonishing, especially considering he’s creeping close to the grand young age of sixty six. His sher zest for performing carries him through the three hours and ten minutes with ease, despite having a couple of falls the previous night. The band continues to build momentum as the jumpy classic Badlands and atmospheric Outlaw Pete set the tone for the night to come. An extended rendition of Hungry Heart see’s Bruce collect several song requests on boards from the crowd before continuing the set, delivering classics such as Johnny 99 and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Bruce then turns to the boards he’d collected earlier and starts picking song choices at random, giving his band about three seconds to prepare for each one. Spirit In the Night, Sherry Darling, Proud Mary and Prove it All Night get and airing before an emotional performance of Promised Land.

Hardly stopping for a second between songs, Springsteen gives the audience little chance top catch their breath before exploding into Radio Nowhere from 2007’s Magic. American Skin, Lonesome Day, The Rising brings things near a close before the ultimate anthem of them all, Born to Run excites and delights the forty thousand fans in attendance.  

Amidst the chants of BBrrruccceee (which several people confused as Boo’s) , Bruce returned for an extremely moving performance of Jungleland before the Irish sounding American land exploded in all its majestic energy. Rosalita, Glory Days. Dancing in the Dark and this tours closing sing along, Twist & Shout ended one of the longest sets this country has seen since..well, since the last time Springsteen played the country. With Bruce and the band still performing like this now, who knows how long the E Street band will be around for and by the looks of things, they will continue to enthrall and inspire their audiences for many, many years to come.

Set-List
No Surrender (Born In The U.S.A.)
Badlands
Night
My Lucky Day
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Darkness On The Edge of Town
Spirit In The Night
Sherry Darling
Proud Mary
Prove It All Night
Trapped
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Radio Nowhere
American Skin (41 Shots)
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run (Born To Run)

Jungleland (Born To Run)
American Land
Rosalita
Glory Days (Born In The U.S.A.)
Dancing In The Dark (Born In The U.S.A.)
Twist & Shout

2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »